dcarch

"----I only forage very obvious mushrooms, chanterelles, lobsters and matsutakes,--" And morels? dcarch

You may have only one chance to find out. dcarch

"---You don't need a dehydrator to dry mushrooms.---" Spokane air can be very humid. dcarch

Has anyone tasted distilled water? 100% pure distilled water tastes very funny. dcarch

There is also nitrogen, chloriine, etc in water. You can make heavy water. dcarch

I agree with slkinsey. That's the whole science there. It really boils down to convenience. For me, I microwave as much as water as I need each time. I don't reboil water in a kettle. Why? Sometime ago I discovered a cock roach in the water, after I drank the tea I made with the reboiled water. Actually, the tea was not bad at all, as I recall. dcarch

buy a dehydrator if you don't have one already. I would buy the entire inventory and dry them. dcarch

By some degree of crowding, you significantly reduce surface of the meat exposed to air. This will reduce radiant heat(sensible heat) loss, convective heat(sensible heat) loss and evaporative cooling (latent heat) of surface moisture. dcarch

A peltier cooler/heater can go from 45 F to 150 F depending on ambient temperature and the size of the box. With a digital temperature controller, it would seem to me that tempering chocolate should not be a problem dcarch

I am amazed how good (some) canned crab meat is. Almost like fresh crab meat in taste and texture. They recommend refrigerate them, even they are in unopenned cans. dcarch

A Thermoelectric Cooler/heater Peltier device can be bought for under $5.00 An aquarium temperature controller is about $20.00 Add a $5.00 fan You can have a proofing box that keeps accurate temperature from cold to hot, or a chicken incubator, or a yogurt maker or -------- To keep humidity, just put a wet towel inside the box. dcarch

I don't know what you would do if you want to proof your dough at a low temperature on a hot 95 F degree day. Some people feel that lower temperature proofing gives a better tasting bread. It is much better to buy a personal refrigerator/warmer that uses a solid state device (Very inexpensive on eBay), and run it thru a pid or an aquarium temperature controller. You can proof your dough from 45 F to 140 F. dcarch

Duct tape the chicken on a highway and let a few trucks run over it. Sorry. I would do what djyee100 suggested and add a table spoon of good wine. dcarch

In nature, left alone, all animals die in extremely painful and horrifying ways. After being chased relentlessly, then eaten alive a little bite at a time, in front of your friends and family. Animals raised, slaughtered and consumed by humans are the very lucky ones. dcarch http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/myhrvold_lions07/images/lions%20bringing%20down%20buffalo.jpg

I have different way of recycling. All kitchen scraps goes into a small container, air tight so there is no smell or insects. Meat, grease, small bones, veggies and fruits, everything. Larger bones get ground up with my garden shredder. shredder I use a hole digger which I converted from a rototiller to dig a deep hole to bury everything. digger Leaves in the fall and all garden plants, including diseased ones, just get ground up by my lawnmower and spread right on top of the soil without being composted. I don’t do compost plies. I don’t seem to have any problem the many years I have been growing not composting diseased plant matter. Just lucky I guess. dcarch

Have you checked voltage? 110 ac? 220 ac? dcarch

Fish? What kind of fish you would cook in a PC? dcarch

Just eat sushi and salads. No cooking. Just kidding. It is very important to consider energy/resources use in everything, not just cooking. I have a small hole drilled just above the trap under the sink, and silicone glued a vinyl tubing to direct water to a big bucket. I collect the sink water to water my garden. It takes about 10 minutes to do this. When I don't need water from the sink (after heavy rain falls) I just use a little clamp and bend the tube. It stops the collection of water. dcarch

No one carves. Everyone slices. dcarch

I don't think that is true that ultrasonic waves makes the cooking even. It is the opposite. Ultrasonic waves inside a container creates what is known as "standing wave" pattern, depending on the wave length, geometry of the container, and the viscosity of the liquid. Intensity of the wave energy is very uneven inside. It doesn't not talk about cavitation of ultrasonic energy and what that would do to the rice. Charcoal-coated bowl, 3.5mm thick , Why? Do they mean charcoal colored or real carbon is deposited on the cooking surface? dcarch

People who drive a $500,000 car normally do not have to go any place, and people who wear a $100,000 watch do not have to be at work on time, dcarch

Simple, I cook them in the microwave with only the carrot part covered. I am sorry, I don't understand. If you cover the carrot part only - won't the uncovered part cook quicker? What do you use to cover it? The carrots were covered with a plastic container without covering the greens. When they were microwaved, the heat was retained inside the container and steam cooked the carrots while the greens were relatively un-cooked. dcarch

Thank you everyone. I appreciate all your kind words. Simple, I cook them in the microwave with only the carrot part covered. There is a personal meaning for me for the meal, not a really religious one. The six carrots symbolize the Six Day War, in which a friend of my fought front line. Survived the war without a scratch, but was killed by a drunken driver in NYC on his birthday, which was on the sixth day of the sixth month of the year. dcarch

I saw on eBay those Teflon chef knives. I was curious. I ordered one, it was only $10.00 just to see if Teflon would do anything for non-stick. I should have known. Food sticks to a knife is not because of adhesion, it is because of atmospheric pressure. The Teflon coating didn't do any good. However, I was pleasantly surprised that a $10.00 knife have been able to keep a very sharp edge for a very long time. I hate all those demonstrations of paper cutting and tomato slicing. Any knife and any metal can do that when it is new. I can sharpen an aluminum knife to slice tomato just the same. dcarch

Kim – You are so magical with simple food. Beautiful ribs, colorful salad, and magnifiscent Mac & Cheese. Emily_R – Wow is right for that Gnocchi a la Romana. Scottyboy – Thanks for the step-by-step making of those wonderful gnocchis. The dried speck chips can be habit forming. robirdstx – The shrimps look gorgeous. Keith_W – Beautifully photographed beef ribs. ChrisTaylor – Paella is my favorite.Wish I had a Paella pan. Panaderia Canadiense – yummy beef version of Seco de Chivo. Dejah – That sure is a fine looking dish of lamb, Good after Thanksgiving turkey. ------------------------------- It doesn't matter what your background is, it is always interesting to prepare a meal based on a theme. Dishes I made for Rosh Hashanah a week ago. Not your typical gedempte fleisch. Sous vided brisket (flat cut), very slow and low medium rare, with tamarind sauce. Came out tender like tenderloin. Very different tenderness than traditional braised brisket in texture and mouth-feel. Heart tomato and pickled green tomato with sweet black garlic sauce/dressing. Honey glazed Beets, carrots and fried apple slices with Pomegranate sauce. Bread, typical Challah recipe, but with crashed sesame seeds and cranberries. Brisket was on potato leeks Latkes/pancake. dcarch -------------------------------------------------------------------