scubadoo97

Well the Magnum + is living up to the hype. Great grinder. I may go back and order a peppergun.

Home roaster checking in. Been roasting for going on 5 years now. Started with a Fresh Roast Plus roaster and various poppers. Gave heatgun roasting a try for a year and have been using the stir crazy/turbo oven combo similar to the one seen here for the last 2 years and find it a great inexpensive roaster that can do a 14 oz batch or green in around 13 min. http://homeroast.pbwiki.com/SCTO I joined the greencoffee coop http://www.greencoffee.coop/ early in it's development. It's a wonderful place to buy larger quantities of coffee. Due to the sometimes lack of available coffee at the coop an alternate site is http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php I have never run out of green since I usually have upwards of 50 lbs or more in my current rotation. Like anything else it can become addictive. I use to get nervous when my stash got below 80 lbs. We travel with fresh beans and grinder when at all possible. I took a couple of pounds with me to Maui. I swear my morning coffee in the room was worlds better than the Kona served in the hotel restaurant. On that trip my suitcase reeked of fresh coffee so much I thought I was going to be search for drugs. Figured they might think I was using the coffee to cover the smell of weed. No searches no weed, just great coffee.

The PepperStick looks like a slimmed down elongated version of the Keytop. Wouldn't you need two hand. One to hold the mill and one to turn the top key. Edited to add that from the website the Peppergun is the only one that looks to be a one handed mill I am looking forward to using the Magnum. It is out for delivery today.

same here. I though it was Dale for sure due to the foreshadowing of his closeness to Casey and the fact that he can't seem to get it right under pressure.

Works for me.

Grammar aside, I thought last nights episode was one of the best in terms of challenges. Doing wacky challenges does not make a top chef. Being able to do classic dishes is a better measure of a chef's ability.

We have a large oriental lacquered dinning room table that I think is walnut. Very beautiful wood. We only use the dinning room when we have guests for dinner and usually eat at the kitchen island counter or previously at the kitchen table. My wife insists on pads and a table cloth when we use the table. I've seen enough spills over the years to think this is a good idea.

Just saw the SC show last night. I just about fell off the couch when Tony did the Rachel Ray dig at the Hominy Grill. That was just so funny and true. 10% tips on $40/day. Just sad

Thanks Tim. Even though I've had a lot of physics and I'm a avid diver it didn't occur to me that without the difference in pressure there would be no boiling but it does now that I think about it.

Sometimes when cooking chicken in a pan on the stove I will cook uncovered to brown on one side, flip then cover and reduce the heat if I don't pop it into the oven. The covered pan acts like the oven to help cook the meat through with a more gentle heat.

Since I've just started using a pressure cooker let me add that under pressure even though the temperature is higher there is less agitation evident by how clean the top is when removed. No splatter. The only thing I see on the lid is condensed steam or water droplets. With stock you should try to avoid the agitation from boiling which will cloud the stock and make it difficult to clear. I have yet to try making stock in the pressure cooker but will attempt it soon. McGee suggest that stock be made uncovered so the top of the liquid is cooler and less likely to boil. While some sauces can be cooked with or without cover, I am motivated by the mess factor. Tomato sauce cooked uncovered will create a mess all over my cook top and back wall.

Thanks for the endorsement Toliver. I still may get around to ordering one.

When researching the Magnums I found a site, maybe Amazon that had a lot of reviews. One common complaint and I think it was on the little one was exactly what you have described but no slap/tap was mentioned. The sleeve seems to work its way open to allow peppercorns to spill out. I have yet to buy a new pepper grinder and was set to get the Magnum until I saw those reviews

So why does everything they do on FN these days have to be a challenge?

No the worst prize was Sara's when for winning her challenge they gave her a lame round of applause form the judges. Then to rub it it Cassey gets a laptop and then two first class tickets anywhere in the world. ← No doubt Sara is a good sport. Did you hear Sara ask "what did you win this time".

Dried chickpeas are in just about every major grocery store. Dried favas are harder to find. I find the dried chickpeas are usually next to the other dried beans or in the ethnic section with the Latin food products. Usually in both sections with the brand like Goya in the Latin section and the store brands in the bean section.

I do all of these. I also use the teaspoon to peel ginger. The skin scrapes off very easily with the spoon and you don't waste as much ginger.

Yup, this I've done and it's good.

Lentils only take around 20-30 min to cook on the stove. By letting the pressure release naturally you would be cooking under pressure for 15-20 min. Bottom line is they are over cooked. Try to stop the cooking sooner by manually releasing the steam or using the cold water method to eliminate the pressure sooner.

Cheese works well with the low moisture of the chicken breast. Fontina melts very well or gruyere, taste great with chicken. Make a stuffing using some nice vegetables or nuts like, artichokes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hazelnuts. Not suggesting using all of these at once.

My second entry to this thread. I had taken 4 lbs of chicken bones, backs, ribs and ends and was in the process of making chicken stock. I had been out helping my daughter find stuff for college and came into the kitchen pulled the colander out and proceeded to pour my stock down the drain. Caught myself after half of it had been dumped. For the little bit I had left I just ended up reducing it to down to a demi glaze. Not enough to really do a lot with. Funny thing is that I had seen someone post this exact situation on this thread a while back.

Thanks for all the nice comments. Exactly. Every one's baharat is unique. It's one thing that makes your dish taste different from the next persons. My family has Middle Eastern roots. Two grandparents from Aleppo Syria, one from Kilis Turkey, very close to Aleppo and one from Egypt. My grandmother was an amazing women. A couple of years ago we had a reporter come and interview us at one of our holiday cooking sessions. My grandmother had been interviewed for numerous articles in the past. We have a very big large family and we all are close and have fun together. Here is the most recent article about our family's Passover traditions. Notice the same foods. The baharat recipe is included. https://www.marketstreetmortgage.com/Commun...n/RalphBobo.asp

The leaves are stuffed with raw rice and ground meat with Middle Eastern spice mix. Mulberry leaves are very good and we like them better than grape leaves but when they are not available grape leaves will do. The same stuffing is used for the squash and veal breast.

stuffed mulberry leaves stuffed squash The elders, My mom and aunt, hollowing out the squash meat balls, a type of keftes, that will be cooked in a spicy tomato sauce stuffed veal breast These are but a few of the dishes that will be on the table for Rosh Hashanah. It as become an event for the kids or cousins to get together and do the cooking that my grandmother would do alone for this large brood.

I guess it's all about traditions. You make things that are familiar and that you associate with the holiday. For a lot of us this is not a time to experiment with new things but to hold on to old customs even though it's the new year. My large extended family gets together to make the traditional dishes we have eaten on the holidays since before I was born. The girls rolling leaves