OliverB

it's not rancid So, one bottle I have, the small one the size of a pepper sauce: Dynasty Sesame Oil. The contents are dark colored, so you're right, I guess it's toasted sesame oil, though it does not say anything about toasted anywhere on the label. This is the really strong one where a drop or two often is enough. The other is Spectrum Sesame Oil, larger bottle and yellowish in color, like any other oil. So I guess they just don't label this correctly, which can potentially ruin somebody's dish. For a while I only ever had the small bottle and always wondered about the (never followed) instruction of adding a tsp, until I found the other bottle, which is much milder in taste. I have all my specialty oils in the fridge, thinking of getting a small wine fridge or dorm fridge for just that purpose eventually. All that stuff takes up so much room.....

One thing that confuses me is the use of sesame oil. I have several, some in bottles the size of tabasco, others in larger bottles, around the size of a rice vinegar bottle maybe. Now I come across Asian recipes frequently that ask for a teaspoon (or more) of 'sesame oil'. If I'd just grab any sesame oil off my shelf (or the shelf in the market) I'm sure I could easily destroy a dish. The labels don't indicate much, but some of these are so strong that a couple drops are enough, teaspoons or more would make everything taste like the oil. The bottles only indicate that it's 100% sesame oil, but the taste strength differs by a wide margin. Anybody have an insight here? Are the small ones supposed to be used like a finishing spice? How come they are so different, if they're all 100% the same according to the label? I'm not talking about hot sesame oil or toasted sesame oil, just "Sesame Oil". Curious~

I think your site is a great idea! Like Amazon reviews with (eventually) page by page detail. Hopefully I'll find some time to add my own books and reviews. I'm working on short reviews of books on my own blog in the store section, but that would not include recipe discussions, I like your idea. I just made up a new project I call threesomes, I plan to make (at least) 3 dishes from any of my books, in sequence, meaning I won't use an other book for that week (or weeks) until I'm done with those three. I'll be posting results here and on my blog. Part of the idea is to actually use the books I have in the kitchen, not just on my reading table, part is the selfish reason that I want to be able to search my own notes, as I usually remember a recipe I made, but not necessarily the book it came from If your site gets enough contributers it can really be a useful tool! I still wish publishers would at least allow one to download an electronic version of the contents and the index of their books. Regardless if you own the book or not, as I'd guess such a service could lead to book sales too.

nothing will ever replace a nice well produced book in my book. That being said, I'd love it if books would give you a link or CD with at least the index on them, that you could then load into some standard database, thus allowing you to search all your books at once form the computer. I'm sure I'll eventually own something like the kindle (though I'm patient enough to wait for when they'll be free with some subscription) as it's great for all the novels I read, there's really no reason to keep a story book once you've read it. At least I don't have the time to read the same book again, as there are a gazillion other books out there I have not yet read that are first in line. Now, having some reader that's hanging off my cupboard door or fridge, that's wirelessly connected to my cookbook database and can show any recipe I own in printed form, that would be great! I'm very anal with my books, if I'd ever spill something on one of my beloved expensive cookbooks I'd have to throw it out (literally) and buy it again. I'm not quite wearing white gloves paging through them (and my art and music books), but I'm close to that. Silly, I know, but that's just how I feel about books. A kindle, no matter how fancy and in color and with video and what not, will never be the same as a nice well made book that sits on my reading table or in my bookshelf. Imagine a large bookshelf - mine holds some 2000 or so books I guess - with one, that's one thin plasticy Kindle sitting on it, in a lot of empty space. Sorry, not my thing. I see the use of these devices much more for disposable reads like novels, newspapers, magazines, etc. I'd not mind having just one Kindle on my coffee table (that I think never saw a cup of coffee, despite the name) instead of the piles of magazines. Now, I do love magazines, but they are disposable and a reader (if in color) could pretty much deliver the same with added features like saving pages you like etc. It would have to have a touch screen that I can write on with some pen, be in color, and allow saving, highlighting, annotating, etc etc, all the good things you can do with a cheap magazine. And if I'd get an e-copy of the nice cookbooks I buy as a free download, I'd be all over it too. But it will never sit alone on my empty bookshelf, that's for sure :-)

interesting, thanks! That fine is the reason I don't have a Cali bush yet, I have yet to find a little one where it's ok to take it or order it from the nursery. It smells great on top of Mt Diablo on a hot summer day, hiking amongst hundreds of these. Never had any issues from handling them. Interesting idea with putting them in the pantry, will they keep those tiny moths away that sometimes get into nuts or flour etc?

good point with the pulp, there's always lots of "garbage" with a juicer. There are ways to use the left over pulp, though I've never done it so far. Hmmmm.... I might see a VitaMix machine in my future....

just wondering, why dry them, and not use them fresh? That's what I do, I have a small tree in a pot at the front door, same it seems as the pix above. I just pick a couple leaves, crumble them and use them that way, I don't dry them at all, as the bush does not loose it's leaves. I'm also gonna get a California Bay tree, I pick leaves off them on a local mountain when up there, just haven't found it in a nursery yet. Stronger smelling, but not THAT much stronger, at least to me. Work well for cooking, curious why there'd be those warnings with those? I don't get migraines , why would this leaf trigger them? Interesting.

the 30 min book is not bad, though I must say that I rarely use any of their books and over the last year or so found nothing much of interest in the magazine either. There are much better books out there and personally I prefer Fine Cooking and Cuisine at Home (and Bon Appetit and Sauveur) over CI. I won't renew my sub once it runs out, unless they bring the mag a bit up to date with full color photos etc. Those odd drawings and the overall feel of the mag is a bit dated I think. I've read lots of praise about the best recipe books too, though I don't own them. Check used book stores or places like abebooks.com or even Amazon. And yes, be careful when you order from them, they try to powersell you stuff down the road, they are almost impossible to reach and eventually will just make you mad.

They just demoed the BlendTec at Costco this week, seems to work as well as the Vita machines. I did not buy it, I don't like pre-programmed things all that much, I think I'll be happier with the manual adjustment option. BlendTec seems to have the option to change speed manually too from the looks of it, not sure how well that works. I like buttons and adjusters that I actually move better than a little button I have to press and hold, but that's just a personal preference. I also don't trust LCD displays that much, had too many go bad on me. The guy mentioned that you don't have to (nor can) take the blades off the BlendTec unit, as it only has two, whereas the FDA requires those with 4 to be removable. No idea if that's just sales guy talk, but personally I prefer being able to take thing apart for cleaning. The BT machine sold for 375.- I love tomato and vegetable juices, wondering if they're easier to make on a blender than on my juicer? I'd not mind selling my juicer and replacing it with a blender that has more functionality. Anybody have any input? Not sure you could call a veggie mix a smoothie per se, but in a way it's the same thing.

My guess would be that you can pull it from the freezer and put it in the cooker, though the cooker might not like that too much. But There's little you can do to cast Iron in your home kitchen, that would break it. I have the same cooker and will dust it off soon, slow cooked food is autumn and winter food :-) I would not do this with ceramic (or glass) cooker inserts, though I'd think they'd be fine also. It's not like you're throwing it into fire. Just my 2ct, I might be wrong but I doubt it. You can take a room temp cast iron pot and set it right into hot coals, a much more "cruel" treatment

funny, hello Neighbor! I just bought some chicken chile verde burritos this week - meh, bland and boring w/o some Mexican hot pepper sauce IMO. I won't get those again. I did pick up those chocolate croissants and will make them this Sunday if I remember to defrost them the night before. Also got the party meat balls, they're good and the kids like them. And meatballs is something I'll probably never make myself.

Thanks! I've been giving this some more thought, while the thermo is neat in some way, it probably won't matter much to me as I'm at home cooking and can keep things on temp. I read a review on Amazon where somebody was doing something with gellatine I guess and had to cool the thermo for 15 hours to get the internal temp down. Not sure if that person knows what they're doing, but I can see the problem. I figure if I want to make a foam of some sort for savory eating I'll have the ingredient hot/warm already or can keep it warm in a water bath, and for desserts I have a fridge. Thanks, and I'll report after Christmas what - if anything - santa brought :-) Of course, if others stumble across this thread and have input, please post, I will revisit :-)

I'm populating my Christmas wish list with fun kitchen things. One item I've wanted for a while is a cream whipper, ISI seems to be the way to go, but there are a lot of options. I guess a pint one is the most versatile, but even those come in a wide range of price. I don't really care if it's stainless stell, brushed, painted or tiled, dipped in lava or what ever, as long as it works and doesn't look like I pulled it from the trash. But there's also the Thermo Whip, which is an insulated container. Seems neat, as it keeps things cool or hot for hours, but I can imagine that this also will hinder in the production of things that need to be cooled in the fridge before making a foam etc. The insulation works both ways, so cooling something warm in there in the fridge might take a very very long time. I guess I could keep something warm or cold in an according waterbath instead, what would you pick? Oh, and I'll most likely never make whipped cream in there, as I can't stand that stuff, but fluffed soups, deserts of some kind, things like that are of interest. I'm tending towards a regular steel one, but am curious to hear of others that might have one of these, especially if you have the thermo. Thanks! Oliver

free range that above hint with the hunt might deliver faster, any park with a pond would be a good start ;-p I know, I know, can't do that and those messy Canada geese are even protected, pooping up our nice park here in Walnut Creek. I've seen goose frozen even at larger Safeways around the holidays, also check Asian markets like Ranch 99 etc. Won't be free range of course. Also check out the website for the Bay Area Meat CSA: http://bamcsa.ning.com Join a group local to you (I'm in the Mt Diablo group) and ask. Somebody might have a lead there. So far I've gotten Berkshire pig, half a lamb, part of a goat, two rabbits, 3 pasture raised chickens and a turkey and some beef on the way. I'd guess you'll find a lead there. Good luck!

one last note and I'll shut up about this book" Our local Barnes and Noble had at least 10 of them in a pile, so you should have no problem locating one to look at - at least in the US. And if you're looking for the contents, they're somewhere in the middle on double fold out pages. Why? You don't ask why in art Check it out!

forgot to mention the frozen artichoke hearts, they're also quite good and cut down on prep time tremendously. I like to roast them in a pan, maybe a squeeze of lime or lemon juice or some nice vinegar, s&p. But they can be used for all kinds of things. I love artichokes, and don't mind cleaning them, but if I want a whole lot of them this is an excusable shortcut IMO. And I find them better than pickled or otherwise preserved hearts, much more versatile.

I still remember my only time there years ago. Wondering how something that looked pretty good could have no flavor what so ever. None. Cardboard with rubber toy food inside. Never again. A total waste of money and appetite IMO.

blended salads, now that sounds tasty! I'm not much for sweet things, but in that category I could see a lot of produce that I'd normally not get around to cooking (thus toss) being whipped up into something nice and tasty! I'll have to head over to google and take a peek. Not concerned with one being healthier than the other, as long as it tastes good :-) And I have to do some research on good blenders it seems.

I promised a picture or two, let's see if this works with links to images on my blog: Pork belly and mess in place - savory on the left, sweet on the right: Packed and ready to cure in the fridge for 7 days: Here's the bacon, fresh from the smoker (BGE): And here is some of it nice and crispy - and very juicy on the inside - with some left over pasta, scrambled egg and tomatoes. A nice Saturday brunch: It turned out great, I'm really amazed by this somewhat goofy looking Big Green Egg. Made Pizza, tri-tip, pork loin on it since, all turned out wonderfully. Posts to come, but they'd be off topic here. More detailed description and lots more pix on my blog, but these are the essence of the adventure.

I had no idea there are so many Doritos versions! As for favorite snacks, real Bavarian Pretzel with butter (see my avatar) fresh from the oven are hard to beat, but also not fast food in any way - sadly. And potato chips, the kind they have in Germany etc. Cut super thin, non of that extra thick or crinkle cut, almost paper thin, press against the roof of your mouth with tongue and experience flavor explosion! I've tried many many chips here in the US, few come close, California Chips being among the best: http://www.californiachips.com/ the earthquake ones are really good. Unfortunately they don't sell them in many stores here, I hope that will change! TJs peanut butter filled pretzel pieces are also great. They have a new product, roasted nut mix on a wafer, I think form the Philippines or somewhere over there. Sweet and savory, quite good. Little pretzels with hard or blue cheese and salami plus something pickled, olives or caper berries. Late night heaven :-) PS: if somebody knows of any other very thin cut potato chips I can get in NorCal, please let me know! Pringles are ok, but I find that I can "feel" that they're made form mashed potatoes or what ever process they use. Not the same as a real slice of a potato. Maybe I'll just have to get a fryer someday and experiment myself.

first of all: Haribo Gold Bears, especially if made in Europe. KitKatt bars Cheetos (spelling?)

corner of Treat and Oak Grove in Concord. I forgot to mention their simmer sauces that come in glasses. Some very good Indian style, Italian, etc. I embellish them a bit with extra onions and curry powder if I have time and I usually fry the chicken first to brown it a bit, but even without that they make a nice quick meal. Add the curry naan bread and you're done. I'll be back there tomorrow, looking for some of the recommended frozen things in this thread!

I used to dislike it and yes, it smells like stink bugs we had sometimes on blueberry bushes in the woods in Germany. Now I love it and add a lot to dishes that ask for it. My wife and kids love it too - so far at least. Supposedly still hard to find in Germany and my parents had little success growing it. Neither did I here in NorCal for some reason. Other things grow fine, the cilantro turns yellowish and dies. But as it's easy to find large bunches I don't mind. edit to add: the French bedbug story might be a translation problem. The bug I'm thinking of in Germany is called Stink Wanze, and the bed bug in German is also called Wanze or Bettwanze. Wanze generally means a flat roundish bug. Maybe in French the bed bug and other such bugs also have the same name? I've never come across a bedbug and don't intend to, but my mom knows them from her childhood. Never mentioned a smell though. I'll have to ask her. There are many such Wanzen on plants, only a few or maybe just one species has that smell. It can ruin your blueberry collection if you're not careful. Here's the bug I'm talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomena_prasina The German wikipedia has much more info but of course in German. If you can read it, find it here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%BCne_Stinkwanze

Ah, oh well :-) Thanks for the link, I'll have to listen to that too eventually.

this thread is probably going to be one of the most useful things to me on eGullet, if not the internet! Thanks for starting this, we just got a new Ranch 99 and a Fish something or other is going to open up soon. I find myself in front of 35787 different kinds of (insert name)sauces and have no clue what to get - usually just buy the more expensive stuff hoping it's "better", so this is going to be really really helpful! Thanks! Oliver