andiesenji

I have a couple, one I have had for years, a very large one with its own stand and even better, it has a "liner" which is stainless steel with 1/4 inch (approximately) holes in it so I can press all I want and it won't deform the mesh which is a triple mesh, super fine. I am pretty sure it is made in France, it has Le Fleur stamped on the band near the handle. I also have one of the Matfer ones which is about half the size of the old one.

I am back - - I saw one of my neighbor's sons out in the field picking tomatoes, and went out to the fence and asked him if he could find a squash that was ready to pick. He found a couple of butternut and a very large banana squash that was hidden in the leaves. It is almost 2 feet long and about 8 inches in diameter so I sent him home with it so he can cut it up and bring me just a portion of it. They really should cure for a few days, but this one had already dropped off the vine so it has had time to cure. I'm going to go ahead and roast the squash in foil, after brushing with oil. That will give me a nice batch of cooked squash that can be used in various recipes. Oh boy, he just brought me the hunk of banana squash and a turk's turban squash he found in the corner next to their yard. It will keep so I don't have to do anything with it right away. With squash such as those with the "bowl" shape, I carefully cut off the top, then pre cook them until the flesh is nearly tender, then let it cool till just warm. Meanwhile I prepare a savory egg custard, usually adding finely crumbled bacon or finely chopped ham, then pour the custard into the squash (also do with pumpkin), return it to the oven (I set the squash in a round pan, usually a cast iron deep skillet) and bake until the custard is set. I wrap the top in foil, brushed with oil, and bake it also but don't put it back on the squash until ready to present. It makes a really nice appearance. The colorful turk's turban squash are particularly attractive done this way. A lot of people buy them just to use a table centerpiece because for some reason they think that they are like a gourd, however they are very sweet and tasty.

It should indeed receive raves, it sounds delicious. Most of my squash are still in the in-between stage, not quite ready to harvest, the tendrils at the stem end are still fat and green. Have to wait until they turn brown and shrivel up before picking. I have several varieties - I forget just which as I don't get out into the big garden. I know there are some butternut and golden acorn. There are also a couple of Hubbards, one blue and one orange because they are growing next to and on the fence and I can see them from the deck on that side of the house. They are so tough-skinned they have to be cut on the band-saw.

I candy ginger, citrus peel and dried fruits (glacé) only because I want a fresher flavor and most of the commercial products mostly taste the same and are hard, not tender as they should be. If you are going to use dried fruits I do suggest that you plump them in a steamer instead of soaking in water. You will have a much nicer effect, and will not lose any of the flavor to the soaking liquid. If you don't have an electric steamer, you can get the inexpensive bamboo sets, usually come in a set of three, which you can set on a rack in the bottom of a stockpot to keep the bottom one out of the water. If you place a plate slightly smaller than the steamer inside each one and put the fruit on the plate, it will steam nicely without getting the steame sticky and without transferring flavor from one to another.

It is a southern thing too as it was one of the things "put up" when I was a child. I still make it. I have several recipes I can pull up when I get home tonight. I don't have them on my computer here or on my powerbook. I have one made with fresh sweet corn that is really tasty, a favorite with my friends.

I will have to dig out the recipe, it's not in my computer, for a saffron butter sauce for lobster (langoustine in saffron butter sauce) a recipe taught in my first class on French cooking, many, many years ago, by Chef Gregoire. It has been quite a few years since I even thought of it but I know it included cream and butter, the saffron, of course, and white wine. It had either garlic or shallot, maybe something else. I am so glad you mentioned this. I haven't thought of this for years. An old friend. I also make a Saffron cake, a Cornish traditional type cake. Keeps well.

I clean as I go also, not because I don't have room, but that is the way I was taught and old habits are hard to break. I never leave anything in the sink because I have a housekeeper who does not approve. She is a "old world" girl and sincerely believes cleanliness is next to godliness. She knows to stay out of the kitchen when I am doing my thing because it annoys me to put down a spoon and when I reach for it again it has been washed and put away. One of the reasons I got my Hobart dishwasher was so I could clean pots rapidly when making multiple batches of things. I have a great many pots and pans but have my favorites for certain purposes and often feel that if I use a different pot the recipe won't turn out as it should. I know that polenta never turns out as well as it does when I make it in my old copper polenta pot. It may be my imagination but I swear it is not as creamy when made in another. I really like the heavy duty disposable "cloths" for wiping down the counters and stovetop and sinks because I never trust sponges and dishcloths to be totally free of germs, molds, etc. I always was soaking them in a bleach solution and sometimes would get it a bit too strong and end up with a sponge that fell apart or a dishcloth with holes. I have a spray bottle filled with a 10% solution of bleach that I use to spray on and wipe down the counters, etc. I keep a large shaker filled with baking soda for sprinkling on those gooey grease spots that appear on the cooktop around the burners like magic. Taking a barely dampened cloth and scrubbing with the dry baking soda is the best way to remove this "gunge" without difficulty or damage to the surface. I also use the barely dampened "cloth" dipped into the dry soda to polish off any burnt on spots on my chrome small appliances. Try it, it is easy and does a wonderfuly job of polishing. I have been using it for many years. I buy baking soda in the industrial sized box at Smart & Final.

I have to make a correction. Lupe's sister is a "Molera" a woman, a "Molero" is a man. Lupe and I had a conversation after I signed off last night and she corrected me. Florida has been here on visits but I had no idea what she did for a living. Her husband was a molero and she helped him and after he passed away she took over the shop and expanded on it. I occasionally make a very complex chili with about 40 ingredients, including some very unusual things, and prepared this for one of our combined cookouts and Florida and I, with the assistance of one of Lupe's sons, had a long discussion about where I got the recipe, how I expanded and developed it and how in flavor, it was very similar to some dishes she had prepared but with many dissimilar ingredients. I am not a purist when it comes to such things as chili. I am not cooking for a contest and do not have to follow rules, so if I want to add Hoisin sauce and Thai sweet chile sause and sweet soy sauce, or an Indonesian sambal, I can do so. I always make three versions, mild, hot and "my God, I have swallowed a blow-torch" as one person referred to it at a Chile-Head's "Hot-Luck" I attended in Mission Viejo a few years back. I don't really care for the super hot stuff myself, but am happy to prepare it for those who do. Frankly, I can't see the point in eating something just because it causes pain even though those who do rattle on about endorphins and the "high" they get after such a meal. I always think about the longer term effect and feel it is prudent to be more judicious in the amount of capsaicin I consume. I think this is going to be fun. And I will post my "semi-famous" recipe here and on Recipe Gullet when needed. It is coming up on the time for it. I have some pumpkins that are going to be ripe in a couple of weeks. The chile does include some pumpkin......

I have more information. I walked over and talked to my neighbor, Lupe Obregon. Her sister Florida Villegas, is a molero. She makes moles, pastes, liquid sauces and dry mixtures which she sells to restaurants and hotels in Mexico City. She is a judge at this years Mole festival or fair. Mrs. Obregon told me the name of the place but between there and here I forgot. It is somewhere near Mexico City. Lupe has a stack of recipes from her sister, for various moles and most include chocolate. She is going to translate a few for me sometime during the next few days and she swears she will not omit a single thing but says some ingredients might be difficult to find in some places in the US. As soon as I get the information I will be sure and pass it along. I know that Lupe makes a killer chicken mole and at Christmas time she makes a traditional mole with turkey that is out of this world.

Oh yes, there is or used to be a restaurant in San Antonio, on the River Walk, that serves a black bean chili that also includes chocolate. I can't recall the name off hand, it has been quite a few years since I was there but it is next door to an art gallery that specializes in Mexican native art.

I have several chili recipes that include chocolate. There are quite a few on the various recipe sites around the web. Here is one at Recipe Source, formerly SOAR. The first time I had a chile dish that included chocolate was in Mexico City about 30 years ago. It was a stew, made with turkey, peppers, beans and plantain which I could recognize. It also contained other things which I could not. I didn't speak enough Spanish to get the whole story but was able to understand it was cacao when they brought me a handful of the beans. I came back with a lot of questions about the use of chocolate in savory dishes and began asking questions of cooks in Mexican restaurants, which we have in abundance in southern California. I began collecting recipes from various sources and tried quite a few. Not all were successful, I fear that some of the cooks omitted either some ingredients or some process that made a difference. I make a black bean chile, which can use just about any meat, or none for a vegetarian meal, and which includes bittersweet chocolate and one doesn't really taste the chocolate. Moving east, there is this recipe for Cincinatti style chili. And here is a commercial product (from Georgia) that includes chocolate: Here.

Yes, and in an electric roaster for really big batches when cooked just for molding in loaf pans to be sliced and fried for a community breakfast. Long and slow with the lid on tight to keep all the liquid inside is the trick. I did something similar when making masa for tamales when we are going to have a big multi-family dinner. It saves a lot of time standing over a hot stove, stirring and stirring and stirring.

Wow! That sounds so good. Wonderful complimentary flavors. Saturday evening I baked a couple of loaves of Asiago cheese bread that had been in the freezer for awhile. Set the dough to thaw and rise about noon and left it alone under a dome until 6:30 then baked it off. I let it cool a bit then made a very simple filling of two layers of mozzarella with peppadews sandwiched between the layers of cheese. The hot/sweet/spicy counterpoint to the creamy mozzarella and the slightly salty bread was not at all bad. Certainly very filling..... It sounds like you are enjoying your press.

I have looked forward to, purchased and literally devoured every book since "Brother Juniper" and have followed your postings to the Bread-Baker's list and have also had many online discussions as well as one face to face with Bob, the Tarheel baker, who is an unabashed fan. The recipes are so well tested in many different conditions and kitchens, that all of the "bugs" have been worked out prior to publication. I wish I could say the same for all bread books. In some I have come across some errors that render a recipe unworkable and I wonder who was doing the checking against the original recipe. I know that producing a book is a huge project but some people just do the job better than others. I never hesitate to recommend one of your books because I know the purchaser will be pleased. Andie Paysinger

I would like to add that if you have a convection oven you want to avoid opening the door at all, because that steam does not just drift out but is propelled out the open door by the convection fan. I happen to have an oven which has the steam function built into it and I do not open the doors when the steam function is on during the first few minutes of baking. I did it once, which was enough to convince me not to do it. I have a large red U which I hang onto the door handle when I have set it for steam. This reminds me not to pull the doors open even though I have forgotten to do something. Better to have a less than perfect product than a blistered face and neck.

Do you lightly hydrate the barley flakes prior to adding to the dough? I have found that with many of the "flaked" products they soak up liquid like a sponge and pull it right out of the surrounding dough. My solution has been to spread the flaked product on a tray or sheet pan and spritz it with water, stirring and spritzing a few times. This does not add enough liquid to compromise the formula which would affect the dough itself, but adds enough moisture to the product to keep it from causing the problem which you describe and which I also had. The harder seeds and products that are cut or coarsely ground do not seem to have this effect. It is the flaking process that seems to make the product have such an affinity for moisture.

There are a lot of very good bread books available. I have been baking bread for 48 years, since I went to baker's school (Dunwoodie) in the mid 50s. However I still have lots to learn and I buy every baking book that comes along. I have found that the most informative and easiest to understand, are the books by Peter Reinhart. I bought his first book quite a few years ago and found that his philosophy greatly appealed to me. His subsequent books have just improved on the theme. My favorite remains Crust and Crumb but any will serve you well. I have given The Bread Baker's Apprentice to several aspiring bakers and they all feel it has made a great difference in the way they approach the task and make it much more enjoyable.

--------------------- This used to be a problem for me, because so often I would have multiple things going at the same time. Then it occurred to me that I could use color coding. I bought the inexpensive Taylor long-ring timers. Along with them I got clips with magnets on the back which are different colors, red, blue, green, yellow. On each timer I covered the top with colored tape, about the same color as the clips. Something goes in an oven or on the stove it gets one of the magnets stuck next to it or on the door of the oven and the matching color timer set for the proper time. And for those of you that have trouble with toaster ovens. Check your local thrift stores and see if you can find one of the original General Electric Automatic toaster ovens. These were made from the late 60s to the late 70s. They are the best toaster/toaster oven ever made. It is worth your while to find one in fair condition and take it to a small appliance repair place and have them check it and put on a new cord. You set it for how you want your toast or bagle or whatever and when it is done the door pops up to open and the shelf slides out. I have three, two purchased new way back when and another picked up at a garage sale and refurbished, "just in case", because I love them. I have a large collection of toasters, I buy quite a few on ebay. I have yet to see one of these show up on ebay. Everyone I know who has them is hanging on to them because they work so well.

You can also go to Graeme Caselton's web site as he has the largest database on the web that has photos and descriptions of chiles from all parts of the world. U.K. Chile-Head There are wonderful photos. Just click on any letter in the top of the page and you will get an alphabetized list of all the peppers whose names start with that letter and the many variations in names when a pepper is grown in many countries. If you scroll to the bottom of the page under "C" you will find the Cubanelle. scroll up just a bit and you will come to the "Crimson Hot" which is the very hot version of the Anaheim (which are fairly mild). When still green but just beginning to ripen, they are a dead ringer for the Cubanelle and several weeks back Vallarta supermarket had a batch that was indeed labeled Cubanelle. Wow, were they hot when one was expecting a mild, sweet flavor. They were as hot as the Caloro that I grow which can vary from mildly hot, grown in the kitchen garden, to very hot, grown out in the big garden where they get more sun, wind and not as much irrigation.

Has anyone mentioned Mainz hams. I tasted one smuggled in from Germany by the daughter of a friend. The daughter works for an airline that shall remain nameless. It is brined then soaked in some kind of liquor then smoked. It is delicious. It is quite different from any other ham I have ever tasted. Three years ago I tried doing something similar with a boar hind leg, cool-smoking it for 5 weeks after first brining it then soaking in a mixture of hard cider, white wine and Kirsch. It turned out quite good but not as good as the Mainz. My housekeeper has had one of her sisters, who lives in Prague, send some ham from there. It also was very good, much better than (real) Black Forest or similar hams but with the same very dark color. She says, as near as I can figure out the equivalent spelling, it is called Szyncka.

My favorite also is the aroma of baking bread. I have baked thousands of loaves of bread in my life and I never tire of the smell emanating from the oven. There are a great many food and cooking smells that I like but this is by far the most appealing. I have thought about the many scents I do not care for and while there are quite a few that annoy me, the only one that actually sickens me, is the smell of scorched beans. There is that peculiar smell of vulcanized rubber with an acrid overtone that causes me to immediately take the pan outside before it permeates the entire kitchen. It also ruins the entire pot full, as it seems to instantly flavor the entire batch even without stirring.

To me it is the most fulfilling thing I do. Just the act of preparing a single recipe to perfection is enough, no matter how simple or complex it is. The results are tangible and immediate, one does not have to wait to see how the public accepts my creation as is the case with art work. If it is just for myself it satisfies me that I have produced something that pleases me. I love to share the products of my obsession, especially when I can produce something that is no longer in vogue in the home kitchen. I just like to feed people whether or not I see them enjoy it. Before arthritis made it impossible, I was a regular volunteer at fund raising events, cooking endless pancakes, waffles and my own "instant" French toast, for attendees. For many years I spent the day before Thanksgiving baking numerous pies at the local senior citizen center for distribution to house-bound seniors and for dinners for the homeless. There is a profound gratification in knowing that one's efforts are of benefit and comfort to others. It is the most satisfying way of giving of oneself.

When I first began reading and listening to people talk about the slow food movement, it mostly referred to getting away from dependence on produce that is modified to be more easily harvested with machinery rather than people, modifed to hold up longer in shipping, and with the result of a pretty but tasteless product in which appearance rather than substance is important in marketing. The advocates also feel it is important to support local small farmers who maintain heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables that do not conform to the requirements of the mass marketing conglomerates and which ultimately maintain a base upon which one can fall back in the event of a catastrophic loss of major modified crops due to attack by insects, pathogens or ???? The more dependent we are on factory farming of single, modified and non-reproducing hybrid crops, the more chance there is of widespread famine if these crops are destroyed by some either accidental or deliberate introduction of something that can decimate the crop over a wide area. I believe the term may have confused a lot of people because some thought it referred to preparation of foods but some traditional foods can be prepared rapidly, so using it as opposed to "fast food" is not exactly correct. I think it means that before leaping ahead into unknown territory with the production of our foodstuffs, we have to take a step back and make sure we have a safe and secure foundation to which we can retreat if there is such a problem as widespread loss of food crops on factory farms. I may be in error, and have misunderstood the basic principals but this is the gist of what I have picked up on various discussions both on line and in groups.

I grew up eating home cured ham and nothing has ever tasted as good. Occasionally my relatives who still live on the farm send me a ham for the holidays. These are really big hams, nothing like the little ones in the market. No dye to color the ham pink. It is more a dark red. I have developed a "recipe" or method for turning a barely edible "loss-leader" supermarket BONE-IN ham into something quite acceptable. However it involves finding some inexpensive maple syrup - I buy the jugs of the stuff at Costco but Trader Joes sometimes has a sale on the "B" syrup which has more flavor. You need a lot of it because the ham has to be covered at least half way with the liquid. First you take your ham and trim off as much of the outside fat as possible. Then you take your trusty chef's fork or if you don't have one use an ice pick, and stab the thing all over, stab deep, right down to the bone. Then rub the ham with dry mustard. put it into a pot that is not too much larger than the ham but leaves you enough room so that you can lift the ham out easily when you need to turn it over. Add the maple syrup until it comes up well past half way on the ham, if you have enough, cover it. put it in a slow oven, keep the temperature around 275, certainly not over 300. At the end of an hour turn it over and put it back in for another hour. Repeat until the ham has been in the oven a total of 4 hours. lift it out of the pot and put it on a wire rack over a sheet pan or in the sink so the excess liquid can drip off. Then transfer to a dry roasting pan, turn the oven up to 350 and put it back in the over 30 minutes to brown. When the syrup is cool, strain it and store it in the freezer, you can use it for another ham. You can do this with a spiral sliced ham, one of the cheap ones that are usually way too salty, but you have to have it tied fairly tightly so the slices won't separate during the cooking.