andiesenji

I can tell you that my Euro and Brit friends who visit here buy and either carry or ship home pancake mix - especially the blueberry pancake mix made by Krusteaz - sold at Smart & Final. The last visitor, from Hungary, I took to S & F bought ten of the 28 ounce boxes and bought an extra suitcase to pack them and a couple of other food products that are not common over there, a can of malted milk powder.

You can also just add heavy cream. If you want to have a more "traditional" product, mix the buttermilk half and half with the cream and allow to set out at room temp overnight. It will be thick and tangy. I use this mixture for buttermilk pound cake, which simply does not work well with regular supermarket buttermilk.

My "regular" biscuit recipe is exactly the same as the one I posted above - I just sprinkle some extra flour on the board, knead three or four times, roll the dough out then FOLD it in half and roll again, cut either with a biscuit cutter (must be sharp) into rounds or with a pizza cutter into squares and bake for 20 minutes. The slightly denser dough requires that extra 2 minutes in the oven. The difference is that these split right through the middle - making it easier to apply butter and jam or "scumble" soft butter mashed into molasses or honey.

Drop biscuits are just biscuit dough that is spooned out or portioned out (I use an ice cream scoop) as opposed to rolled biscuits that are rolled and cut. The same dough can be used for both - some people believe that the less a dough is "worked" the more tender the biscuit and I have found this so. My recipe is very simple. Preheat oven to 400° F. One cup heavy cream Two cups self-rising flour - and I add about half a teaspoon of salt. If you like just a hint of sweetness add one tablespoon of sugar. Mix just till the dough is blended - allow it to hydrate for 20 minutes - scoop or spoon onto a baking sheet leaving at least an inch+ space between. Dip your fingers in water and flatten the mounds. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven, leave on baking sheet for 10 minutes and transfer to cooling rack or to a serving plate for immediate consumption.

A note about cooking grits, polenta or cornmeal. Sometimes traditional recipes leave out an essential step because a lot of cooks who have been preparing something for decades, simply "assume" that "everybody knows to do that" and soaking grits, sometimes overnight, is one of those steps that are often omitted. One of my aunts contributed several recipes to a "Ladies Auxiliary Cookbook" quite a few years ago in Paducah, KY and sent me a copy. I read through the book and phoned her (before internet) and asked her why she did not mention soaking the grits for a particular recipe that I KNEW she prepared that way, because I had been in her kitchen when she had done it. Her reply was, "Honey, EVERYBODY knows that grits have to be soaked before cooking them." I pointed out that "everybody" doesn't - and they added an "errata note" to the book before it went on sale... So, it all depends on the type of cornmeal you use - some has been manipulated to cook without the soaking, but it has also lost some flavor (and nutrients) and in my opinion, does not produce as good an end result as the plain old or heirloom varieties that do require a bit more effort but the results are far better.

You can soak it in the cooker pan - if it has absorbed all the water just add more - I only drain it if there is still water above the top of the cornmeal so I have a better idea of how much to add because some might be loose and floating. I'm sure you can experiment a bit to get your routine down pat. I always soaked the grits before cooking on top of the stove - as I learned sixty-some years ago. The grits are creamier when they have absorbed water slowly over a period of hours - no matter how you cook them.

Maybe I've been doing it wrong but I just soak the polenta (coarse cornmeal Bob's Red Mill Organic) in cold water for about 3 hours then drain, put it in the Zo, add more water - so there is about 1/2 inch covering the wet cornmeal, and cook it on the porridge setting - ONCE - then leaving it on the keep-warm setting for 30 minutes or so (sometimes longer) while I prepare the rest of the meal. I use the same process when I am cooking hominy grits for breakfast or to put into a loaf pan and chill overnight for slicing and frying. Because the heating is even, there is no scorching on the bottom (the need for stirring on the stovetop) and the moisture in the closed chamber keeps it moist and simply stirring will bring it to the "creamy" consistency desired, at least by me.

The Denny's here does poached eggs on toast and will even add cheese sauce if you know to ask for it and with a side of Canadian bacon. Essentially a cheesy Eggs Benedict - I just slide the bacon UNDER the toast. Other Denny's don't seem to have a clue, so it is up to the individual cook or manager. The local place has a woman head cook and I think she is also a co-manager because she does some hiring and firing.

Years ago, when I was still doing some catering, I did my own "experiment" on how MOLDS affect wood and plastic cutting boards. After an event where I volunteered my time, using my own equipment, I put my cutting boards (one wood, one plastic) into two of the jumbo storage plastic bags. I loaded them in my station wagon, with everything else, and as I had the rear seats folded down to make the deck flat, I stood them up in the space behind the front seats. I unloaded everything else - it was late at night and I was very tired and I forgot all about the cutting boards. I did not go anywhere for the next couple of days, it was summer and very hot so the cutting boards were in optimum conditions for growing stuff. When I finally noticed them, the wooden board had a few small patches of grayish mold, I treated it with a bleach solution, followed up with vinegar, scraped it well with a bench knife and then scrubbed with baking soda and set it out to dry in the sun. It was fine. The plastic board was solid black on both sides, actually looked both furry and slimy at the same time and I did not even open the bag, put it straight into the trash. I don't know what had "cultured" itself on the surface of the plastic but I was taking no chances. After that I avoided using plastic cutting boards, except for the disposable ones - use once and discard.

Is UC DAVIS scientific enough for ya? Study. This of course is "hearsay evidence" article. And this extensive and detailed PDF article; Here

Buried somewhere in my "stuff" is the large - I think it is a 12 inch - deep Revereware Chicken fryer with the domed lid. It is much deeper than regular frypans and is very heavy. I've had it since the '60s and it was at least ten or fifteen years old then. I kept it because it was given to me by my then mother in law - (we stayed friends long after I divorced her son) and it was larger than my Griswold chicken pan - and with a big family I usually needed both skillets to cook enough chicken. Some people turn their noses up at the copper bottom Revereware, but there is no question that the early stuff was quality.

The FDA is just FINE with allowing increasing levels of PESTICIDES and other toxic substances in OUR FOOD SUPPLY. They are STILL studying the "possibility" that glyphosate "may" be entering the food supply even though UNBIASED scientific studies have show it has been found in milk, breast milk, in tissues surrounding estrogen dependent breast cancers and in INFANT FORMULA and foods. Apparently there is a lot of LOBBYING money being parceled out at the FDA to slow down the investigations into these toxins getting into the food supply. And Alex, this woman may have been in the food industry but that does not mean she is knowledgeable. Like the guy from the "beef council" I met at a seminar ten or twelve years ago, who ASSURED me that there were no longer ANY parasites in commercial beef, when my boss, an orthopedic surgeon who had consulted on a patient who had difficulty walking and was found to have a parasitic worm (beef tapeworm) in his brain - not from pork (he was Jewish) but from beef - and as he had been a vegetarian for decades, could date the "infestation" to after 1999 when he began eating beef. (There are several more cases in current medical literature.) So in many cases the people who work in these MAJOR industries, not those artisans who produce small batches, really do not know the subject.

This person: Monica Metz work phone: 240-402-2041 monica.metz@fda.hhs.gov DHHS/FDA/CFSAN/OFVM/CFSAN/OFS/DPDFS/DEB At the FDA has handed down a "ruling" that makes no sense whatsoever and shows just how IGNORANT she is of the antibacterial properties of wood. This is the problem with allowing career bureaucrats who have INADEQUATE knowledge to rule on something that affects so many. And it makes us the LAUGHINGSTOCK of the WORLD. The complete article is HERE. At 7:00 a.m. (PDT) I phoned - got a recording and left a message, expressing my opinion of this idiotic ruling. I also have written to the President via WhiteHouse.gov What is absolutely ASININE is that the FDA is allowing or even ENCOURAGING Monsanto and others to POISON us with pesticide riddled vegetables and fruits and yet is actively HARMING an industry that is so important. Note that they have NO control over how cheese manufacturers in other countries handle the cheeses and as long as they meet the minimum aging rules, ALL IMPORTS will be allowed. This makes Americans look like idiots for allowing someone so abysmally ignorant of the nature of a process to make a ruling that is basically juvenile and baseless.

Those are absolutely stunning! Regarding the Milanos not having enough texture to stick well - I used to make a flower thing with lady fingers and I cut across one end with pinking shears that created "teeth" that had more surface for the sticky stuff (I used royal icing) to cling to.

Today I am cooking some farro in the rice cooker. I simply have not had good results cooking it any other way - there is always some that is undercooked and tough with little hard nodules. The rice cooker - with it set on the longer "porridge" setting, cooks it perfectly - same with kamut.

I live alone but I have the 10 cup Zojirushi IH rice cooker. I cook 4-5 cup batches (or larger) of various types of rice (and other grains) and freeze the "extra" in 1or 2 cup portions so I always have some cooked rice on hand for adding to soups, stir fries, nasi goring or plain fried rice, rice puddings or fruit puddings, for adding to breads, both yeast and quick breads, rice fritters, in omelets or in burritos, with beans. They do not "boil over" so there is no worry in that regard. And it can be used as a steamer for potatoes, vegetables, and other things. Check the recipes here. There are some cookbooks but you don't really need one - there are plenty of recipes right on the Zojirushi site and you can subscribe to their email newsletter that has new ideas every month. (Zojirushi 101)

I have three or four of these - only using three now as my newer LG fridge/freezer has an integral digital thermometer/temp control. These from Thermoworks are accurate and sturdy. At least one has survived being knocked out of the fridge, grabbed by the dog, carried outside, where I had to retrieve it - washed it off, used an emery board to file down the places where dog teeth had dug little pits. It is still working just fine in my cheese fridge - which is kept at a higher temp than the regular one. I've tried various thermometers and in my opinion you can't improve on the ones from Thermoworks. You can also get the fridge/freezer ALARM thermometers if you need critical temp control.

We have had some extensive discussion of rice cookers and various methods of cooking rice in the past. I've been using automatic rice cookers since I saw one demonstrated at the L.A. County fair in the mid to late 1970s - it was before I sold my house in Canoga Park in 1978. I didn't buy one at the fair but within a few days bought one at the May Co. dept store - they had an extensive "housewares" department. I think it was a Rival - small - I soon upgraded to a larger one. I've owned about every type and size available - currently have the Zojirushi IH 10 cup - have not yet "graduated" to the newer model as this one works fine. Prior to this one, I had a Neuro Fuzzy which I sent to my daughter and she uses it constantly. I also still have one of the smaller "Micom" and a twenty+ year old regular Automatic (the round one with the flowers that has the locking top. Earlier I had a Panasonic, a Sanyo and a Hitachi - the one with the very LOUD bell. They all worked beautifully.

Melitta likes to take credit for "pour-over" coffee brewing - but actually the woman who developed the "Melitta process" simply added a paper filter. Pour-over brewing began in the late 1700s with the invention of the "biggin" in France and various types of "filters" including ceramic, metal, and various ways to distribute the "drip" of hot water evenly onto the grounds were developed and patented in the early 19th century. Then cloth (cotton lisle stocking material) also introduced in France in the mid 1800s - popularly known as a café sac (Fr.) or coffee sock to Americans who brought the idea back - including Mark Twain who wrote some little quips about coffee in France. I have an antique ceramic biggin filter, with tiny holes - coffee could not be too finely ground - which dates to 1800. Just the filter, the coffee pot itself was smashed in the '94 earthquake. I'll try and find it and take some photos. I have one of the large Chemex brewers - I also have a box of the flat filters purchased about 25 years ago - you have to fold your own into the cone shape. It brews 10 cups (6 oz - total 60 ounces). The coffee is very good, I have not done a side by side taste testing of similar types. I personally prefer coffee brewed in vacuum pots - if making multiple servings. I use a single-serve pod machine and fill my own pods for a Senseo. I can't stand "stale" coffee and to me it tastes stale after it has been sitting for 20-30 minutes over heat. I'm extremely fussy about freshly brewed coffee.

I do have the biggest "Crown" Berkey and a travel Berkey - I have a whole-house filter system but it does not remove everything. The Berkey does.

My big old Garland was like that - no pilot lights though. I had a container of long fireplace matches hung on the wall at each end of the monster, until I discovered the propane fire lighters.

I like the Dutch tea cozy.

I looks like my chestnut pan, though the handle is a bit longer.

I have done quite a few "experimental" egg cooking techniques. When I was still doing some part-time catering, I had a request for a large number of hard-boiled eggs for a local children's day camp event during Easter break. At that time I had a Hobart dishwasher - which had a built-in water heater for "sanitizing" . I had read an article about "cooking in a dishwasher" and decided to give it a try. First I ran it empty - through two or three cycles, to make sure it was totally free of detergent (90 seconds each cycle) Then I put 8-dozen eggs in wire baskets and set them in the "open" dishwasher trays, then ran it through four cycles (6 minutes) and left the door closed for about 15 minutes then doused the baskets in a tub of ice water. They turned out perfect, except for a few that cracked. The group needed the eggs so the kids could dye their own - 2 each - and they had allowed extras for "accidents" and etc. It was an interesting experiment but I never again had a call for that many hard-boiled eggs all at once.

I will explain my decision to begin using an automatic egg cooker back in the early '70s. I was tasked with preparing 6 dozen deviled eggs for a potluck party. I put about 18 eggs in a pot, waited till the water returned to a "simmer" and set the timer. I got busy doing something else and for some reason the timer did not sound. I forgot all about the eggs until an ugly miasma began drifting through the house - and I discovered the pot had boiled dry, the eggs had sort of exploded and not only the kitchen but that entire section of the house had to be fumigated and we had to stay out of that end of the house for two days. I went straight to Sears and bought an Oster - one with a glass lid - and I still have it, although I have upgraded to a newer model.