fifi

My go-to for when I want to launch into something new is Cook's Illustrated The Best Recipe. No, it isn't always the best recipe. But, it gives me the basics and explains why they made the choices they did. I rif on it from there.

Boy. Am I impressed. I would never attempt steak au poivre at home. But, it is my favorite steak to order at a steak house. I can't remember which one, but one of the locals around here mixes green peppercorns with the black. Divine! You are giving me courage to try it. Well, maybe when I get a real stove. And, R2D2 is right in tune with my activity this evening. I am watching "2001: A Space Odyssey" on Turner Classic Movies. That is some fryer.

What snowangel said. I did a batch one time with rosemary and wasn't all that crazy about it. Now, I just keep it simple and add anything else when I use it for whatever purpose.

Heh . . . The memory card thing. I had a Sony Mavica that used the little CDs before I got the Nikon D70. I was somewhat paranoid about the memory card thing, running out and not having a place to download it. I gave up traveling with the laptop when I retired. I mean, I could pick up the little CDs just about anywhere for really cheap. Soooo . . . I bought a 2 Gigabyte chip. Don't want to run out, you know. Well, I have now downloaded 4 CDs worth of high res shots and the camera shows 730 or so left!!!! I should have bought 2 smaller ones. About Chufi's beef . . . I did a little over a pound, didn't have guests, so I snacked on it for a few days. I stored the butter gravy separately. At the end of the beef, I still had some left over. I cooked some of those wide egg noodles and tossed them with the left over gravy. That is a side to die for. I did have guests when I served that and they were blown away. I may make the beef just to get that gravy for more noodles. After all, I have been known to smoke a pork butt just to have some for Barbeque Posole.

I have done the confit in the oven, using my 6 1/2 oval LC. I think I did it at 225 F. As I recall, those onions had a lot of water. I left the lid on for most of the process, partly over night, then removed the lid for the last two hours or so to concentrate it. At least that is what I remember.

The smallish piece of shoulder I did came out just fine. I corned for about 7 days. That decision wasn't from any scientific decision making. It just fit my schedule. It had a nice fat cap so I did the roasting uncovered in a roasting pan on a rack. That worked for the smaller piece. It was a nice firm texture with a very porky taste. (That is a good thing.) The only thing I should have done differently is to soak it in cold water for a full 24 hours and change out the water more often. It was in a fairly big container but I only soaked for about 18 hours and changed the water twice. It was a bit salty. When you are dealing with osmotic processes you just have to learn by experience. Now that I have learned a bit about the porky flavor and texture, I am probably going to start experimenting with seasonings.

Chris . . . This is going to sound archaic, but . . . Have you looked in the Yellow Pages under appliance service? Did you find this page?

That's what I did. I made the excuse that my package of chuck steak was a tad over the weight called for.

Drat. High temp silicone lubricant won't help that. I am going to have to check the racks on the GE Monogram range. I hate cleaning any kind of rack. Well, at least the house kitchen will have a sink that they might fit in. That Dawn Power Dissolver really helps a lot. I am now using it on the De Longhi racks. I let the Dawn stuff sit for a while then plop them in the dishwasher.

Oh my . . . And they have a frog, too. I have this thing about frogs. What Wolfert said. The instructions that came with my La Chamba called for soaking, putting water in it and into the oven for a bit. The last casserole I bought I poured hot, just about boiling water into it from my teapot. No problem.

That is really interesting. Different products in different countries.

You are going to love Chufi's butter braised beef. Well, unless you are an alien species that doesn't like butter. I had some beautifully marbeled chuck steak when I tried it. I had to tie my hands but I did restrain myself and stuck to the bay leaf and clove. Perfect. I was awfully curious about how that would work with venison or elk though.

Hm . . . good point. I will also await Daddy-A's reply. I think the racks in the GE Monogram I am planning on might be about the same. For sticky racks that don't slide easily, I used to smear with a little high temperature silicone lubricant. I have no idea where to buy it. I used to um . . . borrow some from the lab. First time I did that, I yanked at the rack and it almost came flying out and onto the floor. Susan . . . I just noticed the latest mushroom plug. We need to continue to build up the folks to a fanatical state of desire and channel that to AMCO. OOOOOM . . . OOOOOM . . . OOOOOM . . .

No kidding! I was talking to my son when I read this and we got to giggling over the really big pot of curried pumpkin soup, that I didn't like very much and he hated. (Though he loves Indian food in general.) We were about halfway through filling zipper baggies and laying them out neatly on a baking sheet to go in the freezer when we looked at each other and said, simultaneously, "What the **** are we doing?" That resulted in one of our "total incapacitation" laugh fests.

You say that the inside is black but not coated with anything? I haven't seen that version here in the US at all. A friend has a frying pan that has the black coating like my grill pan. This is what I see here with the "satin black enamel" on the inside. If it is bare cast iron, it would have to be seasoned before using it. If that is the case, I can't see the advantage of paying for LC. Even my well seasoned cast iron fry pan isn't used for cooking eggs, though. I use a non-stick for that. Here is what my seasoned pan looks like. (Picture from the Fried Chicken Cook-Off.)

I had a Whirlpool cook top in the house and looking at the picture, the burners don't look much different. I don't recall having the problem you describe. I am wondering if the pressure regulation on the gas supply or something like that might be off whack. I would call your Whirlpool service center and ask.

Nope. Not in bed. The idea is nice but the actual execution isn't all that comfortable. When I was traveling a lot on business, mostly alone, room service breakfast was a treat that I often enjoyed. A couple of times, a bed tray was an option and I tried it. I ended up moving the whole shebang out to the balconey one time and to the little table the other. But, there is something decadent about being served a lovely breakfast while still in robe and slippers. And, I like to go over the top . . . Eggs Benedict or something like it, lovely breads, fruit, coffee, juice (or a mimosa if not a work day). I indulge myself with breakfast when traveling. It is my favorite meal and I often pretty much skip dinner.

Oh, Marlene! What lovely bowls for the onion soup. Just exquisite! (I have the same ones. ) Clickety. Those are a really good buy at Williams-Sonoma, at least they were. Although, they seem to come and go from the catalog. And, my they have gone up. I recall buying sets of four for about $17 US several years ago. Then I broke a couple of pieces and couldn't find them. They showed up again and I snapped some up for the same price, replacements and extras. Still not too bad at $28 US, though.

But, of course! When you find it, do try it with soda. I typically fill a tall glass (16 oz. or so) with ice. Pour in two ounces of Campari and fill with soda. You can vary the amount of Campari to your taste. A twist of lime is optional but I like it. My favorite fizz water these days is La Croix. I got hooked on it when I was flying Continental a lot. There are certainly other ways to use it. A more recent topic on it is here and an older one is here. But my favorite is still simple with soda.

I find it odd that it is hard to find there. I usually find it here in the liqueur section. The Italian restaurant story, complete with poster in the background, is just too funny. Many years ago, I was out with an older German gentleman who was sort of my professional mentor. He ordered a Campari and soda and I was intrigued so I joined him. It was really lovely and I proclaimed "So . . . That is what all of those sidewalk cafe umbrellas are about." It is one of my favorite cocktails to this day. It is light on the alcohol and very refreshing.

Marlene . . . About cleaning your oven. I am going to assume that it is "self cleaning" meaning a high heat cycle since the walls are stainless and not coated with that "continuous clean" coating. My oven in my house was self cleaning. I think the racks were chrome plated. I always just left the racks in during the cleaning cycle. They took on a slight bluish cast that didn't bother me so I kept doing it. I had that oven for about 6 years and they were still fine when I sold the house. I think the oven instructions told you to take them out. With my materials knowledge I quickly decided that was bunk and probably only alluded to the appearance thing. I suspect that your racks are stainless steel which would really makes me wonder why you shouldn't just leave them in. The whole concept of cold soup in the winter gives me the shivers. And we haven't had winter here. But then, I don't really care for cold soups anyway. I have wondered about heating up cold soup recipes. I did that with a gazpacho once. My son and I made it out of curiosity, didn't really like it cold, and proceeded to heat it up before continuing dinner. We pronounced it good.

Oh . . . I dunno about all the rest of the stuff. This makes you a heroine in my book.

Spec's is my go-to place for anything that is hard to find. I have some wine-geek friends who long ago gave up lugging wine home from a trip. Before they do that, they call the Smith Street location and check. More often than not, they will have the product from that obscure little winery, and usually cheaper than they can get it on site. I agree with LDLee. The Smith Street store is nothing like the neighborhood places. There are a few large and well stocked local stores but nothing like the main store on Smith. That one is a whole 'nother universe. This topic is from the 2004 Cheese Tasting but it will give you an idea of what I mean. Spec's is in what we call Mid-Town, just a few blocks south of the downtown skyscraper district. My sister is a long time customer of Richard's, also in Houston. They used to have a selection of their own label wines that were a very good deal. I haven't shopped there recently, though.

Interesting question. The first thing that comes to mind is that zinc will be particularly vulnerable to damage by acids. Squeeze lemon juice on it and it will probably fizz. But, it was fairly widely used many years ago.

I seem to remember that there is a cooking device that is used in Japan that is essentially the same principal but it is a real "thermos" type device . . . double walled with a vacuum. I am not saying that it would work for pasta, that lots of water thing, but should work in principal. I am skeptical of anything like this that isn't a true thermos design.