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chezcherie

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Posts posted by chezcherie

  1. as far as cutting goes, in our home, the hole MUST be cut with an ancient, slightly bent heart-shaped cutter.

    I want to tell you how much I appreciate your sharing this with us. Although it seems so obvious, it's something I had never thought of doing. After reading your post, I dug through an old forgotten box of cookie cutters left to me by my grandmother years ago and found a heart, star, four-leaf clover, Christmas tree, among other things. Although it's too late to use them for my own children (they are all grown and gone), I am now going to make a tradition of using them for my grandchildren. I think it's going to be great fun (especially the toasted bits in the cut-out shapes), and I really, really thank you.

    And what shall I call it... Egg O' My Heart? Toad in a Tree?

    :rolleyes:

    i'm so glad this resonated with you. let me suggest a different cutter for each grandchild. it will be so special for each of them to have their own shape, and you won't be in the position i'll be in soon....which kid is favored enough to get the rusty, bent ol' toad in the hole cutter!

  2. as far as cutting goes, in our home, the hole MUST be cut with an ancient, slightly bent heart-shaped cutter. the hole gets toasted in the pan with the bread. we melt the butter in the pan, toast one side of the bread and cut-out, flip and break the egg in. the final prep step? a little corner of the heart cut-out piece must bear a nibble-mark from mom (me). "just to make sure it's good enough for you to eat, honey!"

    having enjoyed this thread a great deal, i only wish i'd known about the name "one eyed-jack" before. my sons woulda loved that name when they were littler!

  3. I've never seen it not flipped. It's hard to imagine how that would work. Both sides of the bread need to come in contact with the pan in order to cook/toast/griddle properly.

    i sometimes flip and sometimes don't. when i don't, i toast one side of the bread in the butter, then flip and add the egg. i then cover the pan for a little bit of the cooking time, to help the egg cook through. works great.

  4. so, risking charges of heresy, i say with pride that today i stood over the sink, double-paper-toweled, to eat my second AMAZING peach of the still-young season...from costco.

    costco, via reedley, CA.

    i did not have one reasonably adequate peach all summer last year. and so far i've had two mind-blowing nectarines (my fav of all fruits) and these two peaches, all purchased not at my well-attended farmer's mkts., but from costco.

    triple-napkin stone fruits.

    the season is so promising. i am thrilled beyond measure. there was a varietal indicator of both varietals on the boxes, but i don't have them to hand.

    so, so good.

  5. those "pot filler" faucets that have to be plumbed in behind the burners of the stove top.

    seriously, if carrying the full pot of (presumably cool) water from the sink to the stove is too difficult, how will you ever get the cooked pasta, in the pot with the now-boiling water over to the sink to drain it?

    I regularly use my pot filler to fill my 24 quart stock pot with water after all the bones etc are in. I'm NOT hefting that thing from sink to stove top. :biggrin: Since I make a lot of stock, it's worth it to me.

    Excellent price for All-Clad. But anyone who says that A-C (regardless of which line) doesn't warp is either inexperienced or lying.

    I've had my All Clad for years and none of it has ever warped. The stainless steel skillets and roasting pans regularly go into a 500 degree oven, and it's never a problem and they're easy to clean with a bit of barkeeper's friend. I'm neither inexperienced or a liar. :raz:

    hey, marlene--

    i am completely delighted to hear that there is someone out there using that pot filler. since you obviously cook seriously, you may be among the very few that spigot makes sense for. having worked at an appliance store, and hearing my friends' catering war-stories, i can assure you that most of the ones installed in home kitchens get turned on once, and then make a lovely home for spiders. i have to ask though--after the stock is finished, do you fish the bones out with tongs and ladle out the stock in situ? cuz otherwise, it still seems like somebody's gotta lug that full (now hot) pot to the sink again? the logistics escape me (although i do see it more logical for stock than pasta water, which is what most customers say they'll use it for.) it's a relatively costly investment for occasional use, in most cases. but i'm glad you're happy with yours, and will amend my vote to pot-fillers, other than marlene's.

    i also love my all-clad, which i have happily abused for 20 years now. not a warped pan in the lot, and i like their handles!

  6. No one was obligated to help me - just their nature to go above and beyond.  That is a good thing and a pretty essential trait for those running a restaurant.

    i think this is the basis of the problem. the restaurant was not obligated to do anything, but it would have been nice if they had.

    woulda, coulda, shoulda.

    it seems to be that this is a case of obligation vs. entitlement.

    while i'm sure the OP is a perfectly lovely person, the post had a distinct air of entitlement. (obviously, the day started out bad and got worse...and went all the way to worst. been there, had those.)

    i'm not in "the industry", per se, unless you consider a cooking school "the industry".

    i do always try to go the extra mile for my clients, and do so most happily. but it's hard to want to do so when that sense of entitlement creeps in, because it doesn't feel so voluntary anymore. perhaps that was the case here? i dunno. i wasn't there, and we only have one side of the story.

  7. those "pot filler" faucets that have to be plumbed in behind the burners of the stove top.

    seriously, if carrying the full pot of (presumably cool) water from the sink to the stove is too difficult, how will you ever get the cooked pasta, in the pot with the now-boiling water over to the sink to drain it?

  8. so, if a patron decides to bring his or her pet to a restaurant, where clearly pets are not allowed inside, and an unforeseen event (storm) occurs, i don't see how it becomes the restaurant owner's fault, which is how this is reading to me.

    sure, the restaurant owner could make a gracious gesture, but it seems as though that's being close to demanded here, and i just don't get that. the restaurant owner may have had all manner of other issues to deal with, vis a vis the sudden storm (reservation cancellations, etc.).

    the dog owners have their dog to deal with. that's their responsibility. they chose to bring the dog. it rained. seems like it's nobody's fault. but certainly not the restaurant owner's responsibility. how does offering to pay to dryclean a suit even come into this equation? seriously. someone made a choice to bring their dog. it rained. now the restaurant gets slammed for poor customer service? i don't get that.

  9. If you are pondering the low-carb impact, you should probably consider the impact of gluten-free baked goods, now, as well. Don't know if it's possible to bake gf in the current configuration , due to cross contamination issues, but if you take on another space, it's something to consider.

  10. we've been doing a stovetop version of these for one of our teambuilding menus for years...we hand "smoosh" them (verrrry theraputic!) and finish them stovetop in some rosemary infused olive oil. they are very, very popular, and out of all the menu items, this is the dish people make over and over.

    the very best thing about them---make more than you think you'll need,and set some aside ('cuz otherwise, there wont be left-overs, even if you made more than enough---that's how good they are). next morning, scramble a couple eggs in with those cracked potatoes with rosemary. i'm tellin' you....heaven!

  11. OH MY GOODNESS!!! We made something called Crash Hot Potatoes last night.

    They are perfection. I can see them replacing just about every type of potato    that we make except for mashed and au gratin. They are tender and crispy golden at the same time. No need to turn or worry about burning. I have made something similar where you smash a small cooked potato with your palms and then fry it in a lot of oil in a skillet. These potatoes let the oven do all the work. I can't get over what a winner they are.

    OMG I want to make them again tonight!

    Where did the recipe come from? Can you share? I'm always on the lookout for new spud recipes.

    it's here.

  12. you don't mention it, but are you tenting the chicken with aluminum foil? that starts to steam the skin...the only other alternative i can suggest would be to tear the crispy skin off in a savage manner, and consume it as soon as it's gorgeously crisp and burnished looking. that's what i do.

  13. Doesn't pesto refer to a specific recipe that always consists of basil, garlic, pine nuts, cheese and olive oil? Wouldn't any other herb puree have to be called something else, like "tarragon puree"?

    Well, first: "puree" is only appropriate usage when the food in question is cooked. Second: "pesto" (I believe) is Italian for "paste" (correct me if I'm wrong; I know you will).

    if my extremely shaky italian serves me (and it may not), pesto comes from the verb "to pound", and pasta comes from the word for paste, as in a flour and water mixture. i think you can refer to an herb (other than basil) concoction as a pesto, but if you don't specify what herb is in there, to most of us, the "default" is basil.

  14. i use a sauce whisk, a balloon whisk and a roux whisk. oh, and a teeny little almost-toy whisk when i want to make an eggwash. (although i sometimes use a fork for that task.)

  15. the "cat's eye" might refer to the small white spot on each grain of arborio? it tends to stay a bit al dente, while the rest of the starch relaxes into the stock, creating that gorgeous creaminess. i call that spot the heart, but maybe that's the eye??

  16. i'm tweaking a pork loin roulade for an upcoming "spring flavors" cooking class. so far, the best version was with sauteed red onion, leek and mushrooms, with whole asparagus spears in the center of the roulade. it was good, and the asparagus gives a cherry polka-dot effect in the middle.

    for plain asparagus eating, roasted in a hot oven until the little tips frizzle is my fav. shave a little parm-reg over that, and i'm set for dinner!

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