ChefPip

I always read the lables on cans, bottles, boxes, and any such containers in the market. It isn't to do with any predjudice toward Asian People or Chinese in particular, but I insist on food purity. I see so many food lables now that won't say where the food comes from, but rather "Distributed by" some outfit based in the USA. If they won't tell me where it comes from, I assume the worst and choose not to purchase it. Some times I think today's Globalist entrepreneurs have dollar signs "$" in their eyes in place of pupils.

My best probably says something like Kitchenaid, Cuisinart, Hobart, or something like that on it., The worst, say "AS SEEN ON TV" , or Designer, or Ronco, or Presto, or something like that. I must agree that so many of those single purpose products made for the Holiday gift giving season which show up in Walmart's "Action Alley" are destine for the first yard sales of the spring.equinox.. I used to see so many of tose Mr.Coffee "Potato Perfect" spud cookers in yard sales. The Pizza Pzazz machine was another. I believe Presto had an appliance that a stick of butter or margarine was inserted into so it would melt inside it. Then there was a pump spray trigger so you could spray liquid butter. I believe they had two versions where one plugged into the wall and the other was heated in a microwave oven. But these items give new meaning to the expression, "Oh, you shouldn't have". .

Just a word about cooking with a Wok. The principle is to be able to use just enough heating fuel to quickly cook the meal. That was why the Wok was invented. There wasn't much fuel and it was expensive so the cook had everything laid ot in advance in order of the time it took to cook. Once the Wok was heated, peanut oil would be swirled around the side and possibly some sesame oil to help flavor it. Then in would go the items like Green Peppers, Onions, carrots, meat and later celery, bok choy, bean sprouts, show peas and whateve only needed to get hot with the few minutes of heating fuel you had. The Wok is a very efficient utensil. It doesn't require much fuel. If you were using a 12 inch Wok, I'd say 10 to 15 glowing red briquettes would more than be enough to prepare your meal. You may even get by with eight briquettes. I learned to cook in a Wok years ago. Today I own about four of them. It started in school days when my Grandmother bought one somewhere and thought she would learn to cook Chinese. She was clueless and successless as well. Next tme I was by there she had it filled with dirt on the patio and flowers growing in it. So at the end of the season I asked her for it and cleaned it up and learned to use it. It is a whole different way to go about cooking let me assure you.

If you have anyone who can shop around Antique places for you they may find some Old Iron Ware. Names like Wagner or Griswold are the ones to look for, but there are others like Erie etc. At least these are the ones I know and use. If these are rusty they will need to be cleaned and seasoned properly. To get rust off them I use Coca Cola as the acids tend to cut through. Then coarse Kosher salt to scrub with using the salt as an adbrasive which won't harm any cooking surfaces or contaminate them. Once clean to your satisfaction, use Flax Seed Oil smeared all over the utensil and then heat it in the oven. You can do this several times and you will have a lovely black satin finish Iron Ware that will perform for you. Lodge is good stuff that you can trust. Those things coming in from offshore may contain more than just cast iron and that can be rather like the ceramic cookware that was found to contain lead awhile back. I'm always proud to explain to my guest that my Iron Ware was made in America a long time ago when there was an ethic for doing things right instead of profitably. There is loads of old American Iron out there if you'll just go hunting. It never really wears out.

I have an old 4qt antique White Mountain electric with wooden tub that I take very good care of. I've had an electric motor shop to PM the motor so it will be dependable as well. I use 1 cup of rock salt to 6 or 7 lbs of crushed ice. When it begins to set up I remove the wooden & metal dashers and ripen the batch for about 1/2 hour and pack it in containers for the freezer. Depending on the ambient temperature, I'll make some adjustments as I use heavy cream in my basic vanilla recipe. If anyone is famaliar with an Ice Cream Company called Blue Bunny, I'm told my recipe taste like the home made vanilla that they sell. As I create a bunch of cobblers, pies, cakes, and baked goods this vanilla is my go to. and I try to keep it on hand. Nearly everyhing I serve in my Cafe/Bistro is made from scratch so it isn't comparable to any 2014 industrial production. I'm looking for Farm to Table authinticity to use with my collection of 70 year old recipes...

Greetings ! Ahhh yes, I watch the Travel Shows on TV by Rudy Maxa and Bert Wolfe when they show Istanbul and "The Grand Bazaar" with all the exotic spices and extracts. How I would love to import my own spices from there. I just don't know how to go about it and the USA legal requirements for doing it. I know I could bring it in to Port Columbus, Ohio which is an international inland port 240 km from me.

I just signed up and wanted to say hello. I'll probably lurk a lot for now and may have some questions when I see something interesting. Great to be here !