Smithy

That is exactly my sense of this blog. The three of you are very articulate and have been providing interesting discourse during the week, in addition to interesting food and scenery shots. Before this blog closes, I hope you'll post more about this book - or else post about it later, in a separate topic. I'm really curious about the book and have been considering adding to to my already-overblown collection.

It's funny you should bring this topic up right now, Maggie. I've been tending a very healthy pot of flat-leaf (Italian) parsley that I brought into the house for the winter. Why? Well, last fall it was on a whim, based on defiance against the onset of winter as much as any firm ideas of indoor herb gardens. But then somehow, after the plant came indoors, I realized that parsley is packed with flavor, and flat-leaf parsley seems even more so. How could I have missed it before? Suddenly, that indoor plant is losing stems and leaves left and right. Want a garnish over that drab winter stew? Parsley. Want something to liven up that pasta carbonara? Parsley. Parsley in salads, parsley on potatoes, parsley on cooked red meat or fish or chicken, parsley in salad dressing: you name it, we've tried it lately. In the meantime, the kittens love to nestle in the pot, cuddling in the fragrant stems. Later, they awake refreshed from their bright green dreams, ready to revive and/or terrorize the household anew, all aroma and vitality.

So far nobody has mentioned the smelt fry. No, it isn't a redundant term, it's what happens up here during the smelt run. Smelt, for those of you who don't know, are small fresh-water fish, a freshwater version of the grunion. Come to think of it, California Coasters have the grunion run, although it may not count as a food-verb event since it's the fish's activity, not the humans'.

That's a good point. For my part, I'm inclined to place at least as much blame on the relentless advertising ("Eat this! You'll have fun, and everyone else does it!") that permeates our popular culture as on the psychological issues. Or is that advertising barrage one of the psychological issues to which you refer?

I wouldn't wish that sort of bullying and ridicule off on anyone, so I agree with you on that point. I would ask, however: how would you see such a program making things worse than they are already, with regard to finding scapegoats? If such ridicule still happens now (and I suspect it does), how would attempting to teach children proper nutrition, so they can stay more fit, be counterproductive?

My hollandaise sauce has dijon mustard in it, and sometimes I use white wine vinegar instead of butter. To me it's a lovely, tasty sauce with some buttery notes, but I don't think it tastes like glorified lemon butter.

I don't have that particular Cuisinart ice cream maker, but that won't stop me posting a link to my favorite recipe: Ruth Smith's Peach Ice Cream (or nectarine, or plum, or a mixture). The link is to where I posted it in RecipeGullet. You may have to wait until the summer for decent fruit, however. I'm glad for the notes above about sorbet. I'm on a pomegranate kick right now, and happily scored some for juicing before the season ended. Pomegranate sorbet is coming up soon.

My trick for minimizing the amount of oil an eggplant slice soaks up is to brush it on each slice, then bake at high heat (or even broil) prior to assembly in something like eggplant parmesan, or moussaka. I do like the looks of the panko crumbs, though. Sandy, did you find that the egg and crumbs helped prevent the eggplant from soaking up too much oil?

I've been through my first bottle of it. I don't know that it tasted identifiably like kalamat olives, but it definitely had its own pleasant flavor: fruity, not as fruity as some other olive oils, but not at all grassy or herbaceous; perhaps a touch of piquancy that my regular faves are lacking. I liked it, and plan to pick up more the next time I'm at a TJ's.

OK, what did Satchel Paige say about fried foods? Sandy, thanks for your excellent photos of your area. I've spent a little time in the East, but I'm still surprised when I see woods so near major metropolitan areas. The railroad and canal shots have an especially evocative feel. ...and yes, I'll bite: what's the tale you tell about yourself that might be either amusing or mildly insulting? This is an interesting blog for me to read on, and I'm learning a lot. Thanks to all three of you for the open discussions about body image and cultural influences.

Sandy, I'm curious about some of your wording. If you've explained this before, I've missed it. You refer to the time that you were "sober". Now it appears you're drinking some alcohol, no doubt in moderation. Are you trying to imply that you aren't generally sober, or that one must be a teetotaller to be sober? Or am I misunderstanding something? In my experience, one who writes the way you do is probably sober at the time of writing. My mother recently had to change her diet due to renal failure in combination with diabetes. It was startling to see how many of the foods formerly considered to be best for you (whole-grain breads, for instance) suddenly had to go. I'll be interested to see how you deal with the vegetable thing as the week goes on, and hoping to pick up more tips for her.

I wonder if a good heavy ceramic liner in the oven, right up the sides, would do the trick? That would get the heat more evenly distributed. I'm too cheap to spend the money on an expensive oven insert, but I've been considering the purchase of a lot of firebrick, now that I know what a difference my baking stone makes. Along the same line of thinking, I wonder whether a convection oven cranked way high would more nearly mimic the over/under flames of the commercial oven. Has anyone here tried that?

Well. Here's my next question, directed mostly (I suppose) at CaliPoutine, but I'd be interested in the others' take on it as well. Although I can understand the value of a point system - it's easy, it helps you balance your choices - for changing a diet, I can't imagine using it myself. I swear, you trotted out the points just now and my mind seized up as though it were already tax time. If I were to try something like that, I think its chief benefit would be that the very effort of dealing with it would put me off food. Did you have to do any mental gymnastics or calming exercises to take on the approach of points? Or did it just work for you, right from the get-go?

I'm looking forward to this triple-threat blog. Congrats to all of you on your progress so far. I'll be interested to follow along and see your different strategies. A question for MzD: what do you mean by "rush-y" with regard to food?

I LOVE the sound of that compound butter. It's a good thing I just came back home with a bunch of Meyers. For those of you who are roasting whole chickens: are you roasting it covered or uncovered? Let's have a summary, please, of the following: - cooking vessel - covered or uncovered - approximate time and temperature

The last photo looks like Southern California. San Diego? Are we to be treated again to Miz Ducky's fine hospitality?

I assume you've already considered eating it straight on crackers, or dipping it with a spoon. I've done that when I was out of Manchego. I haven't tried this myself yet, but I'm wondering about using fruit paste to flavor a sauce (say, a roasted chicken sauce) or thinning it with enough liquid to use it as a glaze on meat (say, a roasting chicken) or stuffing it under the skin of a chicken prior to roasting. Quince and lamb is a good combination, too. It's an idea. If like to bake, you could also consider using membrillo as the filling for a sweet cookie or pastry. Think of fig bars, but with quince paste instead.

Don't forget paprika chicken! Here's Rachel Perlow's take on it: <clickety> from the "Paprika: Confessions of an Addict" topic - which, I might add, is about due for a revival. Further on in the thread are other takes on it - including my version, in which the joys of paprika were fully appreciated for the first time. Taking it in a completely different direction: what about a tamarind glaze on that chicken skin as it's roasting? Edited to correct an attribution.

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?