scubadoo97

Before my grandmother passed away we made a family Sephardic/Syrian family cookbook in her honor. My wife and I have 4 cookbooks for each of our children so they can pass them on to their kids. Out side of that, I hope my love of cooking is transmitted to my children when I'm gone.

In our area we have Sweet Tomatoes, which I see is related to Souplantation. Salads, soups, breads, pasta, desserts....The typical all you can eat deal. Okay for a change but in these places we always leave feeling stuffed as we over eat in an attempt to try a lot of what's offered.

From Googling flat iron steaks I found that it is Top Blade Chuck steak or Shoulder Top Blade steak. Flat iron comes from the top shoulder of the chuck. The connective tissue that normally runs down the top shoulder is removed leaving two flat iron steaks. Yes this is a new steak that was discovered by the University of Nebraska and the University of Florida. I have not had a lot of them but they taste great.

I can second that Barracuda Grill is nice and one of the most upscale restaurants in the middle Keys. For a great fresh piece of fish or fish sandwich try Fish Tales Market and Eatery. A small fish market with incredibly fresh fish. Boats pulling up behind it all day. The Yellow Tail or Mangrove snapper is amazing. This market is at the north end of Marathon near the Vaca Cut pass, just south of Key Colony Beach on the Atlantic side near Captain Hooks Dive shop.

I had my first taste of 10 Cane this past weekend. I sampled it on the rocks. Reminded me of a Rum Agricole since my go to rum is Ron Zacapa 23. Not bad, but different. Not something I would purchase a bottle of.

I have been home roasting coffee for nearly 4 years now. Decaf green beans roast very well with little chaff and the flavor is very good. I see no reason one should have a problem using decaf instead of regular beans for any type of coffee preparation. What will influence the flavor more than anything is the quality of the beans, how the beans were roasted and how long ago they were roasted. Over roasted black "espresso" beans (there is no such thing as an espresso bean) will never make a good espresso. Although moka pot coffee is not espresso it does make a strong rich brew.

I never claim to be part of the "in crowd" and started enjoying mojitos while exploring all things Cuban afew years ago. The mojito craze is in my opinion is reaching the saturation point. There will always be a place for the mojito in my drinking line up. A refreshing drink on a hot summer day. After it becomes retro again it will be in again.

fingers are good. My wife grew up eating fried or BBQ chicken with a knife and fork. Her and her father still do. I find it absurd to try to eat these things this way. Quail or cornish hens are too small to eat well with a knife and fork. These are finger foods.

I usually buy fillets but when I have had salmon cut in steaks I remove the vertebrae and associated bones and then pull the thin side meat into the middle to form a nice circle of meat in a kind of trussed method. Presents well and cooks even that way.

it can go black on you but I've chopped a bowl of it and had left overs the next day will not problem. Fresh herbs are always better fresh. Why the need to do it ahead of time? The longest time in prep is cleaning the sand off it and drying it. Chopping only takes a minute at most.

For a BBQ they're fine but I just don't like stemless wine glasses for the above reason.

We're not sure if Bourdain takes any precautions in the way of antibiotics or antiparasitic meds before traveling. It is well known that the more careful we are in protecting ourselves from germs to weaker our immune systems can become.

I don't see any problem with what you're doing. When I cooked the big brisket last Sunday which came out great, I added similar sized chunks of oak on the grates in the back. I had the brisket over the front and middle burners that were turned off. Worked very well and got some smoke flavor and a pink rim around the meat. Not as much smoke as when I've used a smoker but not bad. Some ash obviously fell into the grill but should be no problem to clean out.

I've seen that one. Picking up women in the grocery store. Love the concept.

Hard wood charcoal would be different than the soaked wood I put in my smoker box. I put my smoker box on top of the flash bars on the left side. The burner that runs along the left side stays burning even when the front and middle burners are off so when doing indirect it a good place for the wood. The only thing I would worry about with using hardwood over the gas is the ash may clog the burners. It would be easy to clean though. Just brush out the ashes and brush the burners with a wire brush. Today I'm trying something new on my Weber. A big brisket. I had a full 13lb brisket. I ended up cutting it in half to brine it because I didn't have a vessel big enough. One side is just under 6lbs and the thick half is just under 8lbs. I have it currently cooking with indirect heat. The front and middle burners are off and maintaining around 260 degrees. I hope this turns out moist. While brining I injected the meat with some of the brine. I hope to get enough smoke going for some good flavor but this will take most of the day to cook.

I have to agree with you on the Barilla Plus. I picked up a box last week and made a pasta salad with dinner. This was way better than any low carb, whole wheat pasta I've tried in the past.

I don't soak black beans either. A couple hours simmering on the stove does the trick. I like to add some aromatics at the onset of cooking. Onions, bell peppers, olive oil and bay leaves. This is cooked down to nothing so a sofrito can be added near the end for added flavor and texture. I am also starting to add salt in the beginning of cooking and have not found it keeps the beans hard but does improve overall flavor.

Sorry for not proof reading well enough. That should have said, chipotle

Just received my pot today. The finish inside and out looks great. The brand I received was Kitchen Select. On the bottom is says Color Cast. The lid is heavy and fits tight with no room to slide. Even better than the LC I've seen. The only color available was green but that was perfect since it matches the kitchen. I'll have to give it a try this weekend. I only wish more sizes and shapes were available.

Guava paste is great. Easy to make a glaze with it. Works well on chk or beef. Take care if grilling since it can burn quickly. Here's one of my favorite things to do with guava paste. I take a can or two of chipotle in adobo and mix with guava paste using a stick blender. Makes a nice smokey sweet hot sauce.

My own authentic ethnic cuisine would be the food that my Grandmother made which was Syrian-Jewish/Southern. She immigrated from Aleppo Syria and lived in NY, ran a grocery store in Georga and then Tampa. Mushe, stuffed mulberry leaves, Kibbe, rice and things like that were regulars as well as collards, black eye peas and corn bread. No ham hocks in those collards.

a jello mold with little bits in it.

Julia, that is just what I've been looking for. I have been to discount stores all over my town looking for porcelain cast iron and found LC irregulars for $120. I have seen other "no name brands" that weren't so cheap either. I too can't bring myself to spend near $100 for one pot. I found the Innova 5 qt at SmartBargin via Amazon but save an additional 12% through Smartbargin directly as a new customer. $39 shipped.

I have to admit I have no problem with it. I clean my board with soap and water. I use a seperate board for cutting up fruit though.

I discovered the chuck eye steak a while back. Good flavor and tender as well. My kids will only eat tenderloin since they hate any fat or connective tissue in their steak. I substituted a chuck eye without letting on. They knew it was different. Not quite as tender but were impressed just the same. I have a hard time finding them. The butcher told me he only gets a few from each cut of chuck. I suspect there are a few devotes that snatch them up.