xcanuck

I cook my rice the old fashioned way - in a rice cooker, just like mom does. After all, literally hundreds of millions of avid rice eaters in Japan, China, India, etc can't be wrong!! Actually, we use a combo vegetable steamer/rice cooker. It's easy, fast, and consistent. We always get nice fluffy basmati that way. I've never tried it for sticky rice, though, but I imagine it would work just fine. We've not only used this to cook rice and steam veggies, but I've steamed fish in it to great effect. A multi-tasker and a steal at under $30!!

Heather - is this the same Shirley Corriher that shows up periodically on Good Eats? I will get Cookwise immediately! Thanks for the tip. As for the McGee, I have both the old and new editions of On Food and Cooking. The old version is all tattered and complete with tons of highlighting. What a valuable resource!

I'll add my two cents. I have a subscription (a Christmas gift from friends). I actually appreciate the "I tried this and I tried that" comments, if and when they back it up with the science. I enjoy knowing not only how to make good food, but what kinds of things screw it up. I think it helps me be a better home cook, especially when I'm coming with up stuff of my own and not following someone else's recipe. On the other side of the coin, magazines like Saveur and Gourmet have wonderfully detailed and challenging recipes but I doubt I can remember the last time I tried anything from either magazine (I subscribe to both). They're both fun reading but it stops there. I don't think I actually learn much (in terms of cooking technique) from them.

One dish that I can prepare ahead of time and looks impressive upon serving is a salt crusted beef roast. Oven roasted rosemary/garlic potatos with a little truffle oil and shaved cheese makes a dandy side that takes no time at all. Hit the farmers market and grab the last of the tomatoes - serve them atop homemade croutons and with slices of mozz and basil and olive oil. Cakelove for dessert. Or...if the weather holds, fire up the BBQ and do tandoori chicken. Very low stress-to-wow ratio. Serve with a rice pilau, chunky cucumber raita, dandelion green salad, and more beer than you can shake a hockey stick at. Man. Now you got ME wanting to invite 16 people over. I don't even know 16 people. Too bad I'll be spending all Saturday smoking salmon for the picnic True - an anniversary is a celebration. UM vs Penn State will be a funeral (well, if you're a Penn State fan).

The noob that just won't stay away will be there, avec les jeunes filles naturellement!

I was at the Asian market this weekend getting bones for stock and saw that they had plenty of neck bones. Is there any concern since this may contain spinal cord material with it's attendant possible issues? Or am I worrying like those nervous nellies who cook all their foods extra well-done?

I agree that the terminology is confusing as heck and I can't always get a straight answer out of the guys working the meat counter at Whole Foods. However, my problem seems to be the opposite to yours. I recently tried to get chuck for a stew and I wanted something with only about 70% lean. The only thing I could find was "extra lean 90% chuck". It seemed counter-intuitive to me. Maybe we should swap the WFs that we shop at! The USDA may have different definitions for RUMP and ROUND than Canadians do, but I recommend the following website for nice diagrams and detailed descriptions for what different cuts mean. I did a quick search on the USDA site and couldn't find an equivalent there. It does appear that there can be crossover between the round and rump. Several US based websites did include the term "round rump roast". Anyhow, if you're starting with longer cooking cuts, I think you may end up getting a tastier stew in the long run. I use a pressure cooker for my stews. After browning the meats, I pressure cook them for 20-40 mins (depending on the size of the batch) and then add in the veggies (so they don't turn to mush under pressure). The whole process takes about an hour and I end up with something that tastes like it's been cooking for hours. My favorite stew is a combo of beef and lamb chunks that have been well seared, pressure cooked in Guinness, and then further flavoured with a shot of condensed beef stock. I'll add in sauteed whole mushrooms, small chunks of high starch potatoes, and maybe frozen peas. The only herbage/seasoning, other than S&P on the raw meat is maybe a bay leaf and/or clove after releasing the pressure.

While I can't make any claims about the relative proportions, this is pretty much exactly how Mom makes hers, so this sounds pretty ajust saying this is pretty much the way I remember having it in India. What I do on the rare occasions that I make chai and am feeling somewhat industrious, is to make several portions of the dry stuff wrapped up in cheesecloth. Then, whenever I get the urge for chai, I throw one of the cheesecloth packets in a teapot along with a couple of tbsp of tea (usually Darjeeling or Ceylonese), some hot milk and a squirt of two of honey. Perfect for a cold winter tea, along with my dad's "nimki" (fried dough pieces made spicy with 'kaloo jeera' or black cumin).

Food coma?? Lisa and I had a great time. Large groups are the perfect way to do dim sum! When it's just the two of us, we get stuffed after about the third dish. I really enjoyed the wide variety of the HECOTB menu. However...I'm still not sure that I like it better than Oriental East. I think we'll have to chalk that up to personal differences. I'd love to do it again - and push the envelope a little more. Where was the duck webbing? The crispy fried intestine? The sauteed duck blood?? Mmmmmm......

Michael's post is interesting. I understand where he comes from when he says " the strength of demand from the richer parts of Montgomery County....already threatens that core and my work here". I'd like to think I'm part of the core of RTC clientele. I live in SS, and am within a block of RTC around six days a week doing various day to day things. My feeling is that Michael has nothing to worry about, as long as the staff of RTC recognize who their target audience is and continue to go out of their way to make us feel comfortable. Note that I said "continue". Already, when I walk in the door, the bar staff immediately smile, say hello to us by name, and waitstaff make a point of coming by to say "hi". I think they do it, not because we're special (trust me - after working out in the gym, we look like nothing special when we're sitting at the bar!), but because they've bought into Michael's sense of what he wants RTC to be. I'm anticipating some possible responses to this post. I'm not implying that RTC should be inhospitable to people who make the effort to come from afar. Just that by making the locals more comfortable, perhaps Michael won't have to "...fear that my neighbors consequentially may feel less welcome or at home than I truly wish them to be". It's a pleasure to support a business with this kind of philosphy. And the key lime pie has nothing to do with it

Kolumbia allows smoking at the bar (at least for the next three months)

My wife and I dropped in there last night for some tasty charcuterie. So many things were tasy (tete de veau, salmon) but the kielbasa is KILLER. $9 for the kielbasa sandwich AND fries?? I am SO there!! ps...when I die, I want to be embalmed with Jamie's boudin rouge. *drool*

I wouldn't despair just yet. We called last night and got a table for tonight (Fri). We even had our choice of times. But I'm sure it'll be quite a different story starting next week.

They're beef bones. I realize that I won't get the same consistency - I'm doing this primarily to make stock for vietnamese pho. I'll try to reduce some further down for a demi-glace but may have to get veal bones from the local asian market as a supplement. I'm wondering if adding some of the bones/stock to my chili will up the flavour quotient. Y'all can let me know next week

Thank you Waitman! I'm going to make a large batch of stock this weekend. I don't have a hacksaw so I won't be able to try Sthitch's advice. But thanks anyways

It's interesting the Sietsema had the same experience with the pork chops as I had last week - except that I did order them MR and got them MW. And, like Sietsema, I couldn't have cared less. Sure, they were a little more done than I wanted but by God!! they were delicious. I told the bartender not to worry about them - I loved them regardless. But classy folks that they are, they comp'd me my entree and well as both our desserts. That kind of attitude results in devotion. DLB is correct - it'll be tough as nails to get in there for the next few months. Guess I'll be stuck at the bar for the next little while.

I'm hoping someone can help me with this. I bought a large amount of bones from a vendor at the SS Farmer's Market. When I got them home, I realized that they're full shin bones - approx 12 to 18 inches in length each. I don't have a bandsaw to cut them. Would it still be possible to make stock from bones that large? Or should I find a butcher kind enough to cut them for me (I'll offer to pay for the labour, since I didn't buy them there)?

Is there a bar area at Johnny's? Do they allow smoking (at least for the remainder of this year) at the bar?

Any HH doings today? I would really like to have a drink in hand by 5pm today.

Personally, HECOTB works best for me. But I'm easy. Ferment everything - I can give you a lift to HECOTB (we live directly across the street from the Forest Glen Metro).

The bartender mentioned that lunch is 'in the cards' but not in the imminent future. Which, I guess, means pretty much anything you want it to.

I'm surprised this thread hasn't been hijacked by mention of turducken.

I've got a large cooler that will have some add'l room. I'll fill it with bags of ice, too.

Butcher's twine?

I suppose you could put some soaked wood chips in an aluminum foil pouch with a few holes poked in it. Toss that on the burner. You should get some benefit from smoke that you couldn't do in the oven.