AlexP

Roasted Vegetable Gazpacho AlexP made this for a Twin Cities gathering and paired it with the White Gazpacho recipe (which is also on RecipeGullet). It was outstanding. 4 Large Tomatoes (each cut in half) 1 Green Pepper (seeded and cut in half) 1 Large Onion (yellow or Spanish, cut in half, not peeled) 1 Large Cucumber (peeled, cut in half) 1 Head of Garlic (cut off the top) 1 c of EVOO 1/4 c Balsamic Vinegar Salt Pepper Have charcoal burning in one side of the grill. Coat all the ingredients with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Poor some olive oil and salt on the cut garlic head. Grilled the vegetables on direct heat for a few minutes until you have nice grill marks with the grill uncovered Keep transferring any vegetables with sufficient grill marks to the indirect heat section of the grill Once all the vegetables have a nice color, keep them on the grill at indirect heat with the grill covered for about 15 minutes so they get some nice roasted flavor. If you see any vegetables loosing too many juices, remove them to a bowl. Keep the tomatoes with the seeds side facing up. After the 15 minutes of roasting under indirect heat with grill covered, transfer vegetables to a bowl and cover for a few minutes until they are cold enough to handle. If you have time peeled the pepper and the tomatoes. Also, scoop out the cloves of garlic from the head and peeled the onion. Cut up the ingredients and transfer them to the blender (maybe use only 5 cloves of garlic to begin with and adjust to your taste if needed). You might have to do this step in a couple batches. Poor some of the olive oil and vinegar into the blender and blend until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper as well as olive oil and vinegar. The above measurements are just an approximation. It is up to the cook's taste to adjust the recipe. I personally use Balsamic Vinegar, but please, do not tell any of my fellow Spaniards, Sherry Vinegar is another great option (although it might not need much quantity) The portions of the ingredients are not extremely important, change to your taste or based on whatever amounts you have available. Cool in the refrigerator, preferably overnight and serve with croutons, grilled or uncooked chopped vegetables. If you do not have time to chill the soup, poor some ice cubes with the ingredients and blend them together. In summary, the recipe is a general overview of the process; other ingredients might be used such as bread, herbs, lemon juice.... Personally, I have not really tried any other combination although traditional gazpachos use bread. I use the same ingredients when I am making a regular gazpacho without roasting the vegetables. In this case, you might want to lower the amount of raw garlic. Keywords: Appetizer, Grill, Soup, Vegetarian, Vegetables ( RG1019 )

White Gazpacho AlexP provided this at a Twin Cities (Heartland Forum) gathering; it is adaptation of a Penelope Casas recipe. It was a real winner. As Betts said, "Everyone should note that Alex"s recipe was heaven in a soup bowl - cold, pale, spicy and the grapes are the perfect fruity, acid contrast." AlexP brought green grapes. 8 oz almonds (I blanched them for 2 minutes in boiling water and drained them) 8 oz of 1 day old bread without crust (some recipes ask for more bread than almonds. I went for a 50-50%, although to be honest I might have had less bread than 8 oz.) 4 cloves of garlic 12 T Tb of EVOO 3 tsp Kosher Salt 6 T Sherry Vinegar 7 c of water peeled seedless grapes - I used a blender but a large food processor would be best I think. - Soak the bread in cold water - Blend the garlic, almonds, and salt in the food processor until they form a nice fine mixture. - Squeeze the water and most moisture of the bread and add it in batches to the food processor. Keep blending until you have a good paste. In the blender, I had problems since I did not have liquid, so I added the olive oil and some water at this point. - Add the olive oil and sherry vinegar and blend again. - With the motor running, add the water in a thin stream. Before adding all the water, I would check for taste. You might not need all the water called above. - Once you have the soup, transfer to a bowl and strained. I think this is important to achieve a nice texture. You will find plenty of almond mixture in the strainer, push hard with a spoon to get as much mixture as possible into the soup. - Let cool in the fridge for a couple hours and adjust with vinegar, EVOO, and salt to taste. - Serve with the grapes (Optional: bread croutons or salted almonds) There is plenty of room to play around with the quantity of the ingredients. It would be more to the taste of the cook to change some ratios, but the ingredients and the technique are pretty much stated in the recipe. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Soup, Vegan, Easy ( RG1014 )

White Gazpacho AlexP provided this at a Twin Cities (Heartland Forum) gathering; it is adaptation of a Penelope Casas recipe. It was a real winner. As Betts said, "Everyone should note that Alex"s recipe was heaven in a soup bowl - cold, pale, spicy and the grapes are the perfect fruity, acid contrast." AlexP brought green grapes. 8 oz almonds (I blanched them for 2 minutes in boiling water and drained them) 8 oz of 1 day old bread without crust (some recipes ask for more bread than almonds. I went for a 50-50%, although to be honest I might have had less bread than 8 oz.) 4 cloves of garlic 12 T Tb of EVOO 3 tsp Kosher Salt 6 T Sherry Vinegar 7 c of water peeled seedless grapes - I used a blender but a large food processor would be best I think. - Soak the bread in cold water - Blend the garlic, almonds, and salt in the food processor until they form a nice fine mixture. - Squeeze the water and most moisture of the bread and add it in batches to the food processor. Keep blending until you have a good paste. In the blender, I had problems since I did not have liquid, so I added the olive oil and some water at this point. - Add the olive oil and sherry vinegar and blend again. - With the motor running, add the water in a thin stream. Before adding all the water, I would check for taste. You might not need all the water called above. - Once you have the soup, transfer to a bowl and strained. I think this is important to achieve a nice texture. You will find plenty of almond mixture in the strainer, push hard with a spoon to get as much mixture as possible into the soup. - Let cool in the fridge for a couple hours and adjust with vinegar, EVOO, and salt to taste. - Serve with the grapes (Optional: bread croutons or salted almonds) There is plenty of room to play around with the quantity of the ingredients. It would be more to the taste of the cook to change some ratios, but the ingredients and the technique are pretty much stated in the recipe. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Soup, Vegan, Easy ( RG1014 )

Red The only time that my father found me completely intoxicated he asked me what the heck I had drunk. It was a weekday during High School at lunchtime, my friend and I have skipped class and went for tapas and cheap white wine. The only thing that my father said was "Nunca bebas blancos" (Never drink white wine) I have followed his advice, although sometimes I do have a taste. In my wedding, my father and I did not even touch our glasses of white wine during a fish course. More stubborn than anything else. Alex

My guess is that cooks use tap water in Italy. Based on this premise, Ursula Ferrigno should use tap water imported from Italy. By using bottled water (that probably comes from a spring) she is not using the true water mostly use by Italian cooks: "tap water". She is definitely making a huge mistake on her cooking. Please, somebody in Italy should send her a few gallons of tap water so she can taste the difference. Also, please, post regard the best area for tap water to cook pasta in Italy. Alex

I actually purchased and ate a fresh Croaker on Friday night. It was about 15 inches in length and probably about a pound in weight (I think...) Flour and olive oil was the treatment. I fried some garlic in the pan at the end. I did not have any lemon or herbs at hand, but it was quite good. It cost $3.99, so it was an inexpensive quick dinner. In the past, I have grilled them as well. The only problem is that it is easy to lose the skin on the grill. Pan fried offers a nice crispy skin and tail (almost the best part!) Alex

When the time comes, you could order Jamon Iberico from LaTienda.com: Jamon Iberico I am guessing that other vendors will have Jamon Iberico when it is allowed. You might also want to check: La Española Meats, Inc I have great luck with their products. Alex

I am from Cantabria in Spain, so I have eaten plenty of good anchovies. When I was a kid, I used to spend time at my sister's house. My brother in law and I would always go to Santoña, the main town in Cantabria for anchovies pack in olive oil, and would get jars (probably a pound worth of anchovies per jar) full of long and delicious anchovies packed by the actual fishermen and purchased at their own house. One time he came home after work and found me (I was probably 10 years old) eating them out of the jar, no bread, nothing, just like eating olives or chips! He just kept laughing, teasing me about the size of my possible ulcer. They were so tasty. What a wonderful memory, since Fernando, my brother in law, died just a few weeks ago... There are always a couple jars at their house. Now living in Minneapolis, it is difficult to find good anchovies unless I buy them online. I like to eat them by themselves with a piece of good bread and a glass of wine, while cooking. I also incorporate them into sauces and dressings. Alex

I like to throw a few in Beef Stews, especially if I find the baby artichokes in the store. It is unfortunate that they are quite expensive IMHO. Growing up in Spain, artichokes with beef were the only preparation that I was exposed to. Really good stuff. Alex

No, I thought about it, but I was afraid that the bags would break and I would have a mess. Although if everything is frozen, I should not have a problem. Thanks for the suggestion and I will try next time. Thanks also to Fifi. Your answer is what I wanted to read. Alex

I have another question regarding stock safety. I few weeks ago I made chicken and beef stock. I stored the stocks in Ziploc (sp?) bags (2 and 4 cups). I also made some stock cubes. Anyway, I made the mistake of introducing and piling the bags in the freezer wet in the outside (just water) and now they are attached to each other. Obviously, it is pretty easy to detach them by just running some warm water over them, but once I have a single bag in my hand, the other one (previously attached) that I do not need, has melted a little. Is it safe to put the unused semi melted stock bag back in the freezer for future use? The contents of the bag that are not frozen might be 5%, so it is still a pretty solid piece of ice... Sorry for the long confused description and if the answer should be obvious, but these days I am thinking more about safety than I used to. Thanks for all your help. Alex

In the Twin Cities area, The Dubliner in Saint Paul pours the best Guiness by far IMHO. Great music as well. I agree that there are too many places out there that do not know how to serve this great beer. I do find this thread quite useful Thanks. Alex

Hello Susan, Sometime in the summer I found them at Coastal Seafoods on Minnehaha. I have not seen them again and I go there quite often. They came from Portugal. I do not remember how much I paid, but it was not too much. I was surprise of how good they were; just the smell really transported me back home. Hope everything is going well. Alex

If you have the chance, I would grill them. I was lucky to get some fresh ones back in the summer and they were delicious grilled. These ones were about 9 to 10 inches in size. Back in Spain, if they are smaller, my mother usually pan fries them. The taste is quite strong, so in my opinion, some sea salt is sufficient. There might be dishes out there more elaborate, but in Minneapolis they are quite hard to find, so eating them with the less preparation was my first choice to enjoy them full. Whatever method and recipe you use, I do not think you need to remove the bones. They are quite soft and they would not affect the cooking. Have fun Alex

Well, I am pretty sure that other members would be able to give you a more detail and better recipe, but for a general idea, you can follow these basic steps: - Cooked the stuffing they way that you would like. E.g. If you want a shrimp and sea bass stuffing, you might want to sauté the shrimp with some garlic, and onions... maybe chopped the shrimp to have a more consistent mixture. You might want poached the sea bass in some fish stock... You get the idea - Stuffed the peppers - Passed the stuffed peppers by some flour and egg and fry them in olive oil. (Some preparations skip this part) - You could make a sauce with the liquid of the pimientos (From the jar) a blended pimiento, and some fish stock for example. - Finally arrange the pimientos and the sauce in a pan and bring to temperature I hope that you get an idea of what a recipe could be - make stuffing, stuffed, fry pimientos, make sauce, combined sauce and pimientos, and bring to temperature. In general, what to do within these steps have to be adjusted to your taste. Hopefully others can give us better directions or options. I have cooked them just a couple times, usually I eat them with tuna or anchovies on a salad. Alex P.S.: I am not claiming that this is a traditional method, just what I have in my head at the moment.

Hello, I enjoy cooking from a Penelope Casas book, but I usually just use the recipes as references, so I cannot really point you to a specific one. When it comes to the Esparragos, using the Spanish word, I would serve them out of the can with two sauces, an alioli and also vinaigrette. That is how we always eat them back home. The Pimientos de Piquillo, you have a couple options, either out of the can with some olive oil, chopped garlic, anchovies (typical preparation) or cooked with some kind of filling (salt cod, tuna...) All depends in how much work you want to do while the guesses are at your house. I have the best time when I can cook different tapas at different times and serve them as little dishes. It keeps me in the kitchen more time, but it is fun. Check the recipes by Penelope on Clams and Green Sauce, Mussels, Croquetas, Empanadillas, Gambas al ajillo... For me they are quite good traditional tapas. Sorry, after rereading you post you want most of the work done in advance... If the can stuff is good quality, I would not use it for cooking (e.g. the tuna) The squid you might want to warm it up, but others might have better suggestions for this. A good selection of cured meats and cheese could eliminate workload and make great tapas. Finally, I would suggest flans for desserts, which can be done ahead of time and are delicious. Penelope does have several recipes. Buena Suerte Alex

I purchased this stockpot the other day from Amazon for $24.99, now it is $10.00 more. It works well, but as Rachel suggests, I would purchase at least a 16 qtr pot. I made some chicken stock the other day and I wish I had something bigger than my new 12 qtr pot. I did see a 16 qtr pot in Target for $25.00 that seen good enough for stocks. Alex

Well, if it brings a smile, I will not edit the post. Nick, I am glad that you find the article useful. We've got a new stove a few weeks ago, it is working well, but it takes a while to know everything. Your tips are good. Thanks Alex

My senior year in college I did not lived in an apartment. I lived in a trash can, a big trash can with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room / kitchen. You could walk pass the living room without even seen the carpet. It was truly disgusting. Weeks old Chinese take out and fast food beverage cups full of chew spit... My roommates were the primary source of garbage (I did not clean after them, so I was responsible to a certain degree). It was quite disturbing but I manage to survive spending enough time in the library or completely intoxicated in the apartment, talking about "trying to escape". I call it the "Dark Period" in college. It is a blurry memory now. After that I had a roommate that liked to use my towels and my used razors!!!!!!! Jeez!!!!! Alex

I am sorry if this information has been covered on any of the threats mentioned above, but David Rosengarten has a pretty useful article that might be quite helpful. Cooktops Hope this helps Alex

I always boil the shrimp shells in stock for whatever dish I am cooking (e.g. in fish stock for a fish soup or in chicken stock for a paella). After boil them for a while, I just remove them from the stock. Could you please explain a little more your method for a shrimp stock? Should I take the process a step further and put my mixture in the blender and then strain? Does the blending add a lot of flavor? Thanks. Alex

We have a cork floor. It looked great the first couple of months and then we added Bogie (mix black lab) to the family. Bye bye cork floor. Maybe the sealant was not properly applied, but nevertheless the marks from Bogie are quite noticeable. It is definitely a nice surface to stand for hours cooking, but I do not think it is really durable with pets around or with hard use. I have mix feelings about the cleaning, other surfaces might be a better choice. Alex

I purchased this pan and so far it has performed well. I ordered four pieces and three of them were packed on Calphalon boxes and made in the Ohio. They appear to be the same quality than any regular Calphalon pan of either the Commercial or the Professional (I just do not remember which pan was which line right now). Anyway, the fourth purchase was this pan. It came in a generic box without any names. The pan was made in China and the handle is not similar to the other pans. I did not return it or make any comments on Amazon, I can put it to use and it was not that expensive ($19.99). You can see that somebody described the pan quite well in the comments. Based on the information, if you are going to order some items, I would contact Amazon to be sure that any Calphalon purchases are from Ohio. Also, you might want to check the discussion on the Cuisinart line also on sale on this board if you have not done that yet. Hope this helps Alex (sorry, edit because link problems, hopefully this works)

Thanks for the suggestions. I did use the double boiler idea. I thought about the stainless steel bowl, but then I realized that I had two sauce pans that kind of fit quite well as a double boiler, so I used those. I decided to use 5 egg yolks and a pint of heavy cream in addition to the vanilla and sugar (different recipe from the first try). I was worry about the consistency of the original recipe used so I looked for a heavier ratio using just heavy cream. It turned out quite well, although I will cook them in the oven when that option is available since they require less attention. Once again eGullet members saved the day. Thanks a lot. Alex

I just do not own one. I switched pans not to long ago and I have not tried to put a couple together and "create" a double boiler. It could be an option... Thanks for the responses. I will report today’s attempt, probably on Friday. Alex