Ilaine

For ginger ice cream, wouldn't you use chopped candied ginger? I could see also using some essence of fresh ginger, maybe put through the food processor with liquid and strained, or simmered in liquid until infused, and maybe even some powdered ginger, all three (if you really love ginger). I have a jar of something that calls itself "instant Salabat ginger brew" that I got from an Asian grocery grocery. Brand name Ludy's, made in Philippines. Ingredients "ginger and sugar", the ginger is ground up. It's a folk remedy for "colds, fever, stomach ache, and rheumatism." Mix with hot water, it's a darned tasty brew -- if you like ginger. I bet it would be delightful in ginger ice cream.

Gourmet and Saveur are in different categories, the content is largely oriented towards travel and luxury restaurants and the recipes assume that you already know what you are doing. As far as I can tell, the Gourmet recipes are available free on Epicurious.com, and the Saveur recipes on their website.Cook's Illustrated is for a different niche, that of people who are interested in deconstructing recipes and the science, lore, and thoughts that go into them. If you like this niche, you'll probably like writers like Harold McGee, John Thorne, and, of course, Larousse Gastronomique. Also as far as I can tell, if you have an online subscription to Cook's Illustrated all the recipes are online. I have yet to determine whether the "Best Recipe" books ever have anything new or just the old stuff retreaded. Personally, I am a fan of cook books that have recipes that have been tested to a fare-thee-well, like these, Julia Child, the old Joy of Cooking, and yes, Betty Crocker. You can rely on these cookbooks not to let you down in producing exactly what they promise. Betty may be pedestrian, but she's reliable. Today's New York Times magazine has a review of the 75th Anniversary Joy of Cooking that appeals to me. (Link.) I miss the old Joy, recently obtained an old version because the 1997 version dumped some of my favorites. Actually my mom gave it to me because she was tired of me "borrowing" hers and giving it back with sticky fingerprints on the pages.

Ilaine will be +2, the DH and the Elder Son. As stated previously, bringing thermonuclear chili (ten habaneros!), corn sticks (plain, not fancy), case of beer, chafing dish, sterno, coleman stove and fuel for same, and matches, just in case. Also, after planting my garlic bed, turns out I have garlic cloves left over. Varieties: Creole Red, Metechi, Nootka Rose, Persian Star, Polish, Shandong, Sicilian Silver, varying amounts. Would it be OK if I set up a garlic tasting? I'd bring small folding table, garlic, cutting board, knife, small bowls, and cards for comments to be returned to me. The only variety I have that a lot of people can taste is Nootka Rose. Not sure if 1/4 clove is too much for a tasting. Not sure how to cleanse one's palate between garlic tastes (if this is even possible). Raw garlic. If the garlic I planted actually grows, next year I might try a roasted garlic tasting.

Considering how much trouble it is to make this stuff, making it in bulk wouldn't be such a bad idea. Maybe not a gallon, though. I like the additional flavors of star anise, fennel seed, and vanilla bean. Today I made it with Constant Comment, and the orange is a nice blend, too. Reminds me of something my grandmother used to make she called Russian Caravan Tea. Honey to taste, for sure. Most pre made chai blends are ridiculously sweet.

Ran out of coffee and decided it was a good day for chai, but had no chai, either. Tried this combo: 6 or so green cardamom seeds, scant teaspoon black peppercorns, scant teaspoon whole cloves, three inch stick cinnamon crumbled, scant tablespoon fennel seeds, 1 star anise, tablespoon minced ginger, four cups water. Boiled for five minutes, simmered another ten minutes, threw in five teaspoons green tea (Republic of Tea Gu Zhang Mao Jian tea, it was that or Lipton's), simmered another five minutes. Strained, added a little honey and milk. Very tasty. Picked out some of the ingredients from an open package of mixed Chinese whole spices, including a thing that looked like a nutmeg with a stem but it got squishy so probably wasn't a nutmeg. No idea what it was. Next time will add real nutmeg (probably mace, actually) and vanilla bean, and Darjeeling. Anybody else like chai?

Report back on clear plastic to "solarize" the soil. When I pulled up the plastic, only some very strong weeds were growing, no grass or dandelion or chickweed. Not sure if this is really a good idea, or not. The soil underneath was very dry, no earthworms. The red plastic mulch under the tomatoes kept all weeds from growing and the soil was moist, crumbly and full of earthworms.The fall shipment of garlic "seeds" arrived from Filaree Farm. Added together with the varieties scored from Solitude in Loudoun County, this is what needs to be planted. From Filaree: Georgian Fire (porcelain); Nootka Rose (silverskin); Shandong (arti-bean); Sicilian Silver. From Solitude: Creole Red; Metechi; Nootka Rose; Persian Star; Polish; Solitude Silver. A check on the Filaree Farm website (link) suggests they still have garlic to order. Solitude isn't going to farm market anymore this season but perhaps they have some if you call them 540-554-2312 in Round Hill, VA.

People use the packs of several different ground meats for meatloaf, is the only thing I know they do with it. When you say "add roux" do you mean like Tony's powdered roux? You don't mean "make a roux"?

Cabot's presliced cheddar, Health Nut bread, mayo on the bread, unsalted butter in the cast iron pan, with a weight on top (another cast iron pan works fine). I would not use a really excellent cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich. The other flavors overwhelm.

I missed that discussion, but something I've always wondered about. It seems like some vegetarians are happy not eating animal products, they want their vegetables to be vegetables, and some want to keep eating the foods they've always eaten only made from vegetables.I say this because I don't comprehend the point of vegetables made to imitate meat, the most incomprehensible being stuff like tofu hot dogs, tofurkey, and vegetable burgers, somehow treated or coated with yeast hydrolyzed or something like that to sort of remind one of the taste of meat. This is not intended as an insult to anybody, I just wish someone who actually likes this stuff would explain the attractiveness of the concept. (I mean, is there a reason that seitan is pronounced like "satan"?) My guess is that there are people who want to eat what they used to eat, only made from vegetables, not meat? Is it nostalgia? Vegetables and grains and fruit and nuts are glorious things in and of themselves, and I don't believe any good cook, chef or not, would have difficulty making many dishes made only these things only. There are so many good vegetarian recipes, just don't use gelatin, cheese, milk, eggs, or honey for vegans, right? (Although I did know one vegan guy who wanted his vegan wife to make his mom's specialty just like his mother made it only vegan, but that's not a food issue, it's something else, right?)

I don't have the Prudhomme Family Cookbook but you're bringing back some good memories.How about the late lamented Austin Leslie's recipe? Or Leah Chase? Both world famous. I used to have Austin Leslie's recipe torn out of a newspaper, probably the Times Picayune, don't have it anymore, his cookbook is still available, though. I know that he used canned milk mixed with Tabasco to dip the chicken. Never had Leah's. Never put shrimp in my rice dressing, either, but it sounds good. Do you use it as the only meat in the dressing? How does it differ from jambalaya (no tomato?)

Both of my grandmothers had black belts in fried chicken, but the only recipe I've got comes via my dad, pan fried version.I distinctly remember him showing me how you listen to the chicken, as the moisture cooks off it makes a certain sound and when it's all cooked off it sounds different, and then you put the lid on to make sure it cooks all the way to the bone. I just called him to ask him about it and he doesn't remember telling me this. I told him he can't remember for beans! But, FWIW, that's what he told me back when he showed me how to cook it like his mama did. Now he uses a thermometer. Of course, his mama kept chickens and killed them herself, but that's another story. She always pulled the skin off before she dipped it in milk and then in seasoned flour, and you have to let it sit on a rack and dry, and repeat the flouring if moisture shows through so it gets a hard flour crust. We used to do that on the kitchen counter but now in the fridge for health reasons. Similarly, she used lard but we use peanut oil now.

I've never heard of doing anything to canned sardines except eat them from the can. Well, drain the oil and dump them on a plate is what I do. (Feed the oil to your cat or dog if you don't mind extreme fish breath.)Some people eat them on rye bread with onions, some on crackers, some on toast. However, I just googled a bit and see people also put them into dips, spreads, and on pizza, in fritters, and even bread them and deep fry them. Whoof! I prefer anchovies for pizza, myself.

I am bringing a two burner Coleman stove, with fuel, along with my "chafing dish" and sterno. Also corn sticks. I have two Lodge cast iron 7-stick cornstick pans, will make as many batches as you request. Once you get the pans hotted up, it's assembly line time, especially if you "Pam" them first. I can make yellow, blue, white, Southern, Yankee, with cheese, with jalapenos, with corn, whatever. Planning on just making regular old yellow but will take requests. I could even make guacamole if nobody else will. Just plain old guacamole, ripe avocados, crushed garlic, lime juice, chopped up cilantro, sea salt. My ratio is two cloves of garlic to one avocado. If you want me to make it, let me know, I need a couple day's lead time on the avocados.

Canned sardines on saltine crackers is a traditional blue collar "lunch" in New Orleans, and I've been eating them this way forever.What I am wondering is, is this something that blue collar type workers do everywhere? Typically the type of job where you sit down by the side of the road, and there aren't any lunch trucks coming around. My favorite canned sardines are the little ones, cross-packed, preferably not in soybean oil. I've had fresh sardines at a tapas place and they just didn't have that "ooomph", the smell that makes non-sardine lovers keel over or jump out of windows to get away from. Crunch crunch, bones and scales and innards and all.

My dad, living in Cajun country (well, Baton Rouge) was one of the first to jump on the fried turkey bandwagon, and I've learned quite a bit watching and helping over the years.Let's see, safety first. Don't do it on a wooden deck, period. Don't do it near the house. Driveway or patio, concrete or brick is the way to go. Flat, though, no slopes, no wobbles. Thaw the turkey completely and wipe clean and dry. You do not want to be putting moisture into a pot of boiling grease. It will explode. That said, some will inject marinade into the turkey. I think a rub is safer. I would not brine first. The oil will keep moisture from evaporating. Peanut oil is ideal, it has a high smoking temperature, and it tastes good. You can buy a kit at Walmart or Home Depot, and these are good. My dad used to use a crab pot and now he uses one of the kits. Finished result will be oily on the outside, moist on the inside. I've posted before on smoking a turkey, link here.

They will bring you more if you ask for it, and it's always free. At least, this is what they do at the Fairfax/Fair Lakes location. This is something they serve to all customers, regardless of what they order, typically they put it on the table at the same time they bring the menus, as other restaurants do with bread baskets. Also, with the pickles, if you only like one of the varieties, they will bring just what you ask for.

An article on about.com says that fish sauce must be refrigerated after it's opened. It does have a lot of salt, so maybe it's safe if you don't, but I'd refrigerate it because I am uptight about food poisoning.Link. I am sure that vinegar and worcestershire sauce (main ingredient vinegar) don't need to be refrigerated. Vinegar is a preservative, it kills bacteria, mold and fungus. We keep all condiments in the refrigerator except vinegar, worcestershire sauce, syrups and spices. Even though you don't need to refrigerate soy sauce, hot sauce, mustard, etc., they stay fresh and wholesome longer if you do. I'd refrigerate worcestershire sauce, too, if we didn't use it up so fast. Interesting anecdote about food poisoning: in New Orleans, it is a widely held belief that Blue Plate mayonnaise doesn't need to be refrigerated, and, in fact, if you refrigerate it, then you will get food poisoning. Oddly enough, people don't die. But I refuse to test that theory, myself.

My guess is that the date on the expiration date of a dry mix, hermetically sealed, really means "best if sold by/used by", not "you will die if you use this in September, 2006."Not knowing what's in the mix, if it's flour, powdered milk, and powdered eggs, these things kept sealed have a shelf life of years. Cans last longer than packages, foil packages last longer than paper or cellophane. The biggest risk in food poisoning, botulism, grows in conditions where there is no oxygen circulating, like cans and bottles full of wet stuff. For powdered food in a package, I would say, "if it smells good, it is good."

My opinion: for good bottled beer, not at the source, one of two possibilities must be present.Either it's a popular beer so it's constantly being replenished with fresh beer from the source. Or it's stored by people who are as religious about proper storage as acolytes taking care of stone idols. We tend to have good results with beer from Total Beverage but never as good as beer from a brew pub.

My mistake, it's White Hawk. Cascade and fuggle hops, very tasty. I am a "hophead", I admit it! And not that fond of malt. Many otherwise tasty beers are ruined, to my taste, by too much malt.

My husband and I love seafood, my kids won't eat it. I think it's weird, but my dad loves seafood and my mother hates it, and her mother loved seafood while her father hated it, so I figure maybe they are tasting something I can't taste. My favorite picky eater story is about my younger sister, who refused to eat sandwiches after she took a bite out of them, because they were "broken." (She outgrew it.) I'll eat anything but brains, blood, and liver. I've tried but not liked duck feet and duck tongues. Tripe is yummy, especially in menudo and pho. A nice calve's tongue is something I occasionally crave, with raisin sauce. I live for coconut ice cream. For dinner parties, I tell guests in advance what I am serving and ask if they have a problem with it. If they do, I add something they can eat. There are vegetarians and meatatarians, and no-seafood-atarians, and no-red-meat-atarians, and no-green-things-atarians, and no-chicken-skin-atarians. Fine by me, I just make something extra.

Whole Food, Super H, Grand Mart, Daruma, Great Wall. Seek and ye shall find!The only episode of Iron Chef I ever watched, the secret ingredient was trout, and somebody made trout ice cream! I never got over it.

Woo hoo! My niece just started her internship in Hotlanta, another reason to visit! I hope he sticks it out this time, at least until I can get there. Crossing my fingers and my toes!

I'll bring corn sticks and a case of White Stag IPA, the perfect accompaniment to chili. And another person, my son (adult). In addition to the pot of Thermonuclear Chili.Pan, actually. We've got one of those wire thingies that holds an aluminum foil pan over cans of Sterno. It calls itself a chafing dish but that's too snooty for this contraption. Does anybody need us to bring a Coleman stove (2 burner)? Also, can corn sticks be made in advance and frozen? (The ones that are shaped like corn.)

The shows are pre-taped so what difference does it make when it's aired?Today Mario is on at 10:30 AM EDT and Emeril at 3:00 AM, but the shows have been repeated repeatedly. But "dignity and craft" isn't what the Food Network is selling, or any other cooking show, they're selling entertainment and education. It's just food, for cri-yi, it ain't rocket surgery nor the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. As for "chubby", my perception is that a sizeable number of DR members are on the other side of the recommended BMI, although perhaps you are not.