mgaretz

My ratios (at least for the Blendtec) are: Smoothies: 1 part by volume loosley packed frozen something, 1 part liquid. So for example I'd fill a 1 cup measuring cup to the top with frozen strawberries and then use one cup liquid. Frozen desserts (soft serve "ice cream"): 2 parts by volume loosely packed frozen something, 1 part liquid. The "frozen something" is either frozen fruit or ice. I most often use frozen fruit and no ice, but will use ice if I making something like a mocha smoothie that has no fruit. Frozen desserts will need some kind of stabilizer. Bananas are what the vendors use in the demo. I don't like to use them because they are high in carbs. Instead I substitute xanthan gum. For 1 cup liquid, 2 cups frozen something I use 1 tsp xanthan gum. (I use about 1/2 tsp in smoothies.) Put the liquid in the blender, sprinkle the xanthan (and any other powdered ingredients) on top, and pulse a few times to combine. Then add the frozen something and blend away!

Stir fried chicken with sugar snap peas, Chinese flower mushrooms, celery and onions. Seasoned with garlic and a touch of red pepper flakes. Sauce was a mix of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, cream sherry, sesame oil and a little cornstarch. Served with basamati white rice.

The Blendtec has manual speed control (it's a button press instead of a dial) and pulse. I have only had to use the manual speed control a few times - for the most part their programs are fine. In general, the programs do the same thing as Vitamix recommends you do manually - start out slow and then increase to a higher speed (but it also times the cycle and shuts off automatically). As I said way back up in this thread - the manual dial control of the Vitamix appealed to me too, but the Blendtec programs seem to be just fine - and manual is there if I ever need it. Cleaning the Blendtec (and I assume the Vitamix as well) is easy. Fill with about 4 ozs of hot tap water and one drop of dish detergent - pulse for 5 seconds and rinse. Works almost 100% of the time - every now and then something really sticky like peanut butter will be left behind in a few small spots. One advantange over these machines compared to a juicer is that you get the whole fruit, pulp and all - not only is that more healthy (pulp is where the fiber is)but there's no screen to clean or pulp to dispose of. If you don't like pulp in your juice, then that's a different story.

I think your insert is really anodized aluminum. It will be fine going from cold to the cooker.

Please post your decision. I am interested in this pan also. The chicken looks like it came out well. I will report on what I find out about the fit of the arm this weekend - probably won't make the chicken again for a week or so. I went to Williams-Sonoma today. The arm on my roaster was definitely not made correctly so they exchanged it for me. I'll let you know how it works "under fire" next week.

I would also recommend the Best Recipes book. I also like the Cook's Country Cookbook. Just got More Best Recipes - still reading it.

Please post your decision. I am interested in this pan also. The chicken looks like it came out well. I will report on what I find out about the fit of the arm this weekend - probably won't make the chicken again for a week or so.

Roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. I did end up buying the new All-Clad chicken roaster - an exclusive with Williams-Sonoma. Here's my quick review: The chicken came out great. The roasted veggies were perfect. The roasting pan is a great size for 2-4 meals worth of veggies. The chicken drippings in the veggies made the veggies taste great - much better than the vertical roaster. Those are the good things. Earlier in this thread I said that I had hoped to be able to carve the chicken while on the arm of the roaster. Nope. When I first looked at this in the store some months ago, the arm was a very tight fit. The one I got was very loose - any movement of the chicken and the arm wanted to come off. I will see if mine is just not made right this weekend. It also took me quite a while to figure out how to truss the chicken to the arm - and that has to be done lest the chicken drag in the veggies. I could not make it work breast side down, but the chicken cooked just fine breast side up. I can tell you there was a lot of cursing! I'm still undecided if I will keep it. I will make another chicken and check out the arm fit before deciding.

We debated about the VitaMix vs the BlendTec and ended up going with the BlendTec. As far as blending goes, I am sure they both do a great job. VitaMix takes a more "manual" approach having you adjust speeds in mid blend (usally starting out slow then speeding up). BlendTec builds those programs in so you just push a button. Both approaches have their merits and both appeal to me. What it came down to was that the BlendTec was not as tall and it could fit under our cabinet overhang, while the VitaMix could not. Also the VitaMix relies a lot on their "pusher" which is one extra thing to clean. We love the BlendTec. We use it to make smoothies, soft-serve desserts (I made a really nice mango soft serve the other night), soups and waffle/pancake batter. I have also used it to puree some stew veggies to use as a gravy thickener. It will heat soups but as they say in the manual, it's not a very efficient thing to do. I just use boiling water from my electric kettle. I love it for waffle batter - put in all the ingredients, press the batter button and then let the batter rest for 5 minutes. I can pour the batter right from the blender container.

The one I got is very sturdy and it too sits in any pan (see my pic, it's in a pan with veggies) but the chicken is still very top heavy and the apparatus (whichever) slides around on the pan bottom, so you have to very careful and steady. Also the one I got really holds the chicken up out of the juices, CI mentioned that it was the only one to do so when they tested them (it got their top rating). The one you found doesn't look tall enough to me.

Kim, The roaster is from Norpro (here) - it has a built-in "flavor infuser". I have to say that we've tried beer (a few different kinds), water with herbs and red wine in it. Nothing seems to make any difference in the flavor of the chicken, except when I used Guinness you could detect a very, very slight hint of it on the meat that was exposed to the inside. The roaster holds the chicken well but the three downsides are that it's hard to get the chicken off the thing, it's not that stable (but way better than a beer can) and the drippings are all contained in it's base instead of flavoring the veggies as they cook. But we enjoy the chicken so much that I am thinking that this weekend I'll pick up one of those All-Clad chicken roasters from Williams-Sonoma. I'm hoping it will solve the aforementioned, and provide two extra benefits: give me a nice, petite roasting pan and allow me to carve the chicken while on the roaster, keeping the skin out of the juices while carving.

Crock pot? Or one of those large electric roasters?

My favorite is the Tequila Mary, aka the Bloody Maria. For me, the flavors of the bloody mary's tomato and spcies melds perfectly with the tequila, making a drink that is more than the sum of the parts. Most people I have try one say it's too strong.

Costco has a pretty nice deal on Keurig right now, probably more than you need for the office since it's one of the larger models. The upside is you'll have to fill it with water less often and it has a wide range of cup sizes it works with. Downside is the initial investment ($140 locally here in N. Cal) but it includes a lot of coffee and the cup that let's you fill your own - I use it with tea and it works great.

The K-Cups are not instant coffee. There are other single cup "pods" that are made more like tea bags that might do what you want.

That's very interesting about the insulation not fitting. Never heard of that. It means your DW will be louder (the insulation isn't to keep the heat in).

I went to a demo (disguised as a fresh pasta class) at my local Williams-Sonoma store. I was not impressed. Could have been the fact that the ladies running the demo had no idea what pasta dough should be like when it's ready (theirs was way too wet). It was pretty slow. The pasta was awful (they used Ecco Egg Pasta mix, but as I said it was too wet - "The dough instructions say to use x amount of water but that's way too little, so add more."). The wire cutter broke in mid demo "Oh they've fixed this since we got this demo unit." I'd pass. Get the KA pasta roller set - it works great. Buy pasta when you need a tube shape.

Tonight I made two dinners. Vertical roasted chicken with roasted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onion and celery): And paella for a potluck tomorrow: The paella has basamati rice, italian spicy sausage, chicken, bell pepper, celery, onion, carrots and peas. Tomorrow just before serving I will saute the shrimp and add it in (so it's not in the picture). The picture is deceiving - this is a 6 qt pan so there's a lot of paella there!

Chris, No experience with the uber-jets, sorry. Be sure to ask the Sears folks who makes the model you like - chances are it's Whirlpool but beware if it's Frigidaire. (I never heard of anyone but Whirlpool making DWs for Sears, but times change.) I would strongly encourage you to take the dishware in to the store and put it in the racks. Measuring will give you an idea but you won't necessarily notice some clearance issues - the biggest one being the spray arm on the bottom of the upper rack. It has to be able to twirl without hitting the dishware. LG Half-wash: As I said, the coolest part of this is being able to do a full tub wash without the upper rack in place. Lets you wash the ocassional really big item. Installation: If you have no skills (especially plumbing) then have an installer do it. DWs aren't particularly hard to install, but a lot depends on where the water source and drain lines are and how easy it will be to re-route/replace if necessary. The installer will also typically recycle your old machine for you as part of the deal. Biggest deal here is to measure from the top of your flooring (outside the cavity as well as in - outside is typically higher!) to the lip of your counter overhang. The DW has to capable of sliding in directly - you can't angle it because they are too deep. Big counter overhangs and built-up layers of flooring that have "trapped" a DW in place are the biggest install problems. And be forewarned - if this is an issue an installer will walk away from the job and leave you with an un-installed DW.

Whirlpool and Kitchenaid are the same company. Kitchenaid is their "up scale" line. A stainless interior is pretty but really doesn't add any function. Some foods and water may stain the plastic, but unless that really bothers you aesthetically, it won't affect the ability to wash. Kitchenaids tend to be quieter than their Whirlpool counterparts and will have a more stylish look. They should both have food grinders. (Maytag is also now Whirlpool, but back when I sold appliances (now three years ago), the Matyags where still the original Maytag designs. Stay Away! They are/were terrible.) Also stay away from Frigidaire. I really liked the LG dishwashers. Quieter than a Bosch and has a food grinder - the Bosch does not (or didn't then). It also had one really cool feature - the ability to do a "half wash" of the lower or upper. Not only does this save energy but it also lets you turn off the top wash, remove the top rack and now you have a HUGE washing area for really big items like oven and BBQ grates, etc. Many DWs have a half wash feature, but usually it was full or top. Having a top/bottom/full option lets you use the full tub trick. Now here's the most important thing about buying a dishwasher, IMHO. The design of the racks. Hardly anyone thinks about this. I encourage you to bring in your example dishware, especially the big awkward stuff and glassware, and try various stacking arrangements.

I will second the recommendation home made pasta and of Hazan's books - one to not overlook is "Marcella Says..." which builds on her previous books but with the wisdom of time since they were written and with more modern equipment. My basic pasta recipe is 100 grams of flour (50g of AP Unbleached and 50g of Whole Wheat Durum - more later), one extra large egg and a pinch of sea salt. That's it. I mix the ingredients in my KA stand mixer with the standard blade on low speed until all the dry flour on the bottom of the bowl is incorporated - about 3 minutes. It will come out very dry and crumbly at first but then I roll it into a log and split into 3-4 parts per egg. I use the KA pasta roller and cutters. I need no extra flour on the rollers. Very fast and easy. More on the durum flour: It's whole wheat durum "atta" flour from the Indian grocery store. Golden Temple brand - make sure you get the whole wheat version - it comes in a brown bag with orange-red stripes on the side. The flour is from Canada and it's whole wheat durum and a fairly fine grind which I think gives the pasta a hand-rolled texture. Golden Temple is a Pillsbury company.

I have never found a recipe that I wanted to clip or save, the exception being Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country magazines - which I keep the whole issue of. I have received free subscriptions to Gourmet and Bon Appetit, was a long-time subscriber to Sunset, and purchased numerous other cooking magazines in airports to read on the plane, but nothing has ever inspired me enough to save it. I did once modify a recipe from Sunset, but what I ended up with wasn't very similar.

24% not counting magazines or reference books without recipes (like the Food Lover's Companion). I tend not to make recipes directly from the books, but read them all and then do what makes sense to me.

I use something similar in my Zero Carb, Sugar-Free, Low-fat Chocolate Mousse recipe (doesn't use tofu or I'd post it). About 2 tsp of gelatin in 1/3 cup of water. I put the water in a pyrex measuring cup, sprinkle the gelatin on top and then let it hydrate for 4 minutes. This creates a pretty solid mass in the cup. Then I put the cup in the microwave for 1 minute on 50% power. Stir well. Now you have an easy to pour liquid.

Yes the leg is what I have used - I typically buy it at Costco and trim it, cut and vacuum seal it in 1.5 lb pouches and freeze it. No, the lamb doesn't disintegrate.