rustwood

Of course for something like pancakes that makes absolute sense - a gas range lacks a thermostat so it is always going to be more difficult to keep a steady temperature. A big electric skillet can turn out piles of perfect pancakes for a big group for this very reason - they provide thermostatically controlled heat that is tailored to a specific cooking surface. I have an unfortunate preference for making pancakes in my heavy Griswold cast iron pan on my ceramic cook top. The cook top tends to hold heat, the pan holds heat so the thermostatic control is not perfectly effective. I end up periodically moving it on and off the burner to prevent the empty pan from overheating between batches - much like I did when I had a gas range. I have a suspicion it would help if I used a relatively thin/light pan. I presume that is also the the case with induction burners - right? We are starting to gear up for a kitchen remodel and while I was considering induction, I am now leaning towards gas. I am wondering if it would be worth planning on a space for a separate induction burner on the side. Is anyone using one of these units alongside their gas range and if so, for what applications?

Ah, my bad - I see now that the Marx Foods search does not include Marx Pantry items. @liuzhou, I appreciate that there is nothing wrong with the Asian porcini - although that site is obviously reinforcing the concept. I just don't know if they are used exactly the same or if, for example, you might want/need to use more of the Asian sourced variety in a mushroom risotto. I have the same question with respect to the Italian porcini that sell for $128/lb in my local market (in small packages).

I am not seeing dried porcini at Marx Foods, only fresh and frozen. It may be a coincidence, but the wild north american porcini are $58.50/lb at Earthy Delights. - have you tried them? I am a little tempted to try their Dried Asian Porcini AA for $22/lb - "wild-harvested and processed in Asia, then are inspected & tested here in the United States. Guaranteed to meet the highest standards of purity & quality!".

First try at Dan Dan noodles. It had more meat than I usually get, but I am not complaining about that.

Have you tried Costco's maple syrup? I'd be interested to know how it compares. I've had various VT syrups and none of them stood out to me as obviously better than what Costco sells. I am sure there are better syrups out there, but either I haven't encountered them or I am incapable of properly appreciating them. I've spent several vacations in different parts of VT and you can't turn around without bumping into someone selling "special" VT maple syrup. Almost every shop, gas station and restaurant seems to sell it, along with countless roadside stands. Most of it appears to have essentially the same packaging and the prices vary widely. I would be surprised if some of them aren't very good/special, but aside from the grading claims, it is difficult for me to tell which ones they might be. I really want to try Blis Bourbon Maple Syrup but I can't bring myself to pay $20-$25 for less than a pint of it (375 ml). It might spoil me such that I won't be able to enjoy Costco syrup.

I suspect you posted about them last year because I ordered those exact clips last June. I am ready to order another pack, but only because the first 10 are all in use. They are strong enough to replace much bigger clips. At this point I may not have any other clips in my kitchen. Thanks!

Thanks for all of the enabling - especially you @paulraphael! I was thinking more along the lines of getting a variety of things to sample than going in for a whole ham. @weedy, I will be interested in hearing how that secreto turns out. That is one of the cuts I am considering getting from Wagshal's. I am trying not to be tempted by the Wagyu ribeyes they have on "sale".

This topic is developing into a really good resource, albeit a potentially expensive one. It has already caused me to spend way too much time exploring Jamón Ibérico de Bellota and related items. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I have it in mind for an upcoming gathering.

I have read that the funk in cryo'd meat packages is "normal", but it still seems less than ideal and it would make me less likely to do a low temp SV cook with them - certainly not a shorter one. I think this is the first time I have heard that the bacteria that cause the smells are not pathogens. Without any actual facts to base it on, I am still inclined to think that the worse the meat smells, the more likely it is to be harmful to me. Also, at some point things must get beyond wet aging and into the range of too old to safely eat - no? With that said, I am familiar with getting some degree of off smells in cryo'd meat and it usually doesn't put me off. The racks of shortribs I mentioned were more than a little funky, but they were pricey prime beef so I essentially did as you suggested, kept them separate from the others, cooked them for myself, and carefully sampled them. They still had an off taste.

The whole thing was from Food52. The sauce was tasty - not sickly sweet and it had a balanced kick to it. It did seem a little off though. Next time we might try using a different brand of hoisin sauce. Also, our ginger was very fresh/strong so the sauce was perhaps more 'gingery' than it should have been.

https://www.thespicehouse.com

Gluten-free vegan night: General Tso's Cauliflower We used a measure for measure gluten free flour and it worked surprisingly well. I just had to add a little extra flour to the batter. It was at least as crunchy as the best takeout I've had (w/ chicken) and the cauliflower's texture fits well. I really didn't miss the chicken - probably in part because the chicken in takeout is usually rather flavorless. I'd consider making this every week if it wasn't for the fried food mess and health consequences.

I have been having similar thoughts. 19th century frontierspeople probably didn't fret over not having cold pressed flax seed oil. Their pans were likely more exposed to the elements and much more difficult to replace (not to mention relatively expensive). With that said, I subsequently found some interesting and relevant bits in the blog post that seems to be the root source of much of the flax seed oil info: " The lard that was traditionally used for seasoning 100 years ago was much higher in ALA than fat from pigs today, because back then pigs ate their natural diet. Today they are raised on industrial feedlots and forced to eat grain, making their fat low in omega-3s." It concludes with: " It’s possible to use a suboptimal oil for seasoning, like Crisco or bacon drippings, and still end up with a usable pan. Many (most) people do this. But the seasoning will be relatively soft, not as nonstick, and will tend to wear off. If you want the hardest, slickest seasoning possible, use the right oil: flaxseed oil. " I used the soybean oil I had on hand, but at some point I intend to get some flax seed oil and do it right.

Apparently I was confusing my mother's pork roasts: "never rosemary and garlic when you are having sauerkraut with the pork." Makes sense to me. It is definitely good luck to eat sauerkraut on New Years. Apparently one is also supposed to eat fish on New Years Day because, "it makes you smart all year long." I am not going to think too much about the fact that fish was not served today - nor on any other New Year's Day that I can recall.

Everyone in my extended family knows that the only appropriate meal for New Years Day is fresh ham. This and Easter dinner (maybe) are the only holiday meals my mother is still cooking and hosting. I believe the traditional meat prep is to make pockets of rosemary and garlic in the uncured "ham" before applying a heavy crust of salt and pepper. The crust tends to precipitate ill-mannered attempts to snatch the end pieces while the roast is being carved. Sides will definitely include sauerkraut, mash potatoes, and green beans. I think there is some belief about it being good luck to eat sauerkraut on New Years Day (or perhaps bad luck not to). I should pay attention tomorrow as mom never writes anything down.

No points for plating, but that might be appropriate for this leftovers sandwich - prime rib, hatch chiles, au jus, and rosemary muenster. =

Thanks, but I passed due to several reviews that claim the kindle version is riddled with errors - including incorrect or missing amounts in the ingredient lists. That and the fact that over the past month I have only managed to read a few pages of Land of Plenty.

@blue_dolphin, I am really surprised by the amount of liquid that you rendered. I also had 6 thick-ish slices in my bag, but I basically had no liquid at all after 12 hours. It is a fairly dry and lean country style bacon though. It did stay almost perfectly flat in the pan though and it didn't splatter as much. I think I am going to have to try it for 24 hours just to see what happens. Maybe I will get to it next week.

I tried sous vide bacon last night/this morning. The difference vs just frying was not immediately obvious to me. I guess it cooked up faster, but I usually start bacon first and have it going while I am doing other things so the time savings isn't a big factor for me. I did 147 for ~12 hours and used a heavily cured/smoked country bacon. Perhaps it would make more of a difference with supermarket bacon. I probably won't do it again unless I decide to do a direct comparison - or if I am going to be cooking breakfast for a large group.

Christmas eve we did sous vide ham ala Serious Eats - plopped it in the cooler @ 140, right in the shrink wrap it came in. It was super easy and very moist. Glazed on the grill. Of course it was not in the same league as what @rarerollingobject just posted. On Christmas we did a 4 bone, herb encrusted prime rib sous vide as per Chefsteps and it was a winner. It makes a very nice presentation and the crust is tasty. I should have taken some pictures but we were so busy pulling everything together that I never even thought about it.

Just this morning I discovered that the grip from an old Calphalon skillet fits my Darto number 23 perfectly (3rd party, but similar to this). Also, somewhat similar to the ATK recommendation, I found the following technique from these seasoning instructions was very effective: Worked like a charm for me.

I don't know if these are fall cookbooks, but I just caught Lucky Peach's list of 4 favorite cookbooks of 2016. Taste & Technique is on it, but I don't recall seeing the other 3 discussed here. I am interested in checking out My Two Souths: Blending the Flavors of India Into a Southern Kitchen.

I am starting to look at ranges for a kitchen remodel and I came across some KitchenAid models with a "Steam Rack" feature. Here is what the manual says: I suppose the key is that the rack has some sort of independently controlled heating mechanism to provide the 4 different modes. Of course that could be nothing more than a damper in the vicinity of the rack which opens to various degrees or at different times depending on the setting. Does anyone have any experience with these racks? Are they anything more than a marketing gimmick?

Our big holiday meals now center around sous vide and a kamado grill because our faulty oven can't be repaired and can't be replaced without a kitchen remodel. We are planning the remodel for the summer, but I will probably continue to do the big meals this way simply because it makes the timing so much easier. I am planning beef for Christmas. I'd like to do chuck roast as per Chefsteps, but I didn't get around to trying it in advance so I am probably going to cave and play it safe with a rib roast instead. I am mulling doing a small chuck roast in the same cooler though (different schedule). If I do that I won't have to worry about a 4 bone rib roast not being big enough, plus then we can directly compare them.

That doesn't necessarily guarantee that they didn't already have a head start on developing some funk. I once had half a case of shortribs that came directly from a supplier and just one of the Cryovac'd packages it contained had a noticeable funk when it was opened. I have had the same experience with whole packer briskets that were "fresh". My unqualified understanding is that with meat there isn't even remotely a binary good/bad or fresh/spoiled dichotomy, it is the continuum of starting bacteria counts that matter. With most cooking methods it ends up effectively being a binary state in nearly all instances, but with lower temperature sous vide (especially sub-optimal sous vide), the starting bacteria count can have a big impact. Although a long enough cook may kill the harmful bacteria, before that occurs they can still grow to high enough levels to add an unpleasant funk. I realize you may know that and there are many others here who seem to have real expertise in this area, I am just throwing it out there so others can comment if I am mistaken in any way.