Subj : Re: moving or not To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Tue Nov 12 2019 19:31:42 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 07-Nov-2019 13:55 <=- BM>> Quite sure the Hispanic couple watched the BM>> Chinese couple prepare the food, but the inevitable forgetting/mis- BM>> remembering of details: dough too thick for the amount of food and the BM>> flavour is off, or the dough shell has to be cooked longer and that BM>> means the stuffing is overcooked, etc. NB>> Or the wok isn't heated hot enough, or enough oil (or the right kind) NB>> used.... BM> All sorts of details to go wrong. And the various chefs and cooks just BM> do things slightly differently, even with standardized chain BM> restaurant cooking. "Squirt grill with canola oil." OK. One chef BM> will give a healthy squirrrrt while another will do an anemic (squirt) BM> -- that detail will alter the outcome. Indeed. :) NB>>> But I have a Chinese friend that can cook just about any ethnic NB>>> cuisine, including Mexican/Spanish or even French, Italian or NB>>> Greek.... :) BM>> As for your friend, some people just have the knack. NB>> He certainly does... :) he helped me make a steak and kidney pie at NB>> the Cooking Echo picnic... I was going on my remembering doing it NB>> years ago, he was going on remembered tastes from years ago... no NB>> recipes, but he does have years of doing all sorts of techniques, and NB>> used what was needed for our project... Came out very nicely... :) BM> Good. And yes, makes sense to use an established recipe (even from BM> memory), but then need to tweak for the subtle differences. Maybe the BM> tomatoes are a bit more tart than usual, or green pepper not as mature BM> and holding in its flavour. Compensate with a pinch of this, a BM> sprinkle of that, all determined by taste. ...And how one can taste BM> and just know the right seasoning to add is beyond me . It's what sets apart the real cooks from the likes of you and me.... ;) BM>> We watch Martha Stewart on Saturday noon because nothing else on at BM>> that time -- she has the occasional comment of adding a little water BM>> if needed because of the weather conditions -- so just how does one BM>> know if the dough needs more water? Looked the same to me before. BM>> (One can't feel on TV.) NB>> If that was in regards to baking bread.... I've done that... NB>> although more often, I've just added less flour...... when it's humid, NB>> you might need less water/more flour... when it's dry, the flour will NB>> absorb more.... I tend to add the last few cups of flour while I'm NB>> kneading the dough by hand, so I can feel how dry or wet the dough NB>> is as I'm doing it... :) BM> We go "dunno - that's what the Toothpick Test is for near the end of BM> baking. Dough sticking to the toothpick, leave in a little longer! BM> (Not saying we don't adjust while mixing, just not as good at it.) A lot of it comes from experience.... and some things, the toothpick test is really the only way to test... :) BM>> Right. Maybe we prefer what other customers don't. We tend not to be BM>> overly picky: a medium wil be accepted when ordered medium rare; if BM>> well done that will be rejected (and don't recall the last time that BM>> error occurred). NB>> For some things, I've become more picky over the years... how done NB>> a steak is is one of those things, especially when there's a blurb in NB>> the menu that describes what they are supposed to be supplying when NB>> you order a particular doneness... I'm happy with blood rare to NB>> medium rare... but if I order it rare, I expect it to be no more than NB>> medium rare... and I will send it back if it's medium or worse... The NB>> steaks are usually pricy enough that they really should be doing NB>> things right... and I don't feel right spending that kind of money NB>> for something I have to choke down because they cooked it wrong... BM> Agree. With us prefer rare but not going to make a fuss if BM> medium-rare. Medium will be accepted but there's a comment made. BM> Anything over medium is being sent back. Not that long ago, our 4th Sunday group went to a place that sold steaks.... I think the cooks must have been asleep on the job, or something, as at least three of us had our meat come much more done than asked for... Mine was the first discovered, and I did have them re-do it (second time was at least acceptable)... Then Richard found that his hamburger was quite overdone, but told them that he'd just eat it... They ended up comping his entire meal... The third person had waited to even start her steak until later in the meal, and then discovered that it was overdone... she also had them re-make it (I thought she should have at least checked a lot earlier in the meal, actually)... I suspect that that might have played a part in the restaurant's decision to comp Richard's meal... :) BM>>>> Well AFAICT your apple allergy is worse. Simple to avoid a glass of BM>>>> milk or milk in cereal (order oatmeal!) but from earlier discussions BM>>>> apples show up everywhere in food and drinks. NB>>>> Well, that is true... more effort to avoid apples than to avoid milk... NB>>>> but as an avid milk drinker, I'd find that hard to take, too... ;0 BM>>> If you had that taste I had you'd avoid! NB>>> Maybe... or figure out some way to cover it up... ;) BM>> Well I also covered up a bit: I needed milk to do some cooking so had BM>> a quart of milk in the refrigerator; would periodically try to see if BM>> got rid of that nasty aftertaste; found if I didn't pour too much into BM>> my cereal so was still relatively dry (not soggy) and the last bite or BM>> two was cereal and not a spoonful of milk the taste was covered up. NB>> I'd probably mix in chocolate, or molasses... ;) BM> I hadn't thought of those! When I was back in grade school and we got the school milk in those little cartons, the white milk often tasted a little off, so I got in the habit of just ordering the chocolate milk... So, later, I'd add chocolate if the milk was starting to taste like it was about to turn... I came across molasses milk later, as a way to make a fortifying drink... as it is quite tasty, I added to my bag of tricks for covering up an off-taste in the milk... ;) BM>>> Now that you mention it I don't recall seeing milk even BM>>> listed in the beverage section of a lunch or dinner menu. NB>>> It generally is there, but most likely 2% or less.... at least at most NB>>> American-type restaurants, such as diners, or at chain restaurants... BM>> I'll try to remember, though when we eat out we generally don't do BM>> beverages other than water (with lemon), though sometimes something BM>> 'exotic' which already have a hankerin' for and so order without BM>> referring to that section of the menu. NB>> Many of them do carry chocolate milk, but that is generally lowfat as NB>> well... I'm more likely to order water with lemon now also... unless NB>> I find out that they do carry whole milk... :) BM> Argh! Went out for a birthday lunch the other day (not mine) and BM> didn't look at the beverage options. ...OK, checked online and they do BM> offer 1% milk. As I'd expect... not that we consider that really milk... ;) BM>>> 99% of my taglines have been snagged from others or extracted from BM>>> various sources so if you gave me one of 'my' taglines it probably BM>>> originated elsewhere. NB>>> Like most of mine... :) BM>> Right. I found the trouble with snagging that great tagline was BM>> everyone else has snagged it too, so not such a great catch. NB>> It might not have been seen in some other echo, though... ;) BM> True. I more or less figure if I like the tagline to snag it, If BM> it's out there it probably has been seen. A tagline is more of a BM> decoration than the main item. True, that last.... ;) We do have someone in the COOKING echo that tends to produce new ones, or rework old ones to make them new... A lot of his have ended up in my file... ;) ttyl neb .... 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