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sng sling

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Posts posted by sng sling

  1. For what it's worth, we have a fairly new Le Creuset grill pan (maybe 2-3 years old) that is enameled on the bottom -- just cleaned it after breakfast this AM. Our older LC items (30+ years) have enameled and untrammeled bottoms. I have no idea why, though. I'd appreciate any info just out of curiousity..

  2. We buy the Williams-Sonoma frozen croissants for home. If I recall properly, the thaw and proof time for them is 6-8 hours at room temperature. We usually leave them out at bedtime and bake them off in the morning. They increase in size by about 3x. Never had any trouble. Hope this helps.

  3. We popped for a Vita-Mix about a year ago, ostensibly to make better smoothies, but it is/was a really cool toy. However, the main advantage relative to our previous Kitchen Aid is that the ice or frozen fruit becomes completely smooth rather than pretty smooth. The justification to upgrade is kind of shaky.

    Another aspect of the smoothie topic is the cost of smoothies outside the home. Our health club offers a $5 smoothie with yogurt and/or soy milk, choice of fruit (all frozen in bags), with added cost options of peanut butter, whey powder, etc. Even using the most generous ingredient cost there is perhaps 75 cents worth of food in the blender. That might be a better gross margin than pizza!

    I find that the active bacteria yogurts are good for me, and smoothies are a very easy way to add this to my diet.

    Whey protein powder, as mentioned above, adds protein without adding fat. Soy milk is also said to be good for health, but I don't like the taste. In a smoothie, it is undetectable.

    Berries (fresh or frozen) allegedly have strong health benefits and taste good. Banana, peaches, and mango work well. Good quality frozen fruit is better than mediocre out of season produce. If you use fresh fruit, you obviously need a handful of ice to cool things off.

  4. Great info. Thanks and keep it coming.

    Evidently Photoshop CS4 doesn't even have and on-line manual.  Nor does it seem to have indexed help.  Looks like it will be fun to relearn.

    There's a whole cottage industry in Photoshop how-to books in your bookstore, and maybe even your library. I bought one for Photoshop Elements 4.0 (haven't updated in a couple years) and found it very helpful. You'd naturally want one for the current version..

  5. Places here in Houston sometimes offer chopped herb mixtures with the oil.

    Another thought is the Middle Eastern herb/spice/nut mix called "dukkha" (not sure about spelling), which serves a similar purpose as a bread dip.

  6. We have a chest type freezer in our Houston TX garage that cost less than $200 at Costco. It's run reliably for about 5 years, and I couldn't tell how much it adds to the electric bill -- it's overwhelmed by the A/C. I figure that if the extra work of fighting Houston summers causes it to last a couple years less, then we'll replace it cheaply. Lots of folks here retire their kitchen fridge to the garage when they redecorate or upgrade. Seems to work out well.

  7. When I read the NYT article, it struck me that the recycling possibility was limited.

    Recycling multi-layer plastic bladders is tough because there is (likely) a nylon or mylar layer in the bladder to prevent oxygen transfer. Much of recycling depends on being able to sort out similar types of plastic.

    The "milk carton" type paper containers are layered with plastic resins to keep the cardboard from getting soggy and leaking. These don't decompose very well, since the plastic layer "protects" the cardboard in the landfill.

    Taking away the eco value and recognizing that boxwine is almost always so-so, makes box wines a doubtful deal at best.

  8. One other thing.  Recently Crisco has changed its formula to one with Zero trans fats.  Unfortunately, it has also changed the way the fat works in some quick breads, including biscuits and scones, cakes and especially pie crust.  Melinda Lee discussed this at length on her radio show a few weeks ago and several people called in to report that they had terrible results with long-trusted recipes.

    In my opinion, Crisco is not what is was and I have stopped using it.

    I still have an old pre-change can of Crisco in the fridge. I guess I better use it carefully. What are you using or thinking about as a replacement?

  9. It is so discouraging to find so little interest here--this is a major thing for foodies and wine lovers in Texas--I don't understand. :wacko:  :unsure:  :sad:

    I'm confused -- we have a fair number of BYOB restaurants in Houston. The Chronicle did a story on BYO in early March, if I recall properly.

    Is this a county-by-county thing???

  10. People cook raw fish all the time. Usually, it has been a few days from the time it's caught to the time it's cooked. There's plenty of fish I wouldn't eat raw that I'd eat cooked, and I'm sure that's true of any rational person who eats fish.

    The question on the table is: leftover sushi, no food-safety concerns, what to do with it. I understand that nobody wants me to eat the sushi from the picnic. Don't worry about it. It's a red herring. I threw it out days ago. What about the actual question?

    I never had red herring as a sushi neta -- what's it like?? :biggrin:

  11. Hi

    I need recommendations for oven brands. I’m in need of a new wall oven. My old oven, an ariston, is now dying and I require a replacement. I’m eyeing a Miele but its price is rather .. on the steep end. Do you guys know of any? i have space for one that's about 60cm, thanks.  :biggrin:

    I'm also in singapore.. which might limit my brand options.

    When we lived in Singapore, we had a single Miele oven in our apartment (Ardmore Park). It was so good, that when we moved back to the USA, we spent an embarrassing amount of money to install a double cavity Miele convection oven. Other than the pain of the initial price, we love it. Gives us restaurant quality grillng (broiler) for fish, and is very quick to preheat.

  12. I'm currently in Japan, the land of totally inappropriate pizza toppings -- corn, potatoes, mayonnaise, tuna, etc. Pineapple and ham are minor transgressions in THIS context. However, I'm a libertarian pizza maker and eater -- eat what you like and like what you eat.

    I had a great and unusual "pizza" the other day -- a plain crust baked in a wood oven so that the dough blew up into a big oval sphere -- think rugby ball with a very thin, crisp, & tasty crust. After it came from the oven, they laid slices of prosciutto over the "bombe" and served the whole thing with garlic-rosemary-chili oil to sprinkle as you like.

    It may not have been pizza, but it was very, very good.

  13. If you are using a Ziplock technique, you can squeeze most of the air out of the bag by :

    Btw, I don't think this has been discussed much on this list, but I don't think it is a good idea to cook in plastic bags that were not meant to have food cooked in them. Ziplock bags and most other such bags were not made to be food safe at cooking temperatures. There are some pretty unhealthy chemicals that can leach out of soft plastics into the food when the bags get hot.

    I would be cautious about doing much sous-vide cooking in bags not meant to be cooked in especially if you are going to be feeding kids or young adults or women that might be (or become) pregnant. The chemicals used to make plastics pliable are known to be endocrine disruptors and pose other health risks as well.

    You're right that there is controversy about this, but your comment about endocrine disruption is confusing two different things. The endocrine worries you mention are about PVC (polyvinyl chloride) films, which usually contain phthalates used to make them flexible. Zip-Locs (and similar bags) are made from polyethylene, which does not need or use phthalate additives. Although there are concerns expressed, no reliable studies (either by industry or the FDA, etc.) have shown harm from using polyethylene bags at sous vide temperatures. Your mileage may vary.....

  14. I don't think it's possible for a fried egg to be too brown. For me, the browner and crispier, the better.

    I'm really lovin' these reports on your cooking class -- your reports are so good I feel I'm vicariously taking the class along with you.

    A little OT, I'm the opposite re brown eggs -- I've tried for years to make and pan flip without a spatula (diner style) a two egg over medium with a firm white but little or no brown, of course without breaking the yolks....

  15. I'll be alone in tokyo for about 3 days, I want to make the most of it, so does anybody have any suggestions of what to do and where to go. Price is not really a factor. I know that most of the top end places will be closed.

    Thanks,

    Ben

    A few ideas to enjoy Japanese style New Years:

    New Year's Eve -- go to ZoJoji temple near Tokyo Tower to watch them ring in the new year (108 tolls of the big bell). Nice crowds -- nothing at all like times Square in NYC.

    Try to get your concierge to hook you up with a Japanese New Year's (Day) meal (o-sechi ryori) in a hotel restaurant -- good stuff and something you may not have done before.

    Not sure if you can get into the Imperial Gardens at the Palace to greet the Emporer and his family for NY. Crowds being greeted (from behind glass on a balcony) by the Imperial family....

    Bring some good books - it's a VERY quiet time in town.

  16. Since most are located in the Ginza area, I thought I'd stay in or near the area. The last few times we traveled to Tokyo, we stayed at The Imperial Hotel and The Hotel Seiyo, both of which were within easy walk distance of the Ginza scene. This year, I'm thinking of either The Peninsula or The Four Seasons Marunouchi, or The Mandarin Oriental Hotel (where I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Tapas Molecular Bar).

    -------------------------------------

    In rough order of closeness to the Ginza 4-chome intersection (corner of Wako dept store) -- Seiyo, Penninsula, Imperial (all ~5 minute walk). Four Seasons is near Tokyo station -- maybe 10-15 minute walk. Mandarin is in Nihonbashi -- 15-20 minute walk. YMMV

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