mrsadm

TUSCAN. Everything is Tuscan this and Tuscan that.

1976 ... my first year after college in my NYC apartment ... Tuna Noodle Casserole! with canned cream of mushroom soup ... I was so proud!

I so agree! People should be comfortable, not afraid to enjoy the meal. My table is a very old pine working table, complete with scratches, gouges, two carved initials, multiple dark stains, and hand made nails holding the top to the legs. I love it. Nothing worse can happen to it - short of a fire! - than has already happened. Food fights are allowed!

I wish the FDA would spend more time investigating food coming in from China than worrying about local cheeses!

There are two great places to ask that question: Fred's Cutlery ForumFred's cutlery forum and "In the Kitchen" section at knifeforums.com

Chad, I am not familiar with faux Damascus. Do all Shun knives feature this?

I have lots of wonderful Japanese knives and believe in keeping things simple. I use a ceramic rod for honing and a waterstone for sharpening. A knife block or the special holder that comes with the knife should both work well to protect the blade between uses. As someone else said, USE your knife and enjoy it. I know, I know, they are so precious and I do admit I have one beautiful knife I have never used - but mostly the beauty of a knife is in how it works and how wonderfully easier it makes cooking for you. Even damage can be repaired by someone like Epicurian edge. GO FOR IT!

The article said the disagreement was about Room Service. So do the better hotel restaurants generally have another kitchen do room service?

Bad idea. You can saute beautifully in a copper pan but it has to be heavy. The only light copper pan I've seen is an antique that I have hanging on my wall for decoration only. There's a reason for the "obsession" with thick and heavy, it's because it works well. You'd be better off getting a stainless pan - or one of my favs is Swiss Diamond non stick, great for eggs especially.

Another two thumbs up for Dano's Heuriger on Senaca Lake. Hubby and I had lunch there today and it was wonderful. Very fresh food, excellent breads, hubby was devouring the breads and I enjoyed several spreads on them. I ordered the bento box based on nice comments posted here, and it was excellent to be able to try so many dishes. Hubby had a special, fried catfish which was done perfectly with an extra crispy crust. The food is simple and excellently prepared. Diners around us were ordering hamburgers, not sure why, when you can have this delicious and different Austrian cuisine. It was also nice the chef/owner came to our table to ask how we liked the meal. The building is a fascinating Bauhaus-style building which we learned was designed just for this restaurant. Definitely go there if you are visiting the Finger Lakes!

This is a hot topic for me! We like a lot of green salads and the lettuces, celery, peppers, and other veggies go bad so quickly! Has anyone tried any of the "special containers" for veggies? Like Produce Keeper or Mushroom and Berry Keeper or Vacuum containers

Holy cow!

In his blog exchange with Tony, Rocco asked Tony how the two of them are so different. He said, to paraphrase, we both used to cook, now we do TV and sell things. You call Rocco a media whore. Would you call Tony a media whore? Is it all because of the 15 minutes of "the Restaurant", where he left such a virtual bad taste in so many TV devouring mouths? ← Yeah, Bourdain is a MW but he plays the game and for the most part delivers as he goes about making a nice living. ......and perhaps he was lucky (and smart enough) to keep the skirt chasing, self indulgent crap away from the cameras. ← Bourdain is a writer first, then a TV personality, then a chef. He originally became famous for the book "Kitchen Confidential", not for his food or restaurant. And he continues to be a darn good writer, one who's books/articles I'd rather read than any other food writer. He sticks to what he does well, with some measure of humility and self-deprecation at times that keeps his celebrity in focus. Rocco did not stick to what he did well.

I like to make various Mexican dishes with roasted and peeled peppers. This is quite time consuming and I was thinking of freezing them (after the roasting and peeling). I'm wondering if this has been tried by anyone?

First, how do you pronounce ceviche? Is it "se-vish" or "se-vish-ay"? First I heard it comes from Mexico, a lime-marinated but uncooked seafood. Is that correct? Can it be a starter or main or both? Then I heard it's from other South American countries as well. Why is it everyone on Top Chef is making it? Why is it so popular now?

Tre knew he was on camera when he took off his shirt He was just doing a Gordon Ramsay!

Packaged foods that promote health and make health benefit claims. Like more Dannon Activia's. Viola! You become healthy by buying certain products.

It's fun to read this thread ... I have not seen all the episodes but I'll throw my 2 cents in. Padma is a ridiculous fraud. A former model, she's probably thrown up almost everything she's eaten in her life. I have no idea how anyone thinks she can critique food. And making the ladies cook in high heels and blouses is not only insulting but probably dangerous. Other than that, it's a very amusing show.

Thanks Dave and Octaveman, that is what I thought. I have both a waterstone which I use for my Japanese knives and a whetstone which I use for the German knives; I use oil on the latter stone. I think it was in a Jacques Pepin video where he said once you use oil, you cannot switch to water.

Sorry the article has gone past it's "free" stage so here is a brief abstract to give you the gist of what it's about: Red Lobster restaurant chain is undergoing its biggest makeover in almost 40 years in hopes of attracting wealthier diners; kitschy fish-shaped tables will gradually be replaced by more natural-looking decor featuring stone and wood; hamburgers will disappear from menu and oldies music will be replaced with more contemporary mix; Red Lobster president Kim Lopdrup says new marketing initiative, developed by Richards Group, is part of three-stage effort to revamp brand

I have a Norton stone that I've used oil on for years; is that OK? It doesn't seem to be ruined at all.

Wasn't it Denmark that outlawed trans fats?

Wow thanks for all the pointers here, I will be reading more about this in the other threads. I watched Tony Bourdain's DVD on Ferran Adria and have become very intrigued. Not to cook this wierd and interesting stuff myself, but to try to understand what he is doing, and wonder what this might mean to the future of cuisine.

I did a search on Red Lobster here on egullet, and what I found was tales of woe and embarassment about actually eating at this chain restaurant. So this thread is meant to discuss their new revamping of the food, ambience/decor, and advertising campaign. NY Times article from today discusses this: Red Lobster gets a Makeover I ashamedly admit I do occasionally get their "shrimp fest" as a takeout meal but pretty much don't like anything else about the place, including the families with screaming children. I have all along assumed the shrimp dishes were prepared and frozen for delivery to the restaurants where they were microwaved before serving. But I don't know for sure. The article says the restaurants get seafood delivery 6 days a week but doesn't say if those deliveries contain any not-frozen fish. Wonder if anyone here would actually try the place again after this new makeover?

Frank Bruni Review Review of Harold Dieterle's restaurant (winner of the first Top Chef series). Has anyone here tried the restaurant yet? What did you think of it? I liked Harold in the original show, he was understated in personality, and it seems to reflect in his restaurant.