KennethT

I've read some reviews saying that the Teflon coating on the grill comes off with about a month of use. Can one of the enablers confirm this? Or did these reviewers just not clean it properly? @JoNorvelleWalker @ElsieD @Kerry Beal

You can root in water and immediately transplant into a media just after.... or, you can root in a cube of rockwool - I do this all the time, but I don't recommend it to most people because of availability - it's more of a specialty thing, but it works great. I think the biggest trick to rooting cuttings is to get rid of most of the leaves, leaving only a couple on the stem, keeping light stress low, and keeping the cutting in high humidity environment so it doesn't try to respire. You don't want to stress the cutting before it can take in water and nutrient - until that time, it's basically subsisting on its reserves in the stem. But stuff like basil usually roots so fast and easy, if you plunk it in a glass of water, you could see roots emerge by the next day - at which time you can put it in media, and the plant turns out fine.

I do not need this... I do not need this... I do not need this... I do not need this... om mani padme hum.... but I want this! damn.

You can root thai basil as long as the stem has a node. Use the sharpest knife you have, clean it with alcohol first, then cut quick and immediate dunk the stem into water - you don't want a chance for air to get in there. If you have access to cloning gel or powder (it's a hormone that encourages rooting) that will make your endeavor even more likely.

When I used to grow thai basil and I trimmed it, I would wrap the bunch on the stems in a dry paper towel and then wrap in a plastic bag and squish all the air out - it would keep in the crisper drawer in the fridge for weeks! Just make sure the leaves are very dry.

I don't use holy basil much (because it's hard for me to get!!!)... but thai basil is classic in red curry. Some people will even say that it's not red curry without thai basil thrown in at the end. Thai basil is also a staple in many stir fries and noodle dishes...

thai basil doesn't freeze well - it's usually used just torn in shreds for a really fresh flavor - but making a pesto out of it kind of defeats the purpose... Holy basil is usually cooked (not eaten raw or tossed in at the end), so maybe that would tolerate freezing better?

Very nice fat rendering! Did you render the skin prior to SV or after?

Yikes...

I haven't discussed pacojet stuff in a long time, but if I remember correctly, Pacojet recommended that the freezer was at least -20F if not colder. Most of his "ice creams" weren't desserts necessarily - he would make savory ones out of soups as well - so it wouldn't have been scoopable at 0.

My friend had a Pacojet, but used it only rarely. The biggest problem with a PJ in a home environment is getting the material frozen cold enough.

@eugenep I think there may be a flaw in the logic... meats don't dry out at 140 in SV because they are in a 100% humidity environment. In an open pan, I imagine 140 would be more like a dehydrator. By definition, saute uses high heat, not low heat. Even a thin cut won't get any browning when cooked on a 140F pan. Again, your reference to braising refers to a high humidity environment - this is what breaks down connective tissue. What you are looking to do seems similar to how some advocate cooking a steak, but the method requires higher heat, and you flip the steak every 30s to 1min to cook evenly. No matter how you slice it, I can't imagine getting a good result "frying" on a 140F surface... but don't listen to me - I'm no one of any authority - the true way to know is to try it! And report back!!

I don't think meat would brown at 140F, no matter how long it sits there. Plus, it would take a lot longer to cook through this way since you're only getting heat from 1 side, as opposed to SV where the contact is on all surfaces. As the penetration time goes by the square of the thickness, heating from one side only would take 4 times as long to penetrate all the way to the top side - I think it would be really dried out by that point, as well as spend an inordinate amount of time in the danger zone, bacterially speaking.

I like the idea of the chimney if you're using charcoal, but another alternative is a portable infrared burner. These get extremely hot very quickly, clean up easily and run on a small propane tank. https://solairegasgrills.com/products/portable-grills/

Thai chicken soup

Personally, being from NYC where we have a very diverse food scene, I would consider doing a tour of the "best of" London's British food... so, for example, if you're going to take me to a fish n chips place, it should be one of the top examples of it. I agree with @teonzo that it would be good to offer a few different tours - because tourists from places that might not have any Indian food would love to taste a great curry, but personally, I'd probably avoid it because I can get it from 3 different places around the corner from my apartment.

I agree with @dcarch - everything has a "resonant frequency" - if you match your vibration to the resonant frequency of the jello you will get maximum wobble with minimal power. Otherwise, you will have to tune your jello's resonant frequency (by means of its viscosity) to the phone's vibration frequency which I think would be a LOT harder to do. If part of the art exhibition revolves around people calling the "phone" to make it vibrate, there are ways around that too. You can use an inexpensive Raspberry Pi with a simple Python script to trigger the vibratory motor from a phone call, text or email or other stimulus.

5J is one of the few brands of Iberico Jamon that is allowed to be imported into the US... I think it's just 5J and Fermin. I've bought the 5J here before and have been underwhelmed compared to what I have had in Spain. It seemed like mass production jamon (if there can be such a thing) compared with the small artisanal producers that don't make enough to export.

I love the cartoon bean singing or exclaiming or something....

I don't know about the whole reverse shoplifting thing.. I wonder if the store would have an issue that it might be tampered with? Even if the seal is intact, if I was the store owner, I'd be hesitant to allow that. But, if you don't want to waste it, you could always bring it to a soup kitchen or food pantry - usually they get pretty vanilla type stuff, so maybe they'd be happy to see it?

I have this brand also, but for some reason, I still can't get my mapo tofu to taste like my favorite (now defunct because of fire) Sichuan restaurant... it's close, but there is some kind of flavor that is a little off, and I think it's coming from this ingredient. I found this one in a supermarket in Manhattan's Chinatown... but they had a few brands - I think I'll try another after I finally make it through this one.

I wish there was a "fingers crossed" button...

The salmon was marinated in a combo of soy sauce, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), oyster sauce and fish sauce. SV'd in 115degF bath to a core temp of 102F according to sous vide dash, then torched. The salmon winds up rare practically from edge to edge (give or take a few mm) to where it just flakes perfectly... then torched. The marinade varies, but the method is my go to... I think I've forgotten how to do it any other way!

Haven't cooked in a while.... Salmon with cucumber som tum

While I'm a little hesitant to recommend this, just because I love it and there can already be a wait for a table, I'd look into Cafe Mogador in the East Village - St. Marks between 1st and Ave A. They are known for their Moroccan specialties - I'm addicted to their lamb tagine with couscous - I'm particularly fond of the charmoulla, but my wife always gets the saffron sauce... they have lots of mezze like hummus, an awesome smoky baba ghanoush, tabouli, etc which I'd imagine are vegan, though I'm not really sure since I've never asked. They also have non-Moroccan stuff duck confit, hanger steak, etc. for those who don't want Moroccan... I've brought tons of people here and everyone has always loved it. They've been around forever and have always been busy. Another option not far from there would be Somtom Der... their fried chicken thigh is amazing, but they're also known for their papaya salads (hence the name). I imagine they'd be able to make things without the dried shrimp or fish sauce - many thai places run by Thai people (as is Somtom Der) should have no problem making certain dishes vegan, like @eugenep said.