fifi

The two recipes that I developed that get repeated requests are Green Beans (Southern Style) and Coconut Glazed Chicken. If I don't show up with the green beans, there are certain family functions that I will not be admitted to.

Um... I think we need to review the objective if this proceeds. When it comes to cooking vegetables there may be a different objective with the same veggie. For example, green beans. There is the "perfectly" cooked, bright green green bean and then there is the smothered and long cooked green bean (e.g. my recipe in RecipeGullet). They are entirely different dishes. Both great.

Someone mentioned the problem with beans up-thread. Well, that could be a whole 'nother thread. But I will jump in anyway. The whole problem with beans is that they contain oligosaccarhides that are not easily digested in the upper GI tract and arrive later where the normal bacterial flora makes a lot of gas. All of the "tricks" to make beans less gassy are not effective. The use of an enzyme preparation, like Beano, is. Those folks that eat a lot of beans eventually develop more effective bacterial populations and don't have a problem. What happens to the occasional bean eater is that they avoid them further exacerbating the problem by not allowing the good little buggers to set up residence. For example: In Mexico, it is common to use the herb epazote when preparing beans. "Hey! We have no problem! Epazote works." What is more likely happening is that they eat beans frequently and have a population of bacteria that takes care of the problem. It just "appears" that epazote works. The whole thing about not salting beans while cooking so they will get tender is crap, too. It is the age of the dried bean that matters. An old bean will never cook up right. I always salt my beans. Much tastier.

Mudpuppie, you realize that you are leading me to perdition with that google tip. My god... The books and the toys that I could acquire!

Andrew, You are reading my mind. I was just sitting here wondering... What if I could get the spores and knew how to mix it with the sawdust, wood shavings or whatever it is? Then I could make my own mushroom topiaries, you know... animals and such.

I have seen big pieces (overlap the plate) of round done at a friend's house. (I am in Aunt Minnie's camp. Too much trouble. Find a good place and order it. ) You have to use a full sized grocery bag and toss one piece at a time. You also waste quite a bit of flour but that is cheap.

Why do you find that terrifying, badthings? That is what mushrooms grow on, plant fiber. Some kinds grow on rotting wood, some have a relationship with living underground root systems. All they did was "package" the thing. I saw a show some time ago where they visited a commercial mushroom production facility. The shitake growing didn't look much different, just larger scale. I bought one of these for my sister last year but I don't think she has tried it yet.

I will second Lone Star's assertion as to the brown paper sack. I mentioned it but didn't give it the status it deserves. (The same is true for southern fried chicken, BTW.) I don't know why but I am sure it has something to do with the way the flour impacts the pieces of meat and incorporates the flour into whatever liquid is on the steak, seasoned buttermilk in my case. I tried Wondra on some steak "stips" once (not really the same thing as that big piece that is classic CFS) and I didn't really like the texture that much. It wasn't "bad" just not like a CFS crust and I was comparing it to my expectations.

On the veggie cooking thing... Adding salt shouldn't affect the pH of the tap water appreciably. I suspect that different cooks might get different results depending upon their tap water. I don't really know how much variation there might be in tap water but I suspect that it could be a lot. And how does softness/hardness affect the results? How about the presence of other trace elements? What, if any, variation of reactions with the chlorophyl in the veggies occur? Damn. This could get complicated.

Well, Dear Sir, I respectfully suggest that you get off your distinguished buns and write that canine cook book. Actually, that would be very cool. With the nutrition research thrown in I would buy it and probably cook for the next extremely fortunate basset hound to enter my life.

Yeah... Sort of like "GIT A ROPE!"

Now Mudpuppie... you don't need to justify that lovely post.

There aren't a lot of chicken dishes in tomato sauces that send me over the moon. I usually get what you did. Eh. As I think of it, there is only one that I make that gets requested. Briefly saute chicken pieces (breasts or thighs, no skin). Pour a good picante sauce over them. (Just use your favorite.) Cover and cook until the chicken is done. If the sauce is too thin, remove the chicken pieces and cook the sauce down. Arrange the chicken pieces back in the pan and cover each piece with whatever kind of melting cheese you like. (I have used cheddar or jack.) If you grate the cheese you can remove the whole thing from the heat and cover. In a few minutes the cheese will melt.

When CFS goes wrong, it can go horribly wrong. Do not order CFS here: Robert Del Grande screws up CFS. They try to use sirloin to make it upscale=>can't chew it. Heavy batter (is there cornmeal in there?) that is saturated in grease.

Some how I missed the rice thing and I grew up on the Gulf Coast, too. However, my mother and assorted grandmother's and aunts never cooked it. We always got it at some cafe or diner type set-up and they always served potatoes. (At least, I haven't run into rice in a cafe or diner.) As I think of it, that is kind of weird. They were all avid cooks but thought: "It just isn't worth the trouble when Mary down at the Cosy Corner Cafe does such a fine job." "Right, Minnie. Just not worth sloppin' up the kitchen." Then the next weekend they would fry up piles of chicken. Go figure. That gravy would sure go good on some rice, though.

Everyone has their own ideal for CFS. Come to think of it, there may have been a thread about it many moons ago but I am too lazy to look. A lot of food writers in my part of the world have to do at least one story on their search for the best CFS. I think it is part of the requirements for admission to the club. For me, the crust has to be thick but really crispy and light. Some folks put some baking powder in the flour. The steak has to be tender. It has to be properly fried so that it is not greasy. Sort of like a well prepared pan fried chicken. I don't think I have ever encountered any starch but potatoes or biscuits. I wouldn't be surprised to find rice in Louisana or other parts of the south.

The Texas version is usually made from round steak or chuck steak. You whack the crap out of it with a tenderizing mallet then batter and fry it. Supposedly if this isn't done in a cast iron skillet you are guilty of fraud. I favor the technique of soaking the steak in seasoned buttermilk and flouring the steak in a paper bag, just like I do for pan fried chicken. Varmint is right. The buttermilk makes the cream gravy mighty tasty.

WELCOME, texesser! I think you will find eGullet a great place to hang out. I merged your post with this thread so that you can meet all the other bagel chompers in the Texas Forum. I am glad to hear about New York Bagels. I may be in that part of town over the weekend and will pick some up for breakfast. I may try some of the other goodies too.

Thanks, Boris. Some of those look really good. I will print that out and take it with me to the plumbing supply guy. I have to disagree on the double valve arrangement. This apartment kitchen has taught me that I REALLY want a single mixer valve like I had in the house.

Mumble years ago, I dated a guy that had this honkin' big sport fishing boat. We are talking 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a regular kitchen... er... galley. Invariably, if we took one of his clients out into the Gulf, someone would get seasick. I always carried plastic baggies of small cubes of fresh ginger. As soon as the victim started to look a little green, I would have them quickly crack a couple of cubes with their back teeth and chase it with water (so as not to scorch the tongue). The reaction was invariably immediate, followed by exclamations of "That is f***ing amazing!" Neither powdered ginger in the capsules nor ginger ale ever had the same effect. Prednisone... ACK! I took a very low dose of that once upon a time for a hormonal condition and that stuff messed with my head. VERY scary.

I am glad this has popped up again. I have been looking at sinks at various friends' kitchens. I am more convinced than ever that I should go for the size and depth that I can get (stainless steel) and not fall for any really high dollar deal. (More than $1000 for a sink? I don't think so.) My el cheapo big sink/little sink in my house was performing admirably after 6 years and I can't see a whole lot of difference. I haven't found a single valve faucet with the elbow things. I am considering a foot pedal if I can get it. Yeah... Pictures... First I have to build the damn thing. I have been procrastinating because it is such a PITA. (I have done this before a few times.) My New Year's resolution is to get it done.

There's a silly old joke – it was one of my mother's favorites – about a guy in the hospital who is presented with a tray containing a cup of apple juice for him to drink and an empty jar for a urine sample. As soon as the nurse leaves the room, he pours the apple juice into the jar. When the nurse comes back, she holds the sample up to the light and says "Hmmm...looks a little cloudy". So the patient says "Here, gimme that – I'll run it through again" before tossing it back. That is an old joke that "may" have originated with one of the original astronauts. I actually heard him tell about it. We were hanging out in one of the local bars here and the guy came over to our table since one of us was a nurse at the space center and knew them. They were getting pretty sick of NASA's obsessive medical testing. I think it was written up in one of the books. Maybe one called The Right Stuff?

I couldn't find it either. BTW, welcome to eGullet.

There is a thread here somewhere that gave the Lodge pre-seasoned line very high marks. They have most if not all of their pieces available pre-seasoned. Lodge Cast Iron here.