andiesenji

For anyone who is interested. There is a 7-quart Lodge Logic Dutch oven going for a very reasonable price on ebay with 4 hours to go. ebay Lodge Logic pan These have been rated very good by several reviewers and the price is right! I just want to add that I have purchased several things from this vendor and have never had a problem. They have a lot of kitchen gadgets (which I collect) and appliances and I have gotten them at very, very good prices. PM me if you want any further info.

I can't resist asking whether Hungarians have a traditional rice pudding and, if so, how they eat it. Attila is a national hero in that very civilized place. ← I asked my housekeeper, who is from Czorna, Hungary, and she said the puddings with which she was familiar were made with bread or cake, liquor, cream or egg custard and often topped with chocolate. There is also a semolina pudding made for children but she doesn't recall a rice pudding, however she says that she is not familar with the puddings of southern Hungary, which may be different from the area where she lived. She said that one could probably get anything in Budapest. (The "puddings" she describes sounds more like a trifle and summer pudding than what we think of as pudding.) She did say that the packaged "instant" flavored puddings have become popular in recent years but her mama would not have them in the house.

That makes two of us. Now, would you go for the USDA Choice over the USDA Prime? ← I like rib eye for flavor, choice ditto. However the home raised stuff I have in my freezer right now is comparable to super prime. If you live anywhere near a rural area you can buy a calf and arrange for kids in 4-H to raise it for you, you pay the expenses and they get credit for it and you get the meat.

I certainly agree about the Grade B maple syrup. I buy the B grade at Trader Joe's and use it all the time, in cooking, in condiments, in ice cream, on anything that "needs" maple syrup (fried grits, for example.) It has much more flavor and I want a distinct, hearty flavor, not a delicate hint of maple. Some of the regular olive oils that are found at the middle eastern stores, or the Italian markets are much cheaper than found in grocery stores. I buy them in the gallon cans for making oven-roasted-in-oil garlic cloves. EVOO is not needed for this, and in fact the "green or vegetal and peppery" flavor of EVOO is not what I want in this product. They have a much faster turnover in these stores and the product is fresher than at regular markets. I prefer to buy these oils in the metal cans as I firmly believe that light is one of the prime things that degrades oil rapidly.

Check at Wal-Mart. They have some plastic ones but they are not as good as the wire baskets. However they are not always in the "kitchen" section but for some reason are stuck in the section that has laundry and closet stuff. I have a bunch of them and keep all kinds of stuff like small jars and cans. I also use them in the fridge to keep all the little jars of condiments and jams, etc., in order, stored upside-down, as I have mentioned in other posts, to keep the contents away from the air, they last much longer that way. They have plain stainless wire or white coated wire in my local stores. They come either 6 in x 15 in. (the size I use most) or the half length ones that are 6 x 8. They also have narrow ones but they tip over easy. I have some of the oval "bread" baskets made of plastic, some bought at Smart & Final and some bought at Sam's Club, (sold by the dozen). We use them outside for napkins, etc., however they get sort of gummy after a while just from being stored on a shelf (inside a bag) and are impossible to clean well (melt in the dishwasher) so I just toss them as they are pretty cheap. I have tried just about everything and find that these wire baskets are the easiest to maintain.

I have lots of hooks, I like everything within easy reach and I absolutely detest having to dig through a bunch of stuff in a drawer to find something when I need it RIGHT NOW! I don't care how fitted a drawer organizer is, if you have more than 5 items in the drawer, something will be on the bottom. I also have a lot of tool holders that can stand on a counter, set in a roll-out drawer or hang on a wall or on the end of a Metro-type shelf system.

Check at Wal-Mart, they have both wire and solid expandable 3-step spice shelves. Or you can see a bunch at this site! You can also get one that swings down to eye level if you have a upper level cabinet shelf on which it will fit. That one is fantastic, especially for the vertically-challenged. Pull down spice rack. There is also one made of stainless steel wire that is a bit more expensive but this one works just fine.

If the cookware works for you, be happy. Not everyone is obcessed with having the be-all and end-all of cooking and many, many, many cooks will happily cook their entire lives without ever touching a top-of-the-line piece of cookware and do an excellent job. There are certain situations where a particular piece of cookware makes a particular task easier, but unless you are doing this many times a day, day after day, there is no reason to opt for that. I have known fantastic cooks who produce amazing meals with plain old Wearever cookware and wouldn't know what to do with a piece of All-Clad if it were given to them. I gave a bunch of old cookware to a neighbor, soon after I moved up here and bought new stuff and she is still using it, 16 years later and loves it. I also am using some cast iron skillets and other pieces that are nearing the century mark and they still do a great job. Figuring what they cost when new, they have outperformed any modern cookware for minute fractions of a penny. Enjoy your set, I think you did very well indeed!

I have had a couple of requests for this recipe so am posting it on this thread. It was earlier posted on the "Ketchup Conundrum" thread. Mushroom Ketchup About 1 1/4 cup very hot water - close to boiling. 3 ounces dried porcini or dried shiitaki mushrooms. (buy the big container at Costco or Sam's Club, they are wonderful.) 1 1/2 pounds Italian or brown mushrooms 2 tablespoons kosher salt 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or sherry vinegar if you can find it) 1/4 cup dry sherry 1/2 teaspoon allspice, freshly ground 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground 1/4 teaspoon Angostura bitters (If you don't have this on hand, use 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce) 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, Tabasco or Crystal or ?? 1/4 cup of carmelized onions, the browner the better..... Use filtered water if possible. I find that I get the best results with it. Put the filtered water in a one quart Pyrex measure and microwave until nearly boiling. Break the dried shiitaki mushrooms into the hot water and weight them down with a saucer so they will be covered by the water. Allow to stand for about 30 minute. They should be soft. Remove mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon. Filter the liquid using a paper coffee filter and save in the refrigerator tightly covered. Chop the soaked mushrooms into small dice. If the stems are too tough, discard them. Quickly wash and drain the fresh mushrooms. Place both types of mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until the mushrooms are finely chopped. Turn the mixture out into a quart jar, add the salt and mix well. Cover the container tightly and place in the refrigerator. Keep refrigerated for 2 to 3 days, stirring once or twice a day or shake the jar vigorously. Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and line with a cotton dish towel (or a piece of washed, unbleached muslin). Pour the mixture into the strainer and allow to drain, pressing on the mixture with the back of a spoon to express as much liquid as you can. Gather the corners of the cloth and lift out of the strainer and twist to express even more liquid from the mushrooms. When you have wrung out as much liquid as possible, don't discard the mushrooms, set them aside. Now strain the liquid through a paper coffee filter in a strainer into a saucepan, or saucier, about 1 1/2 to 2 quart. Now add the liquid from soaking the porcini or shiitaki mushrooms Place over low heat and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 40 minutes, uncovered. Add the mushrooms and continue simmering at a gentle simmer for an additional 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool somewhat. Pour into food processor and process for about a minute, stopping a couple of times to scrape the sides down so that everything is emulsified. (you can also use a blender but do it in small batches) Return to the saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Immediately pour into hot, sterlized 1/2 pint jars, cover, and cool. Store in refrigerator or in the freezer if you won't be using it up within a month. Yield, about 2 1/2 cups. Andie Paysinger

One of the reasons you are instructed, in basic kitchen lore, to never pour water into a pan of hot grease is that it forms steam which carries the fat particles into the air surrounding the pan and if you have an open flame WOOSH - you have a fireball. People have been severely burned, inhaled burning vapor and died from the effects, so this is not something you want to do. I saw this happen at an outdoor food event at Universal Studios (before Universal Citywalk was built) quite a few years ago and the young chef who was the victim lost his eyebrows and eyelashes and the front of his hair and his voice was permanently changed because of damage to the larynx. He was treated at the Grossman burn center and a friend of mine was one of the nurses there.

It was the fat that vaporized and ignited.

Not everyone has the tools or the strength to handle copper sheets. If you can make your own then you are ahead of the game. I happen to be an older woman with disabilities. I am quite satisfied with purchasing something that is made in the exact size I want. Copper of this thickness is not cheap here, it may be cheaper in other places. I just got an estimate on having the top of a partner's desk covered with copper to use in my baking center. The copper is much thinner and it is considerably more than "a few bucks per square meter".

I bring the cream up to 110 degrees before stirring in the buttermilk and I try to get the cream that is NOT ultra pasteurized. If you can find manufacturer's cream, use that as it is natural cream, plain, not ultra pasteurized. It works extremely well. I also would use more buttermilk and do use a cultured product if possible.

I have been using two of these thick copper plates on my gas cooktop for several weeks and I love them. If you have the stove grates with wide openings, you have probably found that small pans will sit steady and level only if carefully positioned. However if you have one of these copper plates this problem is solved. I am so happy with the two that I have been using that today I ordered a custom sized one that will fit over two burners, 11 inch by 18 inch. This will essentially give me more cooking room as I can put more than two pans (depending on size) on that plate. The original ones I bought were a 6-inch square and a 9-inch square. The 6-inch is for use on the 5th burner (a center, low-output simmer burner) so I can use a narrow tall pan for melting butter that will not sit stead on the burner because of the way the grates are shaped (with large gaps). I have used the 9-inch one on the high output burner to better control the heat when I wanted to avoid a hot spot. The company that makes these is in Ventura, California and they have a phone number listed on their site if you have questions. Bella Copper. I have nothing to do with this company, other than being an extremely satisfied customer. I have had the aluminum "Flame-Tamers" and these copper plates work much, much better. You can see the two I have now in the background of this photo:

I wonder if it could have been flavored with Kewra Water. Fleur de Kewra. It has long been used in some Indian sweets but according to the wife of the owner of the middle eastern market here in town, it has been creeping westward for years and shows up in some sweets and baked items. They carry it in the market and it sells to more than Indian customers. I was given a recipe for a pastry that when finished looks like an empanada, shaped like a half-moon, and filled with a mixture of nuts, sugar, spice and uses either rose water, orange flower water or kewra water.

You can post photos of interesting things you discover on an individual basis without blogging. I know I would be fascinated to see unusual things you discover as you continue to live in this most interesting and cosmopolitan place.

Well at home we only did it with croissants already baked (that is, slice them open etc... as you said), but i'm pretty sure it works as well if added during the making. Sometimes i like to add zaatar to unbaked puffed pastry dough and bake it in the oven until it...well...puffs, so if this works, it should work with unbaked croissants too. Just a note though: instead of sprinkling it dry, i moisten the zaatar with olive oil and use it as a spread rather... and YES I looooove zaatar ← I add zaatar to aioli - heaven! It is great to spread on bread of any kind, for dipping things, such as oven roasted potato wedges, skins and all, deep fried eggplant or zucchini or similar squash sticks, and etc. I take the large soft and thin flatbread I get at the local middle eastern market, spread it with this aioli/zaatar mixture then with very thin sliced cheese I also buy at the market (I don't know the name, I point, get a taste and buy.) Then roll it up into a cylinder and cut it into rounds that are just about 2-bite size. Great for nibbling. A bit more of the aioli/zaatar can be schmered on the top cut side if desired - I often do!

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I have Cuisinarts and am very happy with them. I have never had to replace a bowl because of normal use and I subject them to all kinds of processing, including grating very hard cheeses, chopping nuts, and etc. I have replaced bowls which were flung across the room and bounced off the tile floor and the handle broke off and a piece broke out of the side (I grabbed a towel off the counter, not realizing that part of the bowl was sitting on it.) Another was replaced when it was sitting in the sink and a large earthenware casserole slipped out of my hands and dropped onto it taking several large chips out of the top edge. I actually was able to use it to finish the job I was doing that day. I just used duct tape to close the gaps so stuff wouldn't fly out of the openings. I have used other brands in the homes of my friends and I can't really say that I would trade my Cuisinarts for any of them. The KA I used last Christmas at my friend's home did not perform well when slicing celery and carrots. And it did not chop walnuts evenly. Some were turned into nut butter in the bottom of the bowl and the rest were left practically whole at the top. I ended up using a hand-cranked nut chopper from the 50s. I don't have any of the newly styled Cuisinarts, they do look more streamlined but mine are working just fine so I see no need to replace them just for the looks. This review was done a while ago. Note the findings on the Cuisinart 14 cup which is a larger capacity and the 7 cup that is smaller than the one seen most often (11 cup) and the point about the 3-year warranty. If something is going to go wrong with these machines, it will usually be in the second or third year, in my experience.

It can vary, depending on how fresh or how young the garlic is. Young garlic takes longer than "aged" garlic, soft neck takes longer than hard neck. I begin checking it at an hour then check at 30 minute intervals after that. I occasionally fish out a fat clove and smash in on some crusty bread to taste. The tasting and testing is fun as well as useful. For gifts, I ladle some of the cloves into a pint canning jar, then fill with the hot oil, using a funnel so no oil gets onto the rim of the jar. I then apply the lid while the oil is still hot. After it cools, you can hear the "ping" of the lid sealing and see the dimple in the center of the lid. This can be stored safely at room temperature for long periods, although it usually doesn't last long. People who recieve it generally return the jars for a "refill" within a few months. The oil by itself, with a few herbs and salt, is great for dipping bread.

I would rather be safe than sorry. I was one of a number of people who had food poisoning from a stew that was served at a church benefit. It was cooked, left at room temperature for a bit more than three hours, then heated and served. I was hospitalized for 36 hours and it was not fun. Several people in the group were in the hospital longer than me, with more severe symptoms. I never want to be the cause of someone going through what I went through.

This batch included carrots, parsnips, potatoes (Yukon gold), celery, onions and red, yellow and gold peppers in addition to the roasted garlic and oil. I sometimes include any or all of the following: celeriac, kohlrabi, white sweet (actually unsweet) potatoes, rutabaga, golden beets and squash. My favorite seasonings are a pepper medley I buy at Smart & Final that has no salt in it, chipotle pepper seasoning with herbs and kosher or sea salt, not too much as it can always be added at the end. I take a small tasting sample at the end of two hours and again at 2 1/2 hours just to make sure things are progressing well. And, of course, at the end of the roasting time I taste again, after stirring well. I can always put it back in the oven for a little additional time, if necessary, however I can't recall when there was need to do this. At this point they are just the way I like them.

I do the rapid cool down method. I have some of the very large cold packs, (Blue Ice) on which I place a piece of terry toweling to keep the pot from slipping and set the pot on the towel. I have a stainless steel asparagus steamer, tall, skinny pot, which goes into my freezer full of water when the stock (or soup) goes on the stove so it is a solid block of ice when stock is done. I happen to have a piece of metal wire covered with plastic, with a leash snap on each end, which snaps onto one handle of the stock pot, threads through the two handles of the asparagus pot and snaps onto the other handle of the stockpot, therefore holding upright and suspening the pot full of ice in the stock. This is the most rapid method of cooling soup or stock or anything else in a large pot that I have used over the years. (And I have tried just about everything.) When I still had my old "extra" freezer, that stored only ice, I used to set the pot in there till it was cool (with a timer near me so I would remember to take it out before it froze solid), but I no longer have that option. I have considered puttin in a separate freezer drawer dedicated to stuff like this but so far have not gotten around to it. I never, never, never put anything hot into the fridge. It can raise the temp in the fridge to levels that means anything else in there is compromised. I have a separate thermometer hanging on the center shelf inside the door (which is always the warmest point in a refrigerator) and I make sure that stays at 40 degrees or lower. If you have a thermometer in any other part of the fridge, the door compartments will be considerably higher which is why some people complain of milk spoiling if it is in the door compartments. Not cold enough!

I used to use the high temp roasting method starting with the firmer vegetables and would add the vegetables that needed less cooking as the time progressed but sometimes some would get overdone and some would not be cooked enough and, as you note, you really need to keep them pretty much in a single layer. I wanted to do larger batches so I consulted with a relative who did supurb roasted vegetables in advance of huge family holiday dinners and either presented them on their own or on a platter with meats or poultry. Since then, with a couple of modifications, I have used her method and people rave about the flavor and they get better with being held in the fridge for a couple of days. As you can see, I use a large pan, it is half-sheet size and deep. I fill it almost to the top, leaving room for some stirring. I chop everything about the same size, spread a layer across the bottom, ladle on some of the oil-roasted garlic cloves and oil, sprinkle on some seasonings. Add another layer, more garlic and oil, more seasoning and so on until everything is in the pan. It goes into the oven at 275 and at the end of an hour I stir it well bringing the stuff from the bottom to the top and etc. I then stir it every 30 minutes for the remaining 2 hours. Everything is at just the right degree of doneness. The already roasted garlic has mostly broken down and become part of the seasoning/dressing. For the garlic roasted in oil, I use a 6 quart Visions pot, 1 pound of peeled garlic cloves, 1 gallong of good olive oil - I get the stuff in the gold can with filigree design on it that can be found at any Italian grocery. It doesn't have to be "extra virgin" in fact it is better if it is not, but it does have to be very fresh. Again, this is a long, slow roasting proposition, the entire house (and neighborhood) will have the aroma of roasting garlic but no one around my home minds it at all. I keep the oven at 275 degrees F. until the garlic cloves are uniformly dark, reddish brown. I allow it to cool in the cookpot then transfer to a sterilized 1 1/2 gallon jar with a wire bail, glass top with rubber gasket. It will keep at room temperature for at least a year. The oil does not go rancid because the enzymes that can cause that have been destroyed by the long, slow heating. I use a stainless steel ladle that has been dipped into boiling water and allowed to air dry when I remove the garlic from the oil, however the oil can be poured out if all I need is some oil. There is no danger of botulisim that one has with cold-infused garlic oil and the flavor is far superior to any commercial garlic oil I have tried. These things are easy to do, they just take time. The roasted garlic is always available for immediate use and it has a myriad of uses, including just mashing and spreading on toast.

That reminds me of something else. Tiki lounges and their food. L.A. and environs was the Mecca for tiki lounge aficinados. From Trader Vic's in Hollywood to Kelbo's on Pico at Sepulveda to Latitude 20 in Manhattan Beach and The Lava Isle in Burbank, and etc. Kelbo's had the greatest ribs, almost like candy. The Lava Isle in Burbank (on Magnolia) was the first place I had Indonesian food - my first meal was nasi goering and I was hooked! There was also one in the shopping center that used to front on Sepulveda Blvd. right where the airport expanded in 1961, where the east/west runway now crosses the road . I can't remember the name but it was very popular with the PSA stewardesses. (Pacific Southwest Airways - they were voted the most beautiful stewardesses in the U.S. in 1960.) It had a huge tiki with a flame coming out of the top of its head that could be seen from planes when one flew in at night. Several friends and I used to "collect" tiki lounges and try the foods. There are still a couple of tiki bars in Hollywood and L.A. but nothing like back in the late 50s and through the 60s. The foods served at tiki lounges were different from any other restaurant and the drinks were elaborate, colorful and strong. The bartenders took pride in being able to construct any "tropical" drink from memory.

The trick is to roast them for a long time at low temp. They become sweet, tender and the dark crusty bits are like candy. They do need to be dressed with oil before they go in the oven. Oil in which you have roasted garlic cloves also for a long time at low temp. The batch pictured above was roasted at 275 degrees F for 3 hours.