Smithy

I'll be watching for Northern Spy apples to see what they're like and whether they're available in the Duluth area. Thanks for that comment. My usual pie apple is Granny Smith, purchased from the grocery store, but I'm always in search of even better options: crisp, tart, flavorful. My darling's favorite is the Cortland, which grows pretty well around here. The University of Minnesota released, if that's the right word, its Honeycrisp breed sometime in the last 10 years. For my money its principal benefit seems to be that it's winter hardy; it has nice flavor, but I don't see a reason to seek it out. Last year I became fascinated with all the wild apples growing in my area. It's clear they were planted on old homesteads, but the variety in size and shape is amazing. One tree of the dozens I tried produces fruit roughly the size of cherry tomatoes, but oh, the flavor! I'm eagerly watching that one. It yielded some wonderful relishes and slaws last year.

Dinner report: inspired by liuzhou's link to the green bean salad with mint, I went off on a tangent. The sauce: ~2 cups each of Moroccan mint, Italian parsley and lovage leaves 5 or 6 garlic cloves ~ 2 -3 Tbsp olive oil ~ 2 Tbsp each champagne vinegar and red wine vinegar The liquids are very approximate: enough to balance each other and allow a food processor to chop and blend the dry ingredients into a coarse mixture. This sauce was served on the side so we could test it with both dinner features: (a) green beans and yellow summer squash browned in butter, steamed in a splash of wine and chicken broth until crisp/tender, then finished with cherry tomatoes. (There's the green bean and mint connection. :-D) and (b) leftover leg of lamb, gently rewarmed and served with its juice. To cover my bets I'd also made a simpler oil-and-garlic sauce in case the mint was overpowering; it wasn't. The mint added a gentle piquance; the lovage added an interesting bite; the sauce as a whole enhanced both the beans and the meat; when those ran out we mopped up the remaining sauce with bread. I realize this isn't a mint dish per se, but it used a fair amount with delightful results. I'll be doing it again.

This conversation started because of a Chinese Cookbook (see first post) that included celery as an ingredient in an "Arabic" salad. I guess we still have to wonder, as Nakji did, whether it was artistic license on the part of the author, or whether the use of celery in the Middle East has grown in recent years. So far the firsthand knowledge suggests that it isn't as traditional as a dish chosen to be "representative" would imply. Judging by the links CeeCee listed, perhaps it's becoming more common now - a new tradition in the making? Going to Nicolai's point about the use of celery in Egypt: I'm none too sure it would have registered on me that I was eating celery leaves, if the stalks were omitted. New traditions or old, I'm looking forward to trying some of those recipes.

That is a beautiful photo. Honey mesquite, is it? Are those glazes in the pottery supporting the pods, or some interesting sauces?

Welcome! There are a number of tea lovers participating in these forums. Come join the discussions here, and enjoy the company!

Those look really pretty, mgaretz. Sorry for asking, but have you posted the recipe and/or method before? It looks like a rub on fairly thick chops. Do you have to watch out for the chops being too lean?

I, personally, like being considered a culinary oracle in our kitchen. ;-) Seriously, it sounds like you work it out pretty well, under the circumstances, and remember the most important part: sharing your meals and your love for each other.My darling and I have such radically different cooking styles that we generally just cook solo. He's a minimalist who hates to use more than 1 pot or skillet for a meal; I may have the entire counter covered with prepped foods and resting foods, and it can be downright dangerous to get in my way when I'm whirling through the points of the work triangle. The only downside to our disparate styles is that, while he enjoys the results of my cooking, he refuses to take part in cleaning up what he considers an excessive amount of mess, despite my cleaning as I go. Cleanup has necessarily become my quiet time alone, listening to a book. :-D

Thanks for that link, liuzhou; there are some great ideas there. I have some good, fresh green beans that need to be eaten in the next day or two, and that salad with green beans and mint looks just the ticket.

I wish I could trust the cases of "Colorado Peaches" presently in our grocery store. They don't have a bit of peach smell, and they're so hard and green I fear they were picked too early. This situation hasn't applied every year. As it happens, we'll be near Steamboat Springs this weekend. Maybe some enterprising person will have a 'farm stand' based out of their truck. Last year I really scored on the way through Grand Junction - admittedly, closer to the produce than Steamboat.

Welcome, culerydrammer. If you'd like, this is a good place to tell us more about what you like, where you live, that sort of thing. Do you have any favorite foods? Do you do any cooking for yourself, and if so, what do you like to cook?

Thanks for letting us know how it all worked out! The food looks delicious, all of it. I'm sure your guests felt very welcomed without being uncomfortably fussed-over. What is the yellow item in the grilled Mediterranean salad? Yellow bell pepper? Grilled peach?

That's very interesting! I really hadn't tuned in to the wide variety of celery uses in those cultures; it makes me wonder why I didn't notice it in Egypt. Thanks for posting those links. There's enough there to keep me busy exploring celery in more depth, and not necessarily relegating it to a bit player.

My name is Nancy, and I'm an allgoneaphobic. I have more than one shelf half-filled with hoarded materials: the last jams and jellies my mother made, exotic spices from Egypt, interesting sauces from some place that I'll probably never visit again. I've been making a conscious attempt to work through them, and I'm turning out some interesting one-off meals. One-off meals are a dilemma: if my darling doesn't ask me to make sure I remember what I did, then I know it wasn't a hit; if he does, then I have to stammer and say, "I just used xxyy up and can't get any more." My sister and I have a pact to no longer hoard things we buy and give each other. Last spring while in Florida I bought some jars of a great garlic sauce and garlic/tomato dip; I kept some and sent her some as a present, with the reminder not to hoard it. So far I've only opened one jar, and I'm willing to bet that she hasn't touched her stash of it. I don't dare ask.

Welcome, Stacy! Good for you for pursuing your dreams. Is your current workplace close enough to the Capitol to get a lot of business? What's the baking scene in Sacramento?

That sounds great! I was on a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean train of thought because of the kofta, but your treatment also sounds delicious. Who cares whether it came from home or a celebrity cook, as long as it's good?

Shelby, that looks so luscious I can almost smell it from here. Do you know what variety of peach that is? They look as though they're dead-ripe, at the peak of perfection.

Welcome to the forums, Emanuel Diogo. It isn't clear - to me, at least - whether you're looking for basic cookbooks for beginners, cookbooks to improve your existing skills, or cookbooks about new techniques or cuisines altogether. Do you already like to cook? If so, at what level, and what sorts of food? What would you like to learn? If you're not sure, what sorts of food do you like to eat? Are you interested in learning to bake breads, cakes or pies? Are you interested in Modernist cookery? Answers to these questions will help us give you useful suggestions. If you're looking for cookbooks for beginners, you may find this topic interesting: Best Cookbooks for Beginners.

This is one of my favorite summer treatments, adapted from a recipe in the June/July 2003 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine: Pesto-stuffed chicken breasts. (Sorry, I can't find a link to such an old issue.) Butterfly the breast, lay and pound it flat, spread with pesto. Roll or fold the breast back up (which you do depends on how thick it is), and tie it. Brown gently - so the breast doesn't get overcooked - in vegetable oil, then add a braising liquid of your choice (water, chicken broth, white wine, a mixture). Cover and give it time to cook, keeping in mind that chicken breast doesn't take long. Remove the breasts to a covered serving dish, and keep warm. Increase the heat under the skillet, and start cooking the sauce down. Toss in cherry tomatoes toward the end, and cook just long enough to warm them, not enough to pop them. Untie the chicken breast, serve the sauce and tomatoes over it. If you wish, you can slice the chicken crosswise to show rolls with bits of pesto in each slice; you can also make extra sauce and serve with rice.

It's a shame nobody answered you before now! My advice would have been to slice the eggplant lengthwise, score the cut face lightly (to allow more oil to seep in), brush with a blend of EVOO and oregano (and minced garlic, if you have it); grill face down until it browns, flip up and put on indirect heat until cooked through (soft). Eggplant collapses quickly once it starts, and it's easy to burn, so you can't have it over direct heat for very long. Brush once more with the oil/garlic mixture, sprinkle chopped parsley and/or mint over it and let that soak in while the kofta finishes cooking. Now, what did you actually do, and how did it come out?

*Ba-DA-Bump!* Seriously, now that I'm done laughing I'm thinking that is an outstanding name for a specialty sub at a place with old tools. Talk about distinguishing the deli from the rest of the pack!

I think it all sounds great. Based on my (admittedly limited) experience with diabetics, I think he'll have plenty of wonderful food from which to choose. As for the stevia: I recommend you ask him about that - or any other sugar replacements - before using it as a sweetener. I don't think it's an issue for diabetics, but I'm not sure; furthermore, I personally think the stuff is vile. If he feels the same way it would be a shame to ruin the dessert! It sounds like you're going to have a wonderful visit, and they'll feel blessed by your thoughtful hospitality. As others have said before me: relax now, and have fun! Edit: I previously overlooked your statement that his wife is allergic to nuts. I retract my approval of pecans. :-)

I'm no artist, but I'll play along. To me, black and white with maybe a pop of red sounds like an ice cream parlor, and also a bit clashy with the green and yellow of the BP station. Depending on how the 'pop' is done, what about doing a pop of yellow with that black and white, instead of the red? (I am NOT suggesting red and yellow together; that's been done.) Another idea: if it were to take on the feel of a 50's diner with the decor, would that appeal to the crowd you have in mind? Yet another idea: you need something for people to look at while they're waiting (you hope not too long). What about historic photos of your area, things that would appeal to the type of work done around there?

Kerry, what about with chocolate chips instead of, or in addition to, the pecans? (Can you tell I'm a chocolate junkie? :-))

Are you referring to the bar cookies that are like brownies in shape and texture, but not predominantly chocolate? (American and British terms sometimes differ.) If so, a lot of people over here think they're great. I've always preferred brownies. Edit: Kerry's answer is much better than mine. :-)

Franci, that is gob-smacking gorgeous. There are rare times when I regret moving away from Big City life. Your post and photos bring me such a pang. What did you eat that with? Freshly toasted slices of some toothsome bread? Crackers? Slices of the best vegetables available? Or merely the very best, most ethereal wine? ;-)