gfweb

Great post. Re baking soda. It speeds the Maillard rxn and also has effect on pectin. I believe I've read that alkalinity will soften pectin and make potatoes surfaces a little shaggy...which might help starch adhere...or promote a crisp surface after frying. I'm looking for references.

I don't know why people still harp on about this given that this has happened every season since the beginning of the show. The standard format is that they cook in the titular place until it's winnowed to the final X, everyone takes a big break and the finals are cooked in another location, after the season has started airing. And I've constantly harped about it since season 1. Texas paid the money, it gets a title spot.

Just snow drops up here. Daffodils are poking up though. This should be fun!

There will be a point where any group of receptors can bind no more of its activator. At that point the response will be maximized and go no further. Sounds like you hit that point.

I think that its just teenagers trying on a new identity. Part of growing up, I guess. Wasn't that snide? LOL

Agreed!

Its not just the youth who have demanding/irrational food issues. Anyone <60 is at risk to have a crazy belief about what they can eat. I think most of it stems from bad education, especially in science. People do not know how to decide what is true, so any crackpot claim from the shameful Dr. Oz is taken as worthwhile and any blogger is believable. The level of ignorance is staggering. I know otherwise educated people who have celiac dz and avoid anything with glutamate in it on the grounds of it being a gluten! The only similarity of course is in spelling, not chemistry or structure. I could go on forever.

Shark has been definitively jumped. How freaking stupid was that!?

Starbucks regular coffee is so bland it needs all the added stuff to have any taste. Blond is bland-er. Starbucks... eh

Amazon has Campbell's Scotch broth.

Yeah. Even if you think vegans are FOS, you shouldn't fool them.

What's more, the low budget forces you to get cheap starchy food (as Thirtyoneknots said), perhaps the least nutritious diet.

I'm still stuck on the <0.50/person. I'm not sure that there's any way to get enough calories and especially protein spending that little even three times a day. So your housemates either are spending much more during the day or are very effective moochers. If they are spending more then they should reconsider raising the limit for dinner. After all you can always cook cheaper at home and in volume than you can buy prepared food.

I do the same thing. I actually like the tuna cakes better than crab. I serve with a lime aioli and salad.

Wow. Amazing stuff Patrick, Prawn, Xi, Paul, Kim, Keith!

Daughter home from college and I made one of her favorites, Italian sausage with pepper/onion/tomato and ziti, and fresh baked Italian bread.

It was boring too.

I thought he was creepy long before the molestation issues came forward.

How about stuffed baked potatoes. People put on what they want...butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon.

I'd consider dumpster diving. Or talk to the produce guy at the market and explain your position.

Americas Test Kitchen just gave a very positive review of the sous vide supreme. The secret is out.

Without knowing food preferences I'd go Italian. Spaghetti w a bolognese sauce and garlic bread is easy and reasonably quick unless you do the Full Batali. Or a "sunday gravy" with pasta.

Indian or middle eastern food isn't guaranteed to be a hit unless you have an adventurous group. Out of 26 college students there might be a few who will only eat mac and cheese with hot dogs LOL. I'd do a poll and see if there are any hated cuisines among your audience.

Sounds very greasy, confit-ing a meatball.

Why not just dump the thing in the water and hang it by the cord? It could be at any depth that way. Is t fully immersible?