Stone

Do you need a comma and space in "October 11, 2003"? What's the little stuff after "Too much pork for just one fork."

Is there an issue with adding too much water? For example, I don't think I'd feel comfortable leaving the stock simmering all night unless the pot was pretty full at all times. I've got a pretty good range, the flame still varies. I assume that any "excess" water in the stock wont matter because it can just be simmered out, leaving the same amount of flavor?

I don't know about that. I'd love to get my hands on one of these babies. Homebrew supply stores sell cheap 5 gallon plastic tubs that have been fitted with a spout. (They're used to pour wort off from the mash and to bottle.) If kept clean, I assume they would work well to drain stock. Also, as mentioned by Alton Brown, be carefull putting hot stock in a cold fridge. You'll likely end up with a warm fridge for the next few hours. And tons of condensation everywhere.

I recently read a blurb somewhere claiming that lard had less "bad" cholesterol than butter. Here's some info I found: Lard -- Fat Breakdown: Total lipid (fat) 100.000 g Fatty acids, total saturated 39.200 g Fatty acids, total monounsaturated 45.100 g Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated 11.200 g Cholesterol 95.000 mg Butter -- Fat Breakdown: Total lipid (fat) 81.110 g Fatty acids, total saturated 50.489 g Fatty acids, total monounsaturated 23.430 g Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated 3.010 g Cholesterol 219.000 mg I'm guessing these are equal volumes. Looks like lard is quite a bit "healthier" than butter. Lower saturated fat content, much lower cholesterol content. I'm surprised. Next time I get a bagel, I'll ask for it to squeal.

Isnt' that what Chicken Tikka Masala is? Leftover chicken tikka, in a rich gravy? I always thought of as the "Indian Chop Suey".

After reviewing the Best 125 things to eat in the Bay Area, I have little comments. Most stuff I'd never heard of. I think that including Slanted Door's shaken beef is a mistake. It's a great beef stir-fry (hell, it's made with filet), but it's not what I consider shaken beef. But that's just me.

From this article.

The one time I was at RNM, they were serving a white truffle risotto that was perhaps the best risotto I'd ever had. It was exactly what I always thought a risotto could be -- creamy without being mushy; al dente without being toothy, flavorful but maintaining the essence of the rice.

Number 1 on the list is barbecued ribs at Everett & Jones, in Berkeley. I've never been there, but considering that the Bay Area is pretty-much devoid of ethnicity, I find it hard to believe that someone at the magazine isn't accepting a pay-off. BBQ? In the Bay Area? Really? BBQ? The best thing to eat? Really? But let's turn to the results of the readers' polls first (I'm skipping a bunch). Best Restaurant: Danko, Boulevard, Chez Panisse. How Boulevard gets on the list (especially when French Laundry is considered in the running), I'll never know. Best New Restaurant: RNM, Chez Papa, La Table. The only one I've been to is RNM, and it was pretty good. I'm surprised that neither Limon nor Platanos is on the list, but they may not be new anymore. Best Restaurant Service Danko, The Dining Room at the Ritz; French Laundry. Danko's service is great, but better than FL? Well, we can assume that so few people actually eat at FL, it's got a handicap. Best Weekend Brunch: Ellas, Dining Room at the Ritz, Cityscape Bar and Restaurant. Boring. Unless your Grandmother is in town from Connecticut, go to the Pork Store Cafe. Best Outdoor Dining Sams Anchor Cafe, The Ramp, Foreign Cinema. Seems that some folks confused "best" with "popular". Sam's is a great place to sit and drink on a beautiful day, but the food sucks. They might as well serve you a glass of old oil with some bits in it . Blue Plate in the Mission has a great patio. Zeitgeist. Best Thai Thep Phanom, Marnee thai, Khan Toke Thai House. I've been to 1 and 3, and both are overrated. Thep Phanom gets excellent marks for beautiful food, but other than the Tom Kha (which was fantastic), the food wasn't very good. The curry I had was bland, and the fish way over cooked. Best Chinese Elizas, Erics, Ton Kiang. Erics is very good. Eliza's isn't. Another abominable attempt at fusion. Best Japanese (i.e., Best Sushi) Ebisu, Blowfish, Sushi Groove. I find Blowfish to be consistently good, Sushi Groove to be very inconsistent and too fucking arrogant. Tokyo Go Go should be somewhere on the list. Best Indian Indan Oven, Shalimar, Pakwan. This highlights the dearth of good Indian food in town. I'm surprised that nothing from the South Bay got on the list. Pakwan is about as mediocre as you're going to find in Indian food. (I think people like it just because it's in the Misison and cheap.) I had Shalimar's Chicken Tikka Masala recently. Surprisingly different -- not overly rich and buttery. Good, deep flavors. Their aloo paratha was odd, though. Thin, not much potato. Best Tapas Cha Cha Cha, Andalu, Zarzuela. Cha Cha Cha is a post-college hangout bar. Lousy food. Andalu is, IMHO, way way overrated. Zarzuela is excellent. Classy and delicious. Platanos and Limon should be on the list. (But maybe they're not technically tapas places?) Best Vietnamese Slanted Door, Le Cheval, Tu Lan. Switch 1 & 3 and maybe i'll take this seriously.

I totally agree. That's the way I went with my new kitchen. Unfortunately, right now it's still an empty room with wires sticking out of the drywall. We're approaching the 3 week point. Did you see that commercial where the kitchen contractor explains to the family: "First, we're going to come in, track mud and dirt all over your house, rip everything out of the kitchen, tear out all your windows and replace them with plastic sheets. Then we're going to disappear for three weeks. Don't even bother trying to call, because you wont be able to reach us. Next we'll show up ready to go, but with all the wrong appliances and without any tools. That will take weeks to fix, probably months. . . ."

It's an odd article (and poorly written, in my opinion). The author, Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, never really explains what she considers to be the difference between bbq and smoking. It kind of seems that she's using bbq to refer to grilling. Then she refers to "cold smoked brisket" and how her husband (who, I take it, could not "bbq") was determined to learn how to "cold smoke". But then, she discusses building a home bbq pit. It sounds a lot like plain old smoking, i.e., barbecue, not cold smoking. That is, the lid of the pit gets too hot to lift even with pot-holders. The recipe for ribs calls for smoking at 200-225 degrees -- not what I consider "cold smoking". Is it possible that Ms. McMahan and the Chronicle food staff haven't learned anything from eGullet?

I dated a young lady who made me three meals. Two were very good (homemade pizza and a beef roulade). The third was a pasta and sausage deal that included bbq sauce and liquid smoke in the sauce. Oh my god. But being Mr. Wonderful, I've eaten it three or four times without complaining.

I hate pasta salad, but I could eat cold noodles wss with every meal. I've found that for a simple dish, it's very hard to find a good version. I never found a home version that was any good, I haven't found a decent restaurant example in San Francisco either.

1) I notice that you trimmed the leaves off the celery. I've always thought they were the most aromatic part. Is there a reason you took them off? 2) Regarding the browning of the bones, is there any benefit to browning them in a non-stick pan and deglazing? Or is this not worth the effort/clean up?

How does one cook a suckling pig? Assume no special equipment.

Most places let you double up the meat for a relatively low charge. Seriously -- a double Whopper has a respectable amount of meat (though still dry and overcooked). Subway will let you double the meat for about $1.25 extra -- though even doubling, Subway remains, in my opinion, the stingiest of fast-food places. (I remember when they would break the slices of green pepper so you got only a thin strip of pepper running down the center of the sandwich.)

Use some crab meat to crust the sockeye.

Steak & Shake does a great chilli mac. O.k., it's not great, but it's chilli mac.

All work and no bacon sucks.

This is almost as good as Awbrig's Week of Food.

I've got a new connection in the meat world. (Ain't life grand?) I'm told she can get me a suckling pig from a local "artisinal" hog farmer. (Probably don't see those words together very often.) Can I smoke one of these in my bullet? I'm assuming it's too big to lay on the rack (actually, I have no idea how big it would be). But maybe if I stand it up on the bottom rack (like a beer can chicken) and remove the top)? Would the temp variation in the top and bottom affect the cooking (I suppose I could keep flipping the little fellow).

Um, dude, a BLT without lettuce and tomato is a BACON SANDWICH! Smear some mayo on that bad boy and press down the Wonderbread, that's good eats.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of bacon, I will not fear; pork fat art with me.

Find out where Mick Jagger is holding his 60th birthday party. I bet that's good.

Read the 21st Amendement, and don't get your hopes up.