DeppityDawg

Mole in a jar, what to do?

I've made mole recipes that contain peanut butter! Not sure about beer, but why not? I just retrieved a couple of jars of mole paste from the depths of my cupboard, I think I'll follow your example…

on Apr 06, 2012

Mole in a jar, what to do?

The stuff in jars is usually supposed to be thinned down with broth. In my experience, quite a lot of broth, but maybe I like my mole on the soupy side. Have a look at the following threads for some previous discussions:
"Mole in a Jar"
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/489488
"Mole sauce? What to do with it?"
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/540164
"jarred mole help"
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/282715
"Mole paste in a jar (poblano)"
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/292571
"1 Jar of Dona Maria Mole - help!"
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/377628

on Apr 06, 2012

Percentage Tipping

It would work by extension. Once people get used to the idea of not tipping the waitstaff when they eat out in their hometown 50 weeks out of the year, they'll start wondering why they still have to tip when they go away for Christmas and Passover. (Then again, people who celebrate both Christmas and Passover are probably not overly concerned about having a consistent set of rules in life…)

on Mar 28, 2012

Cobwebs inside SEALED package???

I'm guessing it's meal moths. They like chocolate. And the larvae can get into sealed plastic packaging. I don't know if they make the holes themselves, or if they just find tiny holes that are already there. Of course once they're in there and start eating, they're stuck, so eventually you'll find a package of fuzzy food with a bunch of dead moths in it.

It's gross, but the food is actually still edible. If I was cooking just for myself, I would have no problem rinsing off those mini morsels and melting them into a recipe… The bigger problem in your case is that the rest of your pantry may be infested.

on Mar 27, 2012

Ben and Jerry's Taste the Lin-Sanity

The problem is, for every association of a certain food with a certain group that most of us find OK, we can find another food-group association that most of us find not OK. So I don't think we can take one example and use it to predict how people are going to feel about a totally different example, or worse, to declare how people are _supposed_ to feel about it.

If someone happens to disagree with you about the fortune cookie thing, I doubt you'll be able to convince them to stop feeling that way by pointing out some other food association that they react to in a different way and saying "Gotcha! You're _inconsistent_!" Because they can turn around and do exactly the same thing to you. And the conversation tends to go downhill from there…

on Mar 04, 2012

Ben and Jerry's Taste the Lin-Sanity

Banana?? Lin plays in the NBA. That makes him _black_ inside, duh…

on Mar 02, 2012

Ben and Jerry's Taste the Lin-Sanity

I was really only joking about "Lin-sanity" being insensitive to the mentally ill (although someone who is sensitized to this specific issue could very well use the same argument in all earnestness), but what difference does it make if they coined it or not? They didn't invent fortune cookies either, apparently…

on Mar 01, 2012

Ben and Jerry's Taste the Lin-Sanity

Maybe because people are trying to stay more or less on topic… I think if you started a thread about that commercial (and provided a link to a video of it), many people would agree with you. But in the Snapple case, it's the marketing of the product that could be perceived as offensive, not the product itself.

on Mar 01, 2012

Ben and Jerry's Taste the Lin-Sanity

Can we also discuss: Schweddy Balls, Karamel Sutra, Black and Tan, Dublin Mudslide, Jamaican Me Crazy, Chubby Hubby (and the variation "Hubby Hubby"), Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownies… Ben & Jerry's knows that some of their flavors and flavor names are subversive/risqué and that some people will be offended (or decide to be offended). They do it on purpose, not specifically to offend, but because they figure that the majority of their potential customers will find it cute/appealing/memorable and buy their product.

If a Jeremy Lin-based flavor goes nationwide (which I doubt it will), I'm sure they will reconsider including any ingredients explicitly associated with Taiwanese/Chinese culture or the Asian-American experience, because it's just not worth it. And we will end up with yet another Ben & Jerry's flavor with chocolate shapes and a caramel swirl. Ho hum. While they're at it, they should also change the name, because the term "Lin-sanity" is dismissive of the hundreds of thousands of Americans bravely facing real mental health issues every day, and that is unacceptable. ("Chocolate Therapy" should also be discontinued immediately, for the same reason.)

on Mar 01, 2012

Ben and Jerry's Taste the Lin-Sanity

Technically, we're talking about frozen yogurt. :)

on Mar 01, 2012

Just ordered a dozen glory hole doughnuts

It doesn't really have fried chicken on it, does it? Or does it?!?!

on Feb 22, 2012

DeppityDawg in Ontario (including Toronto)

duck confit

Chicken fat has just about the same amount of oleic acid as duck fat. My point is that, given the numbers, duck fat can hardly be described as "MUCH healthier than chicken fat".

on Feb 21, 2012

duck confit

Linoleic acid (the polyunsaturated fat discussed in your link) and oleic acid (which sunshine842 mentioned) are not the same thing.

on Feb 21, 2012

duck confit

What makes it THAT MUCH healthier than chicken fat? According to the USDA, per 100g, duck fat is 30g saturated fat, 49g monounsaturated fat, and 13g polyunsaturated fat. Chicken fat has 30g saturated fat, 45g monounsaturated fat, and 21g polyunsaturated fat. Chicken fat has 85mg of cholesterol, while duck fat has 100mg. Same number of calories, same (small) quantities of vitamin E and selenium…

(In comparison, olive oil has lots more vitamins and minerals, 13g saturated fat, 74g monounsaturated fat, 10g polyunsaturated fat, and of course no cholesterol.)

Duck fat is good for you in comparison to butter or lard.

on Feb 20, 2012

Its Cassoulet weather!

Just wondering… what's the difference between raclette/fondue weather and cassoulet weather?

on Feb 20, 2012

Can we eat well in Paris without reservations?

I agree with the statement that Paris is just like SF, or NYC, or just about any reasonably sized city, in this regard. I really don't think there is anything special about Paris or France here. There are some places, or nights of the week, etc. where you should really make a reservation if you want to be sure to eat at a specific time and place. This is true the world over.

I don't believe that in other situations (i.e. where you called ahead, but also could have just walked in off the street), the fact that you made a reservation is communicated to all of the staff and results in you receiving better service throughout the meal than the walk-ins seated at the next table, because you "played the game correctly". Some restaurants in Paris/France may play this game, but it's not a specifically French/Parisian game.

To the OP, I would say, do the same thing as you would do when visiting any big city that you don't know very well. Whether this means (1) researching for months, planning out every minute of every day, and reserving every meal weeks in advance, (2) wandering around the whole time with zero plans and zero expectations, or (3) (hopefully) something in between.

on Feb 09, 2012

DeppityDawg in France

Plantains versus plantain flour

Actually, according to the USDA, plantains are slightly more "oily" than bananas: 0.37g of lipids per 100g of raw plantain, compared to 0.33g/100g for raw banana. Although plantains are listed as containing less water, so by dry weight, it's kind of a wash. Anyway, I don't think oils in these amounts make much difference to the texture of the dough, and even if they do, they would still be present in the flour (1.81g/100g of lipids in banana powder).

on Feb 03, 2012

Meat made of SCIENCE!

"Is this research worth continuing?"

I'm interested to see if anyone can think of a good reason why it wouldn't be. I think you'd have to hate science and/or humanity a lot not to appreciate the potential benefits of this research.

on Jan 27, 2012

What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?

Sounds like a project, CindyJ. Next time you go, take someone with you who reads Chinese, or ask the staff about some of the Chinese-only dishes, or get a copy of the menu and post a scan of it here and ask for translations. Consider it a chow challenge.

on Jan 20, 2012

DeppityDawg in General Chowhounding Topics

How do you overlook a restaurant owners' behavior?

The restaurant is entitled to decide on a policy and stick to it. They are also entitled make random exceptions to their policy, but this could just cause further problems. (Can you imagine the OP's next thread: "We went back to that restaurant tonight and the table next to us brought their own cake and the owner made the chef come out and sing happy birthday to them! How do I overlook this?")

That said, I completely agree with your point about putting service over ego in this case. A service professional should be able to pull off a sincere-sounding "I'm really sorry, but we have a general policy about that, thank you so much for understanding" even if what they're really thinking is "Hell no you can't, and **** you for even asking!"

on Jan 20, 2012

How do you overlook a restaurant owners' behavior?

Or tell us the name of the restaurant and we'll do it for you.

on Jan 19, 2012

What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?

:D After the global takeover there will be Chinese-only menus in all restaurants. You'll see.

I don't think there's a single explanation. In some cases, the Chinese menu describes banquet-style set meals that are targeted mainly at Chinese groups. Or the items on the Chinese menu were added later, or they're specials that change all the time, and it's easier to produce a Chinese-only menu and not bother with translating. And if they don't want to bother with printing, their Chinese handwriting is probably prettier than their English handwriting.

And finally, there probably are some dishes that they just don't think any non-Chinese people would want. But it's not like they are reserved for Chinese customers. If you manage to order it, they'll bring it to you. (As far as I know.)

on Jan 19, 2012

DeppityDawg in General Chowhounding Topics

What Some French Restaurants Don't Want You To Know

There was a discussion of exactly this issue in the middle of the thread "it's easy to spend $$$$$ where do the common folk of Paris eat?????", starting with the following post:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/816245#6939169

on Jan 19, 2012

How do you overlook a restaurant owners' behavior?

I don't expect the owner not to be flustered, and in the heat of the moment, it's hard to suppress a spontaneous reaction, like a dirty look. Fair enough, only human. But that's as far as it should go. I agree with you that the customer is not always right, but when the customer is wrong, the I expect the restaurant owner to respond with professionalism, not hold on to their wounded pride and indulge in tit-for-tat vindictiveness.

I'm not saying that's what happened in the OP's case, since we only have one side of the story. But there is an idea in many of the responses here that OP's initial error was so egregious and insulting that their entire party deserved to get the cold shoulder all evening long. In my opinion, as soon as the offending cake disappeared, the problem was solved, and everyone should have gotten over it. It was the OP's fault that the dinner got off on the wrong foot, but if the restaurant owner contributed to _keeping_ it on the wrong foot, then she is also at fault.

on Jan 19, 2012

Is it proper etiquette to call the chef "Chef"?

First of all, there's no requirement for English usage to mirror French usage. "Chef" means "boss" in French; that's not what it means in English. And, well, English and French are two separate languages…

But OK, we can still be interested in the French usage. When referring to Robuchon, you would most likely say/write Joël Robuchon or Monsieur Robuchon, but "le chef Robuchon" is also possible. However, referring to is not the same as talking to. If you are addressing Robuchon, you can say either Monsieur or Chef.

on Jan 18, 2012

Is it proper etiquette to call the chef "Chef"?

I agree with what you've said here, and so I disagree with the suggestion made by some earlier posters that _not_ using "Chef" is disrespectful. But the original question was, when someone _does_ use "Chef", is that appropriate? Here the opinions are all over the place: "definitely the preferred way", "absolutely fine", "a mark of respect", "silliness", "weird", "nonsense", "an affectation", "sort of actually a bit rude", …

on Jan 18, 2012