apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It's Friday! Where's this week's discussion of 'Top Chef' -- or are we all too disgusted to talk about this week's episode?

Just wanted to re-post my question from the end of last week's board...
I'm making a lamb ragu recipe for a dinner party-- is it possible to cook the lamb in the tomato sauce too long? Or will it just get more tender as time goes on? I've ordered stew meat; which hopefully will work. Anyone have any experience with lamb ragu?

Lamb stew meat should be fine for your ragu. As for cooking it for too long, I think it's possible, but you'd have to leave the heat on too high for some time.

All the lamb stews I've ever made were super tender after the recipe-prescribed time.

*TOP CHEF SPOILERS BELOW*

What was Cliff thinking?! It's definitely not cool to wake someone out of a dead sleep, drag them from their bed and hold them down, prank or no prank. I don't care how annoying "Wolfman" is, he didn't deserve that. I'm just glad Cliff accepted the consequences without any fuss or drama. And then to find out Elia was wearing a wig the whole time in her interviews! I wonder if that was the producers idea or hers.

Adrienne, Cliff went crazy! But then he would have gone even if he didn't do that, I wonder if he had that in mind when he attacked.

Sorry we missed the Top Chef round up this week. You can bet we'll be back blogging the finale!

Lamb ragu sounds heavenly. Cooking it slowly for a very long time on low heat, covered, will get it nice and tender. If you cook it on high or leave the lid off it might get really dry.

I make a beef ragu that goes in the oven, tightly covered, for about 4 hours on 250ºF, and always turns out great. Also, these things tend to be even better the next day...

The boyfriend and I are beginning a big move this weekend to a new apartment with a huge kitchen, but, in order to move out of 300 sf without dying Collyer Brothers stylee, we're having to spread it out over two weekends, meaning, all my kitchen stuff has to go this weekend, meaning, I won't be able to cook until next Sunday night at the earliest... It's very depressing! Anyone have any thoughts on how to survive?

eat out! Sheesh!
(sorry - I'm a non cook - I couldn't resist)

ann: consider this a wonderful opportunity to sample all the takeout in your new neighborhood!

or else you might take up knitting. good luck with the move! how exciting.

I always thought the big red headband looked odd on her. Now it makes sense that her wig and Ilan's bandana were to disguise their shaven heads. It must be a producer's nightmare to have their contestants drastically change their looks in the middle of taping a reality show. After all, a lot of the 'confessionals' are taped long after the fact. I wonder if there's an appearance clause in their contracts? If not, I bet it will be there for next season.

Cliff was indeed in the wrong. Roughhousing would've been fine if it was consentual. However, the animosity was very clear between Marcel and the rest of the group, so there's no way Marcel would've been okay with being held down.

Ann: I definitely would take it as an opportunity to sample the local takeout! I bet there's all sorts of interesting restaurants tucked away nearby.

Today, I'm trying fast food Indian (you get to pick from 3 curries, 2 dals, and 2 breads each day). It'll definitely be a new experience, since there are barely any regular Indian restaurants in this city to begin with.

Hi,
Im in need of some help, somehow i manage to destroy all non stick pans and want to invest in either an All-Clad or Le creuset skillet.Would be using this to make pancakes,eggs etc,so it would need to be heavy duty!

any suggestions?

The whole Cliff thing was stupid, but at least he didn't change the outcome of the show, because it sounds as if he would have been eliminated that week anyway. I'm still sticking with my original prediction of Sam, Elia and Marcel for the final three. I love this show!!

Sara, I bought an All Clad stainless steel skillet about a year ago. I wanted to get away from non-stick coatings and after "feeling out" quite a few, including le creuset, I settled on this one.

I've learned a couple things about how to cook with it.
1. Don't set the flame too high.
2. I need to use more olive oil than with a non-stick.
3.always let the oil get hot
4. When frying eggs, make sure to keep moving it around otherwise it will stick (even with all the oil).

But I do love it and love the stay-cool handle and weight of it is not too heavy.

i'm looking for a good pho recipe. anyone know one?

hey sassy!
thanx for the headsup, the search begins tomorrow,im leaning towards All Clad as well.

Sara-

i swear by my cast-iron pan. it's a 10.5 inch; and once it's seasoned well, it *is* non-stick and is wonderful for eggs, pancakes, sauteeing veggies, everything (and it can go from the stove top to the oven- it can double as a baking pan.

you can get a pre-sesoned one from lodge. (click my name). look for the lodge logic line.

Faith - is there any chance of getting a copy of your beef ragu recipe? Thanks - Tim

lamb ragu...
I used the Babbo recipe. It was simple and wildly delicious.
But Marcella knows what she's talking about I'm sure so
two hours sounds right, and not a minute sooner to get it super tender. I've skimped on the time, and had tougher bits. You need the looooong braise in low heat.
Stew meat also sounds right - I cut up lamb shoulder myself. Might be the same thing!

I used the other part of the shoulder for the Tunisian-influenced lamb stew in that SundaySuppers book by Suzanne Goin. Also delicious and a nice change of pace. The leftovers turned into awesome chickpea soup . . .

and I totally think Cliff knew the hammer was coming down, whether consciously or not

i just wanted to say that i made two recipes from this site this weekend for a cocktail party and both were divine and everyone was raving about them. the white bean dip recipe and the sumatra chocolate ice cream recipe. i will be making them again and again and again.... absolutely delicious!

thank you to those who submitted them.

Re:sara's pan. . .I vote for a cast-iron too or a thin steel pan, if you want it for frying eggs and things like that. Stainless is not the greatest surface for things like eggs, it's much better for sauteing or stir-frying or browning. Steel omelette pans are very cheap in restaurant supply places and are lighter then cast-iron, but I love cast-iron once it gets seasoned. If you don't want to bother with seasoning and acid reactivity, get a Le Creuset that is finished with the matte black enamel (not the white stuff) and it will come the closest to cast-iron.

regards,
trillium

Hi all--
I've been enlisted to bake a birthday cake for a friend's birthday next weekend and I'm lacking inspiration. Anyone have some for me? Preferably some chocolate inspiration...

It's soup weather-- anyone have good, quick recipes for minestrone-like soups? I have a lot of canned beans on hand-- do you just add the beans at the end? Recipes for dried beans, of course, add them earlier.