Pierogi

And.......I did the ciabatta recipe today from the most recent issue (I want to say it's March/April), but it's the one with the baked ziti in it as well. Actually did it yesterday and today, since you start the biga the day before you make the bread. It was dead easy and spot on. Great bread, and even though the dough is extremely sticky, it was easy to manage and shape. It's going to make recurring appearances in my bread rotation. I'm giving away one of the loaves, and the *SMALL* leftover from the other, that I didn't scarf down at dinner, will be used for rolls for hamburgers for tomorrow's dinner. A great recipe and a great technique. CI has redeemed themselves for me with this one.

Oh. My. GOD. I made one of these (OK, a couple.......OK, three) of these tonight. One of the best cocktails, EVER. So so good. Thank you for sharing.

Ron, I was just reading in an old Gourmet (May '07, yeah I'm behind in my magazines......so?) a recipe for "Asian Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce" that I thought sounded pretty damned awesome. They have cilantro & water chestnuts mixed into them, and I think you sure could make them appetizer size. I'd guess the recipe would still be available on Epicurious.com but if not, pm me, and I'll send it to you if you want. I'd marked them to make for dinner soon.

If I'm not mistaken, and I very well could be, the rice storage is for fresh truffles. These, if I understand the OP correctyl, are jarred, and have been packaged in a liquid-ish storage medium. I have some of these too, and found some with mold. Fortunately, I was able to exchange them. I would certainly NOT store them in oil, molds and bacteria love to grow in those conditions. I might put them in a flavorless alcohol (vodka or neutral grain spirits), but again, some molds proliferate quite happily in alcohol. I would only consider this for very short-term storage. I think the *safest* (and IMO that term is relative) is the vac freezing option, in small or individual packages, and for me, I wouldn't put any storage medium in the bag. Just the truffles. However, that said, I'm not sure that you can be 100% certain that you got all the spores out of the truffles. Some mold filaments are microscopic. Yes, the truffles technically *are* fungus, and yes, mold is another form of a fungus, but..... If you're really intent on turning the other cheek to the mold, then I think the suggestion to use them ASAP is the way to go. If it were me, and I've worked in and around microbiology labs for a long time......I'd pitch 'em. Shed a tear, and look for replacements, but I personally wouldn't risk it. I think the options you found for preserving them would probably be fine for those specimens that hadn't grown fuzz... YMMV.....

Pardon me while I quietly throw-up into my mouth...........

OH COME ON !!!!!!!!!!!! Because she posted it on FACEBOOK it’s supposed to be private ??? Isn’t that like me taking out a personal ad in the LA Times and addressing it to “My BFFs ONLY” and then saying some really hateful things, posting personal information about me and being *gasp* surprised when I get retribution? Facebook, and the whole “INTERWEBS” (sic) should be, and are, considered public domain, and therefore subject to public dissemination. You shouldn’t be posting anything you don’t want the entire cyber-world to read. You shouldn’t e-mail anything you don’t want the entire cyber-world to read. Ask any corporate IT person about how “private” and “confidential” your e-mails are. Or, better yet, ask any lawyer. Sorry. No deal and no pass here. What Casey did was tacky and tactless and cheesy. I have lost all respect for her, and up until this, I really really respected and liked her. But......she put her vitriol out in a public forum and now has to deal with the consequences of her bad decision. Tacky, tacky, tacky. To the Nth degree.

Yeah, I was just coming to post that. It was her alright. Ditto ! It was absolutely her.

Have to chime in here, as a resident of an almost 400K population megaburb of the second largest city in the country......... --Pomegranate molasses---Not a chance, and I've looked everywhere I shop, and I shop regularly at all the major chains in the area, including Whole Paychecks and Bristol Farms (a SoCal Whole Foods clone). And I covet this, so I keep looking. --Sumac---Ditto --Aleppo pepper (Turkish-style red pepper)---Ditto --creme fraiche---Easily. At Trader Joes for about 1/3 of the price as Whole Paychecks and Bristol Farms. At the regular chain stores, not a chance. --Mexican crema ---Easily, if you go to the lower end mega-mart chains. At the upper crust ones, not so much. --Spanish smoked paprika---Nope, had to buy mine off the Interwebs. --miso paste---Only at my local Albertsons. None of the other mega-mart chains, and not at Bristol Farms, or TJs. Haven't looked at WF. And only the red at my Albertsons. --sherry vinegar---Pretty common. Bristol Farms, and the upper-end mega-marts. --duck (fresh or frozen)---Frozen, pretty much everywhere. Fresh, never. --duck fat---Bristol Farms, only. And then, rarely. And its frozen. --pancetta---Everywhere. *IF* you want it in paper thin, pre-packaged slices, or in in vacuum packed poly paks of less than 1/4-inch chunks. If you want a slab to do with what you will, sorry, you're S.O.L. --less common pig parts: trotters, unsmoked hocks, cheeks, slab bacon, skin---Not a chance. Not no where, not no place. I haven't seen a butcher, a real live butcher, since I played with dolls. Now. Like others have said, I'm sure that I could find these things within about a 25-mile radius of me if........if.........*IF*........I took the time to research them and drive to them and find them. I am a foodie. I am likely to do this. Is the average person.........probably not so much. Certainly most of my friends, although they love eating my food, would look at something like aleppo and go.....PASS.

Probably would include a slice of humble pie........

GO CARLA ! GO CARLA ! GO CARLA ! Hootie WHOOOOOOOO BAY-BEEEE ! You go girl. So totally happy Carla won the car, and is coming on at just the right time. Her food did look luscious, and I'm not even wild about oysters unless they're deep fried ! Gail.......don't EVER leave us again, girl. Toby is not fit to polish your nails, honey. I *did* sort of wish Stefan would get more called out for his attitude, I don't think that it sunk in how p.o.'d Tom was over his whole calling-it-in-'cuz-I'm-so-very-cool act, but in reading Gail's & Tom's blogs on BravoTV, I can see why it was Fabio. Whom I will miss. Wow. Who'da thunk it'd be Carla, Hosea and Stefan in the final. Stefan was a given, but I think Carla and Hosea were both dark horses. I SO WANT CARLA TO WIPE STEFAN'S, (ummmmmmmmmmm), you know. GO CARLA, GO CARLA, GO CARLA !

Overall an outstanding episode, I thought. I'm so totally JAZZED that Carla is shining, I liked her from day 1, even though I don't see her in the final 2. Final 4, though, way to go Carla ! I had hoped that Stefan would show some humility after overcooking (!!!!) his salmon for that sextet (swoon.......Jacques ! Lidia ! Marcus ! Wylie ! Tom ! Susan !) of culinary icons........but I guess *that* was too much to hope for. The guest panel were all so gracious and seemed to be really striving to not trash anyone's dish, even if it wasn't up to their expectations. How any of the cheftestants could've cooked for those people.......I have no clue. I'd have been in a puddle in the corner. Talk about an all star team. Just Jacques & Lidia......they're who I want to be when I grow up. Everything, absolutely EVERYTHNG those two make, I want to eat. I really enjoyed tonight. And Toby has *really* dialed it back from his debut. But I still can't wait for Gail to return next season and say buh-bye Toby.

Katie, I've seen jugs of agave nectar at Trader Joe's...gotta be cheaper than Whole Foods !

The Neelys are worthy of an Emmy, a Peabody AND a Pulitzer, and they could instruct at Le Cordon Bleu AND CIA, simultaneously, in comparison to Aunt Sandy. *THAT'S* how awful she is. They are Julia and Jacques together again in comparison to her. And totally agreed about Michael Smth. We used to get him down here on I think TLC. He totally got on my last nerve. But not nearly as bad as Sandra Lee does. At least HE actually cooks.

It's been a good week ! I hit three absolute stellar recipes that will go into the regular rotation. From the final "150 Best American Recipes" a grown-up ice cream sandwich made with lemon curd, creme fraiche and lemon zest that's whipped together until it forms peaks. Then you smear that on butter waffle cookies, top with another cookie and freeze. Roll the sides in chopped pistachios before inhaling. SO rich but still very light. From the June 2008 Food & Wine (yeah, I'm behind in my magazines.....so?) Grilled Scallops with Mexican Corn Salad. The corn is *supposed* to be fresh, on the cob, and grilled. I cheated and used Trader Joe's frozen, roasted sweet corn kernals (an excellent product, BTW......), which I thawed, but didn't cook. You mix that with garlic, onion, lime juice, mayo, ancho chile powder and cotija cheese, and add hot sauce to taste. Grill your scallops (I used a grill pan) and serve on top of the corn salad. Finally, from the Chef's catalog website, Lemongrass-Garlic Stir Fried Pork. Sauce is lemongrass, fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice & Sriracha. In addition to the pork there's green beans, onion and red bell pepper in the stir fry, garnish with basil. Over lo mein noodles, it was outstanding !

Remembered another one this week while making dinner, and again, cannot for the life of me remember where I heard it, although I heard it repeatedly during 2008: When you're slicing onions, and you want the onion slices to retain some body and texture, and not become mushy and stringy, slice them lengthwise (from root to top) and not crosswise (parallel to the equater). I've heard recently that if you cut the onion in half from pole to pole (lengthwise) its better to, but IMO that doesn't make a huge difference. You may need to angle the knife a bit to get neat slices, but its worth it.

Absolutely agreed. Although it wasn't too bad in drinks that had another strong component (like lime juice, or maraschino......) it TOTALLY sucked in a martini. Really bad.

Sloppy Joes, America's Test Kitchen oven fried onion rings and coleslaw.

Do you think somebody can be a GOOD CHEF but not a GOOD HOME COOK? Absolutely ! Sometimes you need the adrenaline rush of the "performance" to really excel. And as Anna mentioned, just the difference in equipment and quality of ingredients can sink the best talents. I would imagine just the difference in scale is daunting to adapt to. In the pro kitchen you're cooking for what...usually 100-plus people per night? At least ? I'd think it would be difficult sometimes to bring that down to the significant other and the 2.5 kids in the breakfast nook.

FWIW, I think you are confusing a "GOOD CHEF" with a "GOOD HOME COOK". I am a damn outrageously excellent home cook. I have the techniques down, I know the difference between chop/dice/mince/concasse ('tho I don't know how to, erm...spell that !), I can make a roux with the best natural-born Cajun, I comprende sofrito, and trinity and mire poix, my proteins are done to a "T", my starches are fine, my veg is al dente, and never gray and mushy. I've taught myself to make excellent bread, my biscuits are more than acceptable, and I'm workin' on cakes. Cookies ? Been there, conquered that. Everyone I cook for loves my food. Everyone I cook for thinks I should a) open a restaurant, b) go on Top Chef, c) go on Next Food Network Star, d) write a cookbook. I could do none of the above. I can read a recipe and know if the people I cook for, and I (important point that…) will like it. I can read a recipe and know if the flavor profile will appeal to me and the people I cook for. I can read a recipe and think…….”hmmmmmmmmm…….I’d like more fill-in-the-blank in this”. I can read a recipe and KNOW if I can make it, and if it’s within my skill set. Can I look at olive juice and methylcellulose and make “olives” like Ferran Adria? Heck no. That’s just not in my skills. Do I respect that Ferran Adria can do that? YOU BETCHA ! But me……. I am not an inherently talented person, in any field. No art skills, can’t carry a tune in a bucket as my Dad used to say, can’t play an instrument, can’t match tastes/essences/aromas/textures and create something that makes people go “WOW, day-um, *I* sure never thought of that !” What I am is an aficionado. I can look at a Monet and appreciate it. I can hear a Beethoven symphony, or a Miles Davis groove and get it, and need to hear it over and over. I can read a Jacques Pepin, or a Julia Child, or a James Beard, or a Jose Andres recipe and say, yeah, that sounds good, and I can DO that. And I am a skilled technician in the kitchen. I can, within reason, replicate what someone else has created. And as someone who works in science, good technicians are a valuable commodity. But I am a great, a GREAT home cook. I put love, and passion, and myself into everything I make. There is a piece of me in every dish I serve, even if the only other audience for it than myself is the dogs. Even if I’m only cooking FOR ME, I put me into the dish. And that makes me a damn outrageously excellent home cook. And you too.

One of the things I've noticed, since I've become more thoughtful and reflective about my cooking activities, is that about once every 3 or 4 months I hit a cold streak in the kitchen. Just fall out of my groove. Not bad results necessarily, or even failures (though sometimes there's plenty of both of them too), but a serious and prolonged string of disappointments. Flavor combinations that don't work, even though they should, textures that aren't right, meat that goes from undercooked to shoe leather in a nanosecond. The drought usually lasts for around a week. And every dish in that week will be...off...in some manner. This has been one of those weeks. Even recipes I've made before are affected by the funk as well, so its not just that I'm picking dogs. Then, it'll right itself, the sun will shine, the bluebirds will sing and all will be right in the kitchen again. Does anyone else notice this? Is it biorhythm? The phases of the moon? I'm too old for it to be hormonal () so that's not it.

...supermarket fruit had taste (and fragrence). ...supermarkets had actual butchers, who actually butchered primal cuts, in store, rather than receiving cryo-vac packages of already broken down cuts. ...pork wasn't "enhanced".

OMG, Elsie, I made that for dinner last night too ! I thought the taste was outstanding, but I was a bit disappointed in the consistency of the sauce. I used a "light" coconut milk, and thought that might have made a difference. Did you use regular and, if so, how was the consistency of the sauce? I really tried to trim all the excess fat from the chicken, because I figured that would dilute the sauce from the slow cooking. I really think the coconut milk should've been the "full fat" version, with the heavy coconut cream. But I'll make it again. It was very, very tasty

Canned tomatoes are a staple. I couldn't cook without them. Not that they'd replace fresh in many instances, but in just as many others, they're preferable. Canned beans are also a staple. I actually prefer them to fresh (dried and cooked), but maybe its because I've never learned how to cook dried beans. My mom never made them, so until I attempted them as an adult, I never had them. I prefer the texture of the canned. My dried and cooked beans are either a) too mushy or b) too crunchy. I'm still trying to master them, though. Canned (not marinated) artichoke hearts are good to add to braises and pasta sauces. They're also a staple. Jarred (and marinated) 'choke hearts also have a place in my pantry. Canned cream corn is a comfort food I sometimes simply must have. All other canned veggies are evil. Bland, mushy, overly processed evil ick. Canned bamboo shoots and water chestnuts have an off taste that I can't tolerate any longer after having tasted dishes made with fresh. Canned sauerkraut is just nasty and should be banned. Only the fresh, refrigerated stuff in the glass jars is acceptable. And since I have sauerkraut juice running in my veins, you know I speak the truth.

They are quite creamy inside and toasted on the outside. While they don't compare with the best I have had fresh, they are better than the worst I have had from a bakery. I like to keep a box on hand for desperate cravings. The price is pretty good too. Thanks. I think we'll pick some up. Having never had the real thing (and never even knowing such lovelies existed before jgarner53 wrote about them), I have to say I like TJ's version. I do realize they're probably not the best ever, but they are good, at least to my uneducated palate. I'm on my 3rd box...

The meatballs & sauce idea is great, as is your lasagna. I'd suggest...... A *GOOD* meatloaf, ready to plop into the oven An enchilada casserole (or just plain enchiladas) also ready to go (maybe you'd need the sauce separate from the filled tortillas so they don't get soggy) Biscuits/scones frozen individually so they could be baked off as needed Soups or chili ready to go into the pot to thaw & rewarm...... I'd buy all of 'em.