andiesenji

Citron is a type of citrus but only the rind is used. It has a unique flavor and aroma. The fresh is a world of difference from the commercially candied stuff which is why I like to make my own. You can see it here which is the place that I just ordered a Kaffir lime tree. I am considering ordering a citron also. I have a greenhouse that is 12 x 24 but it will have to be expanded if I get any more trees of this size. Fortunately the add on sections are 6 feet (sides, floor and roof) and they just move the end out further. It may require an additional heater as I think the one I have now is for the current air volume. Anyway, back to the citron. Yes, they will only order it by the box. These were 12 to a box and the fruits are about the size of a grapfruit, just sort of football shaped. I'll try and get a picture later today, when it is a bit warmer and hope that my camera is again speaking to the computer. I had a devil of a time yesterday trying to get it to communicate. They seldom carry them in regular markets because nowadays no one seems to know what to do with them. Markets that cater to middle eastern and Israli customers sometimes have them but if you have a good relationship with a produce manager in a supermarket, they can get almost anything if given enough notice. (I also take him jars of my home made bread and butter pickles and my candied ginger which helps a bit... ) I guess yuja and citron are the same. I googled yuja and got this site with a recipe for citron tea. The other site google listed is this one and refers to "omija" but I am not sure which item would be the yuja link.

Yep, that's what I use, batticarne = meat pounder. I use mine so often it lives right near the cooktop with a fresh plastic bag slipped over it after each use so it is ready for the next time. It's funny you should mention tostones. I just bought some plantains yesterday, but hadn't thought of making tostones. I have a tostonera in my kitchen gadget collection but have never used it as the batticarne is always so handy, within easy reach. My housekeeper also loves Tater Tots. Coming from eastern Europe, she is familiar with similar potato creations but not as "handy" as these. I do buy them in the giant-sized bag at Costco or Sam's Club but repackage them in smaller ziploc bags which go into a jumbo bag. I found this was expedient after having one of the large bags split at the bottom while I was trying to open the top. Knee deep in wasted Tater Tots. Now the big bag goes onto a tray first.

I've known quite a few people such as your describe. I have even worked for a couple. These were people who would eat cereal for all three meals since it mean't they didn't have to put out any effort at all for themselves. However they did believe in serving guests fine foods, which is where I came in. Many times I would offer them a taste of something I had prepred but they invariably said no. And often they barely touched their serving, mostly moved it around the plate to make it appear they were eating. They certainly weren't health conscious. In fact, both were rather pudgy and never exercised that I saw. These were two unrelated people, not a couple. And I didn't work for them at the same time but it always seemed odd to me that they had no interest at all in food. To them it was just fuel. They went out to eat quite often for business but never remembered what they had been served. One was a screenwriter and the other was a set director and both were quite busy most of the time. Both had been married at least once but were single at the time I worked for them. I tried to fix things that would tempt them but they never seemed to notice. It was frustrating to me but at least their guests were happy with the meals I prepared.

There was a time when I used to buy Franco-American macaroni and cheese by the case. It was a godsend when I was campaigning dogs that would refuse to eat their regular food while on circuit (or any trip away from mommy and daddy). A show dog can lose so much weight in just a couple of days that they quickly seem to be in poor condition. F-A mac & cheese to the rescue. Even the most finicky dog would gobble it down straight from the can and I have to confess that there were a few times, at the end of a long and exhausting day, that I simply spooned some into a dish, heated it in the microwave and had that for my dinner. I could eat that just before going to bed without waking in the middle of the night with a tummy ache so it must have been easily digestible. There were also times when I had it for breakfast too. No time for anything else. Ah, the good old days, essentially working 7 days a week, at least 16 hours a day. No wonder I was skinny.......

The cook at the Mexican restaurant down the road from my home often has a cloth, that looks like a "flour sack" kitchen towel tied around his left upper arm. I am in there often because I have a deal with them, they save their coffee grounds for me (I provide the containers) which I use in my compost and worm composters. Anyway, I finally asked him about the cloth tied around his left biceps. He said that it was so he could wipe his face and his eyes on the towel without getting his hands anywhere near his face when he had been chopping peppers and onions. They fix some pretty spicy foods so it makes sense. A simple solution for a burning problem!!!

I am reading eG and talking on the phone to the friend with whom I spend the Christmas holidays. She reminded me that I also make a fruit and turkey curry with rice or couscous. Her husband is a really picky eater but if I make it spicy enough he will eat it. I use one of the curry pastes combined with a chutney and cooked in coconut milk and stock(chicken or turkey) to make the "gravy" in which the turkey is heated. I chop dried apricots and peaches, plump them in hot water and cook them in the coconut milk prior to adding the turkey. I thicken it with arrowroot which won't break the way cornstarch does.

By the way, I have a lot of squash. There was so much piled up in the shed I had to have some brought into the house and every horizontal area in the pantry is full so they had to go onto the floor.

Here are the photos of the Oroblanco (Sweeties) that I bought yesterday. I will be starting the candying of the peel this evening, assuming I get done with a few chores I have to do first. I am trying to do them by myself as my housekeeper has longer classes today and won't be home until quite late. I am rather slow at some things because I can't lift much weight and have to rest occasionally. I am really excited about finding a new citrus with more flavor in the skin for candying. I have tried pomellos and they are pretty much tasteless.

I buy a lot of stuff on ebay and have picked up some really rare finds when the person selling it had no idea what it was and the description was so vague that probably most people didn't bother to look at the photo. I got a beautifuly made French duck press (which I gave to a very good friend for Christmas last year) for 48.00. It is silverplated and needed polishing. The seller called it a "Pewter-look, fruit juicer". Heh, heh, heh!!!

Your turkeys may be more tender without brining. However, I am roasting fresh-killed, free-range turkeys (bronze) that have much less fat and absolutely no liquid injections of any kind. The first year I did one of these it was not wonderful. The next year and every year since I have brined and it has been outstanding. I have also done a side by side test of one brined and one one unbrined turkey, El Cheapo, loss leaders (actually they were free because of my large purchases at two different markets) and the brined turkey was by far the better result. They were roasted in the same oven, not exactly side by side, one was upper one was lower, but the oven is convection so they got the same heat. I hadn't intended to roast the second turkey (the reason it wasn't brined) it was supposed to become stock, however I had last minute additions to my guest list and needed the extra for dinner. I just want to add that I never do anything because it is "fashionable" - there has to be a good and practical reason for it. And I certainly don't pay that much attention to the celebrity chefs.

Fennel grows well in pots outdoors, can be grown on a balcony, cut back in the winter and it will grow again in the spring. Each plant produces quite a lot of pollen and you just have to be careful to catch it just as it appears and cover the flower heads with a paper bag. Use a string to tie it so it is not too tight. The weight of the bag will bend the stalk. After three days, shake it vigorously and remove the bag carefully. You will have gotten most of the pollen but will leave enough to attract bees so the seeds will also develop. You can use almost all of the plant, the fronds, the pollen, the seeds and if you dig it up, you can use the bulb. Florence fennel will produce a good sized bulb the first year but even the common fennel will produce a bulb in the second year and if you keep it going it just gets larger and larger.

It just makes them flat instead of round. They hold together fairly well but the edges split a bit. It seems to make more crust and less center. Try it with a handful at the edge of the pan in which you are baking a batch. See how they compare.

I make a layered casserole, usually in a deep lasagna pan, dressing, turkey cut into bite-size pieces, homemade cranberry sauce, dressing, turkey, cranberry sauce, bake for about 35 minutes at 375 and serve with freshly-made turkey gravy and perhaps fried potato cakes made from the leftover mashed potatoes with the addition of chopped scallions and hard-boiled egg. I always buy extra turkey wings and legs for making stock for gravy. I roast them first to deepen the flavor. However, I carefully remove the skin from the legs before roasting because when I do the extra dressing in a casserole or small roasting pan, I cover the top with the turkey skin. This infuses the dressing with the turkey flavor just as it would be infused inside the turkey.

I loved the Julia shows, Galloping Gourmet, Frugal Gourmet, Jacques Pepin, and especially the Great Chefs shows. Also the other PBS food shows and I taped quite a few over the years. The CIA shows were also very good. The earlier Food TV shows were much better, in my opinion, than most of the shows on now. especially John Ash, as well as The Two Hot Tamales, Curtis Aikens, Two Fat Ladies, Jacques Torres. I want to learn about a particular recipe and see the technique that makes it work. I don't want entertainment, I want instruction.

I bought some green Oroblanco at Ralphs here in Lancaster yesterday, 2 for a dollar. The produce manager had special ordered something for me (citron) and he asked if I had ever tried them when I made my candied peel. I haven't and he showed me where they were displayed and I bought 6. I am making candied peel and the rind of these seems to be quite aromatic so it should make a nice contrast to the other peel colors. I took a photo and as soon as I can figure out why the computer is not recognizing my camera, I will post it.

Fifi, You have learned my guilty secret of "improving" Tater Tots. I spread them on a pan and mash them flat - I have a batticarne which sits right next to the counter where I place pans before shoving them in the oven - but anything flat will work. I turn them using a big spatula, half-way through the baking time when the tops have begun to color well, (and usually add more seasoning at this point, just in case some fell off when I turned them), after 10 minutes I take a look and if they are getting nicely browned I give them another five minutes and by this time they have that special crunch. If I have guests have have the big griddle fired up, I also do them on the griddle because when they are flattened they don't have to be rolled around to get browned on all sides, turning once will do it. I often use bacon drippings when I cook them on the griddle as we like them with the extra flavor of bacon. Now I'm hungry. Tater Tots, bacon and eggs, here I come!!

Oh yes! I brine and have for several years. I use this recipe Ultimate brine for turkey. With outstanding results. On her radio show Melinda explains the reasons and the effect of brining better than anyone else. To make a long story short, it causes the tightly wound celluar structures to unwind, allowing moisture to be retained in the flesh during cooking instead of being forced out by further tightening caused by the application of heat. This is the reason brined meats retain more moisture.

My friend Annette, half my age, is a breast cancer survivor. She didn't feel capable of going back to her high energy, high stress job and returned to school and got her degree as a counselor. She has, with mine and other's help, remodeled and redecorated her kitchen in the pink and white, pink and black "vintage" colors as well as vintage appliances appropriate to the age of the house which was built in 1949. She wanted it in the "color of hope" as she is now hosting meetings in her kitchen for other women going through similar situations as an adjunct to her regular counseling as well as for women under the care of other counselors and others who are introduced by others in the group. Annette wanted to learn to bake things to serve at her meetings and I helped her with the basics, what equipment to buy, what supplies she would need, etc. Since last April when she began holding these meetings, twice a week, several of the women, many who were also professional or business women who never "had time" to do any more than basic cooking, have become interested in baking or cooking more interesting things. At least two have visited eG for ideas. I was a guest at one of their meetings and I was amazed at how vital and happy these women are. With few exceptions, they are discussing their plans for the future as well as discussing recipes, kitchen makeovers and entertaining others. This is in stark contrast to their first few meetings when they seemed to think that they had no future and there was no point in making plans. Just something as simple as this can make a difference. Cheerful surroundings, companions with positive attitudes and developing an interest in something as mundane as baking, can draw a person out of themselves and away from too much introspection. I asked Annette if it was okay to mention this on eG and she said it was fine and she may look in and may even become a member. She is rather busy and has some reservations because from the times she has visited, she thinks it might be very easy to get "hooked" on eG, however I assured her that it is a very manageable habit and a very enjoyable one.

Here is my method, which I have "perfected" over the many years. Prepare ahead of time, water in ziploc FREEZER bag, freeze. Put the ice bag into cheese cloth and tie the ends so you can hang onto it. Next, take a colander, wire, metal, anything but plastic that might melt, whatever size that will be nearly the same diameter as your pan or pot. Push it down so the solids are forced down into the liquid and you have just liquid and fat to deal with. Now dip the cheesecloth with the icebag into the liquid and drag it around in a concentric cricle starting at the outside and working in toward the center. The fat will be attracted to the cold and will harden onto the cloth, because it reacts more rapidly to cold than the rest of the liquid and you can lift it along with the colander out of the pot and have about 90% of the fat. I have used this in small saucepans and huge stockpots. I just use a bigger ice bag in the large pots. (you can also use ice cubes if you are in a hurry but the greater the mass of ice, the slower it will melt)

Have not tried peeling and roasting the stalk, but when I grew sprouts (when I lived in the Valley) I hated to waste all that vegetable. I peeled the stalk, cut it into quarters, lengthwise then sliced it and made it into pickles using my bread and butter, extra spicy pickling method. Excellent just plain and also combined with other vegetables for mixed pickles, also spicy and with the addition of mustard.

I certainly use food preparation, deciding on what to fix, then gathering the ingredients and the equipment, then working my way through a recipe to take my mind off unpleasant events. Yesterday, a case in point, I was feeling rather cranky much of the day and by the time I got home was in a deep funk, not in much of a mood for being sociable. I shut my computer down early and began working on things that need to be prepped for my holiday baking, in addition to what I have already prepared. I just received a box of almonds from a local grower so put a big kettle on and blanched and skinned about 10 pounds then transferred them to the dehydrator to dry out. Some went straight into a light syrup for further cooking and tonight they will begin the process of being turned into marzipan. (My own method, different from the usual.) The newest batch of ginger that has been cooking in the syrup since Sunday, was drained and went into another dehydrator after I removed the raisins that have been in it since Saturday. My housekeeper helped me move some of the heavier items onto carts so I can move them around easily when she isn't available. I measured out the dry ingredients for several batches of cookies, packaging them in ziploc bags and arranging each batch on its own tray or in a bus tub along with the recipe and list of equipment needed or in cases where a particular gadget, such a certain cutter is needed just for that cookie, that also went into the tub. (Linzer cookies have a special cutter.) By that time I was tired, showered and went straight to sleep and slept well. Feel a bit better this morning.

I often buy them at the Mexican supermarket which has them all year long. When they are really cheap, 4 pounds for a dollar, I buy a big bag full. I cut them in half, toss them in a big bowl, then sit down and using a melon baller, scoop out the pulp and toss it into a jumbo freezer bag. I then seal the bag, put it on a sheet pan, press it as flat as I can get it so it is an even thickness then freeze the whole thing. (Or it can be frozen in smaller bags.) When I have time to process it, I break off chunks, put them in a colander and let the pulp thaw then put it through an electric juicer (I have a cheap one that I bought at a yard sale for 10 dollars). The skin is more bitter than the Persian limes so I don't want to have the taste in the juice. The freezing and thawing breaks down the cell walls and I get much more juice from the limes than putting them directly into the juicer. I have done it both ways and measured the juice and the pulp from the same weight of fruit and the juice:pulp ratio is quite a bit higher after freezing. A good, sharp melon baller is just the right size for getting all the flesh out of these little fruits. I have passed along this method to several friends who own or work in restaurants and they also found it saves a lot of work.

I have used the piquillos that are sold in jars and have stuffed them with various things. They are quite good but the heat varies considerably from brand to brand and jar to jar, often they are too hot for some of my guests and I had to find something else to serve them. Some have even been too much for me! Since Ideal Cheese began carrying peppadews I have substituted these and found that they are much more reliably in having just enough heat and with excellent flavor. They are very similar to the piquillos and certainly appear to be related. They ship to me overnight but since you are fairly local, call and see if they have them in stock. Ideal Cheese 942 1st Avenue New York, NY (212) 688-7579 I should add that since they sell them in bulk, you can taste before you buy if you go to the store.

I want to add my kudos for your impressive presentation! The work is amazing. I love playing around with recreating some of the old dishes, keeping to just the things available at the time. Years ago I was a member of the SCA and attended many of the tourneys and advised on accuracy of the foods, however most of the young people involved were not that interested in the truly historically accurate foods. The tastes were not to their liking. One brewer recreated an historically accurate ale and it did not go over well at all. The small beer was better but most thought it way too sweet.

I have purchased this larger machine using Buy it Now 9 inch wide from this vendor, along with the motor, which they also carry. And I find it is much more useful than the narrower ones.