Toliver

Exactly. The Ansel Adams/Annie Leibovitz's of the world are few and far between and with today's cameras and post-processing software, you don't have to be them in order to get a great looking photo. Post-processing can rescue a so-so photo and turn it into something worthy of being on the cover of Gourmet magazine. Says you. You're bored by it because you see it 100 percent on the time. But it's not that noticable in your pictures. Besides, if viewers are noticing the background ("Hey, he's used that backdrop before!"), then you have a problem because they're not paying attention to the subject of your picture, namely the food. I'd suggest not worrying about the background since it's such a minor aspect of your photos. And thanks for posting the D70 links!

pcarpen, your photos rock! I've been admiring your posts for a while in the "Dinner!" thread. The second picture you posted above is a little too off-center for me but I'm A-R that way. Your plating is always dead-on beautiful, too. Can you take a picture of your lighting & lighting area so we can see the set up/arrangement? Regarding the D70, what has taken the most time to get used to with the camera?

Oh. My. God. It's shockingly evocative. Right away I'm getting ideas...voodoo doll knife blocks!

To those of you who have made the famous eG roasted cauliflower... When I've made the roasted cauliflower with a high heat, I get the delicious browned bits. But I've made it a couple times at a lower temperature for a longer period of time, too. While it doesn't get the browned spots like it does with the high heat, the cauliflower ends up an overall beautiful golden color and tastes great. andie's low/slow method sounds "sound" to me. andiesenji, how long would you approximate the cooking time is for your oven oil-roasted garlic?

I think the oil is one of the reasons why the cake so moist. Whipping the egg whites will make it a sort of chiffon cake. The whipping adds air which should expand as it bakes giving you a lighter texture. If you do whip the whites, have you thought about using an Angel food pan or bundt pan? More info on Chiffon Cakes.

Anyone remember FoodTV's "Ready, Set, Cook!"? If you truly believed the premise, the ingredients were really a surprise to the chefs. In fact, at one point the host (Suzy Biggers) would ask a trivia question of the chefs (and their sous-helpers from the audience) and the winner would get their choice of an extra known ingredient or a mystery ingredient (usually hidden in a cookie jar or something similar). Whatever wasn't chosen, the other team had to use in their dish. And this was after the chefs had started cooking their dish so they had to think quickly how to incorporate the new ingredient. Not quite as involved as "IC" but at 30 minutes, it was still a stress-inducing show. And on "Cooking Live!" with Sara Moulton, every once in a while she would do a surprise night where the staff would go out shopping and put the bags of food on the counter. Sara opened the bags in the first five minutes of the show and spontaneously came up with a menu based upon the groceries and spent the rest of the hour cooking the dishes. I miss that show! Too bad "IC" doesn't really surprise their chefs. I agree that would be something to see.

guppymo, Maybe you should be posting these dishes in the "Dinner!" thread. Or perhaps start an umbrella topic "Vietnamese dishes" (if there isn't one already).

Excellent photo! Welcome, guppymo! Can you post your recipe? I am curious about the filling you used. Also, did you serve them with any dipping sauces? Thanks for making me hungry.

Where do you people shop? At the fish counters in the grocery stores where I shop, the clerks put on disposable clear plastic gloves (they have a box of them) with each customer. They put the seafood into a clear plastic bag (they have a roll of them) and place that on the scale to be weighed. When the transaction is complete, they strip off the gloves and toss them in the trash and put on a new pair of gloves when they have another customer. Just like your doctor and/or dentist should be doing. I don't know if this is a California thing, or a county thing or just a good business practice. If something similar isn't being done in your favorite grocery store/fish market, speak up and share your concerns with the manager. Or take your business elsewhere if it troubles you that much. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

If you're using a PC, the keystroke combination for the ¢ symbol is Alt+0162 (hold the Alt key down and use the number pad to type in the number combination). I've never heard of some of the food brands being sold at these dollar/99¢ stores. That scares me.

Growing up, Prime Rib was always something you ordered in a nice restaurant mainly because you didn't make it/get it at home. Times change, don't they? Now we make it at home every Christmas Eve. It is (or was) perceived as the Cadillac of Beef/Steak dinners. Prime Rib for $5.95 in Las Vegas sounds like an incredible deal...until you order it. One year, while staying in Las Vegas for a convention, I ordered it at a casino (that I won't name). It looked like a nice slab of Prime Rib when served, but was one of toughest pieces of meat I've ever encountered. A deal isn't such a deal if you can't eat it.

Yes!! That's it. Thanks for filling in my memory gap! Edited to add: Charles Laughton had his thermos of "hot chocolate" throughout "Witness for the Prosecution" which was really brandy. He thought he was putting one past his nurse/caretaker (played by his wife, Elsa Lanchester) who knew all along what it really was.

Post #2 mentions it. "Auntie Mame" drank oodles of gin martinis, mixed and poured by her very young nephew Patrick...a comedic point in the movie. There was also mention of a "Monkey Gland" drink in the film (do a Google search to find the recipe and the myth). And I honestly can't remember the specific cocktail, but when Mame goes to visit her future inlaws, the Upsons, they give her a drink (a Manhattan?) made with their own spin, honey, that Mame chokes on (and tosses over her shoulder when the Upsons aren't looking).

My mom shops at the 99 cents store constantly. Unfortunately, she buys a lot of food from them which is the one thing you really shouldn't buy from there. They get a lot of passed-expiration or near-expired items and bulk lots of food that weren't good enough to be sold as generic. The last time I visited my mom she gave me a 12-ounce can of V-8 to drink with my lunch. I opened the can and out came tomato water, not V-8 juice. There's a reason why they were selling these at the 99 cent store and not the regular grocery store.

Alton Brown did a Country Ham with Dr. Pepper. edited to add: Coca Cola Cakes are popular.

If you're going to KC and have had your fill of BBQ, you could always try Lidia's (Bastianich) Italy.

This weekend the PBS station out of Los Angeles (KCET) ran an episode of "Julia and the Master Chefs". The guest chef was none other than a very calm, subdued Emeril Lagasse. He made two dishes, a crab and crawfish boil (Julia's first) and Shrimp Etouffee. When he made the roux for the etouffee, it was nothing like what I've seen on the eG Gumbo thread. His roux was almost the consistency of a thick oatmeal, not soupy at all. In fact, when he stirred it, you could see the bottom of the pot. It was that thick. He said to make a lot of roux and then take a majority of it and put it in your fridge for future use. So it's possible his ratio of flour-to-fat was off but I doubt it because if he screwed up then you know they would have re-shot the roux-making. Did anyone else see this episode? Is a thick roux heresy? Does the end-result differ from the normal "soupy" rouxs?

Okay, I thought I would give okra another chance. I ate lunch at a local Indian restaurant (Tandoori chicken rocks!) and had their okra dish. Couldn't get past the slimey texture... I'm still a loud "NO". Perhaps okra is the new cilantro (you either hate it or don't).

Ask and ye shall receive. Here is the quote from the transcript of the show from the Good Eats Fan Pages:

At first it looked like a Road Runner cartoon. But I think it might be SpongeBob.

Welcome to eGullet! Here are some previous discussions on roasting chickens that may give you some more ideas: "Roasting Chicken, The gospel according to e-gulleteers .. ." "Roasting a chicken, Help" "Best Chicken Ever, Well, to me anyway" "Roasting a chicken, it's about time" "Your FAVORITE roast chicken recipe, Me: 40 cloves of garlic. What's yours?" "Roasted Chicken - What I did, And a question: Whole chickens vs parts" And, of course, you should also look into "Spatchcocking" your bird as well as using the chopped knuckle (Frenching?) method, too, that Sam (slkinsey) has suggested in the past (I couldn't find that specific post, though). edited to add: When you get around to roasting marshmallows, start by making your own : "Homemade Marshmallows, anybody got a recipe?"

Which is one of the main reasons why I didn't start a subscription with them. They want me to buy a subscription and then turn around and pay for online access to their corresponding website? Think again, Bub. Just take a look at Epicurious.com for the way it should be done right. The web site supplements both Gourmet and Bon Appétit magazines. While it doesn't fully duplicate the magazine content, it does compliment it and the recipe access alone makes it a worthwhile site. I'll pass on Cooking Illustrated, thank you.

I concur with Margo. They are two very distinct cuisines though they do share some common ingredients. Here are some Cuban recipes. One thing you will notice right away is the minor role given to chile (hot) peppers. I believe the contract hasn't been violated.

I rarely deep fry anymore. And I don't pan fry too much, either. However, I am a fan of the general genre. Lumpia. My brother's MIL used to make them for family gatherings but now she buys them pre-made. Pot stickers, though I prefer they also be steamed. Pot stickers that are only fried are like half a haircut. You gotta go all the way and do both cooking methods for them to taste their best. Beer batter onion rings with seasoned salt and a chipotle/hot pepper mayo to dip them in. Deep fried turkey covered with a spicy rub and injected the night before with some mysterious garlic concoction. Keep your oven-fried french fries...I'll take mine deep fried, please, crinkle cut and crunchy and generously topped with Heinz Ketchup.

I commiserate with your kids. As a child, I composed this: Liver will never live on my plate, Liver will never be what I ate. Whether by onions you smother Or served by my mother, Liver will always be something I hate. My mom ended up serving hot dogs to us kids whenever the adults were getting liver & onions. Uhm, I still will not eat it to this day.