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From Serious Eats

In Season: Cherries

Just picked up about 4# yesterday!! Yummy!!

Have to watch out who you are buying from - i went to one place and all their cherries were wrinkled and infested with fruit flies. Blech!

From Talk

County Fair Pork Chops

You know, I saw Paula Deen go to a Kentucky Colonel Festival on one of her shows and they made this very item! A bone-in, grilled chop on a bun. It looked awesome!

From Serious Eats

Quote of the Morning: 'Why Add Water to Eggs?'

What they said above. And yeah, the very worst thing you can do to eggs is hold them on a steam table or in a chafing dish on a buffet!

From Talk

You live where?

@MACDodge: my DH is from Queensbury

I am originally from Plymouth, MA.

But we are transplants to the culinary wasteland that is Cincinnati, OH.

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Recent Posts

From Talk

I need to go pots and pan shopping!

From Talk

I'm feeling JERKY!

From Talk

What food smells can make you hungry?

From Talk

Undercooked food - would your first thought be to sue?

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Recent Comments | Response to Comments

From Serious Eats

In Season: Cherries

Just picked up about 4# yesterday!! Yummy!!

Have to watch out who you are buying from - i went to one place and all their cherries were wrinkled and infested with fruit flies. Blech!

From Talk

County Fair Pork Chops

You know, I saw Paula Deen go to a Kentucky Colonel Festival on one of her shows and they made this very item! A bone-in, grilled chop on a bun. It looked awesome!

From Serious Eats

Quote of the Morning: 'Why Add Water to Eggs?'

What they said above. And yeah, the very worst thing you can do to eggs is hold them on a steam table or in a chafing dish on a buffet!

From Talk

You live where?

@MACDodge: my DH is from Queensbury

I am originally from Plymouth, MA.

But we are transplants to the culinary wasteland that is Cincinnati, OH.

From Talk

whew, glad it's over -- easter dinner!

@arm1970: are you sure you weren't subconciously aiming for said husband? Seriously, I am glad no one was hurt - and that you get to shop for new kitchen tools!

Our dinner was low key: dijon-brown sugar glazed ham, sour cream mashed potatoes, corn (for the kids), butter glazed carrots and dinner rolls.

DH wanted turkey. He was outvoted 3-1. His mom cooked turkey for everything. I told him I would pick him up a Swanson's if he was hell bent on turkey. He ended up admitting the ham was awesome. The kids chowed - they think pig rules! Those are my kids!!

So proud - shedding a tear.

From Talk

I need new pots and pans

Thanks! I could not find my original message - i did a couple of searches and just could not find it.

From Talk

I need to go pots and pan shopping!

Thanks!! My concern was that I have never had a ceramic cooktop and didn't want to use the wrong thing. I would love Calphalon - have coveted those since college (J&W '85 Culinary Arts)

From Talk

Help! Cookie Dough in check-in luggage?

I don't see a problem as long as it is in plastic bags. I carried on my sister's wedding cake on a flight from Boston to Tampa.

But, if you are worried about carry on, pack it in a hard sided suitcase and check it. I did that with the icing and the cake decorating tools I was going to need when I reached Tampa.

From Talk

Leeks: Way or No Way?

WAY! Just an incredible flavor when properly prepared!

From Talk

Top Chef: Octuplet + 6 Challenge

She has plenty of people she can call:
John and Kate
The Dugans

But I am thinking:
Lasagna
Mac and Cheese
Chix pot pie
Baked ham, scalloped potatoes, veg
red beans and rice
soups and sandwiches
big pots of oatmeal, cream of wheat, grits for breakfast

From Talk

Anchovies: Way or No Way?

No way on pizza

Way in Caesar Dressing and pasta sauces. Basically if I can't see them, I'm good to go.

For a vegetarian substitute, I have heard blond miso is a good one.

From Talk

What's the strangest thing you have had/crave for breakfast?

Who decreed that breakfast meant cereal, toast, juice and milk?

I will eat whatever. Sometimes it is cereal, toast, juice and milk, other times it can be leftover steak and veg or pasta or pizza. Just whatever sounds good.

My son is the same. We had pizza for supper last night - so this morning he grabbed a slice or two of pizza for breakfast.

From Talk

Favorite Cheap Homemade Meal?

@beth1: I LOVE rice and stewed tomatoes!! Have since I was a kid. If I have a leftover pork chop from a past supper, I can heat that up and toss it in too.

Other ideas are: any type of pasta an homemade sauce
Omelets using up leftovers in the fridge
wraps - again using up leftovers
Making soups
Red beans and Rice

From Talk

Pastrami Sandwich OR Corned Beef Sandwich?

@Amandarama: I would have to disagree about the New Englander part. I'm a New Englander as well and I love both of them!

I love NY Deli Pastrami, but in the Boston area you can get red pastrami that is awesome!! Love it on rye with spicy mustard.

Grilled corned beef and swiss with mustard. Yum! Not much of a Reuben fan because I don't care for sauerkraut.

From Talk

'Culinary Slumming'

Other than the canned meat products, with the exception of corned beef hash, I can pretty much agree with this list.

I should probably add: Cape Cod Dark Russet Potato Chips; port wine & cheddar cheese spread; Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

From Talk

Grapefruit: Way or No Way?

way! I do find Ruby Reds a bit too sweet for me so I tend to go with the good old fashioned white? yellow? whichever it is. And just straight - no sugar.

As for the juice - one of my favorite summer drinks is iced Grapefruit juice - so refreshing. And if there happens to be some vodka getting lonely....

From Talk

Pub Food

@beersnob: sign me up for the linguica sub! I can't tell you how much I miss linguica. (Born and raised in MA, college in Providence) Might have to have mom send a care package.

@SpencerC: whatever the owners decide just make sure they don't go overboard trying to please every Tom, Dick, and Harriet. If yours is a small establishment you don't want to be attempting 3 course dinners with a panini press and convection oven on a counter. I agree with the "KISS" mandate. Simple and good!

From Talk

Chef Paul Prudhomme. What do you know about him?

He's the real deal. I was working in a restaurant and the chef asked if I wanted to go to see him. So I saw him do a demo at a hotel that I ultimately ended up working at (and this was in Massachusetts) I do like his spice blends and actually use his recipe to make my own cajun spice blend. Awesome stuff!

From Talk

Super Bowl....WTF y'all doing?

@Pooch: I call it the STUPID bowl myself and have since I was a child. I curse it more now that the powers that be changed the da** game from the last Sunday in January to the First Sunday in February as it screws up my daughter's birthday party. No one will come to her party if her birthday falls on Stupid Bowl Sunday (she was born on 02/02/02). Poor kid thinks people like football more than her! So we plan around it, but it bugs me.

Ok, back to food: I like wings, garlic cheese spread and pretzel bread, and whatever the rest of the family wants. Oh and I eat while watching paint dry.

From Serious Eats

Where Did the Swedish Chef Muppet Come From?

The Swedish Chef Rawks! Perhaps he could get a gig at the cafeteria in Ikea.

Several years back, I was working in an open kitchen and we could dress up for Halloween. I dressed as the Swedish Chef and would only talk in Swedish (it was an Italian restaurant) Made for a fun evening!!

From Talk

cookie press problems

The other thing is it could be your dough. Some doughs work better than others. You may have to try a few to find one that works with *your* press.

I was a demonstrator for a seller of kitchen products for a few years, and when they came out with their press, the consultants had a hard time with the receipes that were included. So we just kept trying different recipes until we found one that worked.

Some things I found:
Butter. Use butter, not margarine or butter substitutes.
Room temp dough (as mentioned above) is critical.
Don't overfill the barrel. You need space for the plunger to work. Fill only about 2/3 full.
Take your time!
Practice! Practice! Practice! You will get to know your press. With mine it took 1 1/2 clicks to get the best shape. With my friend's (and she had the same model) it took 1 click.
Have Fun! And remember, even ugly cookies are tasty.

From Talk

Gravy question

What time is dinner?? I love lamb chops, but no one else in my house does. Invite me and I will make 27 different kinds of gravy for you!!

Anyway, back to the question, I would go with the beef. Then make a separate, perhaps, au jus type of sauce to be served alongside the lamb if someone would like a lamb flavored topping for their taters.

From Serious Eats

McDonald's Filet-O-Fish: Yea or Nay?

NEA! While I LOVE fish in its many incantations, this just ain't one of them! Fish is not square or rectangular (ex: fish sticks)

Guess I don't like my fish pre-processed, breaded and frozen before cooking.

Now let me go to a little shack in MA or ME and you will see me all over a fresh fish sandwich there! Nice piece of haddock or cod, lightly breaded, quickly fried, served with tartar sauce, lemon or malt vinegar if you prefer. That is heaven!

From Talk

Weird Foodie Gifts

@therealchiffonade: Look at this link! What a scream!! It's from stupid.com.

I cry sexism!! How come they don't have any dinner napkins for the ladies? Just guys who wear ties!

Actually there were some items on here I would consider buying for people.

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

Making dessert is not my forte. I always feel like I should be wearing a 50's housewife apron. But using a blow torch ups the testostorone level back up.

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

I could eat nothing but pumpkin pie for the rest of my life and be happy. But now that you mention brulee...

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

sounds tasty--and easy. And a good excuse to buy a kitchen torch.

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

About time I broke away from the pumpkin cheesecake.
It is a new day!

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

Yes, please! Went out and bought a butane torch just for this recipe. So much better than standard pumpkin pie.

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

I've made pumpkin creme brulee and to have PIE CRUST included - adds another dimension of yumminess.

From Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Brûlée

this would look amazing in an actual little pumpkin.

From Serious Eats

Quote of the Morning: 'Why Add Water to Eggs?'

If you watch Julia Child doing a French omlette, she adds a bit of water and uses an extremely hot pan. The omlette cooks is maybe 20-30 seconds with constant shaking. The methods that add milk or cream are low heat methods, and cook much slower. Both are good, just depends on what you like.

From Serious Eats

Quote of the Morning: 'Why Add Water to Eggs?'

I think the main problem of the 'water for steam' argument is that by the time we've gotten the temp high enough to generate steam, the egg protein is a rubbery mess. The egg white and yolk both coagulate at different temps (Herve This explanation) but both are done at around 70 C (158 F), long before the 100 C we need to generate steam.

From Serious Eats

McDonald's Filet-O-Fish: Yea or Nay?

I haven't had one in decades but just to keep this sandwich going, I will go there and have them.

From Talk

County Fair Pork Chops

I have purchased the seasoning for the pork chops on a stick from 2 different sources: Porky's Delight Seasonings - Smokey BBQ and Riley's All Purpose Seasoning. Internet: porkysdelight.com and rileys-seasonings.com. Hope this helps!

Lake Chef

From Serious Eats

McDonald's Filet-O-Fish: Yea or Nay?

They're tastey but they're like 700 calories each!!!!!!

From Talk

Bitter(s) in New York

I was on the same seemingly endless search. Liquor stores can't sell them because they are considered to be a food item. I think that most 'everyday' consumers don't really look for bitters so they are generally sold wholesale to bars, etc...

It's been over a year but if you are still looking, look at boutique specialty food stores (dean and deluca won't have them, and even if they do their selection will be minimal). Kalustyan's on 28th and Lex has them. It's a South Asian specialty food store.

From Talk

What do your coffee mugs say about you?

I have a Pea Green mug possibly bought at a Chelsea,NYC bootik...a gift, but ...not my favorite deal for coffee or tea.

I prefer drinking my coffee or tea from a nice, deep ceramic bowl
purchased in the Chinatown district of NYC.

Hate having a cup's rim bang me against my nose's bridge, and a bowl
eliminates' that problem.

From Serious Eats

Photo of the Day: Rainbow Jell-O

Dang. . .the only flavor in my cupboard is strawberry. I gotta do this, it's too beautiful to pass up. . .I just love making memories for the grandkids.

Guilty pleasure--strawberry Jello with fresh bananas and real whipped cream. Oh wait--I love lime with grated carrots and lime with pineapple, too.

@kitchenbea--thanks for the idea. I have a friend who will think this is just so cool.

From Serious Eats

In Season: Cherries

Thanks for this recipe. I can't wait to try it as I love cherries. I live in Maryland and they are only available to us at an affordable price for a very short time. I just bought about 10 pounds of them and I need to freeze some of them.

What is the procedure? Thanks for you help!

From Serious Eats

In Season: Cherries

Yeah! Cherry season is the best! When you look for sour cherries, be sure to get them with the stems on--they'll deteriorate much more slowly than cherries with their stems removed. There was a perfect example at the farmer's market in Chicago Saturday: a couple of booths had stemmed and unstemmed sour cherries right next to one another. The ones with stems looked bright red and great, and the ones without were noticeably browner and sort of shriveled.

Also, is it just me, or are cherry pitters a waste of time? The one time I used one, it was slower and much messier than just digging the pits out with a hairpin.

From Talk

How do you build the perfect breakfast sandwich?

For my supreme sandwich I use 1 whole plain bagel, 1 egg, and 6 pieces of salami. First toast the bagel about medium. Then fry your egg, (not scrambled.) Once done take your 6 pieces of salami and cook them for about 5 minutes till some brown appears. Then in order put bagel, 3 pieces of salami, egg, 3 pieces of salami, then bagel. It is delicious and you should try it!

From Talk

Haagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's ?

Ben & Jerry's all the way! The Half-Baked is so delicious! It's the Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream mixed with their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream---swooning now!!

From Serious Eats

For an Edible Container, Try Bacon Bowls

I think the lettuce and tomato take away from the presentation.


Tater tots, hash browns,
or some cheese and egg concoction would be best.

From Talk

County Fair Pork Chops

I was just searching for this exact recipe. Keep me up to date on what you find. I will do the same. We had it at the Strawberry Festival also and fell in love with them. I

Here is a pic for those who asked for it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42873250@N00/3618649884/

From Serious Eats

Quote of the Morning: 'Why Add Water to Eggs?'

I find adding a splash [ only a tsp or so per egg ] of water helps to breakup the protien molecule that easily join up into chains [those stubborn glops of white] while whisking to achieve a homogeneious blending of white and yolk quickly .Its a bio-chem thing where the ends of protien molecules like to attach to another molecule thats why eggs will blend and bind so well with other ingredients and water is an excellent neutral liquid to serve this purpose . It may be a tad thinner but thats only from the protien molecule chains being broken down to a smaller size and may even add to the fluffiness . I dont get watery scrambled eggs by not over cooking them .
If I have heavy cream on hand I use it instead if I want a little richer result , say for a fried egg and cheese sandwich , but by whisking thouroughly they will still be fluffy but maybe not quite as much. As mentioned when adding dairy you must watchout for burning.
As fast as eggs cook [even on a medium heat] I wouldnt turn away from them especially towards the end.
I'm going to make myself an egg and cheese sandwich now for my "BRUNCH". need a quick bite to get me through til supper at 4 P.M.

From Talk

County Fair Pork Chops

The barbecue seasoning is really a sweet seasoned salt. Enough paprika to tint it a little more orange than your normal seasoned salt, sweeter than seasoned salt and the spices bumped up just a touch to make it different. It is not your normal recipes you find for a barbecue rub. The key is adding just enough sugar to the blend where you can use more without driving the product into the too salty range.

Recent Posts

From Talk

I need to go pots and pan shopping!

From Talk

I'm feeling JERKY!

From Talk

What food smells can make you hungry?

From Talk

Undercooked food - would your first thought be to sue?

From Talk

When you over-indulge...

From Talk

Pre-mixed spice blends -

From Talk

Overheard at Goodwill...

From Talk

Bone-in Chicken Breasts - are they the anti-chicken?

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About SayWhat

Website:

Location: Southwest Ohio

About: Retired Professional Cook (never quite hit chef staus)
Graduate of Johnson & Wales College (now University)

Favorite foods: SEAFOOD! (hard to get in the Midwest where I currently reside)

Last bite on earth: Fried Whole Clams? Freshly caught Maine Lobster? Grilled Scallops? Thai Shrimp? Awe heck, give me the Fisherman's Platter!