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hathor

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Everything posted by hathor

  1. Isn't orgeat made from almonds? At least that's how I made it>>> Back OT, that's a LOT of bitters...and I like bitters! That would empty out the bitter bottle right fast.
  2. The flip side is when the meal sucks, the waiter knows it...you're waiting for the "how was it?" and they don't even ask. Harumph.
  3. Standard rule of thumb: If you won't drink it; don't cook with it..or add it to the punch for that matter. I would suggest a shallow, unmarked grave.
  4. Ciao..here's a good, traditional risi e bisi recipe. The key here is the rice: vialone nero. The Venetians like their risotto "all onda' or wavy in the bowl, halfway between soup & risotto. Ingredientsi: (for 4) 8 oz fresh peas 6 oz rice – vialone nano variety 1 oz finely chopped pancetta 2T olive oil 1T finely choppedparsley 1 clove garlic 2T butter parmigiano cheese, grated chicken or vegetable broth Directions: Warm the broth and add the pea hulls to the broth, simmer for 20 minutes and strain. In a saute pan heat sauté the cubed pancetta and finely chopped onion and garlic until the onions are soft. If the pancetta doesn’t have enough fat, add a little olive oil. Add the fresh peas to the pan with a little broth and gently simmer for 5 minutes. In another pot bring the stock to a boil, pour in the rice and cook until ¾ done. Then add the pea & pancetta mix and finish cooking the rice. Right before serving, add two tablespoons of chopped parsley to the soup pot and mix well. When done, this dish should not be too thick, nor too soupy. Check the salt & pepper levels. Serve with grated parmigiano on the side.
  5. Probably because they aren't making enough $$ to hire a good web designer. Totally, 1000% agree..don't put music on your website! Drives me insane.
  6. If you love this book (and I do..particularly the pain a l'ancienne), try Bertinet's Crust book. Also outstanding.
  7. Maybe you should write a book on Swedish efficiency! How did the dishes get done??
  8. You can also extract flavor from the shells. Peel off the interior, papery part and discard. Make a broth of the pea shells, or even a puree and then make a pea risotto.
  9. It's a lovely store with good people.. you will enjoy.
  10. I also live in Italy. Full disclosure: I'm a bona fide nomad. I shop in a rural farming town in Umbria (Umbertide). I'd say abut 50% of the people use the plastic gloves, but it's dropped this year and I think its because there is a real push to eliminate plastic bags and plastic gloves seem particularly wasteful. IMHO the plastic gloves are lame. I'm still going to go home & wash the produce. Soba, I hear you on generic same-ness of the products of mass merchandisers. It's part and parcel of the mass merchandiser business model to be bland and vanilla. Retail consolidation is the real culprit.
  11. Soba, I did not mean to offend. I was trying to say that there are market forces and realities in play, and we're using Mom&Pop and WM as icons for what's going on. Geography and urban lifestyle are both huge detrimental factors for WM. People get around on foot, subway etc., it's not exactly conducive to lugging home super sized packages of toilet paper that would take up the entire living room anyway. I mean, where would you put a 12 pack of paper towels?? Super cheap vegetables? I doubt they'll beat the prices I pay in Chinatown or Essex St. The Mom&Pop business model is inefficient. WM is efficient, they have economy of scale in their favor. As much as I love the farmers markets, they're not an efficient or eco-friendly way to get produce into the hands of consumers. It's a lot of little trucks coming into town v. one big truck. Mom&Pop's survive because they are geographically desirable relative to your needs. Would you go cross town to have a smaller selection and possibly higher prices? No, bu I confess I run into the Price-Gouging Gourmet Garage to pick up this or that when I'm too rushed or lazy to go over to Chinatown. I would venture that Fairway was or is a bigger threat to Mom&Pop's. On occasion I will ride my bike from lower Manhattan to the Harlem Fairway for the sheer variety of produce they have. People freaked out when Kmart opened up on Astor Place. I've gone in there 2 or 3 times and it's always a ghost town. Why? It's a much more varied, rich experience to shop in the hood versus a generic big box. I wonder how much longer they'll be there. I've lived in Soho about 35 years, I've seen the neighborhood go through many, many cycles. From art galleries to Sun Glass Hut and Chanel. Ebb and flow. NYC is very, very resilient and even a parasitic company like WM won't be the final nail in the coffin. I use the word parasitic because of the documented way they treat employers and suppliers...cheap stuff always comes at a price. Well, that was one long opinionated post!! It's a complicated situation with ramifications in all directions.
  12. The end of what? Kmart & Target are open in NYC and the world didn't end. Reading this thoughtful thread, what I'm hearing is that geography matters. If there is a lot of competition, WM influence is not as strong. The Mom&Pop business model is a tough one to sustain unless they have a niche..best Mexican ingredients, best local produce, gorgeous people working the counter..whatever it is. Middle of the road is a difficult niche to hold on to, particularly as choices expanded and mobility became easier.
  13. HungryChris, you are more optimistic than I am about the American consumer. Europeans have been taught respect for ingredients since forever. Americans were taught to value cheap & plentiful, to worship abundance without respect for how it became so abundant. Walmart serves a purpose: cheap abundance. The people demand it.
  14. Dakki, good point. Debating if we deign call Julia Child a chef is best done over a bottle of wine. Going back to the question: No, I don't think it was Alice Waters who made it OK to go into the professional restaurant kitchen in the US. She's looked upon as a role model for eating locally, seasonally, gardening, not for leading the charge into culinary school. I'm reading The Unprejudiced Palate right now & Pelligrini goes off on long, respectful riffs about the role of woman in the kitchen. And now reading this, it has me wondering, if there is a very fundamental difference is the way the sexes approach food and cooking. To my mind, AW is more of a role model for good eating. JC is more of a role model for cooking and eating well. Tom Keller, Grant, Adria are role models for showpiece cooking. Each has their place, their value and their importance. I would argue that women approach food from a more nurturing perspective then men. No value judgement, just idle Sunday morning musings. (And ChezCherie, CCP.. greetings from a fellow IACP'er!)
  15. I've got a few problems with your premise, Weinoo. (I know..you're shocked. ) 1) Reality TV show chefs are on TV. The producers need to mix it up to keep the formula working, so you see multi-ethnic chefs & women. It has nothing to do with the cooking or skill levels. Why do you think they got picked for the show in the first place. 2) Julia Child is a home chef icon. She brought a new style of cooking into the kitchen. 3) Alice Waters broke the glass ceiling during a period when so called feminism was on the uptick. She hit the trifecta: right time, right place, right message. Jeremiah Tower may have a different take on the situation. This generation of women begat women who were not afraid to take on the challenges of the kitchen. See: Gabrielle Hamilton. The same movement that sent women to cooking schools also sent them to med school and law school. The wheel turns, that's all.
  16. If Shola is hosting a Tea Dinner, I'd at least think about it.
  17. Saying you want to care about tea is like caring about soup. There's a million billion teas, so experiment. Live life on the edge. If you are ever in Soho in NYC, try Harney & Sons, 433 Broome St, between Crosby & Bway. Beautiful shop, fair prices & tastes of the teas.
  18. Microwaved water, see what it does to plants Although I think I read somewhere that this was faked. But it still taps into the part of my brain that thinks you should use fire to cook something.
  19. Craft: an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill <the carpenter's craft> <the craft of writing plays> <crafts such as pottery, carpentry, and sewing> Classic: a : serving as a standard of excellence : of recognized value <classic literary works> b : traditional, enduring <classic designs> Both definitions are compliments of Miriam Webster. If we accept these definitions then a craft cocktail is one that has been made with artistic skill. The beauty is in the mouth of imbiber. And a classic cocktails becomes an enduring, traditional cocktail, ie a Manhattan, Martini, Martinez. From which we can safely draw the conclusion that classic cocktails must start with the letter "m". And unless someone wants to hand me a perfectly prepared Sidecar to debate the definition of classic, I rest my case.
  20. They are illegal in NYC. When I asked some 'green' friends about it, seems garbage disposals produce a large amount of methane and biogas and most water treatment plants in the US can't remove the biogas. The flip side is that food is going into landfills. Do your research on this and decide. Is composting an option?
  21. Ciao. I've had some goose egg experience. http://bit.ly/hSX7FR The tricky part is that they are higher in protein, so that may affect what you are doing. I used them for pasta and they were excellent, but definitely required special handling.
  22. hathor

    Flame Tamers

    You always have the best gadgets! What is on the underside of the copper? It's hard to tell from the photo.
  23. Like Weinoo said, NYC apartments don't have much going on in the way of venting. I never heard of a smoke alarm with a temporary off button...that's something I could use. Every once in awhile I make steak with burning thyme branches on top. Everyone knows their place... Jeff stands by the main alarm with a towel, son & any other guests stand by the window with their towels. Like I said, I only make it once in awhile. Our Italy house, circa 11th century is a whole other can of smoke. We bit the bullet and put in a nice hood, and vented it through a conveniently placed hole in the stone wall of the kitchen. Only, we have NO idea where the smoke goes. Could go up to the roof, could go into Silvo's house, could just go into a space between the walls. It sucks air, I test it with tissues stuck up to it, but honestly could not tell you where it goes and there is NO WAY that I'm opening up the wall to find out.
  24. hathor

    Flame Tamers

    I agree with Blether. I use them when I need to tame the flame/heat and for my itty/bitty one cup moka coffee pot because it's too small to sit on the burner. Otherwise, they're sort of a pain in the neck.
  25. I don't think you can make a silk purse into a sow's ear. There is no way a piece of pork will ever taste like boar. Boar is deep, dark black-blue meat, so is hare (lepre). Juniper berries taste marvelous with game in a complimentary way, but may overwhelm domesticated meats.
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