andiesenji

I make my own marzipan and I have found that if I steam the almonds and then remove the skins, then put them through a meat grinder before putting the mass into the Cuisinart (I have a 20 cup) with the sugar, I get a very fine-grained product. I can buy almonds locally, direct from the growers so get them fairly cheap and very fresh. Sometimes I add a little glycerine to the mixture and I think it makes it a bit easier to work. I can't give you a specific amount, I add a teaspoon at a time while processing it until it "feels" right.

Don't reveal your home address or there might be some "unauthorized" visitors raiding your freezers! This is the reason my big freezer has been fitted with a strong hasp and padlock - the little integral lock turned out to be much too easy to jimmy.

Delving around in the little pantry I discovered I have a lot of stuff that can be used, but only with a lot of imagination. Some are quite mysterious as I have no memory of purchasing them. Some may have been gifts but most are probably "impulse" purchases. My bad! The big pantry, now kind of messily cluttered so no photo, is easier because that is where all the bulk grains, flours, beans, nuts, dried fruits "regular" canned foods and other staples are stored. I have pulled out a stack of cookbooks to assist me in my efforts. I am committed to holding off on visiting any grocery store until a week from tomorrow which will be two weeks from my last shopping expedition. (My egg man delivered two dozen eggs this morning but I still had a dozen plus two from the last delivery. They keep a long time because they were just gathered yesterday and early this morning, mostly browns but some pale azure and some beige and a few white.

My next-door neighbor, a lady originally from Mexico, who has an enormous extended family, says she does soft-boiled eggs for a large number of people using room temp. eggs, a dozen or more, placed in a large cazuela, into which she pours boiling water. Medium sized eggs will be done in 4 minutes. She rarely cooks large eggs this way as she uses those for baking but says she would leave them in the water an extra two minutes or longer. She says cooking them this way allows them to sit in the slowly cooling water longer without cooking to the hard stage. I seem to recall reading something like this in one of Julia Child's books. Not in a recipe but in one of her stories, however it could have been another cookbook author. My memory is not what it was........

That sounds similar to another set he has, high Victorian - ca. 1880s a tray with a center T-shaped handle that stands up about 10 inches with horizontal "forks" that hold the dozen egg cups in place (while the servant carries it to the table). The porcelain egg cups are Spode Ascot pattern, part of a breakfast set he uses for "everyday" and are Edwardian. I only recognized them because I have a set of the Ascot that I inherited from my grandmother - my set does not include egg cups, only dinner service.

Now those I could use. I am almost out of walnuts, although I still have ten pounds of raw almonds (they are grown locally so I buy them by the 5-gal. bucket full from the growers. I lightly roast the nuts and grind them with dried fruits (also sesame seeds & etc.) to make healthy confections. I grind the nuts in a meat grinder as that way they don't get pulped and gummy and a lot can be processed in a short time. I also combine them with pumpkin or squash in ravioli, mix into hot cereal and so on.

Dinner last evening went well and my guests are intrigued with the "project" and have volunteered to test anything I am willing to cook. To prepare for future meals, I transferred a duck (Saturday dinner) and a package of oxtails (Sunday dinner) from the freezer to the fridge to defrost. The pantry yielded a qt jar of peaches and a pint of apricot preserves, both canned in '07, which will go into a fruit and cheese tart for Sunday brunch. I have a couple of other little cooking projects going today so will round out my menus in the intervals of preparing almond milk and drying the solids to make almond meal. Dinner tonight will be homemade egg noodles, buttered, as a side to grilled trout with a grilled tomato and a green salad. (Dining alone.)

Regarding milk needing to be purchased more often. I always buy two types of milk. Trader Joe's Organic low fat and Lactaid whole milk. All of the Lactaid milk varieties have extended sell-by dates and they have excellent keeping properties. The two half-gallons I bought last Sunday have a sell-by date of March 31! One of the two half-gallons of TJ's low fat Organic is 2/27 and the other is 3/02 and it will be easy for me to subsist on those until it is time to shop again. I began using the Lactaid milks a few years ago because one of my friends, who visits often, is lactose intolerant but has no problems with these products. It does have a slightly sweeter taste, which I find is beneficial because it means one does not need to add sugar to cold or hot cereals, a plus for diabetics such as me. Also, remember the "Cleaning out and Cooking from the Pantry" (not the true title) topic from last year? I did have fun with that one also. And, there were some very clever and inspirational recipes posted. I found the thread about Pantry stocking & etc.

This is an admirable project. My routine is normally shopping every other week and I don't have a family but do have friends and neighbors for whom I cook at least once a week. Last shopped on Sunday, 2/15 at Trader Joe's. I will have to admit to "cheating" with eggs, because they are delivered to my home every week and I use a lot. (local poultry hobby farmer needs to dispose of his excess and I am happy to pay to feed his pets.) For dinner today I am defrosting some pork medallions in a sherry/vinegar(homemade)/herb and garlic marinade, which will be served with homemade potato gnocchi, roasted root vegetables (roasted a couple of weeks ago and frozen in serving portions) and a salad. (2 guests) Lunch will be a chicken-salad sandwich made from leftover roast chicken (from Sunday) and some grapes.

I've done it many times. Keep the temp in the oven low and stir the macnuts around every 10 minutes or they will develop little tan spots. It won't affect the taste, just the appearance.

You can buy them at Amazon.com Mason Cash pottery was sold several months ago to a new owner. Some items were discontinued. The Tabletop Group has a blurb about it in this bulletin.

This reminds me of a friend who is the epitome of the "obsessed" egg cook. And, the eggs must look perfect when served in their antique egg cups so he meticulously marks a circle around the egg and makes little pinpricks (using a spare thingy that came with one of his glucose meters) all around the circumference so that when the line of pinpricks is tapped on the cooked egg, the "lid" lifts off without disturbing the contents. He also has delicate egg spoons with a bowl about half the size of a regular teaspoon which he carefully polishes immediately following the meal. (They are sterling.) When asked about the process, he said that he began using this method after his partner missed the egg and fractured one of his (also antique) porcelain egg cubs by hitting it with a butter knife having disdained the use of the egg scissors. He has a traditional egg timer that uses sand in a glass vessel and I think this is also an antique and is one of a set, each with a measured amount of sand for timing soft, coddled and hard cooked eggs, including one for timing quail eggs. I have to admit that any time I have been served eggs at his home, they have been as perfect as any I have ever seen or tasted.

I also use Laurie Colwin's recipe for black cake. I have tried a couple of others but keep going back to hers. For a time we had a Trinidadian restaurant here in town and they served a wonderful black cake - small squares, each wrapped in fluffy white icing. Unfortunately the owner of their building raised the rent to the point that they could not keep the place going.

The Hobart undercounter dishwasher I bought in 1994 was essentially the same as this one. At the time my kitchen was certified for commercial cooking/baking (not easy in L.A. county or Calif., for that matter) and required a sanitizing dishwasher. I also did a lot of canning and needed it to sterilize the canning jars. These dishwashers do not have built-in racks. It uses "loose" trays or racks which hold various items. I had 12 of various configurations for cups, stemware, plates, etc., as well as open ones for big pots and pans. It was helpful that I could load all the small stuff with the rack sitting on a counter or on a rolling cart then shove it into dishwasher, much less bending than with a conventional dishwasher. In 1994 I paid 3800. for the Hobart and I certainly got my money's worth. It isn't really feasible for most people but for those who entertain a great deal or who have large families, it is a godsend. I do know a family with seven children plus two sets of grandparents and an adult sister living with them who got one a few years ago and it has saved a lot of wear and tear on my friend's nerves, just because the huge chore of dishwashing for 16 people is much easier than it was.

You can see photos of my method for removing the entire peel from oranges, also works with grapefruit and larger lemons, on the Artisinal Christmas Prezzies post # 163 Do not try to candy lime peel - it turns an ugly gray. As I note in the instructional post, you can separate the orange segments, spread them on a tray and freeze them - after they are frozen, store them in a plastic bag or other freezer container and use as many or as few as you want - they will keep nicely for three months. Also in the Candied Citrus peel topic is my method for doing small batches of Candied peel in microwave which speeds things up considerably and you can decide if you like the end product before taking on a larger and more time-consuming project. As a side note, candied grapefruit peel is an excellent substitute for citron in fruit breads, stollen, etc.

I have a collection of 1930s and '40s vacuum coffee makers - Silex, Farberware Robot & etc., and in several of the instructions there is a note to add to "pre-ground" coffee, a scant pinch of salt on top of the grounds. I have always though this was interesting because apparently freshly ground coffee did not require this addition. My grandmother always added a scant pinch of salt to the grounds even when freshly ground. We had well water from limestone substrate and it is possible that the tiny bit of salt counteracted some of the minerals in the water that might have inhibited the extraction of flavor from the coffee. One of my friends lived in Colorado for many years and used a well with water that contained a lot of minerals. They eventually had a treatment system installed but prior to that she said she had to add a small amount of salt to her tea water to get a better infusion. Sometimes these things are a tradition that began for a particular purpose (the condition of the water) and continued in the family long after moving to another site, simply because "it was always done that way."

The Bosch is versatile. I have a lot of half-size sheet pans. I remove the top rack and fill the bottom rack with the sheet pans and they wash beautifully. That was one reason I was reluctant to part with the Hobart but I was assured the Bosch would clean greasy or sticky baking pans and that is does on the Power Scrub Plus cycle - 117 minutes. The only think I really miss (except for the sound of a 747 taking off) is the 90 second cycle of the Hobart. However the virtually silent operation is a huge plus as now I don't have to close the kitchen doors when the dishwasher is operating.

I now have a Bosch SHX43M for several months and I love it. It replaced a Hobart commercial undercounter unit that had been in place since '94 when my kitchen was remodeled. Unless dishes are heavily soiled and/or I am washing greasy pots and pans, I use the Quick Wash setting (35 minutes) and it does a terrific job. It is very quiet, in fact it is difficult to be sure when it is on - the controls are hidden when the door is closed. It beeps when the cycle is finished. I don't use the drying cycle as I prefer to simply open the door a few inches and allow the residual heat to dry the contents. This works fine for me and I prefer to save the energy. I did not like the flatware basket that came with it so I called Bosch and they sent me (at NO charge) the basket that comes with the SHX45M which can be taken apart and one can use just half of it, which allows extra space for other things in the bottom rack. One of my neighbors has the basic Bosch unit and is not as happy with it as I am with mine. She has a rather frugal husband who didn't want to spend the extra $$$ but finds that sometimes she has to repeat a wash cycle without detergent as it leaves some soapy stuff behind. I have never had that problem, even with the quick wash cycle. I use the Electrasol Powerball Tabs and have no spotting or streaks on crystal or china.

King Arthur Flour sells a product Espresso Powder that is made specifically for inclusion in baked goods, frosting, candies and etc. I have been using it for a couple of years and it works beautifully and there is no guesswork about dilution and so on. Otherwise, you would be best served by steeping freshly ground espresso coffee in brandy, reducing it over low heat and straining the solids out to get a concentrated extract that will combine well with buttercream. That's what we did in my mom's bakery some 50 years ago and it worked well.

I suggest that you locate a Russian Orthodox church as near to you as possible and call and ask them if they can put you in touch with their women's auxiliary. I know that I have had excellent help with ethnic recipes from eastern Europe and Armenia by getting in touch with women in these church organizations here in southern California. One of the Armenian church groups published a wonderful cookbook which I have.

Pickling the mustard seeds is very rapid. It is the regular pickles that takes a couple of weeks. Just use the pickling liquid part of the recipe....

You can use my recipe for Bread & Butter Pickles The pickling spice mix will include some mustard seed however if you want the pickled mustard seed you should still use some pickling spice but also add a cup or so of mustard seed - I think the brown are much better than the white or yellow. Toast the mustard seeds lightly in a dry cast iron pan until you can smell the aroma they give off when slightly toasted. Add them to the prepared syrup and simmer over low heat for up to an hour. beginning at about 30 minutes or so, spoon out a few and see how soft they are. They should be easy to crunch with the teeth but not really soft. Remove from heat when they have reached the correct stage. If they have been stored for a long time, they will take longer to soften. They keep practically forever and don't really need to be refrigerated, although you can if you wish. Try adding some capers - it is a nice combination for a condiment.

ANDIE'S ABSOLUTELY ADDICTING BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES Here’s the thing about pickles: if you’ve never made them, they may seem to be an overwhelming (and possibly mysterious) project. Our listener Andie – who has offered some really valuable help to the show several times in the past – has sent this recipe which provides an opportunity to “try your hand” at pickle-making without much effort. Andie suggests that making a small batch, and storing the pickles in the refrigerator (without “processing”) can get you started painlessly. Our Producer Lisa says that the result is so delicious that you won’t be able to keep these pickles on hand - even for the 3-4 months that they’ll safely keep! The basics are slicing the cucumbers and other veggies, tossing them with salt and crushed ice and allowing them to stand for awhile to become extra-crisp. You then make a simple, sweet and spicy syrup, (Andie does this in the microwave), rinse your crisp veggies, put them in a jar, pour the syrup over, and keep them in the refrigerator until they’re “pickled” – turning the jar upside down each day. In about 2 weeks you’ll have pickles – now how much easier could that be? If you are inspired, I hope you’ll try these – and enjoy! MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART. FOR THE PICKLES: 4 to 6 pickling cucumbers (cucumbers should be not much larger than 1 inch in diameter, and 4 to 5 inches long) 1/2 to 3/4 of one, medium size onion. 1/2 red bell pepper. 1/4 cup, pickling salt (coarse kosher salt) 2 quarts, cracked ice water to cover 2 tablespoons, mustard seed. 1 heaping teaspoon, celery seed FOR THE SYRUP: 1 1/2 cups, vinegar *NOTE: Use cider or distilled white vinegar, do not use wine vinegar. 1 1/2 cups, sugar 2 heaping teaspoons, pickling spice mix. PREPARE THE PICKLES: Carefully wash the cucumbers and bell pepper. Slice all vegetables very thin, using a food processor with a narrow slicing blade, or by hand, or using a V-slicer or mandoline. Toss the sliced vegetables together in a glass or crockery bowl large enough to hold twice the volume of the vegetables. Sprinkle the salt over the vegetables, add the cracked ice, toss again to blend all ingredients and add water to just barely cover the vegetables. Place a heavy plate on top of the vegetables to keep them below the top of the liquid. *Set aside for 4 hours. PREPARE THE SYRUP: Place the vinegar, sugar and pickling spices in a 4-quart Pyrex or other microwavable container (the large Pyrex measure works very well) Microwave on high for 15 to 20 minutes. [if a microwave is not available, simmer the syrup in a narrow saucepan on the stovetop, over low heat, for the same length of time.] Allow the syrup to cool. Strain the syrup and discard the spices. ASSEMBLE THE PICKLES: Place one wide-mouth quart canning jar (or two wide-mouth pint jars) with their lids in a pot of water to cover, place over medium heat and bring the water to a simmer (180 degrees). Remove the pot from the heat and allow jar(s) and lid(s) to remain in the hot water until needed. *After the 4 hours are up (crisping the vegetables as described above) pour the vegetables into a large colander and rinse well. The cucumber slices should taste only slightly salty. Return the rinsed vegetables to the bowl, add the mustard seeds and celery seeds and toss well until evenly distributed. Set aside. Return the syrup to the microwave, microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes [or heat the syrup on the stovetop] until an instant read thermometer shows the temperature of the syrup is 190 to 200 degrees. Place the vegetables into one wide-mouth quart jar, or in 2 wide-mouth pint jars that have been scalded as described above. Pour the syrup over the vegetables, place the lids on the jar or jars, tighten well and place in the refrigerator overnight. The following day, turn the jar upside down - then continue to turn every day for 2 weeks. (This is to insure that the pickles are evenly flavored) After 2 weeks open the jar and taste. The pickles should be ready to eat. Pickles will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 months. ( RG2154 )

I have used the citrus syrup to candy ginger and also to candy peppers - I belong to Chile-Heads and for one of our hot-lucks I made "red-hots" candying dried chile tepins in the syrup I had saved from candying oranges. The true "tin throat, chile-heads" loved them. I have candied figs in citrus syrup and also in ginger syrup. Try various things, see how you like them. I have used the ginger syrup (diluted with a little sauterne) to poach pears.

You have to really know the temps of your slow cooker at the various settings as they can vary widely. I have a Cuisinart slow cooker that even on low will boil everything so I only use it for foods that need to cook quickly and I watch it. I have some older ones made by Rival that have the high and low settings and they are pretty close to correct. The "programmable" one did not work as it was supposed to so I passed it along to someone who didn't care and only wanted it for holding already cooked things at serving temp for an hour or so. My ancient electric roasters - Westinghouse, Nesco and GE, all have temp controls that are as accurate as I need and have a wider range of temp settings. If I didn't have them, I would probably be cooking the larger batches in the oven. I can my large batches and process them in a pressure canner using the technique for low acid foods. It keeps in the freezer too and in the fridge for a couple of months.