Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I agree about the pan searing, they will dry out on the grill. Make sure your pan is screaming hot and sear on each side until their natural sugars caramelize and then get them outta that pan so they don't over cook and get tough!

@lemonfair, you should try adding a cracked egg to your ramen. Leave the heat on after the noodles are done, season your broth and let noodles soak a bit, drain, then back in the pan. Crack an egg over the noodles and fry, stirring occaisionally(its best if the egg doesn't get too broken up), until egg is done. Hit it with a bit of soy sauce and some garlic chili paste. Its a really yummy and different way to enjoy ramen!

I learned this from a friend of a friend who lived in japan for a while and had issues getting to like the food(which i could not fathom!). He got acclimated by mixing things he ate at home with some asian flare.

to ribster, I often find myself watching food network for lack of better things to watch, but do watch travel channel more often now because i'd rather see anthony bourdain make snarky comments and try all kinds of foods i probably never will have an oppertunity to.

To MarvinDog, i agree 100% about the ace of cakes plywood thing. I work in a bakery and we all can't stand that show! When we get orders for fondant or gumpaste work I am the one who does them and we always joke that i should make up a batch of rice crispy treats to stuff in my projects instead of actual cake

I think i'm going to have to start watching pbs on saturdays like donnie says, saturdays are the days fn brings out the crappiest of their shows. I hate Paula's party!!!! AAAK! And nfns is like american idol for a cooking show host. I really miss the frugal gormet, julia child, justin wilson, and yan can cook....sigh...and, Epicurious, when it was on discovery channel was nice too

three floyds GUMBALL HEAD, hands down. Its from northern indiana. Its a super hoppy wheat beer, that does not taste like gumballs at all

Now that is dedication. I live about an hour and a half away from chicago right now. A while back, when in culinary school, I would kill time in the city while waiting for fellow car-pooling students to finish class by going to a Whole Foods Market....i was flabberghasted and totally smitten by all of the beautifully arranged, brightly colored produce, the gleaming fish counter filled with exotic fishes i'd never seen before, the intoxicating cheese counter, at which i gobbled up several samples, the ruby red beef at the meat counter that looked so perfectly fresh, the wildly eclectic pastry counter...i could go on and on...It was the beginning of a long, long love affair. I save my change, i try to snip a certain portion out of each of my measly weekly budget alottments i give myself, and i dream of going back there. When i have enough cash, finally, I pack my trusty igloo cooler in my car and stuff it full of ice and make the drive to one of three whole foods stores, which has taken nearly 3 hours at times due to expressway construction. i go nuts in there! I buy exactly what i want, what looks good, things i've never seen or tried before, without any regrets. Returning home with all the goodies i'd never find in boring northern indiana is like foodie christmas! Then, i dread going to the crappy mega marts and chain grocery stores at home, feeling punished for having to shop at them when the whole foods loot is gone! Peaks and valleys...sigh

I truly appreciate all of the helpful comments! =)

I've been walmart brand brown rice (looks to be a medium grain). On a budget and bought the family of 50 size bag, even though its mostly just myself eating it, to save in the long run.

The package says bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil, add salt, butter/margarine and salt to a boil. Then, add 1 cup rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer 40-45 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. fluff with fork.

Right off the bat, i have to admit i do tend to give it a stir once the rice is in the pot. And I think I am really keeping my simmer too low, it seems to take closer to an hour when I've cooked this particular brand of rice. I check it frequently after the 40 minute mark because I start getting frustrated that there is so much liquid still left in the pot. I think I've been fussing with it too much. Plus, now that I think of it, 2 1/2 cups water to1 cup rice seems like a bit too much.

I use the mahatma brand jasmine rice and love it. its truly my go-to rice, as I've never screwed it up. Its absolutely wonderful cooked in chicken stock with a generous pinch of tumric, such a vibrantly colored, yet, subtle side dish. So, maybe it would be wise to buy the mahatma brown rice as well.

I have a rice cooker, and this is going to sound dumb, but i only have ever used it to make sushi rice. It just sits in the cabinet. I've been a bit daunted to try brown rice in it since a co-worker said she tried it and got the wet mush. Time to dust the pour little thing off and give it a whirl.

I've seen the Good Eats where AB bakes the rice, that intrigues me and I plan on trying that too.

To orchidgirl, who recommended sauteeing the rice before adding the water, I like that idea a lot. I love cooking wheat berries and pearled barley and each of those benefit from being toasted in the pan, i wish I had thought of that(maybe a soak first too)

I think that over-mixing could have been the culprit, the cheesecakes may have puffed up at bit too high and sank in a bit, as cheesecakes will do, leaving them a bit brittle.

As for the texture, they didn't have a grainy mouth feel, they just weren't as buttery smooth as the one i had at the restaurant. I asked around at work(bakery) and my fellow employees seem to think it may have been a mass produced, machine made product, frozen and shipped to restaurants. I'm betting they could be right. I think I may have dumped in a bit too much pesto, adding too much moisture to the mix, which wouldn't help matters, especially if i got a bit too mixer happy as well...gonna keep trying to perfect it. I made a few cheesecakes with roasted red peppers and garlic from the same batch, same goofy texture, but as delicious as the pesto cakes

thank you for your reply Lemons, I did notice that there was an anchovy discussion, after I left my post, oops! I would love the chicken salad recipe. I just signed up yesterday, I'm not sure if I can send a reply directly back to you or if I just leave a note like this with the original post and hope for the best.

Zucchini, I was thinking about anchovy paste, It probably would last a bit longer. I happened to read in a cook book last night that anchovy paste also contains butter and/or cream...two things that could only make it more delicious if you ask me =)

I usually am only cooking for two, but would still recommend getting a 5qt dutch oven, there are so very many uses for a dutch oven and a 5qt affords you so many oppertunities to take advantage of them. I have a martha stuart ceramic coated dutch oven, it has come to be my favorite soup pot.