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I am<img src="http://images.quizilla.com/C/cookbook/1063659190_esviandier.jpg" border="0" alt="The Viandier of Taillevent"><br>You are Le Viandier, by Guillaume Tirel (or<br>Taillevent). Written in the fourteenth century,<br>you were the first commercially successful<br>French cookbook. <br><br><a href="http://quizilla.com/users/cookbook/quizzes/Which%20Medieval%20or%20Renaissance%20cookbook%20are%20you%3F/"> <font size="-1">Which Medieval or Renaissance cookbook are you?</font></a><BR> <font size="-3">brought to you by <a href="http://quizilla.com">Quizilla</a></font> They must be kidding, right?

__________________________________ I have an ancient bacon press - 10 inches in diameter, cast iron, with little "pegs" on the pressing surface - weighs 8 + pounds. It can be used in a grill pan or just any old cast iron skillet to duplicate the action of a panini grill. I use it for pressing things on long rolls, similar to a "po-boy" or similar on really crusty "rustic" rolls or loaves. These tend to push the top of the panini grill back up, while the heavy weight of the bacon press doesn't give at all. You can get similar ones, square or round, though not quite as heavy, at restaurant supply places. Those have the advantage of having a wood handle. Mine is solid cast iron and you need a good thick glove to grab it. When I am going to grill a fresh ham steak, (they always curl like mad) I set the press in the pan so it heats up too, slap the ham steak in the pan and place the press. After I turn the steak it takes only a minute or so to brown, the heat from the press has cooked it. Here is one - nearly as big. but not quite as heavy.

True Several days ago I was having lunch at a very nice local restaurant. Near the service counter two servers were discussing their upcoming weekend dates. A man at the next table placed his order and when it was brought to him and placed in front of him the server asked, "Could I get you anything else to go with your lunch?" Surveying the table, bare except for his plate and glass of water, he replied, "A knife and fork would be nice and perhaps a napkin, it it wouldn't cut into your discussion time." The server asked, "For a chicken-salad sandwich?" "No." the man replied, "For the quiche with salad that I ordered, the chicken salad goes to that table (indicating another table) over there." I left while he was still eating but I wondered if she got a tip. I had another server, I am a regular, and she noticed the exchange and mentioned that the server was the owner's daughter. Otherwise she probably would no longer have a job.

I am very partial to BBC GOOD FOOD which has recipes for all levels of cooking experience, food news, appliance news, etc. It does not "talk down" to the novice as some publications do. I find that very refreshing. The Australian publication "delicious, is also a very informative and interesting magazine with excellent content, again for all levels of expertise.

I have food allergies that can be life-threatening because mostly they cause laryngeal edema which can close off my airway. I carry an Epi-pen. I also have both a dogtag and a bracelet and a laminated card in my wallet that has. MEDICAL EMERGENCY NOTICE in red at the top so that shows when my wallet is opened. The tags say I am highly allergic to alcohol, sulfa, aspartame and iodine. DO NOT ADMINISTER ALCOHOL AS A STIUMLANT! is in big red letters. The printed notice goes into more detail and includes my other, less dangerous, allergies. I can cook with alcohol, and eat such food if it is cooked for a sufficient period of time. It is the raw alcohol esthers that cause the problem so desserts with liquors are a big problem. I make and use reduced wine 'flavors' but these have been cooked for many hours to reduce them down to just the essence and there is no alcohol remaining. I have had chefs tell me that flaming is enough to remove all the alcohol esthers but that is not so, only the highly volatile ones are burned off. The reduction in percentage is not significant. I have found that most servers are very considerate about inquiring in the kitchen about possible difficulties. After all, they don't want to have the restaurant sued and they certainly don't want an incident as serious as having a patron keel over at a table. As far as MSG sensitivity goes, I have found that many times people thing they are "allergic" to it and have reactions after eating Chinese foods but consume other foods that contain it (but where it isn't immediately obvious) with no problems. An ex-sister-in-law used to make a big deal about it when eating in a Chinese restaurant but would happing chow down at a steak house that used Accent liberally and never had a reaction. The level of MSG was probably higher on the steak than it was in the Chinese dish. I pointed this out to her on one occasion and she became very angry, didn't speak to me for months. (No loss.)

Also, many sea salts contain various other minerals and organic matter that is in the "soup" from which the salt crystals form. These all contribute to the flavor and most have been in use for a very long time and have their devotees throughout the culinary world. I have a large collection of salts, some I bought, some were gifts. People who know me and know how much stuff I have are always on the lookout for something different for a gift. I received some pink sea salt from Hawaii a few months ago. Very interesting. I have sea salt from France (2 different regions), Wales, Cornwall, England and Ireland. Also from Saudi Arabia and from Yemen. From South Africa and India and also New Zealand. And then there is black salt, which is actually pink or rose-colored, which is so strong that it has to be triple-sealed by itself or it will transmit its distinctive sulphur-like flavor to everything it is near. Diamond crystal Kosher is the one I use most.

And here are several pasta based desserts or confections. Enjoy! I am still looking for that recipe for the renaissance cake made with pasta. So far I have skimmed through 27 tapes. What a drag compared to DVDs.

Here is a recipe from Mario - a pasta cake.

My favorite "instant" supper when I am so tired I can barely get into the kitchen is very simple. Quesadillas. Flour tortillas which I always have on hand, shredded or grated cheese that I prepare and keep in a 2 quart Cambro container in the fridge (the half and half colby jack that comes in the big blocks and has just the right flavor), and a can of diced green chiles, the mild ones. I have a small microwave in my mini kitchen in the great/family room close to my recliner. The tortilla goes onto a rigid paper plate - better than china which attracts water condensation - using a slotted spoon I put about a tablespoon of the green chiles on a tortilla, spread them around a bit. Add shredded cheese and place in the microwave, set timer for 50 seconds ( longer in a lower powered unit) until cheese is melted. Fold in half and eat when cool enough. If I happen to have leftovers of cooked steak or pork I shred or chop it fine and add some on top of the cheese along with a little salsa but this is not necessary, the plain cheese and green chile quesadilla is enough for me.

I agree wholeheartedly that the world of sauces can be extremely fascinating and very addictive. When one begins to practice the art of saucery (sic) one finds excused to make things that require the sauces, or sometimes one just makes the sauce for practice and uses it as a bread dip. I have made meals for myself of a sauce and some crusty bread when I did not feel the need to prepare an elaborate meal. I am not a master of sauces. I took some classes (which intimidated me) and learned the bare basics but when my instructor informed us that there were forty two (42!!!) major sauces that we absolutely had to master, I was set back on my heels. Who knew? Sauces evolve, constantly, one starts with a "classic" and because one lacks a particular ingredient or is unable to devote the time required by the original, one makes adjustments. Sometimes one creates something that is superior to the original for a particular application. At one time most fish dishes were inundated with (in my opinion) far too much sauce, to the point that one had difficulty recognizing the type of fish under the sauce. Then the pendulum swung the other way and the "minimalist" held sway where a piece of fish was served with a thin line of sauce more or less decorating the piece with a couple of artfully arranged blobs on the plate. This was more of a fashion statement than an actual sauced dish. Of course I am not a fish eater so it did not bother me but what did bother me was ordering an entree that was supposed to come equipped with a sauce and having something arrive at table and needing a magnifying glass to find the sauce....... On one occasion friends and I had dinner at a restaurant (no longer in business) that served a variety of wild game in addition to unusual meats and fowl. I was elated to see that they had on the menu roast goose accompanied by Cumberland Sauce! I ordered it and it duly arrived at the table with what I can only describe as an eyecup sitting on the plate next to the slices of goose which were very good. The eyecup contained the so-called Cumberland sauce, which is a cinch to make, keeps well and is a very inexpensive proposition. I asked the server for more and was brought a second eyecup and charged 3.00 for it. The generous serving of goose was excellent and the other diners in my party were happy with their entrees but all felt that the "extras" were not up to par or in sufficient quantity. The goose was accompanied by 3 tiny "broasted" potatoes, 2 baby carrots and two tiny broccoli florets. This was in contrast with the salad which came in a glass bowl large enough to use as a vegetable serving dish. I felt they could cut back on the salad and spring for more vegetables to accompany the entrees. And they certainly could have been more generous with the sauces.

I just missed getting one last month that was a single sandwich size and in beautiful condition. this one I was outbid at the last minute by a friend who has a craftsman home in Pasadena and has completely redone the kitchen as it was when the house was first built. Silly me, I happened to mention the sandwich grill being on eBay and she jumped at the chance. I did beat her out for a toaster of the same era that is also a beauty.

Read through some of the recipes on this site. There are quite a number of camping recipes using foil packs and even cooking bags inside fild packs for even juicier results. Back in the days when I was young enough to go camping, hiking and fishing in the High Sierras, I used to make up aluminum foil packets of "stew" and when we got to Bishop, before starting up into the high country we would put them in on top of the engine (old 59 Jeep) and by the time we got to Convict Lake they would be done for our first evening's dinner. Trout, fresh-caught and cooked in foil with some butter and lemon slices (and maybe some dill) tucked inside the cavity is ambrosical, especially if eaten with the fingers right off the foil, burned fingers and all. Stuffed pork chops, in a triple layer of foil, buried in the coals for about 35 - 40 minutes 9or more if they are really thick) are better than cake.

If you infuse raw garlic in oil you must refrigerate it. However, you can get a much more flavorful oil and one that is safe to keep at room temp if you pour the oil into a deep vessel, add the garlic cloves and "roast" it in the oven. You want to do this at about 275 degrees for at least two hours, because you don't want the oil to boil, you want to get it to the point where the garlic is roasted and actually carmelized in the oil. For larger volumens (I generally do 6 quarts at a time) you need to "roast" it longer. It is easy enough to fish out a piece with a slotted spoon, mash it onto a piece of bread and taste it. You can then pour the hot oil into sterilized (and dried) bottles and seal them or simply put the oil into sterilized pint Mason jars, add a few of the garlic cloves to each jar, place the lid and tighten the ring. As the oil cools you will hear the "ping" of the lid sealing. This is now safe to store on a pantry shelf. You also do not have to refrigerate it after opening if you are going to use it up within a month or so, it will keep quite nicely at room temperature. I use a very good olive oil when I make this as the flavor has to be optimal for the final product to be at its best. Andie

I collect antique or "vintage" appliances and many of the old ones were "dual-purpose" having a set of waffle irons and a set of plain plates, some had reversable plates. Many of these are works of art in and of themselves with beautiful art deco detailing. Some have been so well cared-for that they look nearly new with bright shiny chrome and bakelite handles, feet, etc. I have them all checked and rewired before use. There is a wizard of small appliances in the west valley who has been doing my small appliance repairs and restoration for 35 or more years. Sometimes I take him some really oddball items but he is always up to the task and does the job every time. I recently got this one made in 1931 for a really bargain price. By the time Fred gets the plates cleaned, it will look like new. Note the nifty art deco design. At that time esthetics were as important as efficiency.

Actually the VillaWare does not have an on/off switch either. However I have mine plugged into a power block that has on/of switches for each individual receptacle. My big Cuisinart (20 cup) has an admonition to not leave it plugged in when not in use and it also is plugged into this power block as is the Vita-Mix blender. This power block, with a short, heavy extension cord is made for shop equipment and rated for 60 amps and has its own overload breaker. After having a kitchen fire many years ago caused by coffeemaker, I have been somewhat of a fanatic about electrical safety, particularly in the kitchen.

I have two, the VillaWare Pro press which I bought myself and the Glass one pictured next to the VillaWare which was a gift. I use the first for "normal" thickness sandwiches and the glass one for very thick ones on very crusty bread or rolls. Most of the Foreman ones I have seen used for panini smash the sandwiches on the hinge side because the tops do not "float" enough. There is a less expensive one sold at Amazon, the Breville, that a friend has and it is much better than the others she tried and is less than $50.00. I know she had a Foreman that she returned to the store and was going to order the VillaWare but came across the Breville and decided to try it. She says it has an adjustable top so doesn't smash the back half of the sandwiches the way the Foreman did.

Back when I worked in my mother's bakery in the 50s, our Hungarian pastry man made a torte using hazelnut "flour" mixed with sugar and eggwhites beaten just to a froth, then poured into flan rings on a sheet pan so the layers were only about 1/2 inch thick and baked in a slow oven just till set. These were not hard like a meringue. They were then set aside on a wire rack to dry then were stacked, usually with a filling of some type of jam, thined a bit so it would soak into the cake, or a thin layer of chocolate or pastry cream or a combination in alternating layers. I haven't thought about these for years. I probably have a recipe somewhere in my old notebooks but it will take me some time to look for it. I know it was very simple, just enough egg whites to hold the dry ingredients together and they were not beaten to the point that they held a peak and they did not rise much, if any, in the oven. Oh yes, he would make sure the layers were level by dampening the bottom of a cake pan that was slightly smaller than the ring, setting it on top of the batter and giving it a turn and quickly lifting it off. I had never seen that done when I was in baking school and thought it was an interesting technique. He spoke very little English and had difficulty explaining some of the things he did but was very good at demonstrating. He also made the best "thousand-layer" pastry I have ever tasted in my entire life. (And have never been able to duplicate.) It was not a typical puff pastry dough - it contained egg yolks and sugar as well as a little yeast. In some ways it was somewhat similar to a traditional Danish dough but puffed a lot more. It was a very tender, melt-in-the-mouth pastry.

The I Hate To Cook Book and all the rest of Peg Bracken's wonderful humor, even though I have always loved to cook. I like humor and especially humorous food writing. Mary Lasswell's novels, all of which included a great deal of food discussion, description and enjoyment. I have re-read all of them many, many times. They are my "escapist" stories for when I am feeling blue or out of sorts. There are others, but these are the mainstays.

Quite a few years ago I made a dessert - a cake - which the Frugal Gourmet did on his show. I had taped it and wrote down the ingredients and made the cake, which was delicious. Unfortunately I lost my notes on the recipe and can't find the tape on which I recorded it. I recall that it was a recipe supposedly related to Catherine de Medici (ancient quisine) and I tried to find a reference to it in his cookbooks and to other cookbooks but wasn't successful and forgot about it until I read the title of your topic. It is a spectacular cake, more of a confection that actual cake, and I made it with home made angel hair pasta. As I recall it contained cream and a lot of eggs, chestnuts and spices but other than that and the pasta, my mind is a blank. My great grandmother, who kept extensive notes in her journals of her travels, made many references to dishes she came across in Italy, France and Spain, especially during the 1860s, 70s and 80s. She made notes about the ingredients but few notes about the methods, probably because most cooks of that era knew how to do some of the things that are such a mystery to us now. There was a chestnut and fig "pie" made with farfalle that had been cooked in a light syrup instead of water that she and our cook recreated. I can remember that the "extra" pasta was allowed to dry and we kids snacked on it. Somewhere in my vast collection of cookboks is a little cookbook on pasta that includes recipes "from start to finish" - - including desserts with pasta. I will look for it this evening when I get home.

This is yet another application for the large crockpots. I render lard in either a large crockpot or one of my old electric roasters. The temperature is controlled nicely and you don't have to attend to it constantly. It will happily cook all by itself over night or during the day when you have other things to do. Those little bits of meat that are strained out can be saved and used to flavor corn bread, or whatever - - - You won't have a problem discovering what to do with it, even if just put on a biscuit.

I just thought of another "twist" to this subject. There are so many new cooking appliances and gadgets coming into the market recently, you might contact the manufacturer or distributor reps and explain the ideas you have for the show and see if they would be willing to offer their new appliances or whatever for you to use and show how they work in real, uncontrolled situations, i.e., being used by someone who has not been specifically trained to use them. They provide appliances and supplies to stores where the appliances are demonstrated and that has a very limited audience. You would have a much larger potential audience and thus a greater potential customer base. Just look how successful the telemarketing of "niche" appliances has been. I know just from reading the messaged on eG that a lot of people have never considered buying a particular appliance because they did not believe they had a use for it. Once they hear or see how versatile these things can be, they realize it can be a real time-saver. The rice cooker/steamer for instance, which has been discussed recently. Regarding your "vintage" kitchen. You might consider that there are collectors who are on the lookout for all those "vintage" or "retro" kitchens. I wish I could get in touch with Mick and Leah Ausberger who actually "sold" their circa 1950s kitchen so they could remodel it prior to selling their Studio City home. They are now living on a sailboat somewhere in the Pacific, out of touch 99% of the time. I know they would be happy to explain how they did it. Anyway, they advertised the sale of their entire 1950s kitchen which had enameled steel cabinets and counter tops, in white and green, green glass fronted upper cabinets, a Naugahide upholstered "breakfast nook" as well as real vintage (pink) major appliances and all the small appliances they had owned and taken excellent care of since inheriting the house and furnishings from Leah's mother. They had several offers and finally sold the kitchen for a hefty amount. The buyer, a dedicated "retro" collector, had it disassembled and trucked away to someplace in Malibu. I know that often people think of old appliances as just "junk" but you only have to look at some of the online auctions to see how much collectors will pay for this stuff. I have two "antique" stoves in perfect working condition (to code) and have had people call me and offer outlandish amounts of money when they see the photos that were taken by the restorer several years ago. One is an enormous Roper Town & Country range, robin's egg blue (at the very beginning of the "pastel" appliance era. It has 8 burners plus a center griddle, three ovens and two broilers. It is almost five feet long so most kitchens of today are not large enough. (It also weighs a lot because the frame is cast iron.) So take a carefull look at your kitchen and see if it is worth more than you know.

I think they are all very similar. I have two packages in the freezer but other than a sticker that says coconut milk, all of the printing is in characters that I can't read. I trust the grocer to know what he is selling. I use it in all kinds of rice and grain dishes. Hot breakfast cereal made with diluted coconut milk is very, very good. I also use coconut oil for cooking/flavoring some things as I find that keeping to a sort of flavor "theme" with some things is a great advantage. Coconut oil is quite expensive but to me is worth it. I mentioned it on another thread, (Chewing The Fat) it adds a great deal to some foods.Coconut oil

There are so many ethnic grocery stores down your way, it seems to me it might be feasable to have some ingredients from a different one each week and then go into a restaurant kitchen of a different type and cook a meal. This would not put too much burden on one store, they would get publicity (just look at what Huell Howser has done for some Mom and Pop places he visited) and the restaurant would also get publicity and if you timed it for a time or a day when they are closed, they would have publicity and with no loss of covers. Many small restaurants are closed on Monday. I would ask the grocer to choose things that would make a complete meal and then let you try to put them together, along with some staples from the host restaurant, (might have a "fusion" thing going). I don't like the short timed versions of this. I think there should be some type of time limit but one should have a reasonable time for the decision of what to prepare and to execute.

The coconut "cream" she is referring to is probably the frozen coconut milk which is very thick like cream but has no sweetener added. It is available only in Asian markets. I often buy this, thaw it and dilute it half and half with water. It tastes much fresher than the canned stuff but is not as handy to use but you should really try it to see if you like it better. frozen coconut milk For some desserts, it is far superior. I make a coconut sorbet which I use to top pineapple upside-down cake (a sort of pina-colada dessert) and this works as well as fresh grated. Back in 1991 there was a problem with contamination but there has been a big change in how the material is processed and it is tested at every step to be sure of purity.