andiesenji

Lordy, lordy, lordy, GG. You have yet again come up with a great topic. That being said, I have no idea where I fit in the scheme of things, being a universal condiment fancier. You know of course that I make my own mustards, ketchups, salsas, chutneys, sambals and hot sauces. I also "collect" a great many odd and interesting condiments, including all of the above. Also people send me things. Sometimes very odd things. A chef friend sent me a sort of mustard/pepper/curry and something else sauce from South Africa called "Mother-In-Law's Tongue" Isn't that a great name? (I had sent him a bunch of Chile Tepin and Chile Pequin I had picked and dried.) I have no idea how many hot sauces I have but let us just say that when I visit a shop that specializes in these I stock up........ usually buying duplicates just in case they decide to discontinue one and I will have a backup if I use the first one up. For a time I had a neat cabinet in the hall next to kitchen that had narrow shelves, just one bottle deep, for display purposes. That has long since been filled and the excess racked in old plastic milk crates in the pantry. I love shops where they let you taste the samples. At one shop they offered me a little wicker basket about 8 inches square in which to put my selections. Instead I went out to my van and brought in MY shopping basket which would hold several of those little ones. At one of the Firey Foods shows I attended a few years ago, I took my folding wheeled shopping basket. By the third day of the show some of the vendors were coming out to meet me when they saw me coming down the aisles. If I were forced to flee the house and was told I could only take one condiment with me, I would probably have to be dragged out by force because it would be impossible for me to make a decision about something that important in the little time allowed. I love them all, sometimes in combination. Talk about your fusion cuisine............. An Indonesian sambal mixed with a grainy mustard and then evened out with home made mayonnaise makes for a unique and delicious condiment to use in a sandwich with meat, cheese, etc.

I don't brown the roast first. The salt crust gets very hot. Try it with a very small roast first. I buy the coarse kosher salt in 3 pound boxes at Smart & Final.

I haven't noticed any off flavors in the leaves. My varieties are a Muscat and a Crimson seedless grafted onto the same rootstock. The muscat leaves are lighter in color and a little smaller than the seedless but I use both with good results.

Maybe that is also the reason the Ford "Pinto" did not sell well in Brazil, or other Portugese-speaking countries???

The salt doesn't exactly season the meat, its purpose is to form a shell in which the meat cooks and it slows down the loss of moisture from the roast. It is very juicy. I really don't season the meat much before cooking, I occasionally insert slivers of garlic just under the surface if I know the people for whom I am preparing it like garlic. Otherwise I make an au jus but not from these pan drippings, which are too salty, and this is seasoned, it is generally enough. If someone wants to add more salt and pepper, that is an individual preference. I don't advise inexperienced cooks to do the entire rack of ribs but I often do but I have a very large oven and roast it on a full-sized sheet pan. Then when I am ready to serve, I cut the roast in half and stand one half on end with the center up for those who like rare and the other half with the end up for those who like well done roast beef (and a fair number do and the end cuts are always very popular). Several years ago I bought 6 of the ham or roast stands which are great for positioning large cuts of meat for carving. It also makes a great presentation, carving off a serving horizontally then sliding it straight onto a plate. I have a beautiful custom made knife with a 14-inch blade that I use for slicing.

I bring water from home in to my office. I have a very deep well (1500 ft) which taps the Mojave aquifer and the water is very "sweet" in fact it is better than any bottled water I have ever tasted. My well has to be inspected and certified every two years (there has never been any industrial or farming activity right in this area and my well is not what is considered a "surface" well which have to be inspected every six months to a year). As far as I know, mine is the only deep well in my immediate area. In the Agua Dulce area most of the wells produce very good water (Agua Dulce means sweet water) but a few miles further west and the well water is very poor and since there has been a fair amount of mining and industrial activity some of the wells are not potable. Certain parts of Los Angeles have pretty good water and in other parts it is ghastly. For a while the water at the office had a smell like mildew and we had the water district out to test it. They said they only had to make sure there were no pathogens or dangerous chemicals, they didn't have to make it taste or smell good. Blech! I try and keep up with the news on the water quality competitions. I remember when New York City water won the best in the USA competition. I also think Evian is vastly over rated. Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead are good and I got Arrowhead in big tanks when the well casing had to be repaired after the earthquake in '94. Fortunately it was in January and my garden did not need watering at the time. I simply will not buy water in restaurants. If they won't give me tap water, I decide I no not need to eat there and if I am with a group I simply order coffee (they never have good tea). I am perfectly willing to sit there with my coffee while the rest of my party eats. It is funny how quickly they find that yes, they do indeed have tap water and will even put ice in it - - - no charge!

For many years I had a Simac ice cream freezer that finally died, the coolant kept leaking out and it got to be very expensive to recharge it. I now have two, one of the small Lello Gelato makers $199.00 and one that is a little bit bigger, this one. It is slightly larger and makes a slightly large batch but is still small enough to move around. I use them all the time because they are right there, ready to go any time. I make up several batches of a basic recipe and store in a large container in the fridge and just pour enough into the freezer for one batch, adding the particular flavor I want (such as blackcurrant syrup, peach or preserves, or fresh strawberries macerated in sugar. Tomato/basil sorbet is on the menu for this evening. This weekend I am going to make a fresh coconut gelato to top individual pineapple upside-down cakes I am making for a birthday party. It gives it a sort of piña colado taste.

If the leaves are large enough, I would use them. I have a vine that doesn't produce a lot of grapes but does produce lovely large leaves that are great for dolmas, etc. I also use some to wrap some of the cheeses I make. I use this recipe. with excellent results.

I can't answer the question as to whether other pods will fit the Senseo. I believe there is a caveat that the guarantee is void if non-branded pods are used in the unit. Jerry Able, the friend who sent me the Senseo, told me last night that he has been told that the company will probably expand the line of coffees offered if sales of the Senseo and its current offerings become popular enough and there are requests for different varieties. If the demand is there, eventually it will be met. After all, it wasn't that many years ago when ground coffee in the tins were just about all people knew about and only one person in one hundred thousand had any idea that coffee was grown anywhere except in South America! (And a pound was actually a pound.....) As I stated in the beginning, I am generally a tea person, hot tea mostly, only rarely iced. However I have really taken to this stuff, it tastes better to me than regular brewed coffee and doesn't have the bitter base note that is an integral part of regular espresso. I have a lot of friends who are real connoisseurs of espresso and can determine the degree of roast, the type and grade of the coffee bean and so on, from just a taste. I doubt that they would consider this an acceptable substitute for the real thing but knowing how much they like cofee per se, they would probably drink it happily if nothing else were available. I think for people with less money, not a lot of room (my monster machine takes up a lot more room, probably close to 18 inches square, and also weighs close to 40 pounds), this little machine, smaller than some coffeemakers, and brews a cup very rapidly, this is an excellent compromise. I can see it becoming very popular among college kids, singles with limited income, people in offices with not a lot of time for lunch breaks. There is a similar machine (Black & Decker Home Café) being heavily advertised but it has a larger mug and appears to make regular coffee, however I haven't actually looked at one. In any event, I think this is a rather novel idea and should do well. Often things appear when the time is ready for them. I have a coffee maker that I bought in 1969 called an Expressolator, made by Corning. It is very similar to a French press but has an electric element at the bottom that heated the glass carafe and also has a cloth filter that was supposed to go over the press plate and filter the coffee. It was discontinued within a few months of its introduction and not many were sold. That was the era of the stovetop and electric percolator or the Silex, etc., vacuum coffee makers and people were comfortable with those. Something too different was not accepted. It was not until many years later that French press pots became the thing to have and they sold well. Their era had arrived. Now there are as many ways of preparing coffee as there are types of coffee, even the electric percolate is making a limited comeback. I collect "vintage" and antique electric appliances. I don't know how many coffee makers I actually have but probably over 100, the earliest a 1903 Edison-Mazda with art nouveau embelisshments. It still works.

I use the Bourbon beans from the Vanilla Company for making extract. I use Everclear, 95% grain alcohol which extracts much more flavor than even 100 proof vodka. It is not legal to sell in all states but one can buy it and transport it without penalty. The extract made with this product is far superior to other home made products I have tried and to many commercial products. There is no residual flavor from other sources and more of the complex flavors of the vanilla can be both scented and tasted in the product. I have been making my own flavorings for many years and have had good success. If you can't find a source for Everclear near where you live, it is available on the 'net. Otherwise use the strongest vodka you can get. It makes a world of difference in extracting the flavor. The only other way to get the full benefit of the extract is to use a distillation process which requires an investment in some relatively inexpensive laboratory glassware.

I use celeriac as one of the vegetables in my slow-roasted vegetable medley which I always prepare when I do a large pork roast for parties. The vegetables can be roasted ahead of time and actually taste better the next day. It consists of potatoes, carrots, parsnips, celeriac, onions, celery, kohlrabi, poblano or other mild chile and garlic. Drizzled and tossed with enough olive oil to coat, sprinkled with kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper and a little chopped rosemary, then roasted for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 275 degrees, stirring occasionally. I seldom have any leftovers. Too bad, because this is great heated in a skillet in which bacon or sausage has been cooked, to accompany a nice breakfast of eggs and etc.

I am posting this at the urging of a friend who was hanging over my shoulder today at the office. She is a neophyte with computers and is wary of going online by herself but likes to read some of the things in which I am interested. I prepared this roast for her parents wedding anniversary last January and she says they are still talking about it. Lawry's, The Prime Rib, an L.A. landmark restaurant, does a roast in salt but I think mine is easier to do and it turns out lovely. This is my "secret" method of doing the salt-encrusted prime rib. It is so much easier that even people who have never before done anything like this can be successful the first time. Have your butcher saw the ribs off so they do not extend more than 1/4 inch from the meat. You can do this with any size roast from 3 ribs to 6. If you are doing the entire rib roast get it cut in half and wrap the two halves separately but roast them (not touching) in the same pan First, it is important to use coarse kosher salt. Get two 3-pound boxes. (do not use rock salt, it is not the same thing, no matter what your friend says) Anyway, here is what you do to make life a little easier when prepping this roast. On a sheet of heavy duty foil spread out a piece of doubled cheese cloth that is long enough to go all the way around the roast. -first rinse the cheesecloth for several minutes in hot water and wring it out well to get the sizing out of it but leave it quite damp. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. WEIGH THE ROAST, WRITE DOWN THE WEIGHT! Spread the dampened cloth on the foil. If the weave is very loose you may need 3 layers. Spread the salt over the entire cheese cloth so you have a layer about 1 inch thick. Spritz with water and press with your hands until it clumps. (I use thin latex or vinyl gloves) Place the roast near one end of the salt and roll it up, foil and all. Place the roast on a flat rack on a sheet pan or shallow roasting pan, if you have a rack, otherwise just crumple some foil to make a support- just enough to hold it up out of the liquid which will extrude from the roast. Cut the foil away from the top and sides - leave the cheesecloth. Spritz lightly with water and press to make sure it adheres to the meat. Place in oven and roast for 12 minutes per pound or until an instant read thermometer reads 135 degrees. When you remove it from the oven be sure and let the roast "coast" for a minimum of 20 minutes before you crack the salt crust. Use the back of a wooden spoon and it is a good idea to set the pan on some newspaper to catch all the flying bits of salt. Use a scissors to cut the cheesecloth away if needed. It may be charred but that is o.k. it will just fall apart. Crack the salt crust completely away from the roast and allow the roast to coast for another 10 to 15 minutes before carving. (It should coast for at least 30 minutes before you cut into it.)

Has anyone ever made the fermented lemonade popular in Victorian times? It has a low percentage of alcohol but is very easy to make, being simply lemons cup up and placed in a large jar with sugar (1 cup of sugar for every 5 large lemons or 6 small ones) then topped up with lemon juice and covered loosely. every morning and every evening the lemon mass is sort of churned by pressing down with a ladle in the center of the mass which forces the outside ones to push up to the top. There was always a large container of the stuff "working" in the kitchen during the months that lemons were readily available. After a couple of days you begin to see bubbles percolating through the mass and it takes on a definite aroma, very pleasant. We used to have it, a ladle full poured over cracked ice in a tall iced tea glass, then filled with seltzer water from the soda siphon. Diluted this way it was probably .2% alcohol or less. Sometimes the cook and her helper made it in bigger batches and bottled it. My cousins and I used to fight for the chance to operate the bottle capper. Such fun! It is interesting that although we were allowed this and similar mild alcoholic beverages even as children, none of my cousins or I ever had a problem with alcohol. (or drugs, etc.) My very Victorian great grandmother felt that this beverage was excellent for "cooling the blood" when we had been running about like a bunch of wildings in the heat of the summer. Sometimes she added some herbs to the mixture to get a different flavor, and to make it more medicinal. Still tasted good though.

Here in the "environs" of L.A. (really almost all one big environ) the middle eastern markets have very cheap "specialty" produce which is priced at a premium in regular supermarkets. The Mexican supermarkets and the Asian markets also have produce at super bargain prices. At the middle eastern market in Lancaster the "sweet" lemons (Meyer) are 1.19 a pound, regular lemons 39 cents a pound. WHEN they can be found, the regular supermarkets sell Meyer lemons for 3.99 a pound. Some difference. Shallots are very inexpensive and in good supply at the local produce market but they are so easy to grow (even in a windobox) unless you are using many pounds at a time, grow your own. I grow them in odd spots in the garden, between some of the other plants as well as scattered over the surface of the ginger patch. The ginger corms are much deeper and the shallots have shallow roots so they happily coexist in the same patch. Green onions or scallions or "bunching" onions (do not form a bulb) grow rapidly in planters and window boxes and as you thin them out to encourage some to grow bigger, you use the thinnings as you would chives.

cheese, how it came about. in the beginning.....

Well sure. The cheese was stored in cool caves during the summer because it kept longer. Probably most cheese became moldy and they were used to eating it in whatever condition. This mold just happened to taste better. And so an industry was born....

Thereby dispelling my longheld view of Santa Cruz as a "live and let eat" environment ..... one full of laid back aging hippies who live for their 60's retro lifestyle .. like whatever, man .. chill out ... My daughter mentioned that she toyed with vegetarianism briefly while attending Berkeley. I think that she began feeling faint at times and then someone waved a steak under her nose and that was the end of that experiment.

When food is scarce, when starvation is the only alternative, people will eat some pretty nasty things, will eat things that are only marginally edible. Having flour containing weevils is a luxury to no flour at all and spoiled milk, as long as it doesn't make you sick, still has some nutritional value. Having a diversified source of food is necessary to life. Think about the potato famine in Ireland. Too much dependence on one food source can be a disaster.

I'd say this is a question of attitude and personality rather than diet and its particular restrictions. While it might be "easier" to socialize with only like-minded people, there are many who chose the "less easy" route. One's diet does not determine one's personality. Unless, as I mentioned before, you deny yourself chocolate! Actually it depends on a willingness to respect the beliefs and traditions of others and if we accept that it can be beneficial to all. Back at the beginning of the 60s, I was a very young widow and began working for an internist in North Hollywood. I was not making enough money to afford an apartment close to work so my boss found me a situation with an orthodox Jewish family. I was what was popularly known as a Shabbos Goy. In exchange for a lovely room, all my meals and many other perks, not specified at the beginning, all I had to do was do the things that Orthodox Jews are not allowed to do on the Sabbath. This was not a lot of work, in fact, I often felt very guilty about taking so much in exchange for so little. I gained an enormous amount from the relationship, I learned to cook wonderful things that had been a mystery to me prior to that. (You should try my honey cake.) I learned to appreciate the many reasons for their beliefs and because they treated me like one of their daughters, I was safe and secure. Keeping kosher did not determine their attitudes, it was a fundamental part of their family life and they were happy and prosperous because they were generous and giving people. Others in their congregation who also kept kosher were selfish and bad-tempered because that was the way they were, not because of their diet.

I have no idea why some restaurants seem determined to generate "badwill" instead of goodwill by padding the check with extras. On the other hand there are some restaurants (rare) who provide extras at no charge. Late last fall I was visiting a friend in Arcadia and she took me to a restaurant (wish I could recall the name) which was quite full and we sat at the small counter that sort of mimics a 50s style soda fountain. Our server asked if we wanted water and when we said yes she prepared two large glasses and drew the water from what looked like a beer tap. We asked about it and she said that they serve only Crystal Geyser and it is also piped into their ice machine. No extra charge....... This reminded me of Belisles, a restaurant that used to be near Disneyland (I mentioned it on the pie thread) and in the wide hall leading to the kitchen were racks of Sparkletts bottles (the big ones that go into dispensers). Because the water in Anaheim is less than optimal, they had decided to serve good water and damm the cost. You never had to ask for it and it always had a slice of lemon perched on the edge of the glass. These places generate patron loyalty and lots and lots of goodwill.

This site has some very nice recipes for goat recipes here And this site has a couple of goat meat shippers, both in New York state, as well as an excellent recipe for roast leg of goat Florentine which I have made with beautiful results. recipes and meat Out here most Mexican carnicerias sell goat meat as a regular item and cut it to order so you have to ask. I usually order it a few days in advance to make sure they have it fresh and they will show me the carcass and cut the meat to order while I am there. I have not ordered meat from either of those suppliers but have used their recipes. The following site was recommended to me by a friend in Midland, TX who has bought from her. goat meat

Too true! Back in the dark ages, when I was just starting out as a baker, I saw my first vanilla bean when one of our pastry men talked my mom into ordering some rather than use the extract as usual. Lelo (Hungarian) was emphatic about not chilling the vanilla beans because it (in his words) steal-ess zuh assance frum zuh banahs. (We did have a bit of difficulty with communication in the early days and Lelo's teenage son spent a lot of time interpreting.) The other baker was too shy about trying to use English so we became proficient at sign language until he and Lelo got through the adult classes offered at the high school. (My mom sponsored two pastry chefs and their families who were refugees after the Hungarian revolt in 1956.) Anyway, I believe that refrigeration was not intended for everything and some fruits are ruined by it. I keep my immediate use vanilla beans in glass vials with ground glass stoppers that are in turn inside ziploc bags and keep the extras in the glass vials in vacuum sealed bags. I always have one in one or more of the sugar jars. I also have one (chopped and split to expose the seeds) in brandy and a couple in a double-sealed vial of Everclear. After these have released some of their essense into the liquor, I will strain them out and use them in something else, there will still be a lot of flavor left.

Excellent post Mktye. There is one additional consideration about the artificial vanilla. There is one grocery store chain with in-house bakery here in California that recently settled a suit because of using artificial flavors, including vanilla, in a product that was labeled "All Natural".... If customers discover that there is something in a product that is not 100% natural, they will sue, at least in this suit-happy state. A lot of bakers that I know prefer to use natural products, label their products thusly and find their customers will pay a premium price for such.

This site the Vanilla company, has an explanation of the Mexican vanilla which comes from Mexico. Their Mexican vanilla is made from Mexican vanilla beans but is not the stuff from Mexico. Click on "explanation" for the story about the stuff that is illegal to import into this country but can be bought on line from some sources. And you can't convince me that artificial vanilla is the same as the real thing. It may have more "vanilla" flavor but I don't like it and I won't use it. There are subtle differences between the different types of vanilla and I can taste those.

I do something similar but with Lovage instead of the celery leaves. I haven't been able to grow celery here with much success but lovage grows like a weed and I am constantly chopping off the tops to keep it from self-seeding all over the garden.