scubadoo97

Jill, you don't really need CI's input to braise short ribs. What you described is a basic braising technique. I will trim and dry my short ribs then season and lightly coat with Wondra. Brown ribs and remove from pot. Add aromatic vegetables and allow to brown slightly. Add braising liquid which could be anything from just plain water to wine, broth or stock. I recently used fresh carrot juice, water and wine. Add the ribs back to the pot, cover pot and braise in the oven @ 275-300 for ~ 3 hrs. If you want to use the vegetables in the dish add later in the cooking. I usually puree them with the braising liquid after it's been defatted which thickens the sauce and adds a lot of flavor. So many ways to braise meats with good results.

My most recent meal with short ribs involved braising the ribs and removing the meat from the bone once cooked. The sauce was reduced and both the sauce and the ribs were left overnight in the fridge to cool. The meat was cut into cubes and mixed with cubes of roasted sweet potatoes and the reduced defatted sauce.

You really don't have to remove the skin since the salt will penetrate given time. I do both dry curing and wet brining and have experimented with a lot of different techniques. I have scored the skin which does allow more the salt to get into the skin side a little better. Most of the time I don't bother.

I did a search on EG and couldn't find the Kalbi recipe that Bob/Octaveman posted quite awhile back. It was fantastic Edited to add, I found it. Give it a try. Excellent Kalbi. It involves a soak in 7up over night with kiwi and Asian pear prior to the basic Kalbi marinade. 1 1/2 cups lite soy sauce 1/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup sesame oil 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed 6 large green onions, chopped roughly

I had an allergic reaction after eating crab cakes made with pasteurized canned crab. I'm too chicken to make them again using fresh crab for fear that if it is really the crab and not some chemical/preservative that the allergy might spread to other shellfish which I've been able to eat without consequence. Boy do I miss crab

I was pretty good at looking in the fridge and putting something together on the spot in around 30 min after I got home from work to feed the family. As empty nesters I take more time to prepare meals now. Prepping for quick cooking is an important step. Slicing BSCB into paillard will allow them to cook in a couple of minutes although you can cook a full breast in under 10 min on the stove. I also made the most of left overs. I could transform leftovers into new dishes that didn't resemble the original dish very quickly. Not only putting food on the table quickly but help to get the most out of your food purchase without feeling like you are eating left overs. I now use a pressure cooker and find I can really do a lot in short order. If beans are soaked ahead you can cook them in around 10 min + cool down. Meat that would take a few hours to braise in the oven can be done in around 30 min stove top with the pressure cooker. Opens up a lot of possibilities.

I do the same as Chris does. I'm looking for the best yield when dicing.

I made pho for the first time. Used oxtails to make the broth and very thin sliced flank and brisket to finish before serving.

My Weber Silver gas grill came with bare cast iron. Nice pyramid shaped for good grill marks. It was a bugger to keep seasoned due to the high heat of grilling. I had porcelain cast iron on a lower end grill before getting the Weber and they did chip over time so I replaced the cast iron grates with the SS from Weber. Plus side these are very light weight. Down side these are very light weight. They will never hold heat like the heavier cast iron and or coated grates but they are easy to scrub down and a few applications of oil prior to use makes food release easily.

The problem with the hot air popper for me was batch size. We will go through a pound of coffee in 7-10 days. I really only want to roast once a week as the coffee is excellent through this time frame and even improves over the first several days.

I noted on the SW site that they said that the new models now have the 9 hole sprayers. As I recall the Bunn has an 8 cup carafe as well. Well they call it a 10 cup

Gwenn, I just did a search and found that Sweetmarias has a replacement spray head for the Technivorm with 9 holes for $15 http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/technivorm-9-hole-water-sprayhead.html

FWIW, I had to do a modification on my Clarity coffee maker which had one hole for the water to wet the grounds. I was able to pull the plastic cover with the one hole and drill several holes so now it comes out like a shower head.

We use a Bunn for many years. Some down sides, the brewing cycle is very fast. My FIL has a commercial model and we timed the brew time at just under 3 min. The other down side for some is that the tank needs to stay heated constantly so it uses a lot more electricity and if you leave town you do need to turn it off or the water in the tank could evaporate. The water tank builds up a lot of hard water deposits. The brewer comes with a spring like reamer for descaling. You can get a flow restrictor from Bunn for free that will decrease the flow out of the machine to slow the brew time. I have not used a Tecnivorm but have a Melita Clarity which was designed like a Technivorm. What what I hear the Technivorm brews at a more correct time and temperature. If you go to coffeegeek.com you will get a lot of information every kind of brewing method.

My wife has been dealing with a bad case of TMJ so I've been experimenting with broccoli dishes that are soft. Recently broccoli cheese soup, broccoli casserole and most recently broccoli quiche.

I too am on the fence between the BlendTec and the Vitamix. They sell the BlendTec with both jars. May not be a bad thing to have an extra jar for doing multiple tasks. The Popular Science video although not really representative of what you would normally do with a blender still made me think twice about the prosumer blenders. One thing I've heard more than once in reviews is that the BlendTec can over blend quickly. Orange smoothie becomes orange juice. Anyone have input on this?

I freeze mine too. I have seen pantry moths rooting around in some bags that were still in the store. Got to keep those critters at bay.

Because the Western Deba is not a single beveled knife it is better at dealing with bone with less chipping. I would still add a microbevel if I were chopping through a lot of fish bones or lobster shells.

As far as using a waterstone or the Edgepro stone, flatting your stone is quite important if you sharpening your knife or your grinder blade. You need to keep your stones flat.

One common way to sharpen a deba is to use a microbevel at the heel to reduce chipping and use the heel for cutting through bone

6ppc, that's great that your homeroasting and enjoying it. I really like my stir crazy/turbo oven roaster. It's cheap, quiet, can roast nearly a pound at a time and allows lots of hands on control of the roast. I've been a member of the coop since the beginning and also am a member of the green coffee buying club. I have to say I've been buying more from the buying club since every time I go to the coop there is no coffee available. With the coop you need to visit frequently cuz you never know when they will have beans and when they do it flies out the door very quickly.

I never refrigerate it. It seems very stable and I have yet to have it go rancid on me. Mixes and pours much better at room temp.

FrogPrincesse, your comments are typical of a new Edgepro owner. Take time and play with the different stones. You may just get a charge from seeing a mirror shine from your new bevels. To make changing stones easier I removed the plastic spacer between the stone holder and the ball handle and replaced it with a spring. It makes changing stones a little quicker. Have fun and watch your fingers. Sharp knives are indeed dangerous.

I am looking at the Blendtec HP3A with the new 3 qt jar which has the larger blades. I too have concerns about smaller quantities although I can't foresee doing anything as little as a 1/2 a cup in the blender. Anyone had experience with the new container? In some of the videos at the RawFoodWorld the 3 oz jar Blendtec seemed to work the best at quickly blending all the contents. Also for an additional $60 you can get both the 2 qt jar and the 3 qt jar. Would there be much need for two jars?

One needs to leave a little pulp around the seed since this is best enjoyed while gnawing over the sink.