Smithy

*bump* I received a copy of this book from a generous friend (many thanks, Susan!) and have been enjoying the exploration. So far I haven't followed anything faithfully, but I've learned terrific things about pork roasting and... oh, my... endives. The braised endives are WONDERFUL. We weren't sure what to expect, neither of us being familiar with this particular vegetable. The silky texture and complex flavors were very satisfying, and a nutty aroma that I still haven't been able to explain pervaded the house, driving us both wild with anticipation. My confirmed-carnivore husband announced that this meal, with its oh-so-small amount of prosciutto, could be a stand-alone meal. I agree. This recipe's a keeper.

I don't see Otis! He's usually right there if you're cooking! (Whisper Pssst-someone left THE door open in this picture) Best of luck, we're excited about this. Luvya ← This is so funny. When I read Ted's comment I looked at the picture and wondered why anyone would object to having the door open to the living room! It wasn't until you posted your followup picture that I realized there are TWO doors in the original photo. By the way, Ted, that's a beautiful island you built.

Kim, this is going to be a great week! And welcome to Mr. Kim too! First off, congratulations on the weight loss. Some GB stories haven't come out as well as yours. I'm glad your is working so well and leaving you looking so terrific! Second: I love love love the cookbook collection! I see a lot of overlap between my library and yours: lots of old friends there in your collection. Which do you most regularly use? Finally (for now): with all my cookbooks and magazines, I keep seeing more recipes that I want to try than I have time or we have meals. There's always a stack of mags and books with little sticky notes in them, until I go on a cleaning binge and stuff them away, untried, for future efforts. How do you keep track of the "must-try" recipes as well as the "must-do-again" recipes? Have you hit on some wonderful cross-referencing system?

Hmm. Engineer. Aerospace engineer! With tidy shelves! Chris, you're doomed. I foresee a life of being the design engineer who sets up his plans and specs just so, then shouts at those crazy R&D types who tack on impossible additions, and those wild test pilots who try things your designs were never intended to do. Doomed, I tell ya. But I do admire your cupboards!

Those are funny signs! The lunch looks terrific. In light of their insistence on the clean plate club membership, it's a good thing you had an appetite. Great blog, Chris.

Erm. Unless the video that started all this topic has fraudulent photos of the fruit being harvested, we're actually talking about 2 different plants. The photos of the fruit of the tomato tree, or tamarillo, which Anne Cros quoted just above, do not look like the fruit being harvested in Daniel's video. The article from "The Cultivator" that I linked to discussed the tree in Daniel's video, and again, I don't think it's the same as Anne's tamarillo.

An article in this issue of "The Cultivator", from the University of Illinois Extension Service for Champaign County, discussed the Giant Tree Tomato and other fantastic hybrids. The writer says that the "Giant Tree Tomato" is actually an heirloom tomato. She was disappointed and discontinued her project due to the difficulty of the winter's indoor gardening and this plant's susceptibility to disease, although she did also say that other people might have better success. The article start on Page 2 and is titled "'Tis the Season", in case the link takes you to the first page instead. Edited: spelling

Definitely not, based on the photos from the two web sites. Good lord, that giant tomato tree advert looks like the inspiration for an old cult classic movie. Who else remembers "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"?

I think the testing opportunities may have declined due to the rising membership. I've been a member for 7 years, I think. In that time I've tested some things I didn't especially care for - spice mixes and the like - but I also tested (and got to keep) a set of LampsonSharp knives. I use those daily. I have learned a lot from the magazine over the years, but now I may be past getting much from it. I'm not sure whether it's because the magazine has declined or my skills have improved; it might be a bit of both. I don't know whether I'm going to renew the membership this year. The marketing could be worse; I only notice 2 offers per year. There's the annual Life Membership invitation - pay an outrageous sum and never have to pay for membership again, and get the bonus of some stuff I definitely don't need. There's also the annual "try before you buy" marketing campaign, in which one can test-drive certain products for a month before deciding to buy them. They are wildly overpriced. I'm chagrined to admit that I didn't realize how badly overpriced their products were until after I purchased a fine nonstick electric "dutch oven" that I really don't need anyway. I could have gotten it for far less money elsewhere. In short: I may not keep the membership up, but it was a good way for me to start learning about cooking.

That's a hilarious vignette, beautifully illustrated. I love the way you tell stories!

I would like the recipe for the Jachnun, and I'd also like to know about making slow-roasted popcorn. What an interesting concept! I'd never heard of Kent gravy or Shakshukhah before now, but under any name it looks delicious. Thanks for that information. Ilana, your descriptions of life in your area, and your customs, and the ways observant Jews and not-so-observant Jews vary their lives, are fascinating and beautifully shown. This is a wonderful tour. That is a profound and true observation. We should emblazon that on our mirrors, our sidewalks, our houses, and write it across the sky! I see that while I've been posting, you've posted photos of the meat market. I'm so glad there are still places where people know what their food comes from. It makes for a better connection to the world; a better awareness of how one fits in and affects his or her world. I think we need more of that in the USA. It's very easy over here to pretend that food just magically appears in the freezers and refrigerators. Oh, and I never did the hibiscus thing, but used to take the single bell-like petal off our trumpet vine flowers and sip that nectar. It made the hummingbirds unhappy, since I was eating their food! Edited: spelling

Thanks for that additional information, Mark. I'll have to break out Roden's book again; the pumpkins hadn't registered on me before. That was a neat link, too!

That IS an excellent way to drain the oil from the eggplant! Thanks for the tip! The stew and the eggplant dishes look fabulously tasty. I recognize okra (bamya to me). Is the leafy green kale? Do most homes there have solar panels on their roofs? How much energy do those panels supply? Where else does your electricity come from? I have a "thing" about those aluminum cookpots. In Cairo, in the proper sector of the Old City, you can see workmen making those by placing disks of aluminum in stamping machines. They're so perfect and neat and shiny, I always want to bring some home. I never do, settling instead for clay pots. But still I admire those pots with their honest simplicity. Your evening shots may have missed what you think of as the best time, but they still convey a sense of peaceful settling-in for the night. It's lovely.

I was hoping you'd weigh in, Adam. Your knowledge and humor are always a pleasure. Anyone else?

OK, so I'm still up, marveling at your blog. Your house looks beautiful, inside and out. I especially like the counters. What kind of stone are they? Is your house a fairly typical house in terms of construction and design? Is it fairly new? It looks very comfortable and stylish, as though someone had designed it lovingly to last a good lifetime. This fall I made pomegranate concentrate by juicing pomegranates and cooking the juice down to syrup. It was so beautifully, deeply colored that I couldn't resist, and it shines at me from the freezer, a warm garnet in the depths of winter white. Now it's sitting in my freezer waiting for me to use it. Pomegranate sorbet is a possibility. There are sauces that feature pomegranate juice and walnuts. Still, I think I'm missing something. What do you do with your pomegranate syrup that hasn't been sweetened? Once you've answered that question, please tell me what you do with the fig syrup. Finally, I'm lusting after the chocolates you've shown us, just like most of the other readers. They look lovely!

I. ABSOLUTELY. MUST. go to bed now. But darn, it's fun staying up late in my time zone and visiting your blog! Aside from the fact that reading your blog is more delicious than going to bed, I love the contrast in our time zones: my day must wind down, and yours is just beginning anew!

Y'all wait. Pretty soon, someone who lives on a boat will one-down you with a shot of their galley. Failing that, I'll show you a photo of my mother's apartment, next time I get there for a photo. I was really proud of myself, last Christmas, cranking out some fine braised short ribs, rice'n'sauce, and steamed vegetables, with about 2 square feet of counter space.

I just got back from a cookery class tonight featuring vegetarian dishes. The first course was a "Moroccan vegetarian soup" that featured pumpkin, carrots, zucchini and asparagus along with other ingredients that I consider more universal: onion, garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper. The garnish was basil. It was good, but I was surprised at its billing as "Moroccan". When I asked the teacher what made this a Moroccan dish, he said that pumpkins are in common use around the Mediterranean, and that he was doing a riff on a Moroccan Pumpkin soup he'd gotten from somewhere. Really? Pumpkins and other winter squash are a New World food. I know foods have migrated both ways across the waters, so pumpkins may have migrated to North Africa - but I've never heard about it before. Are pumpkins in common use in Morocco now? Would a soup featuring pumpkin, asparagus, carrots and zucchini be a likely find over there? If so, what spices would one expect to find in that soup? ObTranslationCheck: he was quite definitely using puree of what we Yanks call pumpkin - you know, the big orange things that get turned into Jack O'Lanterns or, if sweeter, pies.

Comfort yourself, Rachel. Caro may have been lurking patiently on eBay until the right deal came along, or gone to a Le Creuset outlet, coupons in hand for just the right time and discount. Or she may have won a lottery ticket and thought you were well worth the winnings. I would.

Aha, finally I know why I haven't been able to find recipes for hatzilim, under any spelling! There's a market in Minneapolis that makes and sells a salad they call "chatzilim". It has finely chopped cooked eggplant and a ton of garlic and I don't know what else. It doesn't have tehina. It's delicious and garlicky, to the point that you really need to warn someone if you've been eating it and they haven't. I thought it was a special salad, instead of just the Hebrew word for "eggplant". Thanks for the lesson! This morning it was -25C when I got up. Yesterday it warmed up to -18C before it started cooling down again. We've had a very long string of very cold nights, unusual for this time of year, although February usually is cold. There's quite a bit of snow on the ground, too. No palm trees here! Edited: spelling

Funny you should mention that. I live well in the interior of the USA and may not have typical delivery, but I've never seen scallops in the shell here in Minnesota. Mussels, oysters, clams, shrimp - yes. Scallops, no. I wonder if the shells are kept for sale elsewhere?

Oh, where to start on my comments and compliments? The shuk photos are so lively, I can almost hear the hubbub and smell the produce as the sun warms my skin. The glorious disarray of an open market is such fun, and there's little to match the luxury of the greens and the fruits and the garlic, artichokes, eggplant, tomatoes - all in piles of plenty, properly shaded. That is wealth of the best kind. The weather - well, our sky is almost as blue today, but it's a dry born of cold. It does me good to see palm trees and signs of a warmer clime. Thank you specifically for the tehina sauce instructions and pictures. I've been trying and failing to make it properly for a couple of years. It either seizes up (like chocolate with water) or tastes funny. Your photos will give me a guide. Maybe I need to start with another brand of tahina paste... Do you make baba ghanoush in some form? What about chatzilim? I'd love to see some of that, if you've a mind. Chatzilim is something I can't find very often out here, and I don't know how to make it. Actually, I'm loving whatever you post. You're giving us a marvelous tour!

Why? If you're worried about pesticides, give the peel a good scrubbing first. If not, what scares you about it? We used to eat regular (Eureka) lemons, peel and all. It was a tart but pleasant experience, at least for teenagers bent on freaking out the city slickers. (Actually, although I am no longer a teenager, I still sometimes eat the lemon peel.) Meyer lemon peel is less acidic than your standard lemon peel, and therefore less assertive. One other thing to think about, if you're worried about eating citrus peel: kumquats. The peel is the best part.

Oh, what glorious-looking food! And your daughter is a real cutie! How warm is it there now? Go ahead, make us envious.

I do love spices and spice markets. I can almost smell the variety from here! When you take us to shuk, please be sure to describe the atmosphere there - the people, how they interact, how (and how hard) they bargain, whether they talk with their hands or show restraint. Tell us anything else you can think of to go along with your photos! What do you do with your bottled pomegranate syrup? Oh, and you're off to a great start with the cat and dog photos, and your family! You certainly have a handsome son!