Dave the Cook

My brother-in-law and his son, both of them born and raised in Philadelphia, run a chain of hoagie shops in a western US city. When I was out there last summer, I asked him this question, and he told me they used ribeye. Doubt must have showed on my face, because he tugged my arm and took me to the walk-in freezer. Inside were at least 25 boneless, lip-on ribeye subprimals. They freeze them to make the slicing easier (he demonstrated this for me, too). When I asked him about the cost, he showed me the scale, marked with red nail polish at the appropriate weight, that they use for portion control. Hint: it's less than you think.

Send it to me, and I'll let you know in a couple of weeks.

Maybe rather than disparaging the overwhelming majority of the wine-consuming public for acquiescing to the effective marketing of New World wines, we should be happy that, these days, it's hard to find a bottle of Riunite among the bevy of Australian Shirazes and California Cabs. Isn't this really a step up? This strikes me as a little unfair. It's easy to complain about "advertising/marketing/product placement," but the other side of this is that alleged quality producers do little to explain themselves to the buying public, and often their advocates speak in terms that aren't comprehensible to someone who's just looking for a nice wine to go with the salmon off the grill. Price is important, yes, but most people, if shown something better for a dollar more, will buy it -- otherwise, they rely on shelf cards and the dubious advice of sales clerks. The problem is that no one is out there describing alternatives in ways potential customers can understand. I find it hard to fault bulk producers for seeing a need and filling it.

NM, I wasn't trying to start an argument. I agree with free market principles; I was only trying to show that they don't work very well in practice unless everyone plays by the same rules. And yes, it's another thread. You feel the same way about shrimp as I do about crab. Just give me the good stuff without all the mess.

I'm with you in spirit, but the situation is kind of complicated. First, the specific charge of "dumping" carries the implication that the product is being sold here at a price that doesn't reflect the true cost of production. In other words, foreign governments or companies are encouraging the sale of cheap shrimp in order to mitigate the effects of overproduction or in order to capture market share. Is it fair that Americn shrimp farmers should have to compete not with the actual cost of production, but rather with a corporate or governmental subsidy, the intent of which is to put them out of business? Second, if we were decline to apply tariffs to allegedly unfair shrimp imports, wouldn't it be only fair to remove US government subsidies for staples like corn, wheat, sugar and milk? As for this "go smaller" thing, it doesn't make sense to me. In the sizes I normally use (21-25, 26-35, 36-40), there's usually very little difference in the price per pound. What I see is a differential between species: tigers are almost always the cheapest, with whites, browns and pinks trading spaces for the expensive slots depending on the time of year. And the bigger shrimp (16-20, 10-15 and U-10) always carry a premium. I only buy those for special occasions, and I'm unlikely to change that habit. It's not like lobster tails are any cheaper.

There are too many types of plastic to generalize about whether or not any particular set of handles is oven-safe. Your safest route is to check the manufacturers web site and see if there is relevant information there; if not, contact them for more information. A second path is to tell us what you've got; chances are, someone on eGullet knows about it. The third path is to test it yourself. To minimize the consequences, just put the lid in the oven at 325 and monitor it carefully to see if the handles soften or melt. It will probably be fine -- it's hard to imagine a responsible manufacturer marketing a Dutch oven that wasn't safe at moderate temperatures, but irresponsibility is rampant, and it's always best to check it yourself. As for Rachel's suggestion, yes, it will work, at least up to a point -- attach the foil shiny side out. But I wouldn't employ this method repeatedly. If you're braising something for a couple of hours in the oven, a few bits of foil won't keep the handles from coming to ambient temperature eventually. If they're not oven safe, they'll eventually crack and/or break. Teflon is safe to 550 F, with two caveats: 1) just because the Teflon is safe doesn't mean the rest of your pan (handles, outer shell, etc.) is; 2) don't heat Teflon to these temperatures if you have pet birds or infants in the vicinity. Almost all plastics release gases at elevated temperatures; some of them (and spefically the gases released by fluorocarbons like Teflon) are known to be poisonous to birds. The jury is still out on whether the gases are harmful to humans, but it's best not to take a chance. Corning Ware isn't made for high temperatures on the cooktop. It's not that the material can't handle them, it's that the material doesn't accomodate significant temperature differentials across its surface. Part of the vessel will want to expand, but part of it won't. The tension will cause the pot to crack, and possibly shatter.

It's just off the rotunda between security and baggage claim. If you come in from the concourses, you'll have to make a u-turn off the escalator and head back toward ticketing. Keep looking toward the center of the terminal -- if you're headed down the South terminal, the rotunda will be on your right; for the North terminal, on your left. The lines are generally shorter at the terminal concessions, but don't try this unless you've got at least an hour layover. Between the trains and passing back through security, anything less would be pushing it. If you've got time for a drink, the two-story Houlihan's (or is it a TGIFridays?) across the rotunda is decent for a chain bar; at least they have live music -- usually a piano player. The service is brisk but friendly.

Prizes for Round Three have been awarded. Read about it in The Daily Gullet.

I learned how to make (Cajun) roux from the Prudhomme method, probably 20 years ago. It was at least ten years before it occurred to me that there was another way! I don't know about a butter- or lard-based roux, but certainly and oil-based roux will keep for a long time. Hell, on the Gulf coast, you can buy it, preservative-free, in quart jars that I know for a fact will keep at least two months after opening. Another method is to brown the flour without fat in a slow oven, stirring it every once in a while until it reaches the stage you want. Let it cool and store it in the freezer in an air-tight container. From the browned flour, a decent roux is just a few minutes away. As for bechamel and so forth, I think you've only got a few days -- a week at best, and that's if you've stored it carefully. Much longer, and you'll be lucky if all it does is taste off. There's a good chance your sauce will have taken up housekeeping with a furry gray roommate.

I thought it was Prudhomme who suggested using oil for darker roux because of the quick-roux technique he wrote about in Louisiana Kitchen. To summarize, he has you crank the oil up almost to smoking, then add the flour all at once and stir like crazy. You can get a black roux in a matter of minutes, as opposed to the slow, traditional, two-beer stir (as Emeril calls it). Try this with butter and you'll end up with a bitter, scorched mess. I'm not sure Prudhomme wouldn't prefer butter (or lard) if time weren't a factor. He's very careful about his fat selection, and I suspect he decided that quick browning was a fair trade for the time saved (and the converts, who might not have the patience for slow roux, won over).

It's a bit of a long shot, especially for Manhattan, but you might try a hardware store or a pharmacy. Pectin has become very popular with the power-bar/protein-shake set, too. Usually it's in powder form, but try a health-food/nutrition store like GNC. You never know.

If they have it with the side box for $119, that's a great deal. Even without the box, it's an excellent value. I paid $100 for mine three years ago.

It's also the one I have. It's an excellent grill, and while the smoking arrangement is not quite as convenient as, say, a WSM, it works very well, especially if you like to use real wood (as opposed to briquets). There's a thread or two where this grill is discused. I'll see if I can them. Edit: plug "Char-Griller" into the site Google, and you'll get back four good threads, one of which contains a link to a fifth thread that's too old for Google to pick up.

Dude. Forget the tongs. Get a pair of welding gloves.

I'm not surprised. I've measured 550 F+ at the vent with a full chimney of lump charcoal on the grate. That's as high as my thermometer will go, so I'm not certain what the actual temperature was. I don't know of any plastics (well, maybe some silicones) that aren't at least severely degraded from exposure to such temps.

Just for the record, I have a 3- to 4-year-old 22.5" Weber, and the vent looks just like your replacement. I also have an 18" Kenmore (maybe 5 or 6 years old), which was almost certainly made by Weber, and it has the same thing.

I laugh, because you have no idea how unlikely this is! I am quite familiar, however, with Abandoned Tater Syndrome. I think it must have something to do with this. It's an earthy aroma that I associate with dark chocolate, maybe a little brown sugar (molasses?), or even toasted ancho chiles. I'll have to check this. Fresh corn is abundant these days around here, but I've been grilling rather than boiling it.

I thought it was a personal olfactory malfunction, until my son asked the same question. Any ideas?

Boiling water is a constant 212 deegrees. However, once you add salt, you no longer have just water. Salt has the effect of raising the boiling point and lowering the freezing point of water. That's why you add salt to water before you boil pasta and also why you add rock salt to ice when making ice cream. Try picking up a copy of The Science and Lore Of Food, by Harold McGee. It's a wonderful reference work. You will learn more about the whys and wherefores of food than you ever knew theere was to learn. I agree that McGee's work is great. Here are a couple of things I learned from it: The boiling temperature of water is not a constant 212 F -- just ask anyone who lives in Denver. Reasonable amounts of salt for cooking purposes do not raise the boiling point significantly (and in fact any dissolved solid will have pretty much the same effect as salt, because you're increasing the density of the water). The reason to salt pasta water for is flavor.

Elie Nassar (aka our own FoodMan) follows Walsh from Paris, France to Paris, Texas in pursuit of authentic food and the real history of "the ugly duckling of American regional cuisines." * * * Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

For that matter, can't you make your own invert sugar (that's what all of these suggestions are) with table sugar, heat and acid? I would think cream of tartar, citric acid or ascorbic acid (vitamin C) could be used.

Yeah. I was OK with it until I came to this:

Welcome, AlainV! I am not a baker, so often I don't know what I'm talking about in this forum, but it seems to me that Trimoline might work. It's difficult to obtain for home use, but I believe it's more widely available in Europe, and maybe you'll get lucky -- sometimes I've found it at shops that sell home-brewing supplies. Failing that, you might try honey. It will also alter the flavor, but perhaps it will be more to your liking than the Golden Syrup.

Decide for yourself. Its not the pants that gives me pause, its the huge rubber gloves that implies deviancy and perversion. Well, there you go. They seemed perfectly normal to me.

Don't forget Andy Lynes. And my tip for the day is: no matter what you think of his pants or his sexual orientation, always be nice to a sweaty guy holding two cleavers.