Leslie in Portland's Profile

Transferring a pie crust is not that difficult. If you can't manage to roll it onto your pin and transfer it by hand, then roll it onto a flexible cutting mat or a piece of wax paper, and do it that way. Pies have been mythologized into some sort of difficult test of baking skills, but there's a reason they were so popular before our convenience-eating era--they're not just delicious, but easy and fast to make.

I like the aesthetics of the overlapping shapes, though, and maybe I'll give it a try when the temperature drops a bit.

What a great idea! I haven't been baking bread lately because of the heat, and it never occurred to me to use the grill. I wouldn't use my Le Creuset over flames, but an inexpensive, non-enameled cast iron dutch oven would work really well.

I've actually taken to substituting a small amount of infused olive oil for herb butter. I'll infuse olive oil with garlic and herbs, brush shucked corn with a small amount of it, then add a bit of salt and pepper and put them in foil packets. I find that it's a cleaner taste than herb butter: it puts the focus on the corn and the herbs, rather than the creaminess of the butter.

@clampers

I can get as much as half a gallon of stock from a chicken, but that takes all day (I keep it at a low simmer and add water or white wine to the stockpot intermittently, so by the end of the day, the stockpot is still nearly full). I just prep everything Saturday afternoon and let it simmer away on the stove all day Sunday.

As for saltiness, the lack of saltiness in homemade stock is really one of the biggest advantages. You can always salt it later, when you're actually using it: but when you make it unsalted or with just a little salt, you can use it in more versatile ways (like reducing it to near-syrup) and then salt to taste.

@Ladidi:

I've found that the best food for practicing flipping is crepes: they won't make much of a mess if you biff it because they're pretty much cooked through by the time you flip them, but they're fussy enough that you really do have to get the technique right in order to achieve a proper flip.

The recipe Mark Bittman posted for New Orleans-style coffee concentrate is my go-to summer drink. It's incredibly rich and smooth, and barely requires any sweetener. The only problem is how fast my roommates will tear through a batch--we go through twice as much coffee when it's 95 degrees outside as when it's 35.

Just wanted to say that this definitely works for no-knead bread, as long as you have a heavy dusting of flour on the board and your hands. I've actually had more success with that recipe by increasing the amount of flour slightly, resulting a less-wet dough. You need to work the dough just a bit more (maybe kneading five or six times instead of Lahey's once or twice), but it's worth it for increased control over the outcome (i.e., fewer puddled loaves).

The last half-dozen loaves of no-knead that I've made have been using this method, Emma, and it results in a much prettier boule than the original instructions. Thanks very much for the demo!

Roast chicken. Mmm, comfort food-y.

Living with three guys, none of whom is particularly enthusiastic about cooking, has made me especially appreciative of cook-ahead-and-freeze recipes. It's easy to assembly-line prepare these kinds of recipes, and a freezer full of easy dinners has really reduced the amount of takeout we order. Also, it makes for easy mid-week casual dinner parties: no need to reveal that you just pulled that lasagna out of the freezer.

The favorite so far has has proved to be pot pies, which are great for freezing, whether you make single-serving pies (you can usually find reusable tins at the market) or larger ones. The Not a Nugget in Sight chicken pie recipe at Grocery Guy is pretty decent, and we also make vegetarian pies and pasties using whatever looks good.

I also like making a large quantity of Marcella Hazan's ragu, and freezing it in two- or four-person servings; we use it both for spaghetti bolognese and as a base for a quick lasagna.

@ apointe:

I like using pint-sized* freezer bags for soup, ragu, and other liquid-y frozen meals. Fill them, lay them flat (if you can squeeze a sheet pan into your freezer, put them on that until they've frozen solid), and then stand them up along the back of the freezer for storage. Extremely space-efficient, and the flatness helps the contents thaw quickly.

* I mean an actual pint, not "pint-sized" as a synonym for "tiny."

Wow, that's gorgeous!