JAZ

There's a way to maintain some politeness and still get rid of the last piece of whatever it is, but it requires a partner, or at least someone whose behavior you can count on. When there's a small piece of cake or the last cookie left and the host asks if anyone wants it, you say, "I'll split it with someone." Then the piece can be eaten, but no one has to eat the last piece alone.

I've never understood why maple syrup is so often used in supposedly raw dessert recipes. It's boiled.

I read somewhere (I think in one of Robert Wolke's books) about the following technique: slice the beef, then place in a ziplock bag with any juices you may have and seal. Submerge the bag in hot water and heat it that way. It works very well -- it's great for leftover steak, too.

That's how Rose Levy Beranbaum's books are written. They actually give the weight by ounces and grams, and give volume measurements as well, so there are three choices for readers.

As was mentioned here on the Kitchen Scale Manifesto topic, Michael Ruhlman's Ratio would seem at first glance to be a great example of a book that uses weights: he starts out with a section on the importance of the scale. Immediately, though, he starts talking about circumstances in which it's more convenient to use volume measurements (he says, for instance, that "it's easier to measure out a cup of corn than 5 ounces"). And I'm sure this was undoubtedly at the insistence of the publisher, but in the very next section he says that a scale isn't necessary to use the book. The recipes themselves are a mishmash of volume and weight -- for example, you get a lime peanut vinaigrette recipe that calls for 1/4 lime juice, 1/4 cup peanut butter and, yet, 4 ounces of oil. It's unfortunate that he couldn't follow through on his insistence on how important a scale is. My guess is that as much as an author might want to use weights, American publishers are convinced that American home cooks won't buy a book that uses them exclusively.

Just to clarify, it's not the silicone part of the Silpat that's supposed to be problematic; it's the fiberglass core. I have a lot of silicone bakeware, ice cube trays, candy molds, etc. that are all labeled dishwasher safe.

My entry for this category would be a cookie that I've just been calling Browned Butter Crisps. I wrote about them here a few years ago, and as I said then, they're greater than the sum of their parts. The ancestor to these cookies is a recipe from one of my first cookbooks, a Sunset book called Cooking with Spices and Herbs. The original recipe calls for melted (not browned) butter and cloves as the flavoring. I loved them, but I found that cloves seem to be an all or nothing spice -- people either loved them or hated them -- so I didn't make them very often. Then I read a cookie recipe that called for browning the butter, and I adopted that technique for the cookies, playing around with the spice profile at the same time. Finally I decided on a combination of cardamom and cinnamon, which I've stuck with ever since. They're so unassuming looking that they take people by surprise. For instance, I was demonstrating them in a class some years ago, and one of the students asked what could be done to "dress it up" -- i.e., could she use it as a sandwich cookie or dip it in chocolate, or what? I said, truthfully, that it had never occurred to me that anything needed to be done to it. She looked dubious until she tasted them. I made them last year during the Christmas season at the store where I was working, so they're now the unofficial Christmas cookie there. Now I see that the recipe is all over the internet, spread by a couple of bloggers -- Baking Beast and Taste Goblet (who at least did credit eGullet.org, if not me), so I guess it's not "mine" anymore. Oh well. Browned Butter Crisps 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon cardamom pinch salt 1. In a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter and continue to cook until it browns. Watch carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. Let cool slightly. 2. In a large bowl, mix browned butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the egg and mix until smooth. 3. Stir the flour and spices until spices are distributed evenly; add to butter mixture and mix until blended thoroughly. 4. Drop by teaspoonfuls on Silpat-lined cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until edges are turning golden and the tops have begun to crinkle. 5. Let cool on the sheets for a few seconds, then remove and cool completely.

Do you mean two tablespoons or two teaspoons?

Lisa, I've never been able to get spices ground to a powder with a mortar and pestle. Am I doing something wrong, or do you use a coarser grind for your spices?

My guess is that the main concern of the Silpat manufacturer is that the fiberglass layer inside the silicone will become exposed. That's the reason for not cutting them, and probably the reason behind not putting them in the dishwasher, although as I mentioned mine have been going in the dishwasher for years with no ill effect. I would also imagine that it's not rolling that they're concerned about so much as folding -- again, because a fold could cause the silicone to split and expose the core. (As well as putting mine in the dishwasher, I also keep them rolled up inside paper towel tubes.)

Am I the only one who washes them in the dishwasher? I either put them next to a sheetpan for support, or weave them around the prongs so they stay more or less upright.

These are what I use for small cocktails: Bormioli 4-oz. cocktail glasses. Just over 4 oz. to the top, they hold 3 oz. perfectly; they're nice looking and pretty durable.

I know it's going back a bit, but I would like to know what ice cream recipe you used, please. I just adapted a recipe for vanilla ice cream, and I don't remember exactly what recipe I used. I think it was all cream (no milk), but other than that, I don't know. Sorry!

I recommend Fresh & Fast by Marie Simmons (on Amazon, you can check out the contents of the book). The recipes are mostly Mediterranean-inspired and range from 15 minutes to 60 minutes start to finish (there are a few recipes that take longer, but they're clearly marked). Simmons was a recipe developer for several magazines, so her recipes are clearly written and they work. You can also rely on the times she gives for prep, which isn't always the case with books like this.

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I've taken to using a combination of rice flour and all purpose flour for my onion rings (I use the soak-in-milk-then-dredge-in-flour method), and have found that it helps enormously in keeping them crisp.

What's the reason for the orange flower water and vanilla? Is there some evidence that adding them makes the syrup more like some original or "authentic" grenadine syrup, or do those who add them simply like the flavor?

The combination fridge/freezer in my apartment is pretty good -- certainly better than in previous kitchens I've had. (It's a Whirlpool, freezer on top, auto ice and defrost in the freezer.) Recently, though, I noticed something strange. First, I put my ice cream canister in the freezer overnight and the next day, it still wasn't frozen. I'd frozen the canister several times before that, and before it was always solid after a night in the freezer. Then, the next day, I put two ice cube trays side by side at the same time, and a few hours later, one was frozen almost solid while the other was still mostly liquid. It occurred to me that I'd put the canister in the same spot as the unfrozen ice cube tray. Since then, I've noticed that occasionally (but not always), that spot seems to be warmer than the rest of the freezer. Also, and I have no idea if this is related or not, my refrigerator has a really cold spot in the back of the center shelf. I inadvertently pushed a bottle of ginger ale back there and kind of forgot about it for a week or so. Yesterday, I went to get it to make a cocktail, and found that it had frozen and burst, spewing sticky ginger goo all over the damn fridge. An old jar of salad dressing next to it had frozen as well, but since it wasn't full, it didn't break. Is this normal? I know that frost-free freezers cycle off and on; is the warm spot in the freezer just related to that, or is it something I should call maintenance about? And is the fridge problem related, or just a coincidence? Are temperature zones common in refrigerators?

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider is an informative guide to less well known vegetables. Not only does it give full recipes, but it also tells you how to select and store the vegetables, and has a "Pros Propose" section of quick ideas from chefs for most of the entries as well. What's best about this book, though, is not so much great recipes as it is the information she provides. If you want to be able to pick up unfamiliar vegetables at the market and feel confident that you'll at least have basic prep and cooking instructions, it's the one to get.

I don't cover the sandwich as it's cooking -- grilled cheese or tuna melt -- because the bread tends to steam and lose its crunch. But you're right, the tuna does heat up by the time the cheese melts. You can make an open faced tuna melt that stays crunchy without the tuna getting hot by using a hybrid method. Butter one side of a piece of bread and brown that side on a griddle. Then put it on a rack in a sheet pan and top with tuna salad and cheese. Run it under the broiler and you have an open faced sandwich with a crunchy bottom layer. The rack is crucial, because if you just put the bread on the pan, the heat from the cooking can make the bread steam and get soggy. It's time consuming, but results in a great sandwich.

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To my mind, there are two distinct types of tuna melts: open faced and closed and griddled. I like them both; I prefer the griddled ones, but the open faced ones can be good as well. For the open faced ones (bread topped with tuna salad then cheese and run under the broiler) I like a dense, sturdy bread, and a fairly thin layer of tuna. The main problem, I think, is that the tuna doesn't always heat up by the time the cheese is melted. A lesser problem is that the bread can become soggy, but you can lessen that possibility by toasting the bread first and using a rack to put the sandwich on. For the griddled version, I like medium-thin sliced bread (rye is my first choice). Thinner bread lets the tuna heat up and the cheese melt and it also results in a better filling-to-crunchy-bread balance. My preference for cheese is either cheddar or swiss.

A few weeks ago, I spent about 20 minutes trying to get rum out of a Flor de Cana 1.75l bottle that came with a pour spout. I couldn't remove the spout, even trying to pry it out; I finally ended up stabbing through the spout with a pair of scissors, It works now, but not well. And that's not the only lame pour spout I've encountered. Beefeater gin 1.75l bottles comes with one that comes out about half the time I take the cap off, so I can never pour without checking the bottle. Of course, when it comes out, I can just throw it away, so it's not as annoying as the Flor de Cana bottle. Why do bottlers feel the need to put pour spouts in bottles? In my experience it's mostly the large bottles that have them, but some smaller bottles do too. Are there any good pour spouts that come in bottles, or are they all a total waste of plastic? Does anyone actually like pour spouts?

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Two words: pressure cooker. I braised chicken thighs in red chile sauce in less than 30 minutes the other day. Braised pork shoulder is falling apart in an hour -- no oven, just a burner. It's the only way to braise in the summer.