nessa
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Posts posted by nessa
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Awww dang. I forgot about Turkey. Its just not Grandma's stuffing without a can of cream of chicken soup. And Mayhaw Man just triggered another memory of this dish my family's friends created at their ranch. Rocking J' Chicken. Its got a can of cream of too. And I'd not give it up for anything!
So I guess I DO use more than I thought of convenience foods. I'd better start saying Hail Mary's or something. Perhaps in this case, Hail Julias?
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I suppose yellow squash could be used in these recipes too?
My coworker's parents ahve a huge garden, and he just brought me more zucchini, yellow squash, tomatos and green peppers. an something else that might be a really pale, fat cucumber, or some other kind of squash.
The zucchini is going for zucchini bread, and I have to figure out what to make with the rest of this batch of goodies. I've already got the last batch in the freezer.
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Yes you can substitute brown for white sugar. I personally add an extra tablespoon or so when I do so, but you don't have to.
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I've never met a nut that I didn't like. Its so hard to pick a favorite. It depends on my mood. Its hard to beat a good pecan, though. I guess pistachios would be a close second. Hazelnuts for sure. Black walnuts would be up there too. They go very nicely in zucchini bread.
Plain old walnuts would be my least favorite. Come to think of it, I never use them. I usually substitute a different nut for them.
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I have a big ol' two!
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Hell yeah I'll admit to it. There are some applications where granulated garlic works best. For one thing, its far less likely to burn in oil. They are few and far between, but I sure keep it in stock, along with heads of garlic. I made tacos this Friday to take to the SO's place of business. I make my own "taco seasoning". In goes some ground chipotles, ground new mexican chiles, ground cascabel chiles, onion powder, garlic powder, roasted and ground cumin seeds, cocoa powder, dash of cinnamon, cayenne and salt. Add that to some ground beef, minced onions and fresh garlic, a couple of jalepenos or serranos and you are good to go!
It really just depends on what's being made, I guess.
As for canned soup... I'll use canned broth if I'm out of my own stock. Life happens, yaknow?
But I also agree that I don't like to see recipes that have a lot of pre-made, processed stuff in them.
I'm on a recipe list where theres one person that copies this kraft kitchens email to the group once a week. I just cringe. Theres always something with canned cream of something soup, velveeta, frozen breaded cutlet of something or other....
prechopped frozen veggies etc. Throw all together and heat through, and viola...
I'm all for convenience, but there's just something about that kind of recipe that makes me sad, and kinda makes me feel uneasy. Maybe it makes me feel self-rightous because I've never been that kind of cook. I'm not sure. I know its not hard to chop an onion, especially with my new KFP600
, but if someone grabs a bag of frozen chopped onions and a can of soup, some veggies and throws it with some protein, thats at least a meal, and better than feeding their family Mickey Dees. So I try not to look down my nose too hard, different folks, different standards and circumstances I guess. -
Hmmm. Onions. I could do that. Great idea! I'm thinking of doing some with red beans and some with yellow beans. Maybe I could do pork for the yellow and beef for the red. Both with onions.
I need to educate myself about the different types of leaves that can be used. The ones I've had impart a mild, slightly chlorophyllic and seaweedy flavor to the rice. Delicious. I don't know if they are bananna leaves or bamboo leaves or even how to tell the difference. I guess the real thing to do is go to the market and see whats actually available!
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Ok. I've decided I need to learn to make jong-zhi. I adore them so. I can get a few varieties here locally in Dallas. Rectangular, filled with red bean and bananna, or pork and yellow bean. I can also get some square ones from a different store, also with pork and yellow beans. I think they are seasonal though, so I'd like to acquire the skill to have them prepared at any time. I swear, they are the perfect breakfast.
My question is this.... I recently smoked a brisket and for whatever reason couldn't bring myself to toss away the fat cap. So I froze the pieces after I'd carved the meat. I'm thinking of combining little bits of the smoked beef fat in the jong-zhi, what do you think? And what would you pair it with? More beef? Smoked turkey? Just some beans? I tend to like them rather simple, though that might be because thats the only way I've had them. I think the simplicity of the meat, heavily peppered, lightly salted and surrounded by mashed beans, and nestled in the lucious rice, steamed in the bamboo leaves sets off each ingredient to its finest. Its not too fussy, but each flavor is clean and the textures are so nice together. Its such a joy to open each bundle, smell it and break it open to find the treasure inside. They freeze so well, I'm excited about learning. I know my ingredients might not be totally tradidtional, but I'd like to make use of what I have.
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You guys are the BEST!!!!! I just took a peek at the website, and found a store on my side of town. They have just about everything I imagined they would. I know where I'm gonna be on payday.......
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Ok, how about restaurant supply stores in Dallas?
I hear they have really good every day prices, and even better sale prices, but I don't know of any. Do you?
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I have this recipe saved in my FoodTV recipe box.
I saw it prepared on Calling all Cooks.
I can't WAIT to try it. I know the SO is gonna love it.
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Thanks for the report.
No Tahini at all? Yogurt with eggplant is very good as well though. And with the smokey flavor I bet it even tasted better.
I really want some homemade Baba Ghanooj now. Instead we will probably have Fatteh for dinner
.Elie
Aw crap.
Yeah I put in about a 1/4th cup of tahini. I'm on to fatteh next. I just bought a slew of chickpeas.
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nessa-
Gas grill should work out perfectly. I've even roasted them in the oven with very good results. But if you want to, try your method of smoking first. I am very interested in the result, so keep us posted (maybe start a thread if there's not already one).
Elie
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Foodman inspired me to try and make my own baba ganouj(sp) again.
The first time I tried it, I simply baked the eggplant until soft. Blah. Not even garlic and lemon made it noteworthy. Then I had it at a local Lebanese place, and it had a smokey taste to it. After consulting over on the Fatteh thread, I armed myself with a hefty eggplant and began my journey ot create the perfect Baba G. For my palate anyway.
I ended up cutting the purple globe in half, scored down the middle, lightly salted it, and put it face down in the smoker for about 45 minutes.
I got impatient. After 45 min, it was starting to cook, and take on some smoke, but I didn't want the smoke to totally override the eggplant's delicate flavor, or wait another hour for it to be done, so I moved it over to a piping hot gas grill to let it char. In about 10 minutes, it seemed perfectly done so I pressed some of the water out and took it inside.
Once inside, I let it cool and then removed the skin. I'm telling you, I was worried. It looked like hell. Brown, stringy... bleh. Smelled ok.
I threw the flesh in a ziplock baggie and stashed it in the fridge to chill. I assembled my newest kitchen toy, a Kitchenaid food processor. I was really quite excited.
In went then chilled eggplant flesh, further drained of more liquid, and zzzzzzzz went the FP. The icky brown mess was instantly transformned into a prettier warm grey. There was hope! I whirred the FP again, and let it do its thing. I added a teaspoon of garlic paste, some salt, black pepper, half teaspoon ground cumin, touch of olive oil, and the juice of one lemon. I let the FP work its magic again, and I added a couple tablespoons of plain yogurt.
Then I tried it.
Success!!! Its *goshdarn* good. Smokey but not too much. Perhaps a wee bit strong on the lemon and not enough on the garlic. But all in all, really good eating. My SO polished off half of it during a movie that night. I got the other half.
Quite a compliment coming from the SO, as he's a bit leery of my ethnic adventures in the kitchen. 
So thank you Elie, and the rest of you for helping guide me along the path of rightous Baba G. formulation!
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Yep, its a problem. Sushi rice is a short grain and fairly sticky. Not to be confused with sweet rice wich is even stickier. Sushi rice maintains its grain shape but is tacky to the touch so it sticks to each other and to your nori so that you can press it and make it nice, dense and sliceable.
I use Kokuho Rose
and have also used Cal-Rose.
I'm no expert, but I've rolled a few of my own...
Tee hee.I do leave about a 1/2 inch margin of the nori on one side to seal. I use a teeny bit of water, and it works wonders. Too much makes it soggy, just right, makes the nori tacky enough to stick to itself.
Make sure the rice is cool before you put it on the seaweed or it will steam the seaweed and make it stcky and limp.
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Here in the "south" (USA) Fried green tomatoes are highly prized as some of the best eatin' one can have. Traditionally, they are just dipped into some seasoned corn meal and pan fried. click for basic recipe I think that a simple green tomato pakora with roasted besan, salt, chile powder and a touch of tumeric would make my mouth jump with happiness! I'll have to put that on my list of things to do......
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How exciting and lovely, Helen! What a wonderful start. Welcome to blogmania
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My pleasure to do so, Elie!
Injera is an Ethiopian flatbread made out of a fermented teff flour batter. They are very thin, moist and flexible. Here it is quartered. You can see the bubbles, thats the top side. They are cooked only on one side, the bottom lacks the lacy look. They are typically cooked in these huge skillets and are used instead of utensils to scoop up food and sauce.
Very sour flavor, and just delicious!
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They are just beautiful! Thank you so much! Nothing like mine though. Mine is not so pretty. Mine is teracotta and has a top and bottom, kind of like a roaster.
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I have a clay pot that I picked up in Germany years back. Could you repost the picture so I can see if they are similar? Pretty Please?
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I want to make a could yogurt-cucumber-mint-chile soup today.
I bought something called dhahi at the local Indian grocer. Looks like yogurt, tastes like a mild yogurt.... will this work?
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Color me ignorant, but what is nitter kibbe? Is it a variation on the lebanese lamb and bulgar kibbe? I'm intrigued.
While I loved the fried injera, it was realllllllly oily, so I think I'm going to lightly oil and season the strips next time and bake them or broil them. I'm thinking they will be stellar with baba ganouj.
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Oh god. Sugar Alcohols. The stories I could, but will not tell. Lets just say that I am one of those *exceedingly to the power of infinity* sensitive sorts and leave it at that.
As for the tandoori chicken, why is the color important? I'm going to make it for the first time today. I'm going to use the recipe from my new Neelam Batra book. (Thanks Monica!) Ok, after looking at the recipe, I'll be marinading it today and cooking it tomorrow.
The recipe calls for paprika, tumeric and cayene. Those are the only things that appear able to impart color. I've *never* liked tandoori chicken in restaurants, its always been dry and flavorless. I'm going to use my smoker, because I hate my gas grill. Will the smoke totally overpower the spices, or simply enhance?
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Add one more for me. I just got 1000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra mailed to me. I'm gonna be a very busy gal!
Memories of Sickbed Foods
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Always 7-up/sprite/gingerale. Chicken broth (canned).
To see if I could hold down anything, Saltine crackers. If yes, goto chicken broth with rice. I didn't get special treatment if I had a cold, only if things were coming up, or if I had a significant fever.
I also seem to recall tomato soup with oyster crackers.[
I did have a severe allergic reaction to cinnamon oil once, and I got to have ice cream since my tongue was all swollen. [
I make friends chicken soup to make them feel better. Its also very therapeutic to make it.