dcarch

Indians use red dye to make their Tandoori chickens red. Chinese use red dye to make their roasted pork red. dcarch

And who would want to eat Patagonian toothfish? dcarch

A knife is of not much use without a cutting board. :-) When I was in college, a can opener. :-) If you are Chinese, chopsticks. :-) There are cultures, bow and arrow. :-) dcarch

350 watts and 22,000rpm would be a fun tool in the kitchen. You can really do a lot with that kind of power and RPM. Do consider this: A stick blender typically uses what is known as a universal motor. A universal motor needs a lot of ventilation to dissipate heat build up. The physics law of energy conservation applies. 1 watt = 3.412 BTUs. Unlike most other mechanical devices, a stick blender cannot ventilate heat buildup because it needs to be water proof. So 300 watts, at full load (blending thick stuff) 300 x 3.412 = 1023 btus of heat. It can get pretty hot to hold on to. dcarch

Bamix is a relatively low powered and low speed blender, at 140 Watts and 8,000 rpm. Many blenders work at 200 watts to over 300 watts, and up to 20,000 rpm. That does not mean Bamix is not a good blender. It depends on your preference. dcarch

I understand that dim sum is always with tea for the Chinese. As a matter of fact they don't even say "let's do dim sum", they say "let's go have tea". dcarch

Something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Crown-375-377-Scraper-Burnisher-and-2-Piece-Crown-Cabinet-Scraper-Set-/322626712518?hash=item4b1e0cf3c6:g:rkMAAOSwnSxZf5kj It comes with a burnishing tool to sharpen it's edges. The scarper gives a "mirror" smooth surface. dcarch

Regardless of what kind of cutting board you use, it will get lots of grooves from cutting, some deep ones and some shallow ones. I recommend getting a set of cabinet maker's scraper for scraping the surface. The scraper will remove many shallow grooves, and keep the surface cleaner. dcarch

Please! Please don't tell the world about neck bones. Keep it a secret between you and me. The next thing you know neck bones will be $$$$$$$$$$$$$!!! dcarch

Now that USA can ship beef to China, ---------- If you think beef is expensive now! 1.379 billion mouths can eat in one month all the oxtails USA produces in one year. dcarch

Actualy, there are still other options. Look on ebay, dental adhesives. dcarch l

Rubber bands. dcarch

If the stuff is good tasting, inexpensive and healthy why should it be considered disgusting? That is because they called it "Meat"? They should call it "Neat" the other New protein. dcarch

Haven't done a cartoon for a while (Food Funnies). So here is one: dcarch

Well, there are people who became vegetarians because they don't want animals killed. This can be the answer. dcarch

Tip: Buy three of everything. You increase the chance of finding things 300%. dcarch

I do it all the time. Get neck bones. 1/4 the price. Same taste. If you want to spend a little more, short ribs. dcarch

There are many types of sponges, including natural sponges. Interesting to read about natural sponges from WiKi: "------------------------------- Antibiotic compounds Sponges have medicinal potential due to the presence in sponges themselves or their microbial symbionts of chemicals that may be used to control viruses, bacteria, tumors and fungi.[89][90] Other biologically active compounds Lacking any protective shell or means of escape, sponges have evolved to synthesize a variety of unusual compounds. One such class is the oxidized fatty acid derivatives called oxylipins. Members of this family have been found to have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. One example isolated from the Okinawan plakortis sponges, plakoridine A, has shown potential as a cytotoxin to murine lymphoma cells ----------------" dcarch

Smashing the garlic with the knife is to make it easier to peel the skin off, not to make garlic paste. Although there is a nice technique to make paste with a knife. As I said, it's a very insignificant tip. I have many other more complicated tips on youtube. Here is one: For those who use the left hand to hold the knife and the right hand to smash, it make it easier to use the right hand to pick out the skin. Also there is always some small pieces of garlic which will stick to that side of the knife face as you are smashing. dcarch

Speaking of garlic, a very insignificant tip: For right-handed chefs, when you hold the knife with you left hand to smash garlic, try to have the knife edge face towards you right hand and smash. Because when you use the knife to scoop up the smashed garlic, you will be using the knife facing the otherway. This way you only have one face of the knife getting garlicky. Reverse the above if your are a lefty. dcarch

The Eclipse! A quick side for the highly promoted eclipse. Salad, Black Krim on Dad's Sunset tomatoes from the garden. Yeah, I am not going to run out of tomatoes for this year. dcarch

1. I am not sure you can actually melt lardo. You can get it to go very soft (if it is thin enough), but not melt like butter. 2. A heat gun is very hot. I don't think for what you need, you want it to be torch hot. dcarch

But if you look at a platypus, it comes with a tail that looks like a spatula. dcarch

For melting chocolate, not butter? dcarch

Use a convection oven. Or an electric heat gun. The one that looks like a hair dryer. dcarch