Chris Hennes

Said in jest, I know, but the mayo can be omitted from a flavor perspective, I think--see the recipe I posted above.

To be honest, I have a hard time begrudging the restaurants their markups: none of the restaurant owners I know are exactly "striking it rich." They push markups around to take advantage of the way potential customers eyeball restaurant prices: if you actually care, it's easy enough to evaluate the cost of including the extras. And this way it gives the savvy price-sensitive customer the opportunity to enjoy reduced-price entrees at the expense of those who either don't know or don't care that the guac is marked up 1000%.

Hidden Valley does. Ingredients are basically mayo, buttermilk, spices. ETA-- HV Ranch ingredients list:

I'd say the fundamental flavors of "Ranch"-whatever (including actual Ranch dressing) are buttermilk, garlic, and herbs (typically parsley and chives).

If you're just looking to experiment with adding various essential oils to ganaches, I wouldn't worry much about finding a book. The amount of oil you typically add to flavor a chocolate is too small to have a meaningful impact on the other properties of the ganache, in my experience. I just make a batches of ganache and play around. If you are looking to really work the new-flavor-development angle, I suggest The Flavor Bible.

I think the reason they give them to you "free" at the restaurant is to encourage you to drink more (hopefully alcoholic and/or expensive in nature). So from their perspective it makes good sense to charge for them in takeout. I don't know if the places around here do it, though.

Andie, that sounds fantastic. The one part I don't follow is how this method reduces the mess of French Toast: it seems like it would be about the same, no?

I'm not a huge calzone fan: the magma-like interior is more like a weapon than a foodstuff. Then again, maybe if I dipped it in Ranch dressing to cool it off first...

I think it is likely that appetizers and desserts are particularly high-margin items, for the simple reason that when evaluating the "price point" of a restaurant we typically only consider entree prices (especially when comparing a number of unvisited restaurants to each other to decide which to go to).

For reference, Joy of Cooking's ingredients for Ranch Dressing are: Interestingly (to me), they list mayonnaise as an optional addition to make a "less runny" dressing.

No, to be honest I've never put ranch dressing on homemade pizza (even that cooked non-MC-style!): I dip chain pepperoni pizza, and to the best of my recollection that's it. And I don't always do it. But you are right, I happen to like the taste and texture of the ranch dressing itself, and probably view the pizza as a condiment to the dressing, and not the other way around. Why they don't just sell "Hidden Valley Pepperoni and Tomato Ranch" is beyond me. Gel it up and serve it with a spoon!

I don't know if it's regional: I don't know that many people who do it, but I'm sure I picked it up in college (in Iowa). It might be more driven by late-night attempts to improve the garbage college-town pizza we ate than anything else.

That does sound good. Maybe next time... GR - never heard of it, what IS it?

The way this debate is being cast is sort of fascinating in and of itself: the pizza "deserves" better than dunking? What does that mean? How does the pizza "deserve" anything at all? Hot pepperoni pizza dunked into cold ranch dressing tastes good, in my opinion. I like the temperature, texture, and taste combination. I don't even think it's that unusual: ranch dressing is a pretty common dip for that appetizer that consists of pepperoni baked inside of dough (does that have a name?). The addition of cheese and tomato sauce doesn't seem like that fundamental a change, as to render the dipping offensive.

As Shelby points out, it's not like I'm doing this at some high-end NYC pizza joint: there is no reason at all for me to pre-taste that slice of Domino's pepperoni before dunking. I know what it tastes like, and I know it tastes better dipped in HV Ranch (which I would not describe as "bland"). But I like blue cheese dressing in this application as well.

I have standards. The ranch must be Hidden Valley.

Ranch dressing tastes good. What is the problem with dipping pizza in it?

Timeout. There is something wrong with dipping pizza in ranch dressing? Crap.

Thanks for bumping this Andie. It reminds me of a question I've had for some time: how do people feel about the non-commercial variant of the rotating waffle irons? These are the waffle irons that flip upside down when you rotate the handle (presumably so the batter better fills the lower side of the cavity?). When I was an undergrad the cafeteria had a commercial model that prepared my "dinner of last resort" on a pretty regular basis. Are the residential varieties any good?

I personally like Yoplait's Greek line better than the Dannon, but alas, my local supermarket just started carrying Chobani... still, when the coupons come out I'm happy with all three.

Mark, just do it. Start at page 1-1. You can sleep when you are dead.

In your market photos, are those de-spined nopales for sale, near the regular nopales?! If so, I am very jealous.

Wow, I was feeling pretty good about my "collection" until you posted that... I am missing like 25% of those! I shall redouble my efforts.

One of those kitchen torches works, too, and seems more impressive for company .

For me, I find that the big difference in time is waiting for the water to come to a boil on high heat, which I don't find I can just walk away from (boils over every time!).