weinoo

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?

This is a great reason.

Sure, there are topics about grocery shopping and what you've bought at the grocery store, or shopping at a farmer's market and what season you like best, but really what I am interested in from a foodie sociological viewpoint is how you do your shopping. That is, whether you shop alone or, if you're in a partnership, as a team. For example, I have a partner; she's my wife and she's nicknamed Significant Eater. She loves to eat, be it my cooking or at a restaurant. But man, she is not a shopper. And even if she was, I wouldn't want her along because, basically, I'm the cook and I don't need anyone's, ahem, help. And I know from experience when we've been in a grocery store or at a market together that she drives me crazy. For example, she'll say something like: "Do you have to pick up every melon and sniff it?" Or, "How many times are you gonna circle back to that item - do you think it has changed since 10 minutes ago?" In other words, a real pain in the ass to shop with. It's almost like shopping with a 4 year old in that she'll also suggest stuff that we have no need for...."Hey, why don't we get these chocolate covered licorice balls?" As you can guess, I shop solo. For good reason. To keep my sanity. So - do you tag team it or go it alone?

I think if this is done religiously, I don't have to take my EP out more than twice a year. If I was to sharpen free-hand at this point, my knives would be ugly real fast. But an unsharpened cleaver can easily smash garlic.

We pay a lot for the immature stuff. Baby carrots, baby zuke, etc.

That's interesting, because when I was asking the farmer about this, he mentioned that he's trying to emulate a number of crops grown in the Naples/Campagna region (and I mentioned..."just without the active volcanoes"). You can see a picture of the tomatoes he's growing in the thread started about farmers' markets here. I immediately thought it reminded me of gailan, although he wasn't exactly buying that!

Yesterday, while walking through the local farmer's market, I came to the realization that it's my favorite time of year for the farmer's market. I mean you have the summer bounty, literally overflowing - tomatoes (especially the late season ones that like to ripen all at the same time), peppers, eggplant, corn, cucumbers, melons, etc. And then you have the fall vegetables and fruits as well - all sorts of greens, brassicas, garlic, onions, potatoes, winter squashes, apples, pears, etc. And - it's not too hot to cook. I took home a few pounds of these wild looking Italian sauce tomatoes, which are heavy and meaty... What's your favorite time of year to shop at a farmer's market? And, why?

Yesterday, at the farmer's market in Union Square, NYC, I came across a vegetable I haven't seen before...Spigarelli broccoli. Has anyone seen, bought and or used this before? Sign said to use "like kale." This certainly doesn't seem like it would be great in kale salads, though I'm sure the leaves will sauté up just fine.

Sorry you were underwhelmed, but it has a great cheese/salumi counter, excellent meats and poultry, fine fresh pasta, truffles, and a fun selection of packaged goods, be they in boxes, bags, cans and jars.