Thanks for the Crepes

@blue_dolphin, Thank you so much for sharing that Moth Radio Hour link! I just it. If this guy is as talented at cooking as he is at story telling, no wonder the Obamas sought him out to eat dinner there.

@YetiChocolates, I didn't think, "less classy", but rather whimsical and fun. Sounds like what you were after, and I love the fact that the appearance of the chocolate reveals and tantalizes with a bit of what's to come. Edit: I had to add artisan, creative, and thinking outside the box to the list of descriptors.

Hi, @Okanagancook, I'm no Scot, mostly English, but we must have Irish in the woodpile somewhere, because the redheads crop up in the family frequently. All I have to say about your recipe is that is seems like a boatload of nutmeg for 2 pounds of meat. Nutmeg is a very strong spice, especially fresh grated or ground as you used it. I like it very much, and add it in much smaller amounts to savory dishes and baked sweet goods. You have inspired me to buy ground meat and mix in my own spices next time I want some sausage. Many times I wind up taking sausage in a casing out of that casing for use. I really wonder why I never thought to just buy ground meats and spice to my own taste. I had a mechanical grinder growing up, but none now, and no way to put sausage in a casing, but I see now that I can absolutely make my own sausage. Thanks for this insight.

Reporting back on the effects of refreezing the TJ's Tiramisu Torte, as we tried some more of it today. I just set it out on the counter from the freezer for a few minutes while cleaning the kitchen after dinner. When it was softened enough to slice, I plated it, and we ate it frozen. It looked much more like the picture on the box this time and sliced and plated better. It was still slightly frozen when we ate it with sliced strawberries, and I would ignore the no refreeze advice on the package. The texture was fine, and still in it's frozen state, not soft and weepy like last time. Still not buying it again.

@YetiChocolatesAll of your work is beautiful, but what caught my attention immediately was the s'mores piece. I thought immediately when I saw the photo, before I read your descriptions, "Wonder if that's a s'more." I hope you will report back on your tasting party later. I have to live most of my love of chocolates vicariously due to gaining weight so easily. I have been enjoying a piece or two of my Valentines heart box chocolates over time though, and most of the thirteen pieces are still left. Not one of them has been as good as anything posted here. My husband will never get the nuances of fine food, but at least he's still buying candy and flowers for Valentines after 17 years, so I can't complain.

I too, like all sorts of noodles in soup, but true ramen noodles are special to me because with their alkaline treatment, they don't get soggy easily even in hot soup. I like that quality a lot.

I have duck fat and stock in the freezer and ramen noodles in the pantry. I thought I needed to pick up scallions, but I noticed the other day that the ones growing in the deck flower box from last summer have somehow survived our ice and sleet storms. I'm in.

Congratulations on your wins @chappie! I'm just a housewife, and was interested but somewhat intimidated to give any advice to a successful contest winner, who for all I know may be a professional chef. I found it kind of sad that no one responded to your 2011 post, perhaps because they were also intimidated, so here goes anyway. I agree that if your judging panel is responding to traditional approaches, that's the way to go. I like to render the fat from bacon and set the bacon itself aside. Then I cook minced white onion in the smoky pork fat. I leave that in the pan. I like simmering the potatoes in just clam juice. That way you don't have to worry about your dairy breaking. To me it's not just about the texture either. It seems to taste different to me too, once it breaks. I would also be surprised if you were ever able to recover the silky creamy, texture of the dairy, no matter what you did. I'm embarrassed to admit in this thread that when I make homemade chowder, I thicken with instant potato flakes, but I sure wouldn't do that for a contest. Instead, I'd take part of my cooked potatoes and mash really well or puree. I'm with you on the no flour. The texture is gluey in comparison. I also use a small amount of good (to me) table Chardonnay, but for a contest, I would use the best white wine I could lay my hands on. Whole milk is plenty creamy to me, and I only add that after everything else is cooked, and just heat the milk up to serving temp without boiling. Probably this isn't traditional, but I like to garnish the chowder just before serving with the crispy bacon bits. Interesting idea about pureeing the clams to cook from the beginning. Maybe worth a test run. Knowing how rubbery clams can become when overcooked, though, I'd worry about tiny bits of rubber marring the texture. Good luck this year, and I hope some of the great cooks we have here will chime in with their ideas too.

I also use the T incision method linked by haresfur. I guess I picked it up from examining the the chilies rellenos at a Mexican restaurant we used to frequent. I also use their recipe which uses Anaheims, and is over-stuffed with seasoned meat, topped with cheese and roasted. I leave the seeds and membranes in mine, but remove them for my husband. The restaurant just leaves them all inside the pepper, the way I like them. I'm sure this cuts way down on their prep time. Anaheims can vary quite a bit in heat, and there's absolutely no way to tell from looking at them. I consider it a lagniappe when I run across a hotter one. They have a much better flavor for stuffing than Poblanos to me. Just don't mix them up with Cubanelles like I did one time. They look similar, but the Cubanelles are more blunt/rounded at the flower end. I found out I don't care at all for Cubanelles, but lots of people do. I need to buy some Anaheim chilies, but think it might not be the right season. This is such a good dish, and this thread has given me a wicked craving for it. The very next time I run across these peppers, they are on the menu.

Thanks for the recommendation @IowaDee. I have bookmarked it. Wow! What a strange, strange story for a man we all grew up thinking so wholesome. He must have had an early version of a PR spin doctor. This is the first I've heard of any of this.

Very interesting article @lesliec. I had never dreamed that Dr. Kellogg had such, erm, unusual ideologies. He had some very good ones too, and seemed to be a kind, well-intentioned and accomplished man, but... Agreed that if his philosophy were widely known, his cereal would be quite unpopular among millennials.

Hi @Alex. I read both these articles and agreed with many points in both of them. I have worked as a waitress years ago, once for no remuneration except tips, but made good money anyway. I really was completely unaware that tipping has roots in racism and slavery. I shouldn't be so surprised, as it's the only job I've ever had where I was paid absolutely nothing by my employer. We had to clean tables, put up chairs and sweep up too, which could never result in any tips. This was at Bad Bob's nightclub in Memphis, TN. I was making good money, and I figured it was their real estate, furniture, liquor, and they hired the live bands, so I went along with their illegal practices. I believe all the assertions made about sexual harassment in the industry too, from my experiences in it. I will say Bad Bob's wasn't bad for that (unless you count the stupid miniskirt mandatory uniforms), but I have seen lots of it elsewhere. Okay, maybe my standards on that have been lowered as mentioned in one of the articles. Let's just say Bad Bob's wasn't one of the worst offenders I've seen. I have to say that I think there is a breakdown in Jay Porter's logic when he opens his 2013 Slate article with this: "A couple of years after opening the Linkery restaurant in San Diego, the team and I adopted a policy of adding to each dining-in check a service charge of 18 percent—a little less than our tip average had been." (emphasis mine) And states later in the article: "When we switched from tipping to a service charge, our food improved, probably because our cooks were being paid more and didn't feel taken for granted. In turn, business improved, and within a couple of months, our server team was making more money than it had under the tipped system." Hmm... Both servers and cooks making more money on less than the tip average had been? This could be explained away by increased volume of sales at the restaurant. It also means that unless the cook and server teams were expanded, they were working harder too, and I've never worked anywhere where there was much slack time at all. It could also be explained by voluntary tipping on top of the 18% enforced gratuity, but Jay stated that he confiscated all he could find. I for one get miffed at enforced gratuity, avoid restaurants/hotels that do this, and if I find myself stuck unexpectedly by it, do not leave an additional tip. I usually tip 20% or even more for really good service. Maybe I am one of those egomaniacal, power-mad, control freaks described in Slate the article, but I tend not to think this because I have been in the server's shoes and have a lot of empathy for their plight. Also, I have to say that if Jay thinks he caught all the surreptitious tipping... "If someone surreptitiously slipped a twenty or two under a water glass, we donated it to a rotating “charity of the month,” usually selected by a staff member or patron." ...he is quite mistaken.

Hi Print, and welcome to eGullet. All of us here who have cooked much (and most of us have) have had mishaps in the kitchen, and try to learn from them. I once knew a wise older man who told me, "If you're not making mistakes, it means you're not doing anything." No matter what area of cooking you are interested in, you will find a wealth of information on this site, and people willing to discuss the nuances of it.

I made eggplant parm like I usually do with broiled instead of fried eggplant. Eggplant soaks up oil faster than anything else I have ever seen. I've never come up with a batter or coating that prevents this oil absorption or stays crispy in the tomato sauce anyway, and I don't drown it. I like the flavor of the broiled brushed with a little olive oil. It also dehydrates it and concentrates the flavor of the eggplant. This was served with a side of al dente spaghetti with the same homemade marinara sauce used for the eggplant, a salad and garlic bread. It made pretty plates garnished with a little finely chopped flatleaf Italian parsley. It was so good, the husband didn't even make his customary "No meat?" comment.

Yes. IMHO the history of the rise of the popularity of cold breakfast cereals is also part of exploring and discussing the reasons for it's current decline. It was quite an innovation when it first appeared, and not so much now. There are many more options today for a quick breakfast as has been discussed upthread. Several have complained about the current pricing of name brand cold cereals, and I certainly concur. I don't think anyone has mentioned how much cheaper you can get knockoffs. I buy Cocoa Crispies chocolate crisp rice knockoff brand at the Dollar General and it's much, much cheaper, as are their other knockoff generic cereals, and tastes the same. Between the inflated price of the name brands, and the "uncoolness" that millennials might attach to shopping for generics, perhaps that's part of the explanation too?

@andiesenji, I had never heard of "Ruskets", so I Googled and came up with this link and this one that I will share for anyone else who may be interested in the history of breakfast cereals. If anyone knows more, it looks like Wikipedia needs some help with the article.

We had Taco Bell takeout last night with really good chocolate old-fashioned milkshakes from a mom and pop burger joint in the same shopping center for dinner last night. My dishwasher is broken, so give me break. Tonight was open-faced hot chicken sandwiches with mashed potatoes, all drenched with Trader Joe's turkey gravy (more details here) that they only sell around the holidays. We also had half a cob each of butter and sugar corn, which had noticeably aged since we ate the first two ears, and green leaf lettuce with cucumber and Roma tomato salad.

I used the shelf stable box of turkey gravy that I picked up at TJ's as part of dinner tonight. I believe they only carry it around the holidays. Not being a fan of canned or jarred gravy, I thought I'd try one pack of TJ's to see if it was any better, with the plan of stocking up next year if it was, in fact, better. I wasn't too impressed on my first taste, but after I stirred in about a generous 1/4 t. MSG (TJ's recipe doesn't include any), it tasted better on our open-faced hot chicken sandwiches and mashed potatoes. A 1/4 c. serving has no measurable protein, so it really needed that hit of MSG umami. It was probably better than mainstream brands, with less chemical tang. The husband liked it a lot, and I didn't tell him it wasn't homemade, and he seemed not to notice, so YMMV. After eating the homemade gravy for chicken and dumplings I made just two days ago, I won't be stocking up next fall. Great news for the gluten free crowd, though. It's thickened with tapioca starch and potato flour.

Wow, @rotuts, I knew McD's didn't have biscuits up north, but it sounds like they don't have a lot of basic staples in your neighborhood. Surprising for a major metropolitan area. No wonder you learned to cook so well.

Ooh, I love Filet o' Fish! I have also never had a Big Mac, so I reckon they will pull me in again with this promotion. My dishwasher is also broken, so that is my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it.

pastrygirl, gorgeous chocolate work as always! Your seashells look like something that might naturally be found in the sea, despite the weird color palette your client specified. I hope they like them too. I sure do. No wonder you're not sure about the difference between turquoise and aqua blue. Panatone, sort of an authority on color shades, returns this for turquoise, and nothing for aqua blue or aquamarine. Google images returns this for turquoise, and this for aqua blue. Again, I love what you did within the dictates of the order. It could have turned out just weird, but you have made it a beautiful work of art.

I'm always pulling for an "A". I wish @HSTmuch success with this interesting project. Please tell us how your presentation goes. That said, I pale at the concept. I have given dinner parties for up to twenty at my home, and it's frazzling even serving everyone the same dishes, with as much prep done ahead as possible. Trying to customize a separately dictated dish for each diner, source and buy ingredients and prepare 20 different entrees and side dishes for each one on a reasonable budget and at one seating is a challenge I'm not at all interested in, and I sort of like challenges within reason. This one just isn't. Then, even if you were able to pull off this impossible task, you would have waste management of leftover ingredients. I inwardly roll my eyes when someone asserts veganism or not liking a certain vegetable, but that is manageable with extra work. Now as a dream, where you can somehow afford to hire enough staff that is smart and interested and capable of pulling this off, what a fantastic idea! I love it. If it were possible in the stated $20-$30 price range, I'd be the first taker. I would not come back unless my first experience lived up to my expectations. I think to make a successful business go out of the concept, though that the price would be at least 10 times or more than the premise, and that would put me out of the equation as a consumer of the service.

@sartoric, Tere may be right about the spring greens. I've never grown cabbage in a hot climate, but I used to grow kale (related) from seed in Memphis, TN in fall after I had ripped out the spent annual flowers from a bed along the wall of my house. In mild winters, the roots wintered over, and I got another spontaneous crop in spring before time for more flowers. I like to harvest the greens young and tender. I know you have some interest in gardening from your posts about growing basil, bird's eye chillies and papaya in the Gardening thread. The papaya tells me it gets pretty hot, and never too cold, but it got to 112 F one summer day in Memphis, so maybe it would be worth a try if you can find some seeds when your cooler weather comes. @HungryChris, I also had chicken and dumplings today, but not gyoza and wings, and a brief, but supremely inconvenient, power outage yesterday! Spectacular dinner you produced, especially with no power, and glad your generator is working well. I hope your power comes back on soon. Yesterday I roasted a chicken and served it with homemade stove top mac and cheese with white American cheese, and a simple salad of green leaf lettuce. This was preceded by a repeat of the knife-cut zucchini noodles in garlic butter with parm. This is a keeper. I cleaned the kitchen after a very satisfying meal, and all was good until I noticed the dishwasher was leaking on the floor. I got the sponge mop and was keeping up with it pretty well until the power went out with a boom, crash, explosion a little after 11:00PM in the storm. Another tree down. In the few minutes it took to call in the outage, locate a flashlight, matches and get some candles lit, the kitchen was flooded with a couple inches of standing water in the low spot between the fridges! Fortunately power was restored in a little over an hour, but I was still working on restoring order to the kitchen. At least I had a working washer and dryer for the soaked, thick area rugs I have everywhere in the kitchen. Unbelievably, this is the second time I have cleaned my flooded kitchen without power. The first time I cut off the circuit breakers myself, fearing electrocution from a broken pipe. Today I made a gravy from the drippings and stock from the roasted chicken, and milk, thickened with flour roux with the schmaltz, and added some of the deboned and chopped leftover chicken and topped with my fluffy dumpling recipe. Delicious with some steamed broccoli and sliced tomatoes. Chicken gravy makes a delicious dipping sauce for broccoli. Naturally, dishes were washed by hand and will be until the dishwasher is fixed. It actually wasn't much more active time than nursemaiding the horrible dishwasher and a couple hours less total time.

Yep, it's never a good idea to trash stuff that just "appears". It has usually broken off or worked loose from somewhere, even if it's just a screw that has backed itself out of something. @CaptainWouldn't be a heat sink if it's made of lightweight ceramic as OP described. Not a bad guess, though, because if the material was more thermally conductive, the design would absorb and get rid of heat quickly. Looks metallic to me too from her photo. The catalytic converter theory forwarded and clarified by @dcarchwould be the one I would bet on. I hope you can successfully restore it to full functionality @kayb, and jealous of your self-cleaning oven. Okay, I'm jealous of almost anyone's oven, because mine is so old and wasn't great from the factory floor. Edit: On closer examination of the photo, it looks like a couple of obvious chips into the ceramic on the outer edge, and maybe a lesser third one, and those may have been attachment points, pretty evenly spaced around the perimeter? I cannot venture a guess at what reattachment material might hold up to the high temps of a self-cleaning oven. Definitely not silicone. Any thoughts, anyone? They make high temp adhesives for engines, but not food safe, I'd imagine.

@liuzhouDid you ever think about or try your sardines in tomato sauce over pasta?