Mjx

Recently had a dish at Malling & Schmidt that had been prepared using flax hay; don't know how widely available that it, but it was very good.

I think simple is best: I really like lemon and sugar, with a tiny pinch of salt, or just balsamic vinegar. The fruit shines through if it's good, and is sort of enhanced, if it is less than stellar.

Congratulations... and yeah, the BMI isn't incredibly reliable: When my brother was still active in body-building competitions, he had some ridiculously low level of body fat, but his BMI indicated that he was way obese. All the BMI is really good for is determining is whether or not you weigh close to the average for your height and gender (the reason for any significant deviation is going to be pretty easy to tell). The waist-hip ratio does seem to be somewhat helpful: I've found that at or below that ratio, I feel fine, but above it, something feels 'not quite right' (and not just because my waistband is cutting me in half, either).

Ya mean toothpicks? Sort of, but not exactly: I think of 'toothpicks' as having a round cross-section and a very tapered point that snaps off easily. The ones I use are flat, more robust (a single one will usually last me an entire kitchen cleaning), and come in flats that you snap the individual pieces from. You could call them toothpicks, but they're much more useful than the ones I've seen in restaurants.

I keep an extra box of flat, wooden interdental cleaners in the kitchen for testing cake done-ness, scraping crud out of small narrow crevices in equipment, and sketching out patterns or text on cake icing. Also, not exactly from the cosmetics department/pharmacy, but I inevitably use scalpels when I'm prepping meat in a way that is fairly close to a standard dissection (e.g. leg of lamb).

This was my first thought when I read the OP, but if this encourages people to cook more frequently, maybe it's not such bad advice. I haven't found it to be a good solution for me, but maybe it helps people who aren't as used to cooking (probably Ray's target audience) to plan meals and budget time to cook during the week. I feel the same way about buying pre-chopped veg (esp at a premium price). I should have mentioned that in our household, we're cooking for just two, which means that washing produce for any given meal takes so little time, it really makes no sense to get a lot of produce and pre-wash it. I can see that this might be a great solution for someone who's cooking for several people. I prefer boiling water; I scrub down the sink using dish soap, and sluice it with a lot of boiling water, paying particular attention to the drain. Sometimes I used some stuff called Rodalon.

This looks just great... I think I'd take filled pasta in broth over pretty much any other dish on the planet, almost anytime. I don't think it's ugly, either, although the colour of the meat certainly is eye-catching.

I've found that washing produce in advance and storing it in the fridge seems to hasten its deterioration, so I don't do it; I wash things as I need them, usually individually, or in a large bowl if it's greens or something like peas. The sink just seems awkward and clumsy. But I do clean the kitchen sink with a disinfectant and boiling water after splashing anything about it that is unlikely to be taken care of by ordinary hot tap water and dish soap, which does leave the sink clean enough to wash vegetables in (and takes very little time or effort). I do this because I believe that the presence or absence of microorganism, rather than providence and optimism, determine whether or not you come down with revolting infectious diseases

Root vegetables were the first things to spring to mind, but Hokkaido squash, roasted mushrooms, and kale with beans make great winter vegetable dishes.

Well, I'm not going to beat this to death, but just eyeballing both the dish (length and breadth), and the block of butter they show sitting on it (on the Amazon page), that thing has got to be at least two inches tall; the manufacturer's (Norpro) website doesn't say, either, but I'm sure an email or phone call would yield some information.

Fair point. How about $9.19?

I guess I see that as a backup plan, if no suitable and inexpensive container can be found. I'd rather not have to add the subdividing of the butter to my list of grocery-unpacking tasks, unless I have to. I'm confused; surely a brick of butter that appears to be 4×3×2 inches or thereabouts (longest dimension is 4", anyway), should fit into a 5.5×4×≅3 inch dish..?

That's an excellent idea; I've been locked into looking for wee versions of conventional whisks, so something like the ball whisk wouldn't have even made a blip on my radar, I would have completely overlooked them (but not anymore!). Thanks!

I'm partial to a lot of black pepper, rosemary, and possibly some roasted garlic. Deus Mortus's, anise suggestion sounds good really good (I'm going to keep it in mind for the next batch of burgers I make), but only if you like licorice-y notes.

Are these too large? Thanks Andie, I think the sizes are good, but these look a lot like the last pair of small whisks that bit the dust on me. I should add, I don't have much trouble finding small whisks, just small whisks that are nice and solid. It's not that I'm particularly rough on things, but I really like things to last.

It depends on the person getting the gift certificate: If they're the sorts of people who tend to save the cards and letters they get, they'd probably prefer traditional gift certificates; people who tend to toss these items would probably love you to death for not giving them something else they'll eventually toss out.

Hm... well, to be honest, I'd prefer something a bit more austere looking, although for a small (ideally, 0.75"/2cm or less), sturdy whisk, I'd be willing to put up with a lot (even, say, a pink Hello Kitty one). I'd be thrilled by any suggestions, since I've scoured the internet, NYC, Florence, Parma, Copenhagen, and Århus, and come up with nothing.

How wide is the whisk, across the head, and where did you get it? I've been looking for a tiny whisk, but want one that won't fall to bits in no time; that one looks like the wires are fairly well-anchored.

Might be a good idea to add some fat... what fat percentage does it contain?

Cut it into the sorts of pieces you'd like to find on your bagels! Even if there are general rules, and you somehow transgress them, I doubt anyone will break down your door, and haul you off to a forced labour camp with lousy food . Mini filets sound about right, though, it's how I've pretty much always seen it, packaged in shops.

Nope - you want the milk fat to make the tempered chocolate more 'flexible' and less likely to crack. So probably not your best solution in this case. Could a tiny amount of butter alone be used, then?

That should fit into a lot of the stainless steel butter containers (like the Danesco model discussed upthread) with no problem.

Trust me, the copywriter probably blushes to think of this, unless she or he has a fantastic sense of humour. Not that I'd know anything about this sort of thing (coughcoughcough). I prefer toast to be sliced thick (holds the heat better), crisp and dark golden brown on the outside, hot but not rusked on the inside. If it isn't hot enough to at least partly melt the butter, I find it pretty disappointing. Not that I'll necessarily pass on cold, charred, scrape-it-to-whatever-shade-you-like toast, however.

I like a goodish splash in hot chocolate or coffee.

I have to admit that when a floor is likely to be slippery in spots, I prefer to wear something that gives better traction then a pair of heels, and when working with hot substances, I prefer to have my cleavage (and arms, and legs, for that matter) covered, but hey, TV chefs can slice and saute in the nude and in stilletto heels, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not the one who has to worry about a twisted ankle or awkwardly located burns! This sort of thing does sort of suggest that the producers have doubts about the show's ability to hold the intended audience with culinary content alone, however.