Norm Matthews

ElainaA, That sounds wonderful. I have copied it and plan to try it sometime. I am tempted to try it with hard cider and no bourbon though. (hate to have bourbon and not drink it)

I think by discussing all different brands and build of cookware, kinds of heat, etc, people are getting away from the original basic question of what to use for a good browning: Cast Iron or All Clad steel?

A friend asked me if I had a good beef stew recipe and I remembered one I used to make years ago. I don't know why I stopped but I made it today. It was kind of appropriate that we had it while watching the football game . It is called John Madden's Stew. Cassie is working. She can have some later.

My stainless steel skillet gets blazing hot.. too hot if I am not careful. I get good, quick browning with it and a little oil. I have cast iron but I use it more for retaining heat over a longer period of time than for getting hot enough for a quick sear.

Thomas Jefferson was a Francophile. While he enjoyed French cooking and wines he tried to introduce corn to the French without much success. There was American cooking and food before there was the Declaration of Independence. With the advent of cookbooks and cookbook authors came -in my opinion- apologists for the way people cooked and what they ate before the industrial age and fueled by the love affair some Americans had with English and French cultures. American food included fresh water fish and seafood, corn, hominy, corn bread, turkey, cranberries, wild rice, raccoon, venison, squirrel, rabbit, beans and nuts. There were cooking influences and traditions that were American Indian, African, English, Creole & Cajun to name a few. PS Oh yeah, BBQ style cooking was introduced here before the United States became a country. BBQ pork has evolved into pretty much an American food IMHO. I would argue against anyone who wants to classify American food as being not good.

Kim Shook I was drafted to do Thanksgiving next year and I also have a slow cooker big enough for a turkey. I usually use it to keep side dishes warm while waiting for the turkey to get done. I was wondering if I could cook it in the slow cooker and then brown it in the oven. Have you ever tried that? Otherwise, i just may do the turkey and have it cut up and ready to serve when everyone arrives.

I have never has anything sous vide. I don't want to pass judgement on your shoulder roast. It isn't the old way to do it but it may taste great. Seems like a lot of effort though.

You can do some fine BBQ on a Weber grill.

Grilling is done directly over high heat to cook food like steak, hamburgers, hot dogs. California's Santa Maria tri-tip is sometimes called BBQ but is actually grilling. One BBQ rib recipe from Bobby Flay involved steaming the ribs then grilling them with BBQ sauce. That is hardly BBQ... restaurant BBQ maybe.. Too often that is what you get at restaurants... Southern style BBQ is done for meats that need long slow cooking to break down the collagen. It is usually done over indirect heat at around 220º give or take a few degrees. Smoke is quite often involved. Sauce quite often isn't but may be used but usually at the end as a finishing sauce or table sauce. Traditionally it uses fruit wood but charcoal by itself or in combination with wood and newer innovations use pellets and even propane.

I suppose one could be generous and call grilling "City BBQ" but like 'apple' brandy, you need to qualify it with 'city' because the term BBQ by itself regardless of the source of heat, isn't grilling.

I have a hunch that the Guy Fieri character is a persona chosen by Food Network because they needed a flamboyant personality since they knew they were about to fire Emeril.

As this post generated a valuable discussion of its own, separate from that in which it began, it has been split from Worst cooking show ever, where it first appeared. I admire Bobby Flay and have also learned a lot from him but (this may be the Kansas City in me) and I may be a little nit picky here, but Bobby Flay doesn't BBQ. He grills.

Mmmmpomps, here is the recipe. I changed the original by substituting dried cherries for dried cranberries and orange pineapple juice for orange zest. Maple Glazed Yams1pkg. Melissa's Organic baby Yams (16 0z) Peeled, cut 1" pieces3/4 C maple syrup6 Tbsp butter, meltedSplash orange pineapple juice 6 Tbs. dried cherries (Ranier)1 1//2 Tbs parsley chopped Oven @ 350Cook yams in salted boiling water 3 minutes. Drain, transfer to 13x9 baking pan. blend syrup, butter, orange; pour over yams, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake about 30 minutes. Mix in cherries, continue cookeing 15 minutes and sprinkle parsley over top. Serve Rest of the meal was Thomas Keller mashed potatoes, Alton Brown green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, apple-pear-onion-cranberry chutney with cinnamon and cloves, turkey gravy, wilted lettuce, dinner rolls. Edit, dessert was pumpkin pie with a pecan praline topping and whipped cream.

I was a little confused about where to post this. It was our dinner today because Cassie worked on Thursday and has today off.

In the past I had been asking my sister if she needed a break. We could have it at my house. I was secretly glad when I got turned down and didn't even make an offer this year. After dinner though, I got volunteered to have it at my house next year. At least I will have a year to figure out where to find all the extra seating.

The front let is the Picnic. The shoulder blade which is the joint above the Picnic is from the shoulder blade and is the butt end. That looks like the Picnic to me but both butt and shoulder can be cooked the same and taste alike. The difference is that the Picnic is usually harder to carve because of the bones.

I went to a church Thanksgiving dinner at my nephews invitation last night. Thanksgiving day will be at my sister's house. My daughter in law (first time I have called her that) has to work on both of those days so I am making a turkey dinner for her on Sat. It will not be a big dinner but of course there will be roast turkey. I am also planning on gravy cornbread dressing- not stuffing thinking about making wilted lettuce instead of any other salad (any thoughts about that?) cranberry chutney with apples, pears, onion, cinnamon and cloves green bean casserole but NOT made with mushroom soup and canned onion rings ( special request or I wouldn't do it) Sweet potatoes Mashed potatoes dinner rolls pumpkin pie with a pecan praline topping.

Whenever I top a stew with biscuits and bake uncovered until browned and crispy on top, I call that a pot pie. Moist drop-biscuits steamed in a covered pan make dumplings. edit, then there are also something others call dumplings that resemble plump noodles.

Mmmmpomps, Jambalaya is similiar to paella in that it is a rice dish while gumbo is a soup served with rice cooked separately and étouffée is a main course of one type of shellfish served with a rich sauce and is often served over rice. edit, here is a link that explains it better than I did. http://www.essence.com/2014/04/10/essence-eats-gumbo-vs-jambalaya-vs-etouffee/

Like Red Lobster which makes cheese biscuits, you could make chicken flavored biscuits but they won't taste like dumplings. They will be biscuits unless you cook them the same way and consistency as dumplings. For your experiment though, perhaps you should look up the recipe for cream biscuits and not use buttermilk. Then you could start your experiment by dissolving some Better Than Bouillon chicken bouillon, for example, in the cream and make a batch to see how close they come to your goal. BTW this recipe does not use any fat other than that which is in the cream. If you think schmaltz would help you might try using some in place of some of the cream but I think it will make the biscuit heavy.

Biscuit dumplings will disintegrate if you put them in boiling liquid. They should be put in a covered pot with the liquid simmering. PS for drop dumplings I use an extra 1/4 C. milk to the basic biscuit dough.

The last two weeks have been pretty busy with house guests, visitors and a brides party plus a ton of left over food from the reception but tonight it was just us and one guest and I made country ribs (boneless) baked potatoes and a salad. Dressing was a simple balsamic vinegar, salad mustard, olive oil and a little cream.

Cassie made soup with left over wedding beef. Charlie didn't want soup and asked for tacos. She said tomorrow. Charlie had to admit the soup was good and had seconds. I am making the tacos tonight.

Having a tool that helps slice a potato without it sticking is a solution to the original question but it does not really address why it sticks in the first place which is not really the question asked in the first place. I wonder if the same knife would work on soft cheese or butter or does air pressure cause the same thing or does the properties of the substance contribute to the problem? Why don't carrots or apples present the same problem?

What is also is a factor is that the knife is sharpened at a considerable angle on the side that faces away from the potato. That helps the potato slice peel away from the knife by pushing it away as the knife passes through.