Hello All,
As many of you are aware, the mute feature has been a contentious subject of late. I want to speak on behalf of team hubski. The mute feature isn't going anywhere. There have been some decent suggestions that we will discuss internally, but we won't eliminate it, nor will we ask people to apologize; we're not your parents. Our hope is that we can go back to using the site to share and discuss interesting and provocative content, as that has always been the intent of hubski's continued existence. FYI, I will not be responding to any comments on this post, as my headache grows worse with every comment about muting, and I officially consider the matter closed.
Peace
-Ben
Thanks for saying what was surely on everyone's mind, Benjamin.
The most important part of this post was learning your name is Ben. Looking forward to putting this issue behind us.
Maybe it's just not as often Ben as OftenBen. Being called Ben that often might leave you often bent about being Ben so often.
That's funny. There are a few Mark's running around these parts too... edit: My dad works for a small company. They have two guys named Norbert working there.
Indeed. I remember once we had an influx and four of my two year old posts got some good discussion going again. Chelios just told me it's because this discussion is coming back again, but it's usually an absolute mystery how people find those specific old posts.
the mute discussion has circled back around so there are a collection of mute related posts that have resurfaced
Good. Does anyone here know how to make Hünkar Beğendi or how to cook Turkish food in general? My dad wants me to try making this and I've never had it before, so I need some consultation on how this is gonna go. I'm looking at these three recipes and trying to figure out what the "essence" of this dish is (as far as spices go).
Did this ever happen? Did I share and completely forget about it?
> Eggplant gets mad mushy and soft when you're cooking it, be careful cause it's gonna be the main flavor of any dish with it. >If there's rice, use a lot of it. > If there's meat, it's likely going to be like a 2 cubed inches apiece and you're gonna wanna drown it in whatever sauce they put on it, don't worry about whatever it's on top of. The meat will be chewy and very dry. > Master your eggplantery
If you can do something about it I'll grant you all the kudos in my possession, the fanciest mediterranean restaurants I've been to can't get (or don't try to get) their beef, pork and lamb dishes needing anything short of a machete to cut through.
Sounds like a straight forward recipe, we have a similar one, but it's mostly known in Persia, but I don't know the name. Make sure that you actually burn the eggplant, like char this thing, the eggplant will be fine. Had a similar dish that was done similarly but in addition to Greek yoghurt (Laban) and chopped mint leaves
I bet you could do this in a crockpot, mostly. Segue! I have lately spent a lot of time experimenting with my crockpot and am going to buy this soon. I've gotten spoiled with not having to do any dishes or think about dinner right before I eat it or anything. I'm trying to stay vegetarian, though, so my slowcooking options are limited. Anyway, do any of you slowcook? Not sure I've asked hubski about this before.
That's just about all we goddamn do these days. Used to spend hours on elaborate meals, there's no time for that now. Which is a shame because it was one of my main methods of decompression. Slow cooking is great but I'm getting to the point where I could use some meat that doesn't have to be put on a sandwich or served in a bowl. humanodon I was deadly serious about those biscuits, though. They're happening tonight come hell or high water and I don't care how many children I have to neglect in the process of making them.
Have I got a tip for you. Long story short, every Wednesday all the ingredients for 3 meals for two show up in a box. They generally take half an hour or so to make. All the mis en place is done, for the most part, and if you've got a knife, a pot, a pan, olive oil, salt and pepper you're there. Comes to $10 a plate which, for largely-organic, artisan-grade stuff is pretty cool. Also I've started cooking with whacky shit like chayote squash and stuff. We're on Week 5 or so and loving it. Haven't ordered take-out since June.
Oh my god where has this been all my life. These ingredients look good, too. How is this so cheap?
I'm making pork chops right now. I started 15 minutes ago and am waiting for water to boil (and leeks to bake). I'll shoot a pompous food photo when I'm done.
Remember that this is all under the sub-discussion of slow cooker food.
FUCK YEAH Know who makes the best goddamn Chicken en Mole? Martha Mutherfucking Stewart. Caveat - you have to add about 4 T of cocoa powder. I use this shit. And where it says "one large chipotle in adobo" I go 5. We tried 7 once (I hate abandoning two chipotles in the can) but it was...challengingly hot. Serve on rice with greek yogurt and scallions and guacamole and chips.
Growing up, chicken en mole was a treat in our family. Whenever my mom went to mexico, she came back with this: It's supposed to be used for hot chocolate, but she used it for mole too. It was awesome stuff. I should probably learn that family recipe.
FTFY c'mon, man, throw me a bone. I'm up in this bitch making Martha Stewart Mole. (although truth be told Ibarra ain't no thing. You can get it at any Kroger-chain grocery store up and down the west coast and into the Rockies. It's about 90% cheap-ass cane sugar. She's probably got some other eldritch magic you aren't sharing)I should probably SHARE that family recipe.
I believe it. Have one of her cookbooks and a lot of the stuff in it is stupid good. Will try this.
I'm too broken up over my biscuits right now... I don't want to see anybody else's success...
Well, my wife signed up for it so it's a complete and utter surprise to me. If I were on the mailing list it wouldn't be. Chayote may be old hat for you, but I grew up in a place without, like, sushi. When an Olive Garden opened up two hours away it had a 2-month wait list. Suffice it to say it's not an ingredient I've ever sought out, so being given a path to understanding has been nice. We did catfish, too. I was traumatized by catfish as a youth because my family does an annual catfish fry. The problem being they catch their catfish from Elephant Butte Reservoir where the catfish mostly feed on sewage and corpses. As it turns out, they ain't half bad with a proper diet!
. . . I . . . see your point. I'm pretty sure that this is just what catfish eat. My ex wouldn't eat catfish for the same exact reason, but personally I am a catfish fan and will eat it 8/10 times when given the opportunity. I have this thing about eating eggs though. Corpse-eating fish are no problem, turtles are no problem, snakes are no problem, congealed blood is no problem, boiled, chopped goat testicles were . . . doable but man oh man, eggs are the grossest thing ever to me. Everyone's got their thing I guess.When an Olive Garden opened up two hours away it had a 2-month wait list.
The problem being they catch their catfish from Elephant Butte Reservoir where the catfish mostly feed on sewage and corpses.
I read the free sample and didn't go further, primarily 'cuz it was full price. As I read it, I wished it were written by Mary Roach.
It was a while ago. I attempted to read "Stiff." I didn't finish I'm pretty sure. I think my opinion of Roach suffered as I had recently read both Complications and possibly also Better by Atul Gawande and I found I enjoyed his writing style much more, while bth authors were discussing similar subject matter (bodies, medicine). The book seemed "pop"-py to me. It was not as bad as Gladwell (I read "Blink" and hated it) but I remember feeling as if the subject could have been covered better by others.
See, and I haven't read Stiff and don't want to. Packing for Mars is all I got - and it's very poppy. But it's an "everything you wanted to know about space travel but were afraid to ask" manual that spends a chapter and a half on the toilet on the space station and "poppy" is the way to go.
Complications is (somewhat sadly) definitely better than Better. There was supposed to be a third but it looks like that never came out. The Checklist Manifesto I found valuable, but it expands beyond the realm of medicine - so in that way very different from better. I would pick either Checklist or Complications, I am wondering if you would prefer Checklist because it's broader - but Complications is very good.
RRRRRRRRGH NOOOOOOOOOOO butter strikes again ARGH What the fuck are these, these are flapjacks, not biscuits. I blame my sous chef.
They're going to be delicious. They're also perfect for putting under a serving of beef stew. In the future, you might have better luck with drop biscuits. They're a lot less execution-dependent, look nice and rustic no matter what you do, and taste just the same. Nice'n'crumbly'n'salty'n'good.
They are actually plenty decent. Hard to go wrong with that much butter and cream. Next time it's either drop biscuits or sweet potato biscuits, courtesy of humanodon's post from yesterday.
Haha! Ok, troubleshooting (in no order): 1. Was your baking powder fresh? 2. How sandy was your flour mix after cutting the butter into it? 3. How did you roll them out? 4. Did you fold the rolled out dough into thirds before rolling it out again? 5. Did you use a low protein (soft) flour? 6. How cold was the butter? Uh, I'm sure there are more ways to end up with low-rise biscuits. I'll remember more later.
1. baking powder was so far away from fresh
2. recipe said marble-sized butter chunks, so that's what we did
3. I think this is the problem
4. yeah, it was folded
5. all-purpose- almost bought cake flour for the decreased protein but the recipe said either or
6. this was also the problem So I think it comes down to butter. I had it super-cold (not frozen), but I was working next to the oven which is really poorly insulated and sheds heat like a mother. Also no A/C in the house, because this house is a 70 year old disaster. So we worked as fast as we could, but that dough gets warm even faster. Also, I think I rolled it too thin- recipe said half an inch, it was less. Put it together, you have a thin dough that heats through at the drop of a hat next to an oven that doubles as our main heating element in the winter. DOOMED.
In addition to humanodon's fine advice, I will also add: 1) The more you work any kind of dough, the tougher it will get. You want to go with the absolute minimum. 2) Butter should be cold-cold. Super-cold isn't that important. Working quickly is. You should go from ingredients to rolling in about 4-5 minutes tops. 3) I know Alton Brown hates the shit out of "uni-taskers" (but have you ever seen his measuring cups? WTF) but a pastry cutter is impossibly handy if you're going to make pastry. We've got a wire one very like this. I guess Oxo has a fancier one for ten bucks. Never used it. "Marble sized chunks" is bullshit. you want aquarium gravel or smaller, and you can't get that without a pastry cutter.
Those biscuits may be doomed, but notes can be taken for next time. Next time, once the butter is cut in to the flour, throw it in the freezer for half an hour. Then pull it out and add your buttermilk or milk, mix it real gently, turn it out, but work it as little as possible. I like to just pat it out, carefully fold it over itself and then gently pat it out again before cutting the biscuits. Working with butter can definitely be a pain in the ass.
Well, thanks for the laugh. Still, biscuit-cakes might taste damn good. How are they?
Well, there you go. That said, the height comes from air being in there, right? So are they dense? You may just have a kick-ass new creation on your hands. I see a future in this for you. Come dine at Biscuitcakes -Honestly, it's a solid name for a breakfast/brunch place. -I'll only ask for 5% of the annual gross for naming rights.
We're gonna put Pancake House out of business.
People pay a lot of lip service to yeast, but butter is way more the mysterious force in my book. Yeast follows the laws of biology and chemistry. Butter's rules are arbitrary and tempramental. Attempt at pastry dough still goes down as my most catastrophic culinary failure to date.cut the butter in an keep it in the fridge (not the freezer; ice crystals will fuck up your fat!)
I have the utmost respect for pastry chefs given how much more exacting their work has to be than any other kind of chef. They definitely get the short end of the food-respect stick. I've forgone choc chip cookie heartache by just melting the butter and using it that way. That might sound like sacrilege but it comes straight from Cooks Illustrated and those guys have a kitchen lab and wear bow ties even when it's not prom 1989 so, you know, they're pretty serious. Is the croissant success reproduceable now? Or is it like leave it up to the gods to decide whether my breakfast makes me sad?
They're happening tonight come hell or high water and I don't care how many children I have to neglect in the process of making them.
that's hilarious. Your oldest is old enough that you could involve her in the process though, right?
Well done! Baking with my daughter is both one of the most enjoyable and frustrating things I do these days. Man oh man I had forgotten how powerful the allure of dipping your finger in the bowl is. Last time we baked, it was blueberry muffins. At one point I looked over at her and she was holding a lukewarm stick of butter in her hands, attempting handing it to me. Such a mess. She has a chef's coat and everything. It's pretty damn cute. Good luck with those biscuits. Have fun.
Hah, I know what you mean. Every time my daughter helps, it ends in adorable flames. But man, chef's hat and coat? That must take it to a whole new level...
Large numbers of slow-cooked meals can be executed in a pressure cooker, I've found. Cuts down on the necessary deliberation. If the sauce is thick it might not work; I tried chicken en mole in the pressure cooker and it was a disaster. Beans, though? You can do a pot of beans in 45 minutes.
Oh, I feel you. This place is packed tight like the hold of an ocean-going sailboat. That said, my set functions admirably as a stock pot, functions admirably as a fry pan, and I never got a veggie basket which saved me the trouble of throwing it away. So if you don't like your stockpot and frying pan, hey, upgrade.
You're not the only one who can cook slowly! Just made an outstanding chili with cans of both red and white kidney beans, mushrooms, leek!!, fresh tomatos, can of diced tomato, garlic, celery, red and green peppers, onion, shallot, frozen peas and corn added last, and chili powder. (Meat optional).
OK, so I said I wasn't replying to anything on this thread, but I can't stand it anymore. You don't like mushrooms? They're a whole kingdom of foods. That's like saying, "I don't like plants." I'm not normally one to dismiss any one else's taste, but I think you have to branch out a bit. There are so many varied and unique mushrooms out there. A shitake tastes nothing like a potobello tastes nothing like a elephant ear tastes nothing like button tastes nothing like a 'shroom that gets you high. It a beautiful class of edibles, and I hope you consider one day giving it another shot.
Well, I'm not the biggest fan of the texture, which I would hazard a guess is pretty standard. Although the taste isn't my favorite either. Honestly I don't know a damn thing about mushrooms, but I've never met one I liked. Well, except - well. But you're right that I'll have to branch out. Putting them in a stir fry is probably a good start.
I have made this recipe a dozen times. Find a party. Make these. If you don't like them, everyone else will eat them with wanton abandon.
Start here. I promise that you'll not be disappointed.
Ha. That is classic cliffelam humor right there.
I think it's hilarious that this is what drew you out of your self-imposed post exile. That said, I fully agree; mushrooms are such a wonderful food and are full of variety. We found almost a pound of morels in our backyard this spring and the feast it provided us was amazing. I don't like white onions, but I'll cook with shallots all day long. -Same basic family, two different flavors. Flag -good luck overcoming this handicap.
Yeah, like chicken-of-the-woods. I'm gonna get some of these sometime, I'm resolute in that. Edit: Wrong mushroom!
Oh, the cooking is not what worries me, it's that I'm not familiar with the flavor palette of Turkish food. I feel like I need to get a better idea so I can interpret rather than reinvent. But yeah, I slowcook. Got a nice pork shoulder I'm planning on putting in the crockpot, just working out the details. Can't say I've done much vegetarian in a crockpot, but I bet some Indian dishes would work well.
WTF happened here? Is is related to the"asl" inbox i got yesterday ? ( which if you re really interested is pretty easy to find in my post history. F- for the lack of effort.) Whatever, I ll just go back to sticking he hubski stickers all over the Balkans.
That's an exceedingly politely worded 'Fuck you'. I certainly return the sentiment, Mr. Ben. Don't enter a discussion you don't respect and don't want to be a part of. The matter will be closed when you close the site, or you change the feature enough to be unrecognizable. That's just the way community sites work - Saying "You consider the matter closed" is literally meaningless. May as well talk about how your colorless green dreams are sleeping furiously. I'm ready to give up on this site, given the power users and mod team's response - It clashes with the stated goal of the site, utterly eliminating the possibility of thoughtful discussion. I can't trust that any discussion I see contains unbiased opinions from varying sides, because each discussion is censored for unknown reasons by an unknown party. I appreciate the hope the site gave me, for a few days, that it'd be somewhere where freedom of expression and thoughtful discussion would be lauded. I'll keep looking. I advise the rest of us to do the same. Sadly,
Dirkson PS. Seriously, fuck you, Ben. I find your comment very rude, so I hope you'll forgive me being rude back. Or, y'know, don't.
This is the best we could have hoped for. It's supposed to be discussed internally, after the people who actually run the site read and consider the arguments from both sides. To be irritated is understandable, but to blame Ben and the people who run the site for not immediately bowing to every single wish is petty. I agreed with you quite a bit through the last few days, but I can't agree with your sentiments here. If you expect to find a site that's going to please you 100% of the time, it's just not going to happen unless you build it yourself. Sometimes there are bad days and sometimes things we don't like happen. That doesn't mean you should just give up, instead more effort needs to be put into community building and culturally changing what couldn't be changed administratively. b_b: thanks for making sure all points from both sides are considered internally, it's all anyone is really asking for.There have been some decent suggestions that we will discuss internally, but we won't eliminate it, nor will we ask people to apologize; we're not your parents.
I understand where you're coming from, CashewGuy! I responded with open hostility to someone who I felt was displaying veiled hostility, and the veiled hostility is arguable. I'll explain myself a bit, more to show you where I'm coming from than to try to change your mind. My anger is not because the site isn't immediately bowing to my wishes, but rather due to the nature and wording of the response. So there are three quotes I feel are important, in not-quite chronological order.
If I'm honest, this insult was the one I was most strongly replying to. If you're going to engage the community, engage the community - Don't just sit up there in your ivory tower, handing down pronouncements. On a public forum, an issue is closed when everyone agrees it is - Otherwise someone will just start the conversation right back up again. Believing that won't happen is a belief contrary to reality. Alternatively, he could be saying he'd take action to silence anyone bringing up the issue again - From what I've seen of hubski, pretty unlikely, but a common enough solution on other sites. So he's probably just throwing a baseless insult, like the last few - "Shut up about this, guys, I don't value your input." But why does it clash so badly with everything else he's saying? He's suggested, time and time again, that he doesn't value this discussion, would like it to stop, and won't listen to anyone talking about it. But he's going to consider the issue? There's a couple different ways to read that. Maybe he's playing it straight, and bad at PR - He wants us to shut up, but will consider a couple of the better suggestions to fix the problem. That's your reading, I think, Cashew : ) I read it more cynically, though. I've heard this kind of patter before - "We're conducting an internal investigation". "We will discuss the events at a future date." Almost invariably, nothing happens from sentences like these. They're just a way to give the illusion of potential change, when none exists. I'd love to be wrong about that. Here's hoping I am! Basically, I feel like Ben there is insulting the community as a whole - Those in favor of large changes, small changes, and those who want things to stay the same. Everyone involved in the discussion. And if there's one thing that gets my dander up, it's someone being hostile towards other people. Cheers!The mute feature isn't going anywhere.
This is a minor insult - It shows he's aware of the problem, and states his unwillingness to consider one possible solution. If this were the only issue with his message, I wouldn't have even bothered replying.Our hope is that we can go back to using the site to share and discuss interesting and provocative content, as that has always been the intent of hubski's continued existence.
This sentence is a slightly more pointed insult - It shows he's aware of the issues that the community considers important, and considers them unimportant. Same level of insult as when someone asks you to stop talking to them so they can watch their TV - What you value is unimportant to them; they value something else more.FYI, I will not be responding to any comments on this post, as my headache grows worse with every comment about muting, ...
Oooh, now THERE's an insult. Whereas in the last quote was "shut up so I can watch my soaps", this quote is "LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU". He's chosen to engage with the community, to tell them he noticed their problem... And then telling them he won't discuss it. At all.and I officially consider the matter closed.
This is either a sign of insanity, a threat, or, more likely, a poorly thought out insult.There have been some decent suggestions that we will discuss internally...
Hey. Now wait a moment. This sentence is completely unlike the others. This is the one you focused on, CashewGuy. And you were supposed to - It's thrown out as a bone directly towards the anti-mute side.
Cool. I could rip apart most of your comment, but really all I need to say you said right here already: Have you ever heard of, like, this thing, uhm, I think...it's a quote...it's like..."A hoof for a hoof..." No that's not right...Oh yeah. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind?" Also known as "Two wrongs don't make a right" and "You're throwing a temper tantrum because you didn't get your way" ? And then basically asking for it to be excused because your behavior is merited. Good job. Also, "censored for unknown reasons by an unknown party" - completely inaccurate, the party is always known in the case of mute, it's the person who puts up the post. Jesus.I find your comment very rude, so I hope you'll forgive me being rude back
I pulled it apart already for CashewGuy, take a look at my response to him. I thought I made it pretty clear that I wasn't actually asking to be excused, I was merely throwing a little jab his way. Apparently not! I don't actually want his excuse or approval, I want to offend and insult him, because I believe he insulted the community. If I intended to stick around, or still needed to deal with Ben, I might have gone with a guilt trip or an honestly empathic response - Both stand a better, albit still negligable, chance of changing his mind. But I don't intend to stick around, so a burnt bridge isn't a problem - And letting him know I saw through his bullshit (If my reading of his reply is correct) and letting him know I detest it, both of those things please me. "unknown party" - You know, you're right. More accurately, I should have used 'arbitrary' for both. It's still got the catchy ring I was going for, but it's more correct in the second case. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that! Cheers!
For a list of interesting things loyal flagamuffin has posted during the Schism of 2014, click here.Our hope is that we can go back to using the site to share and discuss interesting and provocative content, as that has always been the intent of hubski's continued existence.
Okay. The Crying of Lot 49 is very, very similar to BE and about a fourth of the length. I prefer BE because it uses a culture I'm more familiar with, but if you're looking for a taste test Lot 49 is it. All Pynchon is fundamentally the same. His characters are less characters for their own sake and more reflections of the atmosphere and surroundings in which they've been placed. He spent a long time in NYC so he's got a fantastic grasp on its idiosyncrasies -- and on top of that he somehow has his finger to the pulse of turn of the millennium dotcom culture. I love Manhattan and I grew up in the dotcom mess so I really, really loved BE. But if you're looking for answers and airtight plots and stuff Pynchon is the wrong novelist.
Ok, just finished BE and at this moment in time, I have to say that I'm probably not the reader Pynchon is pitching to. For me, this book was like taking a drive around the old neighborhood in a Mack truck, then falling asleep and realizing that someone has slipped me some acid. Did I like it? I don't know. There was so much stuff and I'm not sure why. Plots, subplots, all woven together, but I don't know what it makes. That doesn't really bother me. However, for a novel of this length and scope, I do expect to feel one way or another about it and I don't. That bothers me.
Yeah, okay. That's Pynchon for you. He's a bit like chaos theory fictionalized. And BE is about a thousand times more accessible than Gravity's Rainbow.Did I like it? I don't know. There was so much stuff and I'm not sure why. Plots, subplots, all woven together, but I don't know what it makes. That doesn't really bother me. However, for a novel of this length and scope, I do expect to feel one way or another about it and I don't. That bothers me.
It's like a French movie from the 1960's, kind of. You should read it so we can compare notes on it. It's not a novel in the conventional sense and it doesn't land on major chords, so to speak. It's sort of akin to The Unbearable Lightness of Being in that the reader is aware of the artifice and construction of the book around the experience of the reader. I'd like to read something else by Calvino to get a better bead on him as a writer.