Smithy

Way upthread I asked about what looks like 2x4's sticking through the brickwork of your fire pit at home. When the dust settles, I'd still like to know what those really are, and why they're there. What a great party! The photo of the sycamore really drives home the summery feel.

What's the expected shelf life of paprika? I made a variant of my roast paprika chicken last night, with what seemed like insane amounts of paprika (as in, there is no such thing as "too much" ) combined with some other spices borrowed from a Moroccan recipe. The final result, while tender, seemed bitter . The Moroccan treatment of chicken has been stellar before. My paprika chicken has been stellar before. This time, the paprika/spices blend under the chicken skin seemed, well, gritty and bitter. So, did I goof somehow with the spices, or has my 6-months-open Pride of Szeged Sweet Paprika gone stale? I see Ronnie Suburban's recommendations upthread for Penzey's and The Spice House...but I'd hate to toss out half a can of good stuff if it wasn't the culprit.

I wandered into an antiques store today and came out $15 poorer, and 2 cookbooks richer: Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen and San Francisco ala Carte, by the Junior League of SFO. I took it as an excellent sign that this book had several Post-It ™ notes marking recipes that looked particularly good...that indicated that the previous owner and I had similar tastes. (On the other hand, since the precious owner got rid of the book, maybe it wasn't such a good sign! ) I was going to make the eggplant soup tonight, and ran out of time. Soon, soon.

Thank you SO MUCH for visiting the flour mill and posting photos! I love seeing examples of old technology still cranking away, doing what it was intended to do and doing it well. As long as they can keep the machinery running and there's water, they'll never want for power. Wonderful. That butter ruler rocks! It isn't much of an issue for me, since I usually get the sticks, but the Plugra and Kerry Gold I splurge on come in those funny flat 1/2-lb bricks. It does make for difficult measurement.

It's cold and rainy and windy up north here for about the 20th day in a row, and I'm planning a fine braise for this night's dinner, and I'm drooling over your feast. Wish I could be there to work for food. Please tell more about the pit. Amongst the bricks there are some things going through the walls, perpendicular to the bricks. They look like slightly off-square 2x4's to me. What are they really, and why are they there? Don't they burn? "Contraption Cooking".... That sounds like a classic to come, right up there with Manifold Destiny. Edited for format.

All the food looks wonderful! There's a section in FoodMan's Introduction to Lebanese Cuisine about making pita, and there's been further discussion about it elsewhere on this forum. As I understand it, you need to slap that dough onto a very hot surface with a high heat capacity - like a baking stone in a hot oven - to get the pocket. What happens is the dough starts to steam from the inside, and it puffs up. So far, the baking stone is the only way I've managed to get the pocket.

Since your kitchen is gutted, where will you doing all this prep work and cooking? It looks like a lot is coming in from outside sources, and maybe the brisket and jambalaya can be done at the party place. Still, that leaves the slaw and salad and cutting and arranging and...you don't have a kitchen! Do post photos as you have time, please!

Ufda.... They say madness is the touch of the god. I'd say you're inspired!

Oh boy, I agree with you. I'll never understand why they're are so popular. The burger looks really good, and so does that cheesy bread. ← If you like that delectable crispy skin of a really properly fried (or broiled) chicken, then wings are the part for you. Backs are right up there too, but one doesn't find them as readily in the deli department and they seem a lot bigger, so they're a tougher sell as appetizers. Mmm. Nice crispy wings. Mmm. Mind you, the thigh is my favorite part - lots of good chicken grease and tender moist meat in there - but wings are a close second for me. Am I guessing correctly that you're not wild about chicken skin?

Re the red meat and inflammation: Have you noticed a difference in your inflammation since you gave up red meat? (I know that's a tough one to quantify.) Did the doctor specify what it is about red meat that contributes to inflammation? I ask this because it may be worth more investigation on your part. My best friend, a physician herself, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her literature search turned up what she thinks is convincing evidence that a strict limitation on saturated fats helps mitigate the progress of the disease, and she changed her diet accordingly some years ago. She eats no more than 5 grams of saturated fat per day. That means no red meat, no dark chicken meat (or skin), no cheese, no butter, skim milk only...the list goes on. There's no restriction on unsaturated fats, but further research into the fats led her into the Omega-3 vs. Omega-6 fatty acids and the content of each in various cooking oils. One school of thought among dieticians and epidemiologists maintains that the Omega-6 fatty acids contribute to autoinflammatory (and/or autoimmune - I'm not clear on the distinction) diseases. The researchers in that camp point to the increased use of corn oil and corn oil products 20 to 30 years ago as being roughly coincident with the rise in autoimmune diseases in the United States, and say that it's no accident. These things are, of course, difficult to prove because there are so many variables in people's lives, lifestyles, and genetics. At any rate, since she's playing for all the marbles here, she sticks to canola and olive oil - those two have the best combinations of Omega 3 vs. Omega 6, and low saturated fat content. She thinks it might be helping, but there's no way really for her to know. Sorry if this is too far off-topic. I'm neither a dietician nor a physician, but I find this stuff pretty interesting, and it's quite relevant to issues like psoriatic arthritis. If you feel like expanding on what you've learned or experienced, I'd like to read more about it. On another note: too bad about the restaurant in London not allowing you to take photos! Does he know he just lost your business? Do you suppose he reads eGullet?

Where the hell do you work?!! I think that would terrify me more than anything. I would definitely be looking at my co-workers a little sideways after that. Yikes!!!! ← Heh. Our place used to have a full-blown biological research lab, water quality lab and general chemistry lab. One never knew when one would open the refrigerator and find dead sparrows, fish parts, or jars with mystery materials. Eventually the Management sprang for an "R&D" fridge so the science experiments would stay separate from the food.

I think mine kept for well over a year - maybe 2, given the way stuff hangs around in my cupboards - without deteriorating before I used it up.

Congratulations on those awards! Too bad about the carrot cake and the judges, though. I personally am not crazy about carrot cake, but I think I'd like it better with orange in the frosting. I'm always perturbed when I'm sure I have something in my refrigerator or freezer and discover that it isn't there. What's chicken Milanese? (I suppose we'll find out tonight.) My refrigerator is usually overblown and overstuffed with random condiments and those-looked-good-in-the-store produce. The staples are dijon mustard, parmesan and cheddar cheeses, mayonnaise, eggs, olives (2 or 3 types), lemons, half and half, and sun-dried tomatos in oil. In the freezer there's always some kind of chicken, bacon, frozen stocks, frozen juice from the excess lemons, and frozen herbs munched up into olive oil. Next time we're planning to move, we'll need to stop shopping for food several months in advance just to work through all the stuff in the freezers and pantry.

Umm... my question is: what difference does it make if I'm bringing citrus into the US... since it usually comes from there anyway? Is it just in Manitoba that the citrus is mostly from calif. or florida? ← California is so concerned about the spread of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (among other pests) that you aren't even supposed to bring citrus in from other states, or in some cases between counties. I was told by a Los Angeles-area airport luggage inspector that it wasn't even okay to bring fruit from the Central Valley, a couple of hundred miles north, into the L.A. Basin. That last is impossible to enforce, of course, since there aren't any border crossings between counties. I can't remember whether Arizona has the same sort of restrictions coming into their state. From what I can tell, the U.S. Department of Agriculture applies the same level of protection to all U.S. borders on the assumption that the fruit may go anywhere in the country once it's inside. As for the source of the citrus, Manitoba may be a rare case. Australia and some South American countries are giving the U.S. citrus growers stiff competition now, and their fruit may (I don't know) be the source of other citrus found in Canada.

Let's not forget that the ears are the best part of the hollow chocolate Easter bunnies, to be savored, nibble by crunchy nibble! Mmm.

Tepee, I agree with the comments above: kids know the difference. You won't be teaching them any bad habits. If you're really concerned about it, give the dog a really improbable coloring: pink with green polka dots, or some such. My mother once baked a dog cake for my sister's birthday party, when my sister was about 4. Mom was really proud of that cake and wanted to be able to show it to Dad when he came home from work, but the party was in the afternoon and he wouldn't be home until evening. She planned to save the head to show Dad. Imagine her annoyance when one little girl attending the party absolutely REFUSED to eat from the dog's hind end!

It never occurred to me that deviled eggs might be a regional thing! They're one of my mother's standard party/picnic/potluck foods, and very popular with our clan in central California. (She's originally from Florida, so maybe that's a factor.) Funnily enough, I was just remembering devilled eggs this weekend while I was out visiting. My mother made a passel of 'em for the family Mother's Day gathering, and my cousins and I had fun pigging out just like in the old days, pretending that we had the same metabolisms we used to. I'm looking forward to this blog, and especially to the cajeta project, whatever you choose to do. How do you deal with the "are you bringing produce across the border" issue when you're coming back from the States? Or is that a question I shouldn't ask? I've only carried enough for a camping trip when I crossed over into Ontario.

The olives picked and packed as ripe olives around where I grew up (in Tulare County - think Visalia, Lindsay, Porterville) are Mission olives. Maybe I should say 'were', since a lot of those groves are being pushed over and replanted with more lucrative crops. I think the pickled "Spanish" olives still are usually Manzanillas, but I'm not sure how close to our area those were grown. I can find out, if you're interested. ← Ahem. I just got around to checking with one of my olive-rancher friends back home, and he gave me an incredulous look when I mentioned "Mission" olives as being a common cultivar around our area. He says no, the most common cultivar around our area for the ripe olives packed in our area - either green ripe or black ripe - is the Manzanilla, and has been for as long as he's been growing the crop. Whoops. Nancy Smith

The best way to find a food market is to find out which day is "market day", also known as "souk" or "sook" day, in the town you visit. Once a week, the local farmers bring in their food, livestock, etc. and set up shop in the market streets. I think it's Tuesday in Luxor and Thursday in Cairo, but I could be wrong. Depending on where you go, there will also be grocery stores - most of them are small, but some in the more upscale parts of Cairo that cater to Westerners will look like a full-blown U.S. supermarket, except that some of the stuff will look strange to you. Is that the kind of thing you're asking about? If you need more information, perhaps you can tell us where you're going and what you'll be looking for.

You mean transliterating from Hebrew to English? Seems obvious you mean that, Just to clarify. EDIT: I don't think anyone here was talking about the origins of the dish. Only the first post which mentioned that a Libyan neighbor made the dish, but even that post didn't call it a Libyan dish. We were discussing different dialects of Arabic and transliterating into different languages... ← Mm, actually, Almass stated that it's a Libyan dish. It does seem to be something with a lot of different identities and potential origins, from what I'm reading here. I'm looking forward to trying it! This is a new dish for me, and I'm looking forward to trying Almass' and Daniel's versions. This is fascinating stuff, and couldn't come at a better time for me. You noted that transliteration seems to depend a lot on how the transliterator pronounces the word. Almass notes that there is a standard system, but I wonder (based on my experiences in Egypt and my cookbooks) whether it's really well established yet outside the newspapers and academic world. Maybe it's too new to have reached the streets? An Egyptian speaker will pronounce something differently than a Lebanese or Moroccan speaker, and from what I can tell none of them will make it sound quite like Modern Standard Arabic. So, the transliteration from the written word - I assume that's Modern Standard, but I could be wrong about that - is more likely to be standardized than what the restaurant owner is going to put in his menu. If I go to 3 Egyptian restaurants I'm liable to find 3 spellings for tameyya and molokhia. Daniel, I'm glad you spoke up too. This will sound silly, but it hadn't even occurred to me that Hebrew would pose the same problems of transliteration. If your 'ch' is pronounced as I think it is, it looks as though the Israeli version is actually pronounced differently than the Libyan version. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to trying this dish in all its variations, whatever its origins.

Heads up, those of you who have been lusting after Paula's tagra: www.tagines.com now carries Rifi tagras* in 3 sizes and shapes! (*What is the plural of tagra? Tagaraan?)

I want to thank y'all for suggesting the stuffed eggplant route. Last night I had 2 tired eggplants, one tired cook, and a bunch of stuffing that had been taking up space in the freezer when it was left over from making cabbage rolls. The stuffing was ground venison, rice, tomato sauce and a bunch of Cajun seasonings, so this was definitely a non-traditional use of eggplant, but it was darned good. No photos, sorry.

I'm so pleased to see Beatrice Ojakangas get this recognition. "The Great Scandinavian Baking Book" is a beaut. Aside from that, Bea is a lovely person, charming and gracious, who's really done a lot to bring Scandanavian cookery to these shores. She won a Pillsbury Bake-Off oh, many years ago, and has gone on to greater works ever since. Her husband is just as fun and down-to-earth.

You may not be an expert or a chef, but you're surely helping my vocabulary - and giving me some cooking ideas to boot. Thank you very, very much.