andiesenji

Don't fritters usually consist of a batter plus a food item to be considered authentic? What does a hushpuppy enclose within it to be considered a fritter? (please note: the response about anything canine is not going to sway me from my deeply held, deep fried fritter convictions!") ← Melissa, You started this thread on HUSHPUPPIES! in the summer of '04. Some good ideas here.

For some situations, it is not just the convenience. For instance I have gifted some college students with the Senseo because their dorm rules say they cannot have any appliance with an exposed heat source so a regular coffee maker is not allowed. The Senseo and others of that type have no exposed heat surface so are okay, this is also true in some retirement homes where individuals like to have something like this of their own, rather than having to go to a kitchen area or get something from a vending machine. There are lots of cons, but in my opinion, there are far more pros, for people who just want a cup of coffee. it is not a substitute for high end machines producing espresso, etc. I bought a bunch of the dark roast senseo pods at Target that were marked $3.84, however because I bought 3 boxes and used my Target Visa, I got an additional discount that brought the price down to $3.26 which makes each pod cost .18 cents.

CtznCane, At the Mexican market, have you asked at the butcher counter if they have the bulk lard? It is much different from the packaged stuff. Rather than bright white, it has a creamy color and has a much better texture and is not as "plastic" as the commercial stuff.

As usual, I have several but the one I use most is the Chantal that has a stainless outside with a ceramic insert that makes it easy to handle. for hot pot don't use the ceramic insert, just heat oil in the pot itself. cooking.com has the Chantal This site Has several and I like the shapes of the shallower ones. I especially like the cast iron one. The old enamelled cast iron one I have from back in the 60s is the "classic" pot shape and I rarely use it because it is wider at the bottom and not easy to get all the stuff out of it and I think it is too deep. Hope this helps. I also have an electric one - different from the one on this site - I don't know if it is still made, I don't remember the brand but will see if I can find it on the web. I am at work right now and my housekeeper is still on vacation in Hungary. lots more here I found the electric one - it is the Russell Hobbs - see it here. I really like the looks of the Trudeau 3 'n 1 set.

I don't save butter wrappers any longer but I buy slab bacon and after cutting the bacon off the skin, I cut the skin into squares, freeze them and when needed take one out and let it thaw, then use it for greasing griddles, skillets, muffin tins (for savory stuff) and loaf pans. Works great, getting into corners and tight spaces, such as my scalloped corn muffing iron.

If you want to freeze herbs, or anything that might transfer flavors or colors to your ice trays, do this. cut a piece of plastic wrap about 6-8 inches longer than the tray and lay it over the top. Starting at one end, push the plastic film down into the cube space and fill with whatever - - When the tray is full, fold the sides of the plastic wrap over the top, squeeze down to expel as much air as possible and place the tray in freezer. The covering will keep the stuff from getting full of the furry type ice crystals. When the stuff is completely frozen, you can lift the entire arrangement out of the tray, cut the plastic wrap between the individual cubes and store the individually wrapped cubes in a plastic bag. This may seem a little complicated but once you try it, I think you will find it works very well. I have little cubes of chives, basil, sage, anise hyssop, fennel, dill, strawberry leaves, orange, grapefruit and lemon zest, pimentos, smushed chiles of various types (carefully labelled) and so on.

I too was wondering if anyone has used that method. It's breakfast or brunch when we eat the most potato pancakes. We often use our leftover mashed potatoes that way, but we also do the grated potato kind as well. My favorite go-withs are sour cream and "caviar" and sometimes smoked salmon. [i use quotes because it is usually the inexpensive supermarket stuff.] ← Actually I do save the potato starch water only because I like to use it for my sourdough starter, to "perk it up" so to speak. When I first began with this starter some years ago, I was instructed to save the water from boiling potatoes, or soaking shredded potatoes to reconstitute the dry starter. The lady who taught me to make the potato pancakes said the crust would be crispier if some of the starch was washed away. That is the only reason I do it, because that is the way I learned. Incidentally, I do hashbrowns the same way. I like 'em crispy/crunchy.

Paula, I have a question too. I have always just scrubbed the lemons well to make sure the skin is clean. However, at the local middle eastern market, the wife of one of the owners told me that with the very thick-skinned lemons I should soak them in lukewarm water for two or three days, changing the water morning and evening, and this will make the peel tender and not so leathery. She said it wasn't necessary with the thin-skinned Meyer lemons or "sweet limes" which look just like the Meyers, only with the big ones with the very thick and tough skin. She said that in some places, if the lemons are very dense and hard, they will blister the skins very lightly over a flame. I had never heard of this but she said in the northeast mountains of Lebanon, where she is from, there are some areas where the foods are very different from the foods of the seacoast areas. However she says she left there 33 years ago and things may have changed by now.

My jar of lemons always has some undissolved salt on the bottom. If anyone gets desparate and wants to buy some ready-make, I discovered this site a few days ago. Ingredients Gourmet WARNING! Do not wander off the path and look at the selection of grains/beans, pantry, olives, cheeses, the rest of Mediterranean or spices. I did and am considerably poorer now. The first part of my order should arrive any time now............. They have the edible gold leaf cheaper than I can get it from my usual place, even with shipping cost.

You should bring it out of the oven, uncover it if tented, and let it "coast" at room temperature. The difference in heat between the inside of the roast and the room temp, is what allows the meat to reabsorb the juices that have been pushed to the outside during the roasting. Note these two ways of roasting. Only the high temp one does not require coasting outside the oven.

An interesting combination with potato is grated jicama. That is, I mix 2/3 grated potato with 1/3 jicama. I was taught to grate the potatoes into ice water, allow to soak for 20 - 30 minutes, then lift them carefully from the water, leaving the starch behind, then rinsing them and drying them in a towel before adding the remaining ingredients.

I don't know about your area, however some Williams-Sonoma stores here in SoCal usually have it. You can call and ask before you go.

I have had the Senseo since July '04 and it has turned this tea-drinker into an occasional coffee drinker (sometimes every day, usually every other day). I like the Senseo dark roast and have tried combining one with some of the flavored ones, not bad at all. I found Juan Valdez dark roast Columbian at Target and it is very good too. The pods are individually wrapped. I always use two pods and make the double cup with pre-heated half & half and sweetener already in the cup, sometimes frothed before adding the coffee. I think we will being to see more and more varieties of coffee pods in stores, as well as on line. There is a commercial on TV now that shows a pre-mixed large (double size) pod for cappucino for brewing in the Home Café. The Melitta pods do not work in the Senseo, take my word for it. I didn't have any choice in what I started with because it was a gift. I have had the beverages brewed in the others and didn't care that much for them but this is a personal preference thing. Costco has a special on the Senseo and on a box of pods right now. When I was in the store the other day I saw several in the checkout lines. I have given several as gifts, however I search for the stores that have the ones with the large water resevoir. They are available as an extra but that is an extra expense.

I start stock with bringing the liquid up to a high simmer or barely boil, then reduce the temperature to a low simmer. I always roast the carcass until the bones are very brown - they are also very brittle by this time and I smash the big ones or chop them in half or smaller. Only then do they go into the stockpot. They can be frozen at this point to make stock later, but I usually simply add hot water to the pot to lessen the time the stuff is at the critical temperature. That is, I generally strip the meat from the carcass immediately and put it straight into the oven at 275 F. so the bones will roast over a long period of time as I find this extracts the most flavor.

And on grits. Ham & grits and Red Eye Gravy. Yum. ← I second that motion!

I have had a DeLonghi roto fryer for a few years and it works quite well but is a small batch fryer. A year or so ago I bought the Waring Pro D200 which can handle more than 3 1/2 pounds of food, however I have found that frying is more efficient if you keep the batches less than 3 pounds. It works great with doughnuts, beignets, French fries, chicken (especially wings) and fish, not to mention hushpuppies and onion rings. It is super for tempura - I never used to prepare it at home because the older fryers simply didn't seem to get the oil hot enough. (I have an ancient Sunbeam and a Nesco.)

How about this unusual, new design Potato Masher? and this ingenious Nutcracker. I have been using this company's bake liners for some time but have never visited their web site till today.

This book has a world of information about making and using vinegar. I recommed it highly. Vinegar man, Lawrence Diggs I bought it after I found a footnote about the book in another (somewhat scholarly) book about the Romans and how they considered vinegar a beverage, usually mixed with water. It is very interesting just to read. I should add that the "Spicy Pecan Vinegar" available on this site is amazing.

I had some cooked sweet potatoes left over so made sweet potato pancakes. Sorry, they are all gone, no photos. I mislaid my camera next door Thanksgiving evening and haven't gotten around to going back to look for it.

There was a time that every set of kitchen canisters included one labeled "Grease" - some made in obviously southern states were labeled "Drippins" (note the missing 'g"). Being a collector, I naturally have several of these made in various eras. The largest by far are the ones made by West Bend in Avocado Green, Brown and also in a "Sunset Gold" and "Bittersweet" red-orange. These hold a lot of drippings from bacon, ham fat and etc. I periodically set this on a copper plate over a very low burner to melt the entire mass, which allows it to mix well and actually keeps it from becoming rancid as this is always kept at room temperature (except in the middle of summer when temps are over 100) handy to the stove. There are many foods that are enhanced by the addition of a tablespoon or so of these drippings. Green beans would certainly not be the same without it. Summer squash and onions, sauteed in drippings is a totally different dish than the same thing with olive oil. Fried green tomatoes really "need" drippings to taste as they did when I was a child. I still trim all the extra fat off a ham and render the fat out - when I see people throw it away I actually cringe. I like to buy slab bacon because I like to scrape off most of the white fat for rendering and then cut the skin into squares and store in the freezer because each square is handy for greasing hot skillets, baking dishes, griddles, cast iron cornstick and muffin pans. Some people joke at my frugality and think I am being foolish because I can afford not to have to do things like this. They simply don't get that I like doing things like this because it was a tradition in my family and most of all, I like the flavor. Just because I can afford filet mignon doesn't mean I should turn my back on home made sausage, sausage gravy and biscuits!

I did a search in my own bookmarks and this About southern food site is bookmarked several times so I guess I have accessed it a few times! Other bookmarks included this andthis and the grits page which suggests gravy on grits as well as on biscuits. and not to be missed, this one which makes a LOT of gravy! I have no idea why I have so many gravy websites bookmarked (there are many more) but apparently from time to time I came across something on each site I thought I might find interesting or useful in the future.

This is SO true! On the TV show "Home Improvement," Tim Allen and his sidekick would whip up masculine versions of different appliances and rooms. Tim's favorite room was the "Man's Bathroom," complete with stainless-steel beer fridge, cupholders, magazine rack, and (say it loud) MORE POWER!!! I can only imagine what the Man's Dishwasher would look like... ← I recall one episode where he did "improve" a couple of kitchen appliances. That is one show I would like to see brought back, I thought it was hilarious.

I like "gibbles" too. Gibble-lovers of the world, Unite! I called them "ittle-bits" when I was a child. Our cook referred to the fond in any pan after cooking meat or fowl as "leavins", as rmockler mentioned above. She was a lowcountry Gullah so that may have been a Carolina thing. I make sausage gravy much the same way as fifi. However I use "soft" flour only. It may just be my imagination, but milk gravy made with all purpose or bread flour always seems a bit gluey to me. I am really picky about gravy. By the way, there is this GRAVY! thread that has some informative posts.

The funniest thing for me happened after Thanksgiving dinner when three women, who had never before been in my kitchen, accompanied my neighbor, all loaded down with tubs of dirty dishes, to use my dishwasher. My neighbor loaded it, turned it on and we talked for a couple of minutes and she turned around and opened the door to the dishwasher and one of the women screamed and ran outside. She stuck her head back inside and asked if anyone was hurt. My neighbor explained that the dishwasher worked very fast and the first batch of dishes were done. Most of this conversation was carried out in Spanish and while I got the gist of it, I missed some of it. I guess the lady thought we would be scalded from hot water and steam. Afterward every lady who attended the party had to come over and see how the "magic" dishwasher did its job so rapidly. "Madre de Dios" and "rapido increible" was tossed around in the conversation, along with a lot of giggling. A little later, several of the men wandered over to see just what was going on at my house. The appliance was again demonstrated but with typical Hispanic male chauvinism the men went back to the party, shaking their heads at the frivolity of women enthusing over a kitchen appliance. One of the women remarked that if it was attached to an automobile or truck they would be figuring out how to afford one "to play with". For some reason, this seemed hilarious and we all had a good laugh at the idea of big boys and big toys.

I second this motion. You can't go wrong with either or both of these. I also like the variations developed by the Two Hot Tamales. I enjoyed their shows on the Food Network and have had great success with recipes from their book. I also like Rob Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook. In addition to the many recipes that are often quite different from traditional Mexican recipes, he gives us a lot of history to explain the evolution of the recipes. It is an interesting read in addition to its source as a cookbook.