...tm...

I don't know, it seemed very Italian to me.

This was my favorite cubano and not just because it was a block away from my apartment. The place is Spanish American food, and I'd describe it as more of a hole than a dump. Every time I ordered and waited for my sandwich to be pressed there would be some trouble because other people would be coming and going and the "seating area" is really only the width of one person, especially if said person has been eating the food from this Puerto Rican lunch counter. The mofongo is pretty good too--nice and garlicky, which is also what I like about their cubano, not to mention that it has loads of juicy, roasted pork. This was probably Clinton restaurant at the corner of Clinton and Houston. Their cubano is pretty good, but a little less flavorful than Spanish American. I think they were also Puerto Rican, but I have to admit that most of my experiences with this place were in a too much beer induced haze from hanging out at the Parkside Lounge a little too long. Another place nearby that has a decent cubano is Castillo de Jagua. The cubanos at Mi Floridita at La Flor de Broadway and Mi Floridita are good, and possibly more "authentic", but not my favorite. They are much more petite than those made at the Puerto Rican places I mentioned, both in the bulk of the bread and in the amount of meat in the sandwich. They also seemed a little blander to me, with none of the delicious garlicky creaminess of Spanish American cubano.

Meat braised in milk is a common fallback recipe for me. I've done many cuts of pork, beef, and chicken leg quarters. I was just going to say that I liked the chicken the best, but I hink that is just because that is the last one in my memory. Lefovers are especially good and fairly versatile--they can be served over any sort of starch--pasta, mashed potatoes, rice, bread, etc. Anyway, I usually brown the meat on the stovetop, set aside while I sautee a mirepoix (sometimes plus garlic and root vegetables), then add meat back to the pan, add milk about halfway up, and bring up to a simmer, then place in a 300 degree oven for about two hours. The milk is usually somewhat chunky at this point, but even if it isn't I take the meat out (and pick it from the bone, if necessary) and blend the milk/aromatics. I usually reduce the milk sauce on the stovetop for a little bit before serving. This not only make the sauce a bit thicker, it caramelizes it a bit, which is epecially good with pork. Now that I think about it, I think I did like the chicken best because a lot of gelatin was produced as I braised it with the skin, cartilage, and bones. It was seriously like some sort of meaty-milk jello mold in the refrigerator the next day. And that's a good thing.

Like many others on this thread, I find that Barber chicken cordon bleu has a certain addictive quality to it. Thanks for reminding me. The thing is, though, you have to preheat the oven to 400 and cook for 30-35 minutes before it tastes good. That is what confuses me about so many convenience products--they take a hell of a lot longer to cook than it takes me to make many things from scratch. This means you, pot pie.

Thank you for all the helpful replies. I'm looking for an alarmed thermometer because I tend to be the inattentive sort when it comes to processes that take a long time. And the last time I smoked some brisket I got really tired of taking the lid off the Weber grill and letting my heat out. Thanks for this greaet idea. I actually bought a hot tub thermometer and used it in yogurt and cheesemaking, but it didn't float such that I could actually read the temperature without pulling it up out of the liquid and I got tired of cleaning all the milk out of the inside of it.

Those Ancient Greeks really were ahead of their time. quite a civilization they had going on there. And now I know why I thought I hated olives until I went to Italy. Those stupid Californian imitation lye air exposed green "black" olives are clearly an inferior product. Perhaps the answer to the pizza riddle is that Californians recognize this fact, but continue to unload their product on outsiders. And how did a media gadfly manage to hit on the correct answer while two renowned experts got stuck in the details?

I have some gift certificates to use on Amazon and could use some advice on a good probe thermometer. The reviews for oven probe thermometers are overwhelmingly negative, with many claims of "it breaks all the time". I can't tell who is reliable. Are these people complaining that they have to change the probe or that the thermometers won't work at high, wet heat, or are there legitimate complaints? Do Amazonians not know how to use these, or is this a crappy lot? From what I've read on eGullet, egulleteers seem to know their way around a probe, so I have come to you. Anyway. Here are the things that are important to me: Accurately measures the temperature of the object I stick it in. Has an alarm to alert me when it reaches a temperature I can set. Doesn't break at moderately high heat (<400 F in the oven, not in the object the probe is in). It would be great if I could stick it in liquids every once in a while, but this is not essential. I would also love to be able to set the alarmed temperature relatively low (<100 F), but if there is tradeoff between high temperature sensitivity and ability to work at low temperatures, I'll take one that does not break in the oven. I like the looks of the Polder dual sensor probe but everyone on Amazon seems to think it breaks constantly. It claims that the dual thermometer settings measures temperature in oven and inside food with an actual temperature range from 32 to 572 degrees F, which is significantly higher than most other probes. Another negative, besides reviewer hatred, is that the replacement probes seem to be more expensive ($15). The Pyrex has the best reviews but I can't find minimum and maximum recommended temperatures. The Taylor and Polder look fine, but each gets a couple "it breaks all the time" reviews. So, please, let me know: Are there any probes you love or loathe? No dirty stuff.

I have not yet bothered with the soaking as I am lazy and impatient. Soaking should remove some starch and theoretically prevent overbrowning on the outside. Maybe the soaked fries are a million times beter, but I've had great results without this time consuming soaking and tedious drying. There is definately a difference between twice fried fries and once fried. Fry once at 325 for about 5 minutes, or until the fries are kind of golden. They will look a bit soggy and sad and everyone who walks by while you are frying subsequent batces (do not overcrowd) will ask "are those the fries" in a very disappointed tone. Turn the heat up to 375 and fry each batch a second time for about two minutes or until they look done. The low temperature fry should give you a soft throughout and the second will crisp and brown the outside. I like to drain and salt them on paper grocery sacks.

Meat welding is definately the coolest thing I've heard of in a long time. Imagine Rachel Perlow's avatar in a variety of meat colors and shades. Although "meat mold" isn't the most appetizing name. As for amazing discoveries: I turned the corner and discovered a plate of cookies my neighbor had left me to enjoy in the new year. I then turned the corner and discovered America. There were, curiously, many people already living there eating tomatoes, beans and corn. Although I was not the first to isolate the enzyme transglutminase I did make some pretty tasty shrimp pasta when I learned of it's amazing meat-gluing properties. But I'm the sort that thinks there is nothing new under the sun. My mom thinks I'm a pessimist.

Well, I would say not so much wrong as imprecise. If you want your fresh pasta to taste like fresh pasta the next time you have it, freeze it. To me it tastes very similar to freshly made, although I've occasionally had some problems with sticking, even when I thought I had tossed them in enough flour. However, I really enjoy the little bit of extra bite that drying gives to my homemade, soft flour/egg pasta. Not quite the al dente texture of a commercial semolina/water dried noodles, but definately more texture than fresh fresh pasta. So, to me, dried fresh pasta is a good thing, but not at all the same thing as fresh pasta. And a semi-related question, for anyone besides Marcella and me who like to dry our fresh pasta: I recently made some red (tomato) and green (parsley) and chocolate fettuccine for christmas presents, but was dissapointed in the drying. I hung them from a rack and all the noodles curled significantly such that I couldn't tie them up into a nice, neat, flat package. I don't know if it was because my dough was a little moister that usual with the additions or if some freakish atmospheric conditions caused the bowing. I'd dried standard fettucine before without this problem, but maybe I was just lucky. If anyone has any tips to avoid unsightly bending please let me know.

Since creme fraiche and buttermilk are soured by the same bacteria (Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides) I would think that mixing in a little creme fraiche into lowfat or skim milk (if such a thing is available in France) and leaving it around 70* F for at least 12 hours would make buttermilk. Here in the US I've done the reverse several times--adding buttermilk to heavy cream and leaving it out overnight to make creme fraiche because I refuse to pay the ridiculous markup for things that sound "fancy" here.

I tried this once, but the yogurt broke and gave the truffles a grainy texture, but a great taste. How did you heat the yogurt for the ganache? Both the acidity and the non-fattiness of yogurt lend it to breaking. I'd love to be able to include truffles made with my homemade yogurt in my christmas packages.

I only gave it one shot, but that is because Paul's burger was so bad I couldn't believe anyone would recommend it. I don't know, maybe there are some people who really like burgers that are somehow mushy and overcooked, but I guess it is possible. This definately seemed to be the style they were going for, not just an anomaly at our table. Not that I've tried them all, but Luger's is definately my favorite.

Despite my usual abhorrence of processed foods I find Chex Mix to be one of the most addictive foods on the planet. I like to stick to the classics. To me this means Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Wheat Chex, pretzel sticks, Cheerios, and Planters Mixed nuts. Mixed with oil, Worcester, Lawry's Seasoning Salt, garlic and onion powders. Of course, the proper ratio is 1 large box of each cereal to 1 big bag of pretzels to 2 cans of nuts. Baked in a couple of paper grocery bags in the oven, shaken and turned every 15 minutes. Unlike others on this thread, I think that the Wheat Chex and Cheerios are the most valuable of the mix, because they soak up so much of the oil and seasonings and can blacken in the 250* oven.

Thanks--it looks lie I'll be trying to get my hands on all the enameled cast iron that I can.

Well, I've spent a long time wishing for an enameled cast iron dutch oven and have finally decided to make that wish come true. As I am unemployed I don't want to overspend, but I don't want to buy something of poor quality just to save a few bucks in the short run. In fact, I'll probably ask for one as a present, but I don't want my family to overspend either. But I want to have good reasons to tell them why I need any specific pan. My questions aren't about what is so great about enameled cast iron, but if anyone has worked much with any of the other enameled cast iron pans. My googling seems to show that, in addition to Le Creuset, Staub, Chasseur, and Innova make some sort of enameled cast iron pans. I also came upon some enameled Lodge cookware. I've actually used LeCreuset and Staub in person and been more than pleased with the results. The other two brands I have never used and am not that familiar with, but appear to be significantly cheaper. So, if lack of good sales prevent me from getting my preference anytime soon does anyone have anything good or bad to say about Innova or Chasseur? Posts here seem to indicate that Le Creuset has excellent customer service and is extremely helpful with replacements, even when damage is caused by use. The other brands seem to have only warranties that only cover defects in material or workmanship, the cheaper two brands for only a limited time (10 or 25 years). Further googling shows that the Le Creuset warranty is stated as a worksmanship warranty, but seems to be more broadly implemented in practice. It looks like I'm still as indecisive as ever.

Well, I don't save and reuse the pasta water for pasta cooking, but on the eco-friendly front I often pour the still steaming pasta water on the wild grape vines or various other weeds that are always trying to grow over and strangle out desired plants in the yard. Boiling water kills.

eunny, I'm so glad you let us all know the proper timing on the egg yolk ravioli. I had done a lazy cook's try at a similar thing when I ran out of filling before I ran out of my pasta sheet, but I cooked the egg yolk raviolo with the rest of the ricotta ravioli and it came out overdone. So thank you for saving me further experiments. As for carbonara itself, my recipe just includes the basics--guancale (or, most of the time, as this is my favorite go to I got home and I'm really hungry dish,american bacon (plus, to be honest, I like the stronger flavor of smoked bacon. I think it plays really well off the strong pecorino. I prefer subtlety in my writing and conversation and not so much in my food.) and shallots sauteed while the spaghetti cooks. The pasta cooking time also lets me warm up the egg I didn't plan ahead enough to take out of the refrigerator in warm water to bring it up to room temperature. I also grate lots of Parmigiano Reggiano and a good, strong, aged Pecorino and grind lots and lots of black pepper into this cheese mixture because it takes so long to grind it I won't have time later. I drain the pasta letting the water drain into the serving bowl, warming it and allowing me to grab some of that pasta water in case I need it later, pour the spaghetti into the warm bowl, followed by the bacon/shallots, followed by the egg, followedby the cheeses/pepper, and stirred after each addition. I usually need to add some pasta water at the end to ensure the proper, creamy consistency. If, in the beginning, I thought I wanted something a little lighter than carbonara I'll also add plento of chopped parsley in with the cheese/pepper addition, but not if I feel like a good, thick, creamy, fattening pasta dish. And in the carbonaras that are not carbonaras category my mom has always made "spaghetti carbonara" that must have come from one of those all-american cookbooks that combines the spaghetti with bacon, onions, cheddar, parmesan, garlic and onion powder, and eggs over low heat. While carbonara it is not, it is incredibly delicious, more like a completely unshapen, rich spaghetti pie than the creamy pasta dish. It always pleased both us picky kids and my dad, a doctor who specializes in diseases of the digestive system, who is unreasonably paranoid about raw eggs and many other food products. Although I guess he's seen the worst case scenario when it comes to most foodborne illness, so I should give him a break. Plus, he ate my home-cured salmon.

Ah yes, Pepsi sent me many emails about this product and this time the spam payed off and I tried it. I'm not a regular Pepsi drinker, but I found the spices to be very subtle and overall it was just like drinking a Pepsi. I suppose this is good, since the other flavored cola beverages (lime, lemon, vanilla) I have tried have some sort of overly aggressive chemical flavor. Did anyone else notice the hilarious promise of recipes by "Celebrity Chef Cat Cora" coming soon. I imagine a holiday spice pepsi brine would be pretty good, since it would be just about the same as the traditional Coke brine.

All Goya products I've tried have been at least decent. Of course, I'm not likely to try something like paella in a box, unless I'm looking for something terrible. I think that the canned beans are better than your average canned beans, and use them whenever I really want nachos or burritos immediately. Their "black bean soup" is even better as a nicely flavored black bean topping for the quick nacho fix.

I might have missed you mentioning it because I was distracted by the beautiful pictures and delicious descriptions, but what are you burning in your bread oven? Is any sort of hardwood enough to get the oven up to 500 degrees?

I've made the marshmallows before by just replacing the corn syrup with honey. In fact, I've done this ever since I exhausted the corn syrup from the pantry as I didn't want to buy that sort of thing. The honey flavor isn't overwhelming and the marshmallows can still take on other flavors. I like cardamom.

In my experience it often comes sprinkled or doused with olive oil. Sometimes the oil is so flavorful that I just dip the pita in the wonderfully olivey oil.

My understanding is that both coconut creme and coconut milk are made by extracting ground coconut with hot water. The first time the coconut is steeped in water the resulting liquid strained from the coconut is very thick and called coconut creme. Of course, it depends on the ratio of water to coconut. The second extraction is thinner and called coconut milk. I think that a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that in American supermarkets the most common coconut product is the sweetened coconut milk for pina coladas.

And I've given up on figuring out what a Perfect Martini or Manhattan is. It seems that since perfect is an overused adjective it has foiled my technique of Googling everything I may not know. Most hits seem to lead to some guys idea of a perfect ratio for drink mixing. I stumbled upon these entries from drinksmixer.com that lead me to believe that the true meaning in Perfect Martini or Perfect Manhattan (although many websites have no qualms about capitalizing the perfect in their perfect ratio of a standard martini recipe) is that the liquor is mixed with both sweet and dry vermouth. All those perfect people putting up webpages out there are hindering my usual ability to find the signal through the noise. Thanks.