I'll take this as a reminder to use mine soon, it's been awhile. Definitely makes a huge difference over anything store bought though.
I've been using Forschner chef's and paring knives for years. They are stamped and not forged but do a more than adequate job for an affordable price. They certainly are better than my knife skills.I recall an show with Alton Brown talking about knives. He played the Ginsu commercial where they cut through a can laughed and said that a knife is not for cutting cans, so it doesn't matter if you can do that with it.
I looked up the knives he recommends, but they come with a lifetime payment plan and I'm not ready for that yet.
Knife-Buying Tips And Tricks from Alton Brown | Alton Brown
Before you buy a knife, read Alton Brown's knife-buying tips, including his thoughts on knife blocks and where he buys his kitchen cutlery.altonbrown.com
This past weekend, at my mothers, I found a pretty nice knife. I bet it had never been sharpened. Sharpened it for a while and it did very well in cutting the brussels sprouts and steak.
While the shrimp flavor and texture is really important to great shrimp and grits, you could absolutely do something delicious with chicken. I’d try to sneak a fairly strong flavor into the sauce, though — maybe a tablespoon of oyster sauce. You might be able to avoid that if you’re using Tasso or andouille along with the chicken.
Also, I’m a huge outlier on this, but I personally don’t think the quality of the grits is that important. Don’t use instant ever. But the Quaker “old fashioned” grits are fine for most things, including shrimp and grits. You just have to cook them low and slow, and add a lot of cream (or half and half) and butter. If you do it right, the difference between those and stone ground is negligible.
Not sure why or when it happened, but bucatini is my absolute favorite pasta.
Yep!
The “add some sweet” to a tomato based sauce is simply to help cut the acidity of the tomatoes. Taste the sauce first, if your tomato product is not too acidic or too tart, then You don’t need to add anything sweet to it at all. If something sweet is needed, red wine is the go to, because once that wine has cooked down, the alcohol is gone and all is left is the sugars. But white sugar does not have to be used… You can certainly use, honey, or cane sugar “in the raw”, Stevia, other healthier sweetener alternatives. In Italy, they’ll use the red wine first, and then add a bunch of Parmesan cheese to the dish on the plate… Should the tomato sauce still be too tangy and acidic.
I understand, and agree with why sweet ingredients are added. Just that the go-to sweet for many US recipes in sugar, over carrots for example, is insane to me.
Yup. That's us Americans. We're simple. We want quick and easy. Have you driven past the drive through fast food joints lately? A teaspoon of sugar helps the medicine go down. And it's the quick and easy fix for a red sauce which is too tart.
At the recommendation of @Centerpiece I recently purchased 3 Henckel knives. At this point the only thing I'm good at is not putting them in the dishwasher and sharpening them. I can hold them correctly, but no speed or ability on the chop.
Chick fil a drive through is always packed. But this past weekend we were driving to NC and stopped at a Chick Fil a off of the 485 bypass. I've never seen a parking lot so poorly designed in my life. You had to sit in the drive through line to get to the parking lot. What dumbass thought that was a good idea?
For future reference, I'm a chill mod. Just don't burn the place down.Chick fil a drive through is always packed. But this past weekend we were driving to NC and stopped at a Chick Fil a off of the 485 bypass. I've never seen a parking lot so poorly designed in my life. You had to sit in the drive through line to get to the parking lot. What dumbass thought that was a good idea?
And we have some really bad parking lots near me.
Ok, now back to the topic at hand.
@Rock, you can move my rant to the random thread if needed.
Please don’t be preoccupied with “speed”. Safety first, and then accuracy- you’re simply after the same size cuts to allow for even cooking- and presentation after that.
The Rock rocks
I was watching master chef last night. Ramsey prepared a dish as an example. He diced an onion so quickly even the contestants were in awe.Please don’t be preoccupied with “speed”. Safety first, and then accuracy- you’re simply after the same size cuts to allow for even cooking- and presentation after that.
Learn the “claw” grip with your guiding hand and keep those fingers (and thumb) tucked in. And don’t chop or slice green onions while drinking a gin tonic. You’re thumb will appreciate it. Just ask my thumb…
I tend to always go with something like busiate because I'm too lazy to break out my marcato (and then clean it).