Pierogi

Oh TOTALLY. Or even overnight if you can stand it. But only the potato chips, please.

Being inherently cheap, and living in a circa 1940's house with corresponding plumbing........ Also, having been thoroughly indoctrinated by my Dad that "grease doesn't go down the drain......." I have what we here in Southern California, at least amongst my circle, call the "Surprise de Trashman" or SdeT. Its a large jar, with a tight lid (commercial pasta sauce jars are the BEST) that lives in a corner of the freezer and gets all pourable quantities of any grease (except bacon, or Please God, duck) dumped into it when cool, re-lidded, and then re-stashed in the freezer. When full, it gets a sticky note posted somewhere I can see that says "SdeT" to remind me to deposit it into the trash bin on the morning of pickup, so it stays frozen and doesn't slime my huge, city-issued trash bin, thus causing me to waste water to wash the darn thing out. My mom used an empty tin can with an aluminum foil lid. I like to think my generation has improved the concept. The usual life-span of my "SdeT" jar is at least 3 or 4 months. Then its time to buy more jarred pasta sauce.

Second best TC quote ever...... "I'm the only cock in the stall" I fell OFF my chair laughing, what an apt description of himself Stefan came up with. New candidate for a T-shirt, although "I'm not your bitch, bitch" still wins as probably the best quote, ever, ANYWHERE. Yeah, I'm getting more & more disappointed as each week goes along. Come on, you want to make a *cherry* tomato sauce for your ravioli, you go to a freakin' farm and because they don't have *cherry* tomatoes, you make......ummmmm....dense pesto???? Why not use, like regular tomatoes you dice really finely? And why, on Earth, would you, as the judges kept harping on, take the meat off the bone? Even I, a marginally talented home cook, know that meat always tastes more succulent if its cooked on the bone. Come on. And even *I* know how to tie a roast. Really underwhelming offerings tonight, seriously I could do better than that. Bruschetta, Jamie, come ON.

OK, I've thoroughly digested the latest issue, and I have to say.......I'm OK with it. Yes, it looks different, and yes, I miss the pull-out with the quick, weeknight meals. But I don't think they lost anything in the remodel. The feature on the croissants was dead-on. Not a baker, I, but I still think I could probably pull off making croissants from those instructions. Of course, the lack of 4 feet of counter space might restrict me, but still.... I really don't think they dumbed down anything, and that they kept what the soul of the magazine was. So it looks slicker, yeah, well, it *IS* all about the glitz, isn't it? Sad but true. If the content is there, and IMHO it is, who gives a flip about glitzy graphics. Whatever it takes in this economy (and culture) to sell print media, I say. Edit because "that they" makes a whole lot more sense than "that the"......

I will when I have a nano-second or 2 to type it up, and find the source, so I can give credit... Thanks all for the advice.

I am a HUGE Ina fan......have all of her books with the exception of the new one, and I love them and cook from them often. I think her recipes are fabulous, real food for real people, that can be done in a realistic amount of time, using fresh ingredients. Yeah, sometimes she gets on my last nerve, like when she makes a lobster chowder with about 5 pounds of lobster tail meat she's gotten from her fish monger, and trills about how much easier it is to have someone cook and clean the critters for you (right, Ina, like *I* can afford that.....) but still....... Over all, I find her style very accessible, and very real. I've never had a failure with one of her dishes. I can't even say that about La Supreme Julia.....

NO LIE !!!!!!! Truer words were never spoken, or whatever that quote is.....

They were the worst EVER. EVER. Even Julie Chen is better than they were. I almost swore off ICA forever after watching that travesty, even with having Symon join the crew. Why not have my dogs as judges? They'll eat canes off my rosebushes.....That was about the same qualifications as food "critics" or judges as those two fools.

Thanks to the wonder that is the "interwebs" I have found a copy cat recipe for an old Southern California delicacy that used to be sold by Van de Kamp's bakery "franchises" for want of a better term. For those of you who didn't grow up in California in the 50's & 60's, Van de Kamp's had what I think were independent franchises in the major grocery chains of the day, where they sold their own branded products. In their heyday, they had "hostess" dressed in bright blue dresses with pristine white, starched, lacy pinafores over them, and white buckram "Dutch Girl" hats. The full name was "Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakeries" so the Dutch getups made sense. As with most wonderful things of one's childhood, Van de Kamp's has gone the way of penny candy and double features. But I digress. They sold a coffee cake that was sublime. It was called a Dutch Twist, and it was a yeasted cake, braided much like a challah bread loaf, and sprinkled with an absolute TON of coarse sugar before baking, so the crust became marvelously carmelized. It was amazing. My dearest friend in the entire world has recently been expressing a longing for the Dutch Twist, and lamenting about how much she misses it and how good it was. I found what is supposedly the recipe, and would love to make it for her, but its written for an automatic bread machine, which I don't have, and don't want. Does anyone have any tips for converting the recipe (its the mixing and initial rise portion that takes place in the machine) to be done either manually, or in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Thanks so much in advance. *I* would love to taste this delight again as well.....

I would guess pretty well, if you cut it right. I do Brussels' sprouts roasted all the time, and LOVE them. You'd want the cabbage shredded pretty thickly, I'd think.....

I just got the new edition yesterday, and haven't had time to thoroughly peruse it yet, but at first glance, I'm with you Bekki. At first I didn't realize it was even "Fine Cooking". The first thing I usually looked for with it was that fold-out section with the everyday recipes, I'd found so many gems there. When I didn't find it, my initial reaction was....."hmmmm, maybe that was in another magazine......" And yes, my pet peeve of ALL cooking magazines is having to cut and paste recipes, or where there are 2 recipes I'm interested in that are on back-to-back pages. Sorry, I don't have a photocopy machine at home, and it irks me that no one on the editorial staffs think about this. Regarding "Fine Cooking" the jury here is still out, but at first glance, I'm not happy either. Why mess with something that worked?

Have one, lusted after one, begged all my friends to gift me with one (Ohhhhh, its the best EVER, I'll use it EVERY time I need to chop something, its SOOO much better than a knife-------you get the drift--------) Ummmm, can't honestly remember the last time I used it. For *SURE* more than 2 or 3 years ago. For sure. The most I can remember it for is being careful not to cut myself on it when I'm trying to get my garlic press or muddler out of the drawer where it lives. Time for Mr. Mezzaluna to go to my charity 'o' choice. I think I used it, like, maybe, twice. Once with the friend who gave it to me being an audience, so I'm not sure that counts.... Trust me.........don't go there. Your chef's knife is a much better tool and a much better friend.

I, for one, hated, just hated his mugging to the audience for his "Live" shows and his, for lack of a better term........."schtick" that he used on those shows. That said, I always respected him as a chef, and as a culinary talent, and liked, not loved, but liked, his "Essence" shows. But I avoided his live shows like the plague. My respect for him has multiplied exponentially after Katrina and his committment to New Orleans and his employees there. He really walked the walk there, and he is to be commended. I very much like his shows on Planet Green, and have gotten a lot of ideas and recipes from them. He's much more low-key and restrained, and very enjoyable. But I still avoid any replays of his "Live" shows like I would avoid a hot poker to the eye.

We've had the thread about "Recipes that Rocked in 2008" running for a bit, and it's been, well, rocking with its information. So how about a companion thread. What is the single best kitchen/cooking hint or tip or shortcut or technique you learned in 2008? The source would be interesting as well. I'll start.... For me it was to salt your salad greens BEFORE you dress them. Toss the greens and the other ingredients with some salt, then dress them and toss with the dressing. Adjust the seasoning at that point if needed. It makes a huge difference in taste, I don't know why, but it really does. And for the life of me, I can't remember where I found that little gem. I'm pretty sure I read it in a newspaper article, and I'm also pretty sure that the credit was given to either Judy Rogers of the Zuni Cafe, or Joyce Goldstein of Square One, both San Francisco institutions.

First off...........anyone else think it was LAME that they allowed salt and pepper to be identified in the list of ingredients in the Quick Fire. I mean, come on, those are "gimmes", what sauce doesn't contain salt and pepper. They should have been disallowed. That said, the balance of the Quick Fire was excellent, as was the Elimination. And I am SO glad Beard Boy is gone. He was really getting on my last nerve. Anyone that spends that much time sculpting his facial hair is not serious about cooking. Or much of anything else but his ego. I am stunned that Ariane (sp??) has started to shine. Maybe she really does have some talent and was just undone by nerves initially. Also good to see Stefan fall on his, errrrr, rump. ETA-----oh, and the "new"......HELLO......I was screaming at the TV, how about foams? How about sous vide? How about molecular gastronomy techniques? That's NEW. Sushi, deconstructed sushi, BAD deconstructed sushi, ahhh, not so much.

Hi Janet, I too, feel your pain in the small kitchen department. Although I own my home, there is not sufficient $$$ for a remodel to enlarge my 1950's era postage-stamp size kitchen. However, I've got you beat......*I* have FIVE drawers !!! Whooooo-hooooo ! Off the top of my head, one thing I can immediately help with is the under cabinet lighting. I have seen, don't know where, but chains like Lowe's or Home Depot MUST have them......strip lights that can be mounted under cabinets that are battery powered. If not strip lights, for sure then little, round individual lights that are battery powered that you push on and off. They mount with double-faced adhesive tape and I've thought about them for a stretch of cabinets I have that leave me with my own black hole of a counter. Presently, I use that counter only for staging ingredients, not for any kind of prep, so I haven't pursued them, but they certainly sound as though they'd be a good fit for you. Looking forward to seeing what else our creative group comes up with for those of us with "petite" kitchens.

I made a braised beef brisket last year that was rubbed with finely ground coffee and some other spices I believe, left to marinate in the dry rub over night, and then cooked in a braising liquid that contained espresso among other things. It was OUTSTANDING, probably the best braised brisket I've ever made. PM me if you want the recipe.

Until a year or so ago, Taco Bell (or Taco Hell as we called it when I was in school) held a special place in my gastronomic heart of hearts. It was THE fast food of choice in So Cal when I was in high school and college. There was one literally out the back door of where I worked while I was in college, so many a lunch break consisted of a cup of frijoles, a tostada and a burrito. *SIGH*......good times as they say. Even in my more mature years, I'd get a craving about 3 or 4 times a year for two tacos Supreme and a Mexican Pizza (I believe that's combo #6). Then......e. Coli hit, and Taco Bell stopped using scallions in any of their food, even though scallions were ultimately vindicated as the source of their contamination incident. Taco Bell food without scallions is just not the same. I've only been back one or two times in the past couple of years, and I no longer hear the siren song of Taco Bell calling my name. Sure wish they'd bring back scallions.

Sub a couple of puppies for the kitties and that's my idea of heaven as well ! As you can see from my pics, it isn't cabbage rolls for me unless there's poppy seed noodles along with them. Wide egg noodles tossed with butter and poppy seeds, then with croutons that have been sauteed in, yes, more butter, until they get soft and chewy and still sort of crispy. Homemade croutons are obviously the best, but packaged will work. You could, I suppose, add a small salad as well, I'd choose sturdy greens (romaine, endive, etc.) and a strong vinaigrette, but that would be option. The noodles are mandatory. ETA-----OH OH OH, just looked at my pics again, and off in the corner I saw a glimpse of another little bowl of Polish bliss, cucumbers in sour cream. That works too. Paper thin slices of cuke, some finely sliced scallion and chopped hard cooked egg whites, dressed with sour cream, lemon juice or vinegar to taste, S&P and dill, then the egg yolk sprinkled over. That certainly works for me.....

I can't recall seeing Archway cookies out here on the Left Coast until, maybe 10 or so years ago. Certainly they were never one of the brands of my childhood. Mother's, however, were. They used to make a variety pack that was the commercial cookie offering of my dreams: it had Gauchos (P/B sandwiches), Iced Raisins, a coconut bar whose name eludes me, something I believe were called "Taffy" somethings (can't remember the specifics of them either, but I do remember I liked them) and some actually-pretty-decent thick but crisp chocolate chip cookies that actually tasted of *gasp* butter. There may have been another variety in the mix, but it too escapes me. I loved them because, not only were they actually pretty decent cookies, there were only 4 of each variety in the package. Enough to keep you interested,but not enough to burn you out. I get bored quickly with anything food (not a leftover lover, I...) and this suited my tastes to a "T". I haven't seen this variety package in several years, and I've kept looking. I can still find bags of the Gauchos and the Iced Raisins, but not the mix. I miss it. And I do admit to the guilty pleasure of the Iced Circus Animals many, many times, especially in times of stress. That being said, the quality of Mother's cookies has tanked in the past few years. They, like many other things, are not what they used to be. But it will be sad to loose yet another iconic West Coast brand. I can't remember a time when I didn't see trucks (not semis, but the smaller, local-delivery type panel trucks) with the Mother's logo and colors (pink & purple) on the area freeways.

The Sazerac is one of my favorite cocktails, and I've tried several of the suggestions here for uses of St. Germain (and enjoyed every one of them). This looks like another one well worth giving a try! Thanks. ← let me know what you think... any votes on a name? or does it already have one? ← I've been having my own bit of fun with St. Germain for the past couple of months, and I tried this one over the weekend...I think it was Monday actually, the day you posted. As Brinza said, the Sazarac is one of my favorite cocktails and this certainly sounded like a good combo. It was maybe my favorite use for the St. Germain yet. The play of the St. Germain with the Pernod was really intriguing. I do like it in a Manhattan as described upthread, but I think maybe the Sazarac was better. Possibly more research is needed to come to a definative conclusion !!! Thanks for posting this, it's in my repertoire now for sure. And I'll cast my vote for the St. Saz.

Andie, I couldn't agree with you more. I began having qualms about Chinese "QC/QA" (note the parentheses........) last year after the pet food wheat gluten-melamine contamination problems. I work, and have worked, in the regulatory affairs/quality assurance field for drugs and medical devices for over 30 years, and I know my way around the regulations, the regulatory agencies and the press releases. Much moreso than the average person. When I read what was going on with the deliberate spiking of the wheat gluten with melamine, I realized we, as an importing nation, were in serious trouble. I sort of thought it wouldn't be too bad, because......well........"it's *just* pet food". Not that *I* thought that way, but I realized the regulators and many consumers did. The first thing I did when I realized the scope of the pet food contamination was thow out everything in my cupboards that was destined for my 2 dogs that contained wheat gluten. Then I vowed never to purchase anything, anything, ever again, that I would feed them that had this ingredient. Of course, I also realize its a Band-Aid. We, as consumers, have absolutely no way of knowing where the ingredients in pet foods are coming from. Then the heparin (a blood-thining drug) recalls hit earlier this year. Most of you are probably not aware of this, unless you're an FDA-geek like I am. In a nutshell, bulk heparin sodium is imported from China, and formulated by US pharamaceutical manufacturers into finished dosage forms. The heparin sodium is the active ingredient in the drug. The Chinese heparin that caused the problems was contaminated with an impurity which caused it to be super-potent. It could not be detected on normal testing. So, if you were given a dose of a heparin injection (quite common in surgical procedures, if you have a problem with too much blood clotting, or if you have an infusion port for chemotherapy), you could potentially bleed to death internally because of the potency problem. This recall affected 10s of very large, *VERY* well know pharmaceutical manufacturers. The jury is still out on whether the contamination in these cases was deliberate, as was the melamine in the wheat gluten, or accidental. To drag this back to topic.........I do not believe that the quality assurance/quality control regimens in any product produced in China is up to the standards we expect to be applied to products sold in the US. FDA's capabilities (and leadership.....) are woefully inadequate to assure the standards we have achieved in the past (witness the latest Salmonella saintpaul outbreak in Mexican peppers, which was tomatoes......no.......cilantro......no peppers, yeah, that's it, peppers !). For 6 weeks they couldn't figure out what was making Americans sick ! I'm with you. I now scrutinize everything I buy, for human or pet consumption, with a literal magnifying glass, and if I have any doubt whatsoever about the origin of any ingredient, back on the shelf it goes. Unfortunately, as I said, we have no way of knowing where a lot of the "incidental" ingredients originate from, and even a lot of the "key" ingredients. We need to start demanding labeling that gives us this information so we can make informed decisions. I'll get down off my soapbox now.............

Do you apply a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream? I do, and the only parts that get frosty, even weeks later, are those that aren't touching the plastic. YES, YES, YES ! I even do this with commercial ice creams and it works so well. Rip off a big ol' piece of plastic wrap, and press it down tight onto the entire surface. You can keep it for weeks with no crystallization. No air contact EQUALS no ice crystals. ETA----Replace the container's original cover over the plastic wrap, obviously, but just so's there's no confusion..........

Interestingly enough, there was a Newsweek article excerpted on th MSNBC website earlier today that talked about the Bennigan's closing and basically said, Bennigan's was seen as more outdated than other options, and most people prefer places like *hork* Olive Garden. So I don't know that I'd extend the doom & gloom to all dreck chains with commisary-style food. Those *dreck chains* that at least have the apperance of keeping up with the times, and re-doing their menus to be "light" and "healthy" will probably be just fine, no matter what they charge. The big diss against Bennigan's was that their menu was perceived as heavy and dated, and the individual outlets' decor was also perceived as passe. Several quotes in the article basically reiterated the same thing........."I'd rather go to Olive Garden". Go figure.

One word.........*smothered* baby. Oh yeah. Smothered chicken (fried, of course) or smothered pork chops (ditto), drizzled with Tabasco sauce, greens, cornbread and mac & cheese on the side. Maybe dressing. Oh. Yeah.