dcarch

"darch! You can't just show us this and not tell us how you managed to make it so PERFECT! " Thanks Anna N. After many years of trying, finally perfect cracklin skin on perfectly juicy tender meat! Here are the steps: 1. Poke a million holes on the skin. Season and rub well all meat surfaces. 2. Use a flat tray and make the skin lay very flat, and freeze pork belly. 3. While it is still frozen, boil the skin side in shallow boiling water to cook the skin only. 4. After the skin has been well cooked, and the meat is still frozen because of the fat layer, sous vide the pork belly the normal way. I did 24 hours. 5. Take the pork belly out from sous vide bag and dry with paper towel. 6. Wrap Heavy duty alum foil all around, exposing only the skin. 7. Lay foiled pork belly (food safety) on a rack in a dehydrator set at 150F (food safety!) face down so the skin will be flat and fat can be drained away. Dehydrate overnight. 8. In a pre-heated 400F oven, bake the pork belly face up with the alum foil on a cold pizza stone. 9. Don't walk away. In a few minutes, the skin will puff up beautifully. 10. Let the pork belly get to room temperature and the skin will be unbelievable on the most amazing juicy tender sous vided (24 hours +12 hours) pink meat. 11. Find a way to divide the skin up equally or you will end up with big fights. :-) dcarch

I made this because on anther thread it was discussed if the skin on pork belly should be removed. What?! dcarch Sous vided pork belly with crispy skin

There should be a rule here. Whoever discards pork belly skin is to be banned in disgrace. dcarch :-) Sous Vide Pork Belly With Cracklin Skin

Meat glue? dcarch

There are lots of stuff that Zero filter cannot remove, including "The current system is meant to be used with municipally treated, potable water as the current filter will not remove microbiological contaminants." dcarch

Filters work with a few entirely different filtering systems. 1. Mechanical - filtering out suspended particles, like coffee filter. 2. Chemical - neutralizing toxic dissolved chemicals. 3. Reverse osmosis and activated charcoal - good but expensive. As I understand it, it takes one chemical to react and to neutralize another chemical. They don't tell you what chemicals they use to neutralize other toxic chemicals and their effects on your health. I use a water distiller, which is not technically a filter. 100 % pure water. No expensive filters to replace. dcarch

Miraklegirl, I am sorry to be disagreeable with your first post on the Dinner Thread. I thing the photo is beautiful. dcarch

Lots of infomercial stuff in the Goodwill Shop near me. dcarch

A quick tip: If you photograph your food with very dark or black background, it will cost you a fortune in using up ink when you print your photos. dcarch

Check these out then: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4osTuN8lzw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q7u1JCHAA4&list=PL57FF73004558E559 dcarch Interesting though they are, they do nothing to back up your claim that fresh Chinese rice noodles are sold coated in oil. The first isn't even in China and the second mentions no oil at all.. Two kinds I buy here in NYC, regular and with dried shrimps, both are oily. Not a claim, just an observation. Here is another video, showing rice noodle making in China, specifically mentioning oil is used to coat the noodles to prevent sticking. There are many other videos you can find. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY3n1Cx8jcQ dcarch

Check these out then: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4osTuN8lzw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q7u1JCHAA4&list=PL57FF73004558E559 dcarch

Er? No they aren't Sure they are. If you boil them you will see the oil come to the surface. Otherwise they will all stick together. I am talking about the flat lasagna noodles that come in the sheet form. dcarch http://perfecthealthdiet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Lasagna-6.jpg

Thanks Anna. The pizza dough is made with Chinese scallion pan cake recipe, and the scallions are home-grown. The blossom is a scallion blossom. Yes, that is frico. dcarch

Ann_t – The grilled chicken looks delicious, I am equally impressed with the potato chips. David Ross – very nice plating. Huiray – that Shrimp wonton looks better than what I can get in a restaurant. Sapidus – That’s a nice combination of my favorite fish. Ptrickamory – You do have a way of making beans appetizing. Steve Irby – I would not mind having a big plate of your home made sauages. Kerry Beal – Not photogenic? Your Sopa de Lima can go on a magazine cover. Franci – different kitchen, still great meals. Nickrey – very delectable vegetarian dish. Anna N – Perfectly done striploin. ------------------------------------------------------------- Smoked chicken with sauteed cantalloupe Pizza with scallion dough ( Chinese scallion pancake dough) dcarch

"--------Excreting is not detoxifying----" Excretion has been the source of food (fertilizer) for all living organisms since the "Big Bang". Toxic? dcarch

"-------it'll make one explosively farty.-----" As I said, some may not be able to handle artichoke very well. That's is why it is also known as "Fartichoke". dcarch

This is not happening! I can't believe my eyes. Tell me this is not true! So very sorry! dcarch

Few animals have toxic skin. Cane toad is one of them. dcarch

No I am not. I use the wok for frying eggs for breakfast, make lunch and dinner, hence 9 to 5. A chef would be 8 to 11 p.m. :-) dcarch

I agree with you only if you are talking about sushi. Otherwise you would be saying 100% of Chinese ways of cooking fish are wrong, or fish stew or deep fried fish & chips or poached fish recipes or -----------. dcarch

Woking 9 to 5. :-) for me. Why are you using a wok for uncooked rice? What are you making? dcarch

The incredible geometry of a wok was "invented" by accident long time ago, I think. If you take a sheet of steel and keep hammering it, you will end up with a wok. Not much skill is required. That's what I saw how woks were made in villages when I was in China long time ago. You can't make a skillet, or a frying pan with just a hammer. Yes, you can do some of the things with a flat bottom wok, but there is no substitute for some of the functionality of a round bottom wok. I fail to understand all the talk about how careful you need to be to protect the seasoned surface of a wok. I wash, scrub, burn, boil, steam ----- with my wok, the seasoning just keeps on building up better and better. dcarch

Not to disagree with the concept of resting, it seems to me that fish meat is very different than all other meats. Beef, chicken, pork, etc., if you keep them in the refrigerator for a few days, they will still be the same after cooking. Fish, on the other hand, must be absolutely fresh. As a matter of fact, if you go to a Chinese restaurant and order a fish from the tank, there is a big difference on how much better it tastes than one that is previously frozen. To me fish tastes better very hot, not warm fish after resting. dcarch

Why only pumpkins? There are other possibilities. Speaking of wild rice, they make realistic looking maggots. dcarch

It will all depends on what are on sale the week before. dcarch