Poultry shears are good for when you have to butterfly a chicken and need to cut down both sides of the backbone...or so I hear. I've seen them used by tv chefs, but I personally only use my chef's knife for this job.

Just read the wiki link Brian S provided. Based on the article, I say you should take a bath in it. :)

I myself just use the following (and so does my mom):
Fresh ginger
Scallions
Fresh garlic
Soy sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Sesame oil

I don't use any of the ones you've listed above. I do have star anise and rock sugar which come out occasionally for braised pork dishes, but maybe you could try out some spices first rather than buy whole bottles/jars. Whole Foods out here in California offers spices where you can purchase as little (one teaspoon) or as much (by the lb) as you like, which is good for experimenting!

Totally agree with JMF.

Portion sizes are a little small, so I always go for the larger size bowl.

And like professor salt, I like the shio ramen broth best.

My friend Lani tried the ramen with the spicy broth (sorry, forgot the actual name of the dish) and really liked it.

had raw razor clams for the first time while in spain. delicious..

picture: http://flickr.com/photos/desireet/148...

Hi Shallots,

Sorry, looks like their unavailable right now from the website I suggested. However, they look to be pretty similar to normal biscuit cutters, if that stimulates your imagination.

Are these what you're looking for?

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/d...

Check this out too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_...

Danhole, adding wine might work, or I wonder if using a smaller roasting pan might help to minimize surface area and prevent all the juices from evaporating.

My friend Anny serves her spaetzle with schnitzel and creates a gravy using basically flour and chicken broth. She adds sliced mushrooms, but you've already specified those won't work.

Good luck!

This is delicious, I'll vouch for it. Wait, do you have a leftover half chicken or leftover chicken salad?

http://www.chow.com/recipes/10620

Try Whole Foods.

Come down to Orange County! The Little Saigon here boasts the largest population of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnams...in the world.

it might be a desensitization thing. you've seen him so much that his show has become formulaic, which is the exact opposite of what he stands for.

you could use low fat sour cream or yogurt and get the same results. i just checked out her recipe and a cup of mascarpone is a LOT! i'm not sure what the thickness of the final dish is supposed to be, but any of those white liquids (sour cream, yogurt, heavy cream ) would most likely work.

or you could experiment to see how little mascarpone you can get away with using without compromising the dish.

i wonder, does creme fraiche have less calories?

how about poaching some firm white-fleshed fish in your soup/sauce? that sounds delicious to me right now.

for the herb part, how about parsley or cilantro!

I would suggest going back at least one more time to try their roast chicken. It takes a bit longer, because they roast the chicken to order, but it's one of their signature dishes and therefore worthy of a try.

Well, I like Izzy's Bagels (located in the shopping center on Magnolia and Warner, next to the CVS).

While you're there, try a boba from the Chinese store a few doors down. There are two, but I'm thinking about the one that isn't the Ten Ren tea store.

it removes the stinging bite of the onions and mellows out the taste. the acids that cause your eyes to burn and give that sharp taste are water soluble.

or something like that :)

try it though...it works!

Canned tuna. Low fat yogurt works wonders as a snack when you're trying to lose weight. Or make an easy "Asian" soup (I like thin slices of peeled ginger, shrimp, peeled and cored chunks of cucumber, tofu and a beaten egg, no oil, light salt and pepper) for dinner. The water in the soup helps to create a feeling of fullness and you're actually getting a lot of nutrients from the various components. The shrimp you can buy individually frozen and defrost easily and quickly in 5 minutes. Add some thinly sliced green onions or cilantro if you have it around.

You could try stiffening the Hershey's syrup with powdered sugar and seeing how that turns out. I've never done it before, but it might work.

How about a frittata? It's a good way to use up the eggs and any other ingredients you might have on hand (potatoes, onions, fresh herbs, shrimp/cooked chicken/sausage/ham). It's great with a buttered baguette as a sandwich (served with a salad), or it's great on its own at room temperature. I made one with what I had around last year for 4th of July and my friends polished it off very quickly.

thanks for the advice. i wanted to print out the articles to read at work :)