Human Bean

The Monday program was pre-empted here by local programming. Tuesdays' version is on at the moment. I could be snarky to the extreme, but it's not worth the effort. Their audience isn't eG. Duh! It isn't even FoodNet's. Best case, Iron Chef America gains some new viewers, especially when the foodnet 'celebs' appear on ICA. I'm not sure what their expected audience is; I wonder if they had any idea. The main winner is whoever gains the revenue from the text messages that they're asking for, assuming anyone actually sends one. I can't even send text messages, so I'm safe. But I feel kinda dirty after experiencing this televisual experience. Maybe an investment in stocks of cleaning products is in order.

Remove the seeds and ribs to decrease the heat. I once made a salsa with habs that way too mild due to overzealous surgical removal of the ribs - and I didn't actually realize this until I'd used up my available supply at the time.

Archaeological ceramics - is this a euphemism for "crackpot"??? Never mind. Food. Supposed to talk about food to be on-topic. I like food. And I can't get too worked up about "sourcing," providing that it means something more than merely a Sysco purchase order. These terms do tend to degrade over time though, viz. 'artisinal;' I'd hardly be surprised if the fine folks at Sysco now offer 'artisinal' canned or frozen products for all your food-service needs. Sigh.

99.972% of the time, I just smash and chop. I have a Zyliss for the rare times that I want to use a press. I used to have a Genius garlic cutter that I got as a gift. It makes absolutely wonderful uniform tiny (~1/16") garlic cubes, but was a PITA to use - much, much, much twisting of the gizmo to get the job done (very slowly), and took way too long to clean. I threw it away. (Had it not been several years ago, I'd have been willing to sell it to someone here, who would likely have ultimately come to the same conclusions that I did).

Well-put. Every mass-market crap knife company seems to be offering Santokus currently; this seems to be due to the mass-media exposure they've had. It'll be interesting to see if they survive as a mass-market crap product once Ray and her ilk fade from view. (Mass-market crap product meaning a knife that you can buy in the cookware aisle of a grocery or variety store, rather than a store catering to cookware). Edit: Clarify last para

I've only just recently seen (or perhaps actually noticed) Coke Zero ads around here. It's the second 'diet' soda I've tried that doesn't have a disgreeable 'diet' taste (the first being Diet Dr. Pepper - maybe the artificial sweetener taste is masked by the other flavors). Coke Zero does indeed taste more like 'real' Coke than any of the previous 'diet' versions that I'd tried. At first. The 'diet' flavor kicked in as an aftertaste though; I don't think I'm overly bothered by this, but I haven't decided yet. I'm not much of a soda drinker anyway.

I believe that the Santoku is a fad that will eventually fade away, but I'm probably wrong about that. If I hadn't already become comfortable with a Chinese chef's knife (aka cleaver) ages ago, I'd probably think that santokus were great. I bought a Shun santoku some time ago to try, and returned it the same day without actually cutting anything. When I got it home with the other implements of deconstruction, I found that the santoku was way too short compared to my 10" gyuto, and the scooping ability was miniscule compared to the cleaver. The santoku seemed to want to be a hybrid of the two styles, but it would never replace either the gyuto or cleaver, so there was no point in keeping it. Of course, it's all personal preference; my preference is to not use a Santoku.

I've weighed in on CI in other threads, but to repeat at least one thing, and respond to a couple of others: Taste tests: They make an effort to test things that are likely to be available nationally, which is overall a good thing; there may be a great thing that is only available in a limited region, but that's not so useful if you don't happen to live in that region. Be that as it may, I'm not annoyed they pick something expensive as best. Maybe it is. What I find annoying is that their tasters often tend to prefer the familiar, perhaps childhood favorite items. Example: sugared peanut butter got high marks, IIRC. Yuck, says I. Pay for mag and website: Obnoxious perhaps, but consider another non-advertiser-supported periodical-- Consumer Reports. They also make magazine subscribers pay for their website (though they do give a discount for non-subscribers; I don't think that CI has a subscriber discount for the web). The web offers immediate access to the entirety(?) of their back content; if you pay for access, you are free to copy as much of it as you want for your use, and you can non-renew if you wish. Overly-complicated recipes: I guess you haven't read _The French Laundry Cookbook_ or _Bouchon_. But seriously, since quick/weeknight/30 minute recipes seem to be all the rage, they do have an entry in that field: _The Quick Recipe_, which has the premise of recipes that take an hour or less, from start of prep to finished dish. And you don't have to watch a giggly 20-something make them. I have this book (and others from CI) but don't recall making any of the specific dishes; I've certainly nicked a few ideas though.

Complete and utter rubbish - any article that can't even get Christopher Columbus right has zero credibility anyway. I mean, sure, you could say that I started with 'gateway drugs' like sriracha and Tabasco, then moved to the harder stuff like thai birds and habaneros, but you'd be an idiot. I'm not hooked, no way, no how; get real. I can quit any time I want. I'll definitely quit immediately after my death, for instance. BTW, got any sambal oelek? I need a fix... [OTOH, I would almost agree about compulsive runners - most of them are so skinny they look like junkies anyway.] Edit: clarification?

Blue M&Ms - bring 'em on, I don't care. I always thought the the overabundance of brown and tan ones was boring. I can't find a cite at the moment, but recall hearing that the creator/person in charge/somesuch of M&Ms decreed the color ratios, and insisted in the overabundance of brown/tan. Not until his demise were M&Ms able to achieve the varied colors that they have today. Given that M&Ms are inherently not a natural foodstuff, I can't be offended by un-natural colors. (BTW, green M&Ms are an aphrodisiac - please don't tell anyone, it's a secret. ) George Carlin noted many years ago that there are no blue foods. I'd be willing to try (say) blue mashed potatoes or rice or something if it made sense in a particular context; if it were blue and I didn't know what it was, I might be a bit hesitant. Blue frosting - hey, no problem. <Homer> MMM...frosting... </Homer> Edit: add emoticon lest the naive or urban-legend-challenged get wrong ideas about green M&Ms.

Names are not the issue; they're a distraction from the real point - as winesonoma pointed out, vested interests are. At one time, it was discussed that vested interests should be mentioned in postings. I don't know if this was ever codified into the written rules/policies for eG. If not, perhaps it should be. Knowing a name, real or not, won't necessarily do anything to solve the problem of undisclosed vested interests.

Right, well I suppose he's saving beans on toast and bubble and squeak for the next series then. I'm giddy with anticipation.

Buy whatever you want, but absolutely do not buy anything you haven't personally tried out first for fit. Hold it, pretend to chop, slice, etc. Does the handle feel right in your hand? Is the knife too heavy, too light, is the balance right? A crappy but comfortable (non-serrated) knife can always be re-sharpened, but an uncomfortable knife is tiring to use and may be more prone to causing injuries, espcially if it slips at the wrong time.

Shootout: Campbell's Gold Select vs. Progresso I haven't seen any TV commercials, but seeing this thread while at work (on break, honest) I thought I'd give the new Campbell's soup a try against my favorite in canned soup, Progresso. Tomato was the choice; I thought I'd had a Progresso tomato/basil soup before, but I couldn't find it at the moment, so the contenders are: Campbell's Gold Select Italian Tomato with Basil and Garlic vs. Progresso Vegetable Classics Hearty Tomato I'll readily admit that I expected to prefer the Progresso, but I tried my best to give them an unbiased comparison. My opinion is that Campbells's traditional condensed soup line is basically flavored salt water, but they've done better with their jarred soups (Homestyle?? - I can't remember the name.) I shook both soups to make sure that they were mixed, then poured 8 ounces of each into identical pans and heated them to identical temperatures. I then tasted each one, alternating a few tasting spoons at a time between them. For brevity, I'll refer to the Campbell's as C and Progresso as P below. At room temperature, the C was paler than the P, and smelled like cheap jarred spaghetti sauce; the P was darker and smelled like tomato juice. Both soups were brought to a bare simmer, then held at about 180 degrees F. The C had a somewhat 'grainy' texture - like it had been partially blended, with some small bits of vegetable left. The P was very smooth, but with noticeable (1/4 to 3/8 inch, though I didn't measure) tomato chunks in it. Neither one seemed over-salty or over-sweet, though the P seemed at times to be sweeter than the C; I can't be sure about this. Basil flavor wasn't readily apparent in either one; I would have preferred a more upfront basil flavor (personal prejudice - had a basil flavor been too obvious, it would have been a flaw, but in a soup announcing basil in it's name, I would have expected it to be noticeable.) The C had a very obvious flavor of cooked garlic, which lingered far beyond its' welcome; 30 minutes after eating it, I had a lingering and unpleasant cooked garlic aftertaste in my mouth. Overall, the P has a very nice tomato flavor; the C doesn't taste as much like cheap spaghetti sauce as it smelled like when it was cold, but the overall impression is of spaghetti sauce as soup, rather than tomato as soup. The garlic aftertaste is unexpected and disconcerting. Tale of the tape: I deliberately avoided reading the label details before tasting, so as to not add preconceptions about salty/sweet balance, expected ingredients, etc. Campbells: $3.19 for 13.8 ounces Per 8 oz serving: calories 90, sodium 820 mg, sugars 13g, protein 3, fat .5g. Top 6 ingredients: Tomato puree, water, carrots, sweet red peppers, (less than 2% of) zucchini, sugar. Progresso: $2.39 for 19 ounces Per 8 oz serving: calories 110, sodium 980 mg, sugars 9 g, protein 2g, fat 1g. Top 6 ingredients: Tomato puree, water, tomatoes, sugar, (less than 2% of) corn syrup solids, salt. Conclusions: Overall best: Progresso. Price/performance: Progresso (overwhelmingly). Would I buy again: Progresso - yes, but I'd add some basil, fresh parsley, black pepper and chile; Campbell's - not unless I were starving and nothing else was available. The objective numbers about salt/sugar don't match my subjective impressions. Campbell's needs to try harder if this is their top-end tomato soup; it doesn't come close to being worthy of it's price.

I've only had my Shuns for about a year, but they continue to hold their edges well, are easy to sharpen, and a joy to use.

Food Network Canada has/recently had some interesting cooking shows, none of which are shown on Food Net in the US, AFAIK. A few that I've seen: Licence to Grill: A quantum jump beyond BBQ-U (on PBS in the States). Each show features a variety of grilled dishes with much more interesting ingredients and techniques than BBQ-U. BBQ-U would have you believe that beer-can chicken is a major revelation; License to Grill focuses on much more interesting marinades from scratch (jerk sauce, Asian-inspired sauces) and more grilled veg dishes than generally seen elsewhere. BBQ-America (also on PBS) was better than BBQ-U; License to Grill is better than both. Cook Like a Chef: Each show features a Canadian chef demonstrating a variety of dishes made from a particular ingredient or technique - potatoes, or beef, or greens (or deep-frying as a technique for several dishes). Chef at Home: I'm somewhat ambivalent on this one. This show beats you over the head with the idea of cooking without a recipe - take some ingredients, seasonings, and wing it. An excellent idea, but probably too much for a beginner, yet not very interesting if you can already wing it. The (male) host probably has considerable eye-candy appeal, but I'm not really qualified to judge that.

I couldn't disagree more the bold part above. Correlation does not imply causation. Napster existed; the record industry made less money. To say that Napster caused the record industry to make less money would require some actual evidence, which is (debatably) sadly lacking. Other factors in a decline of recorded music sales are far more plausible (ie, fewer 'good' albums released, excessive CD prices, entertainment dollars going elsewhere (DVDs, cable, games). But getting back to books, I think they can survive long-term - they're still here long after the advent of public libraries and photocopiers, just as music and movies have survived many hysterically-stated 'threats' to their continued existence.

How sad - that means that no one can ever read it. Strictly speaking, if I view that web page, I'm reproducing it. If I were to dare to print a page for later reference, I risk being hauled off in irons. Evidence of my criminality would be readily preserved, as a copy of the forbidden material would be 'reproduced' and preserved for an indefinite time on my hard drive in the web cache. View a web page, go to jail. You may think I'm exaggerating, but that's what your words above mean, in a paranoid legal sense. And when dealing with lawyers, the only way to be is paranoid.

Reminder: Premiere tonight! I can't wait to see the zany antics of that rascal, Jack Bourdain. Well, actually I CAN wait. But given that this is Fox, they'll probably get only one chance to get me hooked as a continuing viewer

Listened to it while I was (supposed to be) working, so I wasn't able to give it 100% attention, but it seemed like a good show - the guest was knowledgeable and even amusing; I didn't find the callers particularly objectionable at all. Good job.

Interesting, but I tend not to like single-purpose gadgets, and wouldn't use one enough to make it worthwhile. <hijack> OTOH, having seen a demo of the Vacuvin pineapple slicer, that's one way-cool single-purpose gadget - I might get one just as an excuse to eat more pineapple. </hijack>

Really? How awful. In PDX, with a reasonably-sized Vietnamese communtity, take-out pho is broth in one container, par-cooked noodes plus cooked beef + raw beef + perhaps cooked onion in another, plus a plastic bag with raw veg (sprouts, basil, chiles, lime, green onion, cilantro, and a small container typically containing a hoisin/sriracha mix). Including the noodles with the broth is weird. Typically, you would get the broth boiling, then add the noodles + meat and cook for about 30 seconds or so. If the noodles are cooked too long, they break up, and you don't want that. It seems inevitable if the broth and noodles are combined at the start. One place I've had take-out from includes some cheezy disposable chopsticks plus a plastic spoon and fork wrapped around a napkin, as mentioned by shelora. A nice touch is the addition of a wrapped piece of generic commercial candy. Nice, but ultimately pointless. That said, of the several pho restaurants within delivery distance, I don't think I'd ever order pho from any of them for delivery, unless I had a severe need for pho. Most are awful. One (of several) might be tempting, but if I'm jonesing that much, I can go to the restaurant and get takeout myself rather than delivery. I make pho every month or so, and freeze any excess broth and cooked beef in portioned sizes. Banh pho noodles are in the pantry, beef meatballs and raw beef in the freezer. It's only the raw veg that keeps this from being this an impulse meal. They are available at the local megamart or the nearby ethnic market. Delivery pho? I'd consider it, but there aren't any worthy candidates.

Another summer, another iced tea season. I've spent the past week at home, on vacation (more-or-less), and iced tea has helped with the summer heat and keeping my nervous system humming. Along with the basic cheap Darjeeling + cheap oolong + cheap green iced tea described above, I've done a few more experiments. My current (lazy) mix is 3 parts Darjeeling, 1 part oolong. Tastes okay, not quite as fussy as Darjeeling+oolong+green as described earlier. Jasmine iced tea: 100% jasmine tea. As brewed, was way too reminiscent of cat urine, dunno why. After a half-hour or so, either it changed, or my tastebuds changed, and was okay. I'm leery of this one; I'll probably try it again, but it wasn't an instant hit. Lichee iced tea: 100% lichee tea. A winner - good tea flavor, lichee present but not overpowering. I always drink my tea unsweetened, but this would certainly do well with some sweetening. Lichee tea may be hard to find, but is good hot or iced. Losers: CTC (pelletized) teas. Lipton Yellow Label and Brooke Bond - Assam dust bonded into little granules. Tastes okay, but hopelessly cloudy tea. Not great tea on it's own, might be okay in an iced tea blend if you don't mind the cloudiness. BTW, I use "The Iced Tea Pot " by Mr. Coffee® (that's what they call it, and I don't want highly caffeinated lawyers coming after me ) to make iced tea. Normally I don't like single-use appliances, but it works well, I've had it for several years, and it doesn't add too much heat indoors when I'm trying to keep the place cool. Although it takes up valuable storage space when not in use, it's not a big burden. Recommended if you desire an appliance for minimal-effort iced-tea making.

Suzy, Thanks, excellent link! It may have been mentioned before in the many pages of this thread, but I don't recall seeing it previously (apologies to anyone if I missed your earlier link.) So it appears that there are several plants that can legitimately be called Szechuan peppercorn, but this bag of 'prickly ash' is definitely the real deal. I guess this is another option when shopping for the elusive (and possibly banned?) s-p - I bought it 'cuz I happened to see something that looked right, without knowing or caring about the name on the bag. Score!

Just got back from my local Vietnamese/Asian market with an interesting find - a bag of "Dehydrated Prickly Ash," $1.79 for a 4 ounce bag. Looks like Szechuan peppercorn, smells like szechuan peppercorn, works like szechuan peppercorn - yow! I don't know how or why it's labelled as 'prickly ash,' as it doen't seem anything like any prickly ash in a quick google search. Doesn't matter, I've got my first batch of s-p in many years, no mail-order required! I'm a very happy camper with a very weirded-out tongue right now.