tommy

i started a "brining" topic if anyone wants to share their experience with this particular approach.

there has been some discussion of brining here of the past few days. it might be worthy of its own topic. my questions: how? how long? does it really work? i'm doing ribs this weekend, and it has been suggested that i brine them. thoughts?

i know it was probably discussed elsewhere, but since i missed it, can someone describe spatchcock, or whatever that backbone cutting thing is called?

it's that damned plotnicki and one of his 20 personalities again. edit: for the sake of clarity, let me say that i'm not referring to ron.

i sometimes brush the skin with honey towards the end of the cooking process.

the begs the question: where do you get a 3 legged-chicken? i'm also a fan of stuffing an herb mixture under the skin. liza, the innards don't cook to much in the roasting pan? obviously throw carrots, celery, onion and a head of garlic in the pan as well so that you can get some good au jus from the thing when you're done.

i don't recall the producers. in all fairness, only 2 or so. but both weren't good, so even that small sample was an indication. if you can recommend a producer i'll track it down.

yes. regarding brining drawing out water and intensifying flavor, i can't imagine that there will be much of a noticable difference with ribs once you put BBQ sauce on them.

i would not bother comparing NZ wines to australian wines. especially the whites. NZ is steel, australian is still using (too much) oak. as suggested, pinots are all the rage out of NZ these days. however, the pinots i've tried were borderline horrible. it might be interesting to try a few different producers though, as there has got to be a decent there somewhere! favorites: sauv blanc: brandcott, cloudy bay (the 97 was incredible, and could probably be credited with starting the NZ SB rage, but they have gotten weaker and weaker), allan scott, babich, stoneleigh, villa maria, nautilus, goldwater, giesen.

herr klink is handsome and looks very much like i did 5 years ago. very strange indeed. thanks for the tips. edit: "clink/klink", what's the difference.

over night? i am one of those people that thinks that brining doesn't do a whole lot. but i've never brined. any additional ideas on preparation in general? i was going to do the standard store-bought BBQ sauce. i know there is probably a whole lot more i could do, and i wouldn't be averse to doing a few different preps. maybe a dry rub for some? maybe a homemade sauce concoction?

brine meaning water with equal parts of sugar, salt, and sarcasm? or regular old brine with just water, sugar, and salt. the distinction, obviously, is important here.

i'm going to make baby back ribs for mother's day. i figure i'll do 'em on the (gas) grill. i've read a few things about cooking ribs, all which seem to make sense. 1) low indirect heat 2) do not boil first 3) put in oven on low heat first to render some of the fat out do any of you fine folks have any advice on how to make tender, juicy, falling off the bone baby back ribs?!?! thanks in advance.

i've found i mostly use truffle oil in the garbage. you see, i use it so seldom and sparingly because it's so damned expensive, that it ends up going bad on me. stupid, i know.

glenn, try vermont teddy bear. they seem popular. we're grilling some eats at home, weather permitting. oh hell, i'll grill either way, but i just be wetter if it rains. going out on mother's day does seem to be a not-so-great idea. but, some mothers like it, and that's all that matters.

some of those other soups are so good, i wouldn't order anything but. the "Exotic Green w. Pork & Tofu" is just so fantastic, my friends proclaim "i could eat this every, single, day, for dinner!" i'm not sure if we (rachel, jason, etc) had this together or not, but do try it if you haven't. i'm still so darned excited about this place. i've brought probably 12 people to china 46 all totaled, and every one was very impressed. more than impressed. i think "amazed" is the word. i'm just great. p.s. we were about 1/2 a second from going there for dinner last night too, but decided to go home. we ordered regular old boring chinese...which was just horrible. Edit: Fixed some code. RPerlow

it should be, and is, church-and-state in any reputable rag. there is no grey area. in the event that this isn't the case (and why anyone would read these publications is beyond me), the readership is (usually) keen enough to pick up on it, as it's pretty obvious. with that said, it is a fact that a very sizable percentage of people "read" magazines for the ads, most notably music, beauty, and fashion mags (naming only a few genres), where the ads are at least as appealing to the reader as the copy. personally, i read mags for the half-naked chicks in the ads. edit: after reading that article: yuck. worse yet, TV. as we all know, everyone believes *every*thing they see on TV. this is an outrage.

miss j brings up an interesting issue. i would say it's even thread worthy. obviously we're all very much into food. too much some might say. *but*, how many of our significant others don't give a squat about food? i can say that mrs. tommy and i both share an enormous passion for food and dining. however, i'm sensing that this is not always the case. and if not, how do the gourmets in us feel when we present a beautiful dish to our significant other, only to have is scoffed down as if it were slop. i mean, how can you go on cooking when your masterpiece is getting that reception? hmmm. luckily for me, mrs. tommy pretends she likes whatever i cook.

basically, i'm just really critical. so if there's a subject, you can bet i have an opinion on it, albeit a mis/uninformed one.

actually, i'm quite serious. 'cept for the whining part. if you want results, do what it takes to get them.

you are absolutely right. that's different thread. but, if you want results, take actions that will yield those results, as opposed to not and whining about it.

i would simply not use a website to make a dinner reservation. ordering books, yes. making plans for dinner, no way. besides, they have cool pictures on the website, and we all know that the web's most useful application is looking at pictures.

i would not bother with online reservations. as glenn has suggests, restaurants just aren't able to keep up with the online world, even though they get sold a bill of goods from some web-developer shmuck. give 'em a ring, the old fashioned way.

i do. but apparently my body often says "one more margarita please". drats.

and your fingers smell of some crazy funk when you're done. definitely not worth it.