weinoo

Are you trying to use or serve the carrot whole? If not, I cut carrots into manageable lengths before cutting them lengthwise. Also, are the carrots gigantic? Because I've seriously never had to core a carrot. A parsnip, yes.

Well, I've had short-ribs braised sous-vide, and they were pretty damn good. But at home, I'd rather get the aroma of a TR braise.

Ahhh - thanks. A little slow today. But shouldn't any "final taste" include a traditional braise as well?

What's PC?

As I posted on my Facebook page, coincidentally or not last night I made pasta with herbs and raw tomatoes. The first time I made it was August 27, 1989 - over 24 years ago. It's a recipe from Marcella's Italian Kitchen.

This article from Reality Pod is pretty awesome. Not much written, but great photos of families in different countries and the food they buy and eat over the course of a week. Almost everyone has bananas! And it's sad to see how little some have to get by on when we think about how much waste there is, certainly in the good old USA. Of course, if you read through the comments, there are the usual number of idiots.

Mine are dog-eared and written in. Great books!

If you're a cook, there are probably any number of people who helped shape your cooking chops. There's family, of course - grandmother, mother, father, etc. And there are probably some TV personalities too; I always loved watching Julia, Jacques, Pierre, Graham, Jeff, James, Yan, etc. Nowadays, god forbid, it's Rachael and Guy, but that's another complaint and another post, and if they're shaping your cooking chops, maybe you should be, I dunno, drinking? And then there are the cookbooks and their authors. When I started cooking (I mean, other than helping my mother bake cakes and making scrambled eggs and stuff when I was 7), I took some cooking classes and I taught myself by buying and reading cook books. One of the first, if not the first Italian cookbook that I bought, read and studied was The Classic Italian Cook Book. Released in 1973, I read it cover to cover, many times over. I still turn to it, for inspiration, guidance and just because it's a great read. I mean, look at these lines from the preface: Marcella Hazan passed away this morning at the age of 90 (and if that's not an endorsement for the art of eating well, I don't know what is), and the world of cooking has lost one of its greats. RIP Marcella. And thanks for all the lessons you taught me...

I know there are people who make fun of her and her strict ways, but when I started cooking 40 years ago, her first few books taught me so much about Italian food, lifestyle and cooking. I still use them as references.

One egg omelet with "deconstructed guacamole." Or, heirloom cherry tomato and avocado "salsa." Real rye bread. Single origin espresso; Stumptown's Ethiopian Duromina.

We like Keane and we liked Cyrus when we dined there a long time ago. We recently had dinner at Bryan's Range and it was very good. I'm surprised Burke made it this far - kinda floating by on his reputation, because I can't imagine he cooks very much any more.

So what do you do when a company and/or one of it's big mukety-mucks, makes a statement that is offensive? There was that Chic-Fil-A thing a while ago. Now it's Barilla, whose company president made an anti-gay remark. Then apologized, sort of. Me - I'm not buying Barilla any more.

I wonder if there'll be a Cronut recipe in Ansel's book?

So why don't you just get a 6" or 7" Victorinox? I see they're also making Santokus. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/forschner_fibrox.htm

The hot sauce sounds intriguing. I bought some of that yeast stuff - blech.

I'm concerned that the 8" blade may be a bit much for her. I know a 6" blade will work fine. Couldn't find a 6" model except for a utility knife. In that case, try the Wasabi Santoku These knives look to be sharpened on one side only. So, if anyone is left-handed, won't that be a problem?

It sounds like you're trying to buy a knife for you that Toots will like using. I bought my wife a Shun 6' Santoku - she really likes it and I don't mind using it when I have to.

basquecook: A: Where'd you get that steak? B: What's the remote control for?

The way to find out about a med's side effects is to do the research yourself. I've never been prescribed an ACE inhibitor, and really don't have any noticeable side effects from my BP cocktail. Ashen's experience seems to fall along the lines of being very similar to mine - if I lost 10 lbs. (and I'm not heavy, I'm just not the same weight I was in college, that's for sure) and didn't like cocktails as much as I do, I'd probably shave 5 - 10 points off my BP.

Yeah, I don't take any of those. I prefer painkillers that are narcotic. Or aspirin. Correct, rotuts. Eating fruits will also keep you feeling full whereas juice will not stick with you. This is one of the drawbacks to the juicing craze. Juice will also skyrocket your blood glucose and then crash you to the ground. Whole fruits will satisfy both hunger and thirst and will keep you on an even keel. Correct on the eating of whole fruit. I try. I try. Citrus season is right around the corner. I think there are benefits to be had from juicing as well - depends on what you're juicing.

I have been actively working on increasing my K intake over the past month. Not that easy, but I make sure to get 6 oz. of good orange juice (360 mg K), and a banana (450 mg K) daily. I also found this Knudsen Very Veggie low sodium juice that has 35 mg. sodium and a whopping 740 mg of potassium per cup with only 70 calories. These 3 items really boost the daily K intake.

Civil Eats weighs in on the salt to potassium ratio - especially noting that just lowering sodium doesn't work nearly as well as lowering sodium AND increasing potassium intake:

Here's a simple dinner I made the other day. Farmer's market in transition means there are still great tomatoes and corn, while the fall vegetables and fruit are showing up too. Orzo with Tomatoes and Corn 1/2 lb. orzo pasta 1/2 lb. great cherry tomatoes, quartered 2 ears corn, corn kernels scraped off 1 tsp. minced garlic 2 T ev olive oil 2 T chopped parsley 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan S & P Bring salted water to a boil. Cook orzo. At the same time, gently heat the garlic in the olive oil in a frying pan. Throw corn in as orzo approaches doneness, then drain orzo (by now you know to save at least a cup of pasta water, right?) and throw orzo into the pan along with tomatoes and parsley. Turn off heat and start adding cheese and a bit of pasta water and tossing. Taste for doneness and seasoning. Keep going till it tastes right and the pasta is barely al dente. Serves 2 hungry peeps. Same recipe with a few more pix here.

I've always thought that the oil used to season the slab would burn and give an-off taste to the finished product. This doesn't happen?

Aren't salt-fermented (aka brined) pickles best left uncovered to start the process? Are those jars (David R) tightly sealed?