ludja

Hope you'll enjoy it and thank you very much pointing out the typo on the author's name! My fingers must have still been asleep. (I went back and fixed it.)

A friend is happy with the pork he's bought from Country Time Farm of Hamburg, PA but I don't know how it compares with Niman Ranch, for eg. They sell retail at the Phoenixville Market on Saturdays.

I like and use some of those mentioned already: "Simple French Cooking" by Olney, "Bistro Cooking" by Wells, "When French Women Cook" by Kamman, "Simply French" by Wells and Robucho and "Bistro" by Hirigoyen. Also,Wolfert's, "The Cooking of Southwest France". Two other books I turn to often: "Backyard Bistros, Farmhouse Fare: A French Country Cookbook" by Jane Sigal and "French Farmhouse Cookbook" by Susan Loomis. The former focuses mainly on dishes from the regions of Brittany, Normandy, Burgundy and Provence and also includes interesting sidebars with background on the origin of the recipe which is often a chef, local or an artisanal food producer. The book is also interspersed with essays on artisanal and traditional food production for different items. The recipes in the latter book are uniformly more homey. edited for some typos

Is this recipe from her recent book, 'Baking from my Home to Yours"? If so, you may find some info on a recent thread in which many people are cooking from the book and shariing their results and tips: click You may be able to get some specific feedback on this particular recipe. I think that having a sheet pan underneath the cake pan can permit more even heat transfer to the caking pans. This may help the cake to rise more evenly and brown more evenly on the bottom.

I haven't dipped my hands into making cannoli shells yet although I do have the molds! I also haven't looked around for a good source of empty shells. My "compromise" so far when I've wanted the cannoli taste at home is to make the ricotta-filled Italian cream puffs I mentioned above. Good luck scouting out the shells and perhaps consider the cream puffs if that appeals.

I like red grapefruit juice but also feel as you do about the non-availability of the tarter (to me) white grepefruit juice. I like tart and I don't mind the seeds! I've also worried that it is being phased out because the perception/reality? that most people want a sweeter grepefruit. Some red grapefruits are so mild you can barely detect the grapefruit flavor. I think I recall some discussions in the cocktail forum where people complained about the dearth of white grapefruits available for making certain drinks for which red grepefruit juice was not a good substitute because of its sweeter taste.

Thanks for the tips from your experience. I just may try your suggestions to retest my comments above and see how a mix tastes when using a better brand, buttermilk, etc. Welcome to eGullet by the way, also!

Perhaps Cole Danehower will post again, but when my interest was spurred on by the recent threads on Tennessee and North Carolina truffles I found this post on Oregon truffles in a thread on truffles from Washington State. click

Thanks for the information; I can't wait for your book! I wish the "regular' supermarket would label varieties of fruits and vegetables. I had some blood oranges I really enjoyed a few weeks ago and now I'm wondering if they were Moros or another variety. They were not super sweet but I really like the flavor and tang.

For me, I simply don't like the flavor and texture of most mix cakes and certainly all canned frostings that I've tried. I am not outraged that a cake is made from a mix; it just doesn't taste as good to me. Many cakes from commercial bakeries have this same taste and texture. It's hard to find a good bakery but when I do I patronize them! The difference in taste is by far the most significant factor in my avoidance in making cakes from mixes but secondary issues are my preference to use less processed ingredients and the satisfaction and enjoyment that I get out of baking, which I guess I've never really thought of as anything else other than 'scratch' baking. I know some of your examples are tongue in cheek, but depending on the ultimate taste and healthiness of a product I don't mind buying some prepared foods from the market, especially some basic building block ingredient like raisins or flour that would be very difficult to produce at home and that I don't think would taste very differently than if I made them myself. For me, there is a significant difference in taste and texture between scratch and mix cakes so these are not at all analogous examples. (I haven't tried the powdered hollandaise but I have to admit that sounds iffy to me...) As much as I love desserts, for the most part I only prefer eating ones that taste good and so would much rather pass on a mediocre tasting dessert rather than insist on having one if I didn't have the time to make it. (One disclaimer: I could see being caught as a working mother and making cupcakes from mixes occasionally as a practial consession! No canned frosting though as I don't use Crisco, etc for frosting and really dislike both the taste and nutrition profile.) Also: peace and happiness to anyone that enjoys, wants or needs to cook from mixes! I do wish that that less commercial bakeries would do this though.

Sounds wonderful. Is this in her "World of Vegetarian Cooking" book?

Thank you for posting the recipe and your comments. I also can't wait to try this soup. I found this roasted parsnip soup recipe that looks interesting: click (non cream soup, roasted parsnips, nutmeg, sauteed onions, garnished with crumbled bacon and sour cream.) It's from a site called "soup-a-holic" that looks like it has some good recipes...

You may also want to drag an Italian proscuitto and perhaps other foreign charcuterie that no longer meets their specs. I'm not sure if the Italian proscuitto missed snuff b/c of nitrates or other issues. There is a thread on it; but I'm not sure if a consensus was arrived at why they discontinued carrying it... Were you able to get any info on why they discontinued the Eberly chickens? (I guess you may have answered this by mentioning that they have their own brand that they are pushing.)

It's about a month before Mardi Gras but I wondered if any locals or recent travelers had anything to share from the current food scene in New Orleans? Are there a bunch of restaurants that recently reopened or that are planning a reopening by then? Any comments on how people think this Mardi Gras will compare with last years? Looks like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and family may be among the celebrants... click

I visit a good friend in Albuquerque from time to time and like to cook when I'm there. I'm not so excited by the produce at his local supermarket in the Northeast Heights (I think it's an Albertsons?). The produce is not worse than a regular supermarket in northern Ca, persay, but that is not saying much. When the season comes, I have gone to some farmer's markets which are nice but that is only for part of the year and naturally only for some produce that is grown locally. I've popped into a Natural food market in Nob's Hill (forgot the name) but not too impressed on my admittedly one visit by the selection, price or quality. There is a Whole Foods in the NE Heights, but I wonder if there are any other less pricey and less precious options in Albuquerque? Suggestions from ethnic markets with good produce are also welcome. Where do you shop to get good value, selection and quality for produce in Albuquerque? (Here in the SF Bay area I do shop at farmer's markets often. With the difference in climate that does of course present more flexibility in terms of variety and duration. But I also have several places that are non-chain markets that carry great produce. I also go to Asian and Latino markets for some things.) Thanks in advance for any input!

It does work wonders. I sort of found it out myself, though I got the idea from a recipe by Claude Peyrot. Basically it was rice cooked with lardons, onions, bay leaf, sultanas and pine nuts. He used that to stuff a Guinea fowl. I found that it gave the best results with Thai jasmine rice, but I also identified the element that really made the difference: it was the bay leaf. Streamlining the recipe to that single element, I realized it was a great idea. ← Adding my thanks for this simple but great sounding truc!

I may just take a look at this. With the winter freeze destroying most of the current CA citrus crop, the rest of this year is going to be brutal for fresh citrus. I don't think I'll see much citrus at the farmer's market again until next year. I wonder if I'll even get a chance to make limoncello? I expect we'll see this reflected in drink prices. ← This is the time to renew or make acquaintances with locals that have citrus trees... I suspect backyard trees in the Bay area may have done okay during this low temperature snap because it wasn't quite as cold here. (Maybe this will prove to be a wrong assumption.) I have a good friend with a big lemon tree in his backyard on the Peninsula who always gives me lemons and it will be even more nice to have the source this year...

Any updates on how the North Carolina or other U.S. truffles compare in taste with European truffles? A recent thread mentions black truffles from Tennessee.

I recently heard Martha Stewart mention that she was planning to visit a commercial truffle oranization in North Carolina so I guess it is "thing" in the area. I'd never heard of truffles growing down there before. edited to add: Here is an article titled "Black Gold" about the commercial Perigord truffle venture in North Carolina: link (The article is from March 2004). Looking at that article and this link, it looks like there have been some subsidies to help promote this as an alternative crop for some farmer's like former tobacco farmers: click edited to add: There is a previous egullet topic that links to article I posted above here The question posed in that thread was "how does the taste of the 'Tarheel truffle' compare with European truffles?" It seemed the jury was not completely in at that time. Did the Tennesse truffles you tasted come from a commercial operation? From the NC article it sounds like there is quite a bit of work requiered to plant proper trees and to inoculate the surrounding soil correctly.

Well, you may not have enough free time and I would certainly include The Ferry Building on your visit, but if you have the extra time I would also consider hopping over to Swan Oyster Depot; a taxi is probably easiest. The Crab Louis is very good, as are their oysters. As an East coaster who loves Maryland blue crab and cakes made with them, I think the Crab Louis is a great use for the local Dungeness crab--as are the Vietnamese and other Asian preps mentioned above. If you get the Crab Louis, make sure to adjust the taste of the sauce with lemon juice as you prefer. I'd never previously had a Crab Louis preparation that I could enjoy but finally understood its fame after having it at Swan Oyster Depot. There is counter seating; no reservations, but if you get there off-lunchtime rush during the week I think you wouldn't have to wait long. The great atmosphere takes you back to SF pre-1960 at least and the seafood is fresh and delicious. Hope the weather cooperates with your flight departure; it will be a nice time to escape to warmer climes although it is a bit cooler here than usual. Have a nice trip!

This is so great, spotlighting an important person and topic! I hope the report is shared with the rest of the class.

I really like both benne wafers and shrimp paste and they're a great combination as well. I've made the Peacock and Lewis benne wafer recipe several times; I think it's a nice recipe with the lard flavor and the crackers keep for a long time if they aren't eaten! Bill Neal has a variant in Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie that uses half butter and half lard and I may try that next time for comparison. The recipe adds sesame seeds to his basic pie crust recipe. I haven't made the Peacock/Lewis shrimp paste recipe yet. It was interesting to compare it with the recipe I have made from Damon Lee Fowler's Classical Southern Cooking. Fowler's version has a much higher ratio of shrimp to butter and simpler seasonings. Fowler recipe: 1 1/2 lbs cooked shrimp to 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter vs Peacock/Lewis recipe: 1 lb cooked shrimp to 1 cup (2 sticks) butter The flavorings are a bit different as well. Fowler recipe: grated shallots (2 Tbs), s&p and cayenne pepper vs Peacock/Lewis: s&p, cayenne pepper, sherry (1/4 cup) and lemon juice (2 Tbs) I loved the result with the Fowler recipe; it was amazing how such a simple list of ingredients were transformed in the final dish. Besides serving it with benne wafers, I've served it another traditional manner suggested by Fowler: spread on white bread toast points (with the crust removed). He mentions another traditional use as well. If you form the shrimp paste in a mold and cool it, you can slice it and served it lightly fried at breakfast. Another breakfast/brunch/light supper option besides stirring it into grits is to stir shriimp paste into scrambled eggs. A funny story is that when I made this the first time and told my Mom, who has no connection with Southern cooking, about my great new discovery, she said, "Oh, that's shrimp butter." Whether nor not it derived from the Southern canon, shrimp butter was apparently a part of the general cocktail/hors d'oeuvres repertoire in the 60's/70's Northeast, anyway. edited to add: In no way do I want to turn you away from your detailed exploration of the Lewis/Peacock book but I'd also heavily recommend books by Bill Neal (Bill Neal's Southern Cooking and Biscuit's, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie and Damon Lee Fowler, if you don't have them yet. Classical Sothern Cooking by Fowler is a bit difficult to find as it is out of print (I wish they would reissue it!) but he has a number of other good books as well. Both authors are scholars in the field and provide lots of interesting background on the ingredents, roots and context of the different recipes.

I was wondering how much the freeze had damaged trees beyond *just* losing the current crop of fruit. I guess it may take further time before that assessment can be fully determined. It must be a tough time right now in your area. Have the night time temps there increased above freezing yet?

Nice idea and simple too, but I would wait for springtime and strawberries...

Wieners or Frankfurters orginate from Germany/Austria via the numerous German immigrants to the US in the early to mid 1800's, hence the names. In Austria, a type of hamburger is the "Fleischlaibchen" although as cinghale points out in the German example, it also is not served on a roll. As pointed out by rooftop1000 and cinghale, I thought the American 'invention' part of these dishes was serving them on a roll and in addition, the developemnt of all the different condiments and styles that evolved afterwards. As mentioned by rooftop1000 and cinghale, these dishes in Germany and Austria, outside of fastfood restaurants, are served with a roll or 'Semmel' on the side. CT vs Texas? I'll have to root for little CT, my homestate.