Mjx

Well, I can understand that, since Lurpak just Danish supermarket butter!

If there are no issues with overhang, I can't imagine that this would be a problem. I regularly make stock on our glass ceramic stovetop, using a relatively heavy Henckels 8.5 L stockpot (about 2 gallons), filled to the brim with stock, usually with a steamer insert in place, too. I'd imagine that with a larger pot, the weight per square inch/cm would be similarly distributed to that of a smaller one: the larger stock pots I've seen have been shorter, relative to their diameter, than the smaller ones.

My first thought is Genkinaonna.

You could roll around to Fishs Eddy, or a thrift shop, and ask: it's the sort of thing they carry.

I've always understood simmering to be visually identifiable by the surface barely moving, or, at most, showing very small, occasional, lazy bubbles (I like McGee's use of the word 'coy' to describe it [On Food and Cooking 2004 p. 162]).

Amazon seems to carry it, too (it's the Danesco Stainless Steel Double Walled Butter Box).

Any idea of when they were made/acquired by you or whoever gave then to you? Small side dishes tend to fall in and out of fashion, so situating them in time would also given an idea of their intended use. But I really like the idea of their being bone dishes.

If they're small, some sort of finger bowls?

I know dinnerware isn't exclusive to Williams Sonoma, but is always struck me as fairly silly, somehow suggesting that other meals are eaten off a piece of paper towel, or something (wait... I do that...).

I have a stainless steel butter dish with a plastic lid, which is pretty much indestructible, even when one of my graceful moves causes it to plummet to the floor; the shape is essentially an inverted version of the Alessi ES03 Butter Dish, which is unfortunately a ridiculous price, but this Strauss stainless steel covered butter dish looks like it would meet your criteria, at a much better price point.

Based on two visits, I'd have to say that Frascati was very good, but ask to sit in the mezzanine/balcony thingie, if you like peace and quiet; if they have the chocolate bread pudding on the menu, I recommend it. Chiaroscuro, in the Financial District was excellent for lunch (I really enjoyed it, to the extent that I stopped noticing the large itching welts left by the bedbugs that had eaten me alive the night before at the hotel). Avoid anything the Haight, unless you enjoy feeling like slapping pretty much everyone you see (N.B. I may have been there during an especially annoying week).

It's pretty expensive, but since MC is basically about what is possible in the kitchen, now, you could argue that it is for everybody. MC is really just about paying attention and thinking about what happens in the kitchen, so cooking doesn't just 'happen', but is the outcome of conscious decisions; the cook acquires active control over the outcome. A little historical context makes MC more accessible: Many of the things that are done in MC are not new, but rethink very traditional ideas. Anyone can use the underlying thinking and approach to MC, and from a practical standpoint, there has to be at least one recipe in the set that is accessible to any given person.

Is this a hard and fast government regulation, or an airline mandate? Because I do know that SAS (for example) no longer permits anything that is 140 proof or over in carryon bags (passengers were getting too raucous), but you're still permitted to bring it along in your checked luggage. You may want to check a few different airlines, to see whether their policies vary on this point (I do realize SAS and other Northern European carriers aren't exactly the first ones you think of in conjunction with a trip between North America and, say, Jamaica, but it might be worth looking into, anyway).

'Perfect' is a tricky term, but I have to say that I get reliably fantastic results from CI/ATK's recipe, which gives you a whole roast bird. A love the idea of experimenting, but I have doubts as to whether a more complicated approach than 'brine and roast, flipping twice' gives better results.

I actually like the Genisoy chocolate fudge bars. I'm a bit happier with the ingredient list on the Larabar Jocalat chocolate coffee bar, however, which is much more pleasant than you expect; I have at least one of these per day (and have been know to subsist on them) when I'm in the US (I'm specific about the flavours, because they're pretty much the only ones I eat, so I've no accurate idea of what the others are like).

Hah. I use Herbamare... which contains MSG, and I know it, even though it isn't listed (doesn't have to be, when it's part of another ingredient).

It's hard to go wrong with a really good balsamic vinegar.

If you can get people to think just a bit like researchers – look it up, don't guess/wing it when you don't know, take notes of what you do, the importance/technique of accuracy in measurements – that's probably the most crucial thing you can teach, and it needs to be rammed home that thinking this way needs to become habit. I don't think successful MC is going to happen without this mindset (and it's relevant to other sorts of cooking, too). Explaining the bit of the historical background of MC may also be a good idea, since it situates in the broader context of cooking, and makes people aware of the fact that a number of the actual techniques involved are not new; the approach, the thinking behind them, are. For the hands-on sessions, I think something straightforward and sort of everyday (e.g. stock, flank steak), and something fun (e.g. spherification) would offset each other nicely.

Does this actually extract more juice than rolling? How does this work? I'd love to do a side-by-side comparison of the two techniques (but haven't got a microwave).

Unless you see your cheese being taken from the wheel, all centre cut means is that you have no guarantee of the quality, which is stamped on the rind. Only the wheels that are of the highest grade get to keep the Parmigiano Reggiano stamp that is repeated all around the edge (it goes on before the cheese is mature), unmodified. There is a second grade that is considered okay, but not premium: the stencilling gets a modification of indelible parallel horizontal lines and a branding. The third and lowest grade has the stencilling scraped away completely, since it isn't considered Parmigiano, and it cannot be sold as such; it is either used as animal fodder, or ground and blended with other cheeses, to be sold as unspecified 'grated cheese'. The medium grade is fine, but you should know it for what it is, and not pay top dollar for it. All else being equal, a piece cut from the centre does give you more edible product for your money (although the rind during cooking is great for adding depth to soups). (Spent some time at a great B&B outside Parma, which is also a small Parmigiano producer, and learnt this then.) Edited to add corrections from notes I took during a tour of the Parmigiano factory, since my recollection was not 100% on.

Actually, I kind of like that, especially the honey-based sort. I'm with those who mentioned peeps, however... what the hell is that bitter yellow stuff that coats them?!

I feel like I'm going to have to duck and run after I say this, but I find that most US versions of candy bars have become inedibly, one-dimensionally sweet, including several that I'm fairly certain are American originals (and I have a sweet tooth: I can eat honey or preserves straight from the jar). I can still enjoy Snickers and Mars Bars when I get them in the EU, but in the US... well, let's just say the last time I bought a couple in NYC, I threw both out after two bites from each (the second bite was to double-check that what I would have believed impossible was actually true); what happened?! These are definitely in the running for 'worst candy'. However, THE worst candy I ever had was something Twizzlers put out (briefly) some years back, and which were those rubbery twists, but instead of being fake liquorice or cherry/strawberry flavours, were pastel coloured 'fruit' flavours, and filled with some odd, bizarrely plasticky-tasting gluey substance. They made me miserable.

If you can get your hands on some top-notch strawberries, drizzling them with a little balsamic vinegar (use the good stuff!), and a little finely ground black pepper, is light and complex, simple and elegant, and easy and quick to make (there's no recipe, as such you just use the amount of balsamic and pepper that seem right to you); with a very little care, the ingredients are easily transported. A few chocolates about would be good for those who have a little extra capacity to fill

Lighting a match or a lighter. Not kidding: When I went off to uni., I'd somehow managed to get along for seventeen years without ever having to light match, and suddenly, I was living in a flat that had an old stove with burners that needed to be lit each time you turned them on. After hunger drove me to attempt this, I let it go for about a month (shaking hand + flinging the lit match from you as soon as it light does not make for a lit burner) before trying again. I think it was at least several months before I could firmly strike a match without my hands shaking. Only my desire to experiment with cooking meat (vegetarian family, so I'd never done that before, either) made me persist. Nothing else has seriously intimidated me, unless I've had to deliver results for someone else (which still makes me anxious).

What?! You're not going to invest in some activated charcoal? I've never heard of alcohol removing scent from things, although I tried it once or twice (in desperation, after trying out fragrances that turned out to be so awful I wanted to chew my off my lower arms).