It's the "pop" factor. At least for me it is.

I know people who bake bread for real laugh at bread machines. But, considering everyone bought them for several years and then did not use them, you can pretty much go to any Salvation Army and buy one in like new shape for about five bucks. And while the bread isn't as super delicious as something hand kneaded and made at home or from a fancy bakery, the ability to set a time and wake up like I did this morning with a piping hot, fresh loaf of Honey Oatmeal bread is not to be discounted. First couple loaves I made were overly dense, but a little messing with the recipes and the thing turns out a decent loaf of bread that takes basically no effort and is cheap as hell.

It makes butter from cream as well and you can also set a timer for it to mix, knead and let dough rise if you wanna have nicely risen pizza dough ready when you get off work for example. I'm not generally a kitchen gadget guy and we'll see how long my using this thing a lot lasts, but for just a few bucks, it's been a really fun toy for the last few weeks and I haven't bought bread since I got it.

Pullman pan

Key to cheap, tasty sandwich bread. About 10 mins prep with a stand mixer. 1.5 hrs to finished product.

Looks like a nice option if you're home to mess with it for a couple hours and have a stand mixer. Still can't pull that bread outta the oven five minutes after rolling out of bed.

I've been debating getting a stand mixer. They seem really useful but the good ones are awfully expensive and they take up a ton of room.

Roasted my first chicken last night. I'd always thought it wasn't really worth the effort given that you can buy one already roasted at any old supermarket. It really is much better though when you do it yourself. I'm not sure I knew a chicken could taste so good. I soaked the bird for 12 hours in a lemon/garlic/thyme/pepper/kosher salt brine and then roasted the bird on top of sliced lemon. It turned out really tasty and juicy. It made a great meal served with pureed celery root, some of the first corn on the cob of the year, and a bottle of white bordeaux.

Next up: either doing something with the couple of pounds of beef cheeks in my freezer or a lamb tangine to use up some of my preserved lemons.

My parents got my wife a super-nice one for Christmas. Its worth the space. She's made some amazing things, but in my mind the best thing it does is mashed potatoes in a decent amount of time.

I don't see myself ever using anything other than a ricer for mashed potatoes. If I get one, I'll have to justify it by starting to bake a lot more.

Yes, the stand mixer has changed my cooking habits significantly. Overall, it just makes cooking easier and quicker than any other kitchen tool I own. And the meat grinder attachment is an extra perk. The price has come down at least 25% over the past few years for a nice Professional Kitchenaid stand mixer. I have an Artisan that I bought at the price the Professional sells now ~$200. I wish I had the Pro because the Artisan slowly grinds through the dough when you make even a small batch. I'm giving it less than 2 years before the gears wear out -- but no problems as of yet.

And in regards to the bread making, the recipe I use is slightly too much for my pan. The remaining dough I let sit on the counter and rise a little. Then I throw it in the fridge, roll it out the next day, let it rise for a half hour and top off a couple perfect 9" pizza crusts. 2-for-1.

Made Daube de Boeuf last night

2lbs Beef Cheeks
3/4 lb Carrots
1 Onion

Braised in Red Wine & Beef Stock with a little bit of chocolate and toasted flour to add texture to the sauce served over Elbow Maccaroni

Pretty damn good but I've really got to stop cooking meals that take 3+ hours mid week. We didn't end up sitting down for dinner until about 11:15.

Made a compound butter from one of Besh's cookbooks over the weekend and grilled up a couple dozen oysters with a daub of compound butter on each. Turned out pretty damn good. I'd be just as happy eating them raw on the half shell but Fem G doesn't like eating them raw so it's nice to have a good and easy way to cook them.

Seared a 2 lb venison loin with a thyme, juniper berry and oil olive rub last night. Made a blueberry/shallot/garlic and red wine sauce for it and served it with a celery root puree. Pretty decadent meal for a random tuesday night. looking forward to the leftovers tonight.

What kind of oysters do you get in LA, BG?

In restaurants, you can get a large variety that come from anywhere along the west coast with a lot from San Diego, the SF Bay Area and Seattle. I buy the ones I have at home, I usually get from an Aquafarm in Carlsbad that grows them and sells them both to the public at farmers markets and is also a big supplier to restaurants. They are a pretty good deal at $10 for a dozen. If I'm having them raw on the half shell, I'll usually try to get the smaller, brinier variety (lunas) and if I'm cooking them I'm looking for bigger ones because they're gonna shrink when you cook 'em. Did that answer your question? I'm not really sure.

Sure. I've had West Coast oysters but not nearly as much as Gulf or Atlantic; was more curious than anything.

FTR, I prefer Gulf oysters for raw and Atlantic for steamed.

I haven't cooked anything real in a while, but I baked vanilla key like curd filled cupcakes with a lime meringue frosting last night. Pretty happy with them.

Gotta fix a meal for someone on a gluten free diet this week. No idea what to make. Any suggestions? I don't really know just what the hell she can't eat, really.

Basically no wheat products, but rice, corn and other grains are cool. This is tough if you have recipes that need flour, although tapioca flour isn't a horrible substitute.

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/healthy-r ... uten-free/

I feel bad for them, and try and take pride and pleasure in making something that they are bowled over by. Like a made a crab quiche with a shredded hashbrown crust instead of pie crust. You don't have to get creative though, you can do meat and veg, or Indian or Asian...

Let us know how it goes. Man I miss cooking.

It's really not that hard to avoid wheat unless you're baking but no flour, no pasta (unless it's gluten free pasta), no bread or breadcrumbs. Beer is obviously an issue. Where you do have to be careful is with any processed or seasoned foods and commercial sauces (soy sauce, ketchup, gravy, salad dressings, soups and stocks) where it may not always be intuitive that they would contain wheat.

More info here:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gluten ... t/MY01140/

gluten free pasta sucks. all of it. i use thai style flat rice noodles. you can find gluten free chicken stock, bread crumbs...substitute tamari for soy sauce...williams sonoma has a great peanut noodle salad online...billy g is corerect in that most of the bad stuff is in processed foods...ketchup is okay...most bbq sauces are not.

A friend of mine with Celiac disagrees. I still have a special gluten free ketchup in my refrigerator from the last time he visited.

There are some ok substitutes for products with gluten in them (mostly made with rice rather than wheat) but if nobody is talking about just making one meal, he's probably better off just sticking to a menu that doesn't require any substitutions. Fresh fish, meat or chicken and veggies...no sauces or be careful with the ingredients you use. Make your own stock if you need stock...

You can't go wrong with polenta or maybe a nice cold quinoa salad since it is hot as fuck and all. My wife has been making one with red quinoa, raisins, cranberries etc that is delish.

I'm playing my first show back tonight, but I haven't really cooked in months. Odd.

Thanks for the info. Found a couple recipes at those links. Making grilled chicken with peppers and a balsamic glaze with a side of quinoa with corn and black beans.

If I can get someone to come fix my Air Conditioner soon enough so I don't cancel. St. Louis summer and no AC is not a good combo.

How did your adventures in gluten free gastronomy turn out?

Turned out quite good, actually. The chicken was pretty much what you would expect, no surprises or anything. Solid and tasty but nothing special. The quinoa was really delicious though. Glad I made a big batch so I have leftovers. Also had gluten free brownies and some ice cream for dessert. Drank watermelons blended with ice and vodka. Here's the recipe for the quinoa:


Colorful Quinoa, Black Bean and Corn Salad, Adapted from The South American Table

* 1 cup quinoa, thoroughly washed in a fine sieve (unless pre-rinsed)
* 1-3/4 cups water
* 15-ounce can black beans, thoroughly rinsed
* 1 cup frozen corn
* 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
* 1 Jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and minced
* 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
* salt and pepper

Combine the quinoa and water in a rice cooker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. Alternatively combine the quinoa and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer (not removing the lid!), until all of the water has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and let stand for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl combine the quinoa, black beans, corn, red bell pepper, Jalapeno pepper, onion, and cilantro and mix well. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil and balsamic and the pour over the quinoa; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

I'd always been too lazy to make Carnitas at home given the abundance of cheap and good mexican food in LA but I had a ton of peppers from the farmer's market that I had to use some how so I figured it'd give it a try. I read a few recipes from different cookbooks and also online and kinda winged it. Didn't really attempt to do it authenticly as mexicans do. I took a 4 lb pork butt and soaked it overnight in a brine of water, agave syrup, chopped onions, cilantro, garlic and scotch bonnet peppers. Rubbed a spice mix of garlic powder, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and a few things I'm forgetting into it. Threw it in the crock pot, filled the crock pot with 1/2 coca cola and 1/2 chicken stock, cut up a couple of oranges and squeezed the juice in and then dumped the rinds in with it. Set it to low and cooked it for ten hours. Took it out and shredded the meat with two forks and put it in the oven spread out on a pan for about ten minutes.

I bought a clay compal during the summer



but just got around to using it this weekend.

I made a bunch of salsas including a tomatillo-serrano one that I don't have the recipe handy for and a pretty hot habanero one which was essentially just 16 habaneros roasted on the compal and then thrown into a food processor with 3/4 cup of lime juice and a teaspoon of salt.

The compal is great for cooking tortillas on too so I've been making those fresh every night while I'm eating down my carnitas supply.