Chris Hennes

Did anyone get a bum box of the Lemon Chalets this year? I guess their baker had some kind of quality control issue, they've recalled a bunch of them (not for health or safety, apparently they just tasted bad).

I wonder if you don't actually get BETTER results from a refurbished appliance. My theory on this is that most things fail either very early in life, or very late (big picture, on average, etc.), and with a refurb many if not most of the parts have already made it through that "early in life" phase. So you may be skipping that part of the failure curve entirely. Yes, of course, if your stuff is covered by a warranty those early failures don't cost you any money, but they are a pain to deal with. Has anyone had a refurb that failed within warranty?

It's interesting, I re-read the Peterson page on cheese, and his top choice is Parmesan. I've never had any trouble with it melting into an "Alfredo"-type sauce, or adding it to a bechamel, so I figure it must be the extra heat in the oven that is the issue. So I made another gratin this week (broccoli and bacon...mmmm) and it turned out very well, using parmesan and gruyere, and being careful to dry off the broccoli before adding the mornay. Dunno which of those changes did the trick...

Well, at least according to this page at Quinoa.net (who knew such a place existed?): Did you buy them, or just seem them on the shelf? I'd be curious to know what you do with them.

The beauty of yeast is that it's alive... you add enough to get started, and they just keep multiplying until the food is gone (basically). So the amount of yeast you add affects your initial rise time, but not much beyond that, especially in a bread like this one, with a VERY long retardation phase. I don't generally refresh mine until I only have about one loaf left, but I imagine you could work out a different schedule, if you wanted to refresh at all, and not simply start anew. You want to be careful that you don't develop it into a full-fledged sourdough, which this is not: the yeast are still (for all practical purposes) completely the commercial yeast you started with, not a sourdough yeast, which thrives in a more acidic environment. If you are wanting a sourdough, this is not a good path to follow to get yourself there.

If morels, I would have expected the filling to be darker, though, wouldn't it? Is it pure mushroom filling, or a "mushroom-flavored" filling?

Aember, this is a 75% hydration dough (a 3:4 water:flour ratio, by weight). I and several others in this discussion (Heartsurgeon mentions it above) use 0.12% salt, which I think is a perfect amount, but unfortunately doesn't really lend itself to the "small integer ratio" thing Ruhlman espouses. Maybe if you measure by volume it comes out to something even? I personally don't bother measuring the yeast at all, just add a little and watch the dough rise for however long it takes.

I agree, I'm a big fan of the crunchy parts. I often leave off whatever was supposed to go on the top layer and just leave the pasta bare so it crisps up.

Can you thin the chocolate out to get a thinner coating on those marshmallows? I haven't done it in a while, but I like a thinner shell on them personally, and then you'd use less chocolate too.

So last September I planted that rye: here's what it looks like now--- It's interesting to me how "patchy" it is. I supposed that's a function of the underlying soil? Anyone know what this stuff is actually supposed to look like? I guess it doesn't really matter much, in another month it's going to get cut down, but I'm curious about it.

I'm starting to get ready for the 2010 season in earnest now: most of my tomatoes just got transplanted for the first time as they begin to set their first true leaves (Eva Purple Ball, German Head, Orange Strawberry, Dorothy's Green). And a few laggards taking their sweet time getting to that point (Druzba and Purple Perfect): Anyone else in the warmer zones started anything yet? Got big plans for this season, or scaling back?

Sam, how thin do you roll your pasta?

I think it all depends on what you are looking for: my dad is a religious drinker of the "dregs" left in his office coffee pot at the end of the day. He simply prefers that to fresh. I personally can't stand coffee that's been sitting around for more than about three hours (and that has to be in an insulated carafe, not on the burner). I've never met anyone who preferred their coffee reheated the following day, and I've definitely never tried it myself. Very interesting observations, I'm not sure if I can get myself to give it a shot...

JAZ, in addition to just timing, wrangling the (very hot!) lasagna noodles is a real pain in the butt in practice. What seems so simple...

Interesting. I wouldn't say that I am the "opposite", but I generally make the recipe out of Bugiali's "The Fine Art of Italian Cooking." I think it is probably 50% pasta by weight, and has many layers of thin homemade pasta, rather than a few layers of the thick dried kind. I find the Barilla no-boil to be an OK substitute for the fresh in this recipe in a pinch (e.g. when you don't have time to go whole hog). I've never though of using egg-roll wrappers, but I guess it makes sense, thanks for the idea, Marlene, I may have to give that a shot.

I love making homemade lasagna: when I'm feeling REALLY ambitious I even go full-Bugiali on it and do alternating layers of spinach and plain egg pasta, which looks fantastic. But the last couple times I've used those no-boil noodles Barilla sells, and they sure do cut down on the effort involved. Anyone else use these? Or have a preference for the thicker, "normal" dried lasagna?

What paulraphael said: with a crack like that, the way you treated the knife is completely irrelevant (unless you've been leaving it in your furnace, etc.). Three different knives, same manufacturing defect? That's ridiculous, get your money back and take it elsewhere.

I agree, once you go through the trouble of getting very fresh coffee, your brewing technique is critical. I prefer a french press, personally—here's the topic on that: Press Pot / French Press Coffee. We've also got a lot of discussion on other brewers too: Best Home Coffee Brewers - 2009 and on....

Over on the Cooking Issues blog, Dave Arnold has a short piece up on cast iron. For the most part he confirms what others in this topic have already said, but he does suggest that many thin coats of seasoning are better than a smaller number of thick coats, which I don't think has been mentioned here.

On annecros's recommendation I ordered all my seeds from Tomato Grower's Supply this year. Now that the seeds have germinated, I can go ahead and give TGS a thumbs up. They have a huge selection of heirloom varieties, the germination rate is good, and the customer service and shipping were excellent as well. If you haven't ordered your seeds yet for this season, I recommend giving them a shot.

How about this recipe, from Fine Cooking Jan. 08? Toasted Spiced Cashews 1 pound cashews 1 egg white 1/4 cup sugar 4 tsp Garam Masala 1.5 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp cayenne pepper Beat egg until foamy, and toss with cashews. Add remaining ingredients, toss some more, until coated. Bake at 325°F 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

I have a whole bunch of different spiced nut mixtures that I make, though most of them will pair well with only a subset of cocktails, they aren't exactly "neutral."

You're likely right: Peterson doesn't mention it when he lists out "appropriate cheeses for gratins" so I was hoping that there was enough binding power in the bechamel to hold everything together. Alas, no. So I've picked up some Gruyere to use on this next gratin, it ought to work fine.

Has Reinhart written anything beside cookbooks? I've got Bread Bakers Apprentice (of course), but if there are others out there...

I will resist your attempt at clarity: the answer is "both". Which is to say, Peterson has a whole section on general gratin techniques. He then lists out specific recipes for a dozen or so. In his specific recipe he doesn't necessarily list a particular cheese, however, instead referring you to the previous writeup. He does sometimes list a preference, but it's clear that that's not hard and fast. I did not follow his preference in this instance, he likes gruyere, I only had parmesan and cheddar.