Where my fellow cooks at???

[columbia]

Please please please abandon Alfredo sauces in a jar, a sauce that is made of Cream, Butter and Cheese should not be on a shelf unrefridgerated, its just not natural, otherwise, Im totally making that for lunch tomorrow.

Not every person has the time to make every ingredient from scratch.

[bh]

On a more practical note, freezing your bread really makes a difference. For real:

Resurrecting stale bread: Bread becomes stale by absorbing moisture from the air, which makes the crust soggy and causes the starch on the inside of the bread to crystallize and harden. Store fresh bread in the freezer, and heat stale bread in the oven to melt starch crystals and drive out the water.

Cool. We've always froze our bread and it always tastes fresh when you thaw it out. Never knew why it worked so well though.

[bh]

Nathan Myhrvold alert:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... DTL&ao=all" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Didn't know who this guy was, Looked this guy up and he seems like a snake.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201002 ... 8215.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like an interesting cook though.

[columbia]

Didn't know who this guy was, Looked this guy up and he seems like a snake.

Well, did work for Microsoft.

[count2infinity]

Please please please abandon Alfredo sauces in a jar, a sauce that is made of Cream, Butter and Cheese should not be on a shelf unrefridgerated, its just not natural, otherwise, Im totally making that for lunch tomorrow.

Not every person has the time to make every ingredient from scratch.

lol...i'm going to have to agree with CP on this one... those things are not meant to be unrefrigerated on a shelf. make your own cream sauce. it's not hard.

[columbia]

Please please please abandon Alfredo sauces in a jar, a sauce that is made of Cream, Butter and Cheese should not be on a shelf unrefridgerated, its just not natural, otherwise, Im totally making that for lunch tomorrow.

Not every person has the time to make every ingredient from scratch.

lol...i'm going to have to agree with CP on this one... those things are not meant to be unrefrigerated on a shelf. make your own cream sauce. it's not hard.

If you'd like to lend an extra hand, the next time I'm making breakfast and lunch at the same time before work, feel free to stop by.

[count2infinity]

Sure... all i need is your address, social security number, credit card info, and a picture of you from your 11th grade year in high school.

[mac5155]

my girlfriend's mom does miracle whip and i dont care for it. I prefer Marzetti's dressing, which is what my mom uses, but she has trouble getting the potatoes just right.

[the wicked child]

I HATE Miracle Whip with the fury of a 1000 burning suns. Seriously, can't stand it.

[Chefpatrick871]

Columbia: I am all about cutting corners if it saves mass time, but to make alfredo sauce, can be done in under 5. Melt butter, add garlic if so inclined, add cream, bring to slow simmer, add cheese to thicken boom, done. =D

And I guess I just have a problem with foods that should be kept cold that are not.

A traditional alfredo is acually made by emulsifying an egg with the cream and adding some nutmeg, from my understanding, adding garlic was the Americanized way of Alfredo.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/alfredo-sauce/Detail.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tifosi77]

re: Cooking Channel

There are so many damn cooking programs on, that I've never waded into this channel.
What are best ones to watch on this one?

They air a lot of old Food Network programming (like Molto Mario from 98-02; and a bonus is that they can use the original theme music, something that could not be done on Fine Living Network; win!), so I'd look around for any of the FN shows you liked from 5-10 years ago.

They are basically running a lot of FN Canada shows, so a lot of the presenters are Canucks. But my favorite cooking show on the channel, by far, is "Luke's Vietnam". Brilliant program hosted by this Vietnamese-born Australian chef named Luke Nguyen.

Next favorite is "Unique Eats" which is basically famous foodie types sitting around talking about their favorite restaurants and places to nosh.

And - tho it somewhat pains me to say it - I also really like "Extra Virgin", a quasi-reality show centered on actress Debi Mazar and her Tuscan husband's trip to Tuscany to renew their vows. (Or something like that) Anyway, her husband is a totally cool dude.

Also like "French Food at Home", "Chinese Food Made Easy", "Jamie (Oliver) At Home", and just about any show with Nigella Lawson.

Please please please abandon Alfredo sauces in a jar, a sauce that is made of Cream, Butter and Cheese should not be on a shelf unrefridgerated, its just not natural, otherwise, Im totally making that for lunch tomorrow.

Not every person has the time to make every ingredient from scratch.

Alfredo sauce takes less time to make than the noodles need to cook.

[columbia]

I'm having smoked salmon over cheese grits in a few minutes.
I neither caught, cleaned or smoked it, but I will be enjoying it.

[Chefpatrick871]

Haha smart A sounds good though. Even though I dont like fish, catching fish, or killing fish, I do like cooking it for other pieces.

[columbia]

Quick and healthy soup tonight:

Can of vegetable stock
1/2 pound of tofu, diced (I usually freeze and then defrost it, because it soaks up more flavor)
A handful of frozen vegetables (that thawed a bit)
A handful of rice noodles
Vietnamese hot sauce

Bring to a boil and add a tablespoon of red miso dissolved in some cold water and garnish with chopped green onions.

Yum.

[columbia]

I know this has been discussed here before....

USDA Lowers Pork’s Minimum Cooking Temperature:
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/201 ... mperature/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Shyster]

I know this has been discussed here before....

USDA Lowers Pork’s Minimum Cooking Temperature:
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/201 ... mperature/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About time. The reason pork was always cooked to death in the past was the risk of trichinosis, an infection of the trichina worm. Trichinosis can be very nasty. Pigs were infected by eating raw meat scraps, garbage, and other “slops.” But modern farm-raised, grain-fed hogs are never really in a place to eat anything that would carry the worms.

[Chefpatrick871]

Depending on the cut, I like a lil pink in my pork (TWSS? I dont know if that works, but that sounds dirty) I learned in school (03-04) that its okay to undercook pork. My friends and family were worried at first, but after a few meals of them not getting sick or dying they believed me =D

[Chefpatrick871]

I know this has been discussed here before....

USDA Lowers Pork’s Minimum Cooking Temperature:
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/201 ... mperature/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About time. The reason pork was always cooked to death in the past was the risk of trichinosis, an infection of the trichina worm. Trichinosis can be very nasty. Pigs were infected by eating raw meat scraps, garbage, and other “slops.” But modern farm-raised, grain-fed hogs are never really in a place to eat anything that would carry the worms.

From what I was told in school, they've been raising them the new way for quite some time. Like I said it was almost 8 years ago when I learned this.

[tifosi77]

I know this has been discussed here before....

USDA Lowers Pork’s Minimum Cooking Temperature:
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/201 ... mperature/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About time. The reason pork was always cooked to death in the past was the risk of trichinosis, an infection of the trichina worm. Trichinosis can be very nasty. Pigs were infected by eating raw meat scraps, garbage, and other “slops.” But modern farm-raised, grain-fed hogs are never really in a place to eat anything that would carry the worms.

I think it was Alton Brown on "Good Eats" who noted the only cases of human trichinosis infection in this country resulting from contaminated food products over the past couple decades involves the consumption of wild cougar meat.

[tifosi77]

I haven't (intentionally) cooked a piece of pork past 145 in probably 10 years.

[Physical_Graffiti]

Medium-well ftw

[columbia]

That Baltimore thread reminded me that I seriously want to try preparing something like this...

Curried mussels in coconut milk:
http://www.colincowie.com/recipe/main-c ... conut-milk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I had something similar at a steak frites joint one time and....OMG.

[ExPatriatePen]

I know this has been discussed here before....

USDA Lowers Pork’s Minimum Cooking Temperature:
http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/201 ... mperature/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About time. The reason pork was always cooked to death in the past was the risk of trichinosis, an infection of the trichina worm. Trichinosis can be very nasty. Pigs were infected by eating raw meat scraps, garbage, and other “slops.” But modern farm-raised, grain-fed hogs are never really in a place to eat anything that would carry the worms.

My German mom used to over cook porkchops in a cast iron skillet till it tasted like shoe leather.

God watch over her and may she rest in peace.

I haven't been able to eat pork chops in like 30 years.

[columbia]

From the non-cooking department...

A meal with a pretty high taste x shelf life = yummy factor:

cured: olives
pickled: cucumbers <Schorr's Kosher - I recommend>
cultured: greek yogurt
smoked: trout
fermented: beer

And I didn't have to turn the oven on.

[obhave]

Just found out I have Celiac's disease, do any of you cooks have this allergy? I am having a hard time adjusting since many of my meals, deserts, and such involve flour or something with gluten in it.

I have tried some recipes that I found online, but have not found recipes that make good substitutes yet. This is mostly for deserts and breads, but do any of you have experience with gluten-free cooking that could suggest a cookbook or a good website?