KennethT

That's pretty much it. I don't know how much difference there is in materials from manufacturer to manufacturer as the technology is old and pretty much standardized by now, but I haven't researched the various manufacturers, so it is definitely possible.

From my understanding of the physics of resistors, all resistive elements are 100% efficient in converting electricity to heat - their efficiency differs in how that heat gets transferred to the pan. That can vary based on how much of the "tube" cross section makes contact with the pan, the total flatness - meaning, how much of the coiled tube doesn't contact the pan at all, etc. Most stove elements are of the "calrod" type - meaning that a thin wire is helically twisted and encased in an electrical insulator which is then further encased in a metal sheath. I imagine that the manufacturers of the heating elements would be able to supply data on their elements' performance.

Within the realm of resistive burners, the only thing that will make one more efficient over another is how well it contacts your pan since the heat created is proportional to the burner's resistance. So a burner that uses less power will also make less heat - so to bring a given mass of water to a boil (for instance) a less powerful burner will take longer to get there while using less energy per minute, basically ending up a wash. To get to be much more efficient, you need a different technology, like induction, but that requires a whole new burner system, not just a part replacement as you may be aware.

If you have a multimeter, you can check the resistance of the heating element and compare it with other elements of the same size/power rating.

Thanks for this!!! I love the Bois de Boulogne... not only is there this restaurant, but there used to be a 3* Le Pre Catelan... I don't know if it's still there, or still 3* though.....

We went to Elmhurst to visit an Indonesian grocery and had lunch at an Indo restaurant across the street.... Most of the menu is padang type food. Fried chicken "kremes". The kremes are the small crunchy pieces on top - it's kind of like a serundeng but only a little bit of it. came with a spicy sambal merah (red sambal) We also got some shrimp chips This is a beef "balado". I've always seen balado dishes using a combination of red chilies, but theirs is just sambal ijo (green sambal). This is the beef buried. It's small pieces that were simmered then fried (typical for balado dishes). It reminded me of the paru dish we had in Jakarta (beef lung that was deep fried until crunchy like a cracker). Kangkong (water spinach) belacan - with chilies, shallot and shrimp paste, served on a sizzle plate.

Not necessarily. We loved the Charolais beef in Burgundy. I still think about it sometimes.

Thanks.... yeah, I don't think it could ever warp on a gas range...

The website says that it's 14 gauge (about 1.9mm) - do you ever have problems with the bottom warping? I have a 14" Joyce Chen cs wok which is 1.5mm thick and the bottom warps on my induction range, even though I heat it pretty slowly. It's not a big deal - I just bang it back flat again with a mallot every once in a while, but I use it so often, I was thinking about replacing it.

Do you know what the cheeses were? The one on the left looks like a roquefort and the round one with the ash rind looks like a Selles-sur-Cher and the sticks could be a Compte? But I'm curious about what they were for real, rather than my guess!

Padang style food is native to the north west region of the Indonesian island of Sumatra but has become incredibly popular all over Indonesia, and especially in Jakarta. It's no wonder - most Padang food I've had is delicious and incredibly addictive, and is served practically immediately after sitting down since most of it is premade and waiting for customers. Padang food has 2 primary kinds of sambals - sambal ijo (green sambal) and sambal merah (red sambal). This is my recipe for sambal ijo as I've tried to recreate it from eating in a few Padang restaurants in Jakarta. Like all my other recipes, I'm writing this here as more of my own record keeping than anything else but if you decide to try to make it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Makes 2-3 portions 250g big green chillies (cabe hijau besar) - mildly spicy green chilli 170g curly green chillies (cabe keriting besar) - medium spicy green chilli 250g green tomato 200g shallots - sliced finely 20g garlic - medium chop rice bran oil to fry 7 kaffir lime leaves 1-2 key limes or about 1/2 of a standard western Bearss lime ---- 1. Cut the chillies and tomato into roughly equal size pieces, simmer until tender then drain 2. Mash the chillies/tomato in a traditional Indonesian mortar into a rough paste, squeezing the lime juice over while mashing 3. Over medium heat, heat a good quantity of oil - maybe 1/2C, and fry the shallots/garlic until the shallots are translucent 4. Add the kaffir lime leaves and fry until fragrant 5. Increase the heat and add the mashed chilli/tomato mixture and fry until the oil starts to separate and seeps through - reducing the heat as the water is reduced so as not to burn 6. Cool and enjoy at room temp

Grilled bison patties with Padang style sambal ijo (green sambal)

Chicken kapitan curry with homemade roti canai and cucumber pickle

Love this Yes, I know. We spent about a week in the area and sampled lots from small farms. By the time we flew home they had to roll us on the plane.

ooohhhh that's a tough choice - Valencay or Selles-sur-Cher?

I planted some seeds of some dried chillies I brought back from Malaysia recently. These are locally called cabe keriting - which means curly chilli - they're long and skinny and medium heat. I have no idea what they'd be called here. Every seed I tried germinated! I picked the two best ones and set them here. Hopefully it'll be warm enough inside that I get fruit set. If not, I'm thinking about putting a heat mat under it. On the right is a rhizome - sand ginger, or kencur in Indonesian. I harvested all of my previous crop and then replanted just one of the rhizomes.

hmmmm indeed!!! interesting... TBH, my knowledge of Thai food is not very much anymore, but I do still remember some of the language which is why I called it out...

Was there any ginger? It's the highlight ingredient in pad prik khing! Since you added galangal, maybe it's pad prik kha....

My love of cheese started in France, so in that spirit: Epoisses from Bourgogne, Pont L'Eveque from Normandy, a tangy ash rind chevre from the Loire (especially a Valencay) and an extremely aged sheep's milk cheese from Corsica that I forget the name of.... Edit - or change out the last one for a local Roquefort!

I have a bread question - but not about baking. I bought a boule of rye sourdough at the supermarket (best by date is 4/8 - 2 days from now). I plan to use 2 slices per day for the next 5 days to use for sandwiches. Should I just slice what I need and keep the rest of it at room temp or should I slice the whole thing and freeze the unused slices, defrosting the day of use? Or something else entirely? If only slicing what I need, should I cover the sliced end with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out or will that promote it going moldy faster?

I have no ideas about frozen lemongrass - I've always thought that it lost its flavor quickly when frozen. As to usage, the most helpful thing I can think of is that it varies. In many Malay/Indonesian/Nyonya recipes, it is used whole and typically, as Bruce says, it's bruised and tied in a knot, which makes it easy to remove when serving and keeps it from splitting into individual long fibers while being constantly stirred while simmering. But, some curry pastes will blend the lemongrass in with other ingredients. I think it depends on how long it will be cooked for - if it's going to simmer for hours, it's better to leave it whole - but if the paste is to be quickly fried and simmered a short time, it would be pounded/blended into the paste. But there may not be 100% consistency in that. In most Vietnamese dishes I've seen, it is sliced thinly (thinner than 1/8") or minced. I had a version of Bo la lot (beef with betel leaves) in a farm area that grew all of its own herbs and the lemongrass was sliced thin and scattered over the beef while being grilled, and it melted in your mouth. I used to make a lemongrass chicken (ga xao sa ot) which finely minces several sticks of lemongrass along with a lot of garlic. One thing I will say though is that fresh lemongrass is very different from what I get in the store. I grow my own, and the stalks are not the desiccated husks that are sold in stores and turn to sawdust when chopped or sliced - they're juicy enough that if I bash them with a pestle on the cutting board, juice comes out, or are pretty tender if sliced thinly. I don't know what would happen to them if I freeze them. Since I grow them indoors, I only harvest about 5 minutes before I use it, letting the rest continue growing.

I probably haven't used mine in almost a year. The last time, I used about a teaspoon (if that) to make a salad dressing... Most of the time I don't go through the effort to make a prepared dressing - usually just a broken dressing of oil/vinegar (or lime juice depending), S & P which takes about 20 seconds.

This is a ridiculously old thread, but I didn't know where else to ask this: Is there a shelf life to commercially prepared Dijon mustard once the jar has been opened? I have a half used jar of Maille Dijon mustard that has been in my refrigerator (kept as cold as possible) for probably a couple years. I don't see any mold or anything growing on it. I have always use a clean/dry utensil when removing contents. It smells ok. I imagine it won't have the bite that it had when new, but I just don't want it to inadvertently kill me! There is no expiration date on the jar, but it does say that it should be used within 3 months of opening - but I imagine that's more for quality rather than safety.

This looks a lot better (to me) than what we call "chicken salad" here in the US, which is basically chicken bound together with a thick mayo glop.