Huevos del Toro

Either a Moka Pot or a vacuum pot. I've also used a press pot but wasn't quite enthused with the sediment that slipped through.

My order of preference is planning, cooking, then eating. I find, however, that by the time I sit down to eat I already feel satiated. This has puzzled me for years. Am I alone in this? It isn’t because of “excessive” tasting or pre-meal snacks. I’ve suspected that this occurs because I’ve been looking at food and smelling it as it cooks. This may satisfy my hunger center. It’s not unusual to serve my guests and have to struggle to sit down and eat. I do, of course, because I enjoy their company. Oddly, this doesn’t occur as often when I cook just for myself. Would someone please tell me that I’m not alone with this phenomenon? Is there a way around it?

This morning's (Jan 15, 2005) Dallas Morning News has a nice review of Suvir's "Indian Home Cooking" cookbook. Also included is the recipe for Coconut Chicken With Cashews, picture included. Way to go Suvir! Click here.

I keep mine in Word files. I've made both an index and hyperlinked to them. With literally hundreds to choose from it works out nicely. When I try something new I print out the recipe, stick it on the range hood and trash it (if I haven't made notes of changes) when I'm finished. I'm sure there are better methods but this has worked for me over the years. I also paste any pictures in there that are available, including my own food porn.

Alton Brown turned me on to the EMSA Perfect Beaker. I use it more than my collection of Pyrex cups.

One grandmother originallyfrom Oklahoma but later Washington state. The other grandmother originally from Illinois but also later Washington state. Mostly pumpkin pie, but my mother always baked 1 or 2 dozen fruitcakes, wrapped them in brandy soaked cheesecloth, then "tin" foil, and stored them for a year before distributing them. I'd been known to sneak out of bed in the middle of the night, accompanied by my brother, and quietly unwrap one (or maybe two), squeeze the brandy out, drink it, then carefully re-wrap so there were no telltale signs. Ah, sneaky little kids! We also poked a little hole in the 50 pound sugar bag, wet a finger and licked the sugar off. We always blamed the hole on those blasted mice! I don't think my mother was fooled.

Topped with cheese and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds, broiled until melted and bubbly.

Culvers has their signature ButterBurger® but it's buttered buns, not buttered meat. Still a rather tasty burger. Not award winning but freshly made with fresh ingredients. If I'm going to add anything to the meat I'll sometimes bury a little blue cheese in the middle. I have been known to add a knob of butter to a steak but good beef doesn't really need anything more that salt, pepper, and an extremely hot cast iron skillet, finished off under the broiler. edited to add last paragraph.

Timer? Yup. My biggest problem is getting everything to come out at a predetermined time. I'm anal enough to make a little "cheat sheet". I work backwards, starting with the time I want to serve. Then I list plating time and work backwards. That way I have a "general" idea when to start each dish. If I don't do this I get lost because I don't multi-task well if I don't have a plan. The fact that I've spent my entire career in scientific/engineering disciplines surely contributes to my anality (is that a word?). In a word...Polder. I also depend on the temp probe to give me an idea of when to pull it and let it rest to finish cooking.

I like this Bacon & Potato Chowder from a Land-O-Lakes book that's 12 years old. It's fast to make, uses no fancy ingredients, and is right tasty. It's the quality of the bacon that makes it!!!

Keller's Drive-In at NW Hwy and Abrams. Car hop service, covered parking, great burger and they serve BEER with it! An old timey classic joint. If they're still open, there also used to be twp others, one on the North side of I30 @ Samuel and one on Harry Hines just south of NW Hwy. In the summer there is a steady stream of cars pulling through to get their cases of beer, delivered by the car-hops.

The United States D(epartment) O(f) E(nergy) has this to say: As soon as any of the salt dissolves in the water, the boiling point of the water will begin to rise -- by about one half degree Celsius for every 58 grams of salt dissolved per kilogram of water. In fact, any non-volatile soluble substance will raise the boiling point of water. So you see, you’re adding such a relatively small amount of salt to the pasta water that the increase in boiling temperature is so small that it has, for all practical purposes, a negligible effect on cooking time. It DOES, however, add or enhance flavor.

When we used to dive for abalone we did the same thing. Pound the hell out of the steaks with a Coke bottle, then flash fry them. Anything else we tried left them tough as a tire. We never tried slow, long cooking but that would have probably worked as well. Squid, octopus, abalone...Fast and hot or low and slow. Anything inbetween makes for anything you want to be extrtemely durable.

Did the freezer full of moose include this too? Sorry, a little off topic, but I temporarily lost control. Slap my hand!

Don't forget to braise the shanks!

Did it in the 50's in the Pacific Northwest. Bottled Coke. For me it was the contrast of sweet/salty as well as a textural thing. I still occasionally do it, probably as much for the nostalgia as anything. This was during the times my father would let me drink some of his Coke out of the bottle so he could load some bourbon back in.

My first drunk occurred in my senior high school year. A friend and I raided an orchard late one night and got enough apples to press over 30 gallons of cider. His father was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and had charge of the cider press. Lucky us! I took two gallons of cider, giving the rest to my friend. Using tubing and glassware I “borrowed” from the chemistry lab I added raisins and some yeast to each of the gallon jugs. After waiting several days, until the activity stopped, another friend and I decided to have a go at it. We owned a motion picture theatre at the time and my “chemistry experiment” was set up in the ushers changing room. The film that was supposed to be shown that night was late arriving but finally did show up. I closed the theatre as usual, loaded the tardy film and broke out a gallon of my homemade hooch. I do remember it tasting particularly nasty but we drank it anyway, all the while lounging in the balcony, watching our own private movie. We both got pretty blotto. I finally closed up the theatre and walked (more like staggered) home. My mother and father were waiting up for me. Dad asked me what I’d been drinking and I thought I could bluff my way through. “Nothing. What do you mean?” At that moment I just happened to fall over. My father told my mother to put me to bed, which she dutifully did. The next morning I felt like I was going to die. My mother later told me that she and my father knew that my punishment would come the next morning and there would be no need for corporal punishment. Boy, were they right! I thought I was going to die. Days later I poured the rest of that hard cider down the drain. Lesson learned!

My grandmother would do the white rice, milk and sugar thing back in the '50s. This was in the Pacific Northwest but she was raised in Oklahoma and Grandfather was from Indiana. Maybe this helps support the Midwest theory. Even though its been 50 some years since I last had it my taste memory is so strong I can actually taste it as I type. Wonder what other kinds of rice would be like when treated like that? Thanks for the flashback!

A quick dip in flour and into the frypan. I dipped them from their river run back in the 50’s. Big dip net on a long pole. Sometimes I’d have to dump some out because the net would be so full I couldn’t pull it in. Our favorite was to simply dust them in seasoned flour and fry ‘em up. The neighbor converted an old refrigerator into a smoker. Pull the fish guts out, put a hotplate in the bottom of the refrigerator. Add an old aluminum saucepan filled with wood chips. I have no idea what kind of wood! Then hang the smelt from the wires on the racks. Smoke ‘em ‘till their done, then fight over who got to them first! I’ve eaten a lot of different fish but smelt have to be one of my all time favorites. A classy fish if they’re done right! Nothing beats netting them yourself. The season is short but the riverbank is crowded when they’re running. It appears the limit is now 20 pounds a day. I used to net that much in 10 minutes from the Cowlitz river at Castle Rock, a tributary of the Columbia.

Celery!...More than you imagined!

Any yellow cheese I have on hand, usually sharp cheddar. Whole wheat bread, buttered (I don’t allow margarine in my house) both sides but not inside. Cast iron skillet. Low heat, long cooking time. No smashing. Serve with pickled jalapeño peppers and a tall glass of cold milk. Sometimes potato chips but they’re not necessary (the jalapeño’s and milk ARE). Yum! Sometimes one isn’t quite enough so I’ll do a second one. I’m a bachelor so I can do as I please. I even drink straight from the milk jug!

What Eric said. A bar in Old Sacramento, years and years ago. A full sized horse-drawn fire engine hangs over the bar. Upstairs..."Men" and "Women" with attendent hands pointing to the opposite door. Separates the locals from the tourists quite effecively. Well, it was funny the first time. Less so later.

Has anyone compared toasted sweet rice with toasted jasmine rice? I have both but I'm unsure which to toast to add to the larb. Does it matter? Will the jasmine rice add aroma while still providing the texture? Curious.

Yup, Lodge cast iron. No need to put it in the dishwasher. Just swish it out with hot water, dry it & maybe a light swipe with an oiled paper towel before storage. Mine has lasted at least 40 years and is still like new. And you can't beat the price. LeCruset may look nice but Lodge is a much greater bargain. OK, I'm biased. So sue me!

The Gingerman at 2718 Boll Street in Dallas. About 50 fresh beers on tap plus some bottled. Nice outside upstairs balcony for summer lounging. The nitrogen truck gets there in the early morning to refill the tank for Guiness. Edited to provide link