TheNoodleIncident

Like many others I'm sure, I like to roast brussels sprouts on high heat with just some olive oil, salt and pepper. I cook them until they begin to brown, and they are delicious and easy. I've found that my favorite part of this dish is the individuals leaves that fall off the sprouts, since they get dark and crispy - sweet, nutty, so good. So now I want to make an entire dish of just the leaves - anyone ever done this? Not sure if I would make a pile of them as a side dish, or just use a few as garnish. I might have to make smaller batches so I can get a single layer when cooking. I'll bet someone will suggest frying them, but I tend to not like that technique.

If I had a smoker, I would be all over that. One of the guys had made some jerky, which was really good. These are fully cleaned breasts, no skin.

Also, my cousin made a stew/soup with it the other day. The liquid itself was fantastic, though I found the texture of the meat to be a bit off. Guess that's to be expected with such lean meat.

I have a whole bunch of goose breasts. I've got a few ideas - tonight might be grilling them med-rare and then slicing over caesar salad, and yesterday we cooked them the same way and put them on baguette slices with horseradish sauce and micro greens as an appetizer. Anyone done anything interesting with goose meat that I need to try?

Not stupid....we just don't have the room. We prefer the 13 cubic foot version for the garage, but will settle for the 9 cubic foot if we keep it inside. I was tempted by the upright self-defrosting version, but actually have several family members who have specifically recommended against those models. Appreciate the recommendation, but without getting into the details, I'm fully convinced that a chest freezer is for us.

I'm on Long Island, so below freezing is not uncommon in the winter. Still seems like there is a good chance that a chest freezer (not fridge) would be fine. At this point I think I need to play it safe - killing a $600 freezer, plus close to that much in food, and even worse breast milk (TMI?) would be a disaster. Apparently they do sell a $30 kit that will allow certain refrigerator units to work in cold temps, but unfortunately doesn't seem to be available for chest freezers.

Yeah, my gut says to just buy it and I'll be fine. More realistically, we just cleared out a spot for it in the kitchen. Won't be able to get a model quite as big and I don't love having it in the kitchen, but it will be cheaper and more convenient to use at least. Still open to ideas if anyone has one....

As an update, I called a few manufacturers (GE, Frigidaire, etc) and all said that they are not meant to be operated in cold temperatures (the threshold ranged from 31* - 60*). I find this very odd because the overwhelming "layperson" opinion from my internet searches has been that the freezer will be perfectly fine, but all the salesmen and manufactures say don't do it. I'm guessing that they are just being cautious so as to minimize warranty claims, but I'm still hesitant to take a chance with a $600 purchase.

Was looking to buy a large chest freezer to keep in our garage - need to start making larger volumes of food to freeze for later use, also want to take advantage of sales on meat, etc. We were told that chest freezers (or regular fridges, for that matter) cannot be kept in cold weather because it will not function properly (freon freezes). Anyone have an experience with this that can comment on whether or not this is true, how to work around it, or certain types of freezes that can be kept in an un-insulated garage.

I can't answer specifically, but since that is certainly a possibility, I would call ahead and make your dietary needs known. If this is more than just a preference, and it seems that it is, I'm sure they will do their best to accommodate you. Hopefully someone else can add a little more detail about how common is it to see banana in their cuisine. Just out of curiosity, how did you develop this aversion to bananas? I know people who don't prefer them (though more commonly artificial banana flavor), but never someone who becomes ill.

Those DO sounds good - and I can't remember ever seeing bacon flavored chips in the US. How can the country that created the Bacon Explosion not have bacon flavored chips?

Yeah, I'm in NY, so can probably find almost anything I'd want, but I'm too lazy at the moment and he is offering. Any other gems?

My co-worker is headed back to his home in the UK for the holidays and asked what he can bring back for me. I've spent a few months in London, and remember liking marmite (on toast and in stews), but aside from that can't remember anything else. It's got to be small and relatively cheap - any basic "must haves" that I should ask for?

14 pounds butter? Typo, right?

I did a search for this, so hopefully I'm not repeating one that has been posted. Has anyone tried TJ's 2011 Vintage Ale? Or any of the prior year's offering for that matter? It's contracted brewed by Unibroue (brewers of La Fin du Monde and Maudite), so it's hopefully good stuff - and at $4.99 for a 750ml, it's a steal! It's a strong dark Belgian ale, and has received decent reviews on the regular craft beer sites, but was wondering if anyone here has tried it personally?

Ok, warning - I'M ABOUT TO DO MATH! haha. Though I do work with numbers all day, it is not normally this kind of math, so it is very likely that I'm doing something wrong, or making a poor assumption. But for the fun of conversation, take a look, let me know what you all think, and please someone correct me if needed: Here is what I do know - regular Bud is 5% ABV and Bud Ice is 5.5% ABV. 1) So, regular Bud beer is 5% ABV - so that's 5 parts alcohol, and 95 parts "other" ( for simplicity, we'll call it "water"). 2) They reduce the total volume by 0.5% by removing ice crystals, which is only the water. 0.5% of 95 parts water is 0.475 parts water. By removing that amount, we are left with 94.525 parts water. 3) Our new total volume is 99.525 parts (5 parts alcohol + 94.525 parts water). 4)The new ABV is now 5.29% (5 parts alcohol/99.525 total parts). So if Bud Ice is 5.5% ABV, what makes up the difference? They must start with a stronger beer, right?

Are you sure about this? I was curious, did some brief internet research, and it seems as though ice is still removed. But I'd like to know more. Also, most ice beers have higher ABV than their non-ice beer counterparts, so without removing ice would they just start with a more alcoholic beer? I remember discovering this in high school, which then prompted me to switch to BudIce from regular Bud (happy to say that I have since moved on from both).

So I've actually made Ice beer! Nice haha And it's a regular air pump - which mean's it's not going to be fresh for very long anyway. Won't stop me from giving it a try, though.

Had a party last night and we drank all but say 1/4 of the keg (shame on us, I know). The keg was left outside and it was very cold last night, so I'm fairly certain it froze. Once it thaws, what should I expect from the leftover beer? Completely flat, or drinkable? This wasn't high quality craft stuff to begin with, so I won't be heartbroken if it's a loss, but it would be nice to not waste it. If it matters, this was a half barrel.

Already sold out! Wow, MUST have been a good deal.

If anyone wants to give orange wine a try, looks like Wine Woot is selling a 4-pack. I have NO idea if this particular wine is any good or a good price (but the point of the site is to offer good deals). Unless it sells out, I believe this deal is available till the end of the week. www.wine.woot.com

Lots of good suggestions here - thanks. I think tonight will be the lava cakes since I'm already good at making those, but I see cheesecake and meringue based desserts in our future.

I like this idea - have you tried it before? How does it compare?

great, sounds good....anything oat flour based? running a little low on time to shop and happen to be fresh out of quinua and rice flours and just had another idea - are there any decent GF cinnamon rolls recipes out there? or is that just not possible?

Doing a dinner where one of the guests is gluten free (celiac). I know she would love a great baked dessert, and was thinking cookies, but open to other ideas. I never cook GF, so this is new for me. Anyone got a good recipe? Didn't see anything when I searched, but feel free to redirect me. Thanks.