Shel_B

I came across this test of high-powered blenders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej048qZNxpk . The Waring did very well ...

I came across this test of high-power blenders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej048qZNxpk. The Waring fared very well.

I've been learning how to make a simple custard dessert. I'm almost where I want to be. Next is learning how to make the caramel sauce. I've seen different techniques. One is to cook the sugar with water, another uses no water, and there are opposite positions about not swirling the pan when the sugar starts to boil, and, in at least one situation, the cook would just caramelize the sugar in the mold over the heat from the stove burner. So, what do you do to melt your sugar? Do you do it that way because it gives a specific, different result from another technique. Any general suggestions for making a caramel sauce? Thanks!

This one was the winner in the Cook's Illustrated test of butter dishes. Amongst it's attributes is the ability to hold large, European-style, blocks of butter and the butter tray is removable.. Not very stylish, but certainly practical:

Just following up on this. Last week I stopped into a supermarket that had the Ziploc containers, and right next to them on the shelf were some similar store brand units. The store brand had a size closer to what I was looking for, and I bought a package of three. On the way to the register I saw some really inexpensive aluminum loaf pans (like these: http://www.apartysource.com/al-16.html), and they were even closer to the size I wanted, so I bought three. Both are installed in the cupboard, and the aluminum loaf pans have turned out to be the best option. So, I'm all set. Thanks to all who jumped in with ideas and suggestions.

I've never heard of those noodles ... I'll have to look for them. They sound much better than the supermarket fried ramen packages. Thanks for posting!

I've not seen this one before. Is it new? Has anyone tried it? http://www.thermoworks.com/products/handheld/temptest1.html Perhaps it should be mentioned that I'm thinking of getting this as a gift for someone, and it looks like it has all the good features of the Thermapen with backlight plus a couple, and it's about $25.00 less expensive.

Just a quick observation here ... recently I purchased a bag of Christopher's Ranch peeled garlic at Costco. There were quite a few small cloves in the bag - small enough to make grating them with the Microplane difficult - and very few large cloves. A nice feature of the bagged garlic is that none of the cloves we used had a green shoot in the center.

Thanks for all the feedback ... doesn't look like I'll go there.

Does anyone use them? How do they compare in efficiency and feel to standard whisks? Any downside that you know of?

Thanks for the commentary. I'll have to measure the height of my Waring, and check the weight as well.

You've provided some "food for thought." There are no vegetables other than peppers and tomatillos in my chile verde,

Hi, Shelby - if you'd eat it why not serve it to your guests?

At the end of this month there will be two dinners that I'll be preparing. One is a potluck and the other, five days later, is dinner at home with a couple of friends. I was thinking of making a double/triple batch of my chile verde, and am wondering the best way to store the stew for the five-six days necessary. I know stews often are better after a day or so, but what about after five or six days? If I freeze the second batch, how might that effect the texture of the meat. I've never stored my chile verde for more than a day. I am hoping that I can just store the second batch in the fridge in a covered bowl for five days or so. That would make my life very much easier. Thoughts?

Host's note: the term 'new discussion' refers to a second topic, which has since been merged with the original. And this new discussion brings me to a question: How might duck fat work instead of schmaltz when making a traditional chopped liver dish (using chicken livers)? Seems like it should be just fine. Anyone tried it?

It's not at all tedious. The beans will have been soaking in the rum for a while, so all I have to do is scrape the beans into the mixture, just as always. I already know I can add straight rum to the custard ... no big deal. This technique is new to me, so I may learn something, get a great result, or flop. Sometimes it's the journey, not just the destination.

I've already got a bottle of dark rum, so that's covered. Nutmeg or Allspice ... OK, I'll test those with the rum. Tks!

I like to try making a rum flavored custard. The plan is to infuse the vanilla beans with dark rum, and hope that I'll get a little rum flavor into the custard. Just to be clear, I'm looking for subtle flavor, not a hit-you-in-the-face rum attack. Any thoughts on this idea? Secondly what spice flavor might go with the rum? I've been lightly grating nutmeg over my custards, but with the rum flavor, might there be a more interesting spice? Maybe allspice, or mace? Thanks!