Porthos

Barley-Spelt Grain Salad I've never taken this to a potluck where I wasn't asked for the recipe. My wife and daughters are always glad when I make it.

Thank you for saying this so much more clearly.

Not in OC but still in Southern CA. It if your ever in Rancho Cucamonga the Red Hill Barbecue on Foothill is to honest smoked meats done in the outside smoker. You can find this place with your nose. Their ribs are my hands down favorite. Get it take out and then get ready for an incredible treat.

While visiting friends in Reno we ate at a store-front pizza place. I went up to the counter to check on something (I don't remember what) and before I could open my mouth the help behind the counter blurted out "We don't have ranch dressing!" Appearantly there are a lot of people dipping their pizza these days. Not me. Not for pizza - not for fries - yes for fresh veggies. I used to scoop up spaghetti sauce into a coffee mug right out of the pot while it was simmering just to eat the sauce like a soup.

Raw chicken or pork? Not a chance. I do, however, love Beefsteak Tartar. Also when sectioning a larger cut of meat I've brought home from the market I cut off a few strips to enjoy raw with a bit of salt and pepper. Disclaimer: Don't try this at home - I'm a professional idiot. I've only had 2 serious bouts of food infection. Once I got a bad HB egg off a lunch truck. I also came back from a south american country with campylo bacter (sp) and don't care to repeat that experience. There were at least 3 reasonably likely sources for that: 1) I had beefsteak tartar (which included both the raw meat and a raw egg) while there, 2) I had fluid milk products which are not processed the same as in the states, and 3) I drank the water. I figure that I'm the one that ignored the advice of what to/not to eat and drink. All that being said I am of the conservative side of this: cooked meat that gets left out gets thrown out. Soup that have been covered: Bring to the boil, let cool, refrigerate. I'm assuming no toxins have been added to the mix. Pizza left out - I won't eat it cold but I will microwave it and have it hot. With all respect to what happens in other countries - since I have a choice where I live I choose caution. Just me - my wife isn't as conservative.

For OA members the food items that define their abstinence is an absolute. Just as a true alcoholic can not have ANY alcohol, a person addicted to food can not have ANY of the food that triggers their addictive response. It get more complicated with food because you still have to eat but to remain abstinent requires choosing not to eat the wrong foods. I am a lapsed member of OA - I know from the inside out what a real struggle this is and why such limits have been placed on the choice for the cake. With no disrespect meant toward the bride and groom I am surprised that they are trying to have a facsimile of the food that they need to avoid. It is their choice but it does surprise me.

I have a confession to make here. For all of the things I get right I can never seem to get the right amount of potatoes into my "roasts with veggies." When we travel we use lists. When we went to Germany in 1980 I (who have OCD) actually made a list of all of our lists to make sure we didn't miss anything. My wife and I normally plan out our vacation menus months in advance, make up a list of dishes we're preparing for each meal and then a list to shop from. This gives us a chnace to research recipes, locate any not-so-common ingredients and such. We were rushed this year because of scheduling issues and only verbally agreed on the menus. For one dinner we decided we were going to make a pot roast in the crock pot. We brought the meat, the carrots, the celery, the pota --- oh no - we forgot the potatoes. So I drove over to the store at the head of the lake and found to my delight they had red potatoes. I bought about 3 pounds by putting a few in the bag, thinking that it didn't look like enough, put in some more, still wasn't confident, so put in a couple more. Mind you, we're cooking this meal for a grand total of 3 people. So I get back to the cabin, wash the potatoes, slice them in half and put them into the already-going crock pot. They barely fit. This is not the first, or the second, etc. time I have done this. I got some good-natured ribbing from my wife and my father-in-law. So what is a reasonable amount of potato per person for a starch dish like this? I obviously still don't know.

I walk through my local W-S every couple of months. Haven't spend a dime in there for at least the last 18 months. The last thing I remember purchasing was a little french folding knife that I could easily keep at work. I was there this last Saturday. I was out shopping with my wife and daughter and went in to kill time. Because of another thread here I spent a few minutes eyeing the Global(?) and Shun knives to get more familiar with them. Left with all my money and that sad feeling that I must be poorer than I realize. Fortunately I have lived long enough to have a kitchen pretty well outfiited with what I want and need in large part from a spouse who knows how much I like getting new goodies for the kitchen as gifts. My 14 cup Cuisenart food processor did come from W-S because that's the only place my wife could find this large capacity model. I also go into my favorite restautant supply store every 2 or 3 months. I'm much more likely to pick up stuff there - some for the Ren Faire kitchen I do my volunteer cooking in and some utility stuff just to make life a little easier at home (such as replacing my bamboo handled spider strainer with an all stainless steel model so I feel better about it going through the dishwasher). My wife fell in love with the real half-sheet baking pans for doing her holiday cookie baking marathon. Just to show how low I can go - I buy my cutting boards at Wal-Mart and Target. They actually carry NSF-approved cutting boards there and I care about that since I am a bit nuts about cleaning and sanitizing.

I found some lavash at Trader Joe's yesterday. We were out all day today and that gave me the excuse not to cook a full dinner. Instead: my first wrap using lavash: dressed with sour cream and bleu cheese dressing, layers of pastrami and shredded fontina cheese with green onions and just-chopped lettuce to fill it out. Thanks for the inspiration. edited to add: I guess I did something right. My wife and I split the one in the picture and then she asked me to make another one.

I agree with the career advice part of what you posted. But IMO the initial question that started this thread had as much to do with the ethics of the schools as anything else. In cases cited in the articles students were directly lied to about the kind of money they could expect to earn if they signed on the dotted line. That is a truly sad statement about the ethical stance the schools have taken. I personaly think that the suits alleging fraud have merit. On the other hand for me following this thread is purely academic (no pun intended) because I realized long ago that the professional kitchen was someplace I would never survive and as such I sit in my cubicle and run my computer to earn my bucks.

Several years ago I bit down an a piece of chicken bone in a frozen meal I was eating for lunch. I saved the bone and let it dry out and then sealed it in plastic. I wrote a non-threatening letter to the maker telling them I had been able to confirm they used real chicken meat and included the chicken bone. My only goal was to get some product-replacement coupons. I got 2 in the mail along with a page-long form letter detailing their quaility control procedures. I laughed at the letter and used the coupon to get 2 lunches.

On the Good Eats "popcorn" episode Alton Brown suggested popcorn with milk and something to sweeten it for breakfast in lieu of store-bought corn-based cereals.

1) Vichyssoise 2) Red Potota Salad with Cream & Mayo Dressing 3) Potatoes that have been roasting in the pan with a pork roast

Thank you for that perspective. In my case you're very correct that I wanted to learm the skill as well as wanting sharp knives. I kow can keep a decent edge on my pocket knives, fishing knives and kitchen knives. I've asked a friend who has done hand-sharpening for a long time to help me improve my skills. I do not ever see the day I will spend more than $40 or $50 for a knife. The bulk of my cooking style leans more toward rustic so I'm not trying for, say, really closely matched julliened carrots. I enjoy sushi but son't ever intend to learn to make my own, etc.. Beyond wanting to learn the skill the cost of a few stones to start learning with cost me all of about $25.00. When I understand more about what I am doing I may opt for better quality stones. Putting out the money for a sharpening system may have kept me from ever trying.

A lot of OA members don't do any white flour products.

Deli meats. Green onions suddenly aren't beautiful - their slimy. Carrots are on again off again. Sometimes we use them all up sometimes we suddenly realize that the carrots we were going to use are over the hill. Parsley - as stated by others bought for a recipe, a bit is used and the rest is forgotten until clean-out time. Apples. I am stuck on red delicious apples. I tolerate Gala and Fuji. If my wife tries to fill the larder with Gala or Fuji I look at them and pass about 1/2 the time. They go bad because their not red delicious which I always will take when I want an apple.

Soft Arkansas stones. By the way, I use a rag as I go to wipe away stone particles that have come loose in the sharpening process.

Recipe: Wadleigh's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Barley-Spelt Grain Salad Serves 16 as Side. This grain salad is served cold and was inspired by my deisre to eat in the South Beach Diet style. Spelt can be found in some health food stores. You can substitute whole wheat berries for the spelt. Salad: 8 oz Spelt 8 oz Pearled Barley I small tomato, diced 1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced 1 can of olives, halved 2 Tbl minced fresh dill 8 oz feta cheese ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley ½ cup diced red onion Dressing: 1/3 c olive oil 1/3 c cider vinegar 2 cloves garlic 2 Tbl coarsely chopped dill Salt and pepper to taste In a large Dutch oven or stock pot bring 4 quarts of lightly-salted water to a boil and add the spelt. Bring back to the boil and then reduce to a simmer and let simmer for 45 minutes. Add the barley, bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let simmer another 45 minutes, then remove from heat, drain and set aside to cool. When the grains have cooled to room temperature, place in a large bowl. Add the remainder of the salad ingredients and mix by bringing the spoon up from the bottom of the bowl until thoroughly mixed. Place all of the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Pour over the salad and mix in using the same technique used to mix the salad ingredients. Cover and place in the refrigerator. Serve cool (prefered) or at room temperature. Keywords: Salad ( RG1986 )

Wadleigh's Chocolate Chip Cookies This recipe yields a moist, somewhat chewy cookie. 1/2 c margarine 1/2 c shortening 3/4 c white sugar 3/4 c brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp water 2 eggs 2-1/2 c flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 12 oz chocolate chips Cream margarine, shortening, and sugar. Add vanilla, water and eggs, then add flour, baking soda and salt. When mixed add chocolate chips. Spoon onto baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375F. Keywords: Cookie, Chocolate ( RG1985 )

Chad Ward wrote an article for eG on knife sharpening. He has a tutorial section where he talks about using the sharpening systems. I don't know if this will shed any light for you or not but I thought I would bring it up.

A Patric's thread on the EdgePro sharpening system brought up a separate question in my mind. Chad Ward's article here at eG was the impetus that I needed to finally begin to learn to sharpen my own knives. While no expert I am happily moving along. I have also chosen to do this sharpening free hand, but I did make a graph for reference to show the angle I need to hold the blade at. Chad recommends not using oil or water but rather just using the stone dry. This is what I have been doing and I am happy with the results so far. Here is the question: Do you use water or oil, or do you prefer a dry stone also?

We have a recipe that is of the "handed down" variety and is the only one we used. I will get it into this thread late tonight as I am at work right now. I'm only posting now so that you will know that people are reading and responding.

Then I'm nuts to. Learning to sharpen on a stone was a milestone (no pun intended) in my journey through life. I don't expect to ever own a high-end knife so scuffing is not an issue for me. When I need to hone an edge I can have the job done in minutes with my stone. If I were to look at something like the Apex in the future I'd want to know how much setup and put-away time the tool requires. Is it convenient to use for just one knife?

I described something similar to Busboy's fantasy to my wife a couple of years ago. I figured one beef or pork dish, one poultry or fish dish, maybe a sausage plate, with the menu changing each night. Meant for simple family dining (think kind of basque-ish) where the main event is wholesome tasty food shared with those you love. She said that I needed to add vegetarian fare and maybe vegan. Nope. If your family has a vegetarian or a vegan I'm sure you can find places to accomodate you - but not here. This is carnivore country. If I failed because of that I would accept that but it's my place with my personal stamp on it so I get to choose. Hey, that would probably be the name of the place: Carnivore's Delight Family Cafe . Only problem with the fantasy is that I hugely fear owning my own business but that's another story.