Smithy

By a strange coincidence, I was in Santa Fe on the night of the 29th. I wish I'd known you were blogging then; I could have used this wonderful blog as a city guide for the night! Thanks so much for showing aspects of the city that we missed that night. It gives us something to shoot for on our next visit. If it isn't too late to ask another question: do you know if your sink basins were made locally? I've seen a similar basin in a blog out of Utah. Now I'm wondering what it would take to get one up to Minnesota. Wouldn't THAT be startling, against our North Woods architecture?! Thanks again for the blog. I'm sorry I came at the very last moment of the party, but I've enjoyed this glimpse into a lovely cross-cultural life.

I'm not so sure key lime pie goes with Miami (as opposed to the Keys and the grove areas) although I could be wrong about that. What about Cuban sandwiches?

I think v. gautam gives some good advice. As a followup, allow me to give you these links (click on the blue text to go there): Foodman's "Introduction to Lebanese Cuisine", in the eGullet Culinary Institute (there's a link on the first post to the Q&A section) Beautiful Algeria, chefzadi's thread in this Middle Eastern subforum, which doesn't give as many recipes but should certainly get your mind racing. Have fun! There are not only a goodly number of real Middle-Eastern cooks among the eGullet membership, but there are also a lot of enthusiasts who are interested in the topic. As you keep posting, you're sure to get more pointers, as well as advice, comments, and good communication.

I'm home, looking at my pen-style digital thermometer. I was going to take photos of it, but here it is without my having to shoot, download, post, etc: Taylor TruTemp 3519N Digital Pen-style Thermometer. (The model in question is well down the page; keep scrolling.) I paid less than $20 for it, possibly at Target. The range is -40/+450F or -40/+230C, and you can switch scales with the press of a button. As I noted above, this came up to temperature within 5 seconds and was within 1 degree of the temperature it should have been at freezing and boiling water temperatures. The readout is to 0.1 degree. I don't know whether it's accurate enough to justify that precision. I know my cooking isn't precise to the tenth of a degree. There's a clip on the back so this will clip to a pocket, much as a pen would. The sheath has to be pulled off using two hands, at least by my hands, in order to put the probe in meat. (The sheath has holes to allow air or water to pass through, so fluids can be measured without removing the sheath. It would be a pain to clean that part later, however.) As much as I love gadgets, I can't see myself spending almost 5 times as much for something that I can unfold with one hand. This is easily good enough for me, given my usage patterns and non-pro status.

Why wouldn't the wire probe work as an oven probe? And have you considered using a dual-input smoker unit with high-temperature probes? (I did cook the probes of my first Redi-Check remote-sensing unit in my smoker; when I went looking for replacement probes, I purchased a new Redi-Check Maverick Remote-Sensing unit with high-temperature probes. So far they've survived.) With such a unit you could keep track of both the oven and the meat temperatures. FWIW I checked the calibration and response time of my digital thermometers yesterday. The Redi-Check units ($40 or $50) and the cheapo instant-read pen thermometer that I picked up for under $20 were within 1 deg. F of each other and of the calibration point (both ice water in a well-chilled glass, and boiling water). I saw the same effects noted above: pen thermometer responded more quickly and had less thermal mass to influence its surroundings; of course, it isn't designed to stay in the oven, and the probes of the others are. Given the ease of use, accuracy and response time of the pen thermometer, I can't see a reason to spend so much on a Thermapen. When I get home tonight I'll check the manufacturer again, as well as whether it changes scale - I've forgotten both those details. I picked it up at a local hardware store so I'd have something for camping trips. It came up to temperature within 5 seconds, plenty quick enough for me. Getting back to FG's original point, however, I'm still working on how to use the instrument so it gives me the correct information. This weekend I experimented with trying different probes in different parts of the meat, and using the same probe in different areas (with the oven door open, losing heat rapidly). I think it will come to developing different procedures for different cuts of meat.

Wow, and wow again. Thank you for the beautiful and witty writing, glorious photos, and glimpses into a different world! The food looks glorious, and like Lucy, I'm dreaming of bone marrow, ox tails and champagne. I'm with lancastermike on this one: how can anyone top this blog? Congratulations on selling an article, Abra!

While a souffle would be lovely, I'm thinking that a walnut tart might be a fitting end, although it might not be especially light. A walnut cake, perhaps? What about an apple tart studded with candied walnuts? Or could one pulverize some of those walnuts and use walnut flour in the pastry crust?

If it isn't inappropriate, I'd like to know how trash and garbage are handled there, as opposed to in the USA or (Klary?) the Netherlands. For instance: that chicken head that went into the bin. Do you have to worry about animals getting into the trash? (Does Beppo find any foodstuffs irresistable?) Is there recycling there? Composting? Have there been surprises for either of you? I admit, some of these questions have come from reading Abra's blog, so if it seems out of bounds, I apologize.

The light glows in your photos and words. Thank you all for this luminous blog. Thanks also for the early morning catnap photo of Beppo. Is there anything more peaceful and charming than a sleeping cat? That is the quintessence of relaxation and security. If I were to look at a map to see your location, where would I look? "The South of France" is pretty broad. I'd love to see, in my mind's eye, myself driving (or training) out through that lovely countryside. Oh, and just to get back to food for a moment - yes, I've been drooling - what does epoisses taste like? That oozy glorious-looking photo makes me want to try the cheese, but I confess not to being fond of stinky cheese.

Lovely, all of it: simply (or - whom am I kidding!? - not so simply) lovely. ...and despite having a houseful of cats and kittens right now, all charming and loving, I look at Beppo and melt. He looks so much like my Tab Hunter, gone this past spring to his final hunting ground. I do love tabbies.

You all are very fortunate, to have gotten together over there and be getting to know each other. It is OUR extraordinary good fortune that you're all such accomplished cooks, photographers and bloggers! This is a really fun blog. I like Klary's comment about keeping an open mind toward trying new dishes. I, too, might not have thought to try stuffing and boiling a chicken, but I will now. A question for y'all: after the chicken is cooked, do you then flake the meat off the bone? If so, what do you do with the skin? The wing in one of those photos doesn't look like something you'd serve intact.

Chris, I've never used a sieve one-handed, nor used one for sifting flour, so I may not be qualified to answer. Now that I've got that prevarication out of the way, I'll tell you what I think are the likely benefits: 1. The sieves I've seen have had a different geometry: either much wider and shallower (drum sieves) or, if you're including a standard strainer in the "sieve" category, almost hemispherical. Neither shape is as well-suited for rapid shaking of large volumes of material over a small area as the tall, narrow, nearly cylindrical shape of a sifter. My drum sieves might be good for shaking flour over a large bread-baking bowl, but if I tried to use one over my standard mixing bowl I'd have flour all over the counter. My strainers don't hold more than a cup of material at a time, and if I give one the same shaking motion that I can give my sifter I'll be spilling material over the top of the strainer, thereby bypassing the whole operation. 2. The Oxo to which I refer allows a very rapid hand motion, using only one hand. I think it must be because you're really shaking the internal scrapers (which are attached to the handle) instead of the entire mass of the sifter and flour; once you get going, the cylinder of the sifter doesn't move much. With a rigid sieve, you'll be moving the entire mass of flour and sieve; it's more tiring, and more prone to spillage. (If that doesn't make sense, ask - I'll restate, perhaps with some photos.) 3. I think the little scrapers atop the screen provide a bit better mechanical action than the simple friction of flour particles atop one another, as with a standard drum sieve or strainer. If nothing else they should break up some of the softer clumps that flour-on-flour friction wouldn't break. Edited for (I hope) clarity

I have the Oxo Good Grips sifter. I think it's terrific. I gave my mother one, back when she was still baking, and she also thought it was terrific. I like these things about it: 1. It doesn't tire out my hand, the way the squeezer-handle type did; the shaking back and forth is quite easy; 2. It doesn't require 2 hands, the way the hoop-and-crank sifter (our family heirloom) did; 3. It has lids for top and bottom, so it doesn't make messes when I store it. I do not find it slow. All these points have been brought up already. One thing that hasn't been mentioned before is that it really does have a comfortable grip. I think this particular Oxo Good Grip lives up to its name.

Let's see, I think I was about 40. I'd invited my adopted extended family over for Thanksgiving at my house: 670 square feet of house, 17 people for Thanksgiving dinner, no problem! I was elated. Until I realized, the day of the feast, that I knew how to cook a turkey but hadn't a clue how to make gravy. Fortunately, Joan and Kate were first to arrive. "Quick!" I urged, "help!" They came in, showed me their tried-and-true flour and water slurry method, and it worked like a charm. I love the slurry method and use it to this day. Oh, and the dinner? We had a great time. Folks sat on the couch, the piano bench, at the table, at a card table...afterward, we chatted and played piano and sang while the kids played in a bedroom, and the dog kept making the rounds to be petted. After everyone left, I found small-child handprints in unlikely places: on the walls below the bed level, and on the ceiling above the bed. Clearly, the kids had a great time as well.

If I were one of those guests, I'd be extremely pleased to take some of those interesting ingredients. And then said interesting ingredients would be there in MY pantry, adding to the clutter. Why, even as I write I have a package of apricot paste and a jar of home-cured olives from friends who were clearing out their kitchen prior to remodeling, about a year ago. My pantry and cupboards have overflowed with chickpea flour, home-made jellies, Trader Joe's condiments, dried chilis that looked interesting for which I had no specific use in mind, various vinegars and oils and barley flour and nuts and noodles and canned goods and bagged goods and.... Then there are the ingredients and condiments that we do use, which we stock up on when we can. (In truth, most Trader Joe's condiments fall into this category.) Everything's muddled together in there. I've thought about starting a topic titled "Pantry roulette: help me use up this stuff!" or making it the theme of a foodblog. Every once in a while we'll start working our way down through the mess, but just as we're making progress we'll go away on a trip and find more exotic ingredients. I really like the idea of the crate on the counter! ETA: Expiration dates? Not to worry, Peter. Some of us don't bother looking at them.

Holy smokes, that's a lotta stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing the 10 dishes you make with it. I'm enjoying your blog, and glad to see you back online. What certain birds or certain seafood is excluded from Halal cookery, do you know? I knew about the pork, but clearly, I have more to learn.

The kitchen is beautiful! Congratulations! I would watch TV in the kitchen more if I had a small TV and a place to put it - and yes, sometimes I roll the spare TV and VCR on their cart into the kitchen. The set are too large and intrusive to leave in the kitchen, and too cumbersome to roll back and forth for only an evening, so most of my late-night cleanup relies instead on a portable DVD player or music. Will you be sacrificing vital counter space if you put a TV in? Are you considering an under-the-counter model?

That is too funny. We have a chowcat in the house, but as far as I can tell I'm the only resident who likes olives. I like the photomontage!

I've thoroughly enjoyed the photos - of wonderful pets, fine foods, excellent cooking - as well as the writeups. I am agog at Corti's, and envious of the Farmer's Market. It reminds me anew, as if I needed reminding, just how short the growing season is out here compared to there. (It IS too bad the Meyer Lemon seller picked so many lemons still green.) Thanks for giving us such a good pictorial glimpse into the Atkins lifestyle. Thanks for doing such a lovely blog!

Thanks for your prompt and informative responses! With regard to the potato gratin recipe, I found it while you were answering my questions. Here's a link to Potato Gratin with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone Cheese, on Epicurious.com. Thanks again!

Now that I'm catching up from our Thanksgiving runaround, I have a few comments and questions. First, THANK YOU for showing the source of your potato mushroom recipe. That does look to die for, and I'll be looking around to see if I can get that magazine and/or the recipe. Perhaps it's on Bon Appetit's web site. Second, I want to congratulate you on being able to type at all, much less post so coherently and with such lovely photos. If I'd helped polish off that many bottles of wine, I'd have a hangover the size of Tennessee 2 days later. It sure looked like fun, though, and the table setting was gorgeous. You keep talking about ketosis and wanting to stay in it. This is something I've read before about Atkins, and it puzzles me. Back in my first-responder days, ketosis (there may have been a modifying term that I've forgotten) was a clue that somebody's body chemistry was way out of whack - like they were going into shock, or pushing the envelope of a diabetic problem, or - I've forgotten what it meant except that it was really very NOT good. And I could smell it on the victim's breath. Yet ketosis seems to be what you're shooting for with Atkins. How are the two phenomena different? Do you know? We're toying with the idea of adding a kitchen island for the sake of counter space. Yours looks great. My question is whether I'll be sorry to forever have something I have to go around; right now we have an open floor. You noted that you love the counter space. What's your take on the island vs. floor space tradeoff? Fridge shots and animal shots - oh, my! What a happy lot you seem to have around! And I'm glad you didn't try to clean out the fridge first. Those shots give me an inferiority complex. Finally: was that a bottle of Davis Bynum wine I saw peeking out in one of the drawers? I love their stuff. Edited to add: The recipe IS on Epicurious.com!

What a cool tour! I would NOT have guessed that Lodi grapes contribute to some of the Napa or Sonoma wines. Thanks! - even though I've now got John Fogerty's voice stuck in my head. Again. Oh, Lord.

I'll be really interested in what you have to say about Lodi wines. The place is so doggoned hot in the summer, I have trouble imagining them producing anything better than cheapo-jug wines, like what Gallo made when I was growing up. If the wineries you tour today have anything to say about special considerations for summer heat, I hope you'll include that information. I'm looking forward to your photos. Blue valley skies can be a wonderful thing, especially if you have to contrast them with the usual Valley tule fog. Have you had much of that yet? There was a humdinger in Fresno a couple of weeks back. Your food photos are wonderful. I commend the designer on the layout of the raw ingredients! Oh, and avocado on chili looks like a fine idea.

Ah, what a great blog. I LOVE Lava Cap's wines! I wish I could find them more often out this way. My sister brought a bottle of their pinot noir for Christmas one year, and it was a rare treat, showing me how wonderful pinto noir can be. I haven't been able to find it since. What is it about Cakebread's chardonnays that you like? I've pretty much given up on that wine, but maybe there's one out there worth trying. Animal count presently 3 adult cats, 5 kittens, and a large and boisterous Siberian Husky. I'm so glad to see someone else share the enthusiasm. And isn't it really just the case that cats will wake up at the odd times? I think they do it to make sure we know who's the boss. Oh, and - well, In-n-Out Burgers are a fine treat. They're even better if someone else is eating them. I may just have to try this low-carb thing, so I can eat In-n-Out without guilt.

That's valuable information, zoe b. Thanks for the update, and congratulations!