Fantastic Mr Fox

I saw the following NY Times article this morning about a media guy who is creating a niche web site for following the "news" of celebrity chefs. Are people really going to read stuff like this? Link to article

You'll want to use matzah cake meal/potato starch, not regular matzah meal. It is much finer and closer to flour. You can substitute 3/4th cup of matzah cake meal for 1 cup of regular flour (or combo of mc flour and potato starch). MC flour is more dense than flour, so you may need to adjust accordingly. Using this product will greatly improve the texture of your cakes.

Well, she's boiling sugar and milk and butter until it will "form a soft ball." Whereupon you beat it. And then she says, "Pour over wet cloth and roll." And since I watched my mother and grandmother and aunts do the EXACT SAME THING for decades, and since I've never heard of another recipe wherein you pour it onto a wet cloth and roll, it sounds like candy to me. But whatever... For the sake of argument, she also never stated that she was sure it was a complete recipe. She did say that it was copied by hand from a steno pad of notes. What if the recipe is missing some amount of flour and it is really a cake of some sort?

Yes, I about the model because I was going to look it up on their web site for you. I have the one that folds up vertical. The foam gaskets dried out and got compressed about 2 years ago. I ordered the replacements directly from Foodsaver.com It cost all of about $13.00 with tax and shipping to NYC. If they don't have your exact model they probably have the part for a similar one that fits yours. Also, you may try removing the gasket and soaking it soapy water over night to rehydrate it. Sometimes that works ("sometimes").

Does that unit have a model number (besides "Compact II")?

I think is simpler to just blanche the lemon peel.

Do you do anything to the lemons before using them in the aioli? Do you make them yourself or buy them?

I believe the problem is the salt from your preserved lemon. Too much salt will break an emulsion. Salt has an extreme affinity for water and extreme repulsion to oil. Some much so that you can even use it to de-grease pans and pots. People often suggest to wash bowls with lemon juice and salt be for whipping egg whites to make sure it is clean and free of oil/grease/fat. Adding too much salt to oil and water you are trying to get together...well, the result is obvious. Maybe try rinsing or soaking your preserved lemon a little more to make sure all of the salt is out.

I saw the reusable K-Cups in Bed Bath and Beyond the other day (they were in the "Beyond" section"). I got excited for a minute and considered buying a K-Cup machine for home. Then I realized I'm probably too lazy to keep refilling it with water since the one at work that I am used to is connected directly to the plumbing. Yeah, I know it is the same as filling a "regular" coffee maker...but that is just how my brain works. :-)

They are good in a pinch...like at work when that's what your employer pays for now. It's their corporate "short cut". :-) They aren't all that bad especially now that they have Dunkin Donuts coffee in K-cup form. The only problem I have with them is that they mostly seem to be formulated for the ubiquitous 6oz cup of coffee. I don't know anyone who drinks that little at once. At home, I don't see how they either practical or economical (or environmentally sound...I can at least compost my used coffee grounds and filters).

The ultimate in this vein is the K-Cup. I love them...but not on the weekend.

After making dinner tonight..."spag and balls"...I acknowledge the following: - I have no issues with using bottled pasta sauce - I put the raw meat balls directly in to the simmering sauce rather than cooking them first - I always make the whole box of pasta - I use the same spoon to stir the sauce as I do to stir the pasta Addition...I use powered "spices" to flavor the meat, onion powder, garlic powder, etc.

In regard to peeling things, I also often discard the stalk from brocolli because I can't be bothered.

I never peel celery or asparagus, nor do I peel bell peppers of any color.

Not a shill or anything, but Michael Ruhlman sells something for this exact purpose (food grade, hemmed, re-usablestraining cloths) on his OpenSky store. You have to have an OpenSky account to see his page but it is worth it..from the page (https://opensky.com/ruhlman/collection/all-strain-kitchen-cloths) The All-Strains are cotton, reuseable straining clothes for all straining needs. No reason to keep buying cheesecloth. When you want to strain something, stock, soup, these are always at the ready. You can also use them to strain the whey out of regular yogurt for thick, greek style yogurt. Or fill them with chopped or pureed tomatoes to make tomato water, a heavenly elixer that can be soup, sauce, or cooking medium. They can be used to enclose aromatics added then removed from stocks, sauces and braises (called a sachet d'epices), and yes, you can even use them for cheese. They're handsomely embroidered so that they're clearly identifiable as kitchen cloths and when folded, identifiable by size. The Details Each set contains three, reusable cotton All-Strain cloths: 10" x 10" 14" x 14" 18" x 20".

You can also try cutting a slice and cooking it on a very hot cast iron pan. It crisps up nicely..good on its own.

Eh, ya know...I've grown up my whole life eating food from Waldbaum's, Keyfood, Shoprite and the like. I've grown up perfectly healthy. My parents never really felt the need to shop at a Whole Foods type place if it existed then. I continue to shop at Shoprite and Keyfood. I use use coupons regularly and (feel like) I save a lot of money that way. I do not purchase a large amount of "processed" foods. Mostly meats, dairy, vegetables, etc. WF charges more for the same stuff and it doesn't make me feel any better spending more money for stuff I have to drive further to get to (in Westchester).

Ca depends completement si tu veut savoir si ils se foutent de ta geule. :-)

As I recall, creme caramel gets cooked uncovered. Pot de creme should be cooked covered. Try covering each ramekin with foil.

I recently moved into a house and inherited an old (about 10 years) Wolf commercial range with oven. The oven is "professional size" and has two movable racks. The are a little rusty and don't slide in and out fluidly, especially under the weight of whatever is cooking. In my past apartment, I managed to survive with "standard" oven that only had a single rack. My question is how many oven racks are ideal or really necessary? Also, how do you keep (or clean) the racks so they stay nice and "slidey"? I figure WD-40 or Slick50 in the oven is probably a bad idea.

I just moved into a house where the kitchen has a double under-sink slide out garbage (two cans one behind the other). We also brought our SimpleHuman can. I still prefer the Simple Human step can as it allows me to open the can when my hands are gunked up. Doesn't work so well with having to open the drawer for the other cans. They are good though for seperating recycling and keeping it out of sight. I, too, have the cat issue and they don't seem to bother with the SimpleHuman can.

Sweetened coconut would be perfect. Also maybe some strawberry. Maybe you could also try some bourbon or rum type sauce.

I double that suggestion. Lindacakes just beat me to it. http://www.alicesteacup.com/ I've been there without kids and like it fine. It is pretty much exactly what you are looking for. I believe the menu item called the "Madhatter" or some such has the typical high tea 3-tier platter with scones, finger sandwiches, and cookies/cakes.

Not a Spanish thing per se, but a European thing. That's a traditional way they do it in France as well. I learned it (or at least it was demoed) at French Culinary Institute (in NYC) and there is an episode of Fast Food My Way (Jacques Pepin) where he does it. I believe he calls it Eggs Lyonais. And yes, they are delicious.

It's worth mentioning that the point of lightly coating meat in flour before browning when braising is to help thicken the resulting sauce (made of the braising liquid). Some people put the flour on the meat, some people brown the meat with no flour on it and then sprinkle in the flour when there is more fat in the pan. The French term for this is "singer" and adding the flour to the meat while browning helps to cook out the "floury" taste of the flour. I don't believe that coating meat with flour before browning does anything for the meat or the brown-ness.