Serious Eats: Fractal's Profile

If you're OCD then follow this procedure:
- make a binder of food expiration and storage times from Internet sources.
- purchase a whiteboard from an office supply store and mount it in your kitchen (mine's 24"x36").
- every time you cook, open a package, or purchase fresh produce, write down what you have left and date it according to the above binder.
- scan the whiteboard weekly to see what item's expiration date is coming up so you can plan your meals.

I've saved over $300/month doing this.

Fractal at 11:30AM on 08/19/08

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'The Shun Lee Cookbook'

Two pound steamed Maine lobster, crab cakes with hollandaise sauce, and a Key lime pie with a French pressed coffee.

Fractal at 1:53PM on 08/11/08

From Recipes

Butterscotch Pudding: Searching for the Perfect Recipe

What a wonderful recipe. The best I have ever had!

Thanks for sharing it.

91baby at 4:44PM on 01/27/09

From Recipes

Butterscotch Pudding: Searching for the Perfect Recipe

cook eat FRET: Eek! I'm so sorry that my recipe failed you and your friend, AND that it took me so long to respond to your query. Two quick suggestions come to mind:

1) Make sure that you're cooking the pudding thoroughly. It's very important to keep cooking for that full minute (you can even go two minutes for good measure), stirring constantly, after the mixture begins to bubble/boil. If the pudding is not cooked to a high enough temperature the cornstarch will not set completely and a compound in the egg yolk will break down the starch, hindering its thickening capacity.

2)Be sure to add the butter when the pudding is comfortably warm to the touch (I always use a knuckle to test, as the skin of the fingertips is less sensitive than the skin of the knuckle). There's a good bit of wiggle room here (I make massive quantities of a vanilla version of this pudding every day at the restaurant, and have had success working in the full range of "warm"), but if the pudding is super hot or cool/cold before the butter is added, you may not get the proper emulsion, which is key for the finished texture. After rereading my recipe, I think it should be revised a bit: instead of just setting the pudding aside for 10 minutes or so to cool, try setting the bowl of pudding into a bowl of ice and stirring occasionally until it reaches the right "warm" temperature.

I hope this helps. Good luck, and sorry again for the delay.

Amanda Clarke at 11:55AM on 10/06/08

From Serious Eats