slbunge

Did you happen to snap a photo? If so, please post. Thanks. As for the using coconut milk rather than cream of coconut, I would also think that you might not get the texture you want with the milk. The coconut cake that I have used a recipe from Paul Prudhomme that starts with coconut flesh that ends up as paste. Thinner would not have been better in my case.

Wow. First >70degree day in the Midwest this year and I'm thinking about Campari and soda with lime. Alas, I got home too late to mix one and sit outside sipping. Kudos eje for bringing this thread back to life.

I agree with prasantrin, Brad, and the others regarding these two markets. I've only been to El Burrito Mercado at lunch time so I don't know if they are open for dinner at well. Have had many a fine meal at dinner time at Mercado Central.

John Thorne, Jeffrey Steingarten and Jim Harrison have all been on the bedside table in the last couple of weeks. It's refreshing to find writing that isn't afraid to think around food instead of defaulting to recipes. Eating is our most common, universal sensual experience, I can't understand why we stopped writing about it almost exactly as celebrity chefs hit our screens ← Calvin Trillin is another good 'food-memoirist'. Anthony Bourdain, of course, for brashness and swagger. Michael Ruhlman's Soul of a Chef and Making of a Chef.

Methanol metabolization is linked with blindness. One of the dangers, really, of any home distilled spirits from plain old white lightnin' to pot stilled grappa made by Italians in their garages. I seem to remember a New Yorker article about how it also can result in 'jimmy legs', that phrase made so popular by Kramer on Seinfeld. Does anyone have the New Yorker DVD set to confirm or deny my recolleciton?

Welcome to eGullet. There are lots of threads that would probably be interesting to you. But one that easily springs to mind is here with eGulleteers testing out the information in the Micheal Ruhlman book about Charcuterie. Enjoy the browsing and I'll look forward to your active participation with us ameteurs.

Several years ago, my parents came back from a trip to Europe. They brought me back this little item that, I believe, was from Amsterdam. Essentially it is a jar scraper. The half-disk at the end of the handle is flexible enough to allow for it to be inserted in a jar with a reasonably small mouth. The edge is nicely bevelled and it scrapes pretty well. (It actually does say that it was made in Holland.) Sorry for the blurry pictures, but it is white and difficult to photograph. If Chufi is out there reading this thread, is this a common implement used in Amterdam kitchens?

Crud! Now I've got spring fever.

Won't help you this year, but the key is to remember yourself being at this impasse when the sweet corn is at the height this coming summer. Then buy a bushel full of ears, strip the kernels, pack into quart bags and hide it in the freezer until next winter and then bump this thread back to the top. Of course, I'm not the best at doing as I say, because I don't have any corn left from last summer.

Was probably drained using cheesecloth and then marinated in-house. Creates a much firmer cake than the normal store-bought. There are a few hits in google for marinating your own tofu. If you are looking for something far more convenient, you can investigate baked tofu for this application. Far lower moisture and sort of 'cured' with various flavors. Check for it at Whole Foods or health food stores.

Preserved lemons are really fantastic. They last a good long time so you will certainly use them if you keep in mind they are up on the shelf when you do your menu planning. If you google search 'preserved lemons' in eGullet you will get lots of recipe ideas. You could also make your own limoncello. There is a thread for that here. Another idea is lemon curd that you can keep around for desserts. edit: Wow, cross-posts on limoncello and lemon curd. Great minds think alike and lesser ones do also.

I soaked some Rancho Gordo runner beans (Cellini) this past friday for about six hours prior to cooking and they turned out fantastic. The water used is right from the tap here in Madison and it is quite hard compared to most municipal water systems. My method was to soak and cook in the same water. An interesting thing that I noticed was after the soak, many of the bean skins were puckered or wrinkled. Perhaps an indication that the flesh was not expanding at the same rate as the skin? Not sure. After about, er, 2.5 to 3 hours (?) in an enameled cast iron pot on the stove, the beans had plumped very nicely and there was no more wrinkled skin. Sure, for dinner that evening I made some elaborate recipe with these wonderful beans, but I took great pleasure the next morning in a simple meal of beans sauteed in a bit of olive oil, basted eggs and toast. One other question for the group. For leftover beans, do you leave the beans in their cooking liquor? I did, but just curious what others do.

Perhaps a dumb question, but your picture with the fries got me thinking. Has anyone smoked potatoes (or other tubers)? If so, how?

So it seems the story here is that some Chiquita employee will cut apart the bunches of bananas and then consumers will pay an exhorbitant prices (compared to the bunched bananas at a grocery) for that convenience. I'm not buying it but I bet it will work.

There's an ice creamery in St Paul, MN called Izzy's where I have had this exact ice cream. About 4 years ago. Fantastic.

In the Clouds - my favourite yogurt is one mixed with cream cheese, cloudberries and honey - I bet it'd make a divine ice cream:) ← I've had cloudberry ice cream in Stockholm. It didn't taste of honey but it was quite good.

I've always thought that for Christmas festivities someone should do a Panettone ice cream but I need help: I struggle with what the base ice cream flavor should be to approximate the fluffy, bready/cakey goodness. Once we get a base flavor, add candied orange/lemon/citron peel and currants (and/or raisins or sultanas). Then a nice swirl that approximates crema di Marscarpone (mascarpone, eggs, and Amaretto) thoughout. Put it in a Panettone-shaped container.

Totally off topic, but I'm impressed that you pulled together that food with only the Coleman stove to cook on. I assume you mean the classic two-burner stove, but still! Bravo!

It is too bad that teacher/administrators who are likely reasonable and well-meaning have to spend their time thinking about this stuff. Could solve this problem by requiring that parents sign a release form to allow the kids to do this. The kids whose parents don't sign get no treats. Imagine the pressure a pre-schooler can apply to his parents if they have to sit out getting treats.

Nice blog so far, Will. Was this concept of 'field blend' deliberate? Was it originally planted that way? And if so, why?

I really liked the issue as well. Have been there only once for a long weekend and reading about the places we visited and the places we missed makes me want to go back. As a longtime Gourmet subscriber, I think that their writers/editors shine brightly when bound by holding close to a theme throughout the issue and their 'city' issues are a good way to see that. Knowing full-well that space is at a premium in a glossy magazine, I did actually notice this when going through the issue. One of the fantastic things for US fans of cheese is the lack of inane restrictions on raw-milk cheese. I spent a very enjoyable time at Hamel getting schooled in the range of Quebec's cheeses including very fine raw milk cheeses.

I swear that I used to be able to find a major brand of dish soap that was 'free and clear' or 'crystal clear' or something, meaning it had no fragrance. I haven't been able to find it lately so I don't remember which brand. It seems a huge oversight that fragrance-free dish soap is not readily available. I notice that the stocks of All's fragrance-free laundry soap (by no means natural, by the way) are always depleted when I go shopping which is at least some hint at it's poplularity. Note that my issue with the fragrance is purely annoyance rather than allergy so I cannot claim that the fragrance-free dish soap I was using had any affect on allergic reaction.

You may already be doing this, but be sure to be consistent with pre-heat. For example, if you are in a hurry one time and only pre-heating for 30 minutes, your stone will have less thermal energy stored withing to resist the change in temp as you open the oven door to load your loaf. Lower dips in temperature will certainly result in less spring.

Since MizDucy opened the door for to recommending some bars that are notable for their environs or personality rather than the sublime quality of the drinks, I will add a couple from a famous city of taverns where I have spent a bit of time: Milwaukee. Holler House (2042 W. Lincoln Ave) Holler House is a classic version of the 'corner tap' that made Milwaukee famous. The bar is on the first floor and in the front of a relatively routine wood-frame house in a residential neighborhood. These were the taverns where men and women met their neighbors and drank their Gettleman beer (or Blatz or Pabst) evenings. Holler House has an additional endearing secret: it is the site of the oldest bowling lanes in continuous operation in the US. Two lanes in the basement with pins handset by neighborhood kids working for tips. The bric-a-brac downstairs by the lanes and upstairs near the bar make this a classic dive where a strong Jack and Coke or a can of beer are probably your best bet. Art's Concertina Bar (1920 S 37th Street) Art Altenburg is a concertina player extraordinaire (a concertina is a small accordian). Art's is a place where you can still listen to polka music and dance the night away with a fun crowd of folks. Last time I was there, Art is very chatty, giving me the run-down of his collection of historic (and beautiful) concertinas he has lined up behind the bar. By the way, his tavern is up for sale, so be strong when you go to ensure that you don't go back to NewYork needing to come up with a business plan for your new polka bar. Esquire magazine may not have the readership that appreciates such bars, but they are a link to the tavern history of Milwaukee. Have fun doing your research. I'm jealous.

Agreed. That is a fantastic looking crust. Nice even color. Also, very nice shape. When I make sourdough I sometimes get odd shapes, like a blow-out at one of the locations where I have scored the loaf. Not sure if it is an indication of hot-spots or a problem with technique. Well done.