Cooking For EngineersTM

I've been planning on writing down my recipe for barbecue pork ribs for a couple years now. I kept avoiding it to prevent runaway discussions on whether or not this is the best way or the correct way to barbecue ribs. I finally decided to just sit down and write it. This is how I do my ribs, barbecue style. They come out delicious, tender and juicy, and full of smoky flavor.

On a recent visit to Austin, Texas, I made sure I had a chance to dine at Uchi, the highly respected Japanese inspired restaurant helmed by executive chef Tyson Cole. I expected some good sushi, flavorful beef and pork, and some beautiful presentations. What I got was beyond my expectations. To date, my three-and-a-half-hour dinner at Uchi is the best meal I've ever had.

Good marsala wine is obviously a key ingredient in Chicken Marsala, but what else is needed to make a successful version of this sweet and savory Sicilian classic? Not much else except some patience and attentiveness. Mushrooms are a necessity, but I left out the onions, shallots, chicken stock, tomatoes, flour, capers, lemon, and whatever else all the internet recipes tell you to put into the dish. I wanted to create an easy, no mess version of Chicken Marsala that captured the fundamental essence of the dish and here it is.

A Quick Analysis of Knife and Sharpening Steel Hardness

Surface hardness of through hardened steel products is a quick test used for quality assurance to determine if the proper heat treatment properties have been attained. Surface hardness can also be used as a component of a reverse engineering process to determine relative quality compared to a known product and to determine steel grade and heat treatment. In this case we have tested eight knives by five manufacturers in carbon steel and stainless steel and four sharpening steels to compare the relative hardness and provide insight into the performance of the knives.