mgaretz

Are you thinking of this place? http://www.thegourmetdepotco.com/stand-mixers/refurbished-reboxed/ They are in the city.

I buy Lee Kum Kee in the big bottle. I like it. I wasn't aware there were different versions.

I can't speak to Kuhn Rikon, but I have an electric Cuisinart that has a spring release. It lets out a lot of steam. Stands to reason there'd be no difference as the pressure has to go somewhere, regardless of the regulation method.

I just got some and they are indeed from Madagascar.

What's on sale at the Asian grocery of course! I was assuming the fairly standard wheat based, dry, spaghetti sized noodles. That's what we get here in Northern California if you just order chow mein. If it has some other style of noodle it will usually have modifier like Taiwan style or some such that I realize is most likely inaccurate.

Never eaten Chinese food in the UK, but if they are like the noodles here, I'd start by boiling the noodles to almost done, drain and rinse. Heat up some peanut oil in the wok, add crushed garlic, grated ginger and possibly just a touch of red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you want it). Cook for just a few seconds until the garlic starts to puff then add your noodles. Stir fry for few minutes then add soy sauce to taste and color. Continue to cook till the noodles are as fried as you prefer. That would be my basic noodles, you could add bean sprouts or other veggies and meat, but realize that veggies will release more water, so you will need something to thicken the sauce so it sticks. I usually will mix cornstarch with soy sauce and stir in for the last 30 seconds or so. I will also usually add some cream sherry or some sugar for a slight sweetness.

I'll have to look for Red Boat, but meanwhile I've been happy with Squid brand.

I've cancelled mine. Will wait for a better price.

Been lurking and cooking (even remembering to snap some pics now and then). Here are some recent dinners: Stir fry with baby bok choy, onions, carrots, peas and char siu (from the deli counter at the Asian grocery): I finally got to try some more smoking in my new smoker (my daughter didn't like the smoke smell that leaks into the house, but now she's off to UC Davis). I did some St. Louis ribs, rubbed with Meathead Goldwyn's Memphis Dust then finished with Bullseye. Here are the ribs after 6 hours in the smoker at 225F with just the rub: And after about 20 minutes on the regular grill and basted with sauce: They were fantastic. I also made a pastrami. Started with uncooked corned beef, soaked for 4 hours in several changes of cool water, then dry rubbed with coarse ground pepper and coriander and left overnight in the fridge. Then 10 hours or so in the smoker until the internal temperature was 210F. (Smoked to an internal temp of 156F or so - about 5 hours, then wrapped in foil for the rest of the time.) Didn't take any pictures of finished pastrami but it was really great. I made pastrami hash with the leftovers. Pastrami, onion and potato with poached eggs on top: Sorry about the picture!

Core and slice for sure! Then just a slice down the middle of the spiral (across the core) and your slices are ready for the pie!

Definitely get one or more of those spiral apple peelers. I love mine. Not only do they work extremely well, but they are fast and fun! Not to mention safer in the classroom.

I am cooking two large corned beef briskets today in my SVS and the combined water vapor of the two overcomes the ability of the rack to hold them under the water (and they won't fully submerge if I position them vertically due to their size). But I found a new use for this BBQ weight: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/jumbo-chefs-press/?pkey=coutdoor-grill-accessories I slid it into the top slot of the rack and it works like a charm. (Also a half-way decent tool for what it's intended, but I never would have bought it if it wasn't on 25% off sale and I had a gift certificate.)

I'd put some suction cups on the bottom to hold it to the Formica. The other alternative is to get new tools that don't require clamping, like a burr grinder and meat grinder attachment for a mixer.

You could also make yourself something like this: http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=231&categoryCode=CE

Yesterday I tried making corned beef sous vide. After reading a ton of suggestions across the web, I decided on 180F for 10 hours. I usually make it in the slow cooker. I always start by first rinsing it well, trimming the majority of the fat off, followed by an overnight soak in cold water in the fridge to reduce the salt. I did the same here, then I patted the meat dry and put it in the vacuum bag. I sprinkled the spice packet into the bag, trying to get it evenly spread on both sides of the meat, then vacuumed and sealed. After 10 hours the meat had produced a lot of liquid, which I saved. The meat itself was tender, but also more dense than when I make it in the slow cooker. My family and I prefered this texture over the slow cooker method. Another benefit was that it was much easier to slice without it shredding. It was also just a tad spicier, also a good thing. When I make it in the slow cooker I add carrots at the start and cabbage for the last hour. This time I took the reserved liquid from the bag and put it in a large bowl. I added about a quarter of a cabbage to the bowl and microwaved it for three minutes. The cabbage was slightly crisp and the broth gave it the perfect flavor. A success. There was a lot of leftover meat and since I didn't make much cabbage it was all gone, but I saved the broth and will repeat making more cabbage with the leftovers, but this time I will add carrots and see how that goes. My family and I agree that this is our new corned beef method!

I got my Lodge cast iron skillet on Amazon for cheap! Cast iron fully enameled dutch oven at Sam's club for about $39 (made by Tramontina). Now they come with stainless knob so it's good in the oven to high temps.

No and no veal either, though CI says the gelatin does what the veal does. I'm not sure I notice - I'm tempted to leave it out and see if it really makes any difference. I've thought about making it with "meatloaf mix" which is blend of beef, pork and veal, but no one seems to carry it in my area any longer. I used to see it all the time.

Thanks Pierogi. Here you go: Mine is an adaptation of one of the many CI recipes for the "best" meatloaf (it kills me that they keep recycling the recipes claiming they are all the best!). Ingredients: 1.75 lbs (or so) ground beef (I usually use 80/20) 1 medium onion - fine diced 1 medium carrot - peeled and fine diced 1 celery rib - fine diced 1 cup oatmeal (the regular stuff from the bulk bins) 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth 1 tbs low sodium soy sauce 1 tbs honey mustard 2 tbs plus 1/2 cup ketchup 2 extra large eggs 1/2 tsp pepper 1 tsp dried thyme 1 clove fresh garlic, minced 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin 2 tbs olive oil 3 tbs sugar Prepare a broiler pan by covering the insert with foil and slitting the foil to match the insert. Preheat oven to 375oF Saute the celery, onions and carrots in the olive oil until the carrots are softened and the onions are just starting to turn golden. While you are doing that, whisk together the eggs, broth, soy sauce, 2 tbs ketchup and the mustard in large bowl (big enough to hold everything). Sprinkle the gelatin on the top and let sit for at least 5 minutes. For the last minute of the saute, add the pepper, thyme and garlic. Turn off the heat. Add the cup of oatmeal to the liquid and stir it in well, then add the veggies. (If you want to deglaze the pan, use something interesting like red wine.) Add the ground beef and mix with your hands or a spatula until everything is evenly distributed, but don't overdo it. Form the mixture into a free-form loaf on your prepared broiler pan. I use a leave-in remote thermometer so I take the time now to make sure the probe is as close to the center as I can get it. Cook until the inside temp reaches 135oF. It usually takes about 40 minutes for me. While it's cooking, prepare the glaze by mixing the 1/2 cup of ketchup with the sugar. I use about 3 tbs but you can adjust this to your taste. If you like BBQ sauce you can substitute some of the ketchup with BBQ sauce. When the meatloaf reaches 135F, pull it out, remove the probe and readjust your oven rack to broil (if necessary - I use my Breville Smart Oven and do everything on the middle position). Switch the oven to broil at 500oF. Brush half of the glaze on the loaf and return to the broiler. Broil for about 6-7 minutes, just enough to start to darken (ok, burn) in spots. Remove and brush again with the rest of the glaze and back in the broiler for another 6-7 minutes. Remove and let cool. If you slice it right away, it tends to fall apart, the longer you let it cool the more intact your slices will be. It's hard to wait because it smells so good!

My expensive All-Clad did the same thing after an hour. Of course we had gone out and it sat too long at a low temp, so I tossed it. As much as I liked it, I need to be able to trust my slow cooker, so I returned it and got the Cuisinart Multi-Cooker. Both are W-S exclusives. It runs hotter than the manual says it should, (low is 209F) but so far the food has been fine.

Kim, I thought of you when I made another meatloaf! The whole thing, just out of the oven/broiler: Slices from the leftovers the following night: I made the glaze a bit differently - added a splash of BBQ sauce in with the ketchup. Everyone liked it, no one could decide if we liked it better or not.

If you don't have one, a good stand mixer. I like my Kitchenaid, especially the pasta rollers attachments (NOT the extruder).

Mjx hit a good point about freezing and reminded me that I would add one of the higher end FoodSaver vacuum sealers to the list.

It works great and is very versatile. Preheats much faster than my full size gas oven, which I hardly ever use anymore. Search for it here and you'll find a full thread on it. Be sure to get the big one.

They often ignore the coupon restrictions.

BBB has All-clad, Shun and Breville. I'd get a couple of good Shun Classic knives (chef's, nakiri and paring), a couple of All-clad pans (large saute pan (4qt) and a non-stick pan) and spend the rest on the Breville Smart oven.