dcarch

Thank you guys. You are too much. I am embarrassed by you kind comments. Djyee100, the purple cabbage was cooked in corned beef broth then the outer leaves were peeled open. It was not difficult to do. The leaves kind of support the cabbage to sit just like that. Blether, thank you. The roast loin of pork looks comforting to the tummy, and exciting to the eyes. ScottyBoy, masterful plating and expert photographing of gastronomic extravagances. Dejah, your lemongrass Lamb Chops dish is no less pornographic than the others. :-) Genkinaonna, thank you. I like the way you “plated” the Passato di Ceci soup and the pizza Rustica will be on my to try list. dcarch

My first cooking lesson was in "molecular gastronomy". A few kids discovered that you can cook a hot dog very quickly by sticking two nails in the hot dog and wired it to an outlet. Don't try this at home. dcarch

Kim, I like the Chicken marinated in Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce, and the sliced cucumbers and radishes is so beautiful. Interesting St. Pat’s Day corned beef dish. Cass, Pad Thai and St. Louis Style pizza, How international! menuinprogress, Pork Chile Verde and Huevos Salseados both look superb. Dejah, Stir-fried with chicken and Thai mussels and clams, both my favorites. Ann_t, Home-made chips with home-made burger. Home-made bun :-) ? rarerollingobject, You have a flair with Asian style cooking. Jenni, fine-looking Stuffed courgettes! Kayb, you are cooking up a storm. The frank steak looks gorgeous. patrickamory, your seur rong hai does look celestial. Knaw, nice plating beautiful duck breast. ----------------------------------------------- Had to make different corned beef dishes for different taste preferences. Sour vide cooked and presure cooked corned beef. Home-corned beef (no nitrate) and store bought corned beef. Two differnce potatoes and two different cabbages. Dcarch

Thank you everyone. Cooked vegetables are difficult to plate. Salad vegetables are fresh, alive, vibrant, they always look good on a plate. I make two kinds of black garlic dressing: chunky black garlic - chopped black garlic in light olive oil, balsamic and pepper. Put evewrything in a coffee grinder for a few seconds so that the black garlic is still in chunks. Black garlic sauce - Same as above, add a little soy sauce, and put in coffee grinder blend until smooth. A very dramatic almost totally black dressing/sauce. dcarch

Indeed, salad is more than a side dish. dcarch Not so sweet watermelon is perfect for salad Black garlic dressing Palm hearts, napa hearts, arctichoke hearts, romaine hearts, with rose petals for Valentine's Day

Not your usual survival items that you may have: I have: 1. A three-ton small hydraulic jack for changing tires. May be useful to lift heavy wreckage to rescue a life. 2. A Four-ton car battery operated hoist that can be useful to pull away heavy objects. 3. Spent old car batteries may not have power to start your car, but if you keep them trickle charged, each can power up LED lights for many days. dcarch

Not trying to be disagreeable. Perhaps it has to do with the frame of reference? I distill pure water for many uses. Everytime I serve distilled water to friends, I always get the same reaction,"Something is wrong with your water. It has a strange taste." I have had many excellent pizzas in Vancourver. Perhaps you guys are so used to lousy pizzas elsewhere you are using them as standards to judge Vancourver pizza? dcarch

I am so fucking tired of the overuse of the worn-out word "awesome" in food writing. dcarch (Going to find a bar of soap to wash my mouth now. )

100 acres! Wow! for sure you can survive any disaster. Especially if you have a greenhouse. Please don't laugh. I have a small maple tree in my tiny suburban front yard (NYC). Two days ago, just out of curiousity I drilled a hole in the trunk and fashioned a spile. HaHaaa! I now have two quarts of sap in the bucket, and a few ants drown in it. I think I will be able to make one tea spoon of maple syrup. You can get large diameter (20'?) parabolic dishes almost for free to make powerful solar furnace. Telecommunications companies are upgrading to much smaller satilite dishes now. dcarch

A generator is great for some things. It's a creature comfort at best. But for a catastrophe -- like a tsunami, major earthquake, asteroid strike, nuclear blast -- what's it REALLY going to do? I'd rather have a satellite phone in my earthquake survival kit than a generator. I'd also want a means of water filtration -- although sand and a bucket will work in a pinch. I'd also want antibiotics, wound dressing supplies, survival food bars, etc. I still am puzzled why you feel that a generator will mean don't do anything else. You are correct that you cannot eat a generator. A huge population there are in need of electric power right now. Also, Sand makes a very poor filter for water, especially sea water. dcarch

I corned my own brisket. No nitrates. Low salt. It's in the water bath. Tomorrow will be 48 hours. Can't wait. :-) dcarch

Indeed, There was a lot of delicious clam juice from the clams. I cooked the noodles in them. dcarch

The first plate is Hosta blossoms The second plate is Daylily blossoms The third one I forgot. They grow wild on my lawn. dcarch

I have not read the entire thread carefully. I don't know if this has been discussed. With a burner like this, a powerful exhaust fan is not enough. You must have a very good grease filter as well. At such high temperature, oil can evaporate just like water and condense inside the duct work. That can create a mess and fire hazard. Even with a good filter, oil still condenses. The duct system should be serviceable without having to demolish your kitchen. There is no exhaust fan powerful enough to prevent oil splatter. You know all surfaces around the burner should be washable. You also know that atomized oil or oil vapor can explode or flame violently. dcarch

I love salads with edible flowers dcarch

Ann_t, The section of your pizza Margarita shows the perect sychronization of the crusty edge, the bottom and the toppings. rarerollingobject, Lovely pansy salad, and in the eyes of this beholder, the trout was beautiful. Using steak as garnish? I like it. Rico, lobster roll sliders like yours for breafast, lunch and dinner for me if I won the Lottery. ShutterSaute, Interesting concept of pork & beans. Jmal, chicken cacciatora and spinach soup, healthy and delicious. Kim, Not terribly gourmet? Are you kidding me? Chicken with creamy pesto sauce and egg noodles, sautéed artichoke hearts and bleu cheese and black pepper bread, Wow! C. sapidus, Your Chicken vindaloo looks appealing. I wonder what “vindaloo” means? Honkman, Chard Quiche with Pine Nuts, did you invent that recipe? Very nice. --------- ----- -------- - For dinner, sous vide razor clams on glass noodles. For textural fun, clam juice spherification. Dcarch

"I disagree with generators and inverters -- it's not going to help much for the basic necessities which are: 1) Breathable atmosphere 2) Water 3) Shelter 4) Food" " I am not sure the reasons for your disagreement. Generator and inverter are not to replace all the other meassures which have been mentioned. My 2,500 watt generator costed me $250 dollars, and inverter $50.00. The additional flexibilities during an emergency is immense. BTW, there is a very simple and inexpensive way to power up your house with a generator without major investment. dcarch

I have had good results with a thick cast iron frying pan. dcarch

Is Subway really bigger? Business volume-wise? Or just more stores. dcarch

Chinese stores. dcarch

Shelby, Juicy Lucy burgers, goose steaks wrapped in bacon, those are crazy good meals. rarerollingobject, very colorful paella. Doesn’t look mushy to me. Dejah, beautifully made rack of lamb, with a chorous of vegetables, Kim, I have said it before, I will say it again, you have a great cooking repertoire, never boring. David Ross, great plating of a wonderful recipe of short ribs. Ann_t, by the translucent look of those scallops, one can tell how perfectly they have been seared. Dakki, Scrumptious wok full of Spaghetti with clams covered with a melange of edam, gruyere, parmesan cheeses. C. sapidus, Mrs. C did a great job with the baked salmon with a ginger-soy-maple glaze. ------------------ I had Greek meatballs on baked Phyllo noodle, And Sous vide rosemary drum sticks. dcarch

Home Depot sells bottled oxygen for welding torches. The bottle fits regular propane torch. Anyone like to actually use full oxygen to do this? dcarch

Many temperature controllers use mechanical relays. Mechanical relays have two positions, i.e. normally on and normally off. You can use the off position to trigger a second temperature controller with a different cooking program. dcarch

Sushi? dcarch

There is breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in most cultures. In Hongkong, and China, there is one more meal known as 宵夜 (xiao ye). dcarch