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Which recipes are regulars at your house...
Zuni roast chicken with bread salad. A bolognese I developed with duck, chicken and turkey. Green chicken enchiladas and spinach lasagna are frequent dishes. We also have grilled cheese and tomato soup about once or twice a month and tortellini soup once or twice a month as well. We love shrimp and anaheim peppers over tagliatelle (which I think I got from Mario Batali). We've had orzo risotto 3 or 4 times in the last 6 weeks (it's a great dish because you can toss in most anything, including leftovers). As we move into the summer fish tacos (made with halibut) will start to become more popular. The weekends are different only in that we add brunch to the mix and always pancakes on Saturday morning (though the type of pancakes changes week to week).
What have you done for your food contribution?
Microwaves are perfectly reasonable devices for a great many uses. They use far less energy than a regular oven and in many instances use less energy than a range burner.
Also, cooking consumes on average only about 3% of a home 's total energy use. It's wonderful to conserve everywhere one can but you shouldn't expect drastic reductions in energy use.
Cook the Book: 'My New Orleans'
Virginia ham (especially on pumpkin bread at Eppie's in Charlottesville, VA).
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Serious Heat: What's Your Secret Ingredient for Barbecue Sauce?
Smoked habanero powder.
Which recipes are regulars at your house...
Zuni roast chicken with bread salad. A bolognese I developed with duck, chicken and turkey. Green chicken enchiladas and spinach lasagna are frequent dishes. We also have grilled cheese and tomato soup about once or twice a month and tortellini soup once or twice a month as well. We love shrimp and anaheim peppers over tagliatelle (which I think I got from Mario Batali). We've had orzo risotto 3 or 4 times in the last 6 weeks (it's a great dish because you can toss in most anything, including leftovers). As we move into the summer fish tacos (made with halibut) will start to become more popular. The weekends are different only in that we add brunch to the mix and always pancakes on Saturday morning (though the type of pancakes changes week to week).
What have you done for your food contribution?
Microwaves are perfectly reasonable devices for a great many uses. They use far less energy than a regular oven and in many instances use less energy than a range burner.
Also, cooking consumes on average only about 3% of a home 's total energy use. It's wonderful to conserve everywhere one can but you shouldn't expect drastic reductions in energy use.
Cook the Book: 'My New Orleans'
Virginia ham (especially on pumpkin bread at Eppie's in Charlottesville, VA).
How to Make Gumball Flower Lollipops
Great for kids. Really.
Should the Health Department Crack Down on Raw Eggs in Cocktails?
I'm still unclear as to what's wrong with pasteurized shell eggs. I've made various sauces, egg nog, eggs of all varieties of preparation and found them to be as tasty as any egg from a supermarket. (They're not as good as the farm fresh ones we're able to get; but then neither are the ones from the supermarket or restaurant suppliers.) If a restaurant is using fresh eggs from an identifiable farm then I can understand not wanting to switch (or at least I'll concede the argument) but if they're using regular old eggs then why not get pasteurized shell eggs?
Should the Health Department Crack Down on Raw Eggs in Cocktails?
What's wrong, exactly, with pasteurized shell eggs? I've been eating them for a few weeks now and they're perfectly fine so far as I can tell.
Gadgets: The 360 Vapor Pot
It is, to be fair, also a multi-ply stainless steel pot. So it's not just $80 for a lid, you're getting the pot as well. I'm not clear whether these are clad like All-Clad but if so then $80 isn't out of range for a high quality pot with a lid.
That said, from what I do see, I don't think this is worth bothering with.
Making peace over beer: What should President Obama serve?
When I have people over to my house and want to be a good host, I choose a few different styles of beer and wine and liquor to have available that I think will let virtually everyone choose something they'd enjoy. I don't worry about having every possible option available and I try not to presume what someone will or won't want. I'd say that the President should do similarly. Have a few types of beer available and then don't worry about it. I also think that everyone should stop looking to glean any information or larger commentary from someone's choice of beverage.
If it were me and I could only offer one beer to my guests, I'd choose a lager like Sam Adam's. In Charlottesville, VA where I live right now, I'd serve Starr Hill Amber Ale because it's delicious and locally made.
Chicken Enchiladas
@kimberlymac - I won't be the the one shooting you. I do often make enchiladas starting from raw chicken and cooking the chicken and sauce together but I also frequently make a version starting with already cooked chicken and when we can get the rotisserie chicken from one of the two stores we really like it from we definitely use that. They're a great time saver and, if you find a place that does a good job, they're really delicious and there isn't anything funky in them. Pretty brilliant in my mind.
Giant Cheetos vs. Regular Cheetos
My favorite in this class is the Gibble's Cheese Puffy:
http://tinyurl.com/d45kmh
The problem is that the large bag is essentially a single serving because I can't stop, so I only purchase a bag if I'm prepared to eat the whole thing and that's a fairly rare occurrence.
What to do in the summer with all the stock I have made
Use it as a base for Pho or other noodle dishes that are wonderful in the summer (or any time of year) with all of the fresh herbs you can put in the broth.
Use it for light soups (with tortellini) or as a brothy sauce for something like chicken breasts or thighs. One of my favorite dishes is to flatten out some chicken (usually breasts in this case, one of the very few times I choose them over thighs) and put something like roasted peppers, spinach or arugula or sauteed kale and maybe even a bit of cheese of some sort, roll it up and toothpick or tie it together. Then poach the chicken rolls in broth with lots of fresh herbs (basil and thyme are great) and, if you like, some fresh peas (early summer/late spring) or fresh green beans and some small new potatoes. Take the chicken out and slice it and then serve it in a shallow bowl with the vegetables, potatoes and some broth. Not quite a soup, more than a sauce and a wonderfully flavorful and light summer dinner.
Frozen Fries vs "Fresh Cut"
As with most things, I think it comes down to quality of the item and how well it is prepared. A good quality potato whether fresh or frozen, good, clean (but perhaps not brand new directly out of the container) oil at the right temperature, frying the potatoes for the right length of time, salting/seasoning them quickly post-fry and getting to eat them pretty soon after they come out of the fryer are all really important to a good french fry experience, right?
I've had spectacular fries that were fresh and fried just once, fresh and fried twice, fresh and fried three times even and I've had spectacular fries that were frozen and chucked in the fryer straight from the freezer. They've been thick and thin and shoestring thin. They've been made from all sorts of different kinds of potatoes.
I do think that frozen fries allow for a far more consistent end product than using fresh potatoes.
Fancy Restaurants Should Implement an Early 'Baby Seating'
Our favorite restaurant in San Francisco, Chenery Park, did a weekly family night every Tuesday. They were ideally suited for it with a large seating area up a set of steps and a small bar (5 or 6 seats) and maybe 5 tables downstairs. It was well publicized and the place was packed every week. One way they encouraged non-baby toting diners to come along was that Tuesday was also Fried Chicken Night. Thus, my wife and I were often at Chenery Park on Tuesdays despite not having children. From our vantage point it looked like everyone was really enjoying themselves. The managers had stickers and metallic star stickers for the kids and coloring books and crayons and such. The service was just as professional and efficient as always, the food was great and the whole thing just worked.
Roasting two chickens in the Same Pan and Need Help
@lemons: Remander found that it didn't take any longer to cook two.
Roasting two chickens in the Same Pan and Need Help
If both chickens fit in the pan with some space around each of them then it won't take any longer than your normal method. If the chickens are pressed together to fit into the pan then those spaces where they touch may take a little longer to cook.
Let's Pizza: Vending Machine Mixes Dough, Bakes Freshly Made Pizza
I disagree, Ed. It sounds like this thing wouldn't have anything funky in it. And it would be hot and fresh. It wouldn't have to be all that amazing for me to still be ecstatic to find it as a choice in many circumstances (midnight check in at a hotel after a delayed flight, rest stop vending machine area on the middle of a long drive).
I guess part of where I'm coming from on it is that a bag of chips or a Snickers aren't so much objects of desire for me particularly anyway (just owing to personal food preferences). But for 3 minutes and $5 that pizza doesn't look so awful.
Best Roasting Pan for a Chicken
Which All Clad pan is it that you think doesn't have any aluminum core?
As for roasting a chicken, I use my 10 inch All Clad stainless skillet fairly often and on occasion use my 10 inch cast iron skillet. I also use my 5 qt oval enameled cast iron dutch oven. It depends on what's easy, whether I feel like dealing with cleanup and whether I intend on making a sauce and/or want to roast vegetables along with the chicken.
Coat Check Tipping in the Recession
Guilt should have nothing to do with it.
Reason, though, should. If you can afford $15 plus tax and tip for the server for lunch but you can't afford $15 plus tax and tip for the server plus tip for the coat check person....then you couldn't afford $15 plus tax and tip for the server for lunch to begin with.
These aren't the kinds of savings that are reasonable to look for or budget for. They're "$40 a Day" kinds of savings. The way you save "in these times" or deal with the "uncertain economic climate" is to go out less. When you do go out, go and do the normal things which while they need not include every extravagance, should include _your_ normal things. If you'd normally check your coat, check it. If you'd normally valet your car, valet it. Just do what you normally do.
Wife won't eat meat on the bone.
She apparently has to live with someone who puts peanut butter on their hamburgers and dips their Frito's in vanilla ice cream. Everyone's got their food quirks, as dbcurrie notes, including ourselves.
I bet you've come up with ways around it!
I don't go there, because I can't eat the food
Wait...The waffles I get, I guess but pre-cooked bacon (same bacon, just already cooked) and egg beaters weren't OK while peanut butter crackers were?
This is the sort of stuff that makes no sense to me. Just because it happens to be in some sort of package or was processed on some level (because everything is) doesn't mean it will kill you.
Seems like a lot of people are cooking at home for V-Day...
I'm basically in line with the above commenters, we don't go out on major holidays as a general rule (and when we break it, we remember why very very quickly). We very much enjoy both eating at home and eating out at restaurants but certainly as we've had to pay more attention to our discretionary income (such as it is) we eat out less than we used to.
On balance, if this were a random Saturday, I'd say there would be a good chance we'd go out this weekend. As is, we'll stay home and roast a small chicken and watch something on our too full TiVo.
Making Our Own Sushi - Help!
@fuuchan, we've been eating different mochi ice cream. The stuff we get from an Asian market near us is wonderful. The ice cream (we get green tea or strawberry) is creamy and rich and the mochi is chewy with a nice flavor of sweet rice but dissolves pretty nicely as you chew it.
As I'm thinking about it, though, I have had what you describe at a few restaurants and you're right, it's a sad ice cream experience.
Good luck with the dinner, OP. The advice about hand rolls is a great thought; low stress, fun and you can laugh at any "mistakes" which when you're assembling your own sushi with your SO don't really exist.
Serious Efforts: Boring Bechamel
How long did you cook the bechamel after you added the liquid? I find that if it's getting cooked only on the stove top (as opposed to going into a baking dish and into the oven for, say, mac and cheese) I need to simmer the sauce for a good 30 to 45 minutes to really get rid of the flour-y taste you describe. I'm also a big, big fan of grating a little bit of nutmeg into the bechamel toward the end of cooking. It really works with just about any recipe and isn't identifiable as nutmeg, it just sort of wakes up the sauce a bit in a way that feels similar to a squeeze of lemon juice does in many cases.
Last question; is that 4 teaspoons or 4 tablespoons of flour? If it's 4 tablespoons, then the amount of liquid seems low by about half (ie, I'd double both the milk and water for that amount of flour and butter).
Home-Baked or Store-Bought? Or: Huh? Are you kidding me?
I don't like M&M cookies, so I'd go for the chocolate chip cookies. Especially if the chocolate chip are store bakery (which are often not nearly as bad as pre-packaged cookies). Most of the straight ahead types of cookies I've had from in-store bakeries tend to be pretty good.
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Just Relocated to D.C., Need Help Sourcing Local Produce, Meat, Bread
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Polls
ccbweb answered "Poached" to How do you like your eggs?
Poll posted by Adam Kuban, March 16, 2010 at 7:30 AM
ccbweb answered "Basically #2 but with a crunchy (usually from toasted breadcrumbs) layer on top." to How Do You Like Your Mac and Cheese?
Poll posted by Erin Zimmer, February 24, 2010 at 7:30 AM
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Quizzes
ccbweb got 20% correct on Pop Quiz: Breakfast Cereal Trivia
Quiz posted by Adam Kuban, March 9, 2010 at 7:30 AM
ccbweb got 33% correct on How Much Do You Know About Condiments?
Quiz posted by Katie Quinn, February 15, 2010 at 6:30 PM

Smoked habanero powder.