elyse

I hardly ever finish my food at restaurants, and always ask for it to be wrapped. I stopped thinking of it as a doggie bag when I was six or so because I knew it was never going to the dog. Plus, doggie has never been one of my favorite words in any useage. Ehm... I have even asked for half the leftover fondue to be put in a soup container and had to convince the waitress that I would not blame the restaurant if it did not reheat as desired. Worst came to worst, I'd spread it on toast, but it actually came out pretty nice. I NEVER waste food. I forgot, the Appleby's story reminds me of the scene in Defending Your Life between Albert Brooks and Merril Streep where their waiter keeps heaping packages of food on him to take back to the hotel, but he's trying to be as inconspicuous as can be because his "prosecutor" seems to be watching his every move. Nine Pies and some amount of steaks.

Tell me you've never had to fight your food processor to get the top off or on. The one thing that makes me reconsider pulling the damn thing out in the first place. Plus, she's doing it backwards.

Sorry, not the Baba au Rhum - French baker invented it, Polish king named it. Actually, nightscotsman, you're right partially. I'm wrong entirely. Baba (babka) was brought to France by Polish dude and Polish chef and taught the French to make it. Then Savarin did the rum thing to the baba years later, and the au rhum came into being.

I agree tvfn has lost it in recent years, but I don't agree that it's worthless, dave. I've always liked less than 50% of the programs and personalities, then and now, but hell, how much regular tv do I like anyway? The network used to show The French Chef on "Cooking Classics" I believe. I wish they would begin to recycle their cancelled shows like Cooking Live Primetime and Taste. FTV2 would be a great thing! nightscotsman, Jaques is still re-running. I actually don't think his techniques are out of reach, menton, if you understand the concept. I love his gelatin mold technique (champagne truffle episode). Very smart. I despise Emeril.

Rice Pilaf Kasha Charlotte Russe Babka Baba au Rhum Aleksander Torte

Is this Minute, or large pearl? They sound fabulous.

Where did you read this piece on etiquette? I know it was tacky like... fifty years ago (hence DOGGY bag, as no self respecting human would eat remnants of old food), but I can't believe that hasn't changed. Remember when doggie bags still had dogs on them with stupid captions? "Thanks for thinking of me at home!" or some infernal thing. My ass I'm going to give you this fine piece of beef!

Was the dipping chocolate bitter or sweet? It was powdery. It may be called NesQuick by you. Nestle Quik chocolate milk powder. But it was actually PDQ which doesn't exist anymore. It was like Ovaltine chocolate malt powder. Are you familliar with Cool Whip? Plasticised (non?) dairy type topping. Foul stuff.

I'm a a pain in the ass, so I would call the GM or owner and complain. Especially when everything was on the same plate to AVOID confusion. I think there's a lot in knowing the problems of one's customers regarding the restaurant or product whatever it may be. As far as my own doggie bag stories go, I'm on the opposite side. I push the garnish to the other side of the plate if I have no bread plate, so I DON'T get it back. But it usually makes it's way to my kitchen. I also have had waiters and bus people mistake "can you wrap this up" for "throw this in the garbage." A couple of times the kitchen makes up a half order of whatever it was to compensate. I wonder who's spit I've ingested...

A few years ago, PBS ran a show around Valentine's Day on the history of chocolate. I saw it at 2:00am, but I think it was intrigueing. Never saw it again.

Slightly off subject, but I used to make dill pickle brine popsicles when I was a kid. And this New Year's Day, I ate a half bottle of cocktail onion stuffed olives and drank the brine. That was GOOD eatin'.

I would do a Quik dip on the PB, then a dollop of Cool Whip, and a final dusting of more Quik. Double chocolate and a nice presentation to boot, even if it's just on the tip of your finger. Presentation is everything. You may be right, but presentation was not the first thing on out minds at the mo. I mean... Cool Whip... EWWWWW!!!!!

See, Ovaltine straight from the jar doesn't even bother me. Thanks for the commendation, Soba! And now that I'm thinking about it, mine wasn't dipped in Quik, it was PDQ. A chocolate malty pelletty crumbly thing. LONG time ago.

Andy, VILE. Scottish Chef, VILER. Soba, sorry. A regular Saturday for me. Not really, but when food runs low and I can't deal with leaving the house, s'ok with me. Kim, doesn't really sound that bad. I used to work at Steve's Ice Cream, and we had to mix up some REPULSIVE combinations. Cinnamon ice creal with pineapple, strawberries, junior mints, reeces pb cups, heath bars,marshmallow fluff, granola, malt, and butterscotch sauce. I think I'm still missing a few ingredients. Mario Batali once referred to restaurant workers being served "cream of walk-in soup." Had it. Forgot to mention my grossest thing as far as I can remember. Peanut butter on a spoon, dipped in cool whip, dipped in chocolate quick.

In a restaurant situation, the chef is not paying out of pocket without recompense. If a customer wants to eat a high quality piece of flesh after it has lost it's quality in the cooking process, the chef is losing nothing from the transaction but respect. At home, what is the difference in buying two different cuts of flesh, if the person consuming it can not tell the difference between a burned piece of lesser quality flesh, and a burned one of higher quality? You should not withhold the meal, but buy two levels of quality. And if "it's just food," then it'll still be just food if it's a cheaper piece. But you'll have "just more money" in your pocket. There are some things that I spend too much money on, but certain things would be wasted in certain applications. Would I give caviar to the cats? They would enjoy it, and DAMN I love my cats. They also enjoy Iams. I opt for Iams. And I would never buy filet mignon to grind into hamburgers. It just doesn't make sense.

>>Oraklet, a lot of pizza recipes say to let the pizza stand for a few minutes before cutting. Apparently, letting the pizza stand makes it easier to slice. That is, it slices "neater". I believe the cheese etc. will slump off the slices if cut too soon. Just what I've noticed. >>Elyes, Alton Brown did recommend quarry tile. Unfortunately, my Home Depot stopped selling the unglazed kind Suckie deal. NO idea how to do the multiple replying to multiple quotes thing.

Zat right? Hmmmm. Do tell. Always interested in how I can incorporate better tasting fat into my diet.

Me too. I thought coconut oil was like cement in your arteries. I certainly don't go the healthy route, but coconut oil scares me a bit.

Klink, congratulations on your first crust. It looks beautiful. And crimping's easy once you get it. But forking is an easy start. I must say, I use all crisco (usually the recipe on the can, or close to it) and I probably use too much water. But it never cracks, it's still flaky, and people say it's the best they've ever had. My pies are on the rich side, so the crust doesn't have to be. Maybe when I start expanding my pie repertoire, I'll experiment with the butters, margarines, lards, vinegars, and all that. On the subject, are there specific types of pies that each of these fats etc. should go with? Like lard for... savoury pies. Any ideas?

Would you be more comfortable if it were said that heat "migrates"? Really, heat does flow from hotter to cooler. How should we describe it? I've been working with heat for thirty or so years and have usually refered to its transmigration as travels, moves, or flows. Now, that I'm thinking about it, I mostly say that it flows. (As evidenced by my unconscious use of it in my second sentence.) Edit: Maybe you could get a carry over of 15 degress if you were cooking a whole pig and covered it after it came off the fire. Radiates?

ditto Aren't you supposed to leave the top knob off the lid when blending something hot? So it DOESN'T explode?

Someone said (and Alton Brown agrees) use floor tiles from Home Depot or somewhere. I hear that a lot.

I know you don't want to hear this, but I've had a Vita Mix since...'72? I love it, but only use it for shakes and things. Tall, metal, two speeds forwards, two backwards. I don't know if they're pulverize, grind, puree, whip, frappe, or xxx, and I don't care.

JINX! 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!

Not an expert here, so maybe I should just shut up, but strick something sharp into the eyes and drain the milk. Put the coconut in a hot oven (350 maybe...) and it should crack. Then you can get the flesh out easily. If you want to take off the skin, try a rasp.