Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

To me, it's a much larger issue than cleaning, number of uses, etc. but it definitely affects the final taste result, which is very important to me, personally. (I'm bummed I missed this until now, because I've had this discussion many times with good cooks, who are every bit as good a cook as a professional chef--and like to use garlic presses--as opposed to trained chefs (like myself) who have explored many different ways to prepare garlic and find we don't prefer the result.) Using a garlic press does not give you chopped, minced, mashed garlic or garlic paste (which are generally what are used in gourmet cooking), but gives you some of the clove with a lot of the garlic oil which tastes more pungent than if one had the whole clove together. I think this dramatically affects a dish, and is only good for certain purposes, like certain garlicky pasta sauces or mild red salsas (when that type of garlic aftertaste combined with tomatoes and some sugar is very pleasing). To me, each way to prepare garlic, whether slicing, chopping garlic into brunoise or mince or making it into a paste (mince the garlic and then sprinkle some kosher salt onto it, then rub it back and forth with the back of a knife until it's a pulpy mass) all give a different taste to a dish.

Mexican cookbooks written by Mexicans ... well, in Mexico, most of the cooking is done by women who learned from their mothers and grandmothers. The women I know from Mexico tend to think there's something wrong with a person who uses a cookbook. Diana Kennedy spent a lot of time with a woman in one region and at first, thanks to Gourmet Magazine, Americans were led to believe this was the only type of Mexican cooking that was authentic. Later, as American cooks traveled to Oaxaca and Puebla etc. they discovered that there were other inhabitants in Mexico than the descendants of the Aztecs, and each had a different idea of what Mexican cooking was. Rick Bayless was the one who really went to town showing the variety of food and gives such good advice that it's very possible to replicate the fantastic dishes here, with his books. But if you go to Mexico, you'll see that they are just as innovative as we are, and what is covered by "authentic Mexican" is always expanding.
There is a Mexican cookbook by a woman who has a school in Mexico and Mexican children ... Her name is Susana Trilling and her book is Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca. She is a fantastic cook and I've only done a couple of the recipes in the book, but they were marvelous. I've made a ton of Rick Bayless's recipes though and he's my personal favorite.

haha! I just did that myself when I threw away some strawberries last week. I'm still sad about it! The books by my bed are all cookbooks. Sad?

Ruth Reichl's sequel, Comfort Me With Apples, was so embarrassing. Clearly published too early so she had to pander to all her colleagues. It was all, "I was there at the start of California cuisine" but none of her great opinions and food descriptions. Instead, unsatisfying and very cagey descriptions of the people. Her writing about her love affair with her second husband was dopey, very high school. Not to mention that almost every piece of food she put into her mouth "exploded"...After reading Tender at the Bone and her great editorials in Gourmet I was shocked. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have been -- I canceled my subscription to that rag a few years ago when I'd decided if I read another article where the chef was described as "boyishly handsome" I would no longer subscribe...and of course it happened twice in the next issue!

They're actually the same type of yeast but prepared differently. When you purchase active dry yeast you are purchasing a product created by a manufacturer to foam and rise quickly and be able to last longer than a fresh block of yeast. The end product isn't the same as if you used fresh yeast (we all love the fresh stuff - evidenced by the strange addiction to pizza dough and croissants which use live yeast) but still pretty great. There are other yeasts that are used for brewing alcoholic beverages (depending on the beverage) but what is sold as brewer's yeast is the same type of yeast used both for baking and for brewing ale though it isn't put through the same process as active dry yeast and it is fortified with b vitamins and other things like calcium, to be taken as a nutritional supplement. There are other yeasts used in probiotic supplements but I'm not knowledgeable about all of those. If your question is about what to use for baking, you have to use "active dry yeast" to get the desired effect in baked goods, because it is a man-made product specially manufactured for just that purpose. Hope that helps you!

Yummy! and cute!

Sandra Lee on MST3K - that's exactly where she belongs!!! genius idea!!!

I don't think Jag is their favorite just because he's Latin, but I think the guy has screen presence. And, although I love Paul's personality and cooking style, his movements are hard to watch on camera and his commentary is tiresome. Annoying as Jag is, he's the only one who on the demo episode actually looked like he belongs on camera. I checked out the audition tapes too, and Jag and Tommy (and Michael Salmon, interestingly enough) had instant compatibility with the camera and none of the stiff movement and shoulder-raising and face-twisting that is so irksome among the rest of the contestants. As for the way he talks, he sounds ridiculous but I think he could, with his knowledge and experience, be who they want to replace Emeril. His personality, though, is so weird -- like, the way he grinned at Bobby Flay during the Iron Chef intro -- what was that about? He has a lot of training to do, just to be normal. But his commentary during the Iron Chef episode was excellent, proving he's definitely a knowledgeable cook, and very experienced. At first I thought his using "Jag it up" was annoying but his down-to-earthiness has made me soften toward him, I believe he could really be a star. Amy may be a great cook but she is just so stiff and Rory clearly doesn't belong there, in my opinion, although given that Paula Deen can't cook either, they don't care, as long as someone female represents the South. The only other contestant that could win viewers over is Tommy and it's too late for him. Oh, and I like last year's winner - his shows may not be that interesting but he's got good energy. And who likes watching Bourdain? Although he's a funny writer/speaker, his show is a huge snore.

My sister takes a fresh roast and puts it in the cooker (not a defrosted roast). Then she takes 2 jars of bbq sauce, covering it. The sauce usually doesn't cover the roast entirely but if you want it to cover, just add some vegetables. After cooking it all day it's a fantastic bbq!

restaurants use the cheapest ones - you can do it under $10. You use them for cakes that are finished right out of the oven or only need frosting at that point -- because the bottom stays there, it's easy to transfer the cake to a serving plate. And because the sides pull away you don't risk ruining the cake trying to get it out of the pan.

I love all these things everyone else won't eat (except the fast food, of course). But for some reason coconut nauseates me. Just smelling that lotion on people in summer is nauseating, and coconut macaroons are g-ross. People find ways to ruin all sorts of good food with coconut! And coconut water - ugh. I went to Vietnam and we had to drink it, to stay hydrated because it's so hot that you need the electrolytes and minerals in it. But it got really frustrating, having to take it in every day. Also, sometimes mangos have a slight coconut flavor - ruining a wonderful mango - It makes me afraid to buy them, because I won't be able to abid them! The only way I've been able to stand coconut is in coconut cream pie, coconut custard pie and coconut frosting...probably because the creaminess dominates the coconut flavor.

btw, to make ghee just put a stick or sticks of butter into a very small pan on very low heat (if you have a strong pilot light under your burner that might be enough) and leave it until the milk solids separate from the oil. If the milk stays mixed with the oil then the heat is too high. Spoon off the milk solids and put the oil into a jar. ta-da!

Just add a little canola oil to the batter until it's moist enough, and the texture will be fine. Try this - you'll need a mixer - take a cookie recipe and replace half the butter with peanut butter, adding a bit of canola oil until the texture is like a regular cookie dough. Replace the sugar with maple crystals or sucanat. I recommend doing this with the chocolate chip recipe on the Sunspire grain-sweetened chocolate chip bag.