andiesenji

As soon as the new one arrives I will get them out and take some photos.

Fortunately my daughter is almost as avid a foodie as am I. She certainly got my genes!

Ok, but I tried to warn you! Who won, the flying saucer waffle maker or another tagine? Inquiring minds want to know.... ← Both, actually. My bad!

Too late!!

Be careful, very careful. This was how it started for me! Now I have a Riffi and three more cookbooks. If I could access Tagines.com I'd probably purchase another tagine. Very addicting so pace yourself. Suzanne ← I am not going to reveal how many tagines I have, it is embarassing, especially since I have not cooked in all of the cooking ones and have used only two of the serving type. Some things simply have such an organic feel and appearance and simply call to me. Almost as bad as the basenji puppies at my friend's home...... or the "flying saucer" vintage waffle iron offered on ebay in near mint condition. I have no willpower at all, and apparently no shame!

When I ordered one for my daughter they said it would be 12 weeks but she got it in 7. I think it all depends on when the ships arrive. I got the deeper tangia from casablancamarket.com and it is very nice. I have seasoned it but have yet to decide on which recipe I will use to "christen" it. I think I am actually going to try something like a cassoulet. My Mexican neighbor has ordered one too. She wants to try it as a bean pot.

In post #4, I mentioned and posted a link to eggs Mollet or Oeufs Mollets. Julia Child included this in Mastering the Art of French Cooking with a sub-title of six-minute boiled eggs, as a substitue for poached eggs. I have been preparing eggs this way since the book was published (in 1961) and they are terrific. The only tricky part is peeling the eggs without tearing the set but soft whites. They can be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated and warmed by immersing in a bowl of hot water using a broad, slotted spoon or ladle to keep from tearing the whites. I used to make shredded potato nests (deep fried in the neat little instrument that forms and holds the potatoes) which were placed on top of grilled thin steaks and filled with two eggs Mollet. This makes a very pretty presentation.

In another thread I mentioned Jose Antonio's Peruvian Chinese restaurant in Chatsworth, CA, which has received some rave reviews in the L.A. times, Valley magazine and other publications.Here is a note about origins.

Long ago I had a child's tea set that had square plates and saucers. I have a set of supper or "brunch" plates that are rectangular and have sections, including a round rimmed spot for a tea cup or small glass. However I have never found a set of square plates that caught my fancy. I have so many sets of china, porcelain, ironstone and etc., that I really can't justify buying more and usually I grab whatever is handiest, most often the corelle, for everyday. I also have some odder shapes, Eva Zeisel's designs, plates that are not quite oval, actually near to an egg shape - "comma" plates and shallow bowls. These looked very "modern" in the fifties, more futuristic, such as something that would be seen in Monsanto's "house of the future" - - Somewhat organic in feel. Eva Zeisel at 98

Tying plastic wrap or cling film is a bit tricky. However, in the office/school supply section of most stores you can find solid plastic paper clips (no metal whatsoever) that hold plastic wrap beautifully and are easy to remove.

That's what I thought. My pizza cooks just fine on my 19.99 "vegetable" grill pan and so far it seems to be non-stick so the pizza slides off easily when done.

You can also get an excellent result with eggs Mollet This was one of Julia Child's methods demonstrated in one of the specials she did with other chefs. However just at the moment I can't recall which one, possibly Jacques Pepin... Michael Roux's book "eggs", also details the various methods of cooking eggs, including eggs Mollet. eggs by Michael Roux In one of my very old cookbooks there is a note about preparing eggs semi-soft, which involved dipping the eggs in melted parafin and then placing in "blood-warm" water (that term just stuck in my mind) for an hour. The resultant slightly cooked egg was supposed to be opened and carefully deposited in a hollow made in a serving of steak tartare. This was for serving a large party of diners and the eggs were supposed to remain at serving temperature for a long time without cooking too much. I never tried it because I prefer my eggs cooked just a bit more and I would never eat raw meat.... I could never understand the point about dipping in melted parafin, unless it would insulate the egg.

Has anyone seen this PizzAgrill by Villaware offered by Sur La Table? It is in an email notice I received this morning from Sur La Table and I haven't seen it before and it isn't in the most recent catalog I have. I notice that it has an attached thermometer. I have baked pizza in my barbecue, which gets well over 500 degrees but never considered usng a stone. I just use one of the grill pans with little holes all over it, made so that small pieces of vegetables won't fall through. The price of this seems a little steep to me....

I simply chop everything very fine, removing the bits of bone, fry it up nice and brown then add flour, salt & pepper, stir well until the flour is browned then add milk, whole, skim or non-fat, to make a nice gravy. This can be reheated and served over biscuits, mashed, boiled or steamed potatoes, or potato pancakes. (I have been known to ladle it over a poached egg on toast.) I can always think of lots of ways to use gravy. I happen to like this stuff over steamed aspargus, even though some people wince when they see me consuming it with gusto.....

I put the chopped or chiffonade sorrel in a wire basket and dip it quickly in and out of simmering water and immediately into ice water. I haven't had problems with it losing color, although it is not quite as bright as when raw but it should hold this color. If cooked without blanching, it turns a sort of gray-green or sage green. Actually I don't mind the color, no more than I mind the color of gray lentils.

Very well written indeed. I look forward to following it on a regular basis.

This is the kind of exhibition I love. Such as the teapot exhibition I attended a few years ago at the Bowers Museum and Bowers Kidseum in Santa Ana. (Orange County museums run the gamut from the Nixon library to the International Surfing Museums - I think the Bowers is the best.) When I was stationed at the Presidio, San Francisco back in the late 50s, Gumps had a wonderful display of Victorian silver during Christmas. It was fantastic.

This is the ones carried at Amazon Scroll down to see the less expensive ones. There are also vendors on ebay that sell them. I have come across them several times while looking for another item. By the way, I have tried cooking several things in the new Zo induction cooker and it is very speedy. Cooks significantly faster than the "neuro" and so far, everything has turned out beautifully. Rice, white, both long and short, a mixture of Lundberg brown rices. Sweet rice, a 7-grain cereal mix and "pinhead" oats. I also cooked a batch of cracked barley which turned out much better than when cooked on the stovetop, and it didn't require constant attention (stirring) so that it all cooked evenly. There were no hard, semi-cooked granules in the batch. I even used it for steaming baby potatoes and each one was perfect, all were cooked evenly, no mushy, overcooked ones as often happens with boiling. I am very impressed with this appliance.

I have a question about wok cooking in China. A friend spent 2 years in Xi'an working on a catalog of antiquities that was going to be on tour loan to museums outside of China. His "keeper" took him on several field trips to rural areas and he wrote descriptions of various places. (He wasn't allowed to take a camera.) He described a sort of round charcoal stove, made of bricks, with what sounded like a type of bellows to force air through the coals and he said the wok got so hot it nearly glowed and it took only seconds to cook their meal. My question is, does anyone outside of China use this kind of stove? I would like to find out how much heat it can produce. I also wondered if stoves like this are used in other parts of China.

The herbs should not be packed tightly in the measure, but it depends on how fine they are chopped. It also depends on the pungency of the herb which varies from plant to plant and from season to season. Right now the fresh sage is very mildly flavored and it takes a lot more to achieve sufficient flavor. Later in the summer, as the leaves mature, one leaf will produce as much flavor as 6 do now. If you go to the main page and click on The eGullet Culinary Institute, you will get this page. click on "Index of eCGI courses" and you will see Knife skills listed.

Thanks for bumping this back up. It reminds me that I bought a bag of some black licorice, thick chunks or rather, short pieces of "rope" at Wal-Mart. Very soft, chewy and intense flavor. I was surprised, it is the best I have tasted for a long, long time. It is like the old-fashioned Switzer's from 40+ years ago. (I think they changed the formula in the mid-60s because it didn't taste the same to me.) When I was a child, every time we went to St. Louis for a dog show, we used to pass the huge Switzer's sign on the side of their building. This stuff I found at Wal-Mart, hanging next to the large bags of Good & Plenty (bought some of that also!)

There is a version of the oatmeal "lace" cookies that is a traditional Norwegian cookie. Recipe here. which is pretty much the usual way of doing them. For a still-crisp variation with dried fruits, cherry, lingonberry, raisins or cranberries, the fruit is very finely minced, then mixed with 1/2 of the oatmeal which has first been pulsed in a blender or food processor until it looks like coarse meal. This mixture is spread on a tray or sheet pan and allowed to "dry" overnight or you can place it in a very low oven for an hour or so. For each 1/4 cup of fruit added to the recipe, add 1/2 tablespoon of butter. All other ingredients remain the same. Mixing the minced fruit with the oatmeal "flour" will draw some of the moisture out of the fruit and the cookies will still be crisp. They cannot be stored in a closed container and are best served the same day they are prepared. I have been able to re-crisp this type of cookie in a dehydrator but they are not as good as when truly fresh.

As mentioned above, the larger sorrel leaves make a great wrap, particularly for somewhat fatty meats and meat mixtures. I use the large leaves, removing the tougher stems and veins and overlapping two leaves, for dolmas, etc. You can also arrange the blanched leaves into a long rectangle, overlapping them well, on a sheet of plastic wrap. down the center of the leaves, leaving an inch clear on each side, spread egg salad, a meat or cheese cracker spread, or similar filling. Using the plastic wrap to lift the edge nearest you, roll the construction as tightly as you can, wrap well with the plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours. Cut crosswise and serve with crackers, croutons or "cocktail" rye.

Carrots and sorrel have a great affinity for each other and enhance the flavors of each. 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots, loosley packed. 1 1/2 cups shredded sorrel, see below. 3/4 cup bread crumbs, toasted in butter and seasoned with a little salt, pepper, thyme and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. 1/2 cup of freshly grated or very finely shredded Parmesan, Asiago or Romano cheese. Shred carrots finely and gently steam them or sauté them briefly. Quickly blanch sorrel (to shred, stack several leaves, roll and cut them "chiffonade"). Toss together the carrots, sorrel, bread crumbs and HALF of the cheese. Place in a gratin or shallow baking dish, sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top. Place in a 300 degree (F) oven and bake for 30 minutes. Serves two, this is very good with spring lamb, pork medallions, or whatever your fancy.

I have ordered from some of the vendors listed in the other posts. Here are some more with which I am familiar. Bocajava roasts to order the coffees you select after you place your order. I have found their coffees and service superior. I have ordered gifts for coffee enthusiasts who subsequently joined their club. Another vendor from whom I have ordered is Zoka Coffee in Seattle. I ordered a batch of the Panama La Torcaza as a Christmas gift for a friend, after reading a mention of it in a magazine. I had never heard of this coffee before but was blown away by the flavor - she prepared it in a French press. My first experience with this vendor was with their tea, having received a gift ordered from them by one of my relatives who visited their store in Seattle. I am always suspicious of teas sold in coffee shops, however this one was excellent, without a hint of contamination by the aggressive coffee flavors. I have also ordered from Hunter Bay1 in Montana, another vendor that roasts to order. I haven't ordered from Carrabassett myself, but it is recommended by a friend who orders raw green beans for home roasting. Call them because the supply changes fairly often.