John Rosevear

Not a chance. (Not sesame oil, either.) I wasn't planning on using a lot of vegetables, actually. The best version I've had recently (in Boston) had peas, scallions, and finely diced Chinese celery. I'll try carrots. Light peanut oil seems like the way to go, and I won't skimp. No salt, really? I could try a pinch of MSG, though that seems like cheating. Thanks!

I've been making a perfectly presentable fried rice for years -- eggs, scallions, a little soy sauce or Maggi or both, whatever's in the back of the fridge, hot wok, serve. It's a staple. But right now, I want to make Yangzhou fried rice with the texture and flavor one finds at good (US/UK) restaurants. (Not the brown stuff.) Sounds simple, right? But my attempts so far have been less than stellar. There are clearly nuances I'm missing. I've got char siu (or will tomorrow -- it's in marinade). I have cold cooked rice, eggs, scallions, shrimp, peas, assorted other vegetables, and the usual sauces and aromatics. Perhaps most importantly, I have a propane-fired wok burner, a well-seasoned wok, and passable technique. Aside from "small pieces, hot wok, work fast", how should I proceed? Salt? Wine? Neutral oil, bacon grease, something else? Add egg(s) when and how?

I like Cornish hens (the smaller, the better) for lots of different things, but one of my favorites is extremely simple: Brine, dry, deep-fry, with or without some sort of simple seasoned flour or batter coating. That's one of my kids' favorite meals -- a whole little fried chicken, all for them! -- and it makes a fun presentation for adults at a casual dinner. Also, if you get good hens, it's surprisingly tasty. It seems like it'd be easy to glaze them with honey or something right before serving if you want a sweet touch.

Hm. A lime twist with Plymouth (my significant other's default martini) beats lemon on my palate. Grapefruit with Martin Miller's is an interesting idea, though... clearly I need an excuse to spend some time experimenting!

This is why I've taken to buying the Kingsford Competition briquettes for the most part. They aren't ideal, but of the easily available options in my area they seem like the best alternative. I've found too much weird stuff (roofing shingles, plywood, something that looked like a broken broom handle) in bags of lump in recent years.

In my experience, regular blue-bag Kingsford lasts longer than lump (Royal Oak, usually, in my case), burns a bit less hot, makes more of a mess, and sometimes gives the food a faint but distinctive flavor that will probably give me cancer in 30 years. That said, Kingsford's "Competition" briquettes (brick-red bag) burn a bit hotter than the regular variety and leave less of a mess (and less of that flavor) while lasting about as long. They also cost more and are harder to find, but are worth it if you don't have high-quality lump available and/or want the longer-lasting characteristics of briquettes.

FWIW, I ended up ordering Jades -- PF1901 (to try) and Edouard (my favorite, back in the day). But I'd still love to know what else is in that class these days.

Back before the US ban was lifted, I went through an absinthe-obsessed phase, and accumulated several bottles of the stuff that was considered good back in 2005-2006. I'm still drinking down the last of it -- the drink I'm sipping right now came from a bottle of, IIRC, the second batch of Montmartre (it has faded some, but still palatable). I was an early customer of LdF, had all the Jades through Edouard (but not PF1901), the Fougerolles, the Swiss-market Kubler, the original Un Emile, etc., etc. But nothing new or recent. Long story short, I haven't bought a bottle of absinthe, other than a single bottle of Lucid (eh), in probably 4 years. So here's my question: What are the best brands available now, cost no object? If I were to buy or order 2 or 3 bottles tonight, which ones? Still the Jade? Marteau if I can find any? Something else?

I found myself with a celiac diagnosis last year. I've probably had it for most of my life, which would go a long way toward explaining my longtime indifference (and to some extent, aversion) to things like pasta and beer. But there's plenty I miss: Good croissants, all kinds of savory snack foods, and -- and this is a biggie for a guy who spent most of his 20s eating in little dives in Boston's Chinatown -- the inability to eat most restaurant Chinese food. There are a couple of better-than-average Chinese places in greater Boston that are willing and able to cook gluten-free, but most of the really good ones (Sichuan Gourmet, sigh) are clueless, and I lack the language skills to educate them. Really, the worst of it is restaurants, generally -- I can cook around the gluten restriction for the most part when I'm at home, but I often can't try the new little place everyone's raving about, and even when I can I'm often restricted to a tiny corner of the menu.

Soups can be frozen... when you make soup on the weekends, make a double batch and freeze half. In fact, that approach works with all sorts of things, from casseroles to pulled pork.

Also think about ways in which you could use your oven's time-bake function... potatoes, roasted root vegetables, a casserole or lasagna that you've made previously, frozen, and taken from the freezer to the oven right before leaving for work...

Yep, that's a good plan. I used to find myself in a similar situation, and in addition to the wok I relied heavily on my grill. Put something(s) grill-friendly in a marinade in the morning or the night before, start the grill when you get home, make simple side dishes while the grill preheats, grill, serve. Vietnamese pork chops with rice, carne asada for burritos, chicken parts any number of ways... lots of possibilities your kids might like.

Me too, or when I'm pressed for time. There's one brand of "baby carrots" that are the perfect size for roasting... wash, dry, toss with butter and seasonings, roast... maybe 90 seconds of work for a vegetable that adults enjoy and that my kids will actually eat. On a busy weeknight, that's a great deal.

I use "Craft" occasionally, typically when a guest asks for a mainstream drink I don't often make -- his recipes for things like piña coladas are generally spot-on -- but I rarely pull the other book off the shelf. It's worth owning and reading at least once, though.

Yep, I went through those threads and saw your recipe after I posted the above. I'll probably end up doing something close to what you did. I made the "Big Flavors of the Hot Sun" version a couple years ago and was both pleased by how close it came to what I remember of the real stuff and disappointed that it wasn't quite there. It didn't really taste right until it had been sitting for a few days, so maybe simmering is the right route.

I'm one of 'em. Celiac = no fun. I don't miss beer, and I mostly don't miss bread, but I really do miss Chinatown dives.

I've actually been planning to do a batch of something Inner Beauty-esque, using the scaled-down version of CS's handwritten recipe from Serious Eats as a starting point. I'll probably get to it this weekend; if it's any good, I'll report back.

I don't bake much anymore (a celiac diagnosis will tend to have that effect) so mine mostly serves as a cheese grater these days, via the relevant KA attachment. It isn't an ideal cheese grater, but it's easier to clean than the Cuisinart if we're grating cheese in quantity, and I can't yet bear to just stop using the thing entirely. I do have and occasionally use the KA meat grinder/sausage stuffer, but it is indeed wimpy.

haresfur, I'd get the Wild Turkey. JB's not awful, but almost everything else is better. But it's too bad you can't get the Rittenhouse. I just made my first Sazerac in a while, and I am reminded that Rittenhouse 100 is one of those increasingly rare alcoholic products that is both inexpensive and really good. Of course, this probably means it'll be a US$60 bottle in 5 yrs, but meanwhile, it's quite a value. (2.25 oz rye, 3 dashes Peychaud's, about 1 tsp 2:1 simple, a few drops of Lucid to rinse.)

I had porcelain-coated cast iron on my old Weber Genesis and LOVED them -- IMO they were the perfect grates, tough and durable and held heat beautifully (and yes, lovely sear marks, but also helping the grill hold temp when opened). If Weber ever makes them for my current grill (a big Summit; the only current choice is stainless) I'll order them in a heartbeat. For what it's worth, the stainless-rod grates I have now seem durable enough, just less excellent than the coated cast iron I had.

No thanks -- I don't want to give shelf space to it!

Just chiming in here... I have a Cuisinart DLC-7 that's old enough to have been made in Japan, which means it's probably old enough to drink. It works hard and runs great. I've accumulated a whole bunch of discs and doodads for it, replaced a few parts once or twice... at this point I probably have most or all of the vintage accessories (except for that weird whisk/blender thing). If/when the motor ever goes I'll probably just buy another one via eBay or Craigslist and keep going. I have yet to see a newer model that is enough of an improvement to be worth making the change. One little note on Cuisinarts for anyone who might be new to the breed: If you make a habit of putting the clear plastic bits in the dishwasher they don't last nearly as long, and while new replacements are available for most models (even the old ones) they're more expensive than you'd think and don't always fit as well as the originals. Hand wash for best results.

Fu Pei-Mei? I do know who she is, but I've never managed to acquire any of her books. "Classic Chinese Cookbook". Not the best by modern standards but very good, with good clear photos, and a better-than-average primer on technique.

I don't cook from it very often anymore, but it was one of the first things I bought after graduating from college 20 yrs ago (along with a 14" carbon steel Taylor & Ng wok from Crate & Barrel, which I still have). I learned an awful lot from that book (and that wok).

I'm not Chinese, but I was also pretty underwhelmed by "Mastering the Art"... authentic or no, the recipes seemed a lot of work for undistinguished results. The book sits on my shelf, gathering dust... next to books by Irene Kuo, Fuschia Dunlop, Yan-Kit So, and Grace Young, among others, all of which see much more use.