andiesenji

People give me gookbooks all the time. Once they learn I am a collector they seek out the obscure and weird (occasionally really weird). The Cactus Cookbook comes to mind - Dining During the Depression (referring to the Great Depression, not a state of mind) is one from which I have never cooked but I read it with great interest as it reminded me of my childhood. I was born at the end of that decade and although my family was little affected by it, there were still many reminders around that I recall in the homes of neighboring farmers. I have just been re-reading John Humphries book The Essential Saffron Companion. I love saffron and after a discussion on another thread I pulled out this book to refresh my memory and become reacquainted with some of the recipes I prepared in the past and which need to be reprised. His saffron scones are wonderful. The chickpeas with saffron and spinach are excellent as is the chicken with sour orange stew which is perfect for this time of the year when Seville oranges are available. Someone mentioned White Trash Cooking a few posts back. I have all of Mickler's books, and don't recall cooking a recipe of any of them, however I did enjoy reading them and the photos are very evocative of the southern byways that are mostly disappearing. I think I have all of " - - - The Beautiful" cookbooks and have never prepared a recipe from any of them. I have them simply for the photography which is extraordinary. Cookwise is an interesting read, and it does have some great advice for how to do certain kitchen processes that might be a mystery to many. I don't agree with her way of pasteurizing eggs, but many people find it works so that is good. At least it is one way to make sure one can use raw eggs safely. I don't remember if I have prepared any recipe from the book but it is an excellent resource for a novice cook or even an experienced one who doesn't know it all. I certainly have use for it and I have a great deal of experience.

I am not an expert but have been advocating irradiation of foods for several years. Several years ago a friend who was then working on the development of a machine for commercial treatment of foods right at the source in the fields, irradiated a bunch of my home grown tomatoes. They kept beautifully, right on my kitchen counter for several weeks with no loss of flavor, no breakdown of tissue. This site has a lot of information. You can also contact UC Davis. I believe they had a joint study going with Lawrence Livermore Labs in Berkeley regarding this subject. European countries, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany are marketing more and more irradiated foods every year. I also beleive Florida had a program to promote irradiated foods.

I must join CPA also as I have a lot of old clay pots and crocks. The Bauer company in Los Angeles was famous for its "Ringware" and the bowls and tableware have long been collectible. However what most people do not know is that prior to moving to L.A. they were in Padukah, Kentucky and made crocks and jugs as well as other earthenware and also bean pots. I have two of their bean pots, ca. 1900 and several crocks. They are extremely scarce - I inherited mine, and they were the beginning of my collection and fascination with clay pot cookery. I love the feel of earthenware and clay pots of all kinds, as well as the appearance. The way foods turn out in them is a great bonus. I mentioned on another thread that when I was a child, my cousins and I used to go fishing some distance from home and for our lunch would bake some of the fish we caught in clay dug out of the stream bank and plastered on the outside of the fish. This was buried in coals and when done, the clay was broken and would expose the flesh of the fish as the skin would adhere to the clay. It was a cooking vessel and plate combination.

I asked about desert truffles in one of the forums, I never got an answer. I did a little research and truffles are found in the Middle East and North Africa. There is a company that sells canned Lebanese truffles. I've never tried them. ← The middle eastern market in Lancaster (where I live) sells canned truffles. The can is about the same size as a large can of tomatoes. Price is $19.00 I have yet to try them.

Green mango is a type of mango, not an unripe mango. It has a different flavor. They can be found frozen in my local Asian markets.

I want a counter-top home food irradiation appliance. I want an electric pressure cooker large enough for canning a dozen quart jars. I want a dedicated sink with sprayers built into the sides for washing fruits and vegetables with a deep basket made to fit the sink which can be lifted and rested on brackets for draining.

I am reminded of the daughter of one of my neighbors. When she visits her mom she won't eat the stuff her mom cooks, (pork chops, ribs and etc.,) as it is "too fat" but will open a can of Dinty Moore beef stew and heat that and eat it. She also will stop at Krispy Kreme and bring a half dozen doughnuts, which she eats herself, as her mom has diabetes and won't touch them. She doesn't see now foolish she looks.

I had a HearthKit and it worked just fine but I then got a different oven. The plumber who installed my new oven wanted the old one with the HearthKit, which wouldn't fit in my new one so I traded it for the labor. It did great bread and also wonderful for casseroles, roasts, etc., maintained heat in the oven perfectly.

One of the restaurant supply places on the net sells a bundle of paring knives very cheaply just for this reason. I bought a bucket of them a couple of years ago when we were going to have a big neighborhood cookout. I didn't want to take any of my knives outside. About a third of the knives disappeared, either into the trash or off with sticky fingers people.

I agree. If anyone touches MY knives without permission they hear about it in no uncertain terms. I have inexpensive knives for other people to use.

I phoned a friend who is from France who does a lot of baking and asked her what she uses as a substitute for cassonade. She says the brown sugar we get here is not the same. She will use turbinado in a pinch, but prefers to get a "cone" of jaggery and grates it off the cone with a fine wood rasp to get the granular structure that is her preference, i.e. uneven granules. She buys the jaggery at an Indian market. She says it has a lot of flavor, not just the sweetness and contains a lot of minerals that contribute to the "wholeness" of it. She says that cassonade in a recipe is intended to add texture and subtle flavor, not just sweeten it.

I have actually cooked from very few of the cookbooks in my collection. However, I am an avid collector and it isn't just the recipes that are of interest to me. I appreciate the cookbooks for the stories, the photography and drawings, the history of foods, the ideas and, especially prior to the advent of the internet, the lists of obscure resources for foods, spices, equipment and etc.

You could get some of These - Max Temp Handle Covers glue a magnet onto the tip of each one and when you put a skillet into the oven put the handle holder on the oven door across the opening or the handle so you will have to move it to open the door. I have some made of Nomex which can go right into the oven and while they get warm, they are not uncomfortable to grab, however they were rather expensive. Sur La Table did have one that was cloth on the outside, silicone on the inside but I don't know if they still have them. I saw some at Linens 'N Things that were just silicone but they weren't very big, only about 4 or 5 inches long and to me didn't look that useful.

I absolutely will never again walk into the kitchen at dusk, without turning on the lights, and pick up a tube of "hand cream" without looking at the tube. I have been scrubbing for five minutes to get the wasabi paste off my hands. Burns like the dickens and the fumes are making my nose run and my eyes tear. My housekeeper left it out after taking some to have with sushi she brought home before I came home. (I don't eat sushi so rarely use the wasabi.)

Joy of Cooking if I could have only one but it would be awfully traumatic leaving all the others behind. I fear I would weep uncontrollably.

You could probably discretely resell them.........

I don't know why the milk is added in at the last. However, when she first gave me the recipe I figured it didn't make sense and simply cooked it in with the rest. The results were okay but the cajeta had a tough skin on the top after it had been in the fridge for a day. After that, I have made it as instructed and it did not develop that tough skin. All I can think is that the casein in the uncooked milk keeps that from happening.

Lucy, I am yet another who is truly overwhelmed by your blog. Your words and pictures are a delightful essay reflecting your daily life. Truly a work of art. Andie

I posted this recipe last October. I also took a quart of this dulce de leche to the eG potluck at Tejon's. Once you try this you won't want to fiddle around with the cans of condensed milk. This is the real cajeta and is delicious. Here is an authentic Mexican recipe as made by Mrs. Obregon, my neighbor, who loves her slow-cooker which she says is muy sympatico. DULCE DE LECHE - SLOW COOKER 1 Mexican (or other) vanilla bean, split lengthwise 2 cups regular goat milk, do not use low fat 2 cups regular milk 1 2/3 cups cane sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in ¼ cup water Mix the milks together in a quart measure. Pour 3 cups of the milk (refrigerate the remaining cup) into the slow cooker and add the vanilla bean and sugar and turn heat control to high and mix with a whisk to make sure the sugar has dissolved. As soon as the mixtue has warmed to about 140 degrees, add the water with the baking soda and whisk again. Do not cover the cooker. Continue cooking for about 8 hours, gently stirring about every 2 hours. Remove the vanilla bean, wash it and set it aside to dry and stick it into your sugar canister to flavor the sugar. Meanwhile, with a silicone high temp spatula, scrape down the crust that has formed on the sides and stir it into the mixture. If foam forms do not remove it, simply stir down into the mixture. Reduce the temperature to medium and continued cooking. Stir occasionally, about every 15-20 minutes until the mixture has thickened, it should pour like honey. This should take about 2 hours. Near the end of this time, warm the remaining cup of milk in a small saucepan then stir into the mixture in the slow cooker. Mix well and transfer to a sterilized quart jar and place the cap lightly on the jar, do not seal. Allow it to cool to room temperature then tighten cap and refrigerate. It will keep for three months in the refrigerator. To make a cake filling, cook 1 cup gently over very low heat or in a double boiler for about 45 minutes. It should be thick, even while hot and the consistency of soft caramel. It should not soak into the cake. First chill your cake, or at least the bottom layer. Pour the cajeta into the center of the cake layer and gently spread it out to the edge then add the top layer. Finish as you wish.

I use my pressure cookers all the time. The big one is used for canning and for the occasional really large item (like a whole leg of pork which would take many hours to cook otherwise). I cook beef heart in the pressure cooker. I also cook beef tongue in it because otherwise it takes a long, long time. Cooking Under Pressure is my favorite cookbook for this process. by Lorna Sass, this was published in 1989 and I have been using it for years. Last year she has Pressure Perfect published and I bought it and found that she has been busy thinking up new things. It is not the same as the older book but together they really fill the bill.

That looks lovely. How much is there and how many does it serve?

I am pretty sure it is still on Reseda Blvd, close to Roscoe. It is in a strip mall and as I recall, there is a Baskin Robbins at the other end of the strip. It has been quite a few years since I visited the place. They used to get a lot of business from the university students (CSUN).

I mix just about all of these grains and cook it as a breakfast cereal, as a side dish, etc. I also include teff, spelt and triticale. I like the flavor of the combination. I also grind the mix and add it to breads. I will post a photo later, when I discover where I left my camera. I know it is here in the house, I just can't find it.

I have had a couple of custom cutters made by Sugarcraft. They are probably one of the sources you have already found. I checked with another company, Kitchen - something, but they could not get the cutters done by the time I needed them. As I recall they were a bit cheaper.

I have "several" types of grits, including the Antebellum white from Anson Mills, and both white and yellow from Falls Mill in Tennessee, Bob's Red Mill Organic and home ground from sweet white dent corn from Kentucky (cousin's farm). So you can see you are not alone in the GRITS department. If you have a deep fryer, you can pour your cooked grits into a shallow baking dish to about 3/4 inch deep, then when set, cut into 3/4 inch strips which cross cut into (approximately 4 inch long) pieces, dust lightly with potato flour (or regular flour but potato or rice flour is better) and deep fry till golden brown. These are tasty with a savory sauce or a sweet syrup but maple syrup is my favorite. They are even better with crisp bacon finely crumbled and mixed into the grits just before pouring into the baking dish. My neighbors like them with hot salsa. I often make them for our weekly shared dinners.