Toliver

Tyler Florence's "Death-Defying Stuffed Shrimp with Tasso Ham and Crab " Easy to make. You can also omit the shrimp completely and make just the crab balls from the recipe.

I guess I either need to get around more or find a better produce section/grocery store. The only green grapes I encounter are always seedless. I am deprived (or should that be depraved? )

Roast Pork with sauerkraut, dumplings and potato pancakes.

He should get off his high horse every once in a while to see what it's like in the real world. It's so easy to sling arrows from up there, isn't it? Of course he didn't "get" Rachel Ray. He's not her target audience so it's easy to be snide. Regarding Saint Jacque's recipe for "Caramelized Canned Peaches" he wrote: As if the two are mutually exclusive?!?! Geesh, gimme a break. What an elitist snob. And then there's this beauty: No shit, Sherlock! (excuse my French) I bet you thought you were brilliant doing that, which is a complete 180 from the spirit/intention of the original recipe. But come back to me in January, Genius, and tell me what you're going to do. Fresh Peaches in January...at $5.00 a pound. Yeah, right. You'll be opening a can of peaches like the rest of us, bub. If ever there was someone who shouldn't be reviewing time-saving recipe books, it's this guy. Them's my thoughts...

I'd suggest Toast Dope but it's sweet. I wonder if it's possible to make a savory version? edited to add: pandorphus, that sounds great! I gotta try that.

Buy seedless grapes. But seriously folks... In case you aren't aware, given your food background, green grapes are seedless and red grapes will have seeds in them (though, to confuse you even more, there are some varieties of red grapes that won't have seeds...ask your local grocer). edited to try to be a softer, gentler grouse

I use a broiler pan all the time. Mine is not non-stick, however. It's two pieces...a grooved flat top piece with slits for fat/juices to run down into and a drip pan underneath. I spray the top piece with non-stick spray (like PAM) and then, as the King of Overkill, I line the sprayed top pan with aluminum foil and prick it with a fork so the fat/juices can run down into the slits. I also line the bottom drip pan with foil. Needless to say, clean up is relatively easy. I own no birds so I wouldn't mind a non-stick broiler pan.

Use a good tasting strong coffee instead. Here's Mario Batali's version. He calls for either espresso or you can substitute instant coffee (see the recipe). Here is Emeril's version. He calls for espresso or just a strong coffee blend. Here is the Epicurious recipe, which calls for either strong coffee or espresso. Some recipes I've seen even use espresso powder. If you don't have an espresso machine, don't sweat it...go the "strong coffee" route.

You should PM eGullet member SethG. He just went through the arrival of a baby and blogged here ("Home for a couple months, How should I get my cooking fix?") about his cooking during his stay at home when the newborn came home. While most of his blog won't answer your questions since he used the time to tackle bread baking, etc, but he did, towards the end of his stay-at-home time, began cooking with freezing in mind because he knew he would have to go back to work. He may have some suggestions for you and be able to tell you what worked well and what didn't.

Yes, and to show the difference in color. My favorite way is to eat it is when my mom makes her Bohemian Pork Roast and Sauerkraut, with dumplings added last. The pork roast is first oven-cooked (use a knife to put slits in the roast and then put pieces of garlic in the slits...then season the outside of the roast and roast it until almost done). Remove the roast from the pan. Then add the sauerkraut to the pan (my mom uses store-bought jarred sauerkraut and does not use the juice from the jarred sauerkraut since she thinks it's too sour...fresh-made sauerkraut may be different, of course). Make sure sure you leave in all the roast drippings that are left in the pan since it will add great flavor. To the sauerkraut add a diced onion, some carroway seeds and a little brown sugar to balance the tartness of the sauerkraut...my aunt adds shredded carrot instead of brown sugar...mix together and then water is added so there's lots of juice but it's not swimming in it. Then the roast is put back on top of the sauerkraut and it's all put back into the oven. Once the sauerkraut browns (so it's not stark white anymore) it gets taken out of the oven. The roast is set aside for carving while the sauerkraut (still in the pan) is put on the stove and brought to a boil. Once boiling, you add the dumplings. You cook them for a short bit with the pan lid off and then you put the lid on and don't peek. After 15 minutes the dumplings have plumped and eveything's ready to eat. Sometimes my mom will make potato pancakes on the side which aren't really Bohemian but she learned how to make them from a Polish neighbor when she first got married. I went through a phase of hating it since we ate pork roast and sauerkraut so often when I was young but now I crave it. Ain't Life funny? edited to add my mom's version.

The last time I visited my mom she broiled some steaks for dinner and didn't put any foil on her broiler pan since it was non-stick. Except that it turned out it wasn't non-stick. She told me "I haven't used the broiler pan since I bought my new oven...and, well, it looked like it's a non-stick broiler pan." Double Thank God for Dawn Power Dissolver! I'd go with Marlene's suggestion.

Yes! A big white plastic bucket is exactly what guajolote used.

eGullet poster guajolote did a sauerkraut blog, of a sort: "Sauerkraut, Homemade" Unfortunately, the pictures are missing now.

My mom uses something like this: Thermal Food Server They also make one for gravy that she uses without fail for every holiday spread. Another thought (besides electric food warming trays) could be: Pyrex portables With the carrier, there's a trivet-like pad that you put in the microwave to heat up. You're supposed to be able to put the pad in the carrier setting the Pyrex dish on top to keep warm. I'd think you could use the pad on a table (making sure you put a trivet under the pad) and set the dish on top of the pad to keep the items warm. Of course, there are the roasters that have buffet inserts, too: Rival Buffet server (roaster not included) Kenmore Roaster with Buffet insert You can also use your slow-cooker set on a low setting to keep veggies warm.

I had a Homer Simpson "DOH!" moment when it finally dawned on me that the end-result-wine you've documented in this blog won't even be ready to drink for quite a while. How long is the aging/barrel process that turns the grape juice into wine? What would be the minimum time needed in order to get wine? I think it would be very cool to be able to buy a bottle of wine that came from the grapes featured in this blog! "Merlot de eGullet"

I thought I would bump this discussion back up after seeing George Foreman and his Lean Mean Grilling Machine on NBC's Today Show this morning. George Foreman on the Today Show There's a video of the segment that you can watch. Click on the "Launch" button to see it. George was on the Today Show because there's a new version of the Lean Mean Grilling Machine out. The grilling surfaces can now be removed and put into the dishwasher to be cleaned. Also, I think I saw in the video of the segment that the lid has more "give" to it and seemed to lie flatter on top of the food than in previous versions. Has anyone seen this new version in person? Does the lid actually have more "give" to it? On a side note, George said in the segment that they've sold 50 million grilling machines.

Yes, it's an oven. In ye days of olde, when cooking was done over a fire/in the fireplace, the Dutch Oven served as an oven before ovens were invented. They usually had legs on them so they could stand in the embers. Some also had flat rimmed lids that allowed coals to be placed on top so it really did become a kind of oven. Such Dutch Ovens are still used today in this manner in "cowboy cooking"/campfire cooking. A web search can provide more information. Originally I believe all Dutch Ovens were cast iron with a lid (what other materials did they have to work with?). It wasn't until much later when modern ovens were commonplace that you found material variations (enameled cast iron, etc).

I'm sure the pros will weigh in, but a quick method would be to run hot water over your spatula, dry it off then use the spatula to quickly smooth the icing. The residual heat should melt the butter enough to smooth it out.

Thanks for the info. It looks just the same as the little fire bombs my brother grows. It is the one pepper plant my brother doesn't yank and it keeps producing gloriously hot fruit year after year. My sister-in-law (my brother's wife) can eat them and not blink an eye or shed a tear. She obviously has a much higher "heat" threshold than the rest of us chileheads. Put us to shame is what she does...

Rule Number One when ordering at Quizno's: Never EVER order any sandwich that has their disgusting guacamole on it. The other non-guacamole sandwiches I've had there have been quite tasty. I'd say try again now that you're in-the-know.

Do you happen to know the name of the round guy in the middle of the picture? My brother has been growing these same peppers (we knicknamed them "cherry bombs") and he hasn't a clue as to what the variety is called. All he knows is they're hot enough to give him instant hiccups if he eats them raw.

If actual onion bits are undetectable in the mixture perhaps they use either onion powder or even onion juice.

The first thing you will want to do is buy a milk cow. They'll be drinking it like it's going out of style. My parents had to contend with 4 bottomless pits (all boys), three of whom (including yours truly) ended up about 6'5". Peanut Butter was my mom's secret weapon. One of my older brothers liked it on Ritz crackers and I liked it on Saltines and that was the usual afternoon snack after school. I'm not sure if the suggestion of ramen is a good thing....heard the noodles are fried....but I could be wrong. Teaching them how to make their own snacks/meals is a great idea. Teaching them to wash their dishes is a better one.

Some eGullet members have advocated using something like this (using the grill plates) to grill sandwiches.

I was sad to see this time of year roll around again (so soon?). The supply of peaches and tomatoes are slowly dwindling away and raisins, apples and squash are subtly sneaking in. What's a fan of Summer to do? Purchased this week: Organic Pluots that taste like green grapes Organic garlic Organic shallots the size of nectarines Organic tomatoes Yellow and Green Bell Peppers A jar of locally harvested wild flower honey And 2 pieces of Linzer Tort and a tomato pie from the German woman who sells baked and canned goods.