One of my favorites year-round, the Orange Buck is especially nice in summer, as its combination of gin, orange juice, ginger ale, and a touch of lime is awfully refreshing.
You're a super-fast slicer with knives in the kitchen, but are you in control enough for the
International Knife Throwers Hall Of Fame? Well, the manufacturers of Throwzini hope you will be some day. Or, at least they want you to look like you are.
This new knife set features five stainless-steel knives, held securely in place by magnets and plastic sheaths. Sorry folks--there's no real knife throwing skills to be honed when you own one of these. Unlike its more serious cousin The Ex, the Throwzini's just for fun.
----Sous-Chef on the Run
Outfit your KitchenAid, Cuisinart, or Delonghi stand mixer with the new, functional attachment: the BeaterBlade. This nifty little attachment beats, scrapes, folds and mixes your ingredients around the bowl without your constant scraping down the sides with a spatula. And, yes, it works! Check out the side-by-side demo. Available now for pre-order, this nifty gadget will be shipped by June 1.
--Sous-Chef on the Run
What's next, a muffin minuet? I assume this is an American waltz. Please let me know if I'm wrong.
--Spanno
Yesterday, the BBC covered a new restaurant 's Baggers in Nuremberg, Germany. The high-tech restaurant features computer monitors where you place your order, and when your meal is ready it's put on rails and sent down to you lidded and stickered to signify your specific order. There isn't anyone at the counter to greet you or take your order--the restaurant is completely wait-staff-free (aside from the cooks). This all sounds fun, right? But, what would the effects of something like this be on society?
If successful in Nuremberg and internationally scalable, we'd probably see a downturn in the number of restaurant-sector jobs worldwide. Would this downturn be significant? Possibly. But, would a downturn enable/encourage restaurant employees to move on to more exciting job opportunities. Probably.
I'm definitely not a Luddite nor a social anthropologist, but what could the effects be on a culture's social interactions? Hmm. This could get interesting!
--Sous-Chef on the Run
The Oriental Cocktail’s balanced mix of rye, sweet vermouth, orange curaçao, and fresh lime juice is the ideal antidote to April’s cruelty (well, at least the part that involves doing taxes).
This is genius.
"Food Fight is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression."
--Spanno
Long work week getting to you? The Bring the House Down (made in a pitcher, so you can commiserate over it with friends, and containing rum, orange juice, cream of coconut, and 7Up) is sure to cure those 9-to-5 ailments. If demonstration of the drink’s power is needed, you’ll be able to see some Al Dente work pals (including Al Dente blogger AndreaLeigh, and pals KatieW and DanielleP) display the drink’s ability to change work doldrums into a party--not to mention its ability to change a drinker's outfit instantly--in the below video.
From seriouseats.com, Stephen Colbert's video segment on "People Destroying America" (by denying their children Happy Meals). Click here to watch the video.
--AndreaLeigh
Ideal for a Valentine’s Day signature mix, Her Sarong Slipped is a sweet-tangy-bubbly combination of brandy, lemon juice, grenadine, and Champagne (or sparkling wine), with a slightly coy name and a lovely taste that fits any romantic occasion.
Our sweepstakes for Char-Broil's Big Easy Oil-less
Infrared Turkey Fryer has stirred up a lot of questions in the comments, so
we’ve gone out and gotten you some answers. BBQ expert “CB” of Sizzle on the
Grill—Char-Broil is a sponsor—dropped us a line
with more information about this unique product for cooking a turkey:
Q: How do you
“fry” without oil? And how is infrared different from microwave and convection?
A: There are three basic methods for heating
food—convection, conduction, and radiation. Convection is the act of air heating
and rising and circulating around the chamber. A home oven is a perfect example
of this. Every home oven is a “convection” oven, but if you add a fan to it you
actively circulate the air and essentially speed up the natural process. For
backyard BBQs the smoker or grill also uses convection to “roast” meat inside
when the lid is closed.
Conduction is the direct transfer of heat from the heat source to the food to be cooked. A frying pan is a perfect example of this.
Radiation is the transfer of electromagnetic waves through the space. Your home microwave uses radiation. Microwaves and infrared waves are at different spots on the spectrum of energy. Microwaves hit food and “excite” water molecules. Infrared hits the food and that starts the heating process.
Now let me blow your mind. Deep frying is a form of convection heating. Instead of hot air, you are using hot oil to transfer the heat. Depending on the oil used in the fryer, the temperature is usually about 375 degrees to keep the food from absorbing a lot of oil.
The Big Easy uses infrared energy to “bathe” food. It excites the proteins, not the water. Thus, you are literally frying it. It’s just like sitting in the sun all day. The infrared energy will “fry” your meat's skin. The Big Easy doesn’t need a lid because it’s better to let the hot air escape. That way your food doesn’t dry out and there’s no basting necessary. Unlike conventional turkey fryers there is also no warm-up period. Just drop your thawed turkey (stuffed or unstuffed, injected or not, sugar-less rubbed or not) into the chamber and turn the Big Easy on. Infrared energy starts cooking it immediately and the cooking time for 12-14-pound turkey will be cut almost in half.
Q: Is the Big
Easy hard to clean?
A: The Big Easy
has a drain hole at the bottom to allow most of the drippings to collect in
tray. If you line that tray with a food-safe liner, you can reuse the
drippings for gravy. Any small amounts of fat and drippings that splatter on
the sides of the chamber burn off almost immediately. Otherwise, they clean up
easily with a scrub brush and soapy water. The wire cooking basket can be
cleaned the same way or put in the dishwasher.
Thanks for the info "CB!" Readers, it's your duty to sign up to win this fryer.
--Sous-Chef on the Run
Hey Readers,
We've cooked up something special for you this month--our first Al Dente Blog Sweepstakes! Subscribe to Al Dente's E-mail Digest* starting Tuesday, February 5, and you'll be automatically entered to win our random drawing for Char-Broil's The Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer. The daily digest will be delivered to the e-mail address that you provide and will contain our latest post(s). All you have to do is sign up before February 26, 2008. Read the official rules here.
Haven't heard of the oil-less turkey fryer, check out the video.
Good luck!
--Sous-Chef on the Run
*PS. You'll find the E-mail Digest in the upper right corner of our blog page.
First of all, thanks to Popwatcher Michael Slezak for posting this Kraft Singles commercial today. Like him, I would like to know what the message in this commercial is. All pregnant women should subsist on Kraft Singles? Pregnant women love cheese? Kraft Singles will help you have a super-cute baby? If the last is true, I have to wonder how much cuter my already super-cute baby would have been, had I eaten Kraft Singles every day of my pregnancy (or at all, for that matter).
Al Dente readers, what's your take on this commercial?
--KitchenMaus
Waste your Friday with a super awesome Japanese McDonald's commercial.This
one is from the mid-90's. Grimace appears to be suffering from
constipation. Donald* prescribes a milk shake. Grimace is lactose
intolerant, so it all works out.
*Donald McDonald is Japan's McDonald's clown. He's Ronald's cousin. Very distant, adopted cousin, I assume.
What better way to waste spend your Friday than to watch Japanese Pizza Hut commercials?Here's an
overly happy family eating what looks like a seafood pizza with sausage
baked in the crust. I'm sure Sandra Lee has a version of this using
cocktail weenies, Velveeta cheese, and grain alcohol.This equally
disturbing commercial features the same hyper-enthusiastic family
eating yet another equally unappetizing sausage-in-the-crust pizza.
