AlexP

Hello everybody, I tried to make creme brulee on top of the stove yesterday since our oven is broken. The recipe that I used was for stovetop. I used 4 egg yolks, half a pint of whipping cream and half a pint of half-and-half. I was careful to poor the warm creams over the beaten eggs (plus vanilla and sugar) slowly. I brought the mixture to the pan and started cooking it at a low heat. Once it was thicken, it appeared to have split. Not a major cream/scramble egg, but clearly it is not a desirable creamy texture. The taste was acceptable, but not great. I have the chance to do it again today. My available ingredients are still whipping cream (1 pint and a half left), half and half (plenty left), eggs (plenty left), and vanilla... Do any of you have any recommendations for the ratio between eggs and creams? I just need two servings, although making more is not a problem. My guess is that I cooked it too fast, but I would like to know if changing the ratios could allow me more room for error. I appreciate your help. Thanks. Alex

Reesek, I have used La Española Meats with good success for both meats and desserts such as turron, mantecados, and polvorones. Although their web site might not be the best, they have done a great job in all the times I have ordered. Another source that you might tried is La Tienda I have ordered from them once, just some meats and spices. The service was good, although I think La Española Meats has more competitive prices and a bigger selection. I am not associated with any of them, just a happy customer. I do not know where you are located, but somebody mentioned that Cafe Iberico a Spanish restaurant in Chicago has a deli in the restaurant that sells Spanish meats. Maybe you could call any Spanish restaurants in your area and find out if they have any operation of this type. I live in Minneapolis and I have not seen anything like this, but you never know in other areas. You can find a Cafe Iberico link in La Española Meats web site. Good luck Alex

Yeah, sometimes is difficult to deal with Spanish recipes online. Many are extremely general, without temperatures for the oven, true measurements... Although there are other publications such as Apicius that are quite impressive. Unfortunately, I did not find a recipe for mantecados in this web site. A took a quick look and some recipes somewhere else that mentioned 200 degrees Celsius in the oven... Regarding the lard... The ones that I ordered online are Mantecados de Aceite. They are made with olive oil instead of lard and they have sesame seeds on top. They are quite good. You might want to check this type of recipe. Alex

I believe you are thinking about Mantecados or Polvorones. On the eyes of a foreign they could be seen as similar after 8 years, but if you think the word started with an M... Obviously mantecados would be your best choice. I did a quick google search and there are some recipes in English on the web. Penelope Casas' books have some as well. I have never made them myself, but I have been browsing recipes in Spanish lately. Please, do a search in google with both words and you should be able to have an idea of how to make them. I did see recipes for Mexican and other American countries for both words, so you might need to do a more specific search. I wish I could give you a link, but with my quick search, I cannot account for the quality of some of the recipes found. Anyway, I have been eating them for the last few weeks. I ordered them online. But once I have the new stove with a functional oven after Xmas, I should try to make some. Feliz Navidad Alex

Yeah, I am reading too. Looks like after the potluck and all the snow the Minnesota crew went on hibernation. (I hope that is the right word...) Anyway, thanks for posting the reviews. Also, I did print your guide from your website and I have looked at it quickly. I enjoy it and I will have it as a reference. Thanks! Alex

Your cohousing comunity sounds pretty interesting. I read a while back two books that you might be familiar with... "Afluenza" by John De Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas Naylor "Your money or your life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicky Robin Although not related to housing, both books have ideas that could be implemented in your community better than in other housing environments. I know that it is not related with food, but it was the first thing that came to mind reading your post, Anyway, have fun at dinner. Alex

I enjoy your posts. As for your poll, I would go for the curried veggies, it sounds pretty good right now. I have not eaten mac and cheese in a long time. Now that I think about it, if I had to eat both leftovers, I would probably eat the mac and cheese first. But if somebody else can eat the mac and cheese later, I would stick with my first choice, curried veggies. Good luck the next few months. Alex

Well, I lived two blocks from Lunds for 5 years, so I am an avid fan. I could not shop anywhere else for a while. Now, Rainbow takes most of our trips with Lunds a second for products that I cannot find anywhere else. I have being in Kowalski's just a couple times. Coastal Seafoods, is the fish market of choice. Lunds cheese section satisfies most of my needs, I am not familiar with Surdyk's For people familiar with Lunds and Kowalski's... How do they compare to other high end grocery stores in the rest of the US? Alex

Hello! I live in Minneapolis. We do not get out to eat that often, so I do not have a variety of opinions regarding the restaurant scene. I enjoy shopping at Lunds, but our budget directs us more often to Rainbow :-) I have just spent a few minutes in the Farmer's Market in Downtown buying some tomatoes and peppers. I believe that if you stick with locally grown products (there are several stands today selling avocados!), the selection is winding down at this time of the year. Although I am not totally qualify to write reviews, maybe we should try to make an effort to write a little more about our restaurants in our future visits. Alex (edit for grammar and to add that I am not an axe murderer)

I agree in general with marie-louise comments. As an amateur cook, I enjoy more multitasking (within the cooking) than having everything ready before starting the actual cooking. This is true for me with dishes that I am familiar with (techniques and products). When more complicated dishes (or new to me) are prepared, I have more pre-work done. I do believe that if the cook is not too proficient with cutting and following some techniques, the pre-work can be really helpful. Sorry I an not answering the original question, in that regard, for cooking weekly dinners, you can probably get away with doing some pre-work ahead of time following some of the suggestions found the previous posts. Alex

Smoke salmon quesadillas with onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Linguini with garlic, hot peppers and evoo. Salad: Heirloom tomatoes and tuna (decent tuna pack in olive oil) with garlic, onions, balsamic and evoo. The pasta was for today's lunch. Alex

Thanks for the comment. I did not take anything said in the posts as personal attacks. My opinion of vegetarian burgers is quite low. I believe I ate one once! But that is about it. I was just trying to incorporate them in a more interesting menu per my wife's request. I have discovered eGullet a few weeks ago and I am truly enjoying it. Difficult to catch up with so much information. Vegetarian Burgers was probably a poor choice for my "starting topic" I visit several fly fishing bulletin boards and this board is "PG 13" per comparison. People in this board are pretty civil stating their opinions. Thanks and I am looking forward to other discussions. Alex

TVP? Nut cutlets? I am lost... I guess these are some "vegetarian items".... Hey! I am only cooking! I will not even be present when they eat the food I just want to please my wife that wants to serve vegetarian burgers to her friends! Melkor: I am from Spain, my family has been doing matanzas (killing pigs and curing meat) for centuries, give me a break! Alex

Portabello mushrooms and roasted peppers are already in the menu. The main dishes will be a Gazpacho (roasted veggies in this one), a salad with grilled veggies, and veggie burgers with portabello mushrooms. Good suggestions , but what about veggie burger recipes! Gracias. Alex

Hello everybody, My wife is having a combo baby shower and wedding shower at our house and one of the dishes that she wants me to cook is veggie burgers. I have researched egullet with little success for actual recipes. I did find this recipe in one post Veggie Burgers I will prepare the patties 24 hours in advance, and she will grill them during the party. Does anybody have a killer recipe? Thanks in advance for any replies. Alex

I have slow times grilling in the summer, tired of cooking the same dishes such as pork chops, salmon, chicken, steak... Although I venture into new items in the weekends such as whole fish, during the week I struggle with the above mentioned standards. What has helped me has been switching the "vehicle" for those meats... For example, instead of pork chops, I make some grill pork tenderloin tacos... Instead of salmon steak, I make a grilled salmon quesadilla, or grill chicken salad instead of grill chicken with a sauce... I have even started grilling my veggies for gazpacho so I do not get too tired of it by the end of the summer. Most experienced cooks are able to do these kinds of changes without thinking, but for me, I have to make an effort and think about this type of possibilities. Alex

A lot of good suggestions in the prior posts… Just another item that you might want to consider is fresh whole artichokes. There are popular beef and artichoke stews that are pretty delicious. I have cooked some with baby artichokes, but never with full grown ones. Baby artichokes could be a better option for you, so they do not grab too much attention from other ingredients as full-grown ones would. I do not know how good they would go with game, but an idea for the post. Alex

I got some whole blue shrimp and tuna from our fish store. I love when there is good size whole shrimp at the store... Tomato and Spanish onion salad (EVOO, balsamic, and salt) Spinach and grill veggie salad (white mushrooms, different peppers, and zuchini) Grilled Shrimp with a touch of lime juice Grilled tuna steak with wasabi alioli A couple posts reminded me of how tasty a simple tomato salad can be.... The blue shrimp heads had a lot of sabor, taste. Alex

I watched “Mostly Martha” a few days ago. I found it quite enjoyable. An unpretentious romantic story. It has probably come out in video in the last few months. Mostly Martha Alex

I do not have specifics about US regulations. You might want to check La Española Meats, Inc. www.donajuana.com. There is an article in their web site that explains some of the requirements that they need to produce Spanish meats in US soil. You could ask several mail in order catalogues like La Española Meats or www.latienda.com about distributing your products through them. Also, you could contact an Spanish consulate or American Embassy... I have seen Palacios chorizo and Revilla jamon from Spain in a supermarket in Minneapolis, you could contact those companies. Unfortunately, all my ideas deal with what could be your competitors, but is worth a try. Buena Suerte Alex

Yesterday I was too tired to fire the grill, so I fried some zucchinis and a salmon fillet, EVOO, salt, pepper and a some lime juice over the fish... I have been grilling a lot this summer and sometimes I forget how good frying is. Everything was pretty tasty and simple, specially the zucchinis (maybe too much oil for some people). I also cooked a quesadilla (Spanish chorizo, fried onions, and cheddar cheese) for my lunch today. Alex

Give or take a couple... Around 25 I should probably look at them more often to avoid some of my cooking failures Alex

Thinking about all the gazpacho that I have eaten in Spain, I realized that I only eat gazpacho at home. I do not think I have ever ordered gazpacho in restaurants... Anyway, the recipe that I follow is similar to my mother's: tomatoes, green bell pepper, cucumber, onion, garlic, EVOO, vinegar, salt and pepper. We never use bread, although traditional recipes called for it. I found that my wife enjoys balsamic vinegar more than Sherry Vinegar for this soup, so I have been using balsamic (I hope that my father does not find out ) I have enjoyed roasting the veggies once in a while. Let them cool and then chop. The taste is milder and the color is pretty good. We use the blender and keep some chopped veggies for garnish, sometimes with add croutons as well. Although there are traditional recipes for this great soup, I do not think there is a "right" recipe. I enjoy all the precedent comments. Alex

I fry together the potatoes, onions, a little bit of garlic in the olive oil. I do cover the frying pan while frying. Once they are cooked and cooled, I mix them with the eggs after draining the oil and let the mixture sit for a few minutes. Then I make the tortilla. I do not cover the pan while making the tortilla. I do move the pan in circles without lifting it up from the stove once in a while. Although I have seeing recipes that call for frying the ingredients separately, I do not think it makes a significant difference in taste. Alex

If I know well my guests, I do not mind cooking new recipes. Nervertheless, lately most of our dinner parties involved people new to my cooking, so I have tried to cook dishes that I am familiar with. Alex