CDRFloppingham

This thread is giving me a culinary boner. Do you need to heat the 0.5% gelatin solution to get the gelatin (good ole Knox) to go into solution, then cool, then freeze? Or is it OK if you put the gelatin into a cool/cold liquid, stir well, then freeze?

Great f'in thread Bryan. Between the recession and buying a house with my fiance there are not a lot of fancy meals for us now so it's fun to live vicariously through you. Blog on brother.

Thanks all for the great ideas. I didn't know that brisket could get that dry but I did it.

I have half of a "BBQ" brisket that is dry but otherwise tasty. I doctored the other half with a butter-laden BBQ sauce with partial success. Any thoughts? I'm thinking about making chili?

Didn't we learn in TC Season 3 that scented candles (somewhat analogous to perfume) is taboo in the dining room?

I'm not saying I'm a great chef but I'm a competent home cook. Therefore, when I'm watching the B(.)(.)B* tube, what I'm looking for is ideas for new flavor combinations (OK, you can call it a recipe) and/or entertainment. Say what you want to say about Sandra Lee just slapping together some prepared food, I think she's hot* and nice eye candy. Is she a great chef? Hell no. Does she make food I want to make? No. Do I enjoy watching her because she's an attractive woman? Yeah Compare her to Julia Child Was she a great chef? No** Did she make stuff I want to make? I've made most of her stuff since her recipes are limited to classics. She wasn't an innovative chef** but she was a pioneer in food on TV and pushed the American public to take food seriously. Still, the answer to this question, for me, is "sometimes" but none of her recipes were really interesting or innovative. Nor do I think that any of her recipes are really "the best" of their kind. Do I still enjoy watching her? Not so much anymore. In fairness, I've seen all of The French Chef, Baking with Julia, Julia and Jacques, etc. episodes. There's only so much you can learn from watching on TV. At my level of skill (and I'm not claiming that it's all that high), you just gotta do it. ETA: I was so intent on defending food "celebs" as entertainment rather than idols or great teachers or pioneers that I didn't answer the question. Faves: Colicchio because he is Top Chef Bourdain Pepin Bittman Guy Fieri Batali David Rosengarten (from back in the day) Least Faves: Emeril Emeril Marianne Esposito Lidia Bastianich The Hippie Gourmet Emeril

Overall comments - three of the items used cooked ingredients. because they packed kinda loosely, it was hard to get a lot into each wrapper which is what I wanted to do. Comments specific to each "kuo teh" in bold above.

ETA: Floppy the dummy just realized that this thread pertains to what you cooked, not what you bought at the cafeteria. Oops

I didn't laugh -- because I knew it was coming -- but I cheered when she whined about ruining her shoes and blouse. Great way to turn the audience off! Maybe she'll learn from that and wear shoes that belong in a kitchen. ← I got a pretty good snicker out her complaining about ruining a $300 blouse. One of my first thoughts was "how many FTV viewers can actually afford a $300 blouse", my guess is not many.[/B] That wasn't going to win her much sympathy. But...I am very, very surprised that someone in the FTV HR department hasn't talked to either Lisa...er, the Romulan... or the two network officials on the panel about those shoes. Yeah, it was funny to see her take a header, but she's also a walking safety hazard. What if the contents of that container had been a hot liquid, or worse yet, hot oil. She could have been badly burned, and so could anyone working in the kitchen with her. Not only are those shoes a safety hazard they're also a liability with the potential for a BIG insurance pay out if she ever injures someone because of them. Apparently, the risk does not outweigh eatertainement TV. I don't care how good her skills or knowledge of food may be, those ridiculous shoes, $300 blouse and endangerment of others working in the kitchen are a real detriment to any shred of credibility she may have. ← I don't claim to know the demographic data for FN viewers but I would think that the average income for TVFN viewers is above the 50th percentile nationally, probably above the 80th percentile.

I bought the materials for Reuben (corned beef, swiss, sauerkraut) with Russian dressing "Cheeseburger" (ground beef, cheddar, grilled onions) with ketchup Mexican (chorizo, corn, cilantro, cheese) with salsa BBQ (pulled brisket, BBQ sauce, onion) with NC sauce I will report how they tasted. Thanks all!

Looks great coming out of the bag. I trimmed some for my "western" potstickers and a taste. Not a strong smoky flavor but not bad for all indoor cooking. I have thrown in the freezer for the lunch with the guests. I plan to glaze with some sauce. Thanks for all the advice eGers!!!

The project is underway. I bought a 7 lb brisket yesterday. Because I was a little concerned about the slow roast process, I boiled with some onions and garlic x 4 hours. In the fridge overnight. I applied a rub (salt, sugar, spices) and put in bags. Into the WS bag at 480 degrees x 40 minutes. Rest. to be continued.

My guests are Muslim so pork is forbidden as is alcohol and non-finned, non-scaled fish. I don't want to do chicken. I read someone's posts about slow roasting short ribs and wanted to try it. Again...many thanks for all the great suggestions! ETA: So I would hot smoke the ribs or brisket in the WS bag for 45 minutes or so, then finish in a low, low oven?

This place (eGullet) is awesome!!! Even though I HATE WS, I think I'll go with the smoker bags...I don't have room for another piece of equipment.

I know that there is only one kind of barbeque...low and slow over live fire. However, I'm an apartment dweller. I have some visitors coming from overseas and I'd like to serve an "All-American" main consisting of something BBQ-tasting, coleslaw, and potato salad. I was thinking about braising some short-ribs, then glazing and finishing in the oven with a BBQ-like sauce. Do you think that will produce a decent-tasting (if totally inauthentic) result? Any thoughts how to proceed? I googled and epicurioused around for recipes and struck out.

Thanks all. Great ideas here. I will post as I experiment.

Great idea. Floppy

I'd love to hear about the recipe. Floppy

Yes, I am aware that every culture has a filled dumpling dish...gyoza in Japan, kuo teh in China, ravioli/tortellini in Italy, pierogi in Poland, etc. However, I am interested in making some dumplings that really look like potstickers (using won ton/gyoza wrappers, using the pan-fry then steam method of cooking) but have non-Asian flavors. So far, I've thought of filling with a tight Italian meat sauce, some kind of riff on Cordon Bleu, and maybe a jerk chicken/plantain/Carribean thing. Any other ideas? Any ideas about dipping sauces I could serve with them? I plan to serve with chopsticks on Asian-looking plates. TIA Floppy

Thanks prasantrin. But would you use a whole can + 1/2 c nam pla + 1 c lime juice? Those proportions sound way off.

I'm new here so if this has been discussed, please disregard. However, I've tried making one recipe before (Ilan's fideos) and I'm thinking about making Spike's sensual beef salad now. The fideos recipe was inaccurate; if I had followed the recipe the pasta would have been hard and the dish dry. Spike's recipe says to mix 1/2 c fish sauce, 1 c lime juice, 4 chiles, 1 T white vinegar and "1 sprite." Does that mean the soda? Would you actually use a can of Sprite? :grumbling:

I would like to dine at a place Richard was involved with. I've actually experienced Tre Wilcox's food. Once before Season 3 even started and once after it was all over. Got to meet him on the second visit, too. I haven't had been to the place where Casey works, though. But I think she is still there. ← Does anyone have a burning desire to eat at Stephanie's future restaurant? As worthy as she was as this season's TC, I don't feel compelled to try her food.

First of all, I have to echo the sentiments of all of the posters, Stephanie and Richard were the best; I only wish both could have won. That being said, I've watched all four seasons of TC. There are chefs for whom I will make every effort to try their food, if I get the chance. Those are chefs Harold Dieterle, Tiffani Faison, Tre Wilcox, Casey Thompson, and Hung Huynh. Hell, I am interested to try Marcel Vigneron's food and, even though he's an ass, I made Ilan Hall's fideos recipe and it was good. This season, I just haven't felt compelled to try to make any of the dishes nor do I really feel that I need to try the food of the good chefs. Am I just jaded or did the food look a little less delicous this season?