KennethT

I've used a mag. knife block for about 12 years now and I love it. I just got a cheap one at the rest. supply store on Bowery and Houston. It doesn't look that great - but that doesn't bother me since my kitchen is very utilitarian, so it somehow fits - plus, it's covered by knives so you can barely see it. I've never had a problem with it "losing a knife" or scratching one - but I make sure I don't slide the knife off when I'm going to get one. Also, make sure you dry the knife thoroughly before putting back - I have heard of some people complain of rust developing between the knife and magnet since air can't get to the stuck side of the knife once it's adhered.

Most nights (especially during the week) my wife and I have very little free time between coming home from work and getting ready for bed. Because of this, most of our weekday meals are a rotation of dishes that we can make the sauces over the weekend in large quantity (say 4-8 meals worth), then once home, quickly fry/bake some chicken thighs, make some rice in the rice cooker, add the reheated sauce and dinner is done. Lately, I've wanted to expand our rotation by adding some coconut curries - like Thai or Malaysian style. I know that the curry paste freezes well, and have done that many times. And I know that raw coconut milk freezes well, as the best quality ones I've seen are frozen vacuum sealed pouches from Thailand - unlike the canned variety, they have no preservatives or emulsifiers and taste as close to fresh squeezed as I've had. I'm wondering if you could pre-make a large batch of curry - either the more soupy kind - like a thai curry, or a relatively dry kind - like a rendang, portion, and freeze. Then, quickly reheat on the stovetop, or seal chicken in a ziplock with the curry and cook in the waterbath over the weekend, then freeze the whole thing for a quick dinner that reheats in the bath while the rice is cooking. Has anyone done anything like that? How were the results?

I don't know how it would fit through the door...

I was under the impression that roti are a form of laminated dough - where there the flour and water are stretched very thinly, then margarine applied , then rolled into a snake, then coiled into a disk. This disk is then fried on a flat top (in ghee or margarine) or sometimes grilled... but any type of dough type thing that is that flaky always has lots of fat - that's how you get that flakiness - during cooking, the fat melts, and the water in the dough turns to steam separating into layers. ETA: Sorry, after some research, I realized that I incorrectly assumed that the roti typical in Sri Lanka were the same as the roti prata found in Singapore - they looked similar from the pictures... but I now realize that they are very different, with totally different ingredients and methods...

I just realized that on our last trip to Singapore, I had string hoppers for breakfast! They were part of the hotel's breakfast buffet - but they weren't labeled -I didn't know they were Sri Lankan - I actually thought they were like Thai khanon jeen or something - but they were always served with an Indian veg curry or something else. I loved them! But, personally, if health was not a concern, I'd be having roti with chicken curry every day... it's too bad roti are so bad for you... but oh are they good!

45 Euro.. That's a lot of nerve!

Yes!!!! Thank you for doing this!!!

Most greenhouses and indoor farms enrich the air with extra CO2 (to usually about 1500ppm as opposed to 400-500 found normally) to increase growth rates. I don't have access now, but there have been several studies that show that nutrient density and amount of essential oil and flavor compounds in hydroponics (basically keeping your plants on IV nutrition) is actually higher than in conventional farming. Also, since greenhouses and indoor farms are usually much closer to the consumer, they spend much less time in transit thereby keeping more nutrients post harvest and reducing spoilage waste.

I love a good pont l'eveque.... when it gets, ahem, aromatic. Had some amazing ones in Normandy years ago... Sadly, all the ones we can get in NY pale by comparison...

Love Bon Marche for windowshopping, but very expensive. Glad to see the US so well represented... haha...

I think they just started up recently - I had never heard of them until I saw her giving her "demo" in Kalustyan's. It's a small jar that Kalustyan's sells for I think 6.99 - maybe 5.99 - somewhere around there... But it seems to be good for at least 4-5 meals - I've used it twice and I'm a little less than halfway through it. Also, as a NYer, you may be aware that Kalustyan's doesn't really give bargains on many things other than their core spices/rice, etc...

@Franci wow... That looks great. I would love it! Once the wrapper is opened, how long does it last?

Speaking of pepper, lately I've become a huge fan of Vietnamese peppercorns - NYers are fortunate to be able to get it at Kalustyan's (and maybe other places?) but I'm sure most people have never heard of it. I also found at Kalustyan's a good Malaysian curry paste, made in Long Island City, called Mama Lam's... the owner (a young Malaysian American woman) was there doling out a little bit on rice from a rice cooker... it was really tasty, and caused me to do what I normally don't and do an impulse buy.... it wasn't cheap though.

Is that really 1kg of chanterelles for 10Euro? Crazy!

Interesting... I don't quite understand the purpose of the handle though... also, at the bottom of the Amazon page are "similar items" that shows me 3 other circulators from brands I've never heard of... Wancle, Supreme.... one is $80, and another is $85 including shipping...

I really hope that other people who do this type of stuff are watching and are getting very very nervous. Maybe it will be the force to get them to change their (and their employees') attitudes.

What if the cookie was coated in cocoa butter or a thin layer of chocolate to act as a moisture barrier?

Many many years ago, I had made molded chocolates with a flowing marshmallow fluff-like center. I made the fluff from scratch using sugar/glucose, water, powdered egg whites and some vanilla... no gelatin. Worked quite well and was very tasty. It was a little tricky in the beginning to add the fluff to the mold, but pretty soon had no issues.

The thing I saw wasn't just a grow log - it was a whole system that looked like a 6 foot high bookshelf - it had a controller than controlled the whole environment - lights, humidity, temperature, etc...

I can't find it now, but somewhere on my Hydroponic forums I visit, someone advertised an indoor mushroom growing system - supposedly some restaurants in NYC are using them to grow their own mushrooms that they can harvest as needed.

@Thanks for the Crepes 1 Watt of electricity powering any light source will create 3.4 BTU per hour. What makes LEDs cooler is that you get more light per Watt (as measured by PPFD) than other sources, so depending on what you're growing and how much light you need, you could use less wattage. Keep in mind that normal incandescent bulbs should not be used in greenhouses as A) their color temperature is all wrong for plants and B) they put out very little light (PPFD wise). For many years, greenhouses have either used metal halide or sodium vapor lamps for supplemental lighting. They have a much higher light/watt output than incandescents. The problem is that the bulbs do create quite a bit of heat which will heat your greenhouse and will use quite a bit of power, both for the lights and any additional cooling you might need because of them.. Also, the bulbs light output decreases over time, so you should really change out your bulbs every 6 months as while they're still functioning, they're only putting out maybe 70% of what they initially did - and those bulbs are not cheap. LEDs are much more efficient than either of the above, and do not reduce output over time, and last much longer (usually about 10 years for a properly designed fixture with good heatsinks) but have a much higher initial cost - so it usually takes a few years to get your ROI.

Sorry - I didn't mean to say to actually use a bread proofing box - I just meant that it was like a bread proofing box - warm and humid. A bread proof box's controller is not usually very precise - you can make something much better either doing what you said, or using an Arduino and a temp/humidity sensor. That gives more flexibility than the aquarium controller since you can then adjust temp and humidity separately as needed.

@liuzhou I had always wondered about steaming fish with aromatics on the plate next to it. Does the aroma/flavor of the chilis get into the fish, or do they just get cooked alongside for the purpose of being eaten with the fish?

Most seeds require warmth to germinate... so the pros use something like a bread proofing box - it's usually a tall rack to allow multiple trays, with a reservoir of water and a submersible heater. You can make a controller to keep the internal temp around 90F and like 90 percent humidty - that way, all your seeds tend to sprout all at once. Peltier's work ok, but they are very inefficient. If I was to use a compressor based chiller to chill my reservoir, I would get better chilling using less power.

People do use liquid cooled systems to couple with the hot side of the peltier. Rather than trying to stick the hot side of the peltier to a pot of water, it would be better to attach it to a water block and then pump water through it - I think the mechanics of trying to sit the pot of water on the small peltier device would be, umm... challenging. But it also adds a ton of complexity, and for now, the heatsink that I harvested from an old computer is free and works just fine. For posterity, or anyone insane like me who might be considering doing something like this, keep in mind that silicone grease is not great for heat transfer - it's better to use thermal CPU heatsink grease, which has a very high thermal conductivity rating.