hathor

Check with these guys: American Chianina Association P.O. Box 890 Platte City, MO 64079. Phone: (816) 431-2808 Chianina cattle is being bred in the US. I have mixed feelings about calling that a Tuscan steak, but whatever.

Licorice syrup 1 box of Panda black licorice Vanilla Vodka Roasted Cumin It works! First I melted the licorice, double boiler style. When it got to the point where it was a gooey, lumpy mass, I used the stick blender to smooth it. I was afraid that it would re-coagulate back into little rectangle shapes, so I added some vodka to keep things liquid. The flavor seemed a little..thin....so the addition of the vanilla and roasted cumin kicked the flavor up and gave it layers. I used it as an accent sauce for a frozen saffron zabliogne with fresh pomegranate seeds. It also worked well with the traditional pairing of spoon and mouth.

Completely fabulous. You should come camping with us sometime....the possibilities are tantalizing.

...........mmmmmmmmm............ I don't know about you guys, but I can smell that spice cake from here! Gorgeous! And that lasagne seems just about perfect! Buone Feste to all of us!

Amen to that! It's the L O N G story short!

Bertinet's theory about artisinal breads being healthier is two pronged: the smell of good bread activating the saliva glands which jump starts digestion, and the longer chew times required for eating results in the bread being easier for the body to process. Typically it does take longer to chew through artisinal bread than thru standard sandwich bread, but I'll check around to see if there are any scientific studies that have been done. In the meantime, you can read this.

Thanks Dick. Does McGee give any sort of time frame for the conversion to glucose?

I'm curious...why Torino? It's been on our 'go to' list for awhile but we haven't gotten there yet. Things to look for: pastries, bread sticks and genepi (sp?), it's a green digestivo that we feel in love with. It's made from the alpine wormwood plant. It's strong, but gloriously herbal and refreshing. A friend of ours worked there for awhile and she said the Torinese out-chic the Milanese...which is saying something! Have fun.

I don't know if there are variations but the stuff I have can be seen HERE. SundaySous: Thanks for the link, cool stuff! ← Thanks, I was looking for a bread lame, and King Arthur has one, so it's all good!

Just be careful!! Weinoo has told me of your enthusiasm....don't be tempted to sniff and taste. Trust in the power of the senape......

Kerry, I tried to dig around to find the flash point of senape, or any info on the volatility and I came up empty. Flash points on some essential oils are surprisingly low. That being said, wrap it in a lot of bubble wrap and go for it. Spills or a broken bottle would be a bad thing.

Your right, Anna. The more arrows in the quiver, the better. My "I need bread NOW" technique is to slightly underbake a batch of bread, wrap in parchment paper, put in a food grade plastic bag and freeze. Then when I need some bread...I throw it in the oven. I bake a bunch of smaller, roll shapes, and by the time the coffee is ready in the morning, so is the bread.

Sharp cheeses

The description on the Le-Sanctuaire web site says that you can use the bag to bypass the straining of consommes. Anyone try this? Can you bypass the whole gelatin thing if you use a Superbag?

Fast, quick, no fuss, no muss bread recipes seem to me to be counterintuitive. You need time to develop flavor. Bread baking doesn't take all that much time..yes, time, spread out over a day or two, but not much dedicated time. It's just one of those things where you need to plan ahead. In my very humble opinion. I also think that you need to get your hands dirty....flour will be different from batch to batch, it's a natural ingredient, which makes it difficult to adjust hydration, unless you have your hands in it and can feel what's going on. I'm currently bread obsessed, and all the hoopla about making bread without time or fuss has struck a nerve as it seems to be circumventing the loss of flavor. I'm just Old Skool.....what can I say?

Sounds great...bravo! What is edible white glitter??

People just don't "know" parsnips. They've been maligned. No, I don't work for the Parsnip Foundation!

Sure it exists in NY, hence Fiamma being described as vaguely Italian. There was an article in the NY Times last week that talked about the overall malaise in Italy, and it mentioned briefly the whole "Made in Italy" campaign, which seems to reinforce that checker tablecloth, romantic image. But, the flip side of that is when you apply Made in Italy to furniture, I picture cutting edge, sleek chairs with lots of chrome. So, how did the interior design people manage to mutate the fusty florentine standard into the shiny Milan standard?

Nice little video....grazie. I haven't made it, it's on the schedule for later this week.

sorry hathor, what do you need it for, cookies or do you want to make a crostata with it? ← Crostata. I've got some lovely quince jam that is just crying to be put into a crostata. Thank you everyone for helping....I'll post a photo as soon as I get it made. Now, does anyone know how to make 'torcilo'?? I've never seen the word written, so I'm not sure how it is spelled, and spelling is a very loose concept with local recipes, but it's that yellow, dry, sponge cake that you dip in vin santo.

From what I understand, U.S. mustard oil is not senape. Senape must be purchased from an Italian pharmacy, it is incredibly strong and dangerous stuff to work with. Dangerous in the sense that you do NOT put the bottle up to your nose and sniff it or you will literally burn out your sinuses. I've brought it back for different chefs who were unable to source it in the U.S...and these guys know how to source ingredients, so you may have to go with the Batali recipe until your next trip to Italy. And, oh, I wouldn't declare it!!

Thanks! I made about one millionbillion poached pears this summer and never once thought to use licorice root. I bet it adds depth, a base note for the other spice flavors. Very cool.

That looks delicious! I would have been at the head of the table, eating more than my share!

Currently a spoon and my mouth ← One of the all time great pairings!!

Sounds lovely....Bravo! but, what's a chicken pop??