Milagai

Thanks for that book recommendation! Another book that had been suggested upthread (when I asked why Dutch food seemed to *use* so little spice though spice import was such an important part of the economy) was Schama's "Embarassment of Riches" and they're on my list of books that my library will get via inter library loan - one at a time; very long list Milagai ps: I love this thread and am quite looking forward to making the cheese-stuffed crepes some time this weekend, and also the little cheese cookies (cant remember the name they're upthread somewhere).....

Thank you to all for the fennel vs anise clarifications. I must admit that the seeds depicted in various links looked so similar to each other...... I must figure out how to conduct a side by side taste test and see how they differ. Has anyone done that and can they enlighten? Thanks again Milagai

I'll be @#$%! This slemp is almost identical to desi Masala Chai (spiced tea) that's an Indian staple I guess since tea entered India; and is now sweeping Starbucks etc. in the West! It's so fascinating that it's less known among the younger generation of Netherlanders! Chufi: Why do you think it faded away? Milagai (getting so fascinated with similarities along the spice route, not only on the sending countries' end, but now also on the receiving countries.....)

Have you tried simmering some vinegar and water in that for a good while; then empty most of it out, add more vinegar and baking soda (bubbles over); then scrubbing? If that does not work, then I fear diluted bleach soak may be yr only option. If the insert is glass/ceramic or similar, then it should be OK, and with a good dish soap scrub afterwards safe for cooking again... Milagai

Club soda makes great fresh lime soda, (garnished with a sprig of mint). Club soda, + freshly squeezed lime juice + syrup made with sugar, ginger, and a pinch of : black salt!

cardamom! (lots of dessert recipes) Milagai

Clarification: a vegetarian does not eat animals, dead or alive Milagai

Splendid Table, NPR, has an answer to this ... ← Thanks GiftedG! One lives and learns! The item in my grocery store appears to be fennel, based on the description in that link. I'm off to google images of fennel and of anise to see how different they look. ps: I just did that, and I am still confused about the difference. They look very similar to my eyes. The only thing that comes out is that the thing in my grocery store is almost definitely fennel...... Milagai

Hathor: Ok: I'll try braised anise, same recipe as for fennel? And do I use the upper frondy parts along with the bulb? Re milk products - a vegetarian is a person who does not eat dead animals (so no fish, chicken, shellfish, animal stocks, etc.) But vegetarians usually consume dairy products (because the animal is not killed in milk production) and some eat eggs. So they're called lacto-ovo vegetarians. Vegans on the other hand don't eat anything animal in origin, so no dairy products, no eggs, no honey, don't wear silk or leather or wool or fur, etc. My remark to you was in response to your description of your one vegetarian meal a day saying "protein twice a day can be so heavy". I wanted to point out that: 1) vegetarian meals DO include protein, whether from bean type ingredients, or as in your pecorino pasta dish, from dairy products. So your vegetarian meal cannot be described as a no-protein meal. And also, there are small amounts of protein in almost all foods., which add up..... 2) dairy products ARE animal-origin ingredients, but are acceptable to most vegetarians (unless they have food sensitivities) since it's not directly a dead animal. Vegans on the other hand would not find dairy products acceptable. Like others have pointed out, it's not that hard to have to leave out animal products from one's diet as there are myriad ways to omit or substitute. It's a matter of habit..... HTH Milagai

Tejon, are you sure you're not me? You described almost identical to what we ate for dinner today - mixed dal (mostly chana with a little moong and masoor) with onions, tomatoes, red chilli and panch pora. Rice; and asparagus with the black mustard seeds! Yogurt... This is one of our comfort staples too..... Simple every day food.... Your description of what you fed your veg*an friends (the chinese-ish meal) was heavenly too.... Hathor - question - is fennel same as anise? I saw anise in the grocery today, and wanted to make your braised fennel for TG.... By the way - vegetarian food means getting your protein from mostly plant sources, it does not mean "no protein"... And you had pecorino in your pasta, so a hunk of animal protein right there MissAmy - the reasons you gave for going mostly vegetarian is the same as why my family is vegetarian. I have the "easy out" of my Indian food background so it's no hardship for us to be fully lacto-ovo vegetarian, (though we rarely eat eggs but don't rule them out, though we do consume a fair amount of dairy.) And GiftedG - you didn't go wrong at all! Your daughter is lucky that her mom is open to her very thoughtful dietary choices and there's really no deprivation there - on the contrary - a universe of exquisite food.... Our TG obviously is vegetarian, and having no Thanksgiving traditions we have to replicate, our "thing" is to find a new and interesting set of recipes every year and splurge. So far on this year's menu much inspired by eg: Lunch: Hathor's braised fennel (maybe) the stuffed baby artichokes from the Medieval food blog roasted baby potatoes and brussels sprouts EITHER Chufi's Dutch cheese-filled crepes OR Spiced up spanakopita (more likely this as I have an oversupply of fillo that needs to be used up) dessert yet to be determined......am open to suggestions....... Dinner: Evening a TG pot luck with friends, our contribution: Daniel's fillo-wrapped camembert cheese triangles which I will take up a notch by slicing and spreading with a spicy spread before wrapping..... and whatever the others make...... Milagai

Thanks SheenaGreena (D'oh! thwaps self on head! definitely need an emoticon for that). I am aware of SE / E Asian beans more fermented or processed (as RanchoGordo says): eg. tofu, tempeh, black bean sauce / paste, sweet bean paste etc. I'm less aware of beans "as is" in the cuisine, though Abra has pointed some items out. Please elaborate on black beans in Korean food? Thanks Milagai

cashews (kaju burfi can be called cashew fudge, and is often tinged with rosewater).... Milagai

Soy milk can replace cow-juice, you may have to adjust the sugar i the recipe some, and lactose-free dairy milk is also an option. There are many web sites e.g. vegan sites or food-allergy related sites, where specific recipes and techniques are given.... The results apparently are really good. In the final picture, with the flavorings and other ingredients, the taste component of dairy milk may not be that major. So there should be no reason to doubt that dairy-free or lactose-free pie can be superb..... Milagai

potatoes, with: eggplant! (aloo baingan sabzi) milagai

Abra: Thanks for making me aware of the Rancho Gordo site. I know what my upcoming food obsession is going to be! Please share some of your favorite varieties from this site and prep methods? Also, the word "Rajmah" means "kidney beans" (literally Royal Beans), rather than the method of preparation . It's home cooking, it used to be considered a slightly fancier preparation - Sundays, parties etc. but now it's become very commonplace/everyday. It's one of the most popular Indian recipes, along with chana/chhole, to "convert" newbies to the food..... However, you can use that method of preparation with any suitable bean - and after I saw a picture of Rancho Gordo Rio Zape on line, I think why not, and would love to hear back from you whether it worked. It's almost identical to the BEP recipe I posted, and those recipes can be used interchangeably. To modify that recipe to use chickpeas type beans, you take that same basic recipe and add lots of sour notes - pomegranate powder, mango powder, tamarind, rock salt, etc. To any of the above, some greens component can be added (=saag) - spinach, fenugreek greens, etc. I can't imagine (like I said) disliking any form of bean, because all of them seem to have a generally neutral-ish flavor, and it's all in the recipe and treatment..... My palate has been so shaped by Indian spices that I can rarely imagine the flavor of the bean alone rather than as part of the dish....There's one bean however that stands out to me, it's a large, flat, whitish or palely freckled bean that's common in South India and called "butterbean" there. No idea what it's called elsewhere and whether it's available. But it's really buttery and yummy..... Onigiri, glad you liked the BEP recipe. Now that I live in the American South, I make that BEP recipe with chopped greens added, for my version of "Hoppin John" but shhhh or I'll get run out of town on a rail... Interesting about the lack of beans in Thai food, other than tofu. What about other SE Asian cooking? Now that you mention it, I can't think of beans in Chinese restaurants either (other than steamed bean paste in desserts). What about in Japanese cooking? South Asia seems to be "bean central", along with Central/South America. Beans and dals are, of course, the cornerstones of vegetarian cooking in the former, while in the latter they are part of a meat-based cuisine.....? Obviously if someone like me didn't get their daily dose of dal or whole beans, I'd fall down from hunger and/or lack of nutrition.... It's like peeping into an entire different planet for me to see what other people do with beans and think about them, and how it's exotica for some.... Milagai

Wow! Cool. Thanks for setting me straight. They sound intruiging, I'll have to give them a try if I see them again. ← If you do try them, buy a bunch and try this great sounding recipe from one of my favorite food blogs and tell me if it works. It's an art to get the moringa cooked to the correct degree - if you undercook they taste raw and rubbery inside. Overcook and the inside disintegrates and the outside comes apart in woody fibres.... http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives...kaayadrumstick/ Please tell more about Pineapple Guava? Taste and uses - l ike regular guava? or sweeter/juicier/different? Thanks again Milagai

They look like long beans from here. ← Guys, Guys, those are not long beans, they are "drumsticks", moringa oleifera, a very common vegetable in Southern India (murungakkaai). Cut the long pods into smaller pieces and add to sambar, godju or similar. The leaves can also be used as above, or made into a yummy chutney etc. Moringa is supposed to be HIGHLY nutritious, though the funny thing about the entities who tout its nutrition focus on the leaves more than the pods: http://www.treesforlife.org/project/moringa/default.en.asp The taste and approach - think artichoke. After cooking moringa, you eat the pulpy insides (seeds and all) but discard the fibrous outside. It's an art to do this politely. Moringa is also jokingly called "Brahmin bones" as it's the nearest South Indian vegetarians get to the (supposed) delights of gnawing bones...... Your blog is great fun eje, brings back so many good memories of our days in the Bay Area, we still desperately miss the abundant inexpensive and multi-varied restaurants; and the great great produce.... Despite the ever-present clammy cold weather - now THAT I don't miss...... Milagai

potatoes (e.g. horseradish mashed potatoes) Milagai

Abra - those beans look beautiful! I've yet to meet a bean I didn't like.... Would gladly eat any form of beans + chapati or with rice, for breakfast...... MIzducky - if you still find kidney beans "blah", try a "rajmah" recipe, like this one: http://www.recipezaar.com/51062 or this one: http://www.route79.com/food/rajmah.htm This site has pictures, but I feel that the recipe is missing an essential ingredient - cumin! You can make any whole beans with this recipe. BTW: dal != beans as dal refers to the split forms and the whole beans are referred to as the "whole ____ bean"..... Milagai

Szechuan style tofu with hot bean paste (among other things) so: Tofu! a GREAT ingredient. So versatile and yummy. Milagai

cilantro (cilantro pesto is great) Milagai

Cachaca = sugarcane liquor, so : Limes! Milagai

thanks, will check it out. M

thanks, will check it out. M

Something along those lines. Any suggestions for pepper jelly that's not run of the mill? Milagai