andiesenji

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the recipe for chipotle mayo was using it in potato salad, deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches...you know, the usual suspects when it comes to mayo but the chipotle mayo would add a kick to them. I wonder how it would go with artichoke leaves? Hmmm... There's a baked artichoke heart-cheddar cheese dip I usually make with diced jalapeños that uses a cup of mayo. Now I am thinking it might be interesting to use the chipotle mayo in the dip. And aren't there veggie dips made with mayo and sour cream? This spicy mayo would give them an interesting slant. ← Both the aioli and the chipotle mayo are great for dipping various things such as French fries, cauliflower, asparagus spears. Also cubes of various cheeses. Using a squeeze bottle, make a bunch of squiggles of the condiments on plates and place cheese cubes speared with picks on the plates. It is much neater this way than having people dip into dishes and it looks prettier. I often make a batch for dipping little meat empanadas. Not a traditional thing, but very, very tasty. The aioli can always be "diluted" if it is too strong. I like to mix it half and half with sour cream to top baked potatoes or fried potatoes (the "cottage" style, thin sliced and fried until crusty.) Oh, one more thing. My housekeeper likes to roll provolone cheese with a thin slice of rye bread or pumpernickle and dip the "cigarette" (as she calls it) into the aioli or the spicy mayo.

I am also a big fan of the Anasazi bean in addition to the butterscotch or black calypsos and the chestnut lima. My local Mexican market has a big South American section and sells the giant Peruvian limas which are huge when soaked and cooked. I also get the yellow Peruano beans at the same market as they sell them in bulk. I use to grow cranberry beans until I had a problem with the variety I had which was attacked by a type of wilt. None of the other beans were affected. Scarlet runners do not do as well here as some types of beans. I won't have any this year because my garden was vandalized. The black beans I have grown in the past are a "mystery" variety brought to me by a friend from Mississippi. They were larger and more round than bean shaped, had a meaty flavor and were better than the "turtle" beans I had previously used in black bean recipes. The pods were very long and often twisted and curly. My friend called them "Choctaw" beans.

If you can't find it through regular book sources. You might send an email to David Leite. David has done a lot of research on Portuguese foods and has written many articles on the subject. If anyone would know about this book, it should be him. David Leite's Culinaria website.

I have several rice cookers, including the Zo "Neuro" fuzzy logic cooker. I have a small old Zo with the locking lid, that I use for small batches of plain long grain rice. I also have an old Panasonic commercial cooker that takes up to 23 cups of raw rice from when I was still doing some catering. I haven't had any problems cooking brown rice in any of them. In the Neuro, as in the others, I simply add additional water, half again what the directions call for and set it the same as for regular rice. I do the same thing for cooking whole wheat, kamut, steel cut oats, barley and etc. This was suggested by a guy in my local health food store several years ago. He said all the cookers have a sensor in the bottom that touches the inner pan and senses when the water has all been absorbed. I don't know if he is correct, just that this method works for me.

You may can catsup, just as you would any prepared food. However because of the high acid content, catsup, and other tomato products, such as marinara sauce, etc., will not keep as long because of the possibility of corrosion of the metal lids. I rarely keep high acid foods longer than a year. When I make sauerkraut, for instance, I make sure that it is discarded after a year. With my marinara sauce, I check it when it nears a year, if I have any left. Usually it gets used up fairly quickly.

Dave, If you come across another one of these juicers, hang onto it. They are great for juicing lots of things. Before I got a duck press, I used to use this one to squeeze the juice out of meats.

I also have a bunch of the hand-held reamers, I used to collect the ones from the 20s and 30s, glass and porcelain. However about 20 years ago, when they became rather pricey, some began showing up that were fakes, probably made from molds of the originals. However they couldn't duplicate the true glass colors but a lot of people were scammed. I knew the subject so wasn't hooked, however I quit buying them because there were just too many fakes out there. "Depression" glass seen in most antique stores now is probably 60 to 70% fake, particularly the pink and green. Lately a lot of the "vaseline" color, because it has always been more costly, has been showing up and all are fakes.

How the juice squeezer works:

Is your odd one similar to this one?

The aluminum ones made in Mexico do corrode if you leave the acid in contact with them for very long. However most people rinse them immediately and dry carefully. My neighbor puts hers outside in the sun for a while and she rubs it with mineral oil before she uses it. You can also find stainless steel ones if you don't mind paying a premium price. Sur La Table used to carry them, however I haven't checked for a while. The hand-held reamers now come in plastic and stainless steel as well as wood and work very well if you are just doing one or two fruits. I remember Graham Kerr using one 30 years ago. Then the Frugal Goumet always used one. I use them If I am just juicing one lemon - but then I have to use a strainer over the bowl to catch the seeds. The side lever one that I linked to in my last post is chromed, is only 6.49 and has a 5-year guarantee if it breaks. One thing that I use mine for, besides the occasional cut up citrus, is pomegranate seeds. I just pack the seeds in the cup and squeeze. I only use it if I need just a couple of tablespoons of the juice.

My Carrot/Sorrel/Ginger soup is good cold as well as hot. It should be thinned a bit if served cold. In RecipeGullet. Float a slice of lime on top with a dollop of sour cream to finish. You can also make a great cold soup by pureeing fresh salsas. Peach/Mango salsa, mild or spicy, makes a wonderful cold soup. I make it often, particularly when I am serving pork for the main dish.

People who live in California cannot get citrus trees from out of state. However there is a grower in Visalia who has a terrific variety of citrus trees. The little Kaffir lime I got from them is doing nicely.GrowQuest.com

This juicer is the one I describe above that works with very small fruit and pieces.

The trick to using the kind with the "bump" is to put the citrus half in upside down, that is, with the cut side toward the holes in the bottom. When you squeeze, that causes the fruit to turn inside-out and espresses almost all the juice. I have seen so many people use them the wrong way and be very disappointed with the result. The smallest, works even with the little Mexican limes. There is another type, that has a side-to-side action which works well with very small fruit and with quarters or chunks. These are often seen in bars. I had problems with these types because of arthritis in my right hand so sprung for one of the lever type on a stand but then developed a problem in my right shoulder. A few months back I bought one of the inexpensive electric juicers made by Hamilton Beach. It works great, even for the little Mexican limes, once I figured out to simply cut off one end instead of cutting them in half. It is just exactly like this one which is made by Proctor Silex juicer I bought mine at Target for $19.95.

Yellow or white mustard can be as hot as the black or brown. The difference is that the black and brown have an additional pungency that adds to the overall flavor. They can be used individually or in any combination. Coleman's and other dry mustard available commercially are all made from "white" mustard. The three types of mustard seeds are different sized with the black being the smallest, the brown the largest. Last year I posted some photos in this thread. Scroll down to post # 20. There is a closeup photo of mustard seeds, all three varieties, freshly threshed and home grown. If you want more information. Visit the Mustard Museum web site.Mt. Horeb Mustard Museum! You can find all three types of whole mustard seed, at very reasonable prices, at Indian markets.

I have found that small amounts, as in my recipe, work best when done by hand or in a small capacity blender. The trick is to add half the oil in a very thin stream or just a little at a time. If you have a problem with pouring it too rapidly, use a syrup dispenser or honey dispenser to better control how fast you add the oil. One of my neighbors has a prosthesis on his left arm and he has trouble pouring with precision. He has one of the honey dispensers with a pushbutton on the top and he has wound a rubberband around the shaft so the button can only be pushed down just enough to allow a very thin stream of oil to be dispensed. If you have a food processor that has a pusher with a small central hole, such as the Cusinart has, you can pour the oil into it, keeping a finger over the opening in the bottom and use that to dispense the oil, as before, adding only half to begin with. After you have added half the oil, continue beating until the mixture is emulsified and thick. THEN add the rest of the oil. I have a couple of vintage mayonnaise makers which are hand operated and work very well. I will post a photo when I get home this evening. There are also hand-cranked egg beaters, the ones with a flat bottom and "whirleygig" type blades, that were made specifically for mayonnaise and sauces. They actually are very efficient. Here is one offered on ebay. Mayonnaise maker However, when I make larger batches, using a minimum of 4 egg yolks, I make it in the blender, keeping the speed on low. I have made one very large batch in a Cuisinart. It turned out okay but that was a rare occurrence. I will try a small batch in my MiniPrep if I can find it and report on my success or failure. Don't worry about the white spots on top of the mayonnaise after it has been chilled. Just stir before using and it will again look normal.

In my original master recipe I explained that I used apple jelly (mainly) because one of my friends has an allergy to honey. You can make mustards that are not sweet but I have found that making the basic mustard with the apple jelly makes a base that combines easily with other things such as mayonnaise, sour cream and etc. When I have made it without the sweetener, it always tastes a bit "raw" to me, but that is just my taste. You might find it totally different. The variations are endless and you can make your own "signature" mustard by adding the particular ingredients that result in a taste that you prefer. I often add sweet chile sauce to my mustards. I substitute cranberry sauce for the apple jelly. It is fun to experiment and see what flavors you can develop. One of my friends adds dill pickle relish to the mustard she makes, right into the blender. She says it is perfect on Polish sausage. As far as it lasting, I just keep it for my own use in the fridge in one of the short glass jars with the wire spring lock that holds the top on. I just keep using it until it is used up. I have never had any spoil but have had it dry out when I failed to make sure the lid was tightly sealed. However, when I am giving out a recipe I prefer to advise people to use caution in storing homemade products. I have found that when it is microwaved, it reaches a fairly high temperature, mainly because of the sugar in the jelly.

I dislike to quote myself, but nobody has addressed this question yet. From my experience making aioli, you want less garlic than 8 cloves for that amount of oil and eggs, unless the garlic has been roasted first. Alex ← You may use less if you like. It depends on how fresh and how strong the garlic you have. Very fresh and sweet garlic - use more. If the garlic is strong - use less. I like it this way and have made a lot of it and have not had any complaints.

Here are all the technical details of why and how mayonnaise works.

That little "food processor" is part of the Braun Turbo stick blender combo. That particular immersion blender is 400 watt.

This is the way I learned to make it more than fifty years ago from my grandfather's cook who was virtually illiterate. One did not ask "why" but did as one was told. It has always worked well for me and so I stick with it. Everything should be cold. In my experience the mayo comes together easier and faster. However, if you get a good result with a room temp egg then by all means use it that way. My method is not carved in stone but I do know it works.

You should have no problems substituting a double egg yolk. I have made mayonnaise or aioli with jumbo egg yolks as well as duck egg yolks using the same proportions of the other ingredients.

To make it very simple, that is, non-technical. The thing to remember is that you are mixing a little bit of egg yolk with a lot of oil. If you could look at it under a microscope, you would see that the protein in the egg yolk are like little beads in long strings. Beating or agitating these breaks up the strings into individual beads. As you continue beating while adding the oil in a very fine steam, the oil is beaten into beads or bubbles that contain air and several of these beads of oil and air will surround each bead of egg, keeping the egg beads from re-forming into strings or chains. You then introduce an acid, the lemon juice, which supports the emulsion by strengethening the bonds between the egg and oil beads. The mustard powder also helps to stabilize the emulsion. I showed it using a hand whisk so that people can know that it can be made without the aid of electrical appliances. It is quicker and perhaps easier to make it with an appliance but when you are preparing such a small amount, it is sometimes difficult to find an appliance small enough.

I do sometimes purchase supermarket ginger because I don't have enough mature for harvest in my patch. When I do purchase it, I try to get it at Vallarta or an Asian market as I find that it is better quality on average. Some markets, such as 99 Ranch, have young ginger with sprouts which are also really great to chop and use in stir-fry. I probably allow the ginger I grow to stay in the ground longer than commercial growers. You have seen the size of the corms and the size of the slices when I candy it. I started growing my own because too much of the commercial stuff was old and not very big.

I use a ginger grater all the time. I simply use a stiff brush to get the ginger paste or pulp out of the "teeth". I also use a suribachi bowl if I want a really fine paste. I don't have much fiber in my ginger paste, the pulp mostly separates from most of the stringy fibers which I then chop off to expose a new area of fresh ginger. My explanation may be a bit foggy. Perhaps I should do a photo demo........