slkinsey

hmmm... lavender vodka, limoncello and a little bit of lemon juice for acidity might be interesting...

I find that, with most things, if you start with high heat and give the pan a good shake right as you put the meat into the pan, the protein will set enough in that first second or two to prevent further sticking.

Sam-- Please do report back on that! Busboy thought it was odd I wanted to do the same thing... So far it is already a beautiful emerald green. Lavender must be bursting with aromatic oils, because I had to pour out a little of the vodka to make more room after I had stuffed in about half of the lavender and it already tasted quite lavender-ey! I want to make sure I strain it out while the flavor is strong but still delicate amd floral -- before it acquires any of the darker vegetal flavors infused vodkas can pick up if you over-infuse herbs. Now, the question is what interesting cocktails I can make with lavender vodka.

I picked up some fresh lavender at the Union Square Greenmarket this morning and am currently infusing a fifth of Absolut. Will report back soonest.

Not necessarily. If you use enough fat, preheat the pan enough and shake the pan from time to time to make sure the protein sets before the meatballs have time to bond with the cooking surface you should be fine. In general, even on stainless steel, once the surface is sufficiently browned it will release from the pan with a shake or two. Where this becomes a problem is when the food is too delicate to withstand shaking without being damaged. With meatballs it shouldn't be a problem.

You are corrrect that it is easier to get a spatula into a fry pan. These are the only pans (other than griddles) that are supposed to be used with spatulas. The whole point of a sauté pan is that you move the food around in the pan by shaking it back and forth. This is exactly what I do when making meatballs. If it is important to have more "hands on" control of turning the meatballs, you should use tongs. Cast iron is definitely a good choice for steaks. The only thing that I have found to be perhaps a little better is stainless lined heavy copper (it has right around the same heat capacity as a cast iron pan at similar thickness, but conducts heat into the steak much more efficiently to form the crust). Since the whole point of using cast iron for something like this is to accumulate as much heat as possible, one should go for the thickest cast iron possible. I have always wondered why they didn't manufacture cast iron skillets with a 5 mm thick base. Another good option for steaks is a cast iron grill pan, which allows the fat to drain away from the steak as it cooks. I often use a preheated cast iron grill pan when I make steaks under the broiler (the best way to cook steak, IMO). Since cast iron is cheap, and since heatintg cast iron to the screaming hot temperatures that are best for steak will damage the seasoning, it is useful to have a dedicated "high temperature" unseasoned cast iron pan for this purpose. This has to do with the heat capacity of the cookware. Take a look at one of the "heat bucket" illustrations I used: See those faucets on the bottom? Every time you put some food into the pan, a little heat drains out of the heat bucket and is conducted into the food. This is how the food cooks. The more food you put in the pan, the more heat is drained out of the heat bucket. Depending on the conductivity of the pan and the amount of food you put in there, the heat may drain out of the pan faster than the burner can put it back in. The net result of this is that the temperature of the pan goes down. Now, instead of cooking the food at a high heat, you are suddenly cooking at low heat. This is why it is important to have a high heat capacity (although having good conducvitity means that the heat capacity doesn't need to be quite as high, as the heat bucket is filled back up relatively quickly). When you cook at high temperature, the liquid that is exuded from the meat boils off and the steam is dispersed more or less immediately. This provides a crisp exterior and promotes Maillard reactions. When the heat is lower, the liquid doesn't boil off very quickly. Also, the more things you have in the pan, the less efficient the dispersal of steam becomes. So... when you throw a bunch of food in a pan all at once, drain the heat bucket and lower the temperature, these two phenomena can quickly combine to create a situation where the food gives off a lot of liquid that stays around in the pan, and before you know it you are poaching the food in its own juices. One other thing... sometimes, when the heat is really high and the pan has really good conductivity, the food can actually "float" on a tiny layer of its own steam. In this case, the surface of the food is subjected to extreme high temperatures, but only a relatively small amount of heat is transferred to the food. The result is a highly browned surface with a relatively cool interior. If you ever have a heavy copper pan, you can see this phenomenon at work. Preheat the pan on the highest heat setting for around 5 minutes, then drop in a teaspoon of water. Rather than immedlately evaporating as it would on a cast iron skillet, the drop of water will float around the pan like a hovering spaceship on a tiny layer of its own steam. It's pretty cool to see, and I've only ever seen this in heavy copper pans. If there is interest -- and someone in NYC who can record digital video volunteers to help -- I'll post a video of what this looks like.

OK... when you say "traditional danish meatballs should be slowly fried on medium heat" I assume you mean that they need to be fried (as in, fried in hot fat) all in one layer. If this is the case then you do need a pan with a large cooking surface, and you are correct that a sauté pan might be a good choice for this. Sauté pans have a large cooking surface and the straight sides will prevent the fat from splattering all over the place as it might if you used a fry pan. So, there are a few other considerations: 1. Size -- you should figure out how much room you will need to cook all these meatballs at the same time. The next time you make a big batch of meatballs, if might be valuable to put all the meatballs next to each other in a roughly circular arrangement on a clean surface (countertop?) and measure how much room they need. The typical "large sauté pan" has an 11 inch or 30 centimeter diameter. However, this may not be big enough for you to make the meatballs you want to make all at the same time, and you may find that you need to go to a bigger pan. 2. Conductive material -- copper bottoms are nice, but since you are going to be stuffing the pan as full as it can get with meatballs and then keeping it at a relatively constant temperature, thick aluminum might be better. You really don't need the responsiveness of copper for something like this, thick aluminum will have a much larger heat capacity and the heat will be just as even. Also, an aluminum disk bottom is always less expensive than a comparable copper disk bottom design. If you do end up figuring out that you will need an "oversize" diameter pan and have a regular-strength stove that cannot crank out the heat like a Dynasty or Viking, you will benefit greatly from the higher heat capacity of aluminum. 3. While a sauté pan might be the best design for frying the meatballs, I think there are other designs that are more versatile for your other uses. The sides of a sauté pan are awfully low for making a long-simmered sauce like ragù Bolognese or putting together a curry. For those tasks, you would ultimately do better with a Casserole, which has sides that are twice as tall as those on a sauté pan in proportion to the diameter of the cooking pan. So, in the best of all possible worlds, you would have a sauté pan for the metballs and a Casserole for the ragù and curry. However, we don't live in a perfect world and you may have economic or space-saving considerations that dictate one pan for both uses. In this case, I would recommend a Rondeau. It has a large cooking surface for cooking your meatballs and the sides are tall enough (around 1/3 the diameter of the pan) to make it a fairly effective cooking vessel for ragù, etc. So, assuming you want one pan for both tasks, I'd recomend a Rondeau with a thick aluminum base sized to have the diameter you need to cook a typical large batch of meatballs all at once in once layer. Paderno Grand Gourmet would be a great example. 7 mm aluminum bottom, heavy stainless body, comes in a variety of sizes from 8 inches (20 cm) to 15.75 inches (40 cm). My second choice would be Sitram Catering with a similar range of sizes and 2.5 mm copper bottoms. Third choice would be a Paderno Grand Gourmet sauté pan with a 7 mm aluminum bottom (they tend to have higher sides than the traditional design). Then a Sitram Profisserie sauté pan with a 7 mm aluminum bottom, if you can find one with a large enough diameter. Last wold be a Sitram Catering sauté pan with a 2.5 mm copper bottom.

I tend to use my 11" stainless-lined heavy copper fry pan. The low sloped sides makes it easier to slide the frittata out. I also use a fair amount of oil in the pan and shake the pan a little once the egg starts to set so it releases from the bottom of the pan. Yea. I was kind of wondering this myself. Pretty hard to ruin a cast iron pan.

Well, before you buy that cast iron pan, as the article says "what is it you want to do that you can't do with what you already have?" Maybe cast iron isn't the best choice for your needs.

The best chain restaurant in the world -- and I have little doubt that anyone who has been in one would disagree with me on this -- is Autogrill. Nothing else even comes remotely close.

Bacon smoothies might be good. You'll never know until you try one.

Oh yea... it took me such a long time to copy the text from here, paste it in and change a few words to "bacon."

Vizzini: But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine it from what I know of you. Are you the sort of man who would put the poison onto his own bacon or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison onto his own bacon because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool so I can clearly not choose the bacon in front of you...But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the bacon in front of me. Man in black: You've made your decision then? Vizzini: Not remotely! Because bacon comes from smokehouses. As everyone knows, smokehouses are entirely staffed by criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me. So, I can clearly not choose the bacon in front of you. Man in black: Truly, you have a dizzying intellect. Vizzini: Wait 'till I get going!! ...where was I? Man in black: Smokehouses. Vizzini: Yes! Smokehouses! And you must have suspected I would have known the bacon's origin, so I can clearly not choose the bacon in front of me. Man in black: You're just stalling now. Vizzini: You'd like to think that, wouldn't you! You've eaten my ham, which means you're exceptionally hungry... so you could have put the bacon on your own plate trusting on your stomach to save you, so I can clearly not choose the bacon in front of you. But, you've also cooked up a crown roast of pork perfectly, which means you must have been trained... and in training you must have learned that bacon is full of nitrites so you would have put the bacon as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the bacon in front of me! Man in black: You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work. Vizzini: It has worked! You've given everything away! I know where the bacon is! Man in black: Then make your choice. Vizzini: I will, and I choose...[pointing behind the man in black] What in the world can that be? Man in black: [turning around, while Vizzini switches plates] What?! Where?! I don't see anything. Vizzini: Oh, well, I...I could have sworn I saw something. No matter. [Vizzini laughs] Man in black: What's so funny? Vizzini: I...I'll tell you in a minute. First, lets eat, me from my plate and you from yours. [They both drink] Man in black: You guessed wrong. Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched bacons when your back was turned! Ha ha, you fool!! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia; and only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Sicilian, when bacon is on the line! A-ha-ha-ha! A-ha-ha-ha! A-ha-h- [dies]

I have nothing to give you but blood, sweat, toil and bacon.

And, of course, the famous line from Citizen Kane: "Bacon."

I get mine at Faicco's Pork Shop on Bleeker. Of course, that won't help you much if you don't live in NYC.

Four things: 1. Cook a lot of high fat products in it. Like bacon. And sausages. Maybe shallow fry a couple batches of chicken. This will build up the seasoning, but it does take time. Look at it this way: it's a great excuse to eat BLTs 3 days a week for a month. 2. Remember to re-season after every use. This simply means that after you finish cleaning the pan you put it back on the heat, drop in a little fat (I like Crisco or lard for this) and use a paper towel to wipe the fat all over the pan inside and out. 3. Even at its most well-seasoned "nonstick" state, cast iron is still significantly stickier than teflon and similar surfaces. As a result, you will need to use a reasonable amount of fat when cooking notoriously sticky foods like eggs. Even then, it is common to find a thin film of stuck-on eggs after you finish scrambling. You can clean this off by scrubbing with kosher salt or a non-soaped steel scouring pad. 4. Don't make fritatta in a cast iron skillet unless you're willing to drop in a fairly significant amount of fat to lubricate the surface.

Poetic terms, and fictional, Describe your fine repast. To read about your victuals Will make the day go fast.

Although you made the thread of which we spoke, The link you left, I'm sad to say, is broke So if I may, I'll give what I now think Is the right path to your new thread: the link

Well... a great place to look is Bridge Kitchenware's What Every Kitchen Needs resource. For stovetop cookware, they suggest: - 1.5 qt saucepan - 3 qt. saucepan - Large Surface Saute Pan - Medium Saute Pan - Omelette Pan - Steamer Insert - Medium Covered Casserole - Large Covered Casserole - Pasta Pot w/colander - Non-Stick Fry Pan - S/S Double Boiler Personally, I would modify the list to this: - 1 qt. to 1.5 qt straight gauge saucepan, sauteuse evasee or curved sauteuse evasee (Amazon has a 1 qt. All-Clad MasterChef sauteuse evasee -- they call it a saucier -- for 35 bucks) - 3.5 to 4.5 disk bottom tall saucepan (Bridge Kitchenware has a 4.5 qt. Paderno Grand Gourmet tall saucepan for 78 bucks) - 11" disk bottom saute pan (Bridge Kitchenware has an 11" Sitram Profisserie saute pan for 68 bucks) - 11" straight gauge fry pan (Cookware and More has a 10" All-Clad MasterChef fry pan for 60 bucks or a 12" All-Clad MasterChef fry pan for 70 bucks) - 11" straight gauge nonstick frypan (Amazon has 11" Calphalon Commercial nonstick fry pans in occasional sales as low as 30 bucks) - 6 qt to 7 qt enameled cast iron casserole (Pans.com has a 6.75 qt Chasseur casserole for 163 bucks) - 12 qt to 18 qt disk bottom stock pot with pasta insert (Bridge Kitchenware has a 17.7 Sitram profisserie stock pot for 117 bucks) That would comprise a well-equipped battery of stovetop cookware that I think anyone would consider to be pretty kickass stuff that will last a lifetime. It is, of course, possible to get this set (or one similar) for less money if you are good at looking for things on sale. It is also possible to get even better by upgrading in a few places: go with Staub enameled cast iron in 8 quarts for around 220 bucks; go with a Falk Culinair stainless lined heavy copper sauciere in 1.4 quarts for 100 bucks (75 if you are a first-time customer) and so on. A large cast iron skillet would compliment any set of cookware. This does not include knives and that sort of thing, of course. Personally, my philosophy is to slowly build up a battery of fop-flight cookware, acquiring one or two pieces a year as you start feeling like you need them. A perfectly good starter set for someone who doesn't have much of anything and doesn't have much cooking experience would be an 11" straight gauge curved sauteuse evasee, a 12 quart stock pot (mostly for pasta, but also works for soups), an 11" nonstick fry pan, a 2 qt saucepan and a 10" chef's knife. There aren't too many things you can't make with that collection.

Hee! If I may make a small request: So you can keep us all abreast Of foods you eat, and all the rest. In a new thread you should invest.

Hmm... That's right about the annealing. It does make it softer. There must be something else that is done to blue/black steel -- perhaps whatever it is that gives it the black or blue color -- that makes it harder than mild low carbon steel. Because it is definitely the case, in my experience, that black/blue steel pans are harder than regular carbon steel pans.

Interesting. I see what you're talking about, but I don't seem to be able to find any literature about it. Fundamentally, I suppose, it is not all that different from regular enamel -- just maybe a little tougher. Oh well... I knew I couldn't possibly cover every cookware design under the sun. I didn't cover soapstone griddles and stewpots either. Cool stuff. What I like about it is the lid with nodules on the underside to serve as condensation points.

and they're fundamentally different too. you can smoke outside, but you can't grab your waitress' ass outside. i'm pushing for that law to be repealed. Damn it! That lousy government is stomping on my rights as an owner of private property to grab asses whenever and however I like!

Please explain how, exactly, protecting employees from the negative health effects associated with passive inhalation of tobacco smoke is fundamentally different from protecting employees from the negative psychological effects associated with being groped? Actually, the burden is on you. You're the one making the claim. It's obvious what makes them similar: they are both protecting employees from the negative effects of certain things in the workplace that are not under the employees' direct control, that are reasonably avoidable and that are not fundamentally part the job they are performing. For what it's worth, however, I didn't make the claim they were the same. I only made a meaningful comparison. You, on the other hand, did make the claim that they weren't the same.