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From Talk

What's Your Favorite Topping for Ice Cream?

My favorite things to put on ice cream:

- bananas foster on vanilla ice cream
- fresh strawberry puree on vanilla ice cream (love how the puree semi-freezes over the ice cream for a contrast in texture as well as flavor)
- homemade magic shell on vanilla ice cream (tastes like a klondike)
- homemade magic shell AND fresh strawberry puree on vanilla (like chocolate-covered strawberries)
- caramel sauce and salted peanuts on vanilla ice cream (like my favorite McDonald's sundae but made better with salt and quality ingredients)
- saltines on Breyers coffee ice cream (my Filipino parents taught me this one)
- homemade magic shell and salted peanuts (truth be told I haven't tried this one yet but since I like dipping frozen bananas into dark chocolate and topping them with salted peanuts, it must be good)

neensters at 8:50AM on 06/12/10

From Serious Eats

The Food Lab's Top 10 Pieces of Kitchen Gear

Wow, so I've had it wrong all these years... Thanks for the Physics refresher, and please keep the great articles coming! :)

neensters at 11:35PM on 04/18/10

From Serious Eats

The Food Lab's Top 10 Pieces of Kitchen Gear

Umm... don't you mean "centrifugal" force (regarding the salad spinner)?

Regardless, I would agree with pretty much everything on your list, but I would add my U-shaped Kuhn Rikon vegetable peeler. I hardly ever use my Benriner, but when I need it, nothing else will do. Also agree with Tom M regarding the tongs but I favor the Messermeister. The OXOs felt light and cheap. The Messermeister is like the BMW of tongs.

neensters at 5:56PM on 03/31/10

From Talk

Yellow Cake that tastes as good as the box.

Ok, so I might have been a bit hasty. I'm starting to come around to the Cook's Illustrated "Fluffy Yellow Cake" recipe. It's really light and freezes beautifully, and it has an appetizing yellow color from the extra yolks and butter. The "last yellow cake recipe" (above) was perfect eaten warm straight out of the oven, but it did not keep very well and is much more dense - more like pound cake. I guess my search continues...

neensters at 6:12PM on 03/01/09

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From Talk

What's Your Favorite Topping for Ice Cream?

My favorite things to put on ice cream:

- bananas foster on vanilla ice cream
- fresh strawberry puree on vanilla ice cream (love how the puree semi-freezes over the ice cream for a contrast in texture as well as flavor)
- homemade magic shell on vanilla ice cream (tastes like a klondike)
- homemade magic shell AND fresh strawberry puree on vanilla (like chocolate-covered strawberries)
- caramel sauce and salted peanuts on vanilla ice cream (like my favorite McDonald's sundae but made better with salt and quality ingredients)
- saltines on Breyers coffee ice cream (my Filipino parents taught me this one)
- homemade magic shell and salted peanuts (truth be told I haven't tried this one yet but since I like dipping frozen bananas into dark chocolate and topping them with salted peanuts, it must be good)

neensters at 8:50AM on 06/12/10

From Serious Eats

The Food Lab's Top 10 Pieces of Kitchen Gear

Wow, so I've had it wrong all these years... Thanks for the Physics refresher, and please keep the great articles coming! :)

neensters at 11:35PM on 04/18/10

From Serious Eats

The Food Lab's Top 10 Pieces of Kitchen Gear

Umm... don't you mean "centrifugal" force (regarding the salad spinner)?

Regardless, I would agree with pretty much everything on your list, but I would add my U-shaped Kuhn Rikon vegetable peeler. I hardly ever use my Benriner, but when I need it, nothing else will do. Also agree with Tom M regarding the tongs but I favor the Messermeister. The OXOs felt light and cheap. The Messermeister is like the BMW of tongs.

neensters at 5:56PM on 03/31/10

From Talk

Yellow Cake that tastes as good as the box.

Ok, so I might have been a bit hasty. I'm starting to come around to the Cook's Illustrated "Fluffy Yellow Cake" recipe. It's really light and freezes beautifully, and it has an appetizing yellow color from the extra yolks and butter. The "last yellow cake recipe" (above) was perfect eaten warm straight out of the oven, but it did not keep very well and is much more dense - more like pound cake. I guess my search continues...

neensters at 6:12PM on 03/01/09

From Talk

Yellow Cake that tastes as good as the box.

Also, you can make self-rising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt per 1 cup of all-purpose flour. I'll be making this in batches now to always have on hand.

neensters at 3:17PM on 02/21/09

From Talk

Yellow Cake that tastes as good as the box.

Mich23, thank you so much for sharing "The last yellow cake recipe you will ever need". I tried it at work yesterday and everyone in the kitchen LOVED IT and was asking for the recipe. With such simple ingredients and easy method, I had my doubts, but it far surpassed my expectations (and hopes!). My search for the perfect yellow cake recipe ends here. :)

Incidentally, I also tried the Cook's Illustrated "Fluffy Yellow Cake" recipe from their March/April '08 issue and it doesn't compare. Way too spongy for me, due to the beaten egg whites added at the end.

neensters at 1:30PM on 02/21/09

From Talk

Cream Cheese Frosting Help

So, it turns out that I had to make cream cheese frosting at work today and I'd like to update my earlier post. Forget about not whipping air into the frosting. I used my usual proportions (same as Susquehanna's), combined everything on low, then turned it up and beat it (still with the paddle attachment) until the lumps were gone. It's so good! A nice light color, easy to pipe with a star tip (retains its shape), and most importantly, a great cream cheese flavor. Oh, and I agree with earlier comments about using full fat cream cheese. Neufchatel is way too soft straight out of the package (although I use it all the time in tarts and for my special crab dip :)).

neensters at 5:09PM on 02/20/09

From Talk

Cream Cheese Frosting Help

I use the same recipe as Susquehanna, that is: 8 oz cream cheese, 4 oz softened butter, 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. It's delicious, stiff and not too sweet. The key is to incorporate the ingredients without whipping it. Overprocessing the cream cheese will make it runny, and adding too much air to the frosting will make it soft, at least in my experience.

neensters at 10:50PM on 02/19/09

From Recipes

Serious Cheese: Super Bowl Beer and Cheese Fondue

La Cave des Fondus, which just opened in NY, is a replica of Le Refuge des Fondus in Montmartre, Paris which has been serving wine in baby bottles since 1966.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2008/apr/24/wine

neensters at 2:10PM on 01/28/09

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