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andiesenji

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Everything posted by andiesenji

  1. It's an Art Deco design that is pictured in at least two books on Art Deco design in the flatware, hollowware sections. Considered a "classic."
  2. One more task for the Danish Dough Whisk, at which it excels! Blending the thick, very stiff and sticky combinations of ground dried fruits, nuts, coconut, and etc., for strudel and cookie fillings, sugarplums and so on. I used to use a large spoon, with a handle long enough that I could grip it with bond hands and even then, it was a difficult chore to get the mass mixed thoroughly. The Danish Dough Whisk does a fantastic job of blending the mass with much less effort. I've also used them for marzipan and other nut butters to which I added spices and other ingredients.
  3. I have a couple of new appliances. I have an anonymous friend who sends me interesting things from time to time. A few months ago a Pizza baker that is surprisingly versatile and I have used it a lot. It cooks many things, not just pizza - terrific for quesadillas, burritos, heating filled pocket pitas, and fantastic for heating frozen quiches. On Monday, a package arrived from Amazon that contained a "Holstein Non-Stick, 6-Section Multi-Food Maker - Arepas, Mini Pancakes, Corncakes and More. In an email I received several recipes for Arepas and links to some YouTube videos of how to make them and the various fillings to add to them. I checked on the product page and it says"Make 6 Arepas in Approximately 7 minutes. I have yet to open the box but the things on the product page sound very interesting. The reviews are mostly good and some are in Spanish from other countries. I ordered some of the special cornmeal, both yellow and white, required for preparing Arepas, now available on Amazon. I know when I attempted Arepas a few years ago, I had to go to Vallarta supermarket to find it and they only had one brand.
  4. The Danish dough whisks are surprisingly easy to use and mix quick breads and doughs rapidly with less handling so the biscuits, scones, etc., are not overworked so don't become tough. I have a longer one (15"), my first, purchased at Solvang in 1984 - the Santa Barbara Kennel Club had to move their show from UCSB because of the Olympics, so were held in Goleta. I stayed at a motel in Solvang so did a bit of shopping and came across this and other unusual whisks in one of the kitchen stores. I used it for years and mentioned it in posts years ago. It is ideal for my arthritic hands, easier to hold than smaller utensils. I have recommended them many times. Besides the long one, I have two 13" and an 11" that has a smaller loop.
  5. Yes. I have two or three, the oldest, before discovery by cooks, purchased at an art supply store back in the eighties when I was doing some clay sculptures based on my dog and horse artworks. They laid around in my studio for years until I needed something to core dozens of pears to go into the dehydrator. Perfect tool for the job. Check in art supplies and you will find several shapes and sizes for working with clay, modeling plastics and etc.
  6. I have that knife and a few other Wusthof knives that I use often. I had most of my knives done professionally seven years ago and since them kept them in good shape with my electric 3-stage sharpener from Chef's Choice, the Trizor model. I had an older Chef's Choice (EdgeCraft) sharpener and one of the abrasive wheels had cracked so I shipped it to the factory in Avondale, PA to have it replaced but instead they offered me the newly introduced Trizor at a considerable discount so I opted for that and found it was much easier to use than my old one, much faster. I was familiar with the company because I had purchased several appliances with the Chef'sChoice label and had excellent service when I sent them for repairs (two Tea makers, my food slicer, juicer, and an egg cooker.) I've always liked Wusthof knives for certain tasks, another favorite is F. Dick as some models have handles that fit my hand better. This is a terrific find no matter how many knives you have. I have far too many but I've always liked knowing that I have them if they are ever needed. I've sold a few and given away several but still have about fifty. A dozen of those are just paring knives of different shapes and sizes.
  7. P. S. If you want them browner, it is not a sin to run them under the BROILER for one or two minutes!
  8. I have one of the non-accordion types. A long straight steel bar, handles each end that has discs that can be moved along the bar and tightened to stay in place. I've had it since 1969 when I took my last class from Chef Gregoire, 8 Saturdays of pastry, me and five other people. He gave us a list of "necessary" items and a list of "optional" items and this was on the latter. I bought everything, being a real fanatic in those days. I'll have to dust it off and take a photo because i can't find one in my computer. The one I have is fairly heavy so does all the work on thin doughs and I can hold and guide it from either end, running it down the length of the bench. It does take time to reset the widths between the cutting wheels, probably why the adjustable ones were invented.
  9. Never have a problem with it. I cook it the night before to just past the point where it will be eaten as it. I place it in a buttered loaf pan, chill overnight, slice and lay the slices on a sheet pan on which I have lightly sprinkled (with a dredger) CORN STARCH, not flour, then sprinkle on top, brush lightly to removed excess and then fry on a lightly greased griddle - I happen to prefer bacon fast - but use a high smoke point oil if cooking for friends who don't consume pork products. The light one lost it's skin on the griddle when I turned it before it "released."
  10. Here's an update. I just got rid of 4 skillets, 14", 12" 11' 9" and a 12qt stockpot, two saucepans 2.5qt, 4 qt. My neighbor knocked on my door about an hour ago. She needed a skillet to cook breakfast. She had put her large skillet in the oven last night, not realizing the handle was not heat resistant. It melted and burned. She asked to borrow one but since I have a surfeit of cookware I picked out three that have handles that can go in the oven, are non-stick (also gave her some appropriate utensils) the ceramic type. One of my seldom-used stockpots with lid and a rack that fits inside. Also two saucepans as I'm tripled up on them. Also gave her a ladle/strainer/fat skimmer - have another, and one of my long handled super spoons as i two more. This is a big spoon that is about the size of my hand, cupped and which can lift out a full portion of meat. She returned home very happy, having phoned one of her sons to come and help carry. So I now have seven fewer stovetop items, though it isn't even noticeable.
  11. I have four bedrooms. Two used to be my studios, one for glasswork, sealed and with vacuums on the equipment to suck up glass dust. The other for drawing and painting. Both have morphed into more store rooms for my antique and vintage appliances. The glass room is still mostly sealed off because I have a lot of breakable glass in there and I need to keep my now single Basenji out of it. The equipment still in there until I can find a buyer. The master bedroom only has my clothes and some other artworks, not mine, lithographs I bought back in the sixties and seventies. No cookwares.
  12. I don't know how the camera jumped ahead a year. The only thing I have done is put in a new battery as the five-year-old one died. I fixed the date. And remembered my cazuelas, that I use for braising pork, goat, chickens. I have 3, 9.5", 12", and 15". They have always been used on stove top burners, the largest on a portable burner that belongs to a turkey fryer. I have only once attempted to fry a turkey. The pot does come in handy for making bone broth when I get a large batch of big bones when an ex neighbor slaughters a steer. It's 28 quarts so I don't have to cut up the bones. And it has a spigot at the bottom so it's easy to empty.
  13. I didn't include any of the roasters or the ovenware, just the stove top stuff. Nor my collection of tagines. Remember that ongoing thread some 15 years back when Paula Wolfert would occasionally post about the different types of tagines?
  14. I keep losing count. 53 pots and pans hanging in the pantry and kitchen. in the store room, 5 stockpots 8, 12, 16, 20, quarts (two 8 quart) seven copper tin-lined sauce pans, 2 unlined copper sugar pans, 5 Pyrex double boilers, 1 qt, 1.5 qt, 2 qt. 8 Pyrex Flameware saucepans, various sizes. Two sets of Corningware stove top cookware with the blue flowers. One complete set of Corning Visions stovetop cookware, brought out for when I make fruit syrups and candied or glacé fruits. Among the ones in the photo are 5 crepe pans 8", 9", 10" 11" 12" Because I find it easier to make them the correct size in a pan instead of trying to restrict the spread of the batter myself. There are three omelet pans sized from 9" to 11" - just because. Some of the skillets are "throwaway" ones that I cook stuff that is problematic and if they get damaged, burnt, I can just toss them. I think these add up to 93.
  15. Beginning in 2014 I began selling most of my antique cast iron cookware. Then sold some of my copper cookware. Several pieces of Le Creuset, kept the Descoware, gave a couple of pieces to my daughter and a large Danish paella pan. I still have large Calphalon stock pots and some steel stock pots, though I sold the largest as I no longer do that much cooking. Some of my skillets are used for just one or two tasks because they do the job perfectly and I don't have to make "adjustments" when I use them. I have a store room used to be a bedroom and then the dog room when I was breeding Basenjis, now it holds three large steel shelving units that hold rarely used pots, appliances and some of my collectible mixers, toasters, waffle irons. I just took this photo of my pantry ceiling.
  16. I've been baking a bread/rolls recipe using 2/3 white whole wheat and 1/3 almond flour with apricots and sliced almonds. Because they are related, apricots and almond go nicely together. I don't slash the top of the loaves, but when I removed the dough after the final knead, to REMOVE THE BEATERS, I separate it into three balls and tuck them back into the bread machine pan for the final rise and bake, first brushing them top with egg wash and sprinkling sliced or slivered almonds on the top. This is an attractive presentation and can be sliced as is or pulled apart into three "midi" loaves.
  17. I watched Julia from the beginning as the local station aired it on Mondays at 6 p.m. just as I got home from work. I was enthusiastic and would watch with a notebook close at hand to take notes. A couple of decades later when it was rebroadcast, I recorded all of the episodes on VHS tapes. I hope I can find a way to watch this series.
  18. I have tried dried whey but there are other protein powders I like better in yeast breads, rolls, etc. I used the following until I used it up, then tried a few more products designed for smoothies but work great in baked goods. I decided that I like the texture and the flavor of the breads and rolls made with this product better than the others. I recently ordered it again. A year ago I got a container of Octonuts Almond Protein powder, a California product.
  19. I posted on the first page of this thread in 2019 but I also wrote about the Zojirushi IH rice cooker when I first got it several years ago when it was first introduced. I already had had the Zojirushi "Fuzzy Neuro" rice cooker for a few years and that one I sent to my daughter who also cooks a lot of rich. I still use the Zo at least once a week and it has never failed to produce rice cooked exactly the way I like it, does steel cut or pinhead oats perfectly. I also cook mixed grains and seeds using the cycles that with experimenting, I have learned works well. (Pearled barley cooks up perfectly on the "softer" rice setting, with half again as much water.) I don't have an IP any longer because the one I received free, for testing from Amazon when I was in the "Vine Voices" program, was an 8 quart and too large for me. I do have a 6 quart electric pressure cooker. But there are many things that for me cook easier in the Zo and it has the extended keep warm function - 24 hours. This works well for me. I start out with rice or a rice medley or mixed grains and seeds, when cooked fully or partially, add other ingredients, first vegetables that take longer to cook and later add veg that doesn't take as long, then cooked meat, poultry, fish, etc. I often make kedgeree and it turns out perfect with little effort in the Zo. I make rice pudding, red wheat pudding, millet pudding & etc. No standing at the stove stirring for 45 minutes with the two latter. If this Zo dies, which is unlikely, I will buy another, possibly smaller this time because the 10 cup is really larger than I need, although I do cook large batches and freeze the rices that I use most.
  20. I noticed there was a post in this topic so I thought I would check in with a report on my Dolce Gusto. It's been SIX YEARS PLUS and the DG is still working just fine. I don't use it quire as much as I did because a couple of years ago, actually in September 2019 my doctor "suggested" I reduce my intake of coffee because of irritation in my esophagus where I have a congenital defect. Apparently it is the ACID in coffee that is the problem so I still drink some but switched to tea for most. I have had zero problems with the DG. I have cleaned it regularly with the "cleaning pods" which work great. I have replaced the refillable capsules several times and they have been improved. The coffee still is produced at maximum heat, not boiling but pretty close. I used my Thermapen to check the temp and in the cup within seconds of production, it's at 192°F. Hot enough for me to have to let it sit for a few minutes or add unheated foamed milk (half & half).
  21. I really don't know exactly what you are looking for. I have several cookbooks on the subject of "Cupcakes, Muffins, Small cakes, Mini loaves, Cake Pops and Petit Fours" I don't think any would suit your requirements because they are all older and pretty much the same old, same old that have been published for decades. In my opinion you will do best to see on line bakers that keep up to date with new ingredients and etc. I have followed Restless Chipotle for three years or so. She updates annually as she uses modified recipes and I have recommended her site to people I know, including a woman who has ten children. Restless Chipotle has eight! Vast numbers of cupcakes, muffins and etc., have been baked from her recipees. Take a look. https://www.restlesschipotle.com/50-best-cupcake-recipes-on-the-internet/
  22. How about some specifics about what you have and what your recipe calls for? I use fresh yeast for some recipes but it isn't critical. I often substitute active dry yeast but I "bloom" it first in warm water or milk with a tiny bit of sugar. I have instant yeast, I have rapid-rise yeast that is lightly different and I have special salt-rising yeast that requires several hours of prepping before adding to other ingredients.
  23. It was one of those "spur of the moment" purchases when I was wandering around in The May Co., which had a very large "housewares" department and always had demonstrations of appliances - the reason I bought several that either became favorites, or were used once and never seen again. And in fact a nice lady was demonstrating this grater and had HALF A WHEEL of the real Parm next to a stack of these graters in their boxes. She had three open on her table so people could try grating chunks of the cheese, cut into rectangles with one end wrapped so fingers would stay clean. I tried it, noted it grated very fine - perfect for adding to bread dough, so I bought two, one for my boss who had been complaining about grating his knuckles on a grater that I thought was a danger anyway. He liked it and used it a lot, while mine was put away because all my grating cheeses were in small chunks and I used a rotary grater. By the time I bought a big chunk, I had forgotten all about this grater.
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