Abra

Grub and Pam, I got the skewers on eBay about 6 years ago. There were tons of them available at that time. Just check something like Turkish metal skewer on eBay and I'll bet some will pop up. Oh, baharat! Thanks for the reminder, Michelle. I love it, have some, and forgot to think about adding it to kebab. Maher, thanks for that. It sounds like I should be treating it like a sausage, when instead I've been treating it more like meat loaf. Mmm, I sense some perfectly-formed baharat kebabs in my near future.

Oh, thank you for the cheese lesson, Franci! I want to make some fresh cheeses for a party I'm having next week. Grilling pizza over a wood fire will be the main part of the menu, and I thought some homemade cheese would be fun. I've never made cheese before, but I have a kit with all sorts of starters and innoculants, and I'm a very experienced cook, so I'm pretty confident. I can't get unpasteurised milk, though, just good quality organic, so that might be a problem. Is there such a thing as a correct cheese to use with a Pugliese pizza?

Hurray, my rifi and the little condiment tagines I ordered finally came, a little over 4 months from when I placed my order. Here's my beautiful new tagine family. Now to re-read all of the stuff on seasoning the rifi, and then on to the lovely task of deciding which dish to make to put it through its paces.

Ok. I have put the formed kebabs into the fridge before cooking, but I haven't been chilling the meat before forming, nor have I tried freezing the kebabs before grilling. Maybe I ought to be giving the meat a whirl in the KA, paddling it to a bind like we do with sausage? I'm always using lamb. but I assume that it's not the meat per se that's the problem. Grub, I see you use flat bamboo skewers, maybe the meat sticks to them better? Who's using the flat metal Turkish skewers like the ones I have?

Has anyone successfully made scamorza, or burrata? If so, will you share the details here?

Thanks, Franci and Mrbig! That gives me some nice ideas. I wonder whether one can make scamorza at home - I've googled but don't see a recipe. I've already been thinking of making fresh mozzarella and ricotta for the topping bar, and I have a smoker, so if I could figure out how, it might be fun to try making a smoked scamorza as well. If I had any idea how to make burrata I might try that too. It's weird how the pizza recipe on the Terra di Puglia site calls for "brewers yeast." Surely that's just a faulty translation? And the dough made with potato is not something I've seen before, except in a bread recipe. One recipe on that site says to let the mackeral simmer "for enough time to say a pater noster." Huh. Can anyone tell me how long that is? One minute, three? The liquor recipes are also very interesting. I have some limoncello I made earlier in the summer that's not lemony enough, and I've been thinking of infusing it with some lavender to make it more interesting. But now I'm thinking that maybe infusing some bay leaves into it would be even more fun. Ok, I'm off and running, thanks to you both!

Could someone who's really good at shaping kebabs on flat metal skewers do a little photo essay on the shaping and grilling process, pretty please? The other night I made some delicious Turkish kebabs with ground lamb, soaked bulgur, lots of mint, and Aleppo pepper. They formed onto the skewers pretty well, and I got excited for a minute, but then they fell off the skewers onto the grill once again. I should add that I'm using the "don't touch the grill" method, where the ends of the skewers are elevated so the meat doesn't rest on the grill itself. This is silly - people all over the world can make a ground meat kebab, why am I having so much trouble with it?

I'm bumping this up to see whether anyone recognizes these particular crabapples and knows whether they're worth working with. After 2 years of tent caterpillars, we have a bumper crop and I'd like them not to just fertilize the flower bed below the tree. They're super sour as they are. I have my (very large) hand in there for size reference. Anyone?

By a strange twist of fate, I've been missing this thread since the beginning. Thanks to Ling and Chufi, I've finally found you, and just in time. Does Puglia have a pizza tradition, as well as a focaccia one? I'm having a little party next week where I've been planning for the group to create pizzas done on the grill, and if there are Pugliese-typical toppings, I'll have a natural way to join this lovely thread, albeit way late.

These lemons were very ripe and perfumey, so I think the problem is that their flavor was too mild, as opposed to too funky. Lavender sounds like a nice combination, and I have tons in my garden. Hmmm, a lavender limoncello cocktail. I'm not very experienced with cocktails. The limoncello is sweetened, but lightly. Any suggestions for dilution with a lavender infusion that would neither up the alcohol (which is shockingly high already) nor the sweetness by too much? Maybe a lavender simple syrup and a sparkling wine, like a cava?

I've got to report that my Meyer limoncello is "not very lemony." That's a quote from Chef Metcalf, who was my beta tester, and I must say that I agree with her. It's smooth, drinkable, slighly intriguing, but not very lemony and not interesting enough to be proud of. I need to infuse something else into it if I'm going to be able to serve it in about 10 days, which has been my plan. I'm thinking ginger, lemongrass, star anise...any suggestions?

Hey, Patrick, I don't think of it as rambling at all! I learn a lot from your photographs. Based on what you said the other day, I posted this shot on the Dinner thread. Now that I look at your panna cotta shot, I see the difference between using a matte background, as I did there, and using a slightly reflective background like your black tray. Your advice is so helpful for making the food look as good as it tastes (or sometimes even better than it actually tastes!)

Shalmanese, quick question: you do know that Seattle is a major city, right? Even a good food city? You're actually not moving to the Outback!

Thanks, Bruce. It's some sort of sunflower. The red sauce is garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, red wine, chili sauce, catsup, palm sugar, and lime juice. I need to try it on pork so my husband will eat it.

Meatz, if you're a not-too-experienced cook, I'd say you have a really good start on a menu here. i agree with Daniel about putting your toasted crostini (the caramelized stuff with goat cheese is something many people would enjoy) on a plate with a nice little salad. Perhaps add a few other bits of seafood to the linguini - sear the scallops quickly, and toss in a couple of shrimp and perhaps some crab or lobster, if you want to up the "impressiveness" factor. Deglaze your searing pan with a little vermouth. And I think if you poach the pears in wine, and perhaps dress it up a little with some crumbs of amaretti, you're golden. Of course, if you're an experienced cook you can up the ante, but remember, you want to impress her with how easily you manage the dinner, so be careful not to choose something that will leave you frazzled before you even sit down to eat.

Interesting! I had a sweet black sticky rice pudding in Indonesia, but didn't know they did the fermentation thing too. From barritz' post, it looks as if it might be called ta paeb?

I too was shocked that it didn't win. I'm guessing that some sort of politics was involved. You win with us, Michael and Brian!

Oh my goddess, Ron, those take the cake. That pate is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Is that bacon actually cooked? I'm guessing that you're right about the Wagyu-ness. I've had the pastrami from the book done with regular beef (by a guest, so I don't know exactly what meat was used) and although the flavor was excellent, it was chewier than I'd like to see it. Your's looks meltingly tender. COme to think of it, I don't think she did the braiseing part, in my recollection we ate it almost straight off the smoker. That too might account for the texture.

Emma - no-chee-no, second syllable emphasis. Katie - sah-ver is the closest I can come in English phonetics with the emphasis on the second syllable; ee-za-kai-a with emphasis on the third syllable rockandroller - if you're saying charcuterie in French, there's emphasis on the second and last syllables. In English people tend to pronounce it as you suggested, emphasis on the second syllable only.

Lorna, that is the most hardcore fig porn I've ever seen, and there's a lot of it out there. Guess I was an idiot to miss the Luchetti-fest, eh?

Cool, Dave! Just be sure you talk to him about a place to prepare and cure your meats. Unless you live in someplace really lax, you won't be allowed to prepare food at home for service in a restaurant.

I love to try out Thai recipes on my Thai restauranteur neighbors and get their critique. Not too long ago I made some ka gai num dang for them - chicken feet in red sauce. They suggested that the exact same sauce would be even better with duck feet, and went so far as to get the duck feet for me so I could try it. Today I made it I think I like the texture of the chicken feet better, but the sauce is delicious, and the duck feet are an interesting change. I haven't gotten their feedback yet, but I'm hoping they like it. What would it be called with duck feet instead of chicken? Austin, I'll be trying your muu waan out on them soon. That'll surprise 'em.

We have a couple of good places to get cheese in Seattle, but since it's a $22 ferry ride for me to get there, I often get cheese from iGourmet. They have a wide variety and many interesting choices, and I've never had their cheese arrive in anything but excellent condition.

I have my backfat in 1 lb portions in the freezer, and next time I might make that 1/2 lb portions. It's a lot easier to deal a smaller amount with when you're ready to make somehting. Forty pounds is going to last you a long time! Elie, that's a wonderful assortment of stuff you got started all at once. I'll look forward to your lardo reports. I haven't tried again since mine turned green, and next time I think I'm going to try the brine method.

Klary, that's a great use for so-so fruit. The pine nuts are so plump and fresh-looking. Pille, welcome back, and those cantucci are really cute. I don't know enough uses for pink peppercorns, so I'll definitely be trying these.