Toliver

Thanks for posting about your bao making. I'll be interested to see what tweaks you and your father come up with for the next batch. That's funny and so true! My mom has done the same with me in regards to a bunch of family favorites. You should sit her down and let her know that you're interested in carrying on her traditions so she can't hold out ingredients on you anymore. Then let her know her cooking secrets are safe with you. Perhaps that will do the trick.

A nice new shiny toasting toy. From the look of those wide slots, you could toast a shoe in each one! It looks like it's a cool-to-the-touch exterior. Is this correct?

This topic has come up before and I recall eGullet member andiesenji posting a photo of a tri-fold "shield" you can place in your oven so the convection fan won't blow directly onto your food. Granted, you shouldn't have to do this if the oven were designed better but it's a way of dealing with the problem without having to buy a new oven. I'm curious about your mention of hot spots. I would have thought that convection would have eliminated any hot spots due to the nature of the circulating hot air. Or is this an incorrect assumption?

PM Brooks (Mayhaw Man). He should know what's still good and what isn't. edited to add: I hope you'll post pics of your journey. I've always enjoyed your past repasts, so to speak, that you've posted on eGullet.

I've been thinking about this...what if the difference is due not because of a sensor but because of the ingredients in the bread? I wonder if that could cause the difference in toasting (where is that eGullet Food Science board when you need it? ). Could a higher sugar content in the hazelnut wheat bread be to blame for it toasting more than the double-fiber bread which may have less sugar in it? I'll have to go back to the grocery store and compare the ingredient labels to see if there's that much of a difference. What else could cause one bread to toast perfectly and the other to almost burn using the same heat setting?

You shouldn't have to do this, obviously, but...when this happens to me, I get up and locate the manager and ask them if they can help me find my server as they haven't been back to my table since dropping off my food and I need a refill on my cocktail. It makes a point on so many levels and works quite well to get much needed assistance.

Toliver, I have the same toaster and I like everything about it but the finish. The chrome finish shows every fingerprint. ← I should probably care more about fingerprints on the toaster but I don't. My last toaster was a cool-to-the-touch white plastic exterior toaster from Walmart that was as ugly as sin. I welcome the new chrome in my kitchen, smudges and all. One interesting thing is that the toast cycle can vary depending on what kind of bread you're using. I normally buy a double-fiber bread from Orowheat (more bang for the buck, no pun intended ). But the last time I was at the store they were out. I bought a whole wheat bread with hazelnuts instead. When toasted on the same middle default setting, the toast came out almost black. This surprised the heck out of me and I couldn't figure out why there was such a difference in the toasting. It took me a couple more days of adjusting the "doneness" button to almost the highest non-toasting setting to get this bread to turn out nicely toasted. This makes me wonder what kind of sensors are in the toaster and how they determine toasting doneness. Still, I am quite happy with the toaster.

Most jellos aren't kosher. edited for clarity

Also called spatchcocking.

His coat of many colors...could be a little retro but you could always sevre this beauty (made by Rachel Perlow and also by TrishCT):

An update: Emeril Lagasse to switch to Fine Living network

If you've reported the problem to that location's manager and the problem still persists, you should email McDonald's corporation to let them know that this franchise location has a reported but unresolved issue with their food. The McDonald's corporation doesn't like it when someone is f-ing up their food.

It's too hot to cook (it's been hovering around 102°F since Friday and more of the same is expected today). I bought a rotisserie chicken and removed the meat from the bone. I diced some of it up and tossed it into a mixed green salad with a variety of diced crudite mixed in. Dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Cool and satisfying.

The Meatman has a recipe with a Marsala Marinade: Ask the Meatman You could always cut steaks off the roast for chicken fried steak. I think Fat Guy once started a thread about uses for round steak.

Buffalo sauce sounds great. I'll have to venture over to the mall to try the Chick-Fil-A. Too bad McD' doesn't use some of their chicken wrap sauces on this new sandwich.

Yes, because some jars of spaghetti sauce are actually down to 24 ounces. They started with a full 32 oz. jar. Then they sneakily downsized to 28 oz. Then 26 oz. and now some are actually down to 24. It's going to get to the point where they won't be able to downsize anymore. It would be ridiculous to have a 10 ounce jar on the shelves. But maybe some corporate genius would actually try it. ← Yeah, they'll call the 10 ounce jar a "personal sauce" meant for one.

Okay. I'm impressed. Yesterday was the free giveaway of the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich at McDonald's. Everyone and their mothers showed up to get one. This led to a slight delay waiting for the next batch of sandwiches to come through. To tell you the truth, I didn't hold out much hope for the sandwich. There are no condiments on the sandwich except for two lonely dill pickle slices. I thought it was a good thing that they made us order at least a medium drink in order to get the free sandwich because I figured it was going to be quite dry without any condiments. I was wrong. It was surprisingly moist and didn't really need anything else to help it out. They must brine/inject the meat to make it so moist. I'd recommend removing the pickles. They didn't add much to the sandwich and I actually thought the tartness took away from how good the chicken tasted. I'm thinking the next time I'll try asking for the sandwich with mayo or lettuce or something else to see how big of a difference it will make. The filet itself is not the processed and shaped stuff like the McNuggets. This was an actual piece of breaded chicken breast(?). A coworker had the morning freebie which was a Southern Style Chicken Biscuit. The biscuit version is smaller than the sandwich version. Also, since the biscuits tend to be a little drier than the sandwich buns, the coworker said the chicken biscuit was good but a little dry (there were no condiments on the chicken biscuit either). I'd order it again. I'd also like to try a side-by-side comparison to a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. Great idea, Jeff! edited to clarify

The PTFE (teflon) in non-stick coatings breaks down under high heat plus it's susceptible to mechanical damage, so it probably wouldn't last long. Plus super-heated teflon releases stuff into the air that you're probably better off not breathing. ← "High heat" as in what we're cooking with? So you're saying it breaks down in our pots and pans, as well, using this same heat to cook with. What about an anodized coated stove top? Is that any better?

You're correct. I just received an email from McDonald's and while I was racking my brain trying to figure out how they got my email address, I noticed the photos in the email of both items. In regard to the freebie this Thursday (in my area, at least...not sure if it's nationwide) from 7am to 10:30 they'll give away the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and from 10:30am to 7pm they'll give away the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich (with purchase of medium or large drink). The sandwich looks like it's a breaded chicken patty on a hamburger bun with a dill pickle slice peeking out from under the bun top.

Why don't they make non-stick sealed cooktops? They'd be so much easier to clean.

Technically, no. The heat source for grilling is under the food and the heat source for broiling is over the food. The heat source for broiling is also usually just a full force non-adjustable heat. With grilling you can usually adjust either the heat source or placement of the food over the heat source to control cooking. When broiling you control the cooking by adjusting the time that the food is under the broiling heat. Grilling can also refer to either cooking on a outdoor barbecue or refer to a method of cooking like when grilling a cheese sandwich in a skillet or saute pan on your stovetop. Both kinds of cooking are called grilling.

I received this Hamilton Beach toaster for Christmas and like it so far. One of the nice features of this toaster (which isn't mentioned in the Amazon product description...in fact, nothing is mentioned in the product description ) is that when you press the "plunger" down to drop the bread slices down into the toaster, metal brackets move in to hold each of the slices straight up and down in the center of the slots. No more having the slices lean too far one way or the other and get too toasted. Plus, when the toast is done and pops up, the plunger knob can be lifted up a little which also lifts the toast up a little higher making it easier to remove. It can also toast bagels, reheat and can also thaw then toast frozen items.

I recall seeing a cookbook at Barnes & Noble using only 5 ingredients per recipe. Turns out there are oodles of the ilk on Amazon: Clickety

McDonald's has added a chicken biscuit sandwich. Someone else on eGullet posted about it but I can't find that discussion. I think the post mentioned it as a breakfast item but so far there hasn't been any advertising/positioning as to whether it's a breakfast sandwich or an anytime-sandwich. In my area, the local McDonald's are having a promotion this Thursday (5/15/08) where you can get a free chicken biscuit sandwich with the purchase of any large or medium drink. Since it's supposed to be about 95°F here that day (what happened to Spring? ) and they're also promoting a 42 ounce Coke special, it may be a done deal for me. Has anyone else tried the new McDonald's chicken biscuit sandwich?

Sorry to hear that business is so slow but it's a sign of the state of the economy, of course. Interestingly enough, Walmart & the Discount Club stores are currently doing very well because of the public perception that these stores offer a good value for a low price. I don't know what your target clientele is for the café but have you tried similar tactics? For instance, introducing a daily combo special at a good price? Even if it's a loss leader, it can bring customers in through the doors. Actually, it doesn't even have to save the customer that much money. If they perceive that it's a good value (advertising/signs can help stress this), it can still work in your favor. It's the perception of saving money that's at work here. I'm not sure if this will be enough these days. As you know, a lot of people are cutting back on eating out so it's going to be a struggle to keep bringing them in for the next year or more. I'm sure you have signs posted about the Mother's Day cakes. I'd suggest street-side/sidewalk signage, if possible. The impulse buyer is who you're after at this point in time. Advertising the cakes will help bring them in.