andiesenji

Make sure you get the flowers that are specifically "edible" because it is also used in potpourri and those flowers can be treated with pesticides. A local candle-craft shop carries osmanthus flowers but they have a warning on all their flower products that they are not for culinary use.

As in many things, it is "location, location, location." The Antelope Valley is like the poor step-child of L.A. County. Lancaster, where I live, has a population over 150,000 and Palmdale (next door) almost as many but many marketers still think of this area as an empty desert. We got a Trader Joe's several years ago, after thousands of letters from local consumers but Whole Foods still ignores us and Fresh and Easy ditto. The nearest Whole Foods is in Santa Clarita, a minimum 45 minute drive for me if the traffic is light. We have no Williams-Sonoma, no Sur La Table either.

Darienne, Try separating out the leathery pieces and steam them for 15-20 minutes then check and steam some more if necessary. I've had good luck steaming some really tough grapefruit peel that went a bit too far.

Patrick, California is not exactly goose country. Growing up we raised our own geese and they were wonderful (and huge). During the few years I lived in Wisconsin in the mid '50s there was no problem with getting excellent geese. Out here, I have purchased geese that were okay, a few that were pretty good and some that were awful. They are only available frozen, except from the very high end markets and from kosher butcher shops. Several years ago I was thawing a goose and found a solid block of ice inside that was a significant portion of the weight of the bird. I took it back to the market, showed my receipt indicating it was purchased two days prior and was accused of substituting one I had stored in my freezer for a long period. Needless to say, I hit the ceiling! I marched back to the meat section, selected and paid for another goose and asked the butcher to saw it in half. This bird was also full of ice. Somewhere along the line they had been thawed and re-frozen, the only way for this effect to occur. I then watched while the meat manager removed all the birds from the freezer section and marked the labels with a black marker. I was refunded the money for both birds. I now rarely shop at that market but the same manager is there and he remembers me...

I used to prepare goose for Christmas, I've handled a lot of wild birds, shot by hunters and passed on to me because their family either didn't like the birds or weren't willing to do the prep. The wild ones do have to be hung for at least a couple of days. Domestic geese can be problematic. They can be very good, so-so or pretty bad. Much depends on how and what they are fed. The best geese I ever taster were Kosher. When I lived down below, I used to get my geese from a kosher butcher in North Hollywood. The manner in which they are made kosher seems to make them much easier to cook. Not all geese are candidates for the koshering process, I don't know the details, only what I was told. Some breeds or types are not on the allowed list. As the koshering process involves soaking in salt water, I would think that using a brine, similar to that used for turkey would give you a better result. It's not just to add moisture to the meat.

Andie, my chile paste was rojo, made from dried New Mexico chiles that I prepared a la Rick Bayless. If you get some decent hot chiles you can make a lot of red chile paste and freeze it in small amounts. When I lived in NM that was the staple during winter and spring when fresh green chiles were not available, and it was very typical to add it to beans or posole at the end, often just serving it separately so people could add it to taste, which was good, because it was really fiery. In those days I'm guessing they were dried hatch chiles. But these chiles I used were absurdly mild, not typical for NM dried chiles. I've had better luck using a mix of dried pasillas and guajillos which are sold in bulk at Mi Pueblo. Different flavor, though. I'm sure beans for the new year is a tradition somewhere. I'm looking forward to trying the Mayacobas next. I was born and raised where "Hoppin' John" made with black eye "peas" aka "black eye field beans" was served on New Year's Day. A shiny new dime was stirred into the beans before serving and whoever got the dime was "guaranteed" good luck in the new year. My dad was home for the holidays in 1944 and got the dime. In March his plane was hit and he ditched in the English Channel and in less than fifteen minutes was picked up by a fishing boat, had no injuries. He wrote home that he had gotten the full year of good luck in a single night!

It sounds perfect, Katie. I have copied it and plan to try it with a medley of beans (small amounts of several varieties remaining after measuring out major portions for other dishes). The local Mexican supermarkets carry a variety of fresh peppers all year long but they do vary so much in degree of heat that I have to consult with one of the produce people on how hot they actually are. This week is really busy for me and then I will be away so this dish will probably have to wait until the new year unless I fix it while visiting my daughter and family.

Note that a small amount of vinegar and even smaller amount of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is a major factor in making molasses taffy. And you have to work fast! Also, it is what gives the oomph to honeycomb candy. Use a bit too much and you can have a candy volcano! I know about this from personal experience - my kids were making the candy and got a bit too energetic with the bicarb. A few seconds for the result and several hours for the cleanup.

Vallarta has been selling them in bulk for over a year. Both are lovely for refritos and also for "stewed" beans with pork the way they do black beans in the Yucatan. A Mexican/Guatemalan restaurant/bar here in town serves this dish in mugs at the bar with a stack of sopes. I have been there when some guys at the bar were eating these and have a hot pepper eating contest. Much beer consumed, much joking and laughter.

Its blades also stir in Reverse mode, food processor does not do that. It works like a blender with things that don't blend completely in a food processor. It cooks at a higher temp than the crock pot and it steams so you would have to add a rice cooker/steamer to your list. And the fact that one thing can be cooking at high temp in the bottom and another item be steaming in the Varoma basked on top, which a rice cooked can't do. It kneads bread much, much better and more volume than the standard size food processors. You didn't include the price of a kitchen range with thermostatic controls to maintain proper temperature WITHOUT CONSTANT ATTENTION. And for people with minimal kitchen space, where all those other appliances would not fit, it is ideal. And it being almost self-cleaning, (the Vita Mix does this but most blenders do not).

I love it, Anna. The black is unusual.

I forgot about the vanilla extract! Egads. I have to get some bottles as the ones I purchased earlier in the year and put in a "safe" place are now on the missing list. I can't remember where I put them. I have way too many places to tuck things away that this is an ongoing problem. At least they will still be good for use whenever I do stumble across them in the future. Probably while hunting for something else. I'm not sure I mentioned it in the vanilla extract thread but I started a batch last spring with some old tequila that I later learned was a fairly expensive bottle. The vanilla flavor is terrific because the tequila is apparently much sweeter than other liquors. The aroma, when the jar is opened, is heavenly.

You should get a variety so you will know how the different beans taste and work in different dishes. Along with the ones you have picked, I would add Cranberry beans Ayocote Negro and either the Christmas Limas or the Runner Cannellini. Too bad the Snowcaps are all gone, otherwise I would recommend them.

I've used the Magimix Vision toaster this morning to toast a slice of frozen bread - did okay. Toasted a split English muffin - did pretty good. As I mentioned in my previous post, the outside surfaces get hot. I expect this in my vintage toasters, they always got hot, but with a generation growing up with cool side or cool touch toasters, (my Cuisinart, Dualit and Breville), I certainly did not expect this. Four minutes after removing the last English muffin from the toaster, I directed the infrared thermometer at the metal housing on the front, an inch above the glass panel. This is what I got. It was hotter neck to the slot on top and directing it at the glass showed higher heat but didn't feel as hot so I think it was reading heat from the coils inside. That is hot enough to burn so, as I mentioned before, this is not a toaster one should allow children to use.

That's the way it states in my instructions. If I don't have bacon drippings (a rare occurrence) I use lard, also home-rendered. The hot fat is poured into the batter, mixed and the batter immediately poured into the hot skillet - that is how one gets the perfect crust.

The Magimix Vision toaster arrived today. Unpacked, set up and tested. Pros: It is pretty. It toasts fairly rapidly, somewhat faster than the Breville. I tested it with stollen, probably a mistake because of the sugar in the dough, this may have caused uneven browning. Cons: The sides and ends get quite hot. This is NOT a cool-side toaster. It was too hot on the end for me to grasp and move it while it was toasting. The buttons do not get hot but this is not a toaster to have around small children. It only has the one slot and unless your bread is the standard, store-bought, "regular" sized slices, you can't get two side by side, so are limited to ONE slice at a time. Granted the slice I toasted was larger than the "standard" but not that much larger. It's a novelty and I'm pleased to have it for my collection but I doubt I am going to use it much. And I'm very glad I didn't pay full price. If I had, it would be on its way back by now. The next time I try toasting in it, I'll use my infrared thermometer to record the exterior temps.

You had good luck with that. At that temp, it takes so many hours to reach the "safe" temp for poultry (above 140° F) that if there is any salmonella present, and it's not on every bird, for sure, but statistically is on some, you are creating the perfect environment for it to grow exponentially. If you are just feeding yourself, give it a try but if you are feeding children, elderly persons, anyone with a compromised immune system or with coronary problems, use some discretion. I had an extremely severe episode of this some twenty years ago when I ate turkey that (unbeknownst to me) had been cooked from frozen. I was hospitalized for four days and had raccoon rings around my eyes for weeks afterward. I wasn't the only one affected, everyone had some degree of illness, one adult worse than me, one child transported to children's hospital. The hospital reported it to the Health Dept so we all had to fill out questionnaires and were checked on for weeks afterward. Nine of the fourteen guests were affected, including the cook.

Uhhhhh. I hate to rain on your parade, but... This looks like a self-basting turkey. This means it has to be exposed to a higher heat than you will have with sous vide for the injected liquid to exit the turkey. This liquid contains a significant amount of salt. Your meat will be quite salty. These types of turkeys are intended for DRY roasting. I speak from experience, I cooked one of these in my electric roaster as I would a non-self-basting turkey, which I had done many, many times before with excellent results. The meat was too salty to eat and it had a gummy consistency. The whole thing was a waste, I attempted to make stock and that also was not at all nice.

I haven't yet cooked the rattlesnake beans. I am taking them along when I visit my daughter for Christmas and am planning on making my adapted version of Moors and Christians in which I don't use white rice, I use the extremely flavorful Bhutan red rice so I am adding another color to the black and white beans. This dish really highlights the beans and these are the perfect ones to use in this dish.

Shelby, I think you have mentioned this in the past... If you click here and scroll down to post # 316, you will see my pictorial essay on how I do fried mush or grits. My grandmother's cook used to pour the cooked mush or grits into the large tomato and orange juice cans so that when they were unmolded and sliced one got good-sized rounds that were perfect for topping with a fried egg. I keep meaning to try this as I have some of the tall coffee cans that are almost the same size but never seem to think of it when I am cooking the stuff.

Where I grew up in Kentucky, it was with most folks outside of my family, termater and I have heard many variations on this theme throughout the rural south and midwest during my travels. And an aunt who lived in Baltimore always said taa-maa-to and was considered a bit la-di-dah! A local man, originally from St. Joe, MO, refers to BBQ as Barbie-coo. He works at a BBQ restaurant here in Lancaster.

And there are also slight regional variations. The folks at the Greek restaurant here in Lancaster are not shy about telling people how the things on the menu are pronounced. They tell customers to pronounce it yearr-oh, with a slight roll to the r. They are from the northern part of Greece.

Not arguing, not debating, Norm. There are indeed variations all over the south and even among neighborhoods and even families. Some time ago I compiled several pages of links to web sites with "Real Southern Cornbread" in their titles. The recipes are all over the map from plain cornmeal to a little flour to equal flour. They are all interesting and fun to try. Some agree with my preference, some do not, but they are all "authentic" for the people who prepare them. Perhaps the gal who wrote this has the best idea. Today I have a batch of Mark beans soaking and will partially cook them later today in preparation for making cassoulet from Saveur tomorrow. I have everything for the recipe except the confit duck legs but as they are optional anyway, I'm omitting them. The recipe calls for great northern beans but I want to see how it works with the Mark beans. They are pretty. I'm partially cooking the beans ahead of time because on one occasion in the past I made cassoulet with beans that I had simply soaked, as instructed in the recipe and had marbles in my finished dish. Not at all nice. Taking no chances now.

I transfer it to a squeeze bottle (microwaveable) when I first open a can. I store it in the fridge and when needed, microwave it for 10 seconds which usually makes it runny enough to squeeze out what I need. This way it will keep in the fridge for at least a month - I've always used it up within that time. If you have a less powerful microwave - mine is 1100 W. it will take a few more seconds, but watch it!

Yep, I'm baking cookies. Lots of cookies. Also stollen, panettone, making marzipan goodies, candied peel and ginger, mustard and will be baking my fruited cocoa Christmas cake. That should be enough.