scubadoo97

Thanks everyone for the excellent suggestions. Michy's is on the list and I plan to make reservations via opentable.com Xixon so great I hope to make it there for lunch or dinner one night. I just looked at Barana's web site and was sorry to see they are closed for a family medical emergency. Hope they are okay Chispa is off the list because I think the club atmosphere on a Fri or Sat will offset the reason for going which is the food. I'm not into the bar scene Ortanique is an option if the seafood is fantastic.

I cook a lot of black beans and I have had some bags that just didn't cook through. Many years ago I stopped buying the store brands. Sometimes they looked dusty and I've come across many that had on off smell that carried over into the cooked beans. This is a unique smell that I've experienced from many store brand black/turtle beans. Now I look for clean, shiny, fresh looking beans. I like some of the Latin brands like Goya and a few others.

I don't order or make wings as a rule but when making a roasted, BBQ, grilled chicken... while the rest go for the breast I go straight for the wings and thighs. The flat of the wing is my favorite. The little meat there is succulent and the skin the best. Eaten together they are great.

I was in a small Italian market yesterday looking for some good crusty bread. Didn't find the bread but saw a can of Agostino Recca salted sardines. I thought of this tread and the fact that I do like, but eat infrequently, the little tins of sardines found in most grocery stores. Okay I thought these should be great. I wanted to make some crostinis for people coming over and thought the sardines would be something different as a topping. These are heavily salted. I rinsed one and bit into it. Very salty and the bones were bigger than the ones in the little cans. Okay I don't think I will serve these tonight. I just don't think the people coming over will appreciate them but want to know how to best prep and serve this type sardine for my personal use. Do they need to be soaked in water to remove some of the internal salt? Help! I did use some of the pinkish large crystal salt to flavor some white beans that I made for the crostinis. It gave a little sea taste to the beans.

My exposure to ricotta has been supermarket brands. Sorrento and Polly-O are the only two I see in our local stores. Sorrento is the pits. Very waxy. Polly-O is more creamy but could benefit from straining. I'd love to try fresh.

Echo the fact that you did good. It's a beautiful thing. Funny, my wife and kids looks at the gelatinous results and makes a face and say yuck. Ignorance is not bliss.

I have to go with an obvious and say salt. That's a spice, right? Pepper would fall right behind and then from there. Cumin I use a lot. I have been recently found of curry powders, lots of flavors going on there but then that's a blend.

I'm at the grocery store 2-3 times a week. Lists are for staples that are running low so I can remember to replenish. Most of the time I let the market dictate what I'm going to be making. If a certain meat or fish is looking good or is a great buy, that's what's going home with me. Same with produce. Menu options evolve as walk the aisles.

I think with a rice cooker you need to follow the manufacturer's recommendation. I have never used a rice cooker but have to agree with Bruce from my own experience. I have been using jasmine rice most often and I always use 1.25 to 1.5 water to rice. The more rice made the lower the ratio but in the ball park of 1.5 to 1. This has been my ratio with any long grain rice cooked on the stove and results in perfect individual grains that are not under cooked. Alton Brown did a show which gave similar ratios as well.

I'd say they are more into the milk business than coffee.

Thanks FG for reminding folks that beans do not need to be soaked and salt will not cause hard beans. pH is a factor though. acid causes beens to stay hard. I usually cook mine on the stove but with the oven there will be less stirring needed.

I suspect there are different varieties of oregano but freshness has a lot to do with the taste and smell. I am close to Tarpon Springs a town that has a large Greek community. In the Greek markets and at road side stands you can get oregano that is dried but still on the stem. This has so much more aroma and flavor. Even when I buy processed Greek oregano it taste so much better than the ones in the big box stores.

I usually leave the skin on cucumbers but If you peel with a knife it has to be really sharp. I've seen Japanese chefs peel the cucumbers and potatoes not top to bottom but around the circumference. It does take some very good knife skills and is not for everyone.

That is some serious equipment Teppy. That hood could suck white off rice.

In my collard greens I made for New Years day I used smoked turkey wings. You will not get that smoked pork taste like from ham hocks but it does impart a nice smokey taste.

Thanks for the replies. Markk you are right Michys is not that far to drive for a good meal. I also appreciate the Miami New Times link. Too bad to hear that Normans has not kept up. This is a too common occurrence.

I make red beans and rice kind of like Mayhaw Man does. You need the trinity of onions, peppers, celery and garlic. Since I usually do this at night with minimal time for dinner prep I use canned beans and since my wife or kids won't eat pork products smoked turkey sausage is used instead.

The wife and I will be in Coral Gables next month for a conference. Looking for a couple of dinner spots and maybe one lunch. I will be pretty tied up in class for 2 days. No Cuban restaurants since I make Cuban food often and my wife would rather not eat it when there are other choices. She likes seafood, Asian as well as continental fare. I don't go out to dinner often so I don't want mediocre. I don't mind expensive if it's good. I would love to try Michys but it a good drive from CG. Suggestions?

Again I would advise more than 600cfm if possible but a discussion with your HVAC person would be advisable to get a better handle on your venting duct system. How large are the ducts, how many elbows, things like that. From my experience I would also look at how the backdraft damper works. Mine is a butterfly design that passively opens and closes based on if there is air flow up or not. The fantech in the link above had a spring for positive closure. I'm sure there are other designs as well. I would have never asked about this damper before hand but now it seems a significant thing to look at in comparing one brand over another.

No photos but I made braised short ribs and risotto last night. The short ribs were cooked with diced onions, carrots and celery and the risotto was made with sauteed onions. Green peas and fresh parsley were added at the end along with some grated parmesan cheese.

What is the purpose for the alcohol in risotto besides flavor? Interesting that this post was started the day after I made risotto for the first time. I used Valencia rice a short grain rice that looked just like arborio but was 1/4 the price. I did use a white wine and vegetable stock and it came out better than any risotto I've had in restaurants.

I have a cheap knock off of a Bamix, the Thunderstick, and it is very different from my older Braun style IB. The Bamix design has interchangeable blades, multipurpose, chopping, whisking and beating. I can whip up skim milk into a thick whipped cream consistency. I like the long slender rod as opposed to the thicker design of other IBs. Cordless would be nice but experience with other cordless appliances reminds me that over time there are issues with the increased need to charge over time and the problems of having a near dead battery right when you need it. With the cord you are always at full power. My knock off Bamix is on it's last leg and I would buy a real Bamix to replace it. It's expensive but I think the design is superior.

Crust for sure but contrast of crust and soft center is good too.

Thanks Joe. Yes I have thought about it, but since the kitchen is just 1 yr old and I spend way too much on remodeling, it something I might do in the future. Thanks for the link. edited to add. I really like the fantech's backdraft damper. It has a spring for positive closure. I have already had to have service on my damper because grease caused it to stick with one side open and one closed that resulted in an ear shattering rattle. The repair guy told me to replace it with an electric model but this looks it would do the trick. He also told me that this problem was really not considered repair but maintenance and that it usually is not covered under the extended warranty.

I have a Viking 36" range top and put in a Viking wall hood. I went with a 42" wide 27" deep hood to give more capture area and they offered a 600 cfm, single motor or 1200 cfm double interior motor. Thinking it would be over kill and with the larger size hood I went with the 600 cfm. For the most part it works well. If I open a window and there is a breeze coming in it disrupts the air flow and some smoke will move outside of the hood area and into the kitchen. The 1200 would have been better but the duct work is very important. If it's too small it doesn't make much difference since you can only move so much air through a given space at one time. If I were to do it over again I would go with a more powerful motor and do an external remote motor to cut down on the noise. They didn't sound that loud in the store but when you are right next to it and when it's running for a long time it's an issue.