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pleiades

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Everything posted by pleiades

  1. pleiades

    Her First Cookbook

    for all the hoopla, I still think Julia's "The Way To Cook" is pretty good too. Here are the master recipes, here's how to riff, go forth and cook.
  2. pleiades

    Peeling a pumpkin?

    I'm supposed to dice it and saute it with onion, then in a blender with heavy cream. So That could work....
  3. So there's this great, simple recipe for pasta pumpkin sauce in last month's Cucina Italiana....simple but for the peeling of the pumpkin. I broke the peeler, and tried a bunch of knives, but it was a real PITA. Is this just they way it is, or am I missing a secret?
  4. Upon my return to MD from San Antonio, I was given one of these by my in-laws, who also keep us in supply of White Swan mix. While the device does a reasonably good job, it is no substitute for a press and a comal. It is basically a teflon coated waffle iron without the waffly bits. Because it is hinged AND heated, it tends to make tortillas that look like small ramps, squishing the dough to on side. The quick release of steam makes some funny farty sounds though.
  5. pleiades

    Dinner! 2003

    ok I'll have a go at this, n00b though I may be... Wed: Butternut squash, roasted and halved. Seeded cavity spread with roasted garlic, then filled with caramelized onion, sage, thyme, and rosemary. topped with sauteed apples and finished with Gewurztraminer Calvados reduction. Cheap for the most part, and vegetarian too.
  6. I want to have a crack at aioli this week, a Grand aioli platter is my assignment for a dinner party. Lulu Peyraud recommends a marble mortar and wood pestle. So I went shopping online. Funny I should do this right now, as Halloween preparations seem to be in full swing out there in alternative-spirituality land, and I underestimated how popular these simple tools are within this, um, demographic. Anyways, Williams-Sonoma has the aforementioned combination at an eye-watering $65. Is this what I should expect to pay for quality stuff (I'm ok with it if that is the case), or is this an example of soak-the-noob that WS is so fond of?
  7. THAT looks more like a spining experiment....
  8. It is probably the package. What type of goat cheese is the main offender?
  9. Welp, I just can't afford to go one these big game expeditions. Not when I can bag Vieux Telegraphe or Beaucastel or even the occasional Pride Mountain for less money.....
  10. pleiades

    Wine Must Change

    ^ ^ werd. Grilled steak finished with fresh lemon juice and good evoo + moderately tannic red wine=
  11. Fred Maytag II's Iowa dairy has been making this cheese since 1941. Those Maytags know how to eat and drink, you know. Fritz Maytag rescued a defunct San Francisco brewery called Anchor in 1965, because he loved the local brew known as Steam.
  12. I think all the negative responses here tell the tale. It simply is a more polarizing subject than, say, hamburgers or filet mignon. That said, it is the prefered red meat here in my house too. What prevents us from eating more of it is simply cost. Good lamb is expensive, at least around here. Cut for cut, pound for pound, I have to pay a premium for it over similar quality beef. The result is that we don't eat much of either, simply as a budgetary matter. But it's hard to beat grilled American lamb chops, a lamb roast slathered in tapenade before cooking, a good shank, or even a lamburger topped with Maytag blue.
  13. yea no kidding! We made BLTs Thursday because of this thread.
  14. At the suggestion of LuLu Peyraud, I tried roasting lamb that had been covered in black olive tampenade. I have never been a fan of tapenade, but her recipe made a believer out of me. Upon tasting it, I asked her for it. It can be had in her cookbook as well (LuLu's Provencal Table) but here is the gist- All into the blender: A mess of pitted black olives, one goos sized to go container (greek, for instance) 2 cloves raw garlic, crushed 2 filleted salt-pack anchovies. Not the ones in a tin full of oil, but the real deal. A little tedious to fillet them suckers, but worth it. Rinsing them off first helps. 10-15 leaves chopped fresh savory Ground pepper Kosher salt if you think it needs it Maybe 1/2 cup of evoo. Blend. Usually bursts, since the stuff isn't runny enough to support sustained blending. Just sort of scrape the sides down, burst, scrape, burst. You can add more oil if you think it needs it. Then I rub the lamb with a little evoo, salt and pepper it, then slather on the tapenade and roast as normal. Out of this world. It seals in juiciness, lends a sublime savoriness to the meat, and doesn't require any sauce other than the juice from the pan. Open a bottle of S. Rhone like Gigondas or Vacqeyras, or a provencal wine like Bandol, Madiran, or St. Chinian.
  15. pleiades

    The Terrine Topic

    Well this thread inspired me to give this a go yesterday. I knocked off work early and headed for Williams Sonoma. I'm a 100% commission wine salesperson, so August is NO time to be wandering in WS. With great discipline, I marched past the Creuset and Auberge and went for the 4 pack of no stick 6x4x3 mini loaf pans. Took them home, read through the Pate section of Julia's The Way, Joy, Olney's SFF, and headed for the store. There I picked up 2/3 pound free range chicken livers, 3/4 pound of ground veal, some bacon, and scampered back home, checking this thread again to see if anyone trashed the mini loaf idea before I got started. I cut the fatty ends off the bacon and rendered them. The I sauteed a Sugar Daddy onion in oil and butter. Then I Queezed the livers, mixed them in with the veal, 1 egg, the onion, chopped bacon, some pistachios, the rendered fat, S&P, ground thyme, a good healthy splash of armagnac and another good splash of port. Lastly, a handful of breadcrumbs. Mixmixmix, buttered 2 loaves, filled them (the second one only got 3/4 full since I ran out of stuff). Put the meat-heavy bacon strips that had sacrificed some of their fat earlier on top to seal, covered in foil then baked at 350 for about an hour in a water-filled pan. Holy Moly, thank you all for getting me off my butt. It tastes great; I think the high percentage of liver and the port made it nice and rich. And the size is perfect for 2-3 people to scarf on without having to put away leftovers.
  16. pleiades

    The Terrine Topic

    Well the little no stick mini loaf dudes I picked up yesterday worked great, if anyone wants to know. A nice size for presentation with cheese or to carry to work for lunch
  17. pleiades

    The Terrine Topic

    Well now I'm all fired up to try and make pate after reading through this thread this morning. Just got back from evil old Williams Sonoma with 4 little non-stick mini loaf pans, and now I'm off to the butcher. Right now all I have is Julia's basic recipe from The Way but I'll start hunting some of these other books down. Looks like I am officially palying hooky from work at this point!
  18. Thanks, Alex, that confit looks like the ticket since I plan on grilling lamb tonight.
  19. What is this sweet onion salad you speak of? I've got a pile of Sugar Daddy onions I bought at a roadside market I need to do something with...this sounds like the ticket!
  20. pleiades

    Fake Italian Wine

    zoinks! That's amazing. I hope my palate can tell the difference between Bordeaux and Chianti, but still.....
  21. pleiades

    Patrimonio

    Enjoying a bottle of 2001 Antoine Arena "Grotte di Sole" Patrimonio wine. I know this is Corsican, from the north part of the island, but what grapes are involved here? I've never come across this appellation before..... sure is good though, especially with grilled NY strip and fresh 'maters from the garden.
  22. Heh heh... A certain top-tier Baltimore restaurant had this happen too. Last one out of the kitchen at the end of service forgot to lower the heat under the massive stock pot to simmer before leaving. Luckily, the first BFD captain on the scene was also a regular patron and managed to get the front door open without smashing it. No damage but for the smell and one very ruined pot. I personally will never again bake bacon wrapped anything in a 10 year old pyrex dish (in this case it was porcinis stuffed with goat cheese. A little experiment). Timer goes off, open the oven, pull out the dish, all the bacon fat runs to one side, and.....BLAM!!! The dish vaporizes. One dazed (and lucky) home cook standing in a 5-foot blast radius of glass and bacon bits.
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