PBHokie

Wow. I just read this entire thread from start to finish. My Amazon cookbook wish has grown from 74 to 103 titles and I ordered four that I must have immediately. I currently have about 80 cookbooks, the vast majority of which are well represented in the thread I'm glad to say; I do my research before I deem a cookbook worthy. I'm certain anything that could even be considered “the best” has already been listed, but here are a few others I reach for quite often that I don’t think have been mentioned: A Passion for Baking - Marcy Goldman Pure Dessert - Alice Medrich Perfect Scoop - David Lebovitz Amuse-Bouche - Rick Tramonto Peace, Love, and Barbecue - Mike Mills Fairly specific subject matter but great volumes none-the-less.

I need to fill a few voids in my current collection of Falk, AC, and cast iron cookware but I'm adding a countertop induction burner to the mix which obviously isnt compatible with the Falk. Thats prompted me to reevaluate my options. The Demeyere Atlantis stuff looks pretty nice and I was wondering if anyone had any experience comparing the two. My plan is to use the induction burner mainly for making pasta and the like (in which case, I'd just buy the cheapest induction cookware I could find) but, from what Ive been reading, it may quickly find other uses. I never thought I would even consider anything other than gas, but it seems at least possible that I might end up preferring induction which would make buying more Falk a waste. However, the gas range/countertop induction setup might ultimately be the best solution, in which case both types of cookware will have there place. Any thoughts or other suggestions?

I honestly don't know, but I question whether this is actually the case or if it's even a “prevailing theory”. Only the hungriest of wild animals would choose to eat a wild apple and if there is a creature that favors peaches, I doubt very seriously if it also ingests the stone. Also, as mentioned by others, many fruits have mechanisms (namely thorns) which clearly indicate they do NOT want to be eaten.

I don't care what they're actually made from...I love McDonald's chicken nuggets...

Toasted plain bagel, cream cheese, sliced onion and tomato, and some luscious lox. Mmm-MMMM!!

In which Jaleo did you dine? ← I was in Bethesda. I thought maybe I was being a little hasty but I've been to a few other lesser known places since then and it's still sub-par in my mind. So far, I'm still of the opinion that many restaurants end up becoming the victim of their own success.

Are you soaking the wood before you add it to the grill? I always soak wood for a few hours before use. Using them dry they just ignite and fail to produce any smoke at all. Rapid vs. smoldering combustion. Think about a match when it's lit and then when you blow it out; it's the same fuel burning at different temperatures. Soaking, and even splashing the fire with water occasionally, does a pretty good job of slowing things down, makes the heat a little more even and predictable, and adds some steam to the mix which is also a good thing in my experience.

I might lose some frugality points for this but how expensive are sponges? Just throw them away. I think the ones I buy are under a dollar for four. If I can use a 25 cent sponge for a week it's definitely earned it's keep. Most last longer than that before being demoted to the garage or bathroom. Just a thought.

Not much on the high end burgers but if you're in Bethesda and like 5 Guys, give Crossfire a try. They're pretty good!! Old Georgetown across from Safeway.

For some reason I am rarely impressed with many of the highly regarded “landmark” restaurants in the DC area, Jaleo being no different. I’m not saying they’re bad, but they often fall below my expectations which arguably are too high to begin with. My mom was in town this weekend and we decided to stop in Jaleo since I have wanted to try the place for some time. The atmosphere was very nice and service was also very good but the food left a little to be desired. I guess when I go to a place like Jaleo I expect everything on the menu to be very good. Perhaps this is a misguided expectation and I suppose Jaleo faired pretty well with seven of our nine dishes falling, at least, into the “good” category. However, the two that were not so good put a damper on the whole meal. All said and done, dessert was the real high point of the meal. The fruit soup w/ fresh cheese ice cream was very good but more ice cream would have been a real plus given the size of the dish and the richness of the sauce. Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Torte was also very, very good. To my surprise the next best dish was the grilled quail; surprising because I was expecting to like it the least. I ordered it to try something a little different. It was cooked just right and very flavorful. Crab stuffed baby tomatoes were also very good as were the bacon wrapped figs. Mom seemed to enjoy the Manzanas, apple and fennel salad, but I didn’t try it. The Ensaladilla rusa was good but was very salty. I suppose that should be expected for a dish that includes conserved tune and roe but it was a distraction from the dish. The fisherman’s soup was okay but I was expecting, perhaps mistakenly, something heartier. The flavor was quite good but just not very satisfying. Vieiras con mojo picón, or seared scallops with pepper sauce was not good. I’ve never seen scallops this small. They were no wider than a dime. So small, in fact, that their flavor was completely masked by the sauce. I had high hopes for this one which may have tinted my view of the meal as a whole. Again, not terrible. I would go again, if for no other reason that to give the place another shot. I want to like it but I just…didn’t.

So I'm looking to upgrade my existing cookware and purchase a few new pieces. I think I have a pretty good idea of what pieces I use most (or would use most) and I've spent a few weeks browsing through this post trying to decide what type of cookware to buy, copper of aluminum. I have a pretty good understanding of how the two perform on paper but I thought I would ask those of you who have experience with both since I have very little with good aluminum and none with true copper pieces. I plan to purchase the following: 11" Saute Pan 11" Curved Sauteuse 11" Fry pan 2-3 quart Sauce pan The curved sauteuse is the only totally new piece but from what I've read and seen it stores I think it would be very useful. The rest I have are All-Clad or Calphalon. My question is, generally speaking, are any of these pans just as good, or better, in aluminum as opposed to copper? Obviously, each pan has various uses so I suppose the quick response might be "it depends" but for now I don't plan to keep more than one of the same pan so just assume you have to pick only one. To me, it seems a fry pan and perhaps the saute might be just as good in heavy, disk bottom aluminum as they would in copper...but I don't know. Is copper just hands-down the best in all applications? I plan on purchasing either Falk copper or Paderno Grand Gourmet aluminum. Since most cookware seems to last quite a while, I'd rather just get the best product right from the get-go and be done with it. ANY advice you could lend would be very appreciated!! By the way, I just want to add...this website is AMAZING!!! Thank you all for posting these classes and all the other topics, for new cooks it is an invaluable resource.

Ratatouille. Great movie!!

I have the Chef's Choice Waffle Pro. It just stopped working after about 10 batches. Other than that I love it!! :-( I've also heard the Waring is the way to go.

I'm also looking for something like this. Rosle offers a pair of fine tongs but I've never used them. I actaully keep a pair of cooking chopsticks around and they come in handy quite a bit.

I’m new to eGullet so I figured the best way to start things off would be a confession to my biggest kitchen disaster. Here goes… Once, in college, I had decided to make blackened tuna steaks for my girlfriend and myself. I had prepared them a few times before but never in my new apartment which had an electric stove. I had little experience with electrics and didn’t particularly enjoy the experiences I had. Anyway, I set the stove on high and placed my trusty Wagner iron skillet on the burner. I was home alone and I left for a few minutes and came back to realize I had not put the cooking oil in the pan. Apparently, "HIGH" on an electric stove, or at least on this one, was damned hot. Pouring the oil into the pan it was as if I had dumped rocket fuel on a Bunsen burner. In an instant the entire pan was engulfed in flames. I immediately reached for the fire extinguisher, which was hung, quite conveniently, at the end of the counter. Only in a college apartment complex would this unsightly yet life saving device be located so accessibly. I grabbed it off the hook, took aim with the hose, and gave the handle a firm squeeze. Nothing. Not even a puff of flame smothering whatever-they-put-in-those-things. Memories of a recent beer pong tournament rushed into my head like a thought bubble that would appear above a cartoon character faced with similar circumstances. In a drunken stooper my roommates and I thought what fun it would be to spray each other with fire retardant while we all laughed like flour-dusted idiots. I knew water was out of the question so, feeling as though my options to extinguish the fire in the house had run dry, I thought the next best solution might be to just remove the fire from the house. I dropped the extinguisher and, in a panic, grabbed the pan...bare handed. WRONG!! I’m certain the four-letter expletive that followed could be heard at least a mile away; nearly loud enough to silence the fire alarm that had begun blaring a few second earlier. At that point this whole mess evolved into a sort of outer body experience. The immense pain in my hand presented me with a moment of relative clarity and I grabbed a dish towel, picked up the pan and set it in the breezeway until the flames died out on their own as I ran my throbbing hand under a cold tap. At the time this was decidedly not-funny but looking back, the whole incident is pretty hilarious. The scar on my palm, barely visible now, is a reminder that the kitchen can be a dangerous place…particularly if you are a bumbling idiot. Incidentally, the tuna steaks were a big hit that night. I did pretty well preparing them with my left hand after I’d aired out the apartment for a few minutes.