I can do tollhouse cookies or and easy chocolate chip recipe but she's got the snickerdoodles, peanut butter crispy cookies, and everything else.

Spices lose potency in about a year...especially chili peppers. Toss the ancho. I love chipotle but I don't think that is the what you are looking for....too smoky. Some curry paste I buy is plenty spicy....did you taste your paste first and see if you just need more of that? Do you have any dried whole chilis....thai bird (super hot)? Remember not to go overboard...you can always add more but hard to take out spiciness. It is the same mantra as with edible...you can always do more but can't do less. :p

oops, good to know. Plus it’s chili New Mexico molido with “(very hot)” on the package header. It’s not even the mild ancho. So wow, it’s lost its potency and now I know to use these sooner than later :-)
I do have a package of Ancho that I hadn’t yet opened and only bought in April because I want to try to make a birria stew. Maybe I’ll try this when I reheat the curry.

Taste your chilis before you put them in and you will get an idea of both the flavor profile and the potency. Actually, most spices lose their potency after about a year although I still use them.

You need a red or black dutch oven to make it spicy enough. The blue dutch oven absorbs the spiciness. :)

we truly lack space for another dutch oven (le creuset). On the shelf above it is our unused, still in plastic wrap ROASTING PAN that we bought circa 2011. However, I foresee us using it for thanksgiving turkey this year. I last was in sf for thanksgiving in 2004! I just can’t imagine flying at all this year and next year. It’s so surreal.

Wow, I never thought to taste the chilis because it seems too burning on the tongue. I’m sure I’d feel spice from licking a raw jalapeño.

maybe put a tiny bit on a piece of btead.

LOL, I thought he needed yellow.

Thought I'd revive this thread with a slight twist. The general conversation here seems to indicate that many of us are either improving or trying to cook new things that we hadn't bothered with before, thanks to the pandemic.

With that context, here's my follow up question. If the world went back to normal tomorrow, and assuming you had no virus concerns, would you now adjust how often you eat out vs. cook at home?

I'll start. While I'd certainly eat out a lot more than I have been, it would be because of business travel. For non-business meals, I'm pretty sure we would go out less often. I'd guess once per week for dinner, and occasionally a breakfast/brunch/lunch. It's not so much that we "discovered" home cooking, but we've kind of settled into a nice routine that we're enjoying. I think we'd focus our restaurant time on meals that were a little more special rather than just a burger and fries...things that are a little more complex and not economical to make at home for 2 people.

Things have started to open up around me. Other than going to breakfast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I'm still eating meals at home almost 100%. I'd continue this, even if things opened up completely. I'm enjoying the variety of meal options and the cost savings.

Yellow makes it taste like bananas.

I thought it added the spice of Devil's Tongue Peppers. :)

Before the current fun began our dining out was either travel related, a social occasion with family and friends or to eat food that we couldn't cook equally well at home. I suspect if the world returned to the way it was the same criteria would apply and we'd eat out as often.

this would be our new approach at least with carryout. Pre Covid we went out for almost 2/3 of every luncheon and supper. We’ve had rare carryout. I’m fond of saying that I can’t return to a restaurant. I’m not even enjoying carryout now that much - we fetched Thai food that my spouse craved and in hindsight it wasn’t that super. Some big extremes but the new liftstyle of cooking is why we acquired a red retro freezer for the garage.
I definitely can’t justify ever going out for ice cream again. With our 15++ flavors and waffle cones, we are our own parlor!

I’ve really enjoyed having so many groceries in the house and being able to make so many things. Pre pandemic I was always rushing after work and throwing whatever I could find together for dinner. Now we have options bc so many items at the ready. And of course all day at home to plan better and defrost etc.

I think we will go out less. Maybe a date night to escape kids/family life for a few hours.

We've actually been eating out more, specifically takeout from our favorite Thai place. I swear some weeks we kept them in business. :)

We used to do takeout or dine out maybe 3 nights a week. Now we do maybe 1 takeout every 2 weeks. And that’s because the teenagers beg.

Pre-covid, I was dining out or buying takeout/ready meals at least 3-4 times a week. It's not that I didn't like cooking; I was just so busy and exhausted from work plus constant personal long-haul travel (my family is scattered across three continents).

It's quite eerie. One of the New Year's resolutions I wrote down on January 1 was "cook more". You know what they say...be careful what you wish for! :p I will never go back to my previous level of dine out/takeout, having further developed my cooking skills in isolation and invested in some quality equipment (KitchenAid, Vitamix, Cuisinart food processor). I am now able to make almost everything myself, from bread to mains to desserts.

I am also about to start making my own ice cream like gaobest . I bought the Salt & Straw ice cream cookbook the other day! (I'm a big fan of Salt & Straw, as someone who spends a lot of time in the USA).

However, I do want to continue supporting local businesses, so I think I will make eating out/takeout a once a week thing. Businesses where I live (Melbourne, Australia) are doing it so tough right now - after just three weeks of semi normality, everyone was forced back into lockdown and restaurants back to takeout-only, due to our second virus wave.

big kudos. I don’t actually make ice cream - I used to go to Salt & Straw often but now I’m only buying pints and waffle cones, then preparing ice cream cones at home. So that’s the extent of my making ice cream :-)

I still don’t desire return to restaurants or carryout; my spouse wants it so we get it and I’m often quietly not thrilled. We had to get lobster roll on Sunday and yes they’re good but I didn’t get mass joy from it. Good lesson for me.
then We went to a pool on Wednesday 45 minutes N of sf, and on the drive home we had to stop at Shake Shack and I was happy to stop there while not ordering anything. I just didn’t need it. :-)

I would pay quite a lot for an In n Out or Shack burger right now. Where we've moved has pretty substandard restaurant food aside from a handful of nicer seafood restaurants. Definitely the worst part of leaving NYC.

The Bay Area is like a second home to me! One end of my family has been there for decades. I make the 15 hour journey over from Australia at least once a year. If I actually lived there, I wouldn't be able to resist going out for Japanese and Mexican food every week. Within hours of landing at SFO in mid January, I was enjoying some Ramen Nagi at Valley Fair... :D You would also frequently find me about 1 mile south of Shake Shack, at State Bird Provisions :cool: But maybe that is just the "old me" talking - I agree, nowadays I derive so much more joy from creating things in my own kitchen!

All this chat about Shake Shack has got me craving their cheese fries. Otherwise, I could also do with a bagel loaded with birthday cake cream cheese from Tompkins Square Bagels!

There's a place that gets their bagels from NY boiled and frozen then they bake them here but it's really not the same. It's also $2+ just for a plain bagel.

I've got a setup almost ready for making smashburgers and shack-esque style burgers on my grill. I got a small plancha on the way and a good smashing device ready to go.

omg I’m convinced that my grilled burgers are better than shake shack, super duper, et al - just warm the bun with melted cheese; have toppings ahead of time; etc - that’s why I didn’t want anything from shake shack or super duper. I believe in my own cooking. Like they said about Cisco in 1999, I just eat my own dog food. I wouldn’t even pay $5 for a shake shack burger.

but you’ve so much ace food in Australia - surely very high quality Japanese. I can’t speak for the mexican. And surely there’s great bagel stuff in Australia. Having read the words “yum Cha” in lianne Moriarty’s books (big little lies, three wishes), I know that the China-ethnic food must be good, probably for every mainstream region.

i still want to order Ess A Bagels but of course now lack freezer space. I also like our own Wise Sons bagels.

Thanks to those here who encouraged me to poach eggs. Mega success. Straight to Number 1

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...recipe-2107472

I believe you about your burgers and agree in general. I consider it an absolute truth that there is currently no fast food burger that is better than a home-cooked burger done the right way. Not to say the fast food burgers don't have a time and place. I happen to like Five Guys, then Shake Shack, not a big fan of In-n-Out. But a homemade burger (preferably griddle cooked, but also great grilled) will beat them every time. And, assuming you have the ingredients on hand, it doesn't really take much more time than the restaurants.

Funny related story. In the first couple months we were first dating, I was grilling burgers for my now-wife for the first time. Knowing I was a good cook, she asked how I was going to prepare them. I said "what do you mean"? She says "my mom always puts x, y, z in her burgers and they're delicious. What do you do?"

I told her that I salt and pepper both sides. She thought I was insane and was shocked when it turned out to be one of the best she had tasted. Moral, it doesn't take a lot of time and tricks...

I think it is hard to compare a Shake Shack or Smashburger hamberder with a grilled at home hamberder....2 different things and they can both be both excellent.
One of the things that many restaurants have easy access to that I do not is the special grind of beef...the best is short rib and brisket combo. I am not doing my own at home so I can't duplicate. One restaurant even includes ground up bacon in that mix. Yum

It also depends on the blend of the meat you are using as the more fat in it, the better the taste. I also only use salt and pepper in a 2:1 blend (I have a shaker that I premix in) on a 80/20 blend of ground beef while grilling (actually use a George Forman grill) and the flavor is great.

nice job Teddy Bear. I’m impressed.
i agree about fewer ingredients - for myself, it’s 85/15 or 80/20 ground beef. I melt cheddar on bunny buns in the toaster oven. Then for the beef, I’ll add more sliced cheese for the final minute.
so our child just gets ground beef, cheese, and bunny bun.
Those rare times I have it, I’ll add pickle and ketchup.
I’m very simple and am very crushed to respectfully not refer to a special person as a name I shan’t say. Sigh.

I’m also really obsessed with the term kipper kissing. Sigh.

That blend is great for burgers!

What exactly are bunny buns? Rabbit butts?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1e3faadc41.jpg

Went straight-up follow-the-recipe for this one. It's an almond, coconut, and blueberry cake from Ottolenghi's Sweet cookbook of desserts. I love almost any Ottolenghi recipe, as they tend to be easy to follow and yield great results every time.

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Thank you for respecting my wishes.

I prefer to have my burger with only two different ways of toppings:
Only ketchup, mayo, lettuce, and tomato with no bun or cheese
Sautéed mushrooms and swiss cheese only
I also prefer to have them cook rare and I know about possible food poisoning can result from this. I do get an upset stomach once in a while, but very rarely (pun intended ;))

lol
there is definitely something to say about a burger without cheese.

my last restaurant burger was the Burger at Zuni in SF where cheese is optional. They only serve the burger for luncheon, decorated, and I chose to not add cheese.

I've had most if not all of the fancy burgers in NYC at this point. I'd say I enjoyed about a quarter of them and actively disliked the majority.

Here's my very subjective and terrible take on burgers:

No brioche. I don't want cake bread to distract from the patty and make the burger impossible to eat. Sesame seed bun or martin's potato roll. English muffins also accepted.
American cheese, possibly cheddar. Cheddar usually doesn't melt right and other cheeses have no business being there.
Meat, beef 80/20. No thick 8oz patties either. This isn't a hamburg steak, it's a burger. 6 oz or less, preferably 2 smaller patties.
Toppings: This is a contentious point. I think the trend of expensive and over the top additions needs to stop. If you have good beef, there's no reason you need anything except maybe a pickle slice or two and possibly a slice of tomato or some onions. Condiments can be whatever you want but again, why are you trying to overdo it?

One of the most egregious offenders to me was the "new and improved" Chumley's in NYC. I frequented the original and they had a simple and amazing burger on an english muffin.
Here's the description from a review of their new house burger:
"Only the burger is draped in a rich, fatty layer of bone marrow, fried onions, crisp shallots, American cheese, and a tangy, spicy barbecue sauce made with mango, coffee, and jalapeño."

Horrendous. I braved the bougie reincarnation once and went this was plopped in front of me, a little bit of my youth died. Thankfully, that place is now gone forever and I can go back to remembering the original fondly.

Back to the topic, I find that In n Out, Shake Shack, and a handful of other fast casual places have realized and capitalized on the fact that simple burgers work.

When I'm making burgers, I smash them. I have my 15" cast iron on the grill or my solo propane jet burner and I'll smash 3oz patties. 60 second, flip, American cheese, 20 seconds and it is done. On a Martin's potato roll with 2 slices of pickle and no toppings. There is no equal!

No question. A burger should be made with either 75 or 80% beef. Anything higher doesn't work unless you eat it rare. Additionally, for both safety and taste, a burger should be cooked to medium.

Looks amazing! Blueberries and coconut are a match made in heaven. I think I might have to add this book to my (rapidly expanding :D) collection. I am also keen on his Plenty and Plenty More books (as I am vegetarian).

in 60+20 seconds, is it rare or under medium rare? I find that 4-Oz needs a few minutes just to be medium rare, even when rested.

They are smashed almost completely flat, that timing gives me fully cooked burgers. I don't worry about cook temp for this style. They don't need to be rested either. Smash, flip, cheese, done. I can rattle off a whole party's worth of burgers in about 15 minutes. Two 3 oz patties per burger and you can fit 4 at a time on the big cast iron. My propane jet burner keeps the cast iron incredibly hot so the meat crisps beautifully.

First, I agree that certain foods should have rules. Such as NO KETCHUP on a hot dog...ever! Goes for most other sausages too. I was painfully silent last week when I watched a friend eat nothing on his brat except ketchup. No mustard, onion, or sauerkraut. And he's an adult who knows better.

With that out of the way, I think you're a little too strict on some of the rules. Here's where I'd differ:
- There are other good buns, like a kaiser, or a midwestern "hard roll".
- Any cheese that can be sliced without crumbling is acceptable, including bleu cheese but not the crumbly kind. Honestly, you're just missing out by not trying some of the others. Cool to have a favorite but so many cheeses pair wonderfully with beef.
- Toppings/Condiments: lettuce is fine. Ketchup and/or mustard fine. "Burger sauce", usually some variation of Thousand Island dressing, is ok too, but then that's the only sauce you get.

​​​​​​But Patty Melts - burger, American or Cheddar, and carmelized onions grilled on Rye - are gooood.
Are Patty Melts burgers?