merstar
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Posts posted by merstar
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G Mart update: Went there tonight and their produce looked better than last time. The red bell peppers looked good, (lower priced than last time at $1.79 lb), as did the broccoli. Romaine was in better condition also. Ginger ($1.49 lb), garlic ($.89 lb), green onions ($.33 a bunch), Idaho potatoes ($.69 lb), limes (8 for $1.00)!, lemons (3 for $1.00), nectarines ($1.79 lb), red onions ($.79 lb), tomatoes ($.99), etc. were all fresh looking. Cauliflower and bagged shallots were still in bad shape, but most of the produce was fine. The prices are just incredible - savings of anywhere from half to 1/5 the price of Harris Teeter! After calculating what I would have paid for everything at Harris Teeter, I saved about $25.00. My total bill at GMart was about $16.00 - it would have been about $41.00 at Harris Teeter!
Thanks again Nate!
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All of my Jewish ancestors and sitting on my shoulder shouting, "Really, is that all? That won't be enough!"
I'm really doing miniatures -- small cookies, mini-cupcakes -- so I was thinking more like 6 per person. Am I nuts?
Yes, but that has nothing to do with food. LOL. Anyway, I think 6 per person sounds right.
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Why avoid an egg base? I almost always use egg yolks in homemade ice cream, and have never had a problem - the ice cream consistently comes out nice and creamy. The only time I experienced graininess was once or twice when the chocolate didn't emulsify properly on the last step, ie, adding the strained custard to the ganache or the chopped chocolate.
It's about flavor, not consistency. It seems there are a couple of different points of view; some people like the flavor of cooked egg yolks with chocolate, and others think it's a distraction. I'm in the second camp. Chocolate is also one of the flavors that gets muted very easily by milk fat. Because of this I use less than half as much cream in chocolate ice cream as in most other recipes. The fat in yolks may have the same effect.
In general, I use about a third as many eggs in my ice creams as most people, because I don't want to notice them. In chocolate I don't use any.
Okay, thanks, Paul. I also use a lot less cream than the recipes call for.
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Why avoid an egg base? I almost always use egg yolks in homemade ice cream, and have never had a problem - the ice cream consistently comes out nice and creamy. The only time I experienced graininess was once or twice when the chocolate didn't emulsify properly on the last step, ie, adding the strained custard to the ganache or the chopped chocolate.
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Did you chill them first?
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They're good with oranges.
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...Frankly, a simple fresh fruit salad with a little syrup or sugar, maybe a sprig of mint too, would go well with the felafel.
I agree. Fine Cooking's "Melons with Ginger Syrup" is one that comes to mind - really delicious.
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Another idea is a fruit crisp - the butter would have to be replaced with margarine, though. This one from Fine Cooking is supposed to be excellent:
PEACH AND BLUEBERRY CRISP WITH SPICED-PECAN TOPPING
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes...an-topping.aspx
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How about Crazy Chocolate Cake? I've recommended it to many people - all had great results. (For my taste, I would cut down on the sugar and use half brewed espresso and half water): Can frost with a chocolate water glaze:
http://www.recipezaar.com/53524
Here's another recipe to check out (haven't tried this):
Chocolate Tofu Mousse Pie
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Trout, salmon, snapper, sole, and flounder would all work well.
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Went to the G Mart today. I was mostly in the produce section, and have a mixed report. Things like scallions, cilantro, garlic, ginger, potatoes, limes, and onions were amazingly low priced, and in very good condition. On the negative side, there were bags of shallots that were also low priced, but they were all sprouting. The red bell peppers were shriveled up and were selling for $2.99 a lb - I can get fresher ones at Harris Teeter for the same price. The broccoli was horrible looking, soft and brown, ie, old, and so was the cauliflower. Wouldn't buy them for any price. The romaine was dried out.
The fish looked good, and the Asian condiment section was well-stocked.
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Anne,
Thank you so much! Things are definitely looking up!
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"What kinds of restaurants are you looking for?"
Nate
Hi Nate,
Pretty much everything: Chinese, Indian, Mexican, seafood, vegetarian (I don't expect to find one of those), etc. I've been to Phoenix Asian several times, and it was excellent until the last two times - the quality definitely was not there - I hope they come back to their old standards. I've tried Bert's seafood and wasn't impressed. Tried La Fiesta a few times, and while the fajitas were pretty good, several other main dishes were pretty bad. Went to Green Valley Grill, and their fish was very good (trout and salmon), but their side dishes were wanting, the service sucked, and I wasn't wild about the atmosphere. I don't eat red meat too often, so I'm not looking for rib places, steak places, etc., and I'm not into Southern cooking.
It's just too bad that Greensboro is mostly chain restaurants. I wish more independent ones would open. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
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I just made very good ice cream sandwiches using a Fine Cooking recipe.
Here is the link, but you have to subscribe to the website to get access to the recipe, sorry.
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes...sandwiches.aspx
In this case, the cookie is more like a soft, thin brownie-- it may not be what you're looking for. However, it made a great ice cream sandwich and stayed tender and toothsome in the freezer-- my only regret is that I did not have coffee ice cream to put in the sandwich.
Cheers, Jen
You don't have to subscribe to the website to get this particular recipe - it comes right up. (although I'm a member of the forum (it's free), - don't know if that makes a difference).
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I just returned from my first visit to Super G Mart in Greensboro, NC. It is a large international grocery store on West Market Street. Today was the first day it was open. Overall I am beside myself with joy to have this in Greensboro. The first great part is the fish market. They had about 15 different whole fish on ice, all fresher than anything else in the county, and about 20 other seafoods and fish fillets. Some of the fillets looked to be prefrozen and only average in quality. There were also live blue crabs. The red snapper I bought had clear eyes and red gills and there was no fish oder in the whole department. Meat and poultry was standard Mexican meat market cuts, nothing too unique. I was hoping to find some pork belly, but maybe I missed it.
If today is representative, this will be the best fish source in the area by far. The dry goods, can goods, refrigerated and frozen foods, and frozen seafood selection is as impressive as I have seen anywhere. The produce is vast and there were at least 30 items I have never seen before out of the hundreds of choices. It's not as good as say an Uwajimaya in Seattle, but it has the potential.
Even better is the price. I bought a 2lb red snapper, pack of baby squid, 10 limes, cilantro, 10 small shallots, green onions, good fish sauce, hoisen sauce, and a jar of chilli paste for less than $20.
A monumental addition to Greensboro and one I hope to see succeed. A great test will be if the fresh fish holds up. Today was the opening, so it was all fresh, time will tell. Ill report back in a few weeks to see if things keep up.
Nate
Thank you so much for posting this. I'm a native New Yorker, and have been living in Greensboro for 3 years now. Needless to say, I've had major culture shock. It's been very hard to find specialty foods, good restaurants, etc., etc. I keep hoping a TJ's will open, but it doesn't look good. This store sounds like a great start - the prices sound excellent (I'm tired of being ripped off at Harris Teeter, which for example, sells 1 measly lime for 69 cents), and I'm especially happy about the seafood selection. I will have to check it out soon. Thanks again!
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I am feeling a bit frustrated... i mean for a wedding cake maker, i feel like i'm the only who doesn't have a good chocolate cake recipe in their files.
Help.
Have you tried the Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake from Cook's Illustrated, which is listed in this thread or the Devil's Food Cake with Fluffy White Frosting from the Godiva website? I find these two cakes superior to the Double Chocolate Layer Cake both in taste and texture.
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A friend of mine used to put toasted wheat germ in his scrambled eggs. It sounded weird, but actually tasted good.
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The cornstarch you mention (I presume you mean corn syrup - in Britain we call it glucose syrup)
Morfudd, cornstarch in the U.S. is the same as cornflour in the UK.
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That looks so amazing - I wish I could taste a sample!
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I made the Best Blueberry Pie from the new (July/Aug 2008) issue today. Haven't cut into it yet -- it's supposed to cool for 4 hours minimum. But it smells wonderful.
My only problem was that I seem to have made the crust too thin in one area -- you can see that the filling bubbled through there. Otherwise, it was a breeze.
--Josh
That looks incredible!
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I've done mainly desserts from Fine Cooking. The following are all excellent:
1. Chewy Brownies - my absolutely favorite brownies (I bake them for less time than the instructions indicate).
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes...y_brownies.aspx
2. Chocolate Espresso Torte by Joanne Chang
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes...esso_torte.aspx
3. Flourless Chocolate Cake
4. Melons With Ginger Syrup
I had less than desirable results with the following:
1. Lemon Curd (good, but too thin)
2. Lemon Tart - an almost impossible crust, and terrible instructions for the filling, which led to disaster.
3. Salmon with garlic and paprika (don't remember the exact name) - very so-so.
4. Fresh Greens with Roasted Beets, Haricots Verts, and Goat Cheese Croutons - Sounded better than it was - time-consuming with a lackluster result - the best part was the goat cheese croutons.
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Another vote for El Rey. It actually has a bit of chocolate flavor. I had heard or read that they don't use deodorized cocoa butter, giving it that extra chocolate goodness. Anyone know if that is true?
Yes, it is. Click my link above (second post), to Chocosphere, and the info is there.
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I rarely use white chocolate, as I find most of it tastes like sweetened wax. However, El Rey makes a decent one.
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I'll be making one or more of the following: Strawberry charlotte russe, strawberry coffee cake, strawberry cream pie, chocolate layer cake with strawberries and whipped cream....
Cooking with "Fine Cooking" (the magazine)
in Cooking
Posted
Dejah,
Looks good! I was planning to make this, and will also be using frozen blueberries. Normally, I don't defrost berries in baked stuff, but this recipe specifically says to have the fruit at room temperature. So... did you defrost and drain them or just leave them frozen? Thanks.