Toliver

I've had those sweet potato chips and loved them. I rarely buy them now only because I'll eat the entire bag sooner than later. I don't think it's the suger in the sweet potato that prevents these tots from getting crispy. If anything, I'd think the sugar would help with caramelization. Hopefully, an SSB or food science geek can chime in as to why sweet potatoes can't crisp up. I guess I will have to try the tots again but with a pan fry instead of baking to see if crispiness can even be possible with these tots.

My local McD's have debuted the blueberry pomegranate smoothies. They're having a limited time promotion of a small blueberry pomegranate smoothie for a buck. The "Potato Party" mentioned in this post (click) has inspired a new Japanese McD's menu item: "The Mega Potato"

Ruffles Ultimate Tangy Honey Mustard potato chips I consumed a bag of these chips and scanned the empty bag on my office scanner. Being part of the Ruffles Ultimate line of chips, these chips are extra crispy/crunchy so that's a big plus right from the start. As for their flavor, they taste exactly like tangy honey mustard. Not too sweet...not too much mustard. They got the flavor balance just right. The only thing that could make these chips taste even better would be if they added some sort of chicken flavor. Two thumbs up for these chips!

I tried their Sweet Potato Tots this past weekend. It was a mixture of a little success and mostly failure. Due to their high moisture content, they failed to get crisp after oven baking them for a half hour at 400°F (single layer of tots on a cookie sheet...turn the tots at the halfway mark and bake for another 15 minutes). The instructions suggest a 5 minute broil at the end of the baking time to crisp them up but due to my thin, dark cookie sheet they didn't brown during the baking time but blackened instead where they contacted the cookie sheet so I didn't want to subject them to any more "browning". Plus, at the halfway mark when I turned the tots, a lot of them ended up getting squashed when I used the tongs to turn them. Obviously they needed to be pan fried to get them properly crisped but that sort of defeats the purpose of eating something semi-healthy such as baked sweet potato tots. The only positive thing I could find was that they had a nice sweet potato flavor. Live and learn...

This episode just played on my local PBS station this past weekend. First, they cut the bones off. Then they browned it on all sides in a skillet. They said the skillet browning is easier done without the bones attached. Then they let the roast cool a little and then twine-tied the bones back on and roasted it in the 200°F oven for a couple of hours. You can watch the video segment from the show on America's Test Kitchen web site here: Prime Rib

I find this interesting. They're throwing the baby out with the breakfast bathwater, so to speak. The biggest problem with BK & Wendy's is that they don't have a breakfast menu item that stands out and will act as a draw to morning customers. BK did have a ciabatta breakfast sandwich that was half-way decent (IMHO) and a ham & biscuit sandwich with a sort of sweet butter (which made for a nice little sweet & salty sandwich) but they dropped both items. The Egg McMuffin didn't start out at McD's corporate headquarters. A franchise owner invented it and it brought the customers in. McD's corporate bigwigs saw this and were smart enough to add the new breakfast sandwich to all of their restaurants. A few California Taco Bells are even test marketing a Waffle Taco in hopes they'll have a breakfast item that will drive customers in. BK and Wendy's just have to come up with their own menu standout item to bring the customers in.

McDonald's says buh-bye to the Angus Burgers: "McDonald's Talks Quarter Pounders, Angus and Bacon" With MickeyD's heavily promoting their Value Menu, the Angus burgers didn't stand a chance. Plus, they have Burger King trying to steal their thunder (click here).

Burger King is encroaching on McDonald's menu territory: "Burger King's answer to the McRib" Hopefully, this McRib knock-off will be just as good as the original. I'm interested in the pulled pork sandwich, too. (Has anyone had their frozen Coke? It's basically a Slurpee.)

My guess is that butterflying provides a more even thickness meaning all parts get cooked at the same pace. Besides, knowing how to spatchcock a chicken ups your "cool" factor.

Penzey's also sells cocoa and Dutch cocoa. Click Here.

Martin Yan, on one of his PBS shows, used a similar method that Chris linked to in his post. Martin used a large leaf as a base in a wok steamer and then poured the rice noodle batter on top of it. He steamed it for a bit and then sliced the resulting rice "pancake" into thicker rice noodles like what you find in Beef Chow Fun. It seemed deceptively simple to make.

Thanks for posting the link to the recipes. It's interesting that your Snickerdoodle recipe didn't call for cream of tartar. I have no idea what it does to a cookie (hopefully an SSB will drop by and tell me) but the majority of Snickerdoodle recipes call for it. The Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip cookies gave me a Homer SImpson "DOH!" moment...as in why didn't anyone think of this combination before? I am anxious to give it a try.

kleinebre, thank you for your efforts and experimentation. Your hand-pulled noodle journey is fascinating to read and I am happy to see you're at a stage that produces something edible. I recall watching one of Martin Yan's PBS series where he was in Asia and watched how hand-pulled noodles were made. I seem to remember the chef throwing flour at the noodles every once in awhile. In this Alton Brown narrated video, the flour is used mainly on the last half of the pulling: http://youtu.be/VzHtPyqUll0 Perhaps the added flour prevents the dough from being too sticky.

Caveat Emptor...Let the Buyer beware. I ordered online Beaver Brand Extra Hot Horseradish. I should have read the ingredient list first before ordering. Ingredients: Grated horseradish roots, water, white distilled vinegar, soybean oil, salt, artificial flavor, sodium metabisulfite and sodium benzoate (preservatives), sugar, eggs, cellulose and xanthan gums, citric acid, high fructose corn syrup, calcium disodium edta (retains product freshness), spices, lemon juice. The highlights in the list are mine. I am wondering why those ingredients are needed in prepared horseradish when other brands don't include them. Of course, I am sure an SSB might reassure me that the other lengthy ingredients listed above aren't harmful to humans in the long haul. I'd rather not have them in my prepared horseradish. The Beaver Brand Extra Hot Horseradish wasn't extra hot. It wasn't even hot. It had absolutely no heat to it at all. It was quite mild and didn't have that great of a flavor either. It was a major disappointment.

Lead in imported rice has also become an issue: "Worrisome Levels of Lead Found In Imported Rice"

I stumbled across these in my local Target store: Heinz Signature Series Ketchup blended with Balsamic Vinegar and Heinz Limited Edition Jalapeño Ketchup The Limited Edition Jalapeño ketchup has a definite kick to it. I didn't really discern any jalapeño flavor. The ingredients list has dehyrdated jalapeños as the last ingredient and, oddly, under natural seasonings "Bell Pepper Concentrate" though I didn't taste that at all in my taste tests. It just tasted like spicy ketchup and it looks like regular red ketchup. The Signature Series Balsamic Vinegar ketchup has a darker, earthier red color to it. The vinegar flavor is much more upfront and pronounced than in regular ketchup. Tasting it on food, it reminded me quite a bit of the taste of Heinz 57 sauce which made me wonder if balsamic vinegar is one of the ingredients of the Heinz 57 sauce. I liked both flavors and recommend them as a change from the routine of regular ketchup.

Here's a previous similar eGullet discussion: "Left-Handed/Ambidextrous Tools & Utensils"

I've suggested this in another thread (somewhere here on eGullet) but the cake scraps can be used in trifles. If you're a bakery making something to sell, you can use small clear plastic cups and make mini trifles. Cake-custard-whipped cream layered and if fruit is in season, add a layer of glazed strawberries (raspberries go well with chocolate cake scraps...sort of a Black Forest trifle which normally uses cherries). As for cookie crumbs, topping ice cream or yogurt was my first thought. If you have a lot, I can see them processed into a crumb topping for an apple brown betty or topping a quasi-linzer type torte or cookie.

My mom would always make something similar called "Pinwheels". Roll out the dough, spread butter on it and sprinkle on sugar and cinammon. Roll it up into a cigar shape and slice into 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces. Bake until browned and flaky. It was something us kids could eat (as soon as they cooled) since the pie would be for dessert later that night.

If you do give in and eat bread, why not eat a higher-in-fiber bread? Orowheat makes a double fiber bread (click) where one serving provides 48% of a day's suggested amount of fiber...more bang for the buck, so to speak . The problem with most carbs is they lack fiber so they spend more time in our digestive track, spiking our blood sugar. However, if there is fiber with the carbs, the food will move through our digestive system quicker so there should be less of a spike. Let us know how your 17 day diet goes...

I think that's the idea behind the promotion. The deal/gimmick is you eat one meal at the restaurant and then take the other home to eat later. My mom, who once in awhile dines at that chain with her friends from church, thought it was a good deal. The take home meal meant it was one less meal for her to fix from scratch.

The Long's Horseradish web site (mentioned in an earlier post) still hasn't been updated so I am unable to order it. I haven't encountered Bubbie's brand in local stores but will keep searching. I've been testing more brands of horseradish as I stumble across them. I ordered a couple different brands off of Amazon (paying outrageous shipping fees for the bottles but hey, someone has to take one for the team ) Here's an Amazon link to the latest winner: Atomic Extra Hot Horseradish Sauce Technically, it's not just prepared horseradish. The ingredient list is as follows: Distilled vinegar, Water, Parsnips, Horseradish, Salt, Sugar, Flavoring, Titanium Dioxide (Natural mineral for color) Parsnips? My uneducated guess is that "Flavoring" in the ingredient list could be MSG. This Atomic Extra Hot is just as hot, if not hotter, than the Inglehoffer Extra Hot Horseradish. Two winners, so far! I will update as more horseradish gets delivered...

I have a Westbend Slow Cooker like what mgaretz linked to. I just used it this past weekend to cook my St. Paddy's Day corned beef. I've had the slow cooker for almost 30 years. The insert/pot can be used on the stove to brown meat. I believe it's aluminum with a non-stick coating inside. It has a general knob for heat settings so there's no precise temperature settings. With my slow cooker, the high setting will bring contents to a boil but the low setting on mine does not boil.

Two eGullet members have both gone to great success in food writing and in cooking: Monica Bhide: http://www.monicabhide.com/ and Michelin starred chef and author Suvir Saran: http://suvir.com/ Does India have celebrity chefs like America & Europe have? There's a business model here where part of the celebrity chef cycle is to write books/cookbooks, create your own line of cookware, etc. Perhaps that business model doesn't exist in India. I don't know the culture, which, as a customer/reader could be part of the problem, too. I will be interested in hearing what others think.

Thanks for the mini-review. I liked their pineapple mango smoothie though it was a little on the sweet side and expensive. Blueberry Pomegranate sounds like it would have some tartness to it. I look forward to trying it.