Richard Kilgore
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Posts posted by Richard Kilgore
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At $6.50 a bowl, for a family of four that would be $26. This doesn't include drinks, or a tip (how much is an acceptable tip in the US nowadays?). My guess is that the total will be something like $36-40 US for four bowls of noodle soup. Is this cheap? To me it seems expensive, considering what you're getting (single bowl, rather than a complete meal), but again, I've been living in Thailand too long!
Austin
I think you are mixing apples and oranges in several of your points in this thread. If you are living comfortably in Thailand and come to the US, yes, I imagine food would seem expensive, but so would housing, most consumer goods, personal services, medical care, skilled labor such as auto service and repair work, etc.
I have Thai/Lao friends who talk about how inexpensive the food is in Bangkok, even in the airport. But in Thailand many years ago they lived in a thatched hut; in the U.S. they now own a restaurant and a large two story house in the burbs. Some go back to visit every few years and bring tales of sumptous eating, and they pride themselves on serving well-prepared food here at a more than reasonable (for this market) price, which usually runs something like $9 to $15 per person for dinner --- tax, gratuity and tea included. Couples and families eat there. Chefs and food lovers eat there. Frequently. Very few are wealthy.
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Thanks for the interesting post, Austin. You made a point that expensive restaurants have no impact on what average people eat in the United States. While this may be partly correct, in that for example few cook from the French Laundry cookbook, some important trends in expensive restaurants have had far reaching effects on food and cooking in the US. The emphasis on a wide range of quality ingredients starting in the late 1960s and 1970s in California by Alice Waters at Chez Panisse and others has had a wide ranging effect on what is available in the average grocery store and what and how people cook at home.
While unimaginative, pre-prepared and reheated foods are more than common in fast food and other chain restaurants, well-prepared, inexpensive meals made with fresh ingredients are available in a wide variety of "ethnic" restaurants all over the US. Available to all the average and unaverage people who walk through their doors. For not much more than a burger, fries and a softdrink.
As a side note, just to be fair --- while Gourmet certainly has an upscale image, its content is clearly not designed only for the very wealthy, nor focused on fine dining primarily. I have the November and December issues before me. One has a turkey on the cover and the other has cookies. Featured articles also include 10 minute main courses, baking without wheat, 79 ways to celebrate Thanksgiving, holiday menus, kitchen knives, kitchen design, travel, making terrines, culinary traditions in coastal South Carolina, a diner in Indiana that serves Middleastern food, small food enterprises run by women in Uganda, etc. No big emphasis on expensive restaurants. Your comments may have been based on the fact that Ruth Reichl's most recent memoir, "Garlic and Sapphires," covered the period that she was the critic for the New York Times...a fine book that is inevitably about expensive restaurants, but also is complex and about much, much more. I can recommend it.
While the eGullet Society is purposefully inclusive (professional and home cooks; fine diners and simpler diners of all sorts; writers, critics, editors and readers; even lawyers), I also think you will find more content in the eG Forums on food that people do cook and eat at home than on expensive restaurants. Just checkout the Cooking forum, Pastry and Baking forums and also the eGCI.
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It's tough in the winter here, but any time it gets under 65 F, we just get tougher. Pull on a sweater, heavy duty hiking shorts and boots that will handle the weather. We always have to allow for an extra 15 seconds on the grill for steaks when it breaks 50 F. You just do whatever you have to do.
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Here's a link to the JB Prince terrine molds listings.
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The great thing about the eGCI course is that even if you can't go out and load up a credit card with Sitram, Staub and Falk Culinaire, you can go out armed with sufficient knowledge to make an intelligent assessment of pretty much anything you run across. So maybe you don't have the $150 for a clad copper saute evasee -- based on what you know, you can decide if $19 is reasonable for a scratch 'n' dent 3 1/2-qt Cuisinart MultiClad saute pan with lid.
I had to rebuild most of my batterie about a year ago with a teeny tiny budget (okay, no budget). What I learned is that if you are poor but patient, deals like this show up at places like TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning and Marshall's -- not all at once, but often enough to make it worthwhile to stop in regularly. I've put together the basic set of stuff: 3-1/2 and 5-qt saute pans, 1, 3 and 9-quart saucepans, and a 16-qt. stockpot, all in name-brand, stainless-clad, decently-thick aluminum, for less than $200.
I should point out that the Sitram is not all that expensive - about $50 for the 11 inch saute (about 5+ qt.) with the aluminum disk (Profissiere line) BEFORE the Amazon discount.
Other than that, I agree with Dave about the patient bargain hunting. I have done it, too, and saved bunches. I estimate that I have bought much cookware or equipment that patient waiting has saved me 40 - 70% off the regular retail. TJ Maxx and Marshall's are also great for saving money on tabletop serving ware, dinner ware, earthenware or stoneware baking pieces, glasses, kitchen tools, etc.
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Okay, that makes it a little clearer. Here are a few suggestions.
90 - 140 for 4 - 7 quart OVAL Le Cruset - Seconds at a discounter or on Amazon if you watch very carefully. Also consider other less expensive French or Chinese enameled cast-iron for 50 - 70% less, same discounters.
$100 - 150 total for Sitram (French) 11" Sautuese (Chef's Pan) or 11" Saute pan and a 2 qt sauce pan, either catering line (copper clad disk) or professiere line (thick aluminum disk). On Amazon, with $25 off if over $125 and free shipping.
$15 - 25 each for pots and pans that will be used for boiling water and not critical sauces, etc. Aluminum, non-stick over aluminum - restaurant supply house. About the same cost to slightly more for tri-clad and aluminum disk individual pieces at the disounters.
In general, restaurant supply houses are worth checking for anything you may need. Often much less than SLT and W-S for tools and various widgets, cookware and many other items.
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In addition to your budget for your cookware, it may be helpful for us to have an idea of how many people you will be cooking for most of the time, and what kinds of cooking you plan to do now and over, say, the next year or two.
There are a number of sets like the Cuisinart and the one that Marlene found, but branded differently, and all seem very similar. Some have glass lids, some metal. Some skinny handles, some tubular. All are probably okay. Discounter/overstock chains like Marshalls and TJ Maxx always have these in individual pieces, cheap, cheap, cheap...so you do not have to get stuck on a set. And they usually have some Le Cruset. You may be able to assemble a better collection of cookware by being selective and putting most of your available money in two or three critical items that are going to be most important to you.
So help us help you. What's your budget now and over the next year or two, and how many will you cook for and what kinds of cooking do you want to do?
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The egullet course on cookware would be a good thing to read:
That's the best place to start to understand cookware in general.
And if you'll give us some idea of what you want to spend for all those items, and whether you intend thsese pieces to last forever or for some lesser time, we may be able to give you more targeted and helpful suggestions.
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I always wear disposable gloves. Make one little mistake without them and you'll wish you did.
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Jimmy's is back. There was a heating and AC problem that delayed things further for a while.
A quiet "pre-opening", some stocking still going on but now open to all. My informant says better than ever.
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Looks awfully good to me, but if that little bit of flour really bothers you, Ling, you can ship it down here.
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Hmmm. Doesn't work for me using IE.
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I also have them in several colors. It does make for a colorful kitchen, and I have also saved quite a bit by shopping for whatever color happened to be on sale at Amazon or W-S in a size I wanted...I typically save 60 - 75%.
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You'll probably end up with more than one, but from the information you have given us I would suggest about a 6 quart oval. The oval shape works best with some cuts of meat, and stews and such do not care what shape they are cooked in. If you like them, you may end up wanting 2-3 quart and 9 1/2 quart sizes, too. That would give you a pretty good spread for many applications.
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So someone please explain what is supposed to be the negative effect of sides as high as an oval LC...or an enamled dark steel/spatterware roaster...compared to a low-sided stainless steel or tri-clad (or aluminum for that matter) roasting pan.
To clarify some of the above mentions of the stainless steel roasting pans: All-Clad roasters used to be tri-ply, but when they started making them in China about two years ago they changed to plain stainless steel (and kept the exorbitantly high price). Since then Calphalon and Sur La Table started offering tri-ply roasting pans similar to the old All-Clad for about $99.
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Admin: Threads merged.
Although my immediate reason for asking has to do with a turkey, the more general question would apply to any large chunk of meat.
Is there a difference in the effects of different pans you might use for roasting? Say a standard roasting pan with about 3" sides vs a dark steel deep roasting pan vs a large (9 1/2 qt) oval Le Cruset enameled cast iron pot vs a thin disposable aluminum grocery store roasting pan?
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One additional piece of advice that I have found helpful is to deep fry chicken or fish in a cast-iron piece two or three times before trying to cook something that is more likely to effect the initial seasoning..such as a steak. After this seasoning step, cooking bacon and sausage in it is always a good thing.
Also a note to avoid just covering up any rust...better to remove it entirely if you want to protect your pot.
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That looks great, Elie. A resourceful solution, indeed. I never did get around to this last winter, but I'll have to move it up on my list.
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Sounds like a great piece of cast iron.
I have found that the usual directions supplied with cast iron and which you attempted are not sufficient. They are designed to make cast iron seasoning look easy so that you will buy it. And they often result in a sticky, poor curing. At least wo food writers in the US South have also found this to be the case.
What I have done to cure many pieces of cast iron is to rub it with a thin coat of bacon drippings (or alternatively to rub it with a piece of bacon). Then put it in a 325 degree oven for about three hours. Let cool and then repeat. Do this a total of three times. And yes, do strip a piece that is rusty or trhat has lost its seasoning before doing this treatment.
But for new pieces of cast iron, the new Lodge Logic pre-seasoned makes the most sense. An easy entry into cast-iron cooking.
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Lee Bowman writes for the Scripps Howard News Services:
The study was lead by Dr. Robert Superko at the Fuqua Heart Center in Atlanta.
Superko said that while he doubts there's a health threat from coffee for most people drinking a couple of cups of any kind of coffee a day, the study did detect a difference in how a steady decaf diet affected people who are overweight. Those with a body mass index of more than 25 increased their HDL cholesterol (the good type) by about 50 percent during the study, while decaf drinkers who were not considered overweight saw HDL levels drop by about 30 percent.Interestingly, part of the complex picture that is only alluded to at the end of the article is different beans for decafe vs cafeinated. So are the effects due to the different process used on the different beans, or on some component in the beans? Or something about how the body responds when average weight vs overweight? Or all of the above.
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Thanks for posting this, Mary. This fine article was written by Mark Stuertz.
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I heard from my Jimmy's contact this past week that they are still bringing in product for the opening. Stay tuned.
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Just a quick note. Consumer Reports new issue has a section titled "Best Gifts" and evaluates cookware.
They tested Le Cruset against the "Country Cottage" stuff from China, sold on HSN, and couldn't find any difference in performance. The one thing they did say was that there was no very large round or oval Dutch oven in the sets offered. However, the stuff is non-stick which, in my opinion, would mean it would not produce fond when browning meats. However if cost is important, one might make concessions.
I found it on line at this vendor.
Non-stick would not be my choice either. I think there are other inexpensive enameled cast-iron made in both China and France that would be more useful. Check out discounters like TJ Maxx and Marshall's in the US and Canada.
I am also curious about the cost and availability of good enamaled cast-iron in other parts of the world.
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Now that you are going to get a decent knife, even if not your ultimate wish-list knife: if you have not already seen it, the eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI) course on Knife Sharpening and Maintenance by Chad Ward is absolutley full of interesting and helpful information. Good knives properly cared for repay you with good and safe service.
le creuset label
in Cooking
Posted
I'll be, another use for SSO! I had some in my fly fishing gear --- for keeping the mosquitos and other critters at bay. That really works. I just tried it on a label that I would have had to at least rest overnight smeared in dish soap. It wiped off easily after 10 - 15 minutes.