I did some additional experimenting last night. I found that a shorter dip, good rinse, and longer cooking time help to remove the bitterness. I will try letting them sit out longer after the dip to dry up more. I seem to have mostly eliminated the bitterness.

Thanks for you guys' help.

I have 3-4 of those wide flat ones. I use them to hold butter, or nuts and bolts when I'm disassembling something.

Pennies make some expensive pie weights, but seem like a good call if you have them floating around! Beats coinstar taking their 10%!

I'm making some soft pretzels, and I've experienced this phenomenon before. I do the baking soda bath, and rinse (as per cooks illustrated) but any portions that aren't stuck together totally, if the baking soda mixture gets in there but it doesn't get subjected to direct heat (think inside the twists, and sometimes where the ends connect to the bottom) seems to saturate with a brownish liquid (the baking soda water when baked?) and ends up VERY bitter when the pretzel is baked. I'm gonna give another batch a shot this afternoon, but would like to avoid this. Any suggestions?

Not as long as things aren't touching it! An empty crisper drawer is a good option.

I recently made a riff on a tabouleh, but very different. I used quinoa as the grain, parsley, feta, olives, cucumber, tomatoes, lemon juice, bell pepper etc. I served it with roasted chicken and roasted cauliflower.

When we had leftovers (it made a ton!) neither of us wanted to eat the chicken, we both ate the cauliflower and the quinoa mixture right up!

Another thing that I love to make is israeli couscous with a harissa yogurt mixture. You boil up some israeli couscous. While the couscous is cooking, zest and juice 1-2 lemons and mix the zest and juice with some full fat greek yogurt, harissa spice (you can also approximate the flavors using your own spice mixture very effectively), grate a zucchini or 2 and saute them to take the rawness out, then add cooled couscous and zucchini to the yogurt mixture. For leftovers, just add a little water before serving to loosen it up a hair.
http://homeindisarray.blogspot.com/20...

There's always veggie lasagna, you could make some ravioli and freeze them. I also love making stir fries, and cutting up a block of tofu into little bricks and frying them up in a nonstick pan with some oil to crisp up.

Thanks guys! I guess I'll give it a shot!

Does anyone have any specific recipes that they like? To make horseradish mustard, should I just take a standard recipe and add some grated horseradish? This is an interesting link that I found that discusses the chemistry of mustard (and heating, and acid, etc).

http://honest-food.net/2010/10/18/how...

When I buy whole chickens, they come in those bag things (and I go through LOTS of chickens, feeding 2 80lb dogs!) I drain them into the sink, but never ever wash the chicken. It seems silly unless that tiny bit of viscous pink liquid freaks you out. I watch my dogs chew through raw spines and devour livers. Nothing much from the grocery store grosses me out (except the spines and skin in canned salmon - blech!)

I will be making pretzels soon. I expect to be making these on and off for the next few months (my husband LOVES pretzels, but I've had limited success in making them in the past - they're my new planned conquest). My husband also LOVES mustard, and horseradish even more. I am happy to make my own mustard if I can find a recipe that will combine it and horseradish, and a standard recipe if it truly has a comparative advantage over storebought mustards. If homemade is SO MUCH BETTER in all or most cases, I will happily spend time time and effort making it. But if my likelihood of making something that all or most people will like (hubby is also quite picky, and I hate spending time making something that I would have liked better if I bought it) is low, then I would rather just go buy expensive boutique mustards at my local whole foods or similar.

So..... Do you have epic recipes for mustard (preferably including horseradish of some sort), or suggestions for great brands or types of mustards that I should be looking at? We go through lots of mustard in our house and if we found something that I made that was good, I'd love it. My husband LOVES my homemade bacon and sneers when people offer him "store bacon." It's cute and flattering, albeit a little elitist at times.

I agree with corn starch. I recently made CI orange chicken and they breaded by dipping chicken thigh pieces in egg whites, then moving to a corn starch baking soda mixture. The coating was SO crispy, even after I had fried like 5 batches, the pieces in the oven from the first batch were still super crusty. Awesome way to go!

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Recently, since I have had some fantastic jams in the fridge(jalapeno, fig, etc), I've been toasting english muffins and topping with something creamy (cream cheese, mascarpone, creme fraiche, greek yogurt, etc) and topping that with a bit of jam. Crunchy, creamy, sweet... magical!

I do this method too! I usually toss everything in the crock pot after dinner(i use roasted chicken carcasses), turn it on and let it go overnight. Hubby gets up early, so he turns off the crock pot and by the time I get up, it's cool enough to strain/deal with.

Recently I've started simmering down my batches of stock down to 1-2 cup volumes and keeping the solidified gel in a jar in the fridge. It takes up WAY less room than 2-3 quarts of stock and stays good for the few weeks it lasts in the fridge before I need to make a new batch. I don't use it for stock-intensive recipes like risotto, but it works great to add a couple tablespoons to rice, pan sauce, etc.

This. Leftover roasted chicken, skins, whatever meat is on the bones, wing tips, and the odd back, etc.

OP - I agree with you. After our wedding, returning all of our gifts (stuff we didn't really want that much anyhow) allowed us just enough money to buy a 7.25qt Le Creuset oven from Macys. Even though I had to pay NOTHING out of pocket, it STILL hurt to pay like $80 over amazon value for the SAME item. I understand where you're coming from!

This.

We had an old osterizer as a hand-me-down from my in-laws (chrome and avocado with a glass pitcher) that would blend anything! When it started making electrical smells (but still running flawlessly) and a friend handed down her (perfect shape) old VitaMix, we ditched the osterizer in a White Elephant gift exchange to clear up cabinet space, but that thing was AWESOME. And, you could probably find something on CL, Ebay, or GoodWill that is remarkably similar.

My two suggestions would be a VitaMix (you may be able to find something used) or an old Osterizer (the avocado/chrome one from my inlaws is a direct match to one that was cream/chrome that we had growing up and my dad nearly cried when he broke the glass pitcher and had to toss the blender!).

I bought a SS tri-ply calphalon pan.... once. After using it for a month and having it warp making it unusable on my ceramic range, I returned it to BB&B and spent the extra $30 for an All-Clad pan.

Despite the seemingly similar interior finishes, the calphalon ALWAYS had stuff sticking to it, even with the right amount of heat and tons of oil. I generally began cooking foods in the calphalon and finished cooking them in my cast iron skillet as things DIDN'T stick in it. I assumed that was how SS pans cooked. When I switched over to All-Clad, the sticking problem almost wholly disappeared.

Personally, I don't think that wholly changing the way you prep all of your food needs to change based on the type of pan you use.

I cut out the spine (feed it to the dogs!) with a pair of kitchen shears and flatten out the bird on a half sized sheet pan. Then I simply rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 450 until done.

Good to know! It's definitely an option, but I really do prefer the look of the slide-in (it's much cleaner and a hair higher end looking) and would require that we have someone out to remove the back part of the countertop that goes behind the range, but it's better than no induction!

I guess we'll see what's available by the time we are ready to seriously start looking.

All of our other appliances are white, the microwave over the stove is white, the cabinets are white, and the counter is that beigey blacky granite that everyone seems to have.

I don't want to put a cooktop in and a separate oven as that will involve modifying our cabinets and cost dramatically more than just a range. I'm not so much concerned with the surface of the range being white (although I'd prefer it - our smoothtop range is white now and looks great when it's clean!) but with the face and remainder of the appliance looking like it "fits" in the kitchen. We have NO stainless anywhere in the kitchen and the only black appliance is the espresso machine which is on the other side of the kitchen.

Dutch Babies (German Pancakes)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs
pinch salt

Heat cast iron pan at 450 degrees. 10 minutes after oven is preheated heavily butter pan and add recently whisked batter (with little foamy bits). Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes, reduce oven to 350 and bake additional 10-15 minutes until desired doneness is achieved. Top with butter and either cinnamon&sugar or powdered sugar. Cut int wedges (like pizza) with a paring knife or kitchen shears.

This recipe is so easy as it can be scaled up or down without math (1 egg per quarter cup of milk and flour) and is super easy to do. I have a smallish cast iron and a regular (10"?) cast iron pan so I usually do 5 eggs worth of Dutch Babies.

I actually have one of these and LOVE it. While it may seem ridiculous to have a multitasker knife, it cuts down on the hand-washing I have to do in that for most things, it is large enough to chop, and small enough to make somewhat precise cuts. Obviously more intense jobs I'll get out both my 9" chef's and my 3.5" paring, but for s quick meal that doesn't require THAT MUCH cutting, I grab my sammich knife.

Just paring knives, which has been mentioned. I have one Wustof one that I use for bigger jobs as it feels better in my hand, and I am careful to keep it sharp. Otherwise, I have about 5 victorinox and a couple "other brand" paring knives that I use for small jobs and toss in the dishwasher/let my husband use. That's the only benefit that I see to having multiples of the same knife unless you often cook with someone who likes to use similar knives to your knife of choice.

I am looking to upgrade our smoothtop ceramic slide-in range to induction (running gas to our house will cost several thousands of dollars plus the cost of a gas range!). The issue that I'm running into is that all of our appliances (and cabinets, etc) are white (and I'd like to keep it that way!). The only induction range that I'm finding is a $5000 Viking. Frankly, there is no way I can sell my husband on a range that's worth almost as much as my car and realistically, it's way overkill for the house/neighborhood.

Do any other manufacturers sell white induction ranges that are the slide-in style?

I love the idea of scalloped potatoes but hubby has little to interest in them, though I may still make them because they're awesome. Good call guys.

Otherwise, I like the idea of using it in the baked beans. That would be awesome.

I may try making navy bean soup though, I've never made it before and I love a challenge.

Thanks guys!

Try calling a homebrew beer shop. They often have cheese cultures.

I lost my job a while back and money is finally starting to get tight. Around Thanksgiving I bought a cheap ham to make sandwiches and whatnot with, and vac sealed and froze 1.5lbs of chunks of it and the bone. I've never done split pea soup, and frankly, it looks kinda gross, though I don't remember ever having tasted it. If it matters, one of my biggest "things" is I tend to be sensitive to texture - mushy things are pretty much unpalatable to me.

I'm open to many ideas as long as they're inexpensive. Taking a long time isn't much of an issue, as I'm unemployed, but being flavorful is. What should I make?

My favorite "centerpiece" for apps/hors d'oevres is baked goat cheese. I get a wide flat ramekin (the kind that is useless for creme brulee) and put half of a goat cheese log in it, toss some roasted garlic (homemade, or available at your grocery store's olive bar) around it, and top with some olive oil. Serve it with a little cheese knife thing and sliced pieces of baguette. To this, I have also added mushroom caviar(chop up cheap mushrooms into tiny bits, cook til browned w/ some garlic and thyme, then add creme fraiche and simmer til extra liquid cooks out), olive bar marinated roasted cherry tomatoes, fig jam (WIN), artichoke dip, olive tapenade, etc. Then people can mix and match to make their ideal crostini. Another crostini that has made an appearance at a couple family get-togethers lately is roast beef (from the deli counter) served with a dollop of horseradish, or tuna tartare atop a crostini smeared with wasabi mayo.

You could also go comfort-food style with macaroni and cheese bites, those awesome grape jelly and pepper meatballs, etc.

People still seem to adore cupcakes, though individual tiramisu cups/bowls can be made ahead and display nicely. A lemon tart makes a great way to cut some of the more rich items (though it's pretty rich itself!) You could also do another riff on the crostini concept with graham crackers spread with nutella and a bit of marshmallow fluff and broiled, lemon curd smeared cranberry scones, etc.

Man, I need to throw a party soon!

lamb kebabs, can you get feta? If so, throw together a greeky pasta salad w/ bell peppers, orzo, cucumber, kalamatas, balsamic, feta and evoo (or green salad), and a rum based drink like mojitos (mint could tie into the lamb).

Thanks! I was hoping to have a delicate enough flavor for lemon to shine, but with veggie stock, I don't see that happening. Adding cheese will make this a little more flavorful though!

I have some rind that I'd like to make into stock for risotto. My mother doesn't eat meat, would this be a suitable replacement for chicken/veggie stock or would i also need to use stock as additional cooking liquid?