scubadoo97

I keep a small Styrofoam cooler in my trunk for carting home fish or other items that I want to keep cold

Left overs are great when re-invented into a new dish. We are empty nesters now but I have been very good at making new dishes from the previous nights meal for years. ← Can you elaborate with some examples? I'm always open to new ideas. ← Like using left over roast chicken to make chicken enchiladas, tacos, tortilla soup.....you get the idea. Cold grilled shrimp from the night before can go into a Vietnamese summer roll.

Left overs are great when re-invented into a new dish. We are empty nesters now but I have been very good at making new dishes from the previous nights meal for years.

We do this seder as well. Our usual offerings are Leek, swiss chard or spinich, dates, gourd, black eyed peas, pomegrantate and sheep head or fish. This little seder is my wife's favorite part

I would have to assume that the reason these fairly educated people are advocating lowering the drinking age has to do with their liability exposure associated with under age drinking.

I see on the Unicorm Magnum web site that the regular size comes with a "pepper dust tray". But the Magnum Plus doesn't come with one. That's unfortunate as it's the Plus version that's really worth getting. ← Toliver, the little plastic snap on lids found on the cylindrical packaging of like say Crystal Light or Instant ice tea work perfect for a catch tray. Recycling is good. http://www.walgreens.com/popups/s_image.js...skuid=sku366570

The kiritsuki is like a santoku, flat blade with no belly but with a nice angled tip. One thing I don't like about the santoku is the lack of a pointed tip. Many kiritsukis are single edged. Mine are slightly asymetric but not a single edge.

Paul, I agree that the 270mm gyuto is not all that much bigger than the 240mm and with a pinch grip I find it is a very nice size for a lot of kitchen work. I have also enjoyed my recent purchase of a 210mm and 165mm carbon kiritsuki knife. I thought the smaller size was going to be a problem but they all seem to have their place in the kitchen. Bottom line is that they are all fun to use as long as they are sharp. hehe I forgot to mention that a 300mm gyuto is not the beast I thougth it was. I purchased a 300mm Hiromoto HC gyuto a while back and was very hesitant. Now it is kind of large but has it's place in the kitchen as well.

Keeping with the Mediterranean theme on the chicken I've done many BSCB on the gas grill that have been marinaded in yogurt, EVOO, shawarma spices, S&P that came out great and not dried out. I haven't done them as kabobs but I don't see where that would be a problem unless you over cook them. I marinaded over night in the yogurt mixture. I find that if I cook BSCB on the grill or on a cast iron skillet the key is to not over cook. Just till done with the slightest hint of pink. I like to slice the breast and find the meat quite juicy and flavorful.

Trying to make some of my son's favorite things before he leaves for school. Last night was Planet Hollywood Captain Crunch chicken. Tonight was braised lamb shanks with white rice, tomatoes and mozzarella, focaccia with herbs and garlic.

Would have to say that the last two shows, Tokyo and Spain were a couple of the best.

Can you tell us more about how you do that? Sounds really interesting! ← Start by cutting the top and bottom off the tomato. The rest is pretty easy

Tonight we had chicken sweet potato hash with poached egg and poblano hollandaise sauce. A dish I recently sampled at Mesa Grill in LV. Didn't have a camera available but it was worth a picture.

After many years of throwing away the seeds from the tomato, I have learned to harvest the seed pod intact as tomato caviar. A trick from Jose Andres. I don't know how many people you will be having but they are definitely a sensual treat. Topped with a little extra good EVOO, salt and maybe some lemon basil. Yum!

Since this thread is back up I thought I would post my results. I just checked the upright freezer. I have some short ribs that were sealed over 10 months ago. They are still holding a seal. Chicken breasts and thighs are still doing well at over 2 months. No hint of freezer burn. Items look great. I have had failures to be sure. I find the ones I use in the fridge for cheese seem to fail the most and I suspect the fact that they are opened and resealed may have something to do with the increased failure rate. Over all I'm not too unhappy as this is an inexpensive item and takes little draw space. They really need to work on their quality control

I used to put my berkies in the dishwasher (even the one at work), wash them by hand, hose them off, beg them to please stop stinking so bad but nope, they stunk. Bad. ← one of the real perks of Crocs. They don't stink.

Have to agree. One of my favorite episodes. From the food to the knife making, it was all A+ in my book. I liked how he asked everyone if they had reached perfection.

Bob, in my experience the crazing occurred and did not impair performance until after about a year later when I got one small place where the enamel popped off to expose the cast iron underneath. At this point performance would be impaired as it would rust and the moisture underneath would certainly lead to further delamination of the enamel. I full believe that it was the drastic change in temperature that lead to the crazing of the enamel. I have read post by LC owners who have experienced crazing as well so it's not just a problem associated with knockoff cast iron enamel cook wear.

Frenchy's on Clw beach does a good grouper sandwich. They are famous for it and have their own boats so the fish is fresh.

My Inova brand lasted all of 3 yrs before the enamel crazed on the bottom. I'm sure my fault for not treating it correctly. I did a few NKBs in it which really took a toll on it. But for $30 or $10/yr it was a bargain. I now have a Lodge and it is working well. I think the crazing on the Inova occurred due to deglazing when it was so hot when browning meat prior to braising

I've only made octopus once and researched McGee's opinion on preperation. He suggested a quick blanch in water followed by a slow braise in a dry pan. The octopus will release a lot of liquid so it will braise in it's own juice. After the octopus was tender I quickly grilled it for the grill flavor. Worked well.

I've used scallops and or shrimp as a binder. Just puree into a smooth paste and it will bind the fish very well. Refrigerating makes a big difference as well. Once you chill down the cakes they really hold together well.

Sounds good. I assume I'd be eating a lot of raw fish while on that island.

Just got my 1/2 ounce of saffron today from saffron.com. Measured exactly .5 ounces. Looks and smells wonderful. They also sent a complementary 2 oz bottle of their vanilla extract and a bar of vanilla soap.

sazji, the leaves are great for stuffing to make yebrat/dolma/yaprak