andiesenji

I believe it might, were I so inclined. I have never cared for most perfumes with floral scents but anything that is spicy gets my attention. For several years I had a bottle of KL that I used sparingly but it was one of the few things that were broken in the '94 earthquake. My bathroom smelled wonderful for months. A few weeks back I made a reduction of balsamic vinegar, not one of the very aged ones, and the aroma in the kitchen was just lovely.

I have a 100 ml bottle of a Balsamic 30 year Imperatore, which I have been using drop-by-drop, for which I paid some ridiculous price. The stuff is almost like a syrup and is delicious. I have a bottle that I received as a gift, that I have never opened, of Cavalli Gold Label that is 65 years old. The little book that comes with it in its wooden box says, "Extraordinary and complex, rich and harmonious fragrances, more sweet than sour with persuasive structure. Dense, suave and persistent. Ideal for savory and spicy cheeses, for berries, strawberries or cherries, for pastry cream or ice cream; but above all, it is a true elixir to sip from a spoon or glass at the end of a meal. Each numbered bottle contains 100 ml. of Gold Label Traditional Balsamic Vinegar by Cavalli from Reggio Emilia, Italy" I am waiting for a special occasion to open it.

I always cook my fried potatoes, AKA "cottage" fries, in Crisco or lard. Crisco because I have friends who do not eat any pork products. I have tried every fat known to man, including some rather exotic ones, and these are the ones that do the best for crisping, unless you have access to good beef suet and can render and strain it efficiently. That is the one I would use if it was as available as it was 30 years ago. I mention it only because at one time it was the preferred fat for frying potatoes in most restaurants outside of the south. I do brown the potatoes, cover for a short time so they are cooked through, then finish at higher heat to brown. I have a rather flat lid for my favorite pan that allows me to slide it under the mass of potatoes and turn the entire batch. It is tricky and one has to be careful to avoid burns, but that produces the best result - of course I have been known to turn them into a second, heated skillet when cooking for a crowd.

I have all of the above, also I have coconut vinegar, pineapple vinegar, cane vinegar, palm vinegar and brown rice vinegar. Then there are sherry vinegars and several balsamic vinegars and a very interesting balsamic syrup. A visit to an Asian food store will bring one a selection of these interesting vinegars:

The conversion of any measurements can be confusing, even with calculators. However there are several online sources for equivalents. This site conversion of measurements, answers to questions and etc. has been most helpful to me. The fact that the site includes a lot of practical information that is not available at other sources, is the reason I use it more than any other. You can also find a lot of other information about food on this site, also not generally available elsewhere.

I have. Lies I tell you, all lies! I did it last week to find out some new things about myself. I didn't know I have 6 brothers or that I moved to the States a few years later than I thought. Seriously though this goes back to Mr Clifford Wright's comment upthread regarding the potential of the internet. The stuff that's been written about me in print doesn't show up. But the internet is immediate and accessible globally. His site is fantastic by the way. Really informative. Clearly a scholar and teacher willing to share what he knows. ← Sometimes one is surprised by the things that pop up on Google searches when one types in their own name. chefzadi, you DO have impressive credentials! I didn't read anything about the brothers, but just reading your posts has told me that you have the expertise to do just about anything.

The first time I tried moussaka I thought it was vile. The "lamb" was so gamey I couldn't swallow it. The oil in which the food was cooked seemed to be rancid. I didn't eat this dish for 20 years. Then I had the dish at a real Greek restaurant after my hosts convinced me that my earlier experience was an aberration by someone who had no respect for their cultural heritage. I was agreeably impressed with the complex flavors in the dish, the sweetness of the lamb and the wonderful combination of spices. Now I give a particular dish several tries, at different restaurants or at the homes of friends, before I rule it out of my list of preferences.

Amazing and absolutely fantabulous. In fact, there are no words to really express my admiration. Your talent is awesome!

On one of the "makeover" shows, they had a similar thick chopping block that had been sitting in the owner's garage for years. They took it off the legs and mounted it on top of two second-hand, 2-drawer file cabinets that they took to an auto body shop and had powder coated (like enamel) in a bright yellow. The metal cabinets were welded together with one with drawers opening on one side and the other with drawers opening on the opposite side. They bolted that one to the floor but it could probably have been left free-standing. I have a 2-drawer fireproof file cabinet in my office that is only 26 inches from floor to top. It looked pretty classy. I have had several things powder coated, including some old metal lawn furniture, the base for one of my old electric roasters, an all metal step/seat stool and a couple of old metal waste baskets. It doesn't cost all that much and looks good. I saw a couple of oak 2-drawer file cabinets in the window of a thrift shop a while back, $20. each. Considering the weight of the block, you would have some difficulty making it stable with a pedestal-type base. You really need a broad-base, otherwise you might have the thing fall over and do considerable damage. Check out industrial bases. You can get steel legs with a steel top that could be fastened to the block- those legs can also be powder coated any color you want. The base on my band saw is close to 2 feet square, I think. I haven't measured it lately, but that is the kind of thing I would look for.

I almost always gravitate to the kitchen, if either or both of my hosts are there. To me it is always more interesting to hang out in the heart of the home than stand or sit around listening to people talk about things which have little interest to me. At many gatherings, one will find groups divided on gender lines, all the men in one place talking about sports or cars, etc., and the women gathered in groups talking about children, fashion or whatever. With groups that have something such as food in common, these lines blur and that is the kind of gathering were I am most comfortable. (It is very similar in the dog fancy, groups form by interest, not by gender.) I always offer to help but do not try to take over any tasks on my own. However, many of my friends have come to expect that I will pitch in on some tasks and plan for it. In fact, I am often asked if I can arrive early and handle something for which I have a particular talent. They know I love to do certain things and are kind enough to allow me to contribute. Even if there is nothing for me to do, I like chatting with whomever is in the kitchen and I feel uncomfortable if someone has to go off alone to the kitchen to work on something.

No way, you haven't offended me. I understand the tines down, but tell me, how do you eat rice? You can't spear it, and you don't use a spoon, right? ← Okay, for loose stuff you do use it like a shovel I guess (don't see how else you could do it) using the knife as a pusher. I probably do that with peas as well. But I really get a kick out of watching people try to get the rice/peas on the fork without using a knife. ← This reminds me of the old (very old) joke poem from way back when I was a child, growing up in western Kentucky - and it was old back then. "I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on my knife!" When cultures meet, across a dining table, there will always be differences but as long as people are kind and considerate of each other there should not be any hard feelings. Even the most sophistacated diners in one culture will make mistakes when they come in contact with other cultures. To me, the best manners are in being helpful and instructive to others without making fun of them.

More than 40 years ago, Henri Charpentier was making "chips" that were long slices done the length of large Idaho potatoes, blanched in boiling water then ice water, dried and briefly cooked in hot oil so they were flexible, then rolled into "cigarettes", chilled and just before serving deep fried until browned and crisp. They were delicious and were served with a tiny cup of mayonnaise for dipping. I had dinner only once at his restaurant in Redondo Beach in 1959 and as I recall these "crisps" had a particular name and were served with a grilled steak that came with a butter sauce and also with medallions of veal. The waiter (who was dressed as one would expect in a French place, in black suit with a long apron tied around the middle of his chest) said that one could order a side of the crisps to go for $1.00! Quite expensive for that time. I asked how they were done and mentioned that I was a professional baker. I got a tour of the tiny kitchen and was shown the last part of the process. It was indeed a labor intensive process, especially rolling the long slicesof potato on a "huck" towel. (I don't know what else to call these towels that have a textured surface and are not as common now as they were back then, prior to disposable everything.) I did not get to meet Mr. Charpentier as he was very old at the time and seated at a table in the (also tiny) dining room with some important people. I think he passed away a couple of years later. I didn't learn until much later that he was a world-famous chef and there was an enormous waiting list for the place - as I recall, there were only 7 or 8 tables.

One quick note about using buttercream. It does not have the volume strength of fondant and may collapse as more layers are added. I speak from experience, having tried one time to build up a "rock-garden" on the bottom tier of an offset tiered cake. I finally had to scrape all the buttercream off and made fondant "rocks" that I shaped and airbrushed to look like rocks. Would you believe that three days after I finished the job, the cake/candy supply place got in their first shipment of the candy "pebbles" that would have been perfect. Anyway that last bit is OT but you do have to consider what is going to hold the buttercream up and in place.

Exactly right. It is the reason dry mustard is included in homemade mayonnaise. It helps to keep the emulsion smooth, the oil and egg in suspension so it won't separate. In dairy/cheese dishes it keep the cheese from releasing oil.

If you have a pudding bowl, you can make a steamed pudding/cake in it to give you the traditional basic shape. You can make rolled fondant, form it into long rolls, flatten slightly on one side and "build" the beehive around the outside of the cake, just as you would a coiled clay bowl upside down. Pressing the coils of fondant together will seal the edges of the coils. You can then use the tines of a fork to cross hatch the fondant to make it look like the straw "rope" from which the old-fashioned beehives were formed. Depending on how big a cake you need, you could actually make a sheet cake, then mount the above construction onto it and decorate the flat sheet like a garden surrounding the beehive. I think the idea of marzipan bees is delightful.

You can find this item in just about any market in So.Calif. I have purchased it at Ralph's, Albertson's, Vons and Stater Brothers. (We use it a lot in dry rubs.)

Behemoth, you are now a BAKER!!!

I am happy to see that the Lello 2-quart is finally available here for a reasonable price. I have had the little one for a couple of years and another larger one. I had a Simac for many years but it got to the point that it would not hold the coolant for more than a couple of months and recharging it was a nuisance.

That makes it a Sidecar. Properly drunk out of a sidecar attached to a high powered motorcycle. ← Actually, to be historically correct, the sidecar should be attached to a 1912 Triumph.

I recall when cake decorators first discovered the plastering tools that have morphed into "combs" and "rakes" and etc., for making a plain cake look decorated with very little effort. There are still things to be found in stores that carry artists equipment, drafting tools, etc., that can be used in cake decorating. Such as these

That's why I do mine in a crockpot.

I posted a recipe a while back on the dulce de leche thread.

I dehydrate onions, garlic and shallots as well as green onions and leeks, with great results. Of course mine do not contain any preservatives or dessicants. I just slice or chop them and put them into the dehyrdrators.

I have posted my method/recipe for microwave candied citrus peel in RecipeGullet, just in case anyone wants a quick and easy way to make just a little.

Here are most of the salts I have. From left to right: Photo # 1 Diamond Crystal kosher. Red Hawaiian Himalayan pink French grey sea salt, Ille de Ré French Camarque salt (green bowl) I keep it in a half pint Mason jar so it won't dry out. front is sea salt from Greece Next: Baleine fine. French sea salt medium. Belgium sea salt. (also a moist one) Third photo: New Zealand coarse New Zealand fine In the front New Zealand medium flakey Real Salt - mined in Redmond, Utah fine and coarse Sea salt from Italy I am missing some. I can't find the Maldon or the black salt which should have been in the pantry but has apparantly been put away somewhere else and my housekeeper is not here today to help me look. There are probably a couple of more but since they are on a top shelf out of my reach, I am not going to hunt for them today. I also have a bunch of salts with various seasonings added, some coarse, meant to be ground at table, others just fine salts with herbs and spices.