I picked up some shadroe today to make bottarga and when I got home I noticed there's a small tear in the membrane. I've never done anything with fish roe before let alone dry it... can I still use it? I guess my only problem would be to try to keep some of the eggs from falling out, right?

Yeah, I don't think I did any of those things. Thanks, all, for the advice!

I made a spicy lamb sausage for the first time and thought I followed all the directions. When I tried frying the links, I ended up with a lot of fat in the pan, and the sausages were more like ground lamb in a hog casing. Seems like all the fat diffused out in cooking. Did I do something wrong?

If I have a recipe that calls for 2 pounds of tomatoes peeled seeded and chopped, should I buy two pounds of tomatoes and peel and seed them, or should I buy more and use two pounds after peeling and seeding them?

Likewise, is the answer to this question different for different ways that the ingredients are listed? For example, is there a difference between "half a pound of french bread, crust removed" and "half a pound of crustless french bread"?

I've heard Comfort is really good, although I've never actually been there. It's on the 200 block of W Broad

I've rendered fat on the stove to make lard in the past, but I wasn't sure if there was anything I need to know before making smoked lard. For example, when you render fat on the stove, you have to use low heat so you don't burn the fat, but that may be a little harder to do on a charcoal grill.

Can you just use the drippings from grilling, or is there a better technique?