varway

Here's what we've been doing. Cold poached eggs. Works like a charm but you do have to plan for it since it takes about 13 to 15 minutes to cook. Put cold water in your skillet and crack the eggs into the water. We usually do this with 4 eggs. Turn on the heat to medium high. Leave them alone. The water will start to simmer. Check at 13 minutes and they are probably done if you want them a bit runny. Lift out with a slotted spoon and pat the eggs dry with a paper towel. No need to add acid to the water. Sounds crazy, I know, but it really works.

I have a set of cookware from Costco that is very similar to the Mauviel that you show.....I absolutely LOVE this cookware. It is every bit as good as All Clad and a fraction of the price. I've had my set for several years now and every piece is a workhorse. You cannot go wrong with these.

I gotta chime in with the typical San Antonio breakfast....tacos!!! Love em. My favorite: refried beans, bacon and cheese, with plenty of hot, hot, hot green sauce. Other favorites: carne guisada, potato/egg and cheese, chorizo and beans, huevos mexicano, patas mexicano, I could go on and on. The salsas are important. I love a really hot green sauce, the roasted sauces are good, there's an orange sauce available at some places that is nice and hot and I can't get anyone to give me a recipe for that orange stuff. Good on flour tortillas and if you can get a really good restaurant made corn tortilla, they are heaven. Other options are chilaquiles. Around here that's a dish made with scrambled eggs with corn tortilla chips mixed in along with lots of hot peppers, tomatoes, onions and topped with cheese.

I picked one of these up today at Whole Foods.....one of those things I just HAD to buy.....now I'm kind of unsure what to do with it. I'm thinking just pasta with some butter and freshly grated parmesan reggiano. Is there any better way to highlight this?

Darienne, that's why it's a criminally underappreciated food! Seriously, it is wonderful roasted. I want some now!

Okra. I roast em whole at 450 and hit them with a squeeze of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar when done. Love those things. People gripe about them being slimy, when roasted whole they are not slimy at all. Rutabagas rock too.

I'd have to say that Angelo's on 57th is more than OK....we found it by accident a few weeks ago....just got to NYC that afternoon and were wandering around close to our hotel that night and went it. It was some of the best pizza we'd ever had, and their Insalata Siciliana was out of this world. We went to Lombard's and tried theirs, good, but not crazy outstanding. Ended up going back to Angelo's one more time before we headed home. Coal fired, thin and really very good. Never made it to Grimaldi's but decided that was okay since Grimaldi's had opened a location in San Antonio not long ago. If we need a good pizza fix we can go there.

This is my first post. I joined the past weekend. As I said in my application and as others have above, this is a creative outlet for me. I have a regular, corporate kind of job, but I am at heart a frustrated artist. I make jewelry, silver and copper chains, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, but at the end of that day my family still wants to eat and so do I. Cooking fills that niche for me. I have finally figured out that I just love the process of making things. So having everyone happy and moaning over the food is a bonus. I would say I'm an adventurous cook. No recipe scares me and I have no problem making something I've never made before for guests coming for dinner. I try to give people something that they may never have had before. I want to stretch their food boundaries. We've got an 18 year old son. We laugh because he's eaten things that we say we never had till we were 35. He's been lucky enough to eat at some of the finest restaurants in the world. He realizes that his boundaries have stretched and he understands how fortunate he is. I also like to make things that aren't so common.....I can jellies and jams and make pickles every year; I make my own cheese (mozzarella and ricotta and have some cheddar aging now) I just got a smoker so I could cold smoke home cured bacon; I want to cure my own hams; I want to make pastrami; I keep threatening to get some chickens for the backyard; I grow some vegetables and lots of herbs; if I could get some goats for the backyard, I'd get them too and make my own goat cheese. We're in South Texas and my husband will hunt and bring home venison. (Venison is one of the world's best meats) I want to use those feral hogs here to make that ham I am hankering for. It's all fun as far as I'm concerned. So, am I insane? I dunno, maybe.....but it's fun and we certainly eat well.