andiesenji

I just ordered a couple of the filter pods from holland from knivesandtools.com. I never drink decaf so have no idea how it will taste. One of the gals in the office ordered some of the decaf Milano from podhead.com and is pleased with it but this is a person who will drink anything remotely associated with coffee as long as it is decaf. She stops on the way to work to pick up what looks like a liter of coffee at the AM/PM where she gets her gas. That is gone by 10 which is when she starts in on the Senseo stuff she ordered and has at least three of the double cups by lunch. I can understand why she needs decaf, if it were caffinated she would be bouncing around on the ceiling............

If there is a Vallarta Supermercado near you, go to the meat department and in the case where you see packaged bacon, smoked ham hocks and etc., you will find packages of fresh lard. It is far superior to the stuff in the boxes (or larger buckets) and is reasonably priced (89 cents a pound on the package I just bought). You can render your own but it can be tricky to get it so it is not granular. You have to chill it rapidly while stirring with a whisk to get the very fine texture which is desirable for use in baking. I place a large stainless bowl in an ice bath and have someone helping me gradually pour the melted lard into the bowl while I whisk it. I wear protective gloves and an apron because it will pop a bit as moisture condenses on the interior of the bowl. You have to ask for leaf lard for rendering your own. It is superior to the regular fat.

I have three or four of the clay pots from this vendor and have never had a problem with cracking. I season them prior to initial use and again if I haven't used them for 4 or 5 months because I live in a desert area and it is very, very dry. (Except right now when it is pouring outside and we have a record rainfall year. However we also are having a bumper crop of wildflowers, the best in living memory so all thing even out.) Anyway, I have used one of the pots on the barbecue with no problems but usually use them on the gas cooktop and have never had one crack. I broke the handle on one when I shoved it ard against the tile backsplash but it did not destroy the integrity of the pot. I just use a rasp and coarse sandpaper to smooth it. I think you probably need to re-season the pot after it has been stored for a long time.

Why not start some from seed. The stuff self-seeds readily all over my garden and my gardeners are continually digging it out of the beds where I don't want it.Seeds of Change is a good place from which to order the seeds. It sprouts and grows rapidly but you can start it in a pot on a window sill then transplant it into the garden when it is warm enough.

I haven't turned to FoodTV for a long time. Too much hucksterism and too much "fun" (that isn't) in the shows, not to mention the inflated egos parading around and not doing much. I do miss the days of John Ash, Curtis Aikens and Mary Ann Esposito, and even David Rosengarten was easier to watch than the inane claptrap showing now. And I loved Two Hot Tamales!

I love braised celery and have been making it since I was a child as it was a family favorite. It is very simple to make. I actually have a few recipes I alternate. The one from the Cuisinart cookbook that was developed by James Beard for them is one. Last year I tried this one and it is very like the one I loved as a child. I sometimes add some toasted pecans over the top of the dish when ready to serve. Braised celery goes good with other vegetables too. I combined two dishes once, when I didn't have enough of either to make a decent dish. baby carrots glazed with balsamic syrup were alternated in a serving dish with braised celery and it was a lovely combination of flavors.

Another thing that is excellent for the low temp braise is braciola (Italian) or rouladen (German), both made with meat that is rather tough but has lots of flavor, pounded to an even thinness and rolled around a stuffing that can be made with various ingredients from bread/crackers to rice and vegetables, sausage, nuts and etc. There are many recipes that can be adapted to your own tastes. The sauces can also vary widely from a thick and meaty gravy to a tomato type and spicy sauces. The best way is to make small rolls that will each be an individual serving rather than one large roll.

If you use a ginger "grater" or even better, a Japanese suribachi, to grate the ginger into a juicy paste, you will have no strings at all. I have found that this is the best way to prepare fresh ginger for use in sauces, drinks, marinades and desserts such as ices. With the suribachi I grate the ginger against the sides of the bowl and if any coarser bits remain I work them over with the surikogi (pestle) until it is a smooth paste. The suribachi is also my favorite utensil for making chile paste, sambals, etc.

I have a question regarding cinnamon. (and other spices) Is it (or other spices) always ground and added directly to a dish. Back in the '70s when I hosted a young lady from Morocco who was here attending an artist's workshop for several weeks, she often broke up a selection of spices and infused them in broth or juice (and I believe once in tea) and added the liquid to a dish. I thought at the time it was because she didn't consider ground spices fresh enough and that was prior to the time that electric spice grinders were available. She grated some of the spices but simply crushed some in a mortar. It has been thirty years and my memory might be a little foggy, but I have been using this in a couple of recipes over the years, just not very often. I also remember when she made couscous from scratch. We drove all over town looking for an Italian market that had "real" semolina flour so she could make it in the traditional manner. It was fascinating but seemed like an awful lot of work so I never tried making it myself.

My favorite bagels in southern California are found at Brooklyn Bagel Bakery. I first met the two guys who started it in 1960 and have been making the trek down to L.A. a few times a year even since. They are the best, in my opinion and I have tried the bagels in a lot of places. They have added the ones with non-traditional additives to the line to remain competitive but when I first knew them they had plain, egg and pumpernickle.... Bialys came with salt and onion or salt and seeds and that was it. They are good for one day only, meant to be consumed within hours, if not minutes of finishing. They are made the way bagles are supposed to be made. I had a tour of the bakery back in the early '60s, which was the first time I had seen bagles prepared. It was a revelation. I had gone to baking school but we never touched on bagels. I have a friend (non eG) who lives in Palo Alto and when I have visited her, she gets bagels at Izzy's on California Avenue, two blocks from her home. They are also excellent. They are the traditional size (no wider than my palm) and also do not keep beyond a few hours. As I recall, they are strictly kosher. I do not like the huge, soft bagels that do not have the substance of the real bagel. Cutting into one with loose crumb and a porus texture is not my idea of perfection. Close, fine crumb with no bubbles is my ideal.

Years ago I used to go to a small middle eastern restaurant on Ventura Blvd in Studio City. They listed several dishes from North Africa, including this one which was supposed to be an Algerian dish. They served stuffed cucumbers, rings of peeled cucumber about 2 inches long, filled with a mildly spicy mixture of couscous and lentils and served with a yogurt sauce. The mixture may have contained a little ground meat but it has been so many years I really don't recal exactly. The cucumber rings had been cooked just a little. I remember trying to recreate the dish and having no luck at all. Does this sound like a dish that might be from the region?

Something like this is helpful. I have a couple of these and also one of the ones that slides in from the side, like you see in hospitals (much more expensive). Since the top tilts and has a ledge to keep books from sliding off, it is ideal for reading large books. I have a lot of very large books, collectibles and very old and rare books that require special handling. These tables are just the ticket and since the price has dropped, they are reasonably priced.

I reheat cooked meats of all kinds in the microwave. I use a shallow Corning baking dish with glass lid. I prop the lid up just a bit with a bamboo skewer.

I feel your pain, Jason. I have to deal with some dastardly person in my office who cuts the bagles in half CROSSWISE, then slices them because she is afraid of cutting her hand. I bought a bagle holder, specifically for slicing but she won't use it because, as she says, she doesn't want her cinnamon/raisin bagel touching something that has been touched by a bagle that might be flavored with onion or garlic. I wouldn't mind except for the fact that she can't seem to identify her own bagle without cutting several in half which really angers me since I am the one spending the money on them.

Nothing to do with radiation in this situation. ALL shipments from middle eastern ports to the US are gone over with extra care, particularly ones containing large furinture items, rugs and various vessels that might be used to transport contraband. They even test the packing material to make sure it wasn't soaked in a liquid containing contraband then dried so it could be rinsed out and reconstituted here.

I add a little salt near the end of cooking because as the total reduces, the salt will concentrate and the end result will be far too salty. This is the same as not salting stock until near the end.

I just read this and suffered the coffee-spraying-through-the-nose syndrome so ofted described on various threads. Thank goodness I have a "KeySkin" keyboard cover, otherwise my keyboard might be in sad shape at this time. For some reason, as I was reading the above, the scene in the movie Li'l Abner where the "Senator Phogbound" (or whatever he was) is orating and is followed by the song "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands." Sometimes accidents happen in shipping. One vendor of tagines (not tagines.com) had several boxes shipped in a container and when customs finished investigating the shipment, pulling everything out of the container, they set a couch on top of the boxes of tagines, breaking almost every one. They have insurance (because US customs takes no responsibility for their blunder) but it means they can't fill orders for a while.

I wasn't around when the previous post was put up. I have mentioned several times how much I enjoy my steam juicer. In fact I have a bunch of cranberries that need to be processed pretty soon. Perhaps a task for tomorrow.

You can always make strawberry syrup, you can freeze it and use it later for flavoring, ices, even with ice cream and seltzer water for a great soda. I make a sort of thin cream Anglaise, crush the strawberries and fold into the mixture and freeze in an ice cream freezer. It has a different texture and mouth feel than sorbet or ice cream, rather rich. I also may add toasted and salted pecans as I like the flavor combination.

I love shallots too. I just brought in a bunch from the garden. The onions and shallots have been growing right through the winter, in spite of quite a few nights of well-below freezing temps. If it stops raining for a few minutes I will go out and take a picture... Lots of green showing in the kitchen/herb garden. Even the strawberries are blooming. One sad note, no apricots this year. We had a hard freeze just as the tree was covered with blooms, much too early, because of an unseasonal few days of high temps. All blooms dropped, no fruit set.

Welcome Tim Z Your breakfast sounds great. Was fried bread a part of the meal?

That's my problem also. This is also making me want to visit the area again. The last time I was in the area it was so cold and wet the entire time that I huddled in my hotel, only venturing out for the specific event I was there to attend. My arthritis flared up and I was miserable for the entire six days. The only time I ever visited Pike Place Market, I was knocked down by a guy pushing a dolly stacked high with a bunch of crates and not looking where he was going. Needless to say, I have not been anxious to return to the Pacific northwest but this blog has given me a reason to change my mind.

I often use duck fat in my onion confit. A few months ago I made a batch of onion confit and included a preserved lemon. The lemon flavor was not overwhelming but contributed a sweet/tart/salty tang to the complex flavor of the onions. I have made marmalade from onion confit with various jams and jellies, processed them as I would any canned item and note that they seem to improve with age (several months). I don't make homemade apple jelly very often but buy it in half-gallon containers because I use it in making large batches of homemade mustard. (I use the apple or other jelly or marmalade in the mustard because I have friends who are allergic to certain things in honey and since they are usual recipients of the mustard, I don't want to make them ill.) Last December I made a batch of onion confit with red onions and included shallots, for about 1/4 of the entire volume, and made it up into marmalade for Christmas gifts. For some reason, I failed to keep a jar for myself but the friends who got it have all raved about it and a few have returned the jars, just in case I make another batch soon. I made a large batch of orange/grapefruit/lemon jelly last fall, from the fruit that remained after making candied peel. I plan on using that to make onion/garlic marmalade next week. I want to add that I had a rather lengthy conversation with a local chef, who makes an onion confit for his restaurant service. He takes all the onion trimmings, skin, etc., and simmers them in just enough water to cover until it is a beautiful amber color. He reduces this and adds it to the confit about half-way through the cooking and swears it adds something to the final product. I have intended to try this but am usually making stock at the same time that I do the confit and, of course, the onion trimmings go into the stock. I thought I would mention it just in case anyone else wants to try this.

I mentioned this subject to a friend who is from France. She and her husband have lived here for many years but still return home every couple of years. They are not from Paris but manage to spend a couple of days shopping there every visit. She gave me this web address for a place in Paris that often has unusual cooking vessels from North Africa. She doesn't know if they will ship to the U.S. but said they might have some suggestions. I don't speak French so it wouldn't be much use for me to call, but I thought someone might be interested. Paris cafe.

The hospital next door to my office has two of these in the cafeteria self-serve line and one of these in the kitchen where they prepare trays for the inpatients. I have used them when I have been involved in special events and we had the use of the kitchen and cafeteria for the evening. I don't remember what the old machines were but these are much easier to load and clean and produce an excellent product. The hospital cafeteria serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open to the public and serves a great many local seniors who are given a discount. It is also open to staff and any doctor at any time from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The ice cream machines are started at 10 a.m. and run continuously until 8 p.m. The larger machine turns out a batch much more rapidly than the older machine. Most of the kitchen and cafeteria equipment was replaced in 2003 when the hospital received a large bequest for that specific purpose from the family of a patient.