Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

At a weekend cabin in northern Michigan, our uncle neglected to tell us that the old restaurant stove he had installed was hooked up with propane and not natural gas. My older brother, a short order cook at the time was going to make breakfast, he lit a match and tried to get the stove going. He and my younger brother and I were peering into the hole and waiting, and waiting and waiting. The stove didn't light. Another match, then another one and when it finally lit, kaboom! I lost a good part of my hair, my eyebrows and eyelashes; my older brother was left with only half of his mustache and baby brother (11 years old at the time) was screaming at me to stop hitting him on the head (he didn't realize he was on fire). I guess propane doesn't rise as quickly as natural gas.

Don't forget that No Reservations is a re-make of the German film, Bella Martha (American title: Mostly Martha) and that the sous-chef in that one seduces her through Italian food. If we look beyond just the French food as high culture paradigm and place it in the context of European and then global cuisine, the question of hierarchy becomes more interesting. The French themselves were able to impose the idea of their language, their culture (art, literature, fashion, film, etc.), and their food as superior to others and most of the rest of us were convinced! Ironically, it's their own philosophical innovations of post-modernism (and within that deconstruction) that give us the tools to bring them down. Why should we place one cuisine on a higher rung of the ladder than another? Finally though, the questions of quality, public health, sustainability and local economy are at the forefront, but once again, the French and Italians are way ahead of us on that one.

Lately I've been mixing up large glasses of grapefruit gimlets on the rocks: lots of ice in a tall glass, a little Rose's lime juice, a shot or two of gin, a splash of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, top off with sparkling water. If I get the urge early in the day, I make it without the gin.

Hey thanks for all the info, guys. I've been making little batches of refrigerator pickles for a while and wanting to graduate to more serious pickle making. I'm going to take the leap.

My husband makes something like this but he does it on a grill at a fairly low temperature for about 6 hours. Also, you can boil the marinade and reduce it to make a sauce. So delicious.

I first made risotto from a recipe in Bob Blumer's The Surreal Gourmet Entertains and I'm SO glad I did, because he specifically calls everyone out on this stirring vigorously for 20-30 minutes thing. According to him a few stirs every once in a while are all that are needed and that's what I've always done. Also, I use Kokuho Rose brand sushi rice instead of arborio; it's also a short grain rice and makes risotto that is just as good at a much, much lower price.

I brought some absinthe back from France a few years ago, not because it tastes so great, but all the friends just had to try it. I like pastis better.

Brown rice is hands down one of the healthiest things there is to eat. Topped with a mixture of powdered toasted sesame seed and sea salt, some shredded carrot and cucumber and a little rice wine vinegar, it is divine. It's also a staple of the Zen macrobiotic diet.

Calichef's instructions are excellent. I'd like to add three things. First, I use the carcass of a chicken that I've roasted along with whatever chicken is still clinging to it. I sometimes also through in some chicken necks or wings that are kicking around in the freezer to add to it. I put all of this in my largest stockpot without measuring, weighing or whatever and fill the pot with water. Secondly, when you bring the stock up to a boil, you should keep the water at a low enough simmer that the water doesn't really boil because that will cause the broth to be gray and cloudy (boiling protein is just about always bad, ruptures the cells). Finally, if you leave the stock in the refrigerator overnight, the fat will solidify on the top and can be skimmed off, giving you fat-free stock. I freeze it in two cup batches using the containers that olives and things come in.

I second the vote for gambas al ajillo (shrimp with garlic). Easy to make and lick your fingers delicious.

When I buy canned tomatoes I always check the label to make sure that the ingredients list says only tomatoes, otherwise I won't buy them. Currently, the only canned tomatoes I can find like that are Cento or the boxed kind, Pomi, which in my mind are the best and freshest tasting of all commercial tomato products. What to use them for? Tomato sauce of course. Red clam sauce makes a frequent appearance in our house. In a pan, heat some olive oil, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, a tablespoon of pre-chopped garlic, a can of anchovies (drained of oil), cook until the garlic is translucent. Add the juice of a can of clams and one box of Pomí chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce, simmer for 10-20 minutes (depending on how hungry you are). Add the clams and cook just until they are warm, no boiling, you don't want rubber bands. Serve over linguine or penne with or without some pre-grated parmesan cheese (we all know that in Italy you don't put cheese on your seafood, so we don't do it in restaurants here either, but at home, when nobody's looking...?). So there you are. A recipe with all canned goods that you can seriously call homemade. Or not. Enchiladas and thai curry are also absolutely acceptable when made with almost all bottled, canned, pre-packaged, pre-chopped and frozen stuff.

My ex-husband's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Macedonia in the early nineties and they were overjoyed to find the fries at McDonald's - no more stinky house, no more sweating over the peeling, cutting and watching the temperature of the oil. She would make the main course and he would go over to McDonald's to pick up the fries just whistling all the way. They were so happy and really thought it weird that I wanted to make my own fries. These days I've settled on just making roasted potatoes when I want to dip something in ketchup at home and save the fry eating for when I go out.