fresco

Peanut oil

Aside from salt and sugar (the sugar, as I understand it, helps to prevent the salt from hardening the meat) is it worth adding anything else to a brine, especially for something that will be grilled? Can chicken or pork actually sufficient flavor from herbs, spices and other things to make a difference?

The "brick" vs "no brick" debate and others makes me think that eGullet could really use a forum and an expert (or more likely, experts) to verify or debunk cooking tricks, gimmicks and claims. This would be a valuable public service, although the downside is it would tend to shorten many eGullet debates.

Do you think there's a market for pre-dunked Baptists?

What I find is that in each season in turn I look forward eagerly to the next season, because there is always something (or several things) that cannot be fully enjoyed at the time. The trove of fresh tomatoes, corn and other vegetables right now is wonderful, but even in Canada it isn't cool enough yet for stuff that is simmered or roasted for hours. But it's getting there.

So that's where the term "bum's rush" comes from.

Part of the charm.

Sometimes I put cream in my coffee. If I'm really adventurous, I add sugar, too. (Does Naomi have a new book coming out?) If she does, she wasn't talking about it.

Naomi Duguid, co-author of (among other excellent books on food) Hot Salty Sour Sweet, was just on our national radio, extolling hot orange juice, which made me a bit queasy. I'm raring to try the new and exotic at lunch or dinner, but experimentation at breakfast just doesn't work for me. Are you willing to be adventurous for that first meal of the day?

yeah but it touches the grates with more force, or something. yeah yeah, better contact. like you said, there are so many factors, that it's just about impossible to say that one method is noticeably better than the other. and if a flat bird looks good on the plate, flatten 'er out i say. and yeah, it impresses people. Why is everyone being so goddamned agreeable tonight?

In fact: Brine, no brine. Low heat, high heat. Trussed long or trussed short. Stuffed under the skin or not. Stuffed or not. Spatchcocked or not. They can all produce an amazing roast chicken. And trust me, I know. I've done it all. I'm with Maggie on this one. Whatever works.

Having lived through the crunchy vegetable phase, I'm happy we're beyond it. As far as fish goes, the big surprise for me was how much cooking monkfish required relative to other species

Don't know how orthodox this is, but I do about 20 minutes on one side and then flip it.

Counterintuitive if you are using a burger as your standard. But think that burgers are prone to leak juices because they're ground meat and mashing just makes it worse. Chickens with their skin on are a sealed unit. One thought is that a brick helps to squeeze out more of that fat from under the skin, which helps to baste the bird. But science was never my strong subject.

Sounds great, tommy. The brick is for tourists. Absolutely unnecessary, and actually makes the chicken more prone to burning. You don't press on your burgers while you grill 'em, do you? Don't mash the bird. Ok, I'm a tourist. But I do use a brick when grilling a spatchcocked chicken. Never came close to burning one, and maybe it's my imagination, but it tastes to me like it is juicier with a brick than without.

Does Ron Popeil sell chicken clubs too?

From the pictures you've posted, your backsplash looks like it is melamine board--same stuff that is used on a lot of kitchen cabinets. If tiling is too daunting--and it will all be torn out when your renovate--and if the color is what you don't like, you might consider just painting the backsplash--with a good primer and melamine paint. It would be a lot easier than painting the cabinets and a lot cheaper and faster than tiling.

Winnipeg--east or west, interesting question. It's the geographic centre of Canada. Think a lot of people in Alberta and BC consider it a sort of suburb of Toronto, while people in Ontario and eastwards are inclined to think of it as the capital of one of the prairie provinces.

By the way, what is a MIL? What you don't want your wife to turn into.

Why don't you give people the option of making their mushrooms, peppers, etc into burgers or not? Add some cheeses and fruits if you want more variety or a couple of unusual salads (couscos, rice etc). But I agree that veggie burgers meant to fake meat are not that great.

Roasted red peppers go well with portobello mushroom burgers. Grilled zucchini isn't bad, and goat cheese works.

It now occurs to me that I have seen people order bacon or ham and eggs with pancakes and slather syrup on their pancakes and ketchup on their eggs. The syrup and the ketchup become mingled and it is not pleasant to watch.

I'll vouch for this--it's a big hit whenever served and both quite simple and forgiving.

I used to think I was unusual in developing an interest in cooking in reaction to my parents' indifference/incompetence in matters of food. Nice to see I'm in such good company.

This may be my particular problem, but I find even with people I consider to be good chefs, daily exposure on tv palls very quickly. Part of what makes A Cook's Tour watchable is that new segments air only what, once a week? and since they jump around geographically, they don't get stale quite as quickly as watching someone perform in the same old kitchen at least five days a week. But if all tv were pitched at people like me, there would probably be about two hours of programming a week.