Dave the Cook

I don't think it's really a cookbook, any more than On Food and Cooking is a cookbook, no matter how influential it might be.

So it seems that you approve of the TJ offering, @Shel_B.The price is reasonable: $5 /lb. It easily meets our 80/20 rule: >80% of the desired outcome for <20% of the effort. What more can you ask of a ball?

Also excellent in meatball sandwiches, dressed with Marcella's simple tomato sauce and a sprinkling of shredded provolone.

We've been very happy with Trader Joe's balls. The package says "Italian Style," but nothing about them strikes me as particularly Italian, unless that means unashamedly including bread crumbs to keep the ball light. Edit: I see from the ingredient list that parm is in there. Maybe that makes it Italian?

(To be clear, Alex is quoting Yotam Ottolenghi here.) In any case, it's not true, generally speaking, that a large pot of water will return to the boil more quickly than a small pot. See the proof here (go to 5:23).

It wouldn't surprise me if (relatively) undiluted milk was left in the bottom of a pot, and the pot was set to sauté, the milk would scorch. Under those conditions, many things would. People say and/or believe many things that are simply not true, (including not to use milk in a pressure cooker). Such beliefs are often based on little evidence or a misunderstanding of the principles involved. I once had an otherwise very good chef tell me that not letting the salt dissolve in your pasta water before adding the pasta would create urea (uh . . . no). That's one bit of perhaps not-so-surprising news. A second is that, typically, condensed "cream of . . ." soups contain less than 2% cream.

This is a reminder about the upgrade tomorrow.

Not to pile on, but most of what we buy from Penzey's comes in bags:175 ml, 350 ml and, depending on the spice, 700 ml bags. Those might be larger than you want (3/4 C of ground spice is going to be somewhere around 3 to 4 ounces by weight), but almost everything they sell is available in this format.

Oh, you're looking for an accessory kit to retrofit a Sous Chef 16, as opposed to a separate processor. Then I dunno.

Isn't that what the Paradice 16 is?

Going back a ways, but +1 to @rotuts for the Hatch chili salsa. We like to keep a couple of assorted salsas around. The TJs Hatch has now replaced Frontera (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) as our standby.

Not being a member of the Cult of the Pretty Blue Flame, I can't advise on gas rangetops. But @blue_dolphin's advice on KA electric ovens is spot on.

All that makes sense to me; thanks, @blue_dolphin. I find the whole process, from 3.25% cow's milk to 83% butter on the refrigerator shelf, pretty interesting.

Thanks @blue_dolphin, that is a cute cartoon, if a bit lacking in detail. My interest was piqued by @pastrygirl's assertion that the cream was made into crême fraiche before being made into butter. Is that really what happens? I imagine that making crëme fraiche and making butter are similar processes, especially in that culturing includes thickening and flavor development. But surely, the same bacteria aren't used for the two products?

That is correct. In case it's not clear, the bacterial cultures are specific to each application. I'd be interested in hearing more about this. From a manufacturing perspective, (to the extent that fluid milk is manufactured, and most of it is), it runs contrary to everything I thought I understood about the dairy industry.