prasantrin

v.gautam made a very informative post on different types of popping corn in the "popping corn" topic. It will help you find the type of popping corn you're looking for.

I think Alchemist posted at length about it in the TVH topic. If you do a search in that topic, you'll probably find more information.

I made pumpkin pie squares and to me, especially when accompanied by a glass of milk, they taste very coconuty. I'm not sure where the flavour is coming from, but my guess is the oatmeal in the crust combined with the condensed milk. And maybe some of the spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon). It's weird, but it makes me like the pie more (I hate pumpkin pie).

In addition to, or instead of, cornstarch, you could also try subbing some rice flour for some of the flour. If you are willing to try a completely different direction, I'd go with panko. Stays crisp for a long time, and doesn't seem to get as greasy as batter. That might be heresy in your area, though.

In the Philippines some people dip pan de sal in coffee (usually coffee with sugar and milk). In the olden days, pan de sal was a very simple bread (flour, yeast, salt) that got hard very quickly, so they dipped to soften it. But new-style pan de sal is usually made with the addition of butter, eggs, sugar and milk, so it doesn't need dipping quite as much (but some people probably still dip).

PopsicleToze--is that Brooks' Coconut Almond Cream Cake? It looks awesome!

Eek! That's a lot more than I expected it to be. Hmmm...my food processor is looking better by the minute! I wonder if it's too late to ask my mother to sneak a small bag of it in her suitcase... ETA: It's Y105 cheaper from Kikuya! But I still ain't buyin' any!

This isn't quite what you're looking for, but I wonder how cocktails made with Delia Smith's Pineapple Cooler would taste. I remember seeing her make it on her TV show years ago, and always wanted to try it. As for cutting up a pineapple, although it takes more time, I cut out the eyes using the little loop thing on my vegetable peeler. If you look at this peeler, you can see a good example of the loop thing. And when the peeler doesn't work, I pinch the eye with my fingers and give it a little twist. The eye will usually twist right out. I always take them out because they make my tongue itchy, but if they're being pureed, anyway, I don't know if they have the same effect.

I like the games from Domino's Pizza Japan. One of them is a memory game involving toppings of their different pizzas. You get coupons with discounts based on your performance. It's actually kind of fun! (Plus their pizza is much better than Domino's in Canada!)

Is there a Japanese equivalent to caster sugar aka very fine granulated sugar? I know I can make my own my whizzing it around in my food processor, but I can never seem to get a consistent product (I end up with very fine, powdery sugar with some big crystals mixed it). It probably doesn't make much of a difference, but I'd like to compare with the real thing!

Have you ever tried using something like Riesen's Chocolate Covered Caramels instead of Rolo's? I hate Rolo's, but I love Riesen's and other similar chocolate covered caramels. Think it would work OK, or would the caramel be too hard?

Ah, that explains why my brittle is so dark. It doesn't taste burnt at all, but looks like I overcooked it slightly. I guess I'll just have to eat it all before it gets too sticky! I kind of like when it sticks to my teeth, anyway. More to snack on later!

The only book I found with any of those words is Chocolat by Stefan Lagorce. It was released November 1, 2008.

I made pecan brittle a couple of days ago, and being the lazy person I am, I let it sit out instead of packing it away in an airtight container. Now that it's a bit sticky, is there any way I can get it dry again? It doesn't have to be very dry, just dry enough so the pieces don't stick together when I finally pack them up. Another questions--what's the point of the baking soda? The recipe I used had a whopping 1T of baking soda, and now I feel like my brittle tastes more like sponge candy than brittle. I kind of don't like it (but I'll still eat it). Can I reduce the baking soda without affecting the recipe much? The ingredients I used were: 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 1/2 cups pecans 1 cup sugar 1 cup light corn syrup 1 tablespoon baking soda

Ooooohhhhh! I want one of those! Do you use coconut oil in it? Not so healthful, but it makes better tasting popcorn! I wonder how extra-virgin coconut oil would work. A little better for you, I think.

Not a tatin, but the mother of a student recently made a pumpkin pie for my department. It was slices of roasted kabocha with some walnuts, chocolate chips and maybe dried blueberries? between puff pastry sheets (and baked, of course). It was weird. Not horrible, but weird, and no one wanted seconds. Not even the Japanese teachers who one would think would have liked it more than us furriners. Pumpkin slices or chunks in pies tend to get dry. Caramelizing them will help keep the surface moist, but not necessarily the innards. I'd be very careful with baking time, so you don't dry the pumpkin out too much.

Heat too high or too low, is my guess. I've been popping really old popcorn (it's at least 2 years old, possibly even 3 or 4), and I don't have any problems with popping unless the heat is either too high or too low (I get scorching with either of them). It's a very fine line between the wrong temperature and the right one.

Like many people, I ate mostly microwave popcorn from when it first came out until early 2002. Why did I stop? At a dinner party in Morocco, the host served us some freshly popped popcorn to snack on. I had forgotten how delicious "real" popcorn, without any artificial flavourings, was. So now I only eat stove-popped popcorn. I did really love my hand-cranked maker, but I trashed the pot (long story), so now I just use a regular pot. I shake it a little at the beginning, but mostly just leave it alone. I have also used regular popping corn in the microwave, but stove topping gives fewer unpopped kernels.

I was thinking the same thing. I didn't see anything this year about Beaujolais Nouveau, no "dossiers" about where to go, no signs announcing the arrival. ← Is there a thought that BN is more for untutored palates? The release was HUGE in Japan--it was on not only reported in news programs, but also daily variety shows, and in the newspapers, etc. I think more than one of my co-workers had pre-orders at their usual purveyors.

In a similar vein... I love all the stuff andiesenji has. For work I just have a metal infuser basket that fits into my mug. I also have a lid for my mug to help retain heat (and it makes a good infuser basket rest when my tea has finished infusing). I don't make tea so much at home anymore--during winter, even my mariage freres pot doesn't keep the tea warm for very long!

Also consider that the liquid where the butter was dropped would have been cooler than the surrounding liquid. Whenever I add butter to my caramel, I notice there are hot spots, so I mix thoroughly to get a more accurate reading.

Good find, Rona! This is one of those 'why didn't I think of it?' recipes. I'm definitely cooking something along these lines for the holidays. Turkey doesn't figure much in Asian cooking, but '8 Treasure Duck' is a classic Chinese dish, and it should adapt well to turkey. Just found this similar recipe from Ming Tsai: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ming-ts...cipe/index.html ← I hope it tastes as good as it looks on paper! I think I finally found the NYTimes article. I was a little off--it was Vietnamese-influenced, not Chinese. If this link to the article doesn't work, the title is "AMERICA CELEBRATES: HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF.; Add a Little Vietnam, France and California, and Mix" by AMANDA HESSER, published: November 15, 2000. It should pop up if one searches the NYTimes archive (though free registration is required to search, I think). The recipes are for Shiitake and Lotus Seed Stuffing and a Brined Roast Turkey (lots of stuff in the brine).

May I ask the purpose of the tasting? Did they request that apples be used in each dish, or is this the chef's idea? Personally, if by business were selling/promoting apples, I would probably be appled-out and wouldn't want every dish to contain apples. But perhaps they're hoping to use some of the recipes as promotional tools? And will you be using different types of apples in each of the dishes? If you could let us know which apples you'll be using or have access to, it would help narrow down the suggestions. If you do apple chips, I would have different types of apples, so they can distinguish between the different flavours of each apple type, for example. I'd do the same with applesauce or apple butter, if you were to include either (or both) of those somehow. You might also want to consider textures--a lot of the things already mentioned have very similar textures. Have something flakey, something crunchy, something cakey, and something smooth. I would also consider using recipes from different places--like having a Dutch appeltaart, a Tarte Tatin, etc. Abra recently had a sort of apple terrine on her blog (French Letters), something with apples and cheese (apple cheddar ice cream--I wonder how that would work?) for the US, etc. All the dishes mentioned also focus solely on apples. It might be nice to show how apples can combine with other ingredients--like in an apple cranberry tart or something like that.

Are you talking about cupcake baking cups? Cupcake carriers? If cupcake carriers, are you looking for cardboard disposable ones or plastic reusable ones? More information would be helpful, but in the meantime, check out Sugarcraft. They have a lot of cupcake-related goods.

Your link isn't working, so I don't know what kind of oven you have. I've roasted a number of birds in Japanese convection ovens, and just use the usual temperature that I'd use in Canada. I also have a probe thermometer, though, so I rely on that to tell me when my bird is done, not on time. If you have a very large bird (size being relative to your oven), you may have to cover the top of the bird with foil to prevent burning. Because Japanese ovens don't leave a lot of room for air circulation, the skin browns much more quickly, and it may burn before the meat is cooked, so also make sure you rotate the bird or put it on the round turntable (if it fits).