chromedome

In Canada the Loblaw's chain (Superstore) sells tinned Devon cream. I've never had it, so I can't offer an opinion on it. Then again, I've never had Devon cream from anywhere else, so why the heck should anyone care about my opinion?

Damn it, I should know not to come in here at night. I've just been catching up on the forum here and had to put everything down to go and make potatoes with cumin. I don't know why it is, but cumin has a curiously powerful effect on me. It's certainly not a childhood memory, because in the time and place I grew up even things like broccoli and zucchini were exotic "ethnic" items. Whatever the cause, the smell of cumin seeds toasting in my cast-iron skillet gives me an intense feeling of well-being, just like the smell of bread fresh from the oven. It's surely not part of my ethnic heritage, but cumin is certainly part of my personal "comfort food" heaven.

I think I've got about 3/4 of the items on Suvir's list, and a few others besides. I've mostly accumulated them one at a time; initially to meet the needs of a specific dish I wanted to try, and then later just to have them on hand to expand my "range", so to speak. My two most recent additions are nigella seed (kalonji) and curry leaves.

What an interesting thread! In my gastronomy class, just a few short weeks ago, we'd covered the longtime association between zin and primitivo; and the instructor had mentioned that there was some doubt as to whether primitivo was in fact the "original zin" (pace Bonnie Doon). I'll have to forward him the links to some of these articles. To make it more interesting, I'd bought a bottle of plavac mali just a few weeks ago from my local bottle shop. It was a 1997 "Kastelet", and cost me all of $9 CDN to try...I've been hearing that some of those eastern European wines are great bargains, so I picked one at random. It was a little bit strange on my palate, as I've not had any real exposure to zin, but it was quite an acceptable table wine in my admittedly non-expert opinion.

Ummm...I don't really have a recipe as such. Par-cook your rhubarb (I just nuked mine for about 4-5 minutes), cool, place in unbaked pie shell, sprinkle with sugar ('till it be enough) and cover with pastry cream. Bake it at 375F or thereabouts, until the crust is baked and the top of the cream is just nicely golden. You may want to partially prebake your pie shell. I didn't, because my oven in that particular house heated primarily from the bottom; so my piecrusts always baked through very quickly. I'm sorry that's so vague, but before I went to cooking school I didn't really pay much heed to recipes.

Not surprising, I guess. There's been a lot of back-and-forth between New England and the Atlantic Provinces over the years. A lot of our regional specialties are similar.

I'd just like to throw out a comment about the keeping qualities of organic vs. non-organic produce. Last year, when I lived in Nova Scotia, I worked for a company which was pioneering the "box delivery" business model in Halifax. We bought our produce locally to the greatest extent possible, then (as our all-too-short season ended) went to Ontario, and British Columbia, and eventually the US and points south. My observation was that the locally-grown product held up better in my refrigerator than non-organic (and non-local) supermarket items; imagine my surprise at finding a three-week old head of overlooked romaine to be still in usable condition! Unfortunately the "imported" organics did not fare so well, I had to use them more quickly than the supermarket product. Of course, the notion that buying local produce is better is hardly a news flash...

Back in Nova Scotia, it's common to use a beaten egg with a bit of sugar in it to bind up the excess juice. I've taken that a step further and used pastry cream with the rhubarb, and rather liked the combination. Then my wife and kids, looking to extend the whole tart-rhubarb/sweet-filling theme, suggested a rhubarb pie with butter tart filling poured over. That's been their biggest favourite so far, though personally I prefer the pastry cream version. Either way, the rhubarb needs to be partially pre-cooked and cooled before going into the shell.

Me, too...but I don't go overboard with it.... <ducks and runs>

Depending on how rich your stock was to begin with, you'll probably be okay reducing it to 1/12 or 1/16 (1/12 if good, rich stock; 1/16 if just average). Starting with a remi ("remouillage", or re-boiling, is the second stock made from a given set of bones; it tends to be lighter and thinner), you might even go a bit more than that. As McDuff says, your mouth should tell you when your glace is done. It should have a nice, rich mouthfeel and lots of flavour; it should coat the back of a spoon nicely. In your mouth, though, it should not be thick and sticky like library paste. Although very rich and viscous, it should dissolve readily in your mouth. A tablespoon of glace, then, should be the equivalent of roughly 16 tablespoons of good stock; which would be all the flavour of 200ml of stock in concentrated form. Glace is great for making quick sauces a la minute; deglaze your pan with some wine, cook out the alcohol, stir in a spoonful of glace, finish it with a little butter and some aromatics, and you're there! Of course, like consomme, the quality of your glace depends entirely on the quality of your stock. If your stock is bland, your glace will be relatively inocuous as well.

Awwww, geez, guys... Just want you to know I feel your pain. Gets me right...here!

Hello, Chef Hill! I'm a recent cooking-school graduate (40-year-old career changer) with just one year in a high-end restaurant on the Canadian prairies. Although I'd thought of myself as an adventurous home cook with a wide range, I've discovered this last couple of years that I've only begun to scratch the surface. Almost every day I'm tripping over a new ingredient or technique or combination that that surprises and delights me. So I have to wonder, as a chef who's been at or near the top of the profession for decades, what excites you these days? What things have given you a "wow moment" of late?

Interesting thread, Soba! I've got a wife and two kids, and am in the process of changing from "school-and-a-job" to "no-school-and-two-jobs." I am the proverbial "chief cook and bottle washer," whenever I am not working. 1) When I'm here, I cook. Sometimes it's an elaborate meal, sometimes it's whatever I can throw together without thought in an advanced state of fatigue. I bake bread 2-4 times a week, depending on consumption vs. work schedule; I make stocks when I can; and I generally cook for leftovers (which is advance prep of a sort). 2) <sigh> I'll eat just about anything, but of course I have some constraints. I'm the only one in the house who eats offal. My wife will occasionally get a craving for liver and onions, but I can't cook it at home because she won't have the smell of it in the house. Ditto fish; though now that barbecue season is almost here I can look forward to cooking it outdoors. Wife is allergic to spinach, and generally won't eat cabbage except in borscht, owing to the intestinal distress it causes. It'll still have that effect in borscht, but she eats it anyway 'cause that's soul food for a Mennonite. Son is good with a lot of stuff, but nothing spicy-hot. Also, anything in the line of fat, bones or gristle repulses him to the extent that he won't finish his meal. This is appalling to me, a confirmed gnawer of fat, bones and gristle. Daughter is okay with a degree of pepper heat, and loves garlic passionately. She is allergic to apples, and consequently is stubborn in refusing to eat any fruit. Lately, we've gotten her hooked on those Del Monte Gold pineapples, which I'm hoping will be the thin edge of the wedge. She's okay with juices and jams, thankfully. So yes, I keep all of this in mind when I'm planning meals. If my daughter has a sleepover, for example, I'll make a barley risotto...the rest of us love it, but my daughter has a pathological hatred of barley. If my son's away, I'll cook a little bit spicier, just 'cause I can. If the wife's away for at least a day, I'll cook fish and air the house out afterwards (and wash the walls). If we are having guests, I am usually at some pains to find out in advance about any allergies/aversions/preferences and work around them. 3) I have a handful of basics, of course, as most people do. We eat WAAAAYYYY more rice than most Caucasians, and I always have several kinds on hand. We also eat a lot of pasta, frequently homemade if I have the energy. My wife has damaged wrists as a result of too-long-untreated Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, so peeling potatoes and other veg is something she attempts only rarely in my absence. I do like to be adventurous, though, and I cook a lot of Indian- and MidEast- influenced foods, also a lot of stirfries and such. We make our own wontons occasionally for soup. As with rice, I go through more fresh ginger than any Caucasian I know (present company excepted, I'm sure). Having had several friends and in-laws from Central and Eastern Europe, I cook a lot of foods from those traditions as well. As for shopping, I tend to buy staples on a periodic basis and impulse items, well...on impulse. I do clip coupons occasionally, but seldom remember to have one with me when I go to buy said item. 4) We'll talk about anything at the dinner table (we eat together at every mealtime that my schedule allows). The only things that are "restricted subject matter" are discussions of certain bodily functions; or anything else that might tend to put one off one's feed... Mealtimes tend to be fairly rollicking, goofy, fun times. My kids are both natural clowns and mimics, especially my son. In class recently he fractured his classmates and teachers with a timely impression: asked for a summary of the effects of pollution on marshes and wetlands, he conjured up his best Gollum and hissed, "It ruinssss them!" 5) Dinner is when I've finished making it. Our/my schedule is too wonky for things to be otherwise. We are relatively new here in our neighbourhood as of yet, so we don't have people over as often as we have in the past (we've frequently been an informal youth drop-in, and have also taken in troubled teens at times...that's Motrin pain). We like to have company, though I can't recall that we've ever had a formal "dinner party." If you ask for a roll, it's likely to be tossed at you. We've had as many as 16 around our table, and I reckon that if we had skinny enough chairs we could probably sit 20 with the leaf in. 6) At my son's junior high, one of his electives is "International Foods." On the first day, the teacher said she wanted to expose them to foods they probably hadn't tried before. "Good luck with that!" commented my wiseacre son (they made baklava, today). They try new things whenever I feel like making something different. They may not like them, they may not finish them, but the rule is that they have to at least try. Pappadums, for example, were a recent hit. 7) At present, I can't think of anything not previously discussed. If I do, I'll come back with it.

The Don Cherry she refers to is not the jazz player, but the former coach of the Boston Bruins in their Orr-era heyday. The Archie Bunker of hockey, he holds forth during the between-period intermissions of Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts. It is perhaps a telling commentary on the Canadian character that his face is more widely recognized than that of our Prime Minister. Then again, our current Prime Minister is one of those grey, soulless corporate types, so perhaps it's not surprising. This is not entirely OT, btw, as Cherry owns a chain of sports bar/restaurants.

You obviously have a sick, evil sense of humour. I like that.

I'm a relative newbie to Indian food as well, Richie (loved it for years, but just recently started to get serious about cooking it at home) and it's a real voyage of discovery. You'll find, as you go, that the many spices have distinctly different characters according to how you use them...hence Jaffrey's use of cumin in three different forms, all in one recipe. Coriander is another spice that's widely used in Indian and middle eastern cooking (I'm referring here to the seed, not cilantro). Try grinding some raw and cooking with it, then toasting some and grinding it. The flavours are very different. Or, toast some seeds and then use them whole in a simmered dish, like a stew or a dhal. You'll find that the seeds grow rather soft over time, and that the slow simmering will bring the spice's citrusy note to the fore. Methi (fenugreek) seed is another one that's fun to play around with, and the various forms of mustard seeds, and, well...most of them, actually. Son of a gun, now I've got a hankering. I'm going to have to cook myself some dhal tomorrow. It's a hard life...

Hear, hear. It's all good, at least until my own mouth tells me otherwise.

I always have a few litres of egg whites in my freezer, and usually another in my fridge, since I get as many as I want from work (we use *WAAAYYYYY* more yolks than whites, even with dacquoises on the dessert menu). They are interchangeable with fresh in anything I've used them for. And they keep a whole lot better.

My hometown of Halifax, NS, boasts a few offbeat names... Lawrence of Oregano Alfredo, Weinstein, and Ho (what, doesn't every town have an Italian/Jewish/Chinese joint...with a magician on staff to entertain during dinner?) The Tickle Trunk (the Canadian equivalents to Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo were The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dressup...and Mr. Dressup's "dress up" stuff came out of what he called his "Tickle Trunk") Your Father's Moustache But my favourite east-coast eatery name was a roadside diner near the small Newfoundland town of Pinchgut, called (inevitably) Pinchgut Diner.

Generally neat, as with almost any spirits I drink. My reasoning is that, if it's worth drinking, it's worth drinking neat. And if it's not worth drinking...I'll probably drink it anyway, so as not to be an inconsiderate guest. But I detest soft drinks, so if put to it by necessity I'll usually mix with whatever fruit juice comes to hand. Aside from that, as a Maritimer, I do love my hot rum drinks. Try a hot buttered rum sometime, made with dark, sticky palm sugar (jaggery/gur). Mmmmmmmmm.....

The great thing about being a woman is they're metaphorical, so you don't need a wheelbarrow to carry 'em around. <====Chromedome, husband of seriously ballsy woman

I have one, but (thanks to Mother's Day, etc) won't be able to excavate it until late tomorrow, or Monday. If nobody else has turned one up for you by then, I'll post it up.

When I was a kid, liver was right up there. Not chicken livers, but beef and pork. Detested cauliflower, parsnips, and brussels sprouts as well. Aside from that I didn't have much to worry about, since there were only about six or seven vegetables known to Nova Scotian stores in the early 70's. Today, liver is one of my very favourite things...the best part of most critters (old-timers like flipper pie, but I say the liver is the best part of a seal hands-down). Same with other offal...mmmmmmmmm. I like brussels sprouts too, though generally I'll avoid them unless I've cooked them myself. Cauliflower could still disappear from the face of the earth, as far as I'm concerned, and I'll cheerfully carry its luggage to the rocket ship. Same with parsnips. Not too many other foods I dislike intrinsically, though. Just cauliflower and parsnips, with (dis-) honourable mention to avocadoes. Of course, in the case of purely wrong-headed preparation, count me out on most foodstuffs. One of my aunts considers meat underdone if you can't take it in your hands and *break* it. Ugh.

On the one hand, I'm dying for my "Mel fix." On the other hand, I'm glad that you're getting some sleep, instead. (You are remembering to sleep occasionally, right?)

When I was a computer salesman, my co-workers used to laugh at me for using the exact same phrases - every freakin' time - with every customer. Not that I gave them a canned "spiel", you understand...I always found out what they wanted/needed/knew before I proceeded...but if I explained a given system to a customer, it was *always* in the same words. Then would come the inevitable day when a customer would return to the store, saying "But he told me...[fill in the blank]" and my manager would be able to look them in the eye and say, "No he didn't." Because he knew what I told them. Every freakin' time. My point? I plan on doing some freelance catering and cake work over the summer, now that I've graduated (Yippee!) from school. You can bet that EVERYTHING I do for a customer will be spelled out in black and white, and bear their signature. Yeah, I know, I'll still get grief. But I'll at least be able to eliminate the "honest mistake" from the repertoire.