Dave the Cook

Everyone's comments are really helpful. I have answers for all the questions, but no time to write them down. Things are moving very fast -- I'm off to paint the cabinets now (excellent and cheap suggestion), and need to meet the cable guy in an hour. I'll be back later -- with interim pictures. Thanks, everyone.

For a variety of reasons that I won't go into here, I'm moving from a very nicely equipped space to the undistinguished kitchen you see here: The issues: - The range and dishwasher (both KitchenAid) are both 24 years old. I have no idea how well they work, but I am not sanguine about the range. It's that raised ceramic disc design that preceded today's flat-glass top ceramic designs. (I have an adequte refrigerator.) - The counter space next to the refrigerator will be occupied by a toaster and a microwave. This means the only reasonable work space is between the sink and the range. For weeknight dinners, this space is probably adequate for prep. But there's no place to set down hot sheet- or roasting-pans, and if I want to knead bread dough or roll out pie crusts, I'm going to be challenged. - I have a lot of pans, and a lot of tools and gadgets. Cabinetry is paltry for the former, and drawer space is inadequate for the latter. - We need room to put a small table (and chairs) in the room -- big enough for two people to have morning coffee, if one is reading the paper. - The floor (sheet vinyl) is also 24 years old. It's cracking, yellowed and brittle. -The wallpaper sucks. - The ceiling is 7-1/2 feet, although the lenticular panels you see actually hide a one-foot-deep recess that contains four four-foot twin-bulb fluorescent fixtures. Regardless, the space seems much smaller than it really is because my head is so close to the ceiling. - I'm sure there's more, but it escapes me at the moment. I'm sure it will come out in the course of the discussion. - I am nearly broke. I can spend $1000 on this. OK, maybe, $1500. Help me increase my work space, raise the roof, solve my equipment storage problems, lay me a new floor, get me new appliances, and leave enough space for informal dining -- and do it all for the same budget that Paige Davis would stick to.

Did you guys lose William already?

erm. OTOH: How to Cook a Wolfe, by maggiethecat and Dave the Cook. And let's not forget Inspector Maigret.

Damn. Fried pies and caramel cake. I am really beginning to regret missing this road trip. (BTW, John, it's not that hard to astound Varmint.)

I've only driven the I-55 route once, so I have no recommendations, excet the Chevron station just west of Jackson has excellent boiled peanuts, and is open 24 hours. As for a real New Orleans breakfast, I'd suggest The Old Coffee Pot.

I find that I need to change the liquid/solid ratio to do the panfry thing. Most recipes are 3 to 4 parts liquid to 1 part cormeal. This makes a soft polenta that's perfect for immediate serving. But if I'm going to fry it up, I cut the ratio in half, spread it on a sheet pan in the desired thickness and let it chill thoroughly. It's easy to cut in portions once it's chilled. Of course, if what you've got is too loose, you can always do grits grillee a la maggiethecat: spread them on a sheet pan, brush with duck fat, and run them under the broiler until brown and crisp on top. edit: cross-posted with e.j. I really don't think the fat makes a big difference. I've done them in EVOO, peanut oil, butter and bacon fat. You have to adjust the temperature a bit to avoid burning, but they all work.

896 pages, in all.

Yup.

Great list, Rob. Bonny Doon's Big House Pink is pretty decent, too. All three are available at Cost Plus for $8 (in Atlanta, anyway). The Goats are $7 there, and I think I've seen the Gascon for $7.49.

All that talk about Teflon made me forget what we were supposed to be talking about. I use the sheet-pan approach, too. Heavy-gauge 1/4- and 1/2-sheets are available at and restaurant supply outlet, or on line from places like http://www.BigTray.com. If you can't get decently heavy ones, nest two thin ones for warp (and "whomp") resistance. Also, buy the fitted racks.

I just spent a few minutes going through the Calphalon site. Of course, they've radically reduced their non-stick offerings in the last year. But this is telling: In the answer to another question: So: 1) Marlene, I'm impressed that your pan works so well; 2) I'm surprised that Calphalon ever offered such a piece, and that W-S still sells it.

Right. And maybe don't breathe, if you can help it. But what temperature do most broilers reach? 700 F? I haven't done the math (and I'm not going to, but for anyone interested, energy decreases as a square of disatnce), I'd bet the temperature at the pan is borderline for PTFE decomposition (648 F).

I agree it's iffy. But unless you've got an infrared broiler, and as long as you don't mind replacing the pan every couple of years, it will probably be alright.

Nighscotsman posted a recipe for Blue Cheese Ice Cream in recipeGullet.

Please see the statement from Melanie Young, James Beard Foundation Awards Director, in this related thread.

Thanks in large part to Bruce Cole (at sautewednesday.com), we've received the following from Melanie Young, James Beard Foundation Awards Director: Our current membership hiatus prevented Melanie from posting this herself.

Following is an excerpt from an e-mail we received from Phyllis Isaacson, Director of Information Services at The James Beard Foundation. (Since we're in a membership hold at the moment, she wasn't able to join and post herself.) Please refer to the entire message here.

We've received the following from Phyllis Isaacson, Director of Information Services at The James Beard Foundation. (Since we're in a membership hold at the moment, she wasn't able to join and post herself.)

Cool! Congratulations.

I'd be surprised if Monica has much, if anything, to do with the cover of her book. These things are usually handled by the publisher.

I hadn't thought about that, but you're right, foodietraveler. Actually, it's a shortcut in the Mexican kitchen, too. I don't understand the reference to "immigrant kulfi," though. I'm almost totally unfamiliar with Indian cuisine. Maybe you could explain?

It's my opinion that there's not much that doesn't go with roast chicken, so it's a pretty safe choice. But I've gotten fond of pairing Shiraz with slow-cooked or smoked meats. Lots of these are red meats (assuming you don't buy the pork producer line that pig is white meat), but certainly almost any poultry or rabbit would work. I also like Shiraz with Cajun foods, especially those that call for really dark roux -- etouffees and gumbos featuring duck, chicken, shrimp and the like often work well as long as the wine isn't too rich.

I agree with everything Bux said. In addition: I think the precooked egg idea will probably work with things like Caesar salad dressing, where the emulsifying power of the egg is not called on to do heavy duty. I'm dubious of making butter sauces, though. Once the yolk has coagulated (which, if memory serves, starts happening at about 140 F), the lecithin responsible for emulsification binds the fats and other proteins in the yolk, and is no longer available to bind the butterfat. If you were careful to pull the egg as soon as you hit 160, you might have enough left to make it work, assuming carryover doesn't coagulate it or turn it into scrambled eggs. I'm not sure how you measure the temperature of two egg yolks, though, even if you add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar or lemon. It's not enough for even a Thermapen to get an accurate temperature. If eggs are a concern, flash-pasteurized eggs seem to work pretty well. The pasteurization time and temperature are carefully controlled to prevent coagulation. The home cook doesn't have access to the equipment necessary to do this. I'd also point out that there is a big difference in taste between cooked egg and raw egg. Finally, with reference to the buffet alluded to in the link: far more stomach ailments are transmitted on produce (which gets a lot of hands-on contact) than through raw egg yolks. Oh, and welcome, RedHermes.

I know practically nothing about Indian cooking, but this conversation sounds like an echo of the ones you'll hear about chili powder, grilling/smoking spice rubs and Cajun spice mixes. I make my own usually, and yes, they're to my taste and I know the quality, and they're better than what I can buy at the local grocery. But I would hate to think that my obsession would stop anyone from making chili or gumbo just because they aren't inclined to follow my example. There are decent commercial chile powders and spice rubs. If this availability encourages someone to explore a new cuisine, I'm all for it -- maybe one day they'll be obsessive, too. But until then, a butt rubbed with Penzey's is better than no butt at all.