andiesenji

I have one of the vertical broilers that is terrific for chicken, small turkeys and has a carrier for 8 skewers for kebabs plus a basket for fish, steaks, etc. I use it a lot in the summer when we do more cooking outdoors. It does chickens, both broilers and the large "roasting hens" as well as small turkeys (under 10 pounds) and roasts to perfection - also a guinea hen on one occasion. We have used it for gyros, cutting thin slices of outer surfaces of the roast off as it cooks. It wasn't bad. Mine is several years old, made by Regal, I don't think is is still available, however they do come up on ebay from time to time Regal Royal Rotisseire and I have seen two on Craig's list in the past couple of months.

I have this Salter Aquatronic Plus as well as the original Aquatronic - I got this one because my back hurts when I bend enough to read the scale, especially with a larger container on it. I have a balance-beam baker's scale for scaling dough and an old Salter balance-beam scale with both US and metric weights. I have never had a problem with either Salter scale. The one above is usually on a butcher block or marble counter but occasionally sets on a stainless cart. I think something is definitely wrong with yours. A wire is making contact with the metal casing or the plate or the insulation on a wire is cracked. I check the calibration of my scales before I use them (with the weights from the old Salter) to make sure they are weighing correctly because the are errant when the batteries are not up to par. I have been using the NiMH or Li-Ion rechargable batteries as I have found these are actually cheaper in the long run, compared to the regular ones. The so-called Super titanium-E3s do not last any longer than the regular "alkaline" batteries. I also want to make one point. If you do not use your scale all the time, remove the batteries before you put it away. In an area where heat fluctuates greatly or where you have a lot of humidity, the batteries can corrode, leak and ruin the contacts. Any electronic scale should have rubber or silicone "feet" to isolate it from the surface on which it is placed. You shouldn't have a lot of static electricity unless you have unshielded motors running or if you have some electrical receptacle that are not grounded or do not have GFI. There is a very inexpensive item that looks like a plug with lights, that can test every receptacle.

Some links you might find helpful in addition to Jack's instructions. Sourdough bread process note the mention of dough flattening during rising.... Mike Avery's site/resources Bread and sourdough.

As Just loafing mentioned upthread, potato is often used. I think the best starter I ever had was one I started with water in which whole potatoes had been boiled, then I grated some raw potato into the still hot water and left it set uncovered for a day then strained out the solids so I had about 1 1/2 cups of liquid then stirred in a cup of flour, covered the bowl with plastic and left it on the counter. 3 hours later the top was blown up like a balloon from the fermention gases and the mixture had tripled in size, bubbly and had a wonderful aroma, somewhat beery. My home is just a mile downwind from a brewery and it's possible some of the yeasts they use escaped and colonized my potato water media. However it could have been any wild yeast. It was a very active culture, though not very sour, more like French bread, and I got terrific oven spring, in fact, when the top was slashed and the loaves put in the oven, the dough would sometimes mushroom up through the slash so it looked like one loaf sitting on top of another. Unfortunately it was mistakenly tossed out while I was away on an extended vacation and I haven't taken the time to start another culture. Now I usually do the overnight delayed proofing in the refrigerator using the LA-2 Pain de Campagne Starter from King Arthur Flour, as that gives me the texture and taste I want, without having to maintain a starter. I think that patience is the main thing you need to have when you work with bread, particularly sourdoughs. And you have to think of the formula as a chemistry lesson. Unlike most cooking, any baking requires precise measurements. I can't think of a better instructor than Jack. He has the technique detailed to perfection. What is the ambient temperature in your location? I have problems with overproofing in the summer unless I have the air-conditioning set to keep the kitchen temp below 85.

I tried to order a Sumeet a month or so ago for a wedding gift. Every place I called, they were out of stock or backordered. So I ended up ordering this as I was told by the bride's mom that it was an alternative and would serve as a regular blender for drinks also. I haven't heard about performance as they are still on their honeymoon trip to Sri Lanka, but her mom said she was thrilled when she opened it. They had this 3-stone grinder also, but I called her mom and she said she would rather have one that was more versatile - could be used to make smoothies, etc.

Right, however I have seen "famous" chefs on TV using a "delicate" chinoise for this very thing, poking with a metal spoon into the cone. Even the experts have a bit of slip-up now and then.

My next-door neighbor's daughter is here, and told me that people in Mexico, around Durango, where her parents are from, believe that cooking bull's blood in the glazed pots will "cure" them so the lead will not be harmful. Tia says her mom and dad do not believe this and won't use any glazed pots made in Mexico, but the unglazed ones do not contain lead so are safe to use. Her mom uses milk and lard to cure the calazuelas. She has a couple of the deeper ollas but doesn't use them since she got a big Calphalon stockpot. Tia says her mom took to "modern" appliances and cookware and especially the crockpot, like a duck to water. She brought me a jar of cajeta her mom just finished this morning. I have the flu and they are kindly making sure I am okay since my housekeeper is away for a few days. Great neighbors are a true blessing.

Thanks, Paula, I think you mentioned that in an earlier post but I had forgotten it. Do they use camel's milk in Morocco? I would assume so, however one of my friends, who lived in Egypt for several years in the 40s, used to buy milk from donkeys, for her cats and puppies.

This is slightly OT, - - In the pottery villages in Oaxaca, they made big unglazed ollas for storing water, usually with a screen over the top to catch run-off from the roof. These would allow water to soak through to the outside and evaporate and cool the water inside. They didn't have refrigeration as we know it but would have smaller ollas, such as the one that held the milk, sitting in water in a larger, wider pot, for the same reason. They made ollas with inner "shelves" or flat "ears" just above the water line on which they put a wood grate that held cheeses. It reminded me of the cistern in the cellar of my grandfather's house that had the same system of keeping stuff cool in the days before refrigeration. (that house was built in 1830) I always wondered how the other tourists could think these people were ignorant or dumb, when they had adapted this scientific principal for a very practical purpose. I thought they were amazing.

Milk makes it glossy, almost shiny. I can't remember when or where I first heard of using milk, it may have been when I first began buying ollas made for cooking in Mexico 40-some years ago. The curing of the unglazed ollas and calezuelas used for cooking, varies considerably from region to region. I bought my first few in Oaxaca, I can't remember the name of the village. It is interesting that these pieces also contain a lot of silica or mica, much like some of the Moroccan pieces. (Note - I didn't buy any of the glazed pottery because I knew it contained lead - the glazed stuff is a green color, not the tan/red of the unglazed.) Anyway, I don't speak much Spanish but one of the women took me to a nearby house where other women were cooking under a thatched roof at the side of the house, over open gas grates. One showed me the way to make the pot waterproof (much demonstrative hand waving and splashing of water and no-nos got this message across) was to put in a liquid that I thought was milk, but it had what looked like bits of butter floating in it. (I didn't taste it). She ladeled this stuff into the pot and put in on a low flame and using her fingers, counted up to 8, indicating slowly increasing the heat under the pot. So when I got home with my stuff, I tried it with a mixture of whole milk and buttermilk and it worked just fine. I did the comal the same way but it was a bit trickier since it was very shallow. After cooking it for the 8 hours, I gave it a bit more time, just to be on the safe side, then allowed it to cool completely. I used the same milk for the other pots. I let them drain, upside down, then did a test by filling them part way with water and bringing it to a boil, poured off some, then allowed the water to cool in the pot then poured it off and let it cool. The "seal" on the inside seemed to be intact. I assume that is is the casein in the milk that forms the seal, just as it does in the old-fashioned milk paint used on furniture - some of that stuff has lasted 200 years so casein has some lasting qualities. I don't think there is any one particular "best" method. I think that each culture uses what they have available in abundance. In Oaxaca I saw women milking donkeys as well as goats and cows. I know they make cheese there but it may be that they have enough extra milk that it is economical to use it this way. It has been many years since I was down there and things may well have changed by now. Rancho Gordo may know more about this.

Very nice instructional photos, Nancy. You put a lot of time and work into this and it shows. Thanks so much. I have always used just oil or milk but think I will try the molasses or honey on one, just to see what happens. curing tagines and claypots another thread on the subject and another

What kind did you get, Jmahl?

This site has a very easy conversion system for all measures. U.S./ Imperial/metric. You type the original amount in one area, click on the equal sign and all the other windows show the equivalents. The Imperial pint is indeed signifiantly larger than the U.S. pint. Regarding other measurements, if you use any Australian recipes, you have to convert differently for the tablespoon measure - in the U.S. and U.K. a tablespoon is 15 ml. in Australia it is 20 ml., a significant difference. I would like to add that the Innova cast iron - enamelled cookware is very reasonably priced and is very well made. This 5-quart round is an excellent buy. I have given these as gifts and I have one that I use in my barbecue outdoors. For those who can't afford the expense of Le Cruset, Staub and Chasseur, this is a good choice.

I came across the Laughing Goat Pottery that makes stovetop and ovenware. that looks very nice. I have inquired about the size of a couple of items by email and will place an order when I get a reply. I also just ordered one of these which is quite different from other tagines I have seen. I will post photos when I receive it.

When I cook lean pork roasts, loin or eye of loin, fresh ham, I insert strips of pork fat (unsalted) or use pancetta (it is not smoked as is US bacon). I have made the same stew, however I buy the boneless shortribs that have much more fat than the roasts cut from the large muscles.

Andie - I'd like to try making lard in my crockpot, and am wondering what method you or others use to do so. Do you cook it over low heat all day? Add a couple of tablespoons of water? About how long does it take to melt completely? Thank you for helping out this lard making newbie. ← This is for a 5 or 6 quart crockpot. I add about 1/2 cup of water and fill the crockpot about 2/3 full of pork fat/leaf lard cut in 1/2 to 1 inch squares or chunks. I start it on high until it is hot then reduce it to low and cover it and usually let it cook overnight - (I set the crockpot on top of my washing machine so it is out of the way and my laundry room can be closed off so the aroma does not work its way throughout the house. There may also be some bubbling and spatters of fat which are easier to wash off the top of the machine than to clean off the butcher-block counters in the kitchen.) The following morning I turn the crockpot off and unplug it, pour off the rendered fat, then pulg it back in, turn it to high and continue cooking the fat chunks, stirring occasionally, until the fat bits have browned nicely. More fat will render out and I add that to the fat I removed earlier. The lard will be a creamy to beige color, however, if you beat it in a chilled bowl (I found one of the long cold packs that can be chilled in the freezer and are supposed to be placed on a person's back, at Walgreens drug) around which you place an ice bag or something that will keep the bowl chilled, and beat it as it cools, it will look white and fluffy.

In an earlier post I inserted a link for the Kapoosh Knife Block from First Street This link has additional photos. A friend and I were just talking about the various types of knife blocks and she mentioned one that she saw at the Pacific Design center in L.A. She described it as a tempered glass box filled with translucent glass beads and with a light in the base that illuminated the beads in the box. It was shown with several knives plus a couple of kitchen tools inserted into the beads. She is going to take her camera along the next time she goes there and ask permission to take a photo. (It is forbidden to take photos without permission because some of the objects are in development.) She asked about the beads and was told they are industrial glass used in blast cleaners which doesn't mean much to me. She didn't think to ask about cleaning. This sounds interesting to me, although it sounds like an extremely modern design.

Check this video on sink selection at the HGTV site. I like the sink that has a very low divider between the large section and the smaller, garbage disposal section. The sink I have now has a large section that is quite deep and the smaller section that is shallower to accomodate the garbage disposal and the divider is 2 inches lower than the outer rim, which is handy.

When I was a child, my grandfather's cook was a Gullah woman who had an amazing repetoir of "receipts" committed to memory and I recall some of the most delicious foods I ever tasted, from her kitchen. She prepared a coconut cake, made with fresh coconut, that was moist and delicious which I have never been able to duplicate. The benne seed wafers, like a cookie/cracker, were a favorite treat and she made philpy, a sort of rice bread/cake, not a sweet bread, that I loved.

I believe you are wise to get the larger range. It is particularly desirable if there will be more than one cook working at the range. I think the 60" will work much better for you than a 48" because accidents can happen when two people do not have enough space while working around burners, accidents can happen. Many years ago when I did have a big family at home, I had a huge Garland range that was 72" overall with 8 burners and a 24 inch griddle over a salamander at one end. There were two full-size ovens that were separated by several inches and that made it much easier for two people to be loading or removing items from the ovens without getting in each other's way. Few people have the need for that much range but I was doing some catering and some contract baking also and I needed ovens that could take a full-size sheet pan. At that time there were no separate built-in ovens that were that large and I couldn't find a resenditial range that had burners that were powerful enough or large enough to hold my large stockpots. When I sold the house, the range stayed and was a big selling point and added a significant amount to the selling price.

I bought my woks from The Wok Shop They have been in San Francisco for a long time and have an excellent reputation. I know several people who have bought from them and none have had any complaints. I havethis one in 14 inch and this one in round bottom 22 inch. I keep it well oiled because it does rust, but it is great for cooking for a crowd. I have a separate wok burner but it is not super powerful but it works okay for what I do.

Did it once, once was enough - good, but not THAT good. Took two people two days, or rather somewhat more than a day and a half, to prepare for 12 diners. I don't recall where I found the recipe - possibly in Cucina Paradiso - for some reason that name rings a faint bell. This was in the early 90s, perhaps 92 or 93.

I discovered this Sweet pepper pasta sauce several years ago and have great success with it. I keep jars of roasted sweet red peppers (or the combination of red, yellow and green in a jar found at TJs) if it is a last-minute idea and I don't want to go out to the market. I also often use carmelized onions from the freezer. As posted, this is a vegetarian sauce, however I have used beef broth, chicken broth, duck stock, etc., depending on what I have on hand. For people who have digestive problems, with high acid foods, this is an ideal substitute.

I just went to Tagines.com and it opened right up.

There is another recipe for Zserbo here, with other Hungarian recipes. Anka is from a town near the Austrian border and says that many of the local recipes are very similar to those found in that part of Austria - She reminds me that once it was all one country..... She pronounces this "share-bowe" but says each region has a little bit different accent. this site shows one with chocolate topping but Anka says they don't make it this way in her home town.