Nick

It's just amazing what city people think of when they get out into the country.

If you mean the Eagle Hunter's hat, I think it would be the envy of everyone here in Maine - or any other cold climate. It's beautiful.

NYC meets Mongolia. Be interesting to hear the story from the other side. Mongolia meets NYC?

Al, that's terrible. I had more cooking space in the 14' camper I lived in while building my new house. Maybe it's time to move?

For regular home cooking I can't imagine prepping most stuff anymore than a hour or two in advance. I don't cut onions or garlic more than 15 minutes before using. What's everyone doing that's so much more important than taking some time to cook at a reasonable pace?

Since I hadn't heard of Wondra, I did a google search on it and came across Ochef. Looks like an interesting site.

Chickalicious... It still sounds (looks) like a fast food chicken joint every time I see it mentioned. Move over KFC.

I used to flour, but gave it up as it didn't really seem to add anything except as Fifi says to thicken a beef stew.

Thanks for the replies. Wesza, that's a good common sense idea. That's how I'll start. Bicycle - if I'm cooking inside I generally prefer to pan fry my steaks, but I've heard that infrared gives really good results. FG, the "nearly destroy" was a from a friend of mine who was for the first time broiling salmon under an infrared. He was shocked by the heat it generated. PS.. I wouldn't own a Viking if you gave it to me. Dacor would be a different matter. Amana was all I could afford.

My new Amana with infrared broiler is now hooked up and I'm hoping to try it out this weekend with a decent steak - I'll probably start with a short cut rather than blow a really good piece of meat on my first try. My reason for this trepidation is that a friend of mine has told me (after some experience) that the infrared is much hotter than a regular broiler and will nearly destroy anything when the rack is positioned in the top one or two slots that are usually used when broiling. Is this true? Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Pintos from a friend's garden. Edited to say I gave him the seed years ago. Two different kinds.

Here on the coast of Maine we generally use cold lobster for lobster sandwiches or lobster stew. The sandwiches consist of two slices of bread liberally spread with mayo and the lobster meat laid in between. For the stew, melt some good butter in a saucepan and then cook the meat until it starts changing color a little. Then add some whole milk (and maybe a little cream) and simmer.

Fresh eggs hard-boiled will peel as easily as older ones. When the eggs are done empty the pan of hot water and immediately fill with cold. If it's a heavy pan with residual heat empty the pan again and refill with cold water. When the eggs have cooled, peel.

Why not knock on the door? There must be someone in there that knows what's going on.

If you're on the east coast, mid-Atlantic and north, you may want to keep an eye on this hurricane. Right now it looks like it might be headed that way. For more info go to http://www.hurricanecenter.com/HTML/frameset1.htm and then hit "Atlantic Storm Data" followed by "Strike Probabilities - image." Another site is, http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/ and then hit 2003. This storm may give us a good blow. At the least, if you have a bathtub, fill it.

I second PJ's suggestion of Norwood's. When I was a kid we had a winter place in New Symrna and we'd eat there quite a bit. That was back around '50-'53 and I still have fond memories of the smoked mullet.

I'd say that would be about right. Although, I hope by walls is also meant the floor and the roof of the oven. In addition, it would seem that the browning is done by radiation.

Some people don't recognize art when it's right in front of them.

Dan Quayle threw a lot of us into confusion. Don't worry. It's potato and potatoes.

Fifi, Burger King doesn't stand a chance after that piece of fine writing. You have a toke before stopping at Mickey D's?

Chorizo with refried pintos in a bean burrito.

I've long used floating a potato in water to get the right salinity for brining fish before smoking. Got any idea of the difference between a potato and an egg? If not, it would be an interesting experiment.

Also for little 1 lb. Cornish Game hens, Rocks, etc. I always thought trussing was for stuffed birds.

I've had my wood board since around '67. I just clean it with the scrubby side of a sponge and some of the dishwater. Then I wipe it off with clean water and wipe it dry. Only time I pay extra attention is when I've been cutting chicken. Never oil it. Thirty five years and it's still going strong and nobody ever got sick.

The Cuban pork is something I came across after my folks moved to near Key West back in the seventies. You get it in a "Cuban sandwich", usually at little Cuban places in strip malls or keyholes in town. It's really delicious pork but, as I said, no one will part with the recipe. Citrus plays an element in the marinade and I was led to believe that that it was a combination of lime and orange, but that didn't do it. So maybe this bitter orange will. If Goya makes it maybe I can find some. Now it's time to get ready for the great kielbasa/ sausage cook-off, accompanied by beer, music, and good people. Guess I'll take my Telecaster - one of them - the one with the newest strings. Last year I didn't and ended up playing a really funky axe someone thrust into my hands. Albert Collins would have been proud of me.