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elangomatt

AHT Giveaway: Case of Pat LaFrieda Burgers

I think my biggest pet peeve would have to be putting so much garbage on the burger that you can't possibly get a clean bite and also that you can't even taste the hamburger!

Ask The Food Lab: Is It OK To Probe My Meat?

I had wondered about the same thing but never really thought to ask. I just figured that any damage done with the probe would be minimal and cooking the food properly is far better than the little bit of moisture loss that could happen.

I think it is also worth mentioning that the Thermapen probe tip is quite narrow and I would think tends to cause even less damage than (cheaper) wider probe thermometers. I got my first Thermapen a few months ago and love it. It stays stuck to my fridge or range hood all the time (I got the magnetic boot with it).

Cook the Book: 'The Adobo Road Cookbook'

My mom has always made a few greek dishes, but we have never really ever followed any food themes much except for maybe full fledged American food. My mom has always been a big user of cream of chicken/mushroom soups in various casseroles.

Dinner for 2 with a bottle of wine may become illegal...

I personally will hold back judgement. I'd like see the actual results of studies that show how a person's reaction times and cognitive abilities decline depending on how much alcohol they have in their system. I know you'll probably go back to the nanny state argument where governments try to legislate everything, but the map at the bottom of this NTSB press release shows how much we are in the minority in the USA on having the high legal BAC limits.

http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2013/130514.html

Taste Test: Potato Chips

@Kenji

Doh! Thanks for pointing that out. That'll teach me not to skim through articles too fast. Or maybe I should just stop trying to quickly read articles while I'm supposed to be working.

I just remembered a brand that isn't included here that I like a lot (probably more than Lays) but I never realized it was only a Midwestern chip brand till now. Jays makes some pretty tasty potato chips but can't be found outside of the midwest.

Taste Test: Potato Chips

I can definitely get behind Lays being the winner of the regular thin potato chips. They don't get to be as big as they are with bad chips. I would actually like to see a taste test for thicker plain chips as well sometime though since you can actually usually taste the potato better with those. Given the choice between thin chips and "kettle cooked" (or some other thick cut) I will almost always choose the latter.

Blueberry-Blackberry Pie with Pretzel Crust

I didn't find blueberry jello at my grocery store either (jello brand or other) but I went with the berry blue flavor that @gardenStater pointed out. It makes for a somewhat odd blue-green color but oh well. It tasted good enough but it had the texture of kinda thin pudding instead what I expected. Is this supposed to be kept in the freezer or is the freezer just to get the filling to set? Maybe that is what I did wrong since I stored it in the fridge after it had been in the freezer for 3 hours or so.

Got Extra Popeye's Biscuits? Save'em For Breakfast Sandwiches

I think I'm going to get some extra biscuits and do this very thing next time I stop at Popeye's! It has been a long time since I've had a good biscuit breakfast sandwich

I was one of the people that recommended Hardee's biscuits to Kenji via Twitter. Well technically I think I just asked him how he thought Popeye's biscuits compared to Hardee's biscuits. Are Hardee's biscuits actually accepted as a pretty good fast food biscuit? I know they've been my favorite for years, but that is only comparing them to the likes of McDonald's and Wendy's fast food biscuits so it isn't exactly a very high bar to surpass. Too bad every Hardee's within 30 miles of my home closed down a decade or so ago and none have opened back up since. There used to be like 5 or 6 locations within 15 miles, but I think they were all run by the same people so they all shut down at about the same time.

How do you like your potato salad?

I want to experiment with potato salad sometime to find good variations, but my family's go to potato salad is a very simple number with potatoes, hard boiled eggs, mayo, a touch of onion, parsley and that's about it (oh and salt of course, but that's a given I think with potatoes). That is how my grandmother has always made it, so that is how my mom makes it, and it's how I usually make potato salad. Oh and it is always to be made with red potatoes so that they don't fall apart too badly when mixing. We don't like mashed potato salad, the potatoes need to have some integrity.

Tipping from a server's point of view.

@gargupie Sadly, some people just don't know how to tip properly. Hopefully there aren't as many people like those idiots as there are that tip generously. The only thing I can think is maybe they just weren't paying attention to their bill and just threw down $1 each for tip, or maybe they think that just because it is lunch that tips don't matter at all. Whatever their reason, they're jerks for giving such a crappy tip, I just hope you don't let it bother you much.

@tea-and-syncope I agree with the others that are saying your situation is a bit unusual with ordering at a counter then seating themselves. I'm not sure that I'd leave a full tip in that situation either, a lot would depend on how much interaction we had with the server after receiving our food. If you don't mind me asking, do you get minimum wage with the tips supplementing your income or are you actually paid like a server where tips are needed to bring your hourly rate up to normal minimum wage?

Chechil: Smoked, Braided, String-Cheese Snack

I'm with shoneyjoe on this one, go away. The first post was bad enough and pretty obviously a commercial post. I can't remember if it originally contained a link to your kickstarter campaign, but someone else was nice enough to link it in there for you.

This post is clear violation of the Serious Eats Comment Policy since you're trying to drive traffic to your kickstarter. http://www.seriouseats.com/comment-policy/

help my boyfriend is so hard to cook for!

I don't really have any ideas to help you, but I just want to make a comment. I'm not sure that his birthday dinner is the time to do it, but if you cook for him a lot I wonder if you can get him to start eating veggies by preparing them properly and getting him to try different things. I imagine lots of people who claim to hate veggies have only had canned garbage or the fresh was overcooked so badly that they were inedible.

A co-worker of mine came to work a few months ago and he told me he tried something new that weekend. He very proudly told me he had tried broccoli! He thought it was pretty OK and was open to trying more veggies. He is one of those guys that claims to never eat anything green. How old is he you might ask? 58 years old.

Homemade Pop Tarts

There is always the Alton Brown Good Eats hand pies/toaster pastries recipe as well. Have thought about making them a few times, but still haven't gotten around to it. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pocket-pies-recipe/index.html

Whatever recipe you try out, can you report back here to let us know how they turned out please? Real pop-tarts just aren't nearly as good as I remember them and would like to try a homemade version sometime.

EW! I HATE that!!

That is a pet peeve of mine too. I've often said that I wouldn't want to try certain kinds of offal such as rocky mountain oysters and lamb fries for example, but I also have never said I hate them. I've never tried them so how can I know if I hate them or not?! That being said, I probably would bow to peer pressure if I was in a group of people that were eating such things or if I was dining with Andrew Zimmern but I probably won't be ordering it on my own anytime soon.

For me peas are one of the only veggies I really don't like, but I've tried them so I know I don't like them. I think some of that dislike is due to the fact that my mom only served canned peas when I was growing up, but even now I still don't like frozen peas much either even they are close to tolerable.

Bake the Book: Old School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned To Cook

A good bagel with lox and cream cheese.

latest vs hottest topics

I think Rorschach is referring to the first and third tabs on http://www.seriouseats.com/talk . I used to click on the Hottest Topics tab to see if there was anything different there but as far as I know the Latest Topics and Hottest Topics tabs have always been the same since I started coming to talk regularly a couple years ago.

Movie Food

Are you guys smuggling all of these 5 course dinners into the theater in your coat pockets/purses or do the theaters just allow outside food into the their shows? I've been known to bring in a bottle of soda (or water) in but that's about it. Once in a great while I'll buy popcorn at the theater but usually I'm just too cheap. I figure I can make it through a 2 hour movie without starving to death so I don't need to bring any food with me.

What To Do With Overripe Bananas (Other Than Make Banana Bread)

Thanks for the ideas, I usually toss overripe bananas in a ziplock in my freezer and then finally decide to throw them out after a few weeks since I'm not in the mood for banana bread. Now maybe I'll start using more of them!

History of Creamed Chipped Beef (a.k.a. S.O.S.)?

Yes, I know it is really really salty and probably all kinds of other horrible for me but I've been known to pick up a package of the Stouffer's Creamed Chipped Beef from the freezer aisle a few times. That served over toast with a side of peas makes for a quick dinner. I might just have to try the posted recipe though since that sounds even better. Is the dried beef in a jar in the canned meat aisle another thing that could be used?

Cook the Book: 'Vegetable Literacy' by Deborah Madison

I love this time of year since asparagus is so plentiful. Just grill it with some olive oil drizzled over it and some salt and pepper.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

I have really started enjoying boneless skinless chicken breasts a lot more recently since I got a Thermapen not too long ago. It is just so easy to check the temp in the thickest part of the breast. I knew that I was overcooking them before but I never really realized how much till I got the Thermapen.

Gadgets: Wüsthof Precision Edge Knife Sharpener

Some of you people really need to come to these gadget posts with a different mindset. This isn't America's Test Kitchen or Consumer Reports for gadgets here. It is just a person writing about their experience with a gadget. I don't ever get the impression that Donna is praising an item just because the company sent it to her, she's just giving her opinion.

can't favorite posts

I am also betting on some kind of ad blocker or noscript type add-on causing your issues. I would also like to point out that Serious Eats is paid for by ad revenue. By blocking all of the ads and such on the site, you're making it harder for Serious Eats to make money and continue to give us the content we all want. If you must use ad blockers, I always suggest that people put their favorite sites on the whitelist so that they help support that website.

Cumin-Free Hummus??

@healthytouch10 Are you sure that the "paprika" that you're seeing on top of hummus isn't actually sumac? I know sumac is a traditional hummus topping.

As for cumin free hummus, I have no idea. I have never noticed any cumin flavor in any hummus including Sabra (which is actually my favorite brand). I also don't understand why people thing that "natural flavor" automatically means yuck, but I think that is a whole other conversation.

Individual Thread Opt Out

@therealchiffonade I'm not an admin or anything, but the "view comment" link is always a clickable hyper link for me. What program or website do you use to read your email? I use outlook and the gmail website for my email and it is always a proper hyperlink that I can click. I think it probably depends on what system you use to read your email for whether or not that view comment link works or not.

Pinterest button question/suggestion

I'll admit it, I do use pinterest. I pretty much only use it as a dumping ground for recipes that sound good and I want to try sometimes. Is there a way to get the Pinterest button on SE to automatically retrieve the title of the article/recipe your attempting to pin? Other websites I've used will automatically put text (usually the recipe title) into the description of the pin box, but SE has never done that. On SE I usually just end up doing a copy/paste of the recipe title, but it'd be handier to not have to do that.

(Firefox 18 on Windows 7 if that matters)

New to Whole Foods

I saw a talk thread a couple weeks ago asking the same question about Trader Joe's, so I figured I'd start one about Whole Foods. There is finally a Whole Foods market opening up in the southern suburbs of Chicago (Orland Park IL to be precise) in a couple weeks. I know the nickname is "Whole Paycheck" and all that, but without worrying a whole lot about money what are the items that Whole Foods excels at? and what sort of stuff should be avoided?

I won't be going there every week or anything since it still a decent drive to get there, but it will be a much more reasonable drive than any other Whole Foods that has existed in the Chicago area before now.

Pizza Steel instead of Pizza Stone?

Has anyone ever tried using steel in place of stone for oven pizza cooking? I just noticed this kickstarter linked below that claims steel makes for great pizza. I would think that steel would lose its heat faster than stone but I suppose that might be a good thing if that heat is going into the pizza faster. It just seems to me that stone vs steel for pizza baking would be like the difference between cast iron and aluminum for a frying pan. Both can get very hot, but the second options wouldn't be able to build up as much heat as the first.


Pizza Steel Kickstarter
(disclaimer, I am no way associated with this kickstarter at all, not even a backer as of right now)

Best brand of Vanilla?

Seeing as how the Christmas holidays are coming up and everyone seems to bake a lot more this time of year, I think this question could help a lot of people.

My mom has always used the standard McCormick pure vanilla extract from the grocery store baking aisle. She did at least use pure extract instead of imitation. A while back I tried a different brand, Wilton I think, and was surprised that there was a noticeable difference.

I have used the Wilton bottle up now and can't find any more in the store where I got it before. I would like to know what your favorite brand of Vanilla is so I can buy some. I was looking at the King Arthur Flour site and noticed that their vanilla is rated well by their viewers, but I don't know if there is something better out there.

Emailing an article not working?

Over the last week or two I have tried emailing a couple of posts to someone using the email button at the top of the article, but it doesn't seem to be working because the recipient hasn't gotten anything. I tried emailing myself an article with the same method an hour or so tonight and I still haven't received it either. Has anyone else successfully used the email feature lately at all?

The Serious Eats Pizza-Making Guide

The Serious Eats Pizza-Making Guide View Slideshow

Welcome to our brand new pizza index! Over the years, our staff and readers have worked to build a treasure trove of pizza recipes and techniques, ranging from regional classics to home kitchen adaptations and twists. Have we covered it all? Absolutely not—that would take all the fun out it! One of pizza's greatest qualities, at least in our humble opinion, is how difficult it is to pin down or define. Ideally, this list will continue to grow and evolve indefinitely. In the meantime, we've done our best to organize our existing pizza resources to make things a little easier for all the home cooks and aspiring pizzaoli out there. Have at it, Slice'rs! More

City Grit Chef Sarah Simmons's Creamy Parmesan Grits

City Grit Chef Sarah Simmons's Creamy Parmesan Grits

I grew up with grits. Whether they were instant with extra salt, slow-cooked with chunks of cheddar, or tented with a Kraft Single and a puddle of Tabasco (a la Waffle House), I'd eat them every which way. And I'd still eat them every morning if I didn't have to mail-order a good bag. Even though menus today are replete with Southern-inflected versions of the Bible Belt breakfast staple, it is still surprisingly difficult to find a bag of white ground corn labeled "grits" above the Mason-Dixon line. It's a good thing Sarah Simmons's recipe for Creamy Parmesan Grits from Food and Wine's new book America's Greatest New Cooks still works with "polenta." More

The Pizza Lab: Foolproof Pan Pizza

The Pizza Lab: Foolproof Pan Pizza View Slideshow Get Recipe

I've got a confession to make: I love pan pizza. I'm not talking deep-dish Chicago-style with its crisp crust and rivers of cheese and sauce, I'm talking thick-crusted, fried-on-the-bottom, puffy, cheesy, focaccia-esque pan pizza, dripping with strings of mozzarella and robust sauce. If only pizza that good were also easy to make at home. Well here's the good news: It is. This is the easiest pizza you will ever make. Seriously. All it takes is a few basic kitchen essentials, some simple ingredients, and a bit of patience. More

Maple Baked Beans

Maple Baked Beans

As with many recipes, the secret ingredient to world-changing baked beans is pork. Good quality, salty, cured, fatty pork will make you look down on the ketchupy, mushy baked beans of your past and look forward to years of tinkering with this recipe until you finally reach your own bean nirvanna. More

Provençal White Bean Dip

Provençal White Bean Dip

While in Napa recently, I found and loved a white bean dip at Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Yountville, which came served with pain epi. It was creamy, mild, and mellow, but not bland at all. And it had a distinct advantage over butter—I could slather on as much as I wanted without guilt. More

The Pizza Lab: Three Doughs to Know

The Pizza Lab: Three Doughs to Know Get Recipe

We've gone through a lot of pizza styles and recipes here at The Pizza Lab, but I still often get asked "what's the best pizza crust recipe you know?" When I'm in the mood to fire up the grill or heat up the broiler, I might take my time and make a Neapolitan-style lean dough. If I want to relive my childhood without stepping out my apartment door, it's a New York-style. Company coming over and I want to feed a crowd without messing up the kitchen? It's Sicilian-style square pie all the way. Here's a brief run-down on the three recipes that every home pie-maker should have in their arsenal to tackle all manner of pizza-centric circumstances. More