IndyRob

This is a bit off topic, but with a kismet spin. As I was reading this thread my wife gave me a found copy of the New York Times Book Review section. I paged through it and was three pages from the end when I noticed the title "Your Tired, Your Poor and Their Food". The review begins "One of the sights that greeted immigrants in New York, right after the Statue of Liberty, was a prune sandwich." I haven't read the rest of the article, or indeed the book, but I wonder if more prune sandwiches might go a long way to solve some of our immigration issues.

While watching the elimination challenge I had a hard time coming up with better ideas. But after thinking about it for a while several strong ideas came to mind. I say that because I didn't know they were able to think about it overnight. With that in mind, I think the general offerings were weaker than I originally thought.

At the risk of being annoyingly repetitive, this Presto Kitchen Kettle/Multi-cooker can do pretty much anything and is dirt cheap. It can deep fry, steam, boil, poach, slow cook and sous vide. In a pinch I bet it could saute or even work (sort of) as an oven. If challenged, most people could be convinced that it's a rice cooker (it might be able to do that as well). Or, in a box with the temperature control/cord stowed away out of sight, it just looks like a pot.

On the back of some discussion about whether chefs should expected to be knowledgeable in all global cuisines, Kelly is my personal favorite this week for coming in in the top three without knowing anything about Asian cooking. Checking labels for ingredients was smart. In a way, she was back in the quickfire, but with a set of ingredients that was not meant to stump her.

For a ribeye this would be my choice as well. This is a family favorite. But better IMHO, is a filet with some hollandaise to dip in like fondue.

Search for "under cabinet lighting". There are a variety of configurations. Some 'pucks', some 'tubes'. Some A/C, some low voltage D/C. I installed DC pucks under our cabinets and they work well (although one side of the kitchen interferes a little with radio reception in the room). They're also nice in the middle of the night to get a little light without lighting up the whole room. [edit]You might look for ones where you can change the wattage. I've found that in some places I wanted more intensity than others.

A few years ago one of our local supermarkets started to include French Crullers among their doughnut selections. More recently, their competitors have followed suit. Until I saw these examples, all things named cruller were frilly but boring cake doughnuts. These French crullers were fantastically light and tender. I had no idea how they were and tried to no avail to image how they got their distinctive shape. I decided to figure this out this morning and got to googling... One part was easy. Fried pate a choux. Of course. Duh. Or at least something very similar. But how would one pipe it to get that shape? This was much harder. Most recipes tell you to make one or two circles. Eventually, I found that showed me how this should work, but it's clearly not the same shape (but probably acceptable). Finally, I found part of the puzzle. A commercial French Cruller Cutter. That was a little disappointing, but it made sense. No Rob, there are no master choux pipers working in your supermarket's bakery.But, ok, the shape had to come from some hand crafted origin, no? And how does a culler cutter cut a paste? Anyone know?

How 'bout a monthly culinary preview of global holidays, festivals and/or events. Regional Ramadan foods, Christmas foods around the world.... What's cooking at the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco? Etc, etc, etc. Or, a monthly update of what's coming into season where? Like the above, but more about harvests (harvest festivals?) and game seasons.

Yep, that sounds like what I was served.

This leads to a more general question I have about risotto. I've never had it, but it seems to be held in great esteem. The descriptions seem to be very similar to a rice dish I do really like but is far less fussy. So if I want to experience a 'proper' risotto (not the best, or magnificent, etc.) Would Carrabbas be an okay example? If not, is there another chain that produces a credible example? I'm not likely to seek out a fine dining experience in search of the perfect risotto unless I firmly feel that I won't be disappointed. I had (perhaps still have) a similar dilemma with gnocchi. It didn't seem like something I was aching to pursue as a cook, but I found myself at a Buca di Beppo and had the chance to try some. It failed to turn me into a gnocchi lover. But I was left with the nagging question of whether that was a legitimate example.

I think, from a chef's perspective, when it doesn't involve developing a menu and doing a full service. But losing the candle picking and paint colors was an improvement this year. Letting front of the house be done by someone else would be another. If it were Top Chef-Owner (edit: like Last Restaurant Standing) I might feel differently.

I can't disagree with anything on Tom C's blog, and he ends with a really good idea. Don't make a cheftestant do front of house and instead, use two prominent front of house people who could then comment on how the kitchen affected service.

I never said they did anything wrong. But if that team lost, it was clear that Alex would be the one going home. Obviously, they all would have preferred to win, and they did that - basically one man down. Had they lost we would have heard quite a bit about Alex's failings from his own team. But since they won, it would be in no one's interest to bring it up.

Are you kidding me? They were saving him like one saves a chicken for next Sunday.

It was a real shame to see Kenny go. Alex deserved to go but his team wisely threw him under the bus and kept him there. But despite Kenny doing a good job of being a Chef (in the chief sense), his decision to put aside his ego was fatal. I don't understand either of his dishes. He went down for a bad salad (probably over complicated because he realized that that's all it would be), and a misplaced piece of fried goat cheese. Outside of the context of a dessert, I think that might have flown. But sitting next to another very nice looking proper dessert, it was doomed. I'll grudgingly (if narrowly) accept the notion that screwing up two dishes is worse than making two mistakes on one. But, for me, the producers managed another true outrage. As they focused on Alex and his team's problems, I was thinking that surely this would be the most thoroughly telegraphed decision in Top Chef history. Therefore, I expected a twist. And that would've been ok. But then they go to a commercial break with footage of an angry Kevin saying "It's you who should be going home!" Oh gosh, I wonder which team will lose....

I had to check with the dough heads over at pizzamaking.com. This sure looks like nooks and crannies to me.... Thread is here

Thomas' is my preferred brand, and I think they're in the right legally, but on the other hand, I just can't believe it's that hard. So hard that nobody can reproduce it. I've seen more open crumbs in homemade pizzas. I've only tried it once. My results fell short, but showed at least some promise. But after the initial attempt, I felt that it was far too fussy a thing to be doing early in the morning. But this may have lit a fire in me. I like a good Thomas' English Muffin with my eggs (I find I can use just a couple of mere slivers of butter on each half). But as bread goes they're pretty expensive. It irks me to spend 18 cents on protein and around 42 cents on bread (yes, I am that stingy - at least in principle). BTW, the domain nooksandcrannies.com is already taken. I had to check .

Interesting. I had never even heard of one before this. I see that none is available at Amazon, but surely they are in kitchen stores??? Apparently, they did change the name to Presto Options Multicooker / Steamer. The Kitchen Kettle is still on WalMart's site. Looks like the new name will set you back about $5 more. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-Options-Multi-Cooker-Steamer/11445797?findingMethod=rr But then I just found this as well, which appears to be an upscale version of the same thing (I'd be a little suspicious of the wall thickness though)... http://www.amazon.com/Presto-6020-Electric-Multi-Cooker-Stainless/dp/B0017UQB3C I see Hamilton Beach is making a similar product that looks intriguing on first glance.... http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-35136-Multicooker-Silver/dp/B000R8E8QM/ref=pd_sbs_k_4 For me, a key feature of the Kitchen Kettle is that it seems to be infinitely adjustable beneath the Warm setting (I've made marks on the dial with a Sharpie for sous vide). It could probably be set for 80F if you had a reason to do that. You'd probably want to read the descriptions and reviews so you know what you're getting.

Funny story... The first time I took the MBTI, it was part of a company sponsored Myers Briggs Institute seminar. We had an informational session in the morning, then took the test and then lunch. We had results upon our return. I got back early, as did some others, and the seminar leader was killing time by asking people about their results. She came to me and asked how I scored and I, knowing nearly nothing about test, said, "Well, I guess I'm an INTP" and handed her my score card. She took it and looked at it and I saw her eyes widen a bit. "Uh oh", I thought. Then she said "You know, I've only seen INTP scores this clear once before...". Oh, crap... Dahmer? Hitler!?.... "...and that was the creator of the test." Huh. I guess that's not so bad. That's sort of a point of pride for me, but not the reason I like the test. I've taken the MMPI (Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory). You can look for serial killers there. But not a test that sorts you into 16 groups. There are multiple questions for each dimension and in the end there are four dimensions that factor into the final scores. It's not looking for psychopaths. I worried a lot about this at first. But I went through all the other profiles looking for this. While I did find statements I might like to associate myself with, it was an island in a sea of disagreement. Meanwhile, I could only find a couple sentences to quibble with in my own profile. No, I understand. I just wish we could get some other letters in here to provide some contrast.

Personally, I would dump the small crock pot and substitute a Presto Kitchen Kettle (it might not be named that anymore). It's bigger, but other stuff can be transported inside of it. It can slow cook, sous vide, cook pasta, steam, and deep fry.

An accidental discovery for me was chocolate eaten alternately with Frito's corn chips. I think it's just the salt on the Frito's, but the crunch is a nice contrast. But it must be done in extreme moderation for the stomach's sake.

For baking and pastry I'm pretty scientific, taking an established recipe and varying only slightly in a progressive mode. For savory cooking (or sweet fillings and the like), I usually conceptualize and look to get the overall package right without worrying too much about ultimate flavor. Flavor seems easier to me to adjust if I have the right concept. Imagine if you independently came up with the idea of a souffle and tested the idea with just some eggs - and then thought "I wonder if I could work some cheese into this...". That's kind of my process.

Yes, that's what I noticed, and here we seem to have only 1/2 of an S so far. I strongly suspect that the N's are the ones that are interested in the MBTI and working out underlying principles in general. Devour, I agree that it shouldn't be ascribed too much value. Us INTPs are put into a group that includes Albert Einstein and Bob Newhart. It's just a general categorization. Plus, I have a hypothesis that there are actually 81 types since a dash should be valid when there isn't a clear preference between two dimensions (e.g. E-TJ). But I do find it useful at times. For example, I was once transferring a business process to someone else and I was showing her how to do it. So I started explaining the background and context and noticed that her eyes were glazed over and had a polite smile on her face. My ST alarm went off and I stopped myself and said "But you don't care about any of that. You just want the procedure." She burst out laughing and said "Just the procedure, sir." When done as a team building exercise it's also useful to discuss the results among the team. In this case, even if the test is wrong about you, you can tell your team members that. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen in a business environment.

Actually, I agree with this. The only difference is that I can bring myself to follow the rules the first time when I'm dealing with something new. I go on kicks of making the same thing often myself. I'm definitely not a knife geek. I finally got some decent ones, but 'good' is good enough for me. I am suspicious of professionals to the point that I often wind up doing things myself. As mentioned, when I do something for the first time, I'll seek out a standard recipe first. Once I know my way around it, I throw out the rulebook. Well, I did notice that there were a lot of INs in both threads. And the test was created by an INTP, so we are exactly the kind of people interested in these kinds of things. The biggest difference I see between us are our actual food preferences. But I would've been pretty surprised to see a correlation there.

Well it looks like INs, and perhaps to a lesser extent, ENs appear to go for Myers-Briggs threads. Dakki, as a fellow INTP, I'll pick out a few of dimensions of my cooking (dis)interests and would be curious if they at all parallel your outlook: 1) When doing a new, unfamiliar, recipe for the first time, I usually follow the recipe fairly precisely. But if I like it and do it again, I tend to throw out the rulebook and wing it. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. 2) Although I do specialize and try to refine certain things (steaks, pizza, baguettes), I also like to experiment with all sorts of different things. Yeast fascinates me (bread, brewing, or winemaking). Cheese curds fascinate me. Methods of applying heat fascinate me. The various ways to use eggs fascinate me. I guess my goal is to be able to conceptualize a unique dish and use general principles to get to what I want. I guess a shorter way of saying this is that I'm an explorer of food properties and techniques. Lilija (INFP) is more of a cultural explorer. With the T/F difference, that makes a certain amount of sense. 3) Being a line cook would be a nightmare for me. I would like to try it sometime if I could have training wheels. But making the same thing over and over again exactly the same way is my version of hell.