andiesenji

Microwave candied citrus peel, small batch. I developed this method of making small batches of candied citrus peel when I needed just a little for decoration or for a specific recipe. I usually make it in large batches in a crockpot but this is quick and easy and virtually foolproof. I have demonstrated it in an office and in the housewares section in a department store as it doesn't take much in the way of equipment or supplies. Microwave candied citrus peel, small batch. Cut off top and bottom of orange or other citrus. (This works for two medium to large oranges, three or four lemons, or one large grapefruit. Using a round-tip spoon, (like a soup spoon) slide the dip downward between the flesh and the rind, working your way around the fruit, then turn it upside-down and repeat the process until the rind is completely loose from the flesh. You want both the colored skin and the white part. On one side make a vertical cut and remove the rind from the fruit. Flatten the strip of rind on a cutting board and cut into 1/4 inch strips. Place the strips into a Pyrex measurer, 1 quart or larger. (I recommend the 2-quart size once you are cooking the peel in syrup.) Fill to within 2 inches of the top, there should be a lot more water than citrus rind. Microwave for 10 minutes. Drain the water off and add fresh water Microwave for another 10 minutes Drain that water and add fresh water Microwave for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Rinse the Pyrex container and to it add 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup sugar. Microwave for 3 minutes - it will start to bubble up. Add the peel to the syrup and microwave for 5 minutes. WATCH IT. If it starts to boil over stop the microwave. If you have a larger, 2-quart Pyrex measure, use that instead of the quart. Stir the peel, return to the microwave and microwave for another 5 minutes. Let the peel cool down for at least 30 minutes. Now microwave again for two 5 minutes sessions. Pick a couple of pieces out of the syrup and drain it on a wire grid until it is cool. If the white part has colored and become translucent, it should be done. It may require one or two more cooking sessions, if the peel is extra thick. Taste it. If it tastes okay, place all the pieces on the drying rack and let it dry until it is just tacky, then toss it in granulated sugar. It dries faster if you have a fan blowing on it. ( RG1227 )

Microwave candied citrus peel, small batch. I developed this method of making small batches of candied citrus peel when I needed just a little for decoration or for a specific recipe. I usually make it in large batches in a crockpot but this is quick and easy and virtually foolproof. I have demonstrated it in an office and in the housewares section in a department store as it doesn't take much in the way of equipment or supplies. Microwave candied citrus peel, small batch. Cut off top and bottom of orange or other citrus. (This works for two medium to large oranges, three or four lemons, or one large grapefruit. Using a round-tip spoon, (like a soup spoon) slide the dip downward between the flesh and the rind, working your way around the fruit, then turn it upside-down and repeat the process until the rind is completely loose from the flesh. You want both the colored skin and the white part. On one side make a vertical cut and remove the rind from the fruit. Flatten the strip of rind on a cutting board and cut into 1/4 inch strips. Place the strips into a Pyrex measurer, 1 quart or larger. (I recommend the 2-quart size once you are cooking the peel in syrup.) Fill to within 2 inches of the top, there should be a lot more water than citrus rind. Microwave for 10 minutes. Drain the water off and add fresh water Microwave for another 10 minutes Drain that water and add fresh water Microwave for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Rinse the Pyrex container and to it add 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup sugar. Microwave for 3 minutes - it will start to bubble up. Add the peel to the syrup and microwave for 5 minutes. WATCH IT. If it starts to boil over stop the microwave. If you have a larger, 2-quart Pyrex measure, use that instead of the quart. Stir the peel, return to the microwave and microwave for another 5 minutes. Let the peel cool down for at least 30 minutes. Now microwave again for two 5 minutes sessions. Pick a couple of pieces out of the syrup and drain it on a wire grid until it is cool. If the white part has colored and become translucent, it should be done. It may require one or two more cooking sessions, if the peel is extra thick. Taste it. If it tastes okay, place all the pieces on the drying rack and let it dry until it is just tacky, then toss it in granulated sugar. It dries faster if you have a fan blowing on it. ( RG1227 )

I have been craving sate for several days. Beef, pork and chicken. Since I can't make up my mind which one, I will probably do some of each. My housekeeper is having some of her classmates to dinner tomorrow evening so I will probably make it then. I will probably make gado gado to go with. It may be a lot of peanut but I love the combination, particularly with coconut rice.

Sure, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I am bushed. Had to drive home through high winds and fighting to keep the van on the road just about did me in. Now it is raining heavily, sideways! I have awnings over the west-facing windows and the rain is blowing in under the awnings and striking the windows almost like hail.

I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt which is not iodized and has larger, flat flakes, quite different from Morton's kosher salt. I also have several other types/brands of salt, both sea salt and mined "Real" salt, which unlike other mined salts, is mined and crushed, not extracted by water, refined and re-crystalized. It contains all the minerals that were deposited with it when it was laid down millions of years ago. RealSalt I like the flavor very much. I also have sea salt from New Zealand (flakey, fine and coarse), France (3 kinds, Brittany, Camarque and Fleur de Sel), Hawaii red salt, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar and England (Maldon), as well as Mexico and Chile. Also Maine sea salt and Himalayan pink salt. Some are just little collectible items that I don't intend to use. I also have a jar of the black salt which is a flavoring - containing sulphur compounds that make it smell like garlic and it is so strong I keep it in an additional container to keep it from permeating anything near it. (learned my lesson a few years ago). Last week I ordered some Nazuna sea salt from Japan, having seen an article that mentioned it. There are several more I intend to order, South African, Peruvian, etc. I think it is interesting that something most people take for granted in its mundane form can be so different in other places around the globe.

They have changed the once fine AC-SS roasting pans. They are still the same high price, but no longer tri-clad --- just ss only. Sur La Tab makes a tri-clad one that is almost identical to the old tri-clad and it's much less, about $99 if I recall correctly. ← I got mine a couple of years ago. It is very heavy for its size. It is the smaller one and 3/4 inch deeper than the big one so I also use it as a lasagna pan. I have not seen it in any of the stores so perhaps this is one of the older models. It does have a magnetic bottom, however the magnet won't stick on the sides.

I didn't see this thread when it was first posted. I will PM you later today, after I get home from work, and tell you about my method of making candied orange peel in the microwave, it is quick and easy and great for making a small batch for a particular recipe.

I have posted these resources for sausage making in prior threads: Texas Tastes Leener's. You can call them on their toll free numbers as well as order stuff on line. They are enthusiastic about helping people get started in making both fresh and cures sausage and have all the supplies one would need. We really need a resource guide on eG, so people could post these sources in a place similar to Recipe Gullet. I have purchased from both companies and have been extremely pleased with the service and products.

I have a lot of cookware, including several pieces of All-Clad SS. For some applications they are excellent. The small roasting pan (which I got for a ridiculously cheap price) produces the best dripping with all the dark tasty bits of any roasting pan I have. I have a 3-quart saucepan which works on my induction burner. I also have a frypan that works on the induction burner and is a little smaller and easier to handle than the Sitram I bought specifically for it.

I make a creamy rice pudding using coconut milk then fold in sliced bananas and sliced strawberries and chill. Pretty and very tasty.

Try Linens 'N Things or Bed, Bath and Beyond

But, unless you stick some raw garlic or something else that could have come in contact with botulism spores, it will not be that particular and very dangerous bacteria. The only thing that is dipped into the oil is a stainless slotted ladle that is plunged into boiling water before it goes into the jar. There are very few bacteria that can colonize oil and oil inhibits the growth of yeasts and most molds. I have never had any incidence of mold forming in a jar. The garlic itself does not float, remains at the bottom of the jar. When I worked in a lab, we had to be careful that our culture media never got any kind of oil or grease on the surface and the wire loops used to streak the plate had to be flamed before being dipped into the material to be cultured so that there would be no oil or grease transferred to the media, because the colonies would not grow where there was oil. We used streaks of vaseline to quarter some of the plates to keep colonies confined and to see if they would "bloom" and daughter colonies would be carried across the barriers.

Cakes from scratch are not difficult to produce but sometimes people have varying results when a recipe is passed along, i.e., the texture is different, even the taste may vary. This is simply because not all ingredients are exactly the same. Baking powder can lose its potency, some eggs have a different flavor, as does butter or shortening, other ingredients also. Not all flours are the same, and cake flour varies and also does not age well. Fresh cake flour works much better than a box that is over a year old. I have seen this for myself. Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker, et. al., spend millions developing box mixes that work every time for every cook, whether they live in Naples, Florida or Nome, Alaska and all points between. They routinely conduct blind taste testing with up to a hundred ordinary people doing the tasting and often have a few "ringers" - cakes made from scratch, to compare to the box mixes being tested. I have noting against box mixes and would probably use them if I ever thought to buy them. However, since I always have the makings for scratch cakes on hand, and it takes me little time to mix one up, I do that, with the exception of the pound cake mixes which I mentioned in an earlier post.

I had one when they were first introduced but that was in my old oven. The oven I have now is too large for it to fit into properly so I gave it away with the old oven. It was okay for breads and even for roasts as it maintained a constant heat in the oven. However it had to come out when I needed extra space in the oven and I could have gotten along just fine without it.

You are of course correct. 240 degrees F is the minimum required temp to destroy the spores, and as long as your jar is sterilized and no new source of contamination is introduced, it is fine. Personally, I would still keep it in the fridge. Didn't mean to doubt your knowledge about preserving. I just read your post and shivered, since you didn't mention any best practices for preserving low acid foods under oil. Erik ← I have been canning and preserving for more than 50 years and take every precaution to avoid having anything even remotely harmful in my pantry.

andiesenji, I don't want to sound shrill; but, please do not continue to do this. You've been lucky so far; but, there is a very real risk of botulism storing a low acid vegetable under oil at room temperature. ← I believe they are referring to garlic that is roasted and then stored in oil that has not been roasted. Roasting the peeled garlic cloves IN the oil for the long periods at the temperatures as I do, will kill the bacteria and inactivate any toxin that may have been produced on the garlic itself. WHO has the definitive information as does the USDA and any Farm Bureau office which has publications regarding this. Note the following taken from the WHO document. "The toxin is destroyed by normal cooking processes (heating at >85?C for five minutes or boiling for a few minutes). Clostridium botulinum will not grow, and therefore the toxin will not be formed in acidic foods (pH less than 4.6). However, the low pH will not inactivate any preformed toxin." As long as no new source for the bacteria is introduced to the roasted oil and garlic, it will be fine. If I am going to can the roasted garlic in oil for long-term storage, I process it in a pressure canner. I researched this in detail prior to my first trial at it many years ago and did indeed consult the library at CalPoly Pomona and UC Davis. The WHO document also states: "This happens most often in lightly preserved foods such as fermented, salted or smoked fish and meat products and in inadequately processed home canned or home bottled low acid foods such as vegetables. The food traditionally implicated differs between countries and will reflect local eating habits and food preservation procedures. Occasionally, commercially prepared foods are involved" Note that roasting the garlic IN the oil for 3 hours at 275 degrees is more than enough to kill any bacteria and inactivate any toxin. The oil is boiling during much of this time.

I made some fresh pork sausage from pork trimmed from a couple of roasts, just enough for two nice patties. I didn't bother getting the meat grinder out for such a small amount, just minced it in the small Cuisinart. I cooked the sausage by browning it on both sides, then added a little water and the tight-fitting lid so it would cook through without getting too brown on the outside. I made a batch of buttermilk biscuits while the sausage was cooking and then fried two lovely double-yolked eggs in the pan in which the sausage had been cooked. I had considered making sausage gravy but decided it would have been a bit too much. I finished the meal with a biscuit topped with some lemon curd from a batch I made last night.

Someone gave me one of the large garlic roasters a few years ago. I never used it and I think it was passed along to one of the neighbors who uses it in his smoker. If I want to roast a single head of garlic I just slice off the top, place it in the center of a piece of foil, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with a little kosher salt, wrap it with the foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 375-400 degrees F. However I usually simply roast peeled garlic cloves in olive oil, no need to use extra virgin but it does need to be fresh, no hint of rancidity. I roast the garlic cloves in the oil for a long time at a low temprature ("perfumes" the entire house and the neighborhood), then transfer it to a large gar with a tight fitting lid and store at room temp. When I want some roasted garlic I simply use a slotted ladle and dip out as many cloves as I need. I also use the oil for cooking, dipping, etc. I like that the stuff is always available with no delays. I often simply buy one of the big containers of peeled garlic at CostCo or Sam's Club and use the entire cartion with a gallon of oil. I cook it in the oven in a 6-quart Corning pot.

I have a basic cookie mix I make up in 10 quart batches, however it has to be kept refrigerated. It does make it easier to scoop out the number of cups I require and add the "wet" ingredients. I can put together a batch of cookie dough in a tenth of the time and can have them baking in the time that usually would be spent just gathering the ingredients.

Er... with that name, are you sure she isn't from Puglia? A Sicilian with the last name "Pugliese" is like a New Yorker named "Bostonian." ← Nope, Maria's dad, who was killed in WWII, emigrated from Sicily in 1927 (age 17) and two years later sent for her mom whose maiden name was Bugatti, (no relation to the automobile). Maria and I worked together for several years.

Fantes has several solutions. I have a simple solution for cutting one cake into even layers. I use the long bladed cake knife. I place the cake on an upside-down sheet pan, place a tart ring that is a little larger in diameter than the cake and simply use that as a guide to cut the first layer which is the bottom of the cake. I then move the top, uncut part to another spot place the tart ring around it and make my second cut, and so on. This works fine with sponge cakes, angel food cakes, etc., and I can get 5 or sometimes 6 layers from such a cake. I also have a large metal bow saw that is strung with piano wire for making cross cuts in large cakes, however it can also be used for cuttling layers, it just takes two people when cutting horizontal slices in very large cakes.

Maria makes a dessert this way, lining a small to medium pudding bowl with this type of pasta then filling it with mild and sweet cheeses broken into small pieces and mixed with sugar, eggs, candied fruit, nuts and liqueur for flavoring. When it is turned out of the bowl it looks like an old-fashioned beehive. When I saw the movie the Big Night it reminded me of the dessert she makes. I have never asked her for her recipe or how she cooks it, however I think it is either placed in a bain maria or steamed. I know she uses a lot of eggs in it because she asked me to pick up two dozen on one occasional because she had used all she had in preparing that particular dessert. Her mom is Sicilian (surname Pugliese) and I think the recipe is actually hers.

99% of the time I make cakes from scratch. However I do keep a couple of boxes of pound cake mix on hand for baking something quick that is going to be used under fruit or custard or whatever, where the flavor of the cake is not so important as the stuff that will be soaking into it. I use it for an applesauce/applebutter stack cake using very thin layers. The point is that the flavor of the cake is completely overpowerd by the flavor of the "filling" so the pound cake mix is just fine and saves a considerable amount of time.

I have seldom turned it all the way up. It heats the skillet or saucepan rapidly enough for anything I have cooked on it. I have used a grill pan with ridges on it with it turned to high and it did a very nice job on pork chops and steaks. It doesn't heat water in a stock pot as rapidly as my 15000 BTU gas burner but it does bring it to a boil more rapidly than a regular hot plate. I have used it for re-heating and holding at temp chili, soup, with it turned to low so it wouldn't require constant stirring. It does a fair job with stir-fry but I really haven't used it that much for that particular application. It is very easy to clean. The fact that once the cooking vessel has been removed from it, there is no residual heat at the burner itself, makes it safer to use where there are a lot of kids running around. This is one of the reasons I got one to begin with. We had a block party a few years back and one of the other families had an electric hotplate which had been turned off but one of the smaller kids reached past it to grab something and burnt his forearm on the still hot surface. He had the design of the coils on his arm. It wasn't a very serioius burn but he did have to be taken to the ER. Kids can recognize that a gas burner is hot, but not an electric hotplate. When I bought the Volrath, it was the only one available.

One of my friends gets this pasta from an Italian market that carries many types of bulk pasta, interestng shapes never seen in packages. She cooks it until it is just pliable, then forms it into coils in the bottom of a buttered baking dish then adds a layer of cheeses, ricotta and fresh mozzarella, Then some beaten egg followed by lightly drizzling this with a thin marinara sauce, then another layer of the pasta coils, another layer of cheeses and the beaten egg. It is topped with another layer of of pasta so there are two layers of cheese, three layers of pasta, topped with more sauce. She covers it with foil so it won't brown on top and cooks it for 1/2 to 3/4 hour. It is turned out onto a platter so the "snails" on the bottom make a nice design. She may line the baking dish with parchment but it has been awhile and I don't recall exactly. The presentation is very attractive.