Marlene

Even in Business class, United Air's food sucked at least on state to state flights. Air Canada is doing better with their business class meals, although they've now instituted a policy of paying for your meals in economy class on flights three hours or less. I still think my meal on British Airways first class was the best meal I've ever had on any airline.

All right Dave. We've all been waiting patiently for pictures of the new floor and task lighting. Did we say you could have a life till you got that done? come on, give up the pictures.

I did this tonight, although I neglected to take pictures. I had two hungry pre-teen boys breathing down my neck as I was taking them out of the oven. My son was quite dubious about this method of cooking steak. His only steak experiences have been grilled. However, since it was this way or Kraft dinner, we proceeded. I had two cast iron frying pans going because the three steaks wouldn't fit in one pan. The steaks were Rib Eyes, a pound and half each and 2 inches thick. My son picked them out yesterday at the butchers. I did the butter thing, and by the time I got the crust Iwanted, the steaks were almost cooked. I did not throw the cast iron pan into the oven, but instead placed the three steaks on a sheet pan and put them in a 350 convection roast oven. I only needed to leave them in there for 5 minutes or so and they were done. Rested, drizzled the juice that had collected in the pan over them and served. My son and his friend thought they were excellent. I'm not as convinced. It was good, but I like my higher heat method better I guess. Then again, I may not have done this the right way. I had a boyfriend once many many years ago, who made me one of the best steaks I've ever had, using a cast iron frying pan and coating the steaks with a thin layer of mustard paste before frying. I've never been able to duplicate that taste. But man, was it good.

No, I've always been able to get Canadian Prime from my butcher. It's always a special order so if I know I'm going to want some for a dinner party or something I make sure I order in lots of time. The 21 Restaurant in Casino Niagara has been using Canadian Prime for years. Outside the GTA, that's probably my favourite steakhouse, followed closely by the Omega here in Oakville. There's one other restaurant here outside Toronto that has always used Canadian Prime as well, but I'm not picking up on the name at the moment. I think we've had this discussion about Canadian Prime and USDA Prime Steve. As I recall, the bulk of our Canadian Prime beef is exported to Japan and Australia.

Yes, I'm talking NY Strips. I just about fell over at the price. I don't buy a lot of meat from Brunos though, and I occassionally get my butcher to get me Canadian Prime Rib eyes. Top 5 steakhouses in Toronto? 1.. Barberians 2. Harbour Sixty 3. Ruth's Chris 4. Carmen's for the garlic if for nothing else! 5 It's a tie between the Senator and Bardis

Harbour Sixty is indeed an awesome steakhouse, although I still thin Barberian's is the best in the city.

I'll be doing this tonight as I have three beautiful rib eyes to cook, it's pouring rain here and I can't get to my BBQ anyway as my deck is all torn up at the moment. Question then: The butter method will be tried. Is the cast iron frying pan the best pan to do this in? and then would I just stick the cast iron pan in the oven?

All of mine are the Kaiser La Forme pans. I have round ones, square ones and mini round ones. Andie is correct, they aren't completely leakproof, but they do work pretty well.

Last night's dinner was kind of an experiment. I did a spiral ham (won't do that again!), and for the first time in my life, I stir fried something! My husband is the stir fryer in our family . The Sesame Garlic Asparagus turned out really really well. The reason I won't do a spiral cut ham again is because it's already sliced, and that leaves it open to drying out inside while it's baking. I actually usually prefer a bone in ham, but they are always so big for just the three of us. Here's a couple of pictures. And no, I didn't make the cake

Tonight we had baked ham, yukon gold whipped potatoes and an asparagus stir fry that was to die for. Pics tomorrow.

I like Toliver's suggestion as well. I usually bake my ribs in a covered roaster 4+ hours at 250 or so, spritzing occassionally as necessary. For the last hour, take the lid off, and spritz a little more frequently, then put on the grill and baste away with your sauce.

I think I'll let Klc write the course instead . Seriously, he is correct. My notes are guidelines and what generally work for me. I had never used convection before so I also had to experiment with times and temps a bit. And I do bake my creme brulees in convection without the water bath as Steve suggests.

Is this a very recent price? During the height of the US beef ban in Canada, Canadian beef prices were sky high? If the US beef ban is over(as I've been told), then I'm guessing, the Canadian Prime beef at Brunos would be much lower now, than 4-5 months ago for example. BTW, did you notice much difference in taste of steaks at Ruth's Chris Toronto, when they were serving Canada Prime beef, instead of US Prime beef(during the US beef ban)? -Steve ← Actually, I was just about to revise that. I just got home from Bruno's where Canadian prime was selling for $34.99 per lb. Thre is a difference between the two in that Canadian prime seems to be richer or more buttery than US prime.

I knew the article was coming out this month, but I haven't seen it yet! I don't see any reason why this can't be an annual event if there is enough interest! It certainly was fun the last time around

I'm pretty sure we've had a previous thread on this somewhere, but I'm a lousy searcher so: I've learned so much here, it's hard to know where to begin. I discovered onion confit, and learned about knives I discovered using better chocolate produced better results I learned what not to do in the kitchen in order to avoid stupid mistakes I found Tonkasu and changed the way I make pork forever. I learned about air vents, how to boil an egg, mother's milk, and tarts through the magic words of Dave the Cook, Fat Guy, MaggietheCat and mamster. In some cases, I learned more than I needed to know. I learned that cooking for a virtual community during a blog made all of you part of my family. I know now that I will never be alone in my cooking quests, and that I can ask any question without being laughed at and get thoughtful, explicit replies. I cherish the relationships I have formed here, from Altanta, to Chicago, to New York, all the way to Japan. I learned so much here, that it continues to be my pleasure to serve the community I now call family. How could I not?

I'm gonna write a course on convection cooking Convection Roasted Prime Rib. Convection baking and roasting two different things. When roasting, you're looking to get that nice crust on the outside,while keeping things juicy inside. With Baking, you're looking for lighter, "fluffier" results mostly. Some things don't translate well for convection use, for example, I would not convection bake my butter tart squares, but for roasting, cookies, and most cakes and even broiling it can't be beat. The roast above was convection roasted at 300 degrees at 18 minutes per pound. When roasting with convection, you can usually drop your oven temp by 25 degrees, for example, I used to roast at 325, hence the 25 degree drop. You drop the temperature because the cooking time for a roast is longer than the baking time for cookies. When baking with convection, you don't really need to drop the temperature, because the cookies or cakes aren't in the oven long enough to make the drop effecient. The beauty of baking cookies by convection for example is you can put 3 or 4 sheets of cookies in at one time, and they all get done at the same time, the same way, whereas, with regular I found that any more than two sheets at a time, just wouldn't bake all the sheets at the same time because the air isn't circulating. Custards can be baked by convection if you are going to do them low and slow. Like at 200 degrees for an hour. Otherwise, just use normal bake. I'm not familiar with the GE Monogram, but my ovens allow you to select Convection Roast, Convection Bake, or Convection broil. If you select "bake", the convection does not come on. Does that help at all? Oh one more thing. Don't ever use tin foil in your oven when using convection. The results aren't pretty

I would never get a non-convection oven again, and I don't believe you need to rewire for one either, at least we didn't. Even though I don't use the convection all the time, I roast with it and bake with it often enough, and the results are so superior to non convection roasting and baking that I would always choose convection given a choice. My ovens give you the choice of convection or non convection cooking so it's easy to switch back and forth.

It's hard to believe that the Christmas season is almost upon us once again. I have started my shooping and next week all the lights and decorations come out and start to go up. It takes me about two weeks to decorate the house, so I have to start early. This year I'll be doing a ton of baking for gifts, mostly because I'll have enough time this year. And I'll be ordering my Prime Rib from the butcher soon. Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year. Hmmm, I never did make that Yule Log last year. I think I need to go buy an early present for myself. A jellyroll pan. ......but then I'm a sucker for presents.

both my ovens are wall ovens, so I can't speak to the cooktop componet, but as far as ovens go, mine are both KA, electric, with convection or regular and they are both outstanding. I've used an oven thermometer several times to check whether the temp is bang on and I've never been disappointed.

Canadian Prime at Brunos is $27.00 a pound. I haven't seen any USDA Prime there for a while though

So here is what I'm thinking: Cold Asiago, Proscuitto Cheese Twists mini corn bread muffins with jalepeno chicken salad Lobster salad in Phyllo cup Hot Beef Roulade - either teriyake or cracked black pepper Smoked Mozzarella & chicken puff pastry purses ( I know I have an extra one, but I couldn't give any of these up! For the main Hot Buffet: Basmati rice with Onion green bean Almondine one beef dish: Prime Rib Tournedos Stephanie I am really torn between these two. I've served Prime Rib the last two years and it's always been a hit, but I thought I might do something a bit different this year. one Pasta dish: Tortellini Alfredo two Salads Mandarin Almond greens Broccoli with a sesame ginger dressing Pick two Desserts Crepes Cheese tray There will be a choice of crepes :Jubilee, Suzette, or Chocolate

I'm having a Frosted Flakes cereal bar. And coffee. Does that count as breakfast?

how do you make your egg salad now? that might help us get thinking of the right things to add to it

A displaced Candian? Is your catering business in Minneapolis? You have a few of them right, but not all of them by any stretch. Although you'd be bang on for most of the people in this crowd. I just can't be that completely staid however.

Move to progressively smaller pots? I think I need to put more pots on my christmas list!