Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
Somehow this sounds like a cross-contamination nightmare to me.
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MSG Is In More Food Than You'd Think
Parmigiano Reggiano has one of the highest concentrations of free glutamate of any food out there. Perhaps that's what makes it the "undisputed king of cheeses".
Is Cheese Vegetarian?
Let's say I amputated a cow's tail and didn't kill it. I then make a beautiful braised oxtail stew from it. Is it vegetarian?
Philly Foiesteak
Wait, what does this entry have to do with cheese?
In my mind, there are actually two different issues. 1) Is foie gras production cruel or not? 2) Should foie gras production be banned?
I find it somewhat amazing how anybody could really think about the issue and not conclude that its humaneness is questionable at best. I agree that it should not be banned, since banning things is (clearly) polarizing and counter-productive. But the argument that there are many worse practices out there is in no way a point in favor of foie gras.
Also, people love to say that the AVMA and AAAP have concluded that foie gras production is not cruel. This is patently false. In fact, the AVMA has merely refused to take a stance one way or the other. I am not aware of an official stance taken by the AAAP (there is nothing on their web site). Anyone who is interested should read a recently released "backgrounder" on foie gras production on the AVMA website here: http://www.avma.org/reference/backgrounders/foie_gras_bgnd.asp.
They spend a good deal of time discussing the potential animal welfare problems associated with foie gras, including references to the majority of studies out there, although in their summary they conclude that more and better controlled studies are necessary. This is a convenient way to remain neutral on the issue, since nobody in their right minds will fund those studies.
Is Farmed Salmon This Evil?
While I may not agree with the scare tactic advertising, by most accounts farmed salmon is considered neither eco-friendly nor sustainable. On the other hand, wild-caught Alaskan salmon (besides tasting much better) is labeled as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council and on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch's "Best Choices" list. Aquaculture may be the answer to rampant overfishing, but it is very short-sighted to universally hand out blank checks and pats on the back to all forms of fish farming.
Responses to Comments by sfchin
Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
This strikes me as a silly thing to do.
I understand that dry chicken skin when raw = crisp chicken skin when cooked, but has anyone really found that putting a chicken in a hot oven doesn't dry the skin enough in the first 2 minutes to produce a satisfactorily crisp skin? (Quick, someone set up a side-by side comparison test!)
If you want an air-dried chicken without wasting electricity, you can probably leave it out for half and hour after rinsing and before cooking it without much worry.
Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
I second seadkc's critique of that statement regarding the eco-friendliness of using a blow drier instead of paper towels. However, being a huge fan of roast chickens and well crisped skin, I may have to try this technique. Since I'm bald, I don't have a blow drier. I just might buy a cheapo one for the kitchen. This would have the added benefit of not blowing mold, yeast and poo particles on my chicken.
Question: does one blow dry the chicken before or after seasoning?
Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
Interesting idea in terms of multi-taskers.
However, I don't think I'll be employing it.
I wouldn't be as concerned with salmonella blowing around the kitchen as much as bringing a bathroom object into the kitchen. There might not be salmonella in that chicken. But, chances are there are e.coli microbes hanging out in your bathroom. If I really wanted a dry bird, I might just use my clean cutting board to fan the poultry.
Easy enough.
Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
I'm pretty sure that salmonella does not aerosolize so it's not going to blow everywhere. Even if the force of the air coming from the hair dryer does blow some of the "chicken liquid" around, it's not going to get that far. Just clean like you would clean normally when working with chicken.
A tool is a tool. It's probably best to be adaptive and ignore preconceived associations.
Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
I would like to challenge your eco statement. Blow dryers use a tremendous amount of electricity which had to be generated by something, likely burning something, and paper towels can be from a renewable source and are compostable. Air drying is your best eco-bet, but leaving raw meat out long enough for that might give you a disease so I don't recommend it.
Dries Hair; Perfects Roast Chicken
i'm no germ-a-phobe, but i just imagine salmonella microbes blowing all over the kitchen. and it just feels weird to use the same utensil in the bathroom and the kitchen.
MSG Is In More Food Than You'd Think
I read this article this morning with dropped jaw! Now I know why I can never find any Chinese restaurant that can duplicate the wonton soup that loved from a restaurant at a strip mall where I used to live in Connecticut! It had to have been their wontons and broth which must have contained MSG! I'd read last year about the "new" flavor concept of umami, but never realized that it was plain old MSG enhanced flavor. Personally, I love the debunking of food myths. I know that I'm not allergic to MSG and have no cause for inordinate concern. I've even seen MSG for sale at Penzeys! I won't be cooking with it any time soon as I know my partner would freak! But it's so good to put it all into context!
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