vogelap

Any of the IRON CHEFs are my favorites on Food Network. I just love the IRON CHEFs. Even my license plate says, "IRN CHEF".

Three things I miss... 1. WAHOOS snack food from General Mills. Original flavored. The last batch was produced in July of 2003. They were SO good. Anyone else try these? 2. The old MARATHON candy bars. Simply caramel and chocolate. DELICIOUS! 3. The ORIGINAL Whatchamacallit candy bar, before they added the caramel. WAY better than they are now. I spoke with General Mills a few minutes before finding this thread, which is why I know the exact date of the demise of WAHOOS.

I've noticed a printing issue with the class on Brining. Typically, when I see that a new class has been posted, I select PRINT THIS TOPIC. For some reason, with the Brining class, the right side margins are all messed up -- the text flows off the page. It's not on my end; the class on DRIVE IN cooking printed fine (and it was posted after the Brining class). Can someone check, fix, and let me know, please?

Ah, the things that get us nicknames... It reminds me of an old girlfriend of mine. She took me home to meet her family. Her father told me that Bonnie's nickname as a child was "poo-ball" and asked if I wanted to know why. My response? "Hell no!" Never did find out what that meant, but the mind boggles. Sincerely, Drew "Silver Sleeves" Vogel

We ended up painting our kitchen blood-red to hide such tong-attacks... See this picture!

Now there is an image I could have gone ALL DAY without having pop into my mind's eye. I guess I have to gouge out my mind's eye now. Who's got a pointy stick?

Have you ever considered wearing a shirt to dinner?

Well, I would imagine that one health concern would be the heart-attack when someone unsuspecting walks into the bathroom and sees a sow soaking in the tub!

This thread is just one (of the many!) reason why I love eGullet. Wendy & I are going to Charleston SC (a place called "Folley"?) next week and she tasked me with finding 'a couple good places' to eat while there. Now, bearing in mind that Charleston is Wendy's family vacation spot and that I've never been there, I turned immediately to eGullet for answers. A quick search located this thread which I printed and highlighted. Now I feel like I've got a nice selection of restaurants from which to choose! I am going to TRY MY DARNDEST to get us (or at the very least ME!) to the POST OFFICE, having heard lots about it. Are there any other restaurants/shacks that are outstanding? I'm also looking forward to getting some nice fresh shrimp and making Shrimp & Boursin Fettucini while we're there...

Apple And Chestnut Soup with Spiced Cream Serves 8 as Soup. SPICED CREAM c Heavy Cream tsp Ground Cinnamon tsp Ground Allspice tsp Ground Ginger tsp Sugar tsp Salt SOUP T Unsalted Butter 1 Medium Onion, Diced 1 Stalk Celery, Diced 1 Granny Smith Apple, Peeled, Cored, and Chopped oz Jar Prepared French Chestnuts c Chicken Stock, Unsalted T Marsala Wine c Heavy Cream Salt & Pepper To Taste SPICED CREAM: In a small bowl, combine the cream, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, sugar, and salt and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate for 1 hour. SOUP: In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the apples, onion, and celery and cook until tender and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chestnuts and stock, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chestnuts are very soft, about 20 minutes. Process the soup with a stick blender until very smooth. Alternatively, with a slotted spoon, remove the apples, onions, celery, and chestnuts (reserving the cooking liquor) from the saucepan. Put solids into a blender and puree (in batches, if necessary) until very smooth. Return puree to the saucepan. Add the Marsala and cream, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set the pan over medium heat and gently reheat the soup. Whisk the spiced cream until lightly foamy. Ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish with the spiced cream. Keywords: Soup, Intermediate, Dinner, Immersion Blender ( RG467 )

I'm big, but I don't know if I is dumb.

I love my Henckels... I've got two... One 10" chef's knife that sees little use (it was a gift, and the person thought that because I'm a big guy I'd want a big knife. This one is a bit too big!), and one 6" chef's knife that I use almost every day. They're the four-star series, and I like them very much.

I very much enjoy TDG, but would enjoy them even more if there was a way to format them for printing. I tend to do a LOT of reading at lunchtime (away from computer), and a PRINT THIS ARTICLE option would be most welcome on www.egullet.com. Any chances of that happening?

Of course the processor would toughen the dough if you left it in there, but he said to pulse just until it comes together, then take it out and work it by hand... I'm probably going to try that sometime this week. I'll report back!

Dave... Nah, he's actually VERY awesome. Great culinary sensibilities, and a truly outstanding touch with flavor and presentations. He's a Certified Executive Chef and works with students in cooking competitions, as well as being a competitor (at a different level, of course) himself. He's got this "Chicago attitude" that I was attempting to convey in my message, and certainly did not mean to cast him in any sort of a borish light. That's not the case at all!

Holy smoke! $1000 for a pasta machine seems excessive to me! I'm getting plenty of use out of my $40 machine at home. Yes, it is clear to me that everyone has 'their' formula for pasta, though I must admit that my chef's suggestion to use the food processor instead of the well method makes sense, especially since I had one well 'break' and spill the egg mixture across my island. Ah well. Live & learn!

Last night I attempted to make fresh pasta, but it didn't work. My flour was too dry, and no amount of additional liquid seemed to help. It just didn't work. Fortunately, I had some dried lasagna noodles on hand, so dinner came off without a hitch. I prepared a meal for my chef-mentor, his wife (also a chef), my fiancee, and a friend of ours. Everything was very good, and I was explaining my fresh pasta catastrophy to my chef-mentor. He asked me to go through the steps I'd followed... I said, "I got some flour together, and dumped it on my work counter in the kitchen. Made a little well in the flour...". "STOP!" he said. Loudly. My chef-mentor is a really wonderful guy, but he hides it well under a gruff exterior. "What?," I said, "I thought the well method was the way to go (that's what Alton told me to do!)." "Yeah, the well method is the way to go if you live in the [explitive deleted] 16th century. Now-a-days, we have this thing called a food processor. Just throw the flour in there, add your liquids, and pulse it two or three times, until it comes together into a ball. Then you work it by hand for about 5 minutes, then toss it into the fridge while you drink a [explitive deleted] beer. And, while you're up, get me one too. :wink:" Next time I make pasta (sometime this week), I'm going to use his [explitive deleted] method . I'll report back how it goes.

Just an update on the pasta machine... Stone... I don't want you to think I'm overly serious about this! I'm not... Just interested in tapping the collective wisdom of this board. I made some pasta (using only all-purpose flour; I thought we had some cake flour but was mistaken!)... It was noodles and some ravioli that I stuffed with camembert & toasted walnuts. It was pretty delicious! This weekend, I'll be making fresh lasagna noodles... My question is -- what roller setting is the best for lasagna noodles? Thanks!

We dined on a truly amazing Rock Shrimp Tempura with spicy kochujan aioli at MORIMOTO. I'd try to make that!

Shoot. JUST got back with the Atlas. The Belpasta you mentioned looks GREAT... It's clearly a Cadillac. Right now, I just want to see how much I enjoy hand-making pasta, so a Cadillac is a bit overkill. My next big kitchen purchase is going to be a KitchenAid, that way I'll the main thing on which to attach the myriad attachments! Oh boy... All semolina? All AP? Half AP & cake? Decisions, decisions!!!

Thanks for the tip about the basic pasta recipe! As it turns out, I've got some cake flour sitting on a shelf at home! I'll do an equal mix of cake & AP and let you know. The chitarra is as you described it... The lady at Sur La Table made me promise to call her with a full report once I've used it... I guess she hadn't sold any before. It was less than $20, so it wasn't an extravagant purchase. I'll report here as well once I've used it! Now, if someone could just toss me some recipes for the ravioli stuff with seafood with saffron sauce that is rattling around in my head!

Well, the bug has bit. Last night, I was thinking of making some fresh pasta. The idea was rolling around in my head, but solidified into a PLAN when I saw Alton Brown talking about PASTA on GOOD EATS! I've spent part of the morning looking at my options, and have pretty much decided on the ATLAS MARCATO PASTA MACHINE (model 150) with a chitarra. Also (finally!) replacing my bench scraper that was lost during the move. Now, I'm looking for beyond-the-basics recipes for pasta... I'll make Ravioli tomorrow, so any filling/sauce suggestions would be most welcome. Seafood ravioli with a saffron-y sauce? Sounds good to me! Suggestions?

SEND THE FOIE GRAS SCRAPS TO ME! I'll take them! Drew Vogel -- Foie Gras 1132 Waycross Road Cincinnati, OH 45240 I FOIE GRAS. Cannot get enough of it. Ever.

I am always interested to learn what others are reading, within the subject area of cooking or without. As for me, I am almost done with The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It's a non-food book -- an adventure mystery set in an alternate 1985. Quite fun. Next up on the docket is Henry V by William Shakespeare. I will be auditioning for it in several weeks, and I need to brush up! I'm currently stockpiling my food magazines -- Gourmet, Bon App, F&W, Fine Cooking, and Saveur (I recently subscribed to most of these to take advantage of the savings) in anticipation of our trip to the Dominican Republic at the end of this month. Magazines are good for reading on the plane and in the airports. Wendy & I will be in the tropical warmth for my birthday, a fact made even more tantalizing by rumors that it may snow here next week! I've got, once we get back, The Chef's Art: Secrets of Four-Star Cooking at Home to read. It's too heavy to cart on vacation! There are a few other food-related books on my stack, too. I admire those individuals that are in the midst of several (!) books at one time. I cannot do that -- I get confused rather easily, and would certainly think that Henry V was showing me how to make a great crepe!

As always, Malawry, I enjoy your posts. One of the things that has is fun (and educational) for me is to look for words/phrases that I don't yet know in your reports, then consult my FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION or other resources to find out what they mean. Quite educational! I'm convinced that I could hold my own, at least for a little while, in a chef conversation! I am excited that your catering job went so well. And remember: The reward for good work is more work!