JAZ

Rusty Nail.

Here's a pretty decent explanation of different canned tomato products.

I've always liked shrimp salad with lots of celery; I think the flavors go together and the crunch of celery is a good textural contrast to the shrimp. It might be kind of old school, but how about a shrimp salad that holds together well (maybe some cream cheese along with mayonnaise) scooped into celery "boats"?

Having just steamed several dozen eggs in batches over a couple of weeks for an article, I can say that from my experience, if you're talking about supermarket eggs, an extra week or so makes absolutely no difference in ease of peeling. I steamed eggs that were two weeks apart in their sell-by date and couldn't tell the difference. In peeling, that is. The older eggs didn't look nearly as nice -- the yolks weren't as well centered and they often had divots or flat spots at the bottom (I'm assuming from the air pocket.) Since I have no experience with truly fresh eggs (like straight from the hen or farmer), I can't speak to how well they peel.

In one case, the hard potato slice was from one of the ends. Is there something in the stem end that keeps potatoes from softening? As for the ideas about blight or improper storage, would either of those affect different parts of a single potato differently? What was strange about these incidents is that only a few of the slices were hard -- all the rest were fine.

The first time it happened, that's what I figured. But the other two times (with potatoes cooked in water), the slices were moving around with the boiling water, so I doubt that was a factor.

No, not really. As I understand, it's the breast half with the (bone-in) wing attached. One advantage it has is that the wing helps keep the skin attached, which is pretty much impossible with a plain boneless breast half.

Several times recently when I've cooked Yukon gold potatoes, something odd has happened. In all three cases, the potatoes were peeled and sliced fairly thin -- about 1/4 inch -- then cooked in liquid. In all cases, I tested a potato slice to make sure they were done and then used the potatoes in dishes that were cooked further. But in every dish, there was at least one potato slice that was hard and seemingly way undercooked, although all the rest were fine. Two of the dishes called for boiling the slices in water (unsalted) and one was a gratin where I cooked the potato slices in seasoned cream. The first time it happened I just thought it was a fluke, but after three times, I'm wondering if it's the potatoes (purchased from two different stores) or something I'm doing wrong. Has this every happened to anyone else, or does anyone have an idea why it's happening?

I use a slotted spatula to transfer them from the batter to the skillet and from the skillet to the rack. It's not ideal, but i prefer it to dealing with the stems.

I'm probably the only one who doesn't care about leaving the stem in my chiles, so I just cut out the stem and seed core underneath it and move on. Not authentic, but easy and reliable. I've also switched to Rick Bayless' method of frying the poblanos in really hot oil to remove the skin, rather than charring over a flame or under the broiler, which leaves the flesh much more resilient.

I think there is a difference between "mix" and "stir" but I wouldn't say it has to do with the motion of the spoon. I think of "stir" as an action with a spoon (or paddle) that's not dependent on what's being stirred. That is, you can stir a single ingredient like cream (to keep it from scorching, for instance) or a homogeneous mixture like soup or stew whose ingredients are already mixed together. "Mix," on the other hand, is only used to describe situations where you have two or more unlike ingredients that you want to get together. You can do that with a spoon or paddle or fork, but you can also do it with your hands (like meatloaf). Sometimes you can use the terms interchangeably, as in "stir the cream into the coffee" or "mix the cream into the coffee," but often you can't.

Here's a look at self-publishing by a cookbook author (from Dianne Jacob's site): I self-published a cookbook You might find it worth reading.

That's not usually true -- tater tots are small chunks of potatoes stuck together, but as far as I know most frozen fries are cut from whole potatoes, then blanched in oil. Kenji Alt actually suggests freezing homemade fries after cooking most of the way (here), although he freely admits that he's after McDonalds-style fries.

You've probably already considered this, but what's the size of your burner compared with the size of your pan? Some paella pans are huge -- way too big for most home ranges. If the pan is too large, or if your heat source isn't even from middle to edges, that could be the cause.

In a follow-up column to that piece, he talks about causes of off-flavors and aromas, which he says can (but don't necessarily) arise during the curing/fermentation process:

I'm in much the same boat. I liked my GelPro mats at first, but one of them curled up a lot, so much that the lining tore. While I haven't made the plunge and bought Wellness mats, the kitchen where we teach has them and I'm very impressed. They've lasted nicely under heavy wear and tear for several years, and I've noticed less leg and back fatigue after classes since they've been in the kitchen.

It seems as if we went through a phase of trying disappointing recipes, but we recently tried two new ones that, well, rocked. One was sriracha-honey green beans from the blog Bare feet in the Kitchen. We roast green beans with garlic chips all the time, but this was an easy alternative. The other was from Serious Eats: salmon and potatoes with creamy anchovy sauce. The only change we made was to stir in the capers after the sauce was made to keep them whole. I personally thought that while the sauce (apparently based on a recipe from Modern Sauces by Martha Holmberg) was good with the salmon, it really shone with the potatoes. We used the leftover sauce a few nights later on some steamed broccoli and it was great with that as well. I'm thinking that it would be a good match for a Nicoise-type salad. Any other great new recipes out there?

As a recipe writer, I find it's difficult sometimes not to specify a particular brand of an ingredient, if I think it's going to make a big difference in the way the recipe will turn out. But in that case I always try to explain why, and if possible give other options. For instance, I use Valentina brand Mexican hot sauce in a several recipes, so I say that, but I also give a couple other brand names and just say that if my readers use anything else, they may have to adjust the acid level, because that can affect the results.

The bar book was The Bartender's Guide and the baking book was Great Cookies. The prices seem to depend largely on what's out of print or just out of stock. As I said, these two were anomalies, but it's been pretty lucrative for me.

Something you might consider if you have books you definitely don't want is selling them through Amazon's Marketplace. It's not difficult to set up an account, and although Amazon takes a small cut, they take care of pretty much everything. Especially if the books are old, you may be able to sell them for more than list price. Although most of the books I've sold this way have gone for $20 - $30, I got $100 for a bar book I bought for $10, and $90 for a cookie book I bought for $15. If the books are out of print and still in demand, it can be worthwhile.

I'm not sure if this would fit in, but if you want to show the way different tastes affect each other, try letting them taste grapefruit alone, then with a pinch of sugar, then with a pinch of salt. We've done that for adult taste "labs" and our students are always amazed by the way the salt mutes the bitterness of the grapefruit, so that it seems much sweeter than it does with the sugar, which just seems to highlight how acidic and bitter the grapefruit is.

According to Harold McGee, another way to slow the multiplication of the bacteria is with acid -- which is why, according to him, sushi rice is safe at room temperature.

Last week we bought a bunch of scallions at our usual market. They were slightly larger than usual, but otherwise looked normal. But when I sliced them, they were filled with a slimy residue. At first I just thought it was the membranes between the layers, which can be a bit slimy. But this was something else entirely -- more like okra slime. It was especially pronounced in the greens; when sliced, the greens were hollow as usual but filled with this colorless slimy goo. Has anyone else run across this or heard of it? What's up with the slime? (The next bunch we bought was fine.)

Pam, I used to make an appetizer with sauteed mushrooms and roasted garlic in pastry shells topped with a little piece of Brie. The combination of mushrooms and Brie is excellent.

If you're looking for ideas to use applesauce itself and not additional ideas for apples, you could try Julia Child's recipe for apple tart -- it uses mostly applesauce with a top layer of apple slices. Here's a version of it.