The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
I'd say yes, the specks make a difference. They make the ice cream more rustic, but not necessarily better. Some people like it that way, and some people don't. I like 'em all, and am glad there's more than one style.
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Meet & Eat: Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats Staff Blogger
"barbecue grub"? Don't the grubs fall through the grate?
Seriously, welcome Erin!
Gordon Ramsay 'Cookalong' Live
Well, I didn't cook along, because 1) my wife is allergic to potatoes, which makes steak & chips RIGHT OUT, and 2) I'm in the USA and can't get it live. Still, the recipes, prep lists and equipment lists were published in advance so if one wanted to one could prepare. And judging from the live webcams on the set, there were at least a couple of dozen folks cooking along.
I'll probably try the scallop dish another time, and the butter-on-steak trick looks worth keeping.
In Videos: Japanese Anime 'Moyashimon Microbe Theater'
Pretty cool! Except ... the organism most often used to ferment sugars to alcohol -- saccharomyces cerevisiae -- is not a bacterium, but a yeast, a member of the Fungi kingdom, biologically speaking.
What's Your Favorite Local Cheese?
The Point Reyes blue is very good, and the people are friendly. My wife suffers from celiac disease (no wheat, rye or barley!) so we were concerned about the practice of culturing the penicillium mold on bread. We called Another California Blue Cheese Maker and got a brushoff, but when I called Pt. Reyes I was transferred to the head cheesemaker, who assured me that while they did in fact use bread-cultured mold, they had had the cheese tested with the accepted test for gluten and it was unmeasurable. This is now our first-choice blue cheese, and my wife can eat it without fear.
If you could create a hybrid fruit or vege what would it be?
Isn't "tomacco" the hybrid tomato/tobacco from The Simpsons?
Mine would be a strain of wheat that doesn't have the protein that causes celiac disease. It would be awesome, but isn't amusing, sorry.
Emergency Food Kit: For When the Going Gets (Really) Tough
275 servings and 23 pounds? That's just a little more than 1.3 OUNCES per serving! Heck, an instant ramen pack usually has about 3.5!
Gas vs. Charcoal Grilling: Where Do You Stand?
We use a gas grill for two reasons. One, it's really easy to stop by the store on the way home, fire it up, go inside to season the meat and prep the veggies, then grill it all. Presto, tasty dinner. When we want wood smoke, a steel box with soaked chips laid on the "grate" does the trick.
Two, my wife has celiac disease and commercial charcoal uses wheat straw as a binder (verified with a call to Kingsford), so we're playing it safe.
Welcome to the New Serious Eats
RSS is updating, but it seems to be missing a lot; I think it's just syndicating what's "before the cut". That's annoying, since RSS is the main way I access seriouseats.
Cook the Book: Grilled Shrimp with Pancetta and Radicchio
This sounds very good, but I have two questions: How is this "grilled" when there's nothing about a grill in the recipe, and why does it matter that the sauté pan is straight-sided?
Responses to Comments by BerryK
The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
The specks annoy me, however I do like green mint ice cream (which bothers my mom...).
If I have to have vanilla, I prefer the French Vanilla from Vic's in Sacramento. (they have two vanillas)
Meet & Eat: Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats Staff Blogger
DC misses its favorite foodie!
Meet & Eat: Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats Staff Blogger
i love the idea of your elementary school's "free table!"
The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
So, the question must be asked, what is the best vanilla ice cream (with or without specks)?
The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
I don't think so. Actually, I tried the Green & Black vanilla pictured in the post, and it was good of course, but not amazing.
The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
Years ago, it was supposed to imply (and it usually did) that the ice cream was of premium quality. Today however, I firmly believe it is more "eye candy" than anything else.
The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
I work in the dairy industry and can tell you that the specks are mainly for show. Someone else mentioned that they could be ground up pods and that is essentially correct. When they make vanilla extract the pods and seeds are mashed up and soaked in ethanol to extract the flavor components. Once the extract is removed, the pods and seeds are dried and ground further to make the specks. There may be some residual flavor in the specks but not much. An ice cream manufacturer will buy those specks from a vanilla supplier by the boxful and add them to the ice cream along with extract to get the flavor.
A better indicator of quality is whether the flavor is vanilla extract only since that is a defined flavoring. If the label says vanilla and other natural flavors, that means the flavor company has padded out the natural vanilla with additional natural flavor components to tweak the profile. And, of course, when the labels starts talking about artifical flavor and vanillin, walk away.
The Vanilla Ice Cream Wars
Good vanilla ice cream without flecks vs. good vanilla ice cream with flecks...They are a different breed of cat so it's hard to fairly compare them side-by-side, at least in my book. Each can be satisfyingly good in its own way.
I agree with those who say that flecks don't necessarily equate quality and flavor in a vanilla ice cream.
I'm hoping for a debate about coffee ice cream. There are some really bad coffee ice creams out there and I wonder if coffee ice cream lands on the SE Team's list of classic ice cream flavors.
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