abooja

The Virtual Weber Bullet site recommends Kingsford. I was skeptical at first, and purchased both Kingsford and natural lump charcoal for my first sparerib smoke in the WSM. The lump charcoal indeed burned hotter and faster, causing the temperature to surge and then spike, after which I needed to add some more hot coals to keep it in the 225 - 250 degree range. The Kingsford-based efforts never suffered from this problem. Each time I have used it, with just a few natural wood chunks thrown in here and there (along with some hickory and apple wood), I have not had to replenish the coals during a roughly 6-7 hour smoke. Temperature changes could be altered by merely opening or closing the vents. It really works like a dream. The WSM is known for being well built and maintaining very even temperatures, so the only variable thus far has been the type of charcoal I used in it. I also have noticed no difference in flavor between meat smoked with natural wood and with Kingsford. That having been said, I wouldn't mind trying the Royal Oak Chef Select Briquettes. I have yet to see them.

FWIW, Corey and Christina are both 25, but Corey lives in Brooklyn. Brooklyn girls are just tough like that.

All due respect to Mr. Richman, but White Manna does not live up to all the hype. Perhaps the grill cook was having an off day when I visited last month, but the burgers were nothing to write home about.

What a great Wiki entry. Thanks! I'm wondering how hard it is to get some of these things in the US. My husband is allergic to corn (among a million other things) and, therefore, cannot eat Mallomars anymore. I tried making them a couple of times, and while he enjoyed them, they weren't perfect.

I happened upon the section on growing saffron crocus in Bountiful Container and am considering growing a few on my front porch next season. They might not be worth a crap, but it'll be a fun experiment.

Food Talk with Mike Colameco (WOR in NYC) is generally pretty entertaining. Our own Fat Guy was even a guest a couple of months back! You can listen to podcasts here. You can also stream it Monday-Friday @ 11 a.m. EST.

This is a Mallomar, a s'mores type confection made of graham crackers, marshmallow and coated in chocolate. Very popular here in the states.

How similar is this to a Mallomar? The marshmallow part seems a lot softer in the Krembo.

I just churned the gianduja stracciatella (unemployment does have its merits) and it is fantastic!! Aromatic and perfectly sweetened, each drop packs an enormous amount of flavor. I'm so happy I finally tried it. I can't wait to see how it sets up in the freezer. Next time, I'm adding in some toasted hazelnuts and reducing the amount of melted chocolate to perhaps 3 ounces. I'd rather the crunch of the hazelnuts than stracciatella, though it is close to perfect the way it is right now. Highly recommended.

Wow, thanks, CSY! Gelato tips from a cookbook author. Awesome. I still think I'll leave this batch nutless for now and just add the melted chocolate. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be making it again and again.

I just mixed a batch of gianduja gelato which will get frozen and stracciatella'd tomorrow. It smells absolutely divine, like a melted Baci. It just seemed wrong to toss out all those lovely toasted, ground hazelnuts once they were done steeping. Is there any reason not to keep at least some of them in there, or have they been spent at this point? I even considered toasting some more and adding them in once the mixture is frozen, but wanted to stick to the recipe this first time around. Has anyone left in the hazelnuts and, if so, how'd it turn out?

I bought this silly herb mill several years ago thinking it would save me the trouble of chopping large quantities of herbs such as parsley. I used it once or twice, then never again. It does a better job of shredding your hands than it does herbs, and cleaning it is a major pain in the ass. Still, after two moves, it remains in my possession -- in the bottom drawer of my storage cabinet, getting in the way of much more useful items. I refuse to toss it. I suppose I'm just in denial that it wasn't a very clever purchase after all.

I made watermelon sorbet last night/this morning, from a recipe in The Perfect Scoop and it was bland as can be. This is likely my fault. I had some watermelon scrapings and juice left over from creating a watermelon basket and decided to use that watery stuff rather than waste perfectly good watermelon chunks that I'd rather just eat. The result was a watery, not-very-sweet-at-all concoction that scoops well and is very refreshing, but relatively tasteless. Based on what I just read, however -- particularly from Priscilla about Marcella Hazan -- I wonder if using really sweet, juicy watermelon will really improve my end result unless I add much more than the one tablespoon of lime juice called for in the recipe. Thoughts, anyone? Is watermelon sorbet really worth it, or should I stick to just eating the watermelon as is?

I highly recommend phatj's Duck Leg Confit Potstickers. They were a big hit at a seven-course duck dinner I prepared a couple of months back.

Just a note that there's no need to peel the potatoes after cooking. Simply cut them in half and rice them cut side down. Remove the peel from the ricer before moving on to the next half. Saves your fingers and a lot of time.

It turns out that my preference for breadcrumbs atop my mac & cheese / baked macaroni had to do with Stouffer's, or Howard Johnson -- not my mom! She insists she never sprinkled it with breadcrumbs either, just more cheese and a little paprika. Come to think of it, I did eat the frozen dinner variety mac & cheese more often as a child than I ever did my mother's, mostly because she only prepared it on special occasions. I guess you can't blame your parents for everything.

I was pretty sure I read about minimizing the yellow color of the yolks by beating them into submission in Cook's Illustrated, but I managed to even remember their use of the word "shockingly". From their vanilla ice cream recipe, July 1993:

Hmmm, I never thought of that one. This should work even without sugar, right? ← Actually, it does. I make other ice creams that calls for whipping just the yolks, and while they don't specify to what point, I always bring them to that same pale yellow hue. Edited because it wasn't dulce de leche that I was talking about.

I'm pretty sure I don't want chewy ice cream.

One additional reason for beating egg yolks until they are pale, at least in vanilla ice cream, is to make them appear less shockingly yellow in the finished product.

I bought a tub of whole milk Fage (from Wegman's) that was produced in upstate, NY, and it tasted exactly as I remember the Greek-make Fage yogurt tasting that I used to buy in Astoria. Not grainy and watery at all.

I've only been to a handful of diners in the two years I lived in Hackensack, and only Coach House (at 4 Hackensack Avenue) was worth going to more than once. Not fabulously delicious food or great service, but better than most diners. The portions are as big as advertised, and they have several televisions scattered around, which came in handy for Yankee games. I'm sure someone can come up with a better option, though.

After leaving Hackensack more than six months ago and never having visited White Manna while I lived there, I finally tried it last week on the way to Queens to buy a used car. I have to say, I was unimpressed. The burgers seemed completely unseasoned, as in no salt whatsoever. I had a cheeseburger and a regular burger, both with onions, and they tasted identical. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, and the place was loaded with high school students. I sat right in front of the grill and witnessed everything the grill chick was doing. Plop irregular sized balls of ground beef next to one another on grill. Squish down with spatula on top of razor thin onions. Flip. Repeat. It all looked very promising, but I just wasn't wowed. I guess I could have added my own salt, but didn't think to. I was too busy scarfing them down anyway. We waited quite a while to get them. I'm no longer so disappointed that I don't live in the area. I'll make my own sliders soon and they will put White Manna's to shame. I use a combination of home ground chuck, short rib and brisket for my regular burgers, and will use that same combo for the sliders. Homemade buns, too. Yum.

Hmm, and it's only 13 miles away from me. I'd have to get there on Sunday. Not sure I'd bother, especially during a festival. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I've been toying with the idea of a purchase from char-wood.com, recommended on the Virtual Weber Bullet site. Soon.