andiesenji

Check out my recipe for "Mock French toast" http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r1518.html You can do it with regular French toast, but it isn't exactly the same. After the toast has been griddled until done on one side, just before you turn it, sprinkle some of the maple sugar on it and turn immediately. The maple sugar carmelizes on the sufrace and actually forms a shell that keeps the center of the toast like custard. You can also melt it on top of creme brulee. I have also used the same method of carmelizing maple sugar on top of individual cheesecakes. Yeas ago, before granulated maple sugar was so easily purchased (before the internet) I was very impressed at a brunch where they had grapefruit with maple sugar carmelized on top. And then, of course, there is the classic, maple pecan sticky bun!

I came across several stories when I was trying to find information about this some ten years or so ago. The earliest date I could find was a story about Samuel Davies, Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1840, hosting a garden party. One of the kitchen help poured a gallon of raspberry shrub into a large crock that she thought held only ice, but actually was lemonade with ice floating on the top. The resulting pink drink was considered the height of fashion for years afterward. My notes have no information about Mayor Davies wife, or even if he had one, only that he was a Whig and an Episcopalian and "near six feet tall and clean shaven." Several cities, from Boston to Charleston and west to St. Louis, plus many others, claim to be the place pink lemonade was first served. It is so ubiquitous that I doubt the true origin can be discovered. Thomas Jefferson grew lemon and other citrus trees at Monticello and Harriet Pinckney Horry, a prominent South Carolina widow, left to posterity an impressive collection of receipts that includes such exotic (for that time) ingredients as lemons and cocoa nuts. And that is just in America. Also, you might inquire here: Foot Timeline inquiries.

If you are going to try this print out this PDF document which gives specific temperatures and times to hold poultry (and meats) to be sure any pathogens are killed. (Page 4 has the table of degree of general Lethality (of the pathogen) (Pages 5-16 lists the tables for adjusting for the percentage of fat and required time and temp re: salmonella) note that a higher percentage of fat requires more time and chicken requires more time than turkey. The fat percentage is in the center of the line of dashes, not immediately obvious. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNo...ltry_Tables.pdf

Terrific tour Doddie. It hit all the spots to which I would have gravitated, had I been there. Your photography skills are getting better all the time.

Try both, roast some (very gently, at low temp) and process some raw. I like almond butter that is slightly toasted - I blanch them and roast them on a screen set on a sheet pan in a 200 degree oven. (it is just a stainless steel spatter screen 12 inches in diameter) You can roast them right in the pan or even on top of the stove (keep stirring) but I like the just slightly toasted flavor - you should see just a faint color change.

where are you finding bitter almonds? ← I actually save the pits from my heirloom apricot tree, crack and dry the kernels and store them in a vacuum bag in the freezer and then in a red plastic container. CAREFULLY MARKED! You can order them online -here the half-pound package will be enough to last you a long time. Read the notes, you use them sparingly. They are considered a spice. Just as an aside. I know some very fine bakers who start out with the almond paste in a can that one can usually find in the kosher foods section of most markets, and work powdered sugar, almond extract and whatever other flavoring they want, into the stuff and produce a very respectable product. Or you can order some ready made marzipan & almond paste

Manifold Destiny How to cook in your car (engine that is.)

I also add a little rosewater to the marzipan/marchpane I prepare, mainly because the traditional recipe from the middle ages, included it. I also use a few bitter almonds (4 or 5 kernels to a pound of almonds because it intensifies the flavor. I also add a little almond oil which I buy at the local middle eastern market. Almonds are grown locally so I can get them when they are very fresh, which makes a huge difference. Blanching them is much easier, the skins simply float off when the water is stirred. If you have almonds that have been around for a while and are very dry and hard, you can steam them for a few minutes and they will be much easier to work. I put them (along with the dry sugar) through a meat grinder, then into the food processor and add the syrup in a thin until it is the correct consistency. I then knead it by hand until it is smooth and pliable.

Thanks, Andie, for posting about these roasters. I scored one at an antique shop for $20 last year and thought it would be a good vessel for sous vide, although I expected to need a circulating immersion heater for it. I need to check the temp controls to see what the lowest setting is. I have the original stand (with clock!) and inserts for it, and just sent the stand off to be powder coated since it was somewhat rusted. So I'll have $170 in it altogether. ← I have had a couple of mine powder-coated. Although the Ham. Beach stand was in excellent shape, while the roaster itself was harvest gold with black trim, the base cabinet was black with gold trim. That black enamel showed every single fingerprint (and nose print from the dogs) no matter what I did to clean it. too, too frustrating. It is now sitting in the garage, sanded down to bare metal, ready to go off to be powder-coated a shaded harvest gold to match the roaster. It had chromed handles that were a little pitted, and they have already been re-chromed. The guys at the shop bought a roaster of their own after doing the work on mine a few years back. They cook barbecue, beef, chicken or pork, and some terrific chili. They have about a dozen employees, and apparently having free food keeps them happy, because the same guys have been there for several years. Before I took my old roasters in, they had never seen one in operation. I stopped to pick up a vintage aluminum-shell picnic cooler last summer and they had the roaster full of corn on the cob one of the guys picked that morning. Delicious! Slkinsey As far as the water temp is concerned, I know the theory but there is more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. a physical barrier can be a simple way of reducing the temp of the water in which the bags are submerged. I have prepared "scrambled" eggs for a huge crowd, cooked entirely and held for serving, in plastic bags that were in turn in water, in a covered Pyrex roaster that was resting on the rack in the roaster liner. These old roasters do NOT have coils in the bottom, they wrap around the outer chamber. The lids fit tightly enough that there is little evaporation, in fact, to reduce liquid one has to turn the roaster up and remove the lid or in some, open the vents in the lid. I have a gas cooktop and there is no way I will go off and leave an unattended stockpon or anything else on a gas burner. I live in earthquake country, I don't take chances with fire.

Here's a "vintage" Westinghouse electric roaster, with all the parts. I have two, one pink, one white, both with their original stands. In case you want a bit more information Click here!

I've been following this topic for a couple of years now and I keep thinking that some of these solutions are very similar to re-inventing the wheel. As far back as the late 1930s, several appliance manufacturers actually perfected the electric roaster, complete with a rack and with fitted interior cooking containers so that an entire meal could be cooked at one time, each in its own separate container. The temperature range was wide - they came with an optional canning rack for both sterilizing containers and for processing canned fruits and vegetables (except for the few types that required steam canning.) The nice thing about these was the fact that they could be turned on and did not have to be constantly. They were designed specifically to operate for several hours safely. I have several - mostly because I collect vintage appliances, but also because I use them. These were the precursors to the Crock-pot or slow cookers, only they were much, much larger. I have one that is a 28 quart, most were 24 or 25 quart. More recently 18 quart "roasters" came on the market. Perhaps the term "roaster" is a stumbling block for some people who, not having grown in a time when these were common, have no idea how versatile they are. When filled with water, as it is heated, (and food containers are on the rack) the water circulates on its own because of the way the heating coils are arranged. I have noted this many times, and the water rises all around the outside edge and rolls over into the center. The lowest setting on all of my vintage roasters, Westinghouse, Nesco, Hamilton Beach and GE, is 150 degrees F. There is actually a slighty lower setting on the Westinghouse, which if you had the original cookbook, from 1951, was for proofing yeast dough. The vintage appliances often show up on ebay, some are fairly rare and go for serious money. However, a few years ago some appliance manufacturers must have noticed that these things were selling because they began producing them again. I walked into Wal-Mart one day and saw a prominent display in the center aisle. NEW! Cook an entire meal while you are away for the day. And the name was the old, familiar Nesco brand. Two were crockpot size, but there were also 12 quart and 18 quart. They have a removable liner which is easy to clean.

I have a bunch of Pyrex custard cups (and another brand ?-name) - I think there are 4 different sizes. I set them into a muffin liner and onto the crust. I just stack them with the muffin liners between the cups and store them in jumbo Zip-loc bags. I think I have 3 dozen of each size and the cups weigh enough to keep the pastry in place. I have also used the custard cups upside down on a sheet pan to shape crusts for blind-baking a thicker "sweet" crust - Nick Malgieri's recipe - as I have found it bakes more evenly since the air circulates around it better. I cut the rounds and run a docker over them while flat on the board, to keep them from bubbling. It's much quicker this way.

I thought of another - a real comfort food - bacon, fried crisp and crumpled, mixed with a little Branston pickle then dollops added to an nice bakedd macaroni and cheese and run back under the broiler for a minute so the top is bubbly. It is also good in pork empanadas or as as substitute for salsa in carnitas tacos.

It is entirely deserved and long overdue. His writing pulls one in and places one right next to where he is sitting. You can sense his enthusiasm for his subject in every sentence. You just know that this is a person who loves food, loves entertaining and loves the way foods are presented when they are done right. Far too often, food critics seem to have the idea that they should project a cynical attitude and exhibit just too, too much boredom and ennui, so as to appear more sophisticated. To me it just seems that they have contempt for their jobs. We here in the greater Los Angeles area, are lucky to have him writing for us.

I like McGee too. I have had his first book since it was initially published, as well as his second books and the new version of the first one. I like the way he explains the reasons why things work the way they do. However, there are a few statements with which I disagree because my experience has been different. (However that is only for the way I work in MY kitchen.) I know what works for me and habits developed over nearly 60 years are difficult to change. Everyone has to seek the way that is comfortable for them.

I used the bowl that came with my immerson blender (Braun) for the eGCi condiment course for the aioli (garlic mayonnaise), and it worked extremely well. Most immerson blenders do come with a mixer cup or jar which is a good size. If your stand mixer has a small bowl, that would work quite well because I assume you are not going to make a large batch. The hand mixers with the wire-whisk as an optional beater, work very well. Do not use one of the soft plastic bowls - use an acrilic, stainless steel, glass or porcelain bowl - you want something that is non-porous. I think you will all enjoy this story that I came across yesterday. It involves homemade mayonnaise too! I mentioned in another thread about the curious little hole at the bottom of the pusher in Cuisinart food processors. As mentioned in this story, it is ideal for adding oil while the processor is running. Some of the early copy-cat food processors lacked this little helpful modification, but I think more of them do have it now. If you scroll down to page 12 in these instructions for the Cuisinart 14 cup, you will see their instructions for mayonnaise. Cuisinart instructions

Well, I like it stirred into fried rice, or noodles. Anyplace you use chutney, you can use this.

These won't help for oval pots, But look at these clear "universal" pan lids. A set of two for $14.95 Universal pan lid set.

Sometimes cooking acidic dishes in cast iron will cause an odd taste, particularly with tomatoes. However, it isn't the taste I worry about, it is the fact that the acidic stuff will ruin the seasoning that I have spent years developing. There is a fine balance and it is knowing when to add the stuff, i.e. after the other ingredients have blended, that is important. I make chili in a huge cast iron pot, but it has many, many years of seasoning which is almost like an enamel coating. I don't add the tomato stuff until everything else has been browned and cooked well and at that, I keep the percentage below the point where it would be too much acid. That's just me. Other people may do things entirely different. Again, this is a personal preference thing. I have three cast iron skillets (early Griswold) that are dedicated cornbread pans. One each, 8", 10" and 12." I have others that are general purpose and two chicken fryers, one with a domed lid, and the other is a "double-skillet" one deep, one shallow and they hook together.

You can also buy the less expensive alternatives. I bought one of the Innova ovens to use in my barbecue and it has held up like a champ. The no-name ovens made in China and sold at Marshall's etc., are okay too. Do check on ebay because there are often some excellent buys. In addition to regular ebay, also check ebay express. like this one: 7quart Innova enameled cast iron. Or a 5-quart

Check the selection and the uses listed here, at Fantes.com

I love the Descoware - I especially love the handles which have no problems going into an oven at any temp. Most of mine is the flame red - all purchased in the late 60s. But I have a few pieces of the "decorated" line with the tiny flower and abstract designs. Some people have complained about the wooden handles on the large skillets not going into an oven - but I have pointed out, more than a few times, that they were made to be removed so the skillet could go into the oven or under a broiler. (back then I had a salamander and could stick the skillet under the burner without removing the handle and I didn't need a hot pad to hold onto it.) All in all, I think in some ways the Descoware is more versatile than LC.

During the Mesolithic era (Middle Stone age), the first humans who crossed the land bridge into this hemisphere hunted the giant animals of what is now North America, using hunting weapons made of volcanic glass (obsidian). A point has been found in a site near Spokane that dates to 8000 years. Older points have been found in Ethiopia and various sites in Europe. Obsidian can be dated easier than other artifacts. Obsidian was a popular trading commodity, which has been proved because points have been found huge distances from the source and knapped or chipped in the local manner rather than the way they would have been made near the source. Stone age tools Surgeons today use obsidian scalpels for extremely delicate work. You might find this interesting. Modern surgery with ancient blade

Oh, I have a lot of the stuff already. Descoware, Staub as well as Le Creuset. I just like the color.

You were saying? I have more! This is all I could fit into this photo.