andiesenji

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.

I know of two very popular restaurants in the west San Fernando Valley that have recently switched to cash only for a particular reason. They had a problem with patrons having their credit cards charged for more than the original bill as the cards had been swiped twice or swiped through a card reader and cloned. Several patrons disputed all of the charges as fraudulent and both restaurants lost quite a bit because the servers had falsified the charges, collected the cash or merchandise and skipped. My boss was one who had this happen to him and he had only been at one of the restaurants on one occasion during the period this occurred but there were 4 charges. I questioned the three additional ones because he was in the hospital at the time these were dated. The fraudulent charges were refunded but he will not return to the restaurant in spite of receiving a written apology and explanation as well as a notice that they will now accept cash only.

I had considered adding a built-in induction cooktop but decided that I would rather have the portability of the individual countertop units so I could use them wherever I pleased. The Diva 12 inch was the one I liked.Diva induction

I agree that lots of outlets are important. I had two placed on either end of the vent hood over the cooktop especially for the stick blenders I use at the cooktop. This is so handy and much safer than having the cord draped over other pots or hot burners.

Carrot/sorrel/ginger soup would also be appropriate and the lemony tang of the sorrel and the slight spiciness of the ginger is great for palate "sparking" between the fattier courses. Carrot/Sorrel/Ginger Soup Serves: 6 to 8 2 tablespoons canola or light olive oil 3/4 cup chopped onion or half onion/half shallots 1 1/2 tablespoons grated or minced fresh ginger 4 cups shredded carrots, firmly packed 2 cups chopped sorrel, loosely packed 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water kosher salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup half and half chiffonade basil leaves In a large saucepan or evasee heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger, sauté until the onion is transparent but not browned. Remove the onion/ginger and set aside. Add the carrots and sauté, stirring often, for about 8 minutes, until the carrots begin to soften. Add the sorrel and toss with the carrots. Return the shallot/ginger to the pan, mix well. Add the stock or water. Increase heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pan and simmer for minutes, until the carrots are soft and mash easily with a fork. Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool until just warm. Transfer the soup to a blender (blend 2 cups at a time) and strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. When all has been blended and strained, place over medium heat, stirring constantly until the soup just begins to simmer. If the soup is quite thick, add a little hot water and blend in. Stir in the half and half and blend well. Serve with basil chiffonade scattered on top. May also be served in mugs with cinnamon toast points on the side as a starter. Orginal Recipe by Andie

I'm curious about yours. Do you have 240V or 120V models? ← Both of mine are 120 volt. One is the very inexpensive Supentown, now 139.00 (179. when I purchased mine). Supentown The other (older) one is a Volrath Which is larger and will hold a fairly large stockpot steady. It also has some additional bells and whistles, empty pot sensor, etc. It too has come down in price - it was 700. plus when I purchased it, now is available for 550.00 The great thing is that they are easy to carry around, I regularly take one or both to the office when we have one of our potluck lunches. In fact I am considering buying another of the Supentown to keep at the office. There are, of course, electric hotplates that are much less expensive and do not require cookware with a magnetic bottom, however they are not as safe to use as these.

I have countertop induction "burners" and they work great, as well as being very portable. You do have to use cookware that is absolutely flat on the bottom and is a magnetic metal. I have Sitram induction cookware that was relatively inexpensive, with a very thick base plate. The heat/cool response is rapid and precise.

I just added my original recipe: "Marzipan filled brioche bread pudding" to RecipeGullet. The brioche recipe is one that I have used and tweaked for many years, it is light and yeasty but also quite rich. This recipe includes a marzipan filling but for plain brioche you need only omit the instructions for adding the filling. This recipe works well for individual brioche buns, a standard brioche or even a "monkey-bread" type which is even richer having dipped the small pieces into melted butter before packing into the mold or pan.

Translating any language is an extremely complex undertaking, and when one deals with regional variations of spelling it has to be even more difficult and it is amazing to me that some people can do it with flair and make the subject interesting.

Mrs. Obregon's Chicken Enchiladas This recipe came from my neighbor who is from Durango, Mexico. Lived on a ranch with her husband and children until 1987 when they turned the ranch over to their two eldest sons and emigrated (legally) to California and settled here, close to their oldest daughter. They have a lot of family celebrations which require massive amounts of food and I have helped prepare 200 tamales beef, chicken, etc., numerous enchiladas, burritos, tortas, chemichangas, etc., and my oven has been host to huge amounts of beef, chicken, goat, pork and various baked goods. I love Mexican foods of any type, especially enchiladas, and have eaten them in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and of course in several parts of Mexico. These are the best enchiladas I have ever tasted and I had to work to get the recipe. This recipe would be for a 4-pound chicken. 18 to 24 corn tortillas, the extra-thick are more like the home-made ones we use. The chicken is roasted, not poached, either in the oven or on the barbecue(barbacoa) and always has a lemon and half of a large onion stuffed into the cavity along with cumin seeds, Mexican tarragon, and a whole Anaheim chile pepper. The latter is for flavor, not heat. Cooking time depends on the size of the chicken - when the leg wiggles freely it is done. The skin is set aside along with the carcass after all the meat has been removed. (The bones, skin and wings go into a pot to make a broth.) The meat is pulled into bite-sized pieces, seasoned with the following mixture: 1 fresh chile poblano seeded and deveined then finely chopped. If more heat is desired use 3-4 jalapeños or 4-5 serranos. 2 medium tomatoes, cut in half, broiled for 3 minutes then chopped 3 tomatillos, cut in half, broiled for 5 minutes then chopped. 2 cloves of garlic minced. 1 medium onion, finely chopped. 3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice 3/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin Combine all ingredients and cook in a little oil in a large skillet just until it begins to stew. Remove from heat, cool and toss with chicken. Set aside. Cut Jack cheese into strips 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick, 4-5 inches long. If you have access to Mexican cheese, use Queso Fresca or Queso Seco, Cotija. Into 12 oz of tomato sauce mix 3 tablespoons of tomato paste Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground chile guajillo or chile arbol or other freshly ground whole chile. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet Add 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt Stir constantly until garlic is just beginning to show color Add the tomato sauce and heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat allow to cool slightly. Fry tortillas in a little oil until just softened and pliable. Stack on a plate and cover to keep warm. Lay a tortilla on top of sauce then pick up with tongs and lay in baking dish sauce side up. Place a strip of the cheese on the tortilla. Add a portion of the chicken mixture on top of the cheese, fold the sides of the tortilla over the chicken and turn it over so the seam side is on the bottom. Continue adding them side by side until the baking dish is full. Pour a line of the sauce down the center of the enchiladas then add a few strips of the Jack cheese diagonally across the sauce, or you can use shredded mild cheddar. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 -20 minutes, or just until cheese is melted. Top each portion with a spoonful of salsa fresca and a dollop of sour cream on top. For a breakfast dish serve two enchiladas topped with a fried egg. ( RG1221 )

Mrs. Obregon's Chicken Enchiladas This recipe came from my neighbor who is from Durango, Mexico. Lived on a ranch with her husband and children until 1987 when they turned the ranch over to their two eldest sons and emigrated (legally) to California and settled here, close to their oldest daughter. They have a lot of family celebrations which require massive amounts of food and I have helped prepare 200 tamales beef, chicken, etc., numerous enchiladas, burritos, tortas, chemichangas, etc., and my oven has been host to huge amounts of beef, chicken, goat, pork and various baked goods. I love Mexican foods of any type, especially enchiladas, and have eaten them in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and of course in several parts of Mexico. These are the best enchiladas I have ever tasted and I had to work to get the recipe. This recipe would be for a 4-pound chicken. 18 to 24 corn tortillas, the extra-thick are more like the home-made ones we use. The chicken is roasted, not poached, either in the oven or on the barbecue(barbacoa) and always has a lemon and half of a large onion stuffed into the cavity along with cumin seeds, Mexican tarragon, and a whole Anaheim chile pepper. The latter is for flavor, not heat. Cooking time depends on the size of the chicken - when the leg wiggles freely it is done. The skin is set aside along with the carcass after all the meat has been removed. (The bones, skin and wings go into a pot to make a broth.) The meat is pulled into bite-sized pieces, seasoned with the following mixture: 1 fresh chile poblano seeded and deveined then finely chopped. If more heat is desired use 3-4 jalapeños or 4-5 serranos. 2 medium tomatoes, cut in half, broiled for 3 minutes then chopped 3 tomatillos, cut in half, broiled for 5 minutes then chopped. 2 cloves of garlic minced. 1 medium onion, finely chopped. 3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice 3/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cumin Combine all ingredients and cook in a little oil in a large skillet just until it begins to stew. Remove from heat, cool and toss with chicken. Set aside. Cut Jack cheese into strips 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick, 4-5 inches long. If you have access to Mexican cheese, use Queso Fresca or Queso Seco, Cotija. Into 12 oz of tomato sauce mix 3 tablespoons of tomato paste Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground chile guajillo or chile arbol or other freshly ground whole chile. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet Add 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt Stir constantly until garlic is just beginning to show color Add the tomato sauce and heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat allow to cool slightly. Fry tortillas in a little oil until just softened and pliable. Stack on a plate and cover to keep warm. Lay a tortilla on top of sauce then pick up with tongs and lay in baking dish sauce side up. Place a strip of the cheese on the tortilla. Add a portion of the chicken mixture on top of the cheese, fold the sides of the tortilla over the chicken and turn it over so the seam side is on the bottom. Continue adding them side by side until the baking dish is full. Pour a line of the sauce down the center of the enchiladas then add a few strips of the Jack cheese diagonally across the sauce, or you can use shredded mild cheddar. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 -20 minutes, or just until cheese is melted. Top each portion with a spoonful of salsa fresca and a dollop of sour cream on top. For a breakfast dish serve two enchiladas topped with a fried egg. ( RG1221 )

Marzipan filled brioche bread pudding Read all directions first. This recipe takes 2 days to do it correctly This is a recipe recreated from a note in one of my great grandmother's journals made while she was travelling in France in the 1860s. There was no recipe, just a description of the dessert and her suppositions as to how it may have been made and what the ingredients might have been. Easy Brioche Rolls Must start preparation the day before serving this dessert. 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/3 cup sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 pkg. dry yeast 1/4 cup lukewarm water 1 egg, separated 3 whole eggs, beaten 3 1/4 cup flour *10 ounces marzipan* (Will be used later) Scald milk and while hot add butter (margarine), sugar, and salt. COOL TO LUKEWARM. Soften yeast in the water. Add to LUKEWARM milk mixture. Add egg yolk and beaten eggs and stir. Add flour and beat with wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until more than double in bulk, about 2 hours or less. Stir down and beat (stir) thoroughly. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temp. Take plain brioche dough and form into small buns (golf ball size works nicely), cover and let them rest for 10 minutes. Filling You can use store bought marzipan or make your own. Make a rope of marzipan about the size of a tootsie roll and cut into pieces about the same width. (You don't have to shape them.) Put one of the marzipan pieces on each bun, draw the dough up around it and pinch and twist to seal. Place in a buttered pan with seam side down. Cover and allow to rise about 30 minutes or until nearly doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Place pan in center of oven. Bake till nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire grid. When cool cover loosely with a cloth and let them set out several hours. We want them to be just a little stale. The next step which takes this into an entire new category Egg custard 4 eggs + 2 egg yolks, beaten till creamy 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cup cream 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 cup sweet sherry (optional) Mix all these ingredients and beat until completely blended Preheat oven to 325 degrees Place the marzipan filled buns in a buttered baking dish sides touching. Pour the custard in and around the buns but do not cover the tops of the buns. Let this stand for a few minutes then add more of the custard mix as the rolls will have soaked up some. Add a little to begin with and allow the base of the buns to soak up some of the custard mixture so they will not float as the rest is added. Place the pan in a bain marie and bake until the custard is set. (Time varies with the size of the baking dish and the amount of custard) For a 9 x 11 pan it should be done in about 25 minutes. Test with a thin knife blade BETWEEN THE ROLLS at about 20 minutes, then at 25 minutes. Test every 2 minutes after that until blade comes out clean. ( RG1220 )

Marzipan filled brioche bread pudding Read all directions first. This recipe takes 2 days to do it correctly This is a recipe recreated from a note in one of my great grandmother's journals made while she was travelling in France in the 1860s. There was no recipe, just a description of the dessert and her suppositions as to how it may have been made and what the ingredients might have been. Easy Brioche Rolls Must start preparation the day before serving this dessert. 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/3 cup sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 pkg. dry yeast 1/4 cup lukewarm water 1 egg, separated 3 whole eggs, beaten 3 1/4 cup flour *10 ounces marzipan* (Will be used later) Scald milk and while hot add butter (margarine), sugar, and salt. COOL TO LUKEWARM. Soften yeast in the water. Add to LUKEWARM milk mixture. Add egg yolk and beaten eggs and stir. Add flour and beat with wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until more than double in bulk, about 2 hours or less. Stir down and beat (stir) thoroughly. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temp. Take plain brioche dough and form into small buns (golf ball size works nicely), cover and let them rest for 10 minutes. Filling You can use store bought marzipan or make your own. Make a rope of marzipan about the size of a tootsie roll and cut into pieces about the same width. (You don't have to shape them.) Put one of the marzipan pieces on each bun, draw the dough up around it and pinch and twist to seal. Place in a buttered pan with seam side down. Cover and allow to rise about 30 minutes or until nearly doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Place pan in center of oven. Bake till nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire grid. When cool cover loosely with a cloth and let them set out several hours. We want them to be just a little stale. The next step which takes this into an entire new category Egg custard 4 eggs + 2 egg yolks, beaten till creamy 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cup cream 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 cup sweet sherry (optional) Mix all these ingredients and beat until completely blended Preheat oven to 325 degrees Place the marzipan filled buns in a buttered baking dish sides touching. Pour the custard in and around the buns but do not cover the tops of the buns. Let this stand for a few minutes then add more of the custard mix as the rolls will have soaked up some. Add a little to begin with and allow the base of the buns to soak up some of the custard mixture so they will not float as the rest is added. Place the pan in a bain marie and bake until the custard is set. (Time varies with the size of the baking dish and the amount of custard) For a 9 x 11 pan it should be done in about 25 minutes. Test with a thin knife blade BETWEEN THE ROLLS at about 20 minutes, then at 25 minutes. Test every 2 minutes after that until blade comes out clean. ( RG1220 )

You are so lucky. It is a wonderful book. I agree that one needs to keep searching, sometimes using obscure or unusual words to narrow the search and thus find lesser known sites. I have found some interesting books using bibliofind, which is a part of Amazon but often I find books via that site that do not come up on an Amazon search. Abe books .com is another of my favorites. Then there is Acanthus books which has reprints of rare and very old books, facsimiles, etc. They also sometimes have copies of out of print books but you have to contact them and ask. They are exceptionally nice people and very helpful.