fifi

And... The bad apple.

Hmmm... Rice still in the rice cooker from my lunch of rice and beans. Jar of Toast Dope on the counter. Room temperature butter in the butter dish. EUREKA!

Heh... That reminds me of what I did one time. I was with two friends at a very nice restaurant for lunch. After having requested the check, given the waiter the high sign a couple of times, I decided that 30 minutes (by the clock) was long enough to wait. I happened to have a Sharpie marker in my purse. I snagged a menu and scrawled on the inside that I felt that I had waited 30 minutes and that was long enough. I gave them contact information so that they could request payment. I never heard from them.

I thought about that but I don't really use it so I never bothered. I just had an evil thought. I could clean it up and give it as a shower gift to some airheaded young thing. I have a Williams Sonoma box just the right size. BWAHAHAHAHA!

*heel of hand smacking forehead* Oh my! What a fabulous idea! I have a couple of cans left that I didn't give away. I can't wait to try this. i am also going to call the lucky recipients of my gift and suggest this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I think bread crumbs or cornflakes or whatever can be quite good but that isn't the classic CFS. You need the flour to get the right kind of crumblies left in the bottom of the pan for the gravy. Maybe that is why her gravy sucked. My great aunt... the CFS queen of all time... usually just used some of the flour from the breading process to make the gravy and added more black pepper. She owned a hotel in Brookshire TX back in the 20s and 30s, famous for its food. (She also owned the cotton gin. She was amazing.)

On the amount of $100... The point that seems be missed here is that the original meal was more than $100. Four people X $30 = $120 + whatever the charge for 8 mimosas. All four got sick. I wouldn't accept $100, either. I think the argument about the e-mail versus letter, in person, etc. is superfluous. Food poisoning is a serious issue. The communication should include the parties involved, what each of them ate, the time they ate it, and the time of the onset of illness, and the symptoms involved (vomiting, diarreah, fever). This should be discussed with the chef/owner, whoever is really in charge. The problem with an e-mail to a general business address is that you don't know who is reading it. The important thing is that the information get to whoever can identify the culprit and get use of the product stopped. Keep in mind that the source of, let's say, the shellfish, may also go to other restaurants. This is serious business and preventing exposure of the very young, old, or immune system compromised is the important thing here. I wouldn't rule out notifying the health department.

Yeah... Bisquick would work. I have done that with chicken.

eGADS... I am thinking aloud here. Dawn is about the most efficient oil neutralizer that I know of. After you have mopped up all you can, squirt some Dawn on the area and spread it around, with a scrub brush maybe? Wipe that up and rinse, rinse, rinse.

Yep. I don't think the recipe calls for it but I found that brining really helps those boneless pork loins. We get them here for $1.99 as a loss leader and it is awfully hard to pass that up. I also quit messing around with the temperature and just set it to 325F anymore. The drippings are better. I keep that spice rub on hand for all sorts of things. It is great in a vineagrette with a jicama/red onion/red bell pepper slaw type salad. Add some Mexican oregano. That article was one of the only times I actually cooked the whole menu. It was a knock out and I repeat the recipes often. I just wish I could find my copy of the magazine it came out of but that has been lost.

Gravy definitely on the side. And definitely dip the fried potaoes and the biscuits in it. Though I usually prefer mashed potatoes. I don't do CFS at home. It is entirely too much trouble. Oh... I have done it and it was good. You use round steak, cut about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Whack the hell out of it with one of those tenderizing mallets. Now is where recipes start to diverge, the crust. I like the classic. That is, just like chicken, I soak the steak in well seasoned buttermilk. Then I dredge it in well seasoned flour. (They didn't have bread crumbs on the ranch or in the chuckwagon.) Some folks include some baking powder in the flour. This is best done in a big brown paper grocery bag, drop it in and shake it around. For some reason it seems to make a difference. The steak is then fried in about an inch or more of Crisco in an iron skillet. Milk gravy is made with the "drippings".

Here is what I do for boneless pork loin... Brine for about 12 hours in a solution of 1 cup of KOSHER salt per gallon of water. I put it in a ziplock in the fridge and don't usually have to mix up a whole gallon. I also put it in a big bowl in case the bag springs a leak. Take it out of the brine and give it a good rinse. Season it with a rub, garlic or whatever you like. Place on a rack in a pan in a 325 - 350 oven. Cook to an internal temperature of 140-160F (I don't remember. I always have to look it up, so I guess you will too. Oops, I just looked up my favorite recipe and it says 150F.) Anyway, it should be pink on the inside. Today's pork is perfectly safe. You don't have to cook it to death. Let it stand for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Here is my favorite recipe in the whole world.

Dave has nailed it. If the crust isn't right and the gravy isn't right, the steak could be the finest cut and it would be horrible. In fact, the worst CFS I have ever had was at an upscale restaurant here in Houston. They tried to use sirloin and didn't whack it enough. The crust was all bread crumby and greasy. The gravy was bland. ICK! The usual cut is round steak, pounded thin. I can imagine that Jack McDavid would make a mean CFS. That guy seems to understand our Southern cuisine. I miss seeing him on TV, even if he was paired with McFlay. He outcooked Bobby every time as far as I was concerned. Soba... CFS has NOTHING to do with anyone's concept of a steak. It is a whole 'nother thing.

Most probable problem is your oven temperature. Do you have an accurate thermometer inside the oven? Otherwise, don't be too particular about the time but just let it go until it looks like you want it. Recently, I sliced some a little thinner than usual and let it go a little longer than usual. I was after mostly crispies for use instead of croutons on salads. I haven't made the soup yet, but I would probably not go all the way to crispy for that. Also, tossing in a bowl with the oil ensures an even coating of the oil.

Nope. I remembered about the "ground coat", too. But I dismiss it because that upper edge will certainly rust. My pan has that ground coated edge and a black coated interior. I think you can see the cracks. I left some glare on the black coating so you can see its texture.

Here is one I never have understood... Southern origin, I think. "Why, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth." Seems like if that were the case, "her" mouth is cold. But I think it means overbearing sweetness. Huh? Then there is... Like gravy on rice. Like a duck on a June bug. (OK... the bug is food to the duck.) Your goose is cooked. I am not sure this is exactly food related but, in my family, when a kid asked where they came from, the answer would be... "A buzzard burped you up."

Yeah... Now that I go back and reread, I am confused, too. I am looking at my grill pan right now. The inside is definitely not nekkid. You see the typical uncoated iron on the top edge just like on the ovens. The black coating is not slick like the oven interiors but more matte and textured. It is definitely a hard and somewhat brittle coating, determined by picking at the cracks. I am looking at the same pan as in my link. WTF?

According to the Le Creuset site the interior of the grill pans is also porcelain enamel, just black. As noted above, mine cracked at the base of the ribs. Maybe that is why they were giving them away. That makes me wonder if they really mean "seasoning" as for traditional uncoated cast iron, or if they mean just to facilitate grilling. Now that I reread Dave's link in his post, it is not at all clear. bleachboy... You have a piece of LC that I have never seen. I wonder if it is a "second"?

Good catch, Dave. I just took a look at my grill pan. It has some sort of black coating on the inside but I am not sure if it is non-stick as in PTFE. I wouldn't think so because of the expected high temperatures. At the base of the raised ribs, the coating appears to be cracked and there is a very little bit of rust. I have to confess that I have only used it a couple of times. I really don't grill inside. Too much mess and smoke that my set-up can't handle. (I got it free at an outlet that was giving it away as a promotion.) At any rate, whatever is on the inside surface, it is not the porcelain glaze like in the dutch ovens.

I'm not sure what "bottom of the valley" means but it looks like you may be somewhere in the neighborhood of our own rancho_gordo. His web site is here. We were especially interested in his beans over on the Dried Bean thread. Have you ever run into his products at the markets listed on the site? Some of us would be interested in a report.

That is pretty wierd. I can't imagine why one would glaze just the OUTSIDE. Can you tell who made it?

Seasoning? What seasoning? LC doesn't require seasoning. I think you are confusing LC with unglazed cast iron like Lodge. The silicone utensils are not required. But stainless utensils will leave metal marks on the glaze. They don't really hurt anything if you don't mind looking at them. I just got tired of cleaning them off so I started using only wood or silicone. I am kinda compulsive about some things. Several of my LC pots are years old and still retain their easy to clean properties even though I did use ss utensils for years.

Here is how I slice it... I remove the florets from the core. Then I slice each floret longitudinally about 1/8 inch thick. You end up with lacy slices and little gibbles. I toss the whole mess in a bowl with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. The little gibbles get crispy as do the thinner lacy parts. I have read here that you can slice the core as well. I intend to try that. There is a picture somewhere of some of it on pasta.

First we need a geographic area. Here in Texas you will get many conflicting opinions. We get passionate about our CFS down here in the home of that sublime delicacy. Hint: Usual sources are mom & pop type places that cook it the traditional way, in a cast iron skillet. Anyone who tries to makes it in a deep fryer should be run out of town on a rail.

Maybe I'm dense. Would you explain your caveat, please, Paula? I was scratching my head about that one, too. Then Paula posted the "just enough water" quote. I am guessing, but I think that Paula is referring to the fact that if you don't "pre-swell" the beans, you aren't going to know the ultimate volume of beans and therefore won't know how much liquid to add. Makes sense to me and I will keep that in mind when dealing with unknown beans. I will especially keep it in mind when I finally tackle cassoulet... unknown beans and a lot of work to screw up. That one, I will probably plan ahead. Others, much less chance. I tend to cook beans on a whim. In my crockpot, I don't worry about it. Over the years I have come to know how most of the beans I cook will swell. For example, I know that my red beans need about 3/4 inch of water over the beans to start and Camellia red beans are very consistent. If I am in "unknown bean" territory, I start with about 3/4 inch of water over, then check as it goes for the first couple of hours (I start on high.) and add water as needed. Usually after two hours on high they have done their thing, I can switch to low and go about my business.