Dave the Cook

I use two tablespoons, working in opposite directions to each other. This is one of those things that is really pretty easy -- once you've seen someone else do it.

I have this "problem." I'm making a couple of tangerine curd pecan tarts for Christmas dinner.

I'm not really sure what temp we're looking for, only that it's probably over 550 F. This is based on my oven, which goes to 550 F, and my cooktop, which seems to be able to get a pan hotter than the oven. The instrument ranges seem to top out at 500, 750 or 950 F (I'm guessing that accuracy and precision suffer as the range increases; that might or might not be significant). The 750 would probably be good enough for most domestic stoves, but if there's not a huge premium, why not go all the way? I'd be very interested in what your furnace folks say. It's a lot of smoke, especially if you like to sear the edge fat on steaks and chops (especially lamb loin chops, in my experience). But whether or not your vent will handle it is more complicated than just the rating on your hood. Please read this and report back. (tsk, tsk, tsk. fifi, fifi, fifi.)

I suspect that you're right, tommy. I'm hoping that Santa leaves me one of these under the tree. Then I'll know for sure. And then I'll tell you.

Sam Kinsey's Turkey Two Ways has gotten rave reviews.

I agree with PoorLawyer. I also wonder why people think "home aging" (if we can call it that for the sake of brevity) is dangerous.

From the CDC Bacterial and Mycotic Disease page: I'm not an expert by any means, but I can't think of a common food-borne illness with an incubation period that stretches into months. As an example, the incubation period for Hepatitis A is two to six weeks.

Thanks, Suzanne -- this is what I was referring to when I mentioned "posioning" above. The worst food-related incident I have experienced was traced back to an iced tea container that hadn't been thoroughly rinsed -- emptied the entire GI tract within 30 minutes of ingestion.

OK, we've got a difference of opinion on what "a few" means! Seven hours is enough time to get the intestines in an uproar. I didn't think you were after compensation; my fear was that you wouldn't get a fair hearing. You should definitely tell him, and he should thank you. (And apologize profusely.)

So they tell you not to eat the bay leaf? That's good.

While tommy's right that it can't hurt to let them know, your position should be tempered by the fact that food-borne illnesses usually take longer than a "few hours" to develop. Unless whatever made you sick was chemically based, rather than biological -- in other words, you were literally poisoned -- it's entirely possible that one of your party was actually the culprit, rather than the restaurant.

Yes, please.

. . . shows that they've been effective, I suppose.

1) On Calphalon's part, it makes some sense, if they're trying to establish "One" as a high-end brand. A lot of their marketing lately has focused on their budget brands sold at Target. 2) It might be at Williams-Sonoma's request, in return for maintaining a high price. If this is the case, W-S got screwed, IMO. Calphalon should have been pushing this for the holiday season long before Christmas week.

I am dubious. They can add all the coatings they want, but if they haven't done something to prevent warping, it doesn't matter how much they mess around with the surface. I suppose one of us will have to try this out and report.

I hit the books to get to the bottom of the green veg thing. All of this is in McGee's On Food and Cooking, if you want more detail. 1. There are two types of chlorophyll. Type A is blue-green; type B is olive. Chlorophyll is contained in cells called chloroplasts, which normally are surrounded by gas pockets that diffuse light reflected off the chloroplasts. 2. The chlorophyll molecule is a ring (four nitrogen atoms surrounding a central magnesium atom) plus a tail of hydrocarbons. It is interesting but irrelevant to note that if you disregard the tail and replace the magnesium with iron, you get a heme molecule, the essential component in animal blood. It is of more import that (a) the hydrocarbon tail is easily severed from the ring; and (b) the central Mg atom gives up the ghost as soon as things start to heat up. 3. When you drop the veg into hot water, the chloroplasts expand almost immediately, and squeeze out the gas pockets. This eliminates the diffusive effect, and the vegetable appears to be much greener. 4. Enzymes, particularly chlorophyllase, are released by cell rupture, either from heat-induced collapse or from the simple act of chopping. Chlorophyllase cuts the hydrocarbon tail off the chlorophyll molecule. It (along with the other enzymes) is most active between 150 F and 170 F (66 C to 77 C), but is destroyed by boiling. When chlorophyll loses its tail, it becomes water soluble. 5. When you drop the veg into water, a lot of what happens depends on what's in the water: a) If the water is acidic, a hydrogen atom jumps in to replace the magnesium. This effect is supplemented by the release of the plant's own acids, since heat ruptures cells indiscriminately, and more acid is released. Chlorophyll A turns gray-green; B turns yellow, or yellowish. The result is dull olive. b) If the acidic water also contains copper or zinc (I remember my grandmother dropping a penny in the pot), the metals nudge the hydrogen atoms aside. This results in bright green. c) If the water is alkaline, cell walls collapse and dissolve. The vegetable turns mushy and the cooking water turns green. 5. You shouldn't, despite my grandmother's advice, set your mind to adding copper to the pot. Copper is poisonous. (Maybe you could toss in one of those zinc-rich throat lozenges.) 6. Therefore, to maintain color (somewhat at the expense of vitamins): - Use a lot of water. This dilutes the plant acids, and the most volatile of them are driven off. - Leave the lid off for the first few minutes. Otherwise, water (containing these volatile acids) will condense on the lid and fall back into the cooking water. - Another reason to use lots of water is to mitigate the effect of enzymes. If you have a lot of water, adding the vegetables will cause less of a temperature drop. The water will return to a boil more quickly, and the enzymes will be less effective. Note also that this is also a reason to have the water boiling before adding the food. - Don't cook for longer than five to seven minutes. If necessary, cut the food into pieces small enough to cook in that time. 7. Vitamin C and B vitamins are water-soluble, as are minerals. This means that the longer you cook, the more vitamins you lose to the cooking water. It also means that when you cut into smaller pieces to reduce cooking time, you increase vitamin loss, because you expose more cells to heat. You can't win here; it is always a choice between nutrition and appearance. Moreover, Vitamin C is susceptible to oxygen. So you can recover the Bs by using the cooking water, but soon after it's exposed to air, the C is a goner. You can't win here; it is always a choice between nutrition and appearance.

i'm glad it went well. That's a great feeling. The fat in sausage is problematic, isn't it? It carries flavor and creates tenderness (just try renedering all the fat out of a suasage sometime!), but it can be a pain in the ass. The brioche is an excellent idea. I think you definitely should make the Cajun Danish. Somebody should, anyway, 'cause I want to know if it works! I should have suggested docking the dough right in the center, though. Maybe I'll try it as an app on Chrismas day. (and thanks, foodie!)

Ooh. Garnish it in the center where the pastry comes together (it's likely to look a little ragged) with a plop of creme fraiche, sour cream or (if your guests have a high spice tolerance) celery remoulade and a celery-leaf sprig.

I don't know why that wouldn't work. Parboiling will also render off some fat, which will help keep the thing from being too greasy. Alternatively, make an "Cajun Danish": peel the casing and parboil. While it's cooling, caramelize some trinity (onion, bell pepper, celery -- maybe the celeryis optional in this case). Cut your pastry into squares about 3x the diameter of your sausage. Slice the sausage into 1/4-inch rounds. Place a round in the center of the pastry. Spoon some trinity over the sausage. Fold up the corners to the center and secure with a bit of egg wash. Bake. Edit: red bell pepper would be prettier, and a little garlic wouldn't be amiss. And I'd brush the pastry with egg wash for a glossy finish.

Are you wrapping the whole sausage in the pastry, then slicing it for service?

I think you're gettting the benefit of water vapor -- don't bread ovens usually have some way of introducing moisture to promote crust formation? As jackal notes (at least I think this is what he's saying), in a domestic oven, moisture is vented. But your grill is not -- at least not at the top, where the water vapor would accumulate, so the cooking chamber is staying nice and humid.

I wouldn't boil broccoli anyway, since the florets love to hold on to the water. But with tougher or denser vegetables like green beans or carrots, I will choose the method based on what else is going on. I also like Julia Child's technique of simmering in just a bit of water with a knob of butter and a shot of wine or vermouth. If you do it right, the water evaporates just as the veg is done, and you get a nice glazed veggie without a lot of trouble. There are a number of things that I don't do with water at all: zucchini and asparagus, for instance.

It's quicker.

Clean them off, using a very stiff brush or steel wool. If you want to really start over, put it in the oven and run the self-cleaning cycle.

Water is a byproduct of natural gas combustion. Is your KA gas or electric?