Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

So glad to see the pressure cooker being used! My mom's used her Hawker to make daal and it creates a really unique texture (I'm STILL afraid of using that thing - we definitely know people who've had the top come off, which is a total kitchen calamity). And glad the see the hing powder wasn't eliminated. We always add a little mustard oil, too, after the dal is finished, but I think that's a Bengali thing.

Is there some kind of culinary Nobel prize that can be awarded to you? Because this is sheer brilliance. The only thing standing between me and my officemate finding my sugar-addled body slumped across the floor of the office is the number of steps involved.

Yum! One of my favorite ways to cook salmon - it comes out really beautifully with minimum fuss, though I always take the seeds out of the chiles before adding.

ABC Kitchen - blissful.

This is a great topic. I'm hugely comforted to find that the vices of one are the vices of all....

@ the posted who listed the underdone brownies in frozen dinners: I AM WITH YOU - I completely forgot about those, but reading you post made me want to run out an buy a frozen meal, just for the brownie. We're screwed if they've figured out how to make them come out "done" by now, though...

Cool Ranch Doritos.....raw boxed cake mix....Land O'Lakes hot chocolate mix (san H20)....peanut butter mixed with honey or raw sugar...Marie Callendar pot pies. All of this used to happen when I was a kid living with my parents - suburban supermarkets have this stuff cheap, but in the city, I'm finding it's actually cheaper now to buy "real" food. Too bad ; )

This is one of my favorite dishes - we always use butternut squash or pumpkin - I would say that the asofoetida is key, it adds a depth that can be lacking if using pre-ground mixes, so include it if possible. Sooooooo good over rice in the winter!

What about non-Italian wines? I'm thinking of South American reds, maybe a Malbec - can anyone recommend something they've had that has worked?

Bittman - How to Cook Everything

David Leibovitz, Harold McGee, and Julia Child - I would be baking out of boxes if not for them : )

Honestly? Taylor pork roll as special Saturday lunch by my dad. More recently, having Canadian slab bacon for the first time...revelatory.

Yes - with eggs on toast. Transcendent. Also truffled honey with cheese, which was the sort of dish where you end up wiping your plate with your finger to get every last bit, despite being in a fancy-pants restaurant

Cookies - One Girl Cookies; Tribeca Treats

Cupcakes - Robicelli's

Cakes - Black Hound

Composed Desserts - Bouchon; Three Tarts Patisserie

Pies - Four and Twenty Blackbirds