andiesenji

After cutting it into cubes, toast them in the oven (275° F.) for 15 minutes. This will give enough structure to keep the cake from breaking down. If it is a yeast coffee cake it should hold up better than a quick bread but toasting will help the latter. You can also add half a cup of panko crumbs, or fresh regular bread crumbs, the latter lightly toasted, to help retain the structure.

What is he using, his fingers? In my opinion, tongs do less "damage" to food than forks during the cooking process. I've noticed that when I use forks on meat, the interior juices well out after piercing. I think the idea is spurious.

I put them into a skillet with hot oil and a cinnamon stick, star anise and cook it until the flavor is infused into the oil. I then add mustard seeds and/or chiles, onion and garlic and cook until the flavors have blended, strain out the solids and use this oil to cook vegetables, hardy greens, such as chard, sliced potatoes, rice or ??? I'm not sure if I saw it on this forum but I recall a mention of liquor infused with black cardamom.

I am so envious and am so looking forward to a week in Beirut. I love Lebanese food! I have a recipe for Nammoura that was given to me by a friend from Saida many years ago and which I used to prepare often (before developing diabetes). Your photos are beautifully composed.

You can always depend on a good result with the instant couscous. That being said, I like the traditional way better. I have a large SS couscousiere and two of the clay steamers from Clay Coyote - a small and a large and use them both. It is better to prepare a batch of regular couscous on a day when you aren't going to serve it to anyone until you get the hang of it. I often prepare it a day ahead of time and just re-heat it to go with the meal I have cooked. I buy plain couscous in bulk at the local middle eastern store and prepare it the traditional way - I pour warm water over it so it is covered by about an inch of water (sometimes I use a combination of water and chicken stock) and leave it to soak for half an hour or so, until it has absorbed all the water, then break it up with a fork, add some salt and a little olive oil and put it in the steamer over boiling water for 30 - 45 minutes, depending on volume, sometimes a little longer, checking to see if it is tender at the 30 minute mark and stirring it with a fork to fluff it. I have made couscous from scratch, using semolina flour but while my efforts were okay, I get a more consistent result with the commercial product. (I didn't sieve mine quite fine enough.)

Chris, for "fiddly" rolling of things like this (and also for rolling hot "lace-type" cookies), there is nothing better or easier to handle than one of these Long before these were made for kitchen use, I used to buy brayers like these to use for pastry, fondant, marzipan and etc., because there was nothing like this available - back in the dark ages. I still use an acrylic one from Michael's for sticky stuff. Everything looks beautiful and tasty too. Very impressive!

I use rice flour all the time. If you make fresh pasta or bread, it is a great way to prevent noodles or bread from sticking. I have a jar of alum that I bought for making pickles but apparently there is no real need for it. Should I toss or is there any possible use for it? I have so many jars of chutneys, jams, pickles, etc that I now have two refridgerators - which may be a little excessive for a two-person household. I keep rice flour in a shaker and use it to prevent stickiness in pasta and on sheets of filo dough when I don't want them to stick together. Alum will keep forever so just hang onto it. I've got some lump alum that I bought when I lived in Canoga Park, CA and I sold that house in 1978! I rarely use it but for some whole pickles, especially the baby ones, it will insure that the remain crisp. The amount used is fairly small in the soaking solution and is completely rinsed off before the pickles go into the pickling liquid. Alum is toxic in high doses.

I've been using Senseo machines since 2004 and I like that I can make my own pods with home-roasted and ground coffee and a Pod-maker, which works great for me. However, it seems that Senseo is losing ground in the U.S. and the brewers are not as available as they were a couple of years ago. Fortunately, I have a new, still boxed backup. Last July I was given a Dolce Gusto Creativa which, because it produces 15 bar pump pressure, operates close to the way an espresso machine works and using the Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules. If you don't drink numerous cups of coffee a day, this is not much more expensive than the K-cups and to my taste, the flavor is better. I buy the Espresso and add my own hot, frothed milk, rather than buy the Latte or Cappuccino drinks. I also buy the Dark Roast, which I drink for regular coffee. You can customize and enter into memory the size of the drink portions you prefer and are not limited to pre-controlled sizes as with the Keurig, which operates on much lower pressure. My best friend has a Keurig and I don't care much for any of the several varieties of K-cups she has on hand and some are rated very high. (Green Mountain and Newman's Own, etc.) I wrote about it in another topic on this forum.

Same here. I keep telling myself that I'll use them for glazing pastry or something, but I have lots of unopened jars of things like pear jelly in the cupboard. Me too - this was mentioned in another thread, I think by all of us. Just the ones that have not been opened...

I really haven't done much about Lent in the past couple of decades. One dish I remember fondly, and still prepare on rare occasions, is noodles with buttered bread crumbs and stewed prunes. I don't know how this basically German recipe migrated to western Kentucky, but this dish was served on a large platter with the noodles tossed with the buttered bread crumbs and noodles heaped in the center and the prunes around the perimeter of the pile of noodles. In our family it was a side dish when we had fried fish (catfish, or "pan" fish).

Also, I'm going to prepare this small version of this famous dish tomorrow. Lasagna Timpano One of my neighbors is coming for dinner - and to watch a DVD she just got from her children, who are in South Africa on sabbatical. (Her DVD player won't play it. Mine is an "all region" player.)

Being a chile-head, I do the opposite. I keep some weaker hot sauces around (Tabasco or Crystal) for others when I never use anything weaker than El Yucateco. Edited: Spelling I have a bottle of Holy Jolokia hot sauce that isn't going to be opened unless a tin-throat visits!

Chris, I have a couple of pasta racks but had problems with both - sometimes I'm a total klutz. So I got one of these at KMart - in fact, I was in the store when they had one of the special discount announcements and when I got to checkout, the price was reduced by $2.00. I don't use it for anything except pasta and other foods and keep it in one of the XXL Ziplock storage bags between uses. It folds flat and is sturdy enough to hang several batches of pasta and sheets of fruit leather for final drying after coming out of the dehydrator.

I've some defrosted smoked pork chops (I thought they were regular chops) and am going to use them in the Pork Chop Casserole with Sweet Potatoes. I think the flavor of the sweet potatoes will tone down the smokiness of the chops, which are usually a bit too strong for my taste when cooked alone.

In my pantry are dozens of ingredients that I seldom use but keep on hand for the "just in case" event. Pickled walnuts, for instance. They are rarely used but fortunately keep practically forever so replenishing is not a crucial task. Some of the thickening agents - kuzu (kudzu) powder - rarely used as I have several others, but I do have some friends with celiac disease and this seems easier to use in some recipes than some of the other thickeners. Hot sauces. There are some that are much too "spicy" for me to use but I keep them on hand in case a dedicated chile-head visits and wants some fire in the food. Too man others to list.

It seems like serendipity that a little while ago I received an email from a friend who included a link to a recipe listed on this recipes for Southern Foods site. Some time ago we had discussed (in person) if there was any way of using up the leftovers from a large corned beef brisket other than sandwiches or hash and etc. She found the Reuben Casserole from this list mentioned on a foodie blog and backtracked to this page and was delighted to find a long list of casseroles, some quite new to her. She prepared the Reuben Casserole ahead of time and had it in the fridge so her husband and son could reheat it for their dinner while she was away overnight. She reports that it was a great success and was enough for three grown men, all hearty eaters, as one of her son's friends stayed for dinner.

Awesome find. You are so lucky - the thrift stores here never seem to have anything worthwhile. I suspect some is being diverted and sold on ebay.

I was never impressed with the output from the "Atomic" espresso maker but some people think they are wonderful. Too fiddly for me.

Not going to eat them myself. I am allergic to chocolate - drat! I have several ideas, none firmed up yet.

I received my order of "custom" M&Ms today. I think they turned out rather nice.

I do have one of the latter gadgets, but I'm not going to spring for the OTTO! This is the limited, gold-plated and numbered, edition, 209 of 10,000. I ordered it in advance at a discount. It's a fun conversation piece - the OTTO probably would be also, but that price is a bit steep.

I rarely use a "recipe" per se for casseroles but then I have been preparing them for several decades. I have a "vintage" cookbook I think was published in the '60s, that I sometimes refer to. However, there are plenty of online recipes and one that I have mined for some interesting and fairly easy casseroles (and recommended to novice cooks) is the collection of casserole recipes on Martha Stewart's Delish site. The recipes are varied and interesting, some quite simple and others a bit more involved, but all are doable for anyone with basic kitchen knowledge. I have prepared the Cottage Pie with sliced potatoes (different from the usual CP), and the Lighter Eggplant Parmesan which I found to be excellent. I prepared the Chicken-Sausage and Bean Casserole with Sage but used turkey/cranberry sausage as that was what I had on hand. I've also made the Pastitsio and this recipe is a bit easier than some I have tried. Also on the site is 31 Days of Casseroles which should have enough variety to suit anyone. From that list I made the Ham, Guyere and Spinach bread pudding but substituted chard for the spinach. It is very tasty.

The OTTO Stove Top Espresso Maker was featured in today's Gear Patrol email. The price is mind-numbing. I happen to have one of the vintage Atomic Espresso Machines, ca. 1952 and it works but is a bit fiddly and I really can't be bothered to use it, so it is just a collectible. Apparently it took from 2008 until late last year to get this into production and on the market and I wonder just how well it will fare at this price. Of course there are fanatics who will pay anything to have the new and different but I fear this isn't for me. Anyone have an opinion?

An email from Williams-Sonoma just appeared in my inbox with the message they they have "Permanently reduce the pricing on our entire line of Nespresso espresso makers..." A quick look shows they have reduced them $20 to $50 - the latter the Essenza C100.

I bought three or four of these Rubbermaid buckets at Walmart several years ago as they are a good size for me to handle as the 5-gallon buckets I use to use are now awkward for me. They have held up remarkably well. They were on sale last month. They also have the Sterilite brand which doesn't have the pour spout and I think has a lid you can buy separately. I used to buy the 5 gallon utility buckets at Home Depot or Lowe's (one is yellow, one is orange) but they are now too big for me to handle easily. They were cheaper and had lids.