Dakki

Cooking a holiday turkey with dad. Me: "Hey, we haven't had a big family dinner in ages, let's do a turkey! I bet they're on sale now." Him: "That's an excellent idea! Let's you and I cook this thing together." Me: "Okay, after watching a number of cooking show Thanksgiving specials and reading cookbooks, cooking blogs, internet guides and eGullet threads, I say we should do it this way." Him: "Nope, we're doing it the way I've always done it." Me: "Funny, I don't remember you cooking a turkey, ever?" Eventually, we compromised. I let him stuff the bird and he let me use thermometers. The whole thing was unnecessarily stressful. The turkey was like every bland, dry turkey you ever had at your "I wish I had the time to cook" friend's/family's dinners. Next time we do this I'll let him know after I get the non-industrial turkey in the brine. I'll cook and he can carve.

I've always used salt (plain or flavored) or a salty liquid such as soy sauce etc. in my marinades. Wouldn't the same principle as in brining apply? I'm under the impression brining makes things moister.

I have this and this and I'm cooking through them. At least I think its those, mine came from a used book store and in oversized print.

Fantastic, Luke! Post some action photos soon.

I agree with Jaymes. The only thing I could add is be that the family probably expects something recognizably Japanese. Also, avoid natto.

In the name of Mictlantecuhtli, Azrael, Enma and Anubis I command thee, ARISE FROM THE DEAD! Ahem. So, I have a bit of a problem. My regular photos come out okay (and honestly "okay" is all I'm after) but my food/cooking photos all come out looking like this I'm even more of a n00b at photography than I am at cooking. Can anyone show me a guide on how to take food photos? The goal is to post my stuff on the "What Did You Make For Dinner"-type threads without provoking derisive giggles. Camera is a Canon PowerShot A590IS saving at 1600x1200 jpg. Turning the flash on and off is as advanced as I get in manipulating the camera and I get a headache just thinking about Photoshop.

Does floating a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it count?

That's how the housekeeper we had when I was a kid taught me to make them. She always claimed they were ten times as good as regular, tortilla press tortillas but in retrospect I suspect she just gave me a task that would keep me quiet and in sight. You don't see these a lot because they're fairly labor-intensive to make compared to using a tortilla press.

Recipe is from the back of a bag of Paloma Blanca AP flour. Translation is all mine. NOTES: Not too enthusiastic on the whole rolling pin thing, in my house we always used a tortilla press. Also, I remember putting the dough balls between two pieces of wax paper to keep them from sticking to the press. You could try that. Also, I don't think all AP flour is the same? I remember something about "soft" and "hard" wheat from some TV cooking show (Alton Brown?). EDIT: Just in case it's not clear, I haven't made these since I was a kid. I like corn. So, don't shoot the messenger if they don't come out right, OK?

Flour, yes. I don't think you could get maseca-type cornmeal easily in Asia. The yellow American-style cornmeal just won't do. I'll post a recipe off the back of a flour bag when I get home. (I'm a corn tortilla guy).

Attention Whole Foods Shoppers tl;dr: World hunger could be curbed or eliminated through the adoption of modern high-yield farming methods in developing countries in combination with foreign aid."Eco-foodies" are undermining realistic measures to cure or control the world hunger problem by demanding food supplies be organic, local, slow. Don't Panic, Go Organic tl;dr: In the author's own words, "... the argument for industrial agriculture and biotechnology is built on a misleading depiction of what organic agriculture is, bolstered with shaky statistics, and constructed by ignoring the on-the-ground lessons of success stories across the globe."

Oh yeah. Beef jerky. I don't use good cuts. The stuff sold as "milanesa de pulpa negra" tastes perfectly fine and is already sliced to the right thickness.

Depends on the blue cheese you can get. I scored 6 kilos of some really cheap, nasty stuff in a closeout late last year so it has worked out for me.

Baked beans?

Can't believe I forgot to list this. Storebought just tastes like cornstarch + water + food coloring after you start making your own. Also, beans are insanely cheaper (and superior) bought dried instead of canned.

I don't do bread, but cakes? Haven't bought a box mix since I moved out of the old man's house. So simple, so cheap, so good! Pickled jalapenos. Buying is already cheap but making them in season is practically free (and the end product is so much better). Salad dressing. Unless you go for 200 year old balsamic or something storebought just can't beat homemade's price. And the taste! Croutons, breadcrumbs (not the panko kind, just regular old breadcrumbs). Raw ingredients are practically free. Even if you end up buying a baguette or two rather than using leftover bread the markup on those things is utterly ridiculous. And, again, the end product is infinitely superior. Pate. Chicken livers in bulk? Practically give 'em away. So much better than storebought (okay, maybe we shop at different stores) it's like a whole different food. (I think there's a hidden theme to the my list).

I'm not sure PETA is merely anti-cruelty. My impression is that they equate the value of animal and human well-being and reject the exploitation of animals for any purpose. That's definitely not a good cause IMHO. The strategy of proselytizing against luxury goods like furs and foie instead of (say) leather shoes and fast-food burgers seems to work, too. They've done a bit of good in the past by bringing public attention to cruel practices in agriculture and animal testing laboratories but their principles are morally repugnant to me. But hey, just because Hitler built the Autobahn doesn't mean highways are wrong. (Having invoked Godwin's Law, the circle is now complete! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)

Simply amazing. What kind of laser do you use?

I also prefer measures by weight, but most recipes handed down by family, shared by friends, found on the back of the box, on the Web or in cookbooks use measures by volume. Measuring by weight hasn't really caught on outside of the hardcore foodie community, and there's people right on this forum who insist a scale is an unnecessary expense or only necessary for baking. This is from the perspective of an enthusiastic amateur, not a chef.

Reverse elitism. There's so much BS surrounding cooking gear from marketing departments and people who use their kitchen as a status symbol-cum-social weapon ("Oh yeah? My frying pan was handmade in a Japanese monastery by an 80 year old, blind, certified Master who was declared a National Treasure. I don't know how you can claim to make proper scrambled eggs without one!") that a reaction is pretty much inevitable.

If you take them to "some jackass with power tools who does lawnmower blades for the neighborhood" then you didn't follow the rule of "take them to a pro". But I agree... learning to do it yourself is best. I use "pro" in the sense of a person who sharpens for money (opposed to an "amateur" like us, who do it for "love"), rather than in the sense of "expert." I agree you could hand the job over to an expert (amateur or professional) but I think if you know enough to spot the difference between experts and dilettantes in this matter you probably know enough to do it yourself... Dude, they have.

Octopus, squid and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with garlic and dried chiles, added squid ink and served over spaghetti. The seafood came from cans. Am I a terrible human being?

Over on this thread we discussed the OP being told that because they had a "unitasker" in the kichen, they were not a "real chef." Setting aside for the moment the egregious misuse of the word "chef" and the touching but misguided trust in a TV sleb's authority, I think Alton Brown's "no unitasker" rule is eminently sensible... for newbies and casual cooks. A dedicated amateur, and even moreso a pro, is going to get a lot of benefit from a few carefully-selected, highly specialized items. I've heard a lot of these kitchen rules, online, in person, on TV and in cookbooks, and it seems to me they're all like that: fine advice for the novice and generally true, but breaks down in particular situations. Understanding what those situations are is what separates beginners from the well-seasoned. Here's a few of the ones I've heard, with exceptions. I'd love to hear yours. -Follow the recipe exactly and you'll be fine. Recipes are developed by particular human beings in a particular place and time. Measuring techniques vary from person to person (eg, flour by volume), measures themselves vary from place to place (US gallon vs Imperial gallon), ingredients can even change in size (chickens and chicken parts are now much larger than they used to be) as well as qualitatively (pork is now much leaner than in the past). -The quality of the ingredients should be inversely proportional to the complexity of the recipe. In some cases, an ingredient adds so much to the dish that it would be a waste to use less than the best you can afford, others, the "budget" alternative is a different product altogether, although bearing the same name. (Powdered Parmesan cheese from a can). -All you really need is a good Chef's and paring knives. Until you decide to fillet your own fish and bone your own meat, etc. -Buy your pots and pans individually so you can choose the one that suits you best in each case. Retailers often offer sets of, say, six pieces for less than the price of the three or four really good pieces in the set. -Buy from a restaurant supplier. It's cheaper and higher quality. If you're familiar with the item you're shopping for, online shops can offer great discounts, even over what you'd at the restaurant supplier. -Don't try to sharpen your own knives. Take them to a pro. No. Nu-uh, no way. I don't care how much of a newb you are, it's pretty hard to permanently damage a knife sharpening by hand. Hand it to some jackass with power tools who does lawnmower blades for the neighborhood and permanent damage is virtually guaranteed. Anyone else?

Ahahahahaha. She looks so happy her white asparagus are all nice and even!

I think most of us can agree PETA are a bunch of fanatics with an insane cause and the slebs who support them are naive muppets at best. That said, we can't dismiss the foie gras thing on just those grounds. That would be an ad hominem argument. And before anyone assumes otherwise I'm still pro-foie on the grounds that you better have a damn good reason for forbidding something. I'm just willing to listen to people who can tell me what that reason is.