Dave the Cook

I take it back. I finally found the ingredients list for Quaker Old Fashioned Grits. Hominy grits it is.

No. And not be disagreeable, but I am not convinced that most grits, even those sold most commonly in the South (e.g., Quaker, Jim Dandy and Aunt Jemima), are treated that way, either. I think they are simply ground, de-germinated white corn.

To what mudpuppie has said, I would add: 1) the bags are airtight (and packed with nitrogen, I suspect), so the direction presumably applies only after opening; 2) I don't refrigerate them, and I've never noticed any off taste. I transfer them to an opaque container and leave them in the pantry; 3) if you eat them quickly enough, storage won't be an issue!

I like Bob's Red Mill Corn Grits.

Just this morning I recalled one of my favorite andouille applications: as the centerpiece for what was perhaps the best kolache I ever ate.

Corn grits are simply ground whole corn. The grinding process splits the kernel, and the hull and germ are (mostly) shed in the process, leaving the endosperm, which is mostly starch. The resulting endosperm granules are divided into three categories. The smallest, after further refinement, end up as cornstarch. Somewhat larger granules become cornmeal. The largest wind up as grits. Hominy grits are treated with lye (or more often these days, baking soda, I think), but the result is the same: the endosperm is detached from the germ and the hull. Because grinding is not employed, the endosperm remains more or less intact. Polenta is simply cooked cornmeal. This means that the only difference between polenta and corn grits is the size of the granule. But obviously, this leaves lots of room for interpretation: stone-ground corn, whole-ground corn, white corn, yellow corn. As far as I can tell, there's no standard for the granule size in grits or cornmeal. Very blurry, I think. So I label them according to how I'm using them: it's shrimp and grits, but polenta with ragu. Fifi is right: the lye process does increase the availability of niacin, lysine and tryptophan, but having discarded the germ, obviously decreases protein content compared to the source corn. Now let's talk about sorghum grits!

So: 1) how could this be prevented? Is/are there warning sign(s)? 2) how can we test it? (Thanks for your clarification. And for the compliment.)

I acquired my only piece of All-Clad in a similar manner. It was part of a gift package that included a copy of Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. The pan -- a two-quart, short-handled saucepan -- has a commemorative inscription on the bottom. It's a piece I would never have purchased on my own, but I do press it into service from time to time. I've never been much of a Bam fan, and sometimes I find Emeril's continual reliance on it to be unworthy. OTOH, a couple of years ago, I got the bright idea to make up a batch of seasoning mixes, bottle them with pretty labels, and send them out as Christmas presents. The first two, a barbecue rub and a chili powder, were easy. For the third, I hit on the idea of creating a Cajun mix that could adapt to a variety of dishes, depending on the addition of certain herbs and additional spices. I took out a calculator and Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, and, after springing the binding on the book with all the page flipping, finally arrived at a formula plus a group of additions (one set for fish, one for chicken, one for beef, etc) that seemed close enough to universal to actually be useful. Quite excited at this point, I made up about three pounds of it, named it Basic Black (a recipe in the accompanying recipe book was for blackened fish), and sent portions off to 32 of my closest friends. Believe it or not, it took me until about Easter to realize that all I had really done was reinvent Bam. Having said all that, if I see Baby Bam (around Atlanta, btw), I'll pick it up.

I apologize if I gave the impression of being an expert on anything! In retrospect, my post might have seemed like a taunt, but I didn't intend it that way. I'm just a liitle surprised that everyone is convinced that entrained air is the problem. We can usually get into arguments over much less! I went on record with the air theory, up above, becuase fish taked about beating the custard. But the more I think about it, the less persuasive I find this theory. I'm not sure exactly what fish is referring to, but what I observed was not a few microbubbles. It was a slightly spongy, lighter colored layer, about 1/4 inch thick, on top of the custard. It would take a lot of air to cause it. I cooked on the stove first -- without boiling or beating, I strained the custard, I gave the portions a good hard tap, and I didn't see any bubbles before baking -- so even if I had known about the trick with the torch, there wouldn't have been any reaon to employ it. So now I'm wondering if it wasn't a case of too high a temperature causing evaporation above the level of the water bath, as fish surmised originally.

So all of you professionals are sure that this effect is caused by air in the preset mixture?

I like reheated rice dishes. Two caveats: rice seems to absorb additional liquid as it cools, so it might be a little soggy. I don't mind this a bit, but some might. Careful reheating (with a bit of additional liquid) mitigates a lot of this. Second, in my opinion, green bell peppers do not benefit from an overnight layover in the fridge (they turn sour), so if I think I'll have leftovers, I use red ones instead. I've seen Amy's around here somewhere. I'm gonna try 'em, for no particular reason other than your recommendation, though I'm suspicious of porkless andouille. Finally, the low-country boil is a terrific idea. Thanks.

I vary the fat/flour ratio based on whether I'm using whole milk (1:1), half-and-half (3:2) or cream (2:1). I admit that I always eyeball it, and that I often have to adjust with additional liquid, because I like to let the roux brown a little, which reduces its thickening power (and mitigates the pink factor you mention). You can add the dairy warm or cold; some people think that you have to add cold to hot or vice versa, but if you do a gradual, whisk-enabled addition, I don't think it makes any difference.

Geez. You'd know where this guy was from even if he wasn't Host of a particular state forum! But no cayenne?

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Even though I used a whisk, and skimmed like you did, there must have been air still suspended in the custard. As it heated up, the air rose to the surface as little custard bubbles, and set there, leaving a spongy-looking (but still pretty firm) surface. That was my guess, anyway, and your experience makes me more confident. Maybe some pastry god will stroll by and let us know. Luckily, crispy, caramelized sugar can hide a multitude of sins. No one but me knew about it.

Canned tomatoes Either onions or garlic (I'm OK without one, as long as I have some of the other) Stock or canned broth If Squeat can list Scotch, I can list coffee and red wine, I suppose. At this very moment, I am out of rice, having used the last on Thursday's jambalaya. Well, long-grain, anyway. I've got two or three pounds of medium-grain, and about one-and-a-half of arborio.

Week-in, week-out, I think the LA Times publishes the best food section in the country. But Michalene Busico, not Russ Parsons, is the section's editor.

To me, the coolest thing about this style of BBQ shrimp is that most versions never come near a barbecue. I'm not sure about the ones you tried, Jason, but Prudhomme and Lagasse rely heavily on Worcestershire sauce. In the case of the latter, a cup of it is reduced by 75% with shrimp stock and lots of lemon. (This was the basis for the gastrique we used to finish off VD Stew at Varmint's Pig Pickin'.) The best version I ever had was at the late, much-lamented Chez Helene. What a place.

Back in the early 80s, a guy came into my print shop with a few pieces of 12x12 linoleum, printed in a cork pattern, with a vaguely sticky surface on it. He said it was a new technology,and that the company he worked for (he was a manufacturer's rep, not a direct 3M guy) was trying to figure out how to market it. He showed me how paper would stick to it, but come off without a residue. He tried to get me to take on a POP display to sell this "bulletin board" on consignment, and there was talk of a regional distribution agreement if it was successful. I told him I was busy and sent him packing.

He is. It's kind of goofy, but not entirely out of character.

I'm interested in your report, fifi. Without doing any research, I assumed this stuff was related to the adhesive used on Post-it notes, but if it is, it must be a pretty aggressive version.

I recall stripping a couple dozen Durkee's pigs of their blankets one time when the larder was empty, and tossing them with the oysters picked out of leftover stew. It was great, but then, hunger is the best appetizer, right?

I'm with MM on this one, and I would include mayonnaise, despite his eerie allusion. If you check Best Foods website (Hellman's in the East, Best in the West ), you'll find this: So it's not a safety issue. Go ahead and leave a jar of mayo on the counter for few days. It won't poison you, but the texture might make you a little queasy.

I'm with fifi. Your recipe sounds great, Robyn, but it's not really jambalaya . . . . . . unlike what I, too, had for dinner. Plans for pizza fell through, and I found myself with a link of Italian sausage, an equal amount of smoked pork sausage and a couple of boneless chicken breasts. What the hell, I thought. Maybe it's meant to be. The chicken would have to stand in for the shrimp. I did go the tomato route, and like Robyn, I used a little Sauvignon Blanc that Mrs. Dave didn't find to her liking (the source of much of my cooking wine). This deglazed the pan after browning the sausage and chicken. I retained some of the juice from the tomatoes, and about two cups of stock for a cup and a half of raw rice (for the record, it came out just a bit soupy, so fifi had it right, I think). I compensated for the lack of true andouille by adding more cayenne than usual, and some thyme and black pepper -- like FFR, I'm not sure there's any such thing as too much black pepper. To me, it gives the cayenne screech a nice corresponding bass note. It was really good. It confirmed that with a little flexibility, lots of things qualify as jambalaya. But it also confirmed for me that the best combination remains shrimp and andouille.

The 1964 edition of Joy of Cooking.

Or I could be wrong. That has also been known to happen.