scott123

I have to admit that the first time you mentioned the minced spiced chicken, my mouth started watering. I don't get to that area very often, but the next time I do, some kebab meat will be involved. And the chicken/lamb is a great lead as well. Do they have good ground lamb? My favorite Indian restaurant makes an unbelievable lamb kofta that I'm hoping to replicate. At the moment I'm hell bent on replicating my favorite Chicken Tikka Masala :) Thanks also for the lead on that cookbook. Your offer to share your experiences is exceedingly kind. As I have a long list of cuisines to tackle, it could be some time before I begin my Middle Eastern journey. Would you be willing to share you experiences with me/this forum before I obtain the book? It sounds like you have something wonderful to share - I would hate for you to delay it on my account. And speaking of Iranian food... does anyone have a lead on Iranian cumin in this area? After reading Jeffrey Steingarten's article on the availability of black market camembert, I was hoping that Iranian cumin might be available somewhere. I agree with your assessment that although there seems to be a large Cuban population, it doesn't seem to be concentrated in one single area. My best guess as to the root of this could be the historic timeline involved. Since the bulk of Cuban immigration occured when Castro came into power, enough time has passed to alter concentrations of Cuban Americans. But, like I said, that's just a guess. And lastly, if you do go to Las Palmas, stay away from the desserts - nothing special. The suckling pig might be good, but since it's kept on display all day long, I'd get there early in the day :)

Crema's can vary, but generally they are richer, less watery, than american-style sour cream. Some make the claim for less additives, but I don't know, some crema you can buy has additives. And it combines heavenly next to chiles or a sauce made with chiles. Thanks!

It sounds more like apathy to me. The worst food I've ever had wasn't made by people who hated cooking, it was made people who just didn't care. I have to admit that it's been a while since I've eaten poorly cooked food. For me food is so important a bad meal can ruin a day, or more, so I go to great lengths to avoid questionable food. This translates into very little eating out, either at restaurants, friends or relatives. Especially relatives :)

Bhelpuri, thanks for that list. That's quite a lot of knowledge to acquire in four years. At the moment, I have nothing in particular to purchase at the halal butcher. Although I'm very proud of my hummous and babaganoush, I have only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Middle Eastern cuisine. Eventually I plan on delving into it much deeper, and when I do, knowing a good halal butcher should come in handy. Your mention of West New York/Bergenline made me remember one of my favorite Cuban restaurants. It's been a while since I've been there, but I'm a big fan of Las Palmas. It doesn't have much in the way of decor, the clientelle can sometimes feel almost menacing, and if you're not familiar with the food or speak any Spanish, you might be in trouble, depending on the waitstaff. This being said, the steaks are spectacular. The black bean soup is fairly standard fare. Like most Latin restaurants, the tostones/maduros are a bit of a gamble (seasonal variations, levels of ripeness), but definitely worth the risk. The steaks are worth the trip, though. I'm a big fan of their skirt steak, but I've never seen a steak there that didn't make my mouth water.

Could you list these ten? And, if you're interested, this thread lists a few ethnic enclaves in NJ: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38298

And also, I'm curious about something. What is the advantage of using crema over sour cream? I have a recipe for making crema somewhere but haven't gotten around to making it yet.

Bhelpuri, where is Alhuda located? And what is the name of your favorite halal butcher on Newark?

Cheesecake doesn't need flour. Make the crust out of crushed nuts instead of graham crackers.

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Posted to the wrong thread, sorry.

I buy MDH kasoori methi. Since it's the only brand of kasoori methi I've come across, I have nothing to compare it to. I like it :) I'll never buy another spice mix again. If I'm in a hurry, I may combine powdered spices instead of using whole ones, but never again will I buy them premixed. No control. Low ratio of the more expensive cardamom. Too many cloves. If you like Patak's pastes and buy them for convenience, maybe you should think about making a huge batch of paste yourself. They're not that hard to mimic. Not only will the flavor be superior, you can freeze it in small amounts to have on hand when you need it. It won't be as good as starting a curry from scratch but it is certainly better (and a lot cheaper) than the stuff in the jar.

That is called a sweet potato pone. And yes, it has ginger and either molasses, brown sugar or dk. corn syrup. Also should have some coconut. My recipe, out of a Whoopi Goldberg cookbook, is supposed to be authentically Jamaican, although I'm not sure. No eggs, made with yams.

I've heard quite a few people speak very highly of soapstone, here and elsewhere, but I haven't come across a lot of pizzerias with soapstone ovens. If you want to match their product, I highly recommend attempting to match their oven. From your description it sounds like you're trying to recreate a Vulcan oven style pizza (as opposed to wood burning oven pizza). My quest is the same :) This discussion contains the configuration I've come up with for myself: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38384&hl= The only thing I would add for your situation is this. 500 degrees might be cutting it close, temp wise. To compensate, I recommend getting as much thermal mass as you can on your hearth, walls and ceiling (minimum 2" thick). Although 2" fire brick might be the least costly of your options, if you've got the money to spare, bakingstone.com will be able to make you a custom stone out of a cordierite type of material. Cordierite is what vulcan style ovens use. You'll need two large stones for your hearth and ceiling and smaller stones for your walls. Make sure you have an inch clearance all the way around for proper air flow.

Please do. That would be wonderful. I think the biggest shortcoming, of the myriad number of paneer recipes you find, is exposing the curds to excessive heat, something brought to my attention by members in this forum. If all these recipes are ignorant of heat's effect on curds, then I wouldn't be surprised if there were a host of other complexities involved in making great paneer.

Regarding your description of chhana with the water, has that been drained at all or is it just milk that's been curdled with citrus (all the whey included). And the shaped forms of chhana, are those drained? Are they pressed? According to the recipes I've come across, paneer is made with milk curdled with an acid, usually either lemon juice, vinegar, buttermilk or yogurt. Same with chenna. As far as I can tell, paneer and chenna follow the exact same process, except there are those that press the curds (make paneer) and then grate it and those that don't press it and leave it moist and crumbly. I am probably the one who is misinformed, though. I'm strictly going by a handful of recipes and not personal experience.

Yes. In fact, most of the packages of bacon in the bin is closer to 2/3 fat and I have to hunt for a package with only 50%.

you're not talking about the bengali chhana, are you? Maybe. Although I haven't come across that spelling, I have seen chenna spelled 'chhena', so it's possibly the same thing. Is Bengali chhana different from paneer? Here are a few links that mention the chenna/chhena I'm referring to: http://www.ruchiskitchen.com/ruchiskitchen...cs/Common.htm#1 http://www.specialcheese.com/paneer.htm http://www.hotdishes.com/gulab_jamon.htm

Katherine, I haven't changed brands in years. And, going from the amount of fat that gets rendered, I consider this to be very fatty bacon. The idea of bacon potentially being sliced with the grain intrigues me though. Was this pre-sliced bacon you bought? The next time I buy bacon I'll have to look closer at the way it's cut. Tracy, as far as residual heat is concerned, I eat my bacon straight from the oven :) I also sample it at different times during cooking. Each time I tried it, it was chewy.

Owen, I use 'stretching' and 'pulling' interchangeably. Stretching is a better way to refer to it. No rolling in this house :) Hopefully the King Arthur flour you get won't be the same as mine. If you make a firm lean dough (oiled bowl only) and the dough is tacky/hard to work with, then that's the crummy stuff. Also, the smell is a dead giveaway. When smelled next to the good stuff, it has a noticeable chemical quality to it. If you'd like, at some point I'd even be willing to mail you a few ounces of the good stuff just so you can compare it with something. I'm sorry to hear the snow is putting a wrench in your plans. I think this could be the last snow storm of the season here in NJ. At least I'm hoping it is.

Chenna is paneer in a crumbled form. From the books/recipes I've come across it's either grated paneer or it's paneer made without pressing and then broken up into tiny pieces while still warm.

I have been combing through this forum's handful of long bacon threads looking for any leads on producing really crisp oven bacon. Besides baking on a rack (which I despise washing), has anyone found a way to do this? My goal is bacon that shatters to the firm touch but is still relatively uncolored (tan/red not brown). I've gotten it a few times in the past but haven't been able to reproduce it lately. When I have been successful, it's been with low temperatures (<250 f.) for a long time (2+ hours) but these days that formula is giving me bacon that's dark brown and chewy (can't even cut it with fork!). Any ideas?

ExtraMSG, your smoking stone is probably caused by oil absorbed from your dough. Do you cook anything oily on it? How much oil is in yor pizza dough? Even with parchment paper some oil might seep through. That certainly looks like a delicious pizza. Did it taste as good as it looks?

Owen, once the oven you're building is realized (2" thick hearth, 3/4" thick ceiling, up to 800 degree heat), you will have very close to the same capabilities as a Vulcan style pizzeria oven. I think since you're matching their oven, you should really try to see if you can match their ingredients/procedures as well - within reason. A Kitchenaid would, to an extent, mirror the effect of a pizzeria Hobart mixer, but, being in a similar financial situation myself, I understand your reluctance to spend that kind of money. Until I get a KA, I knead my dough by hand. The bread machine's biggest flaw, imo, is that it's completely based on dry yeast and warm proofing. As far as the proofing goes, I can say that since I have only seen finished pizzeria dough coming from the refrigerator and haven't witnessed it's initial stages I don't know if the dough gets a warm proof/punch down or not. Since it does come from the fridge, I get a strong feeling that pizzerias might implement a long cool rise. Maybe one of the pizza makers in this forum could tell us more about the proofing process. The yeast they use, I'm fairly certain is fresh, really fresh, not those cubes you get in the supermarket. And their flour is definitely high gluten. High gluten flour, in my experience, is the only flour that allows me to pull pizza dough thin enough to see through it - without ever tearing. At least with the good high gluten flours I've used. It's quite possible that you aren't quite as driven as I am to recreate Vulcan style oven pizza at home, but if you are, I highly recommend finding a good bakery that will sell you bread flour and yeast (a lot do). My bakery sells me a 1 lb. block of incredibly fresh yeast for $2 and phenomenal bread flour for 50¢/lb. The 1 lb. block of yeast is not that cost effective - you'll never use the whole thing, but the results you get will far outweigh the cost. The flour I get from my bakery is this: http://www.progressivebaker.com/products/spring/spking.htm Made by this company: http://www.horizonmilling.com/index.html I've was a big fan of King Arthur's for many years until I found this. Compared to my bakery flour, King Arthur's, at least the King Arthur's that I get in my supermarket, is garbage. Smell, taste, crumb, and most importantly manageability are all far superior with the commercial flour I get. I love this stuff. Of the multitude of ingredients I cook with, there are certain ones that bring a smile to my face every time I work with them. This flour is one of those ingredients. I know that the picture I'm painting involves a lot more work/complexity than a bread machine with supermarket flour, but, as I said before, if you've put in the time to build a kick ass oven, why not go the extra distance for the ingredients as well.

Oh, and if you're going to take the time to boil down milk (make khoya) for carrot halva, you should definitely think about making gulab jamon. Gulab jamon, made with khoya (mawa) and some chenna, is to die for.

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