Behemoth

Part of it is a language issue, I think. I know plenty of people in other countries who would love this but would have trouble with the english. On the other hand, there are a lot of elsewhere-born-but-US-living types on here.

I need this. Where exactly is Taylorville?

Don't know -- they are more delicate than collards or kale, would probably dissolve with that kind of treatment. They are good cooked with bacon but I wouldn't go more than 40 minutes. I got my ideas from Elisabeth Schneider's book, Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini. That book is indispensable for those "just got all kinds of weird stuff from the farmer's market, now what?" typa days. I also forgot, there's the frittata/quiche option. (edited to attempt the Amazon link thingy).

Just had some last night (see Dinner thread). Use them absolutely anywhere you would use swiss chard leaves. They are almost exactly the same. Stuffed pastas, pastries, you can even use them instead of grape leaves for dolmas (use extra lemon).

Those crabs look awesome. I had a nice thing happen. My farmstand lady caught me inspecting the beet tops on the beets I was about to buy and gave me about 2 lbs of tops her other customers had asked to be trimmed, for free. I made canneloni stuffed with beet tops, prosciutto & ricotta, with tomato butter sauce. Amazing stuff. It baffles me that people will buy swiss chard and toss those beautiful beet tops...there's practically no difference in most recipes. Heh, more for me. (edited, for they are crabs, not carbs.)

As far as using fresh tomatoes -- I don't know where you are located but for most parts of the country good plum tomatoes are not available until late summer. In most cases I think it is really hard to beat a good quality can of canned san marzano tomatoes. I've used this brand and liked it: link As far as fresh-made. Marcella Hazan has a red sauce that is great & very easy. You basically simmer what seems to be way too much sliced garlic in tomatoes & evoo for a while, then thrown in a fistful of basil at the end. Awesome, very fresh tasting. To not offend the copyright gods I could PM it to you, if you want.

I bought that one ages ago and didn't care for it. Dough always sticks to it because unlike wooden rolling pins, flour does not. Also it is just not wide enough. The weight doesn't help, especially with the handles you really lose a lot of control. Heck, if you PM me your address I will mail you mine, for free. I have a tapered wooden rolling pin now which I love. I've never had trouble rolling out cold dough, but I do try to work on lower surfaces whenever possible (kitchen table rather than counter, for example)

Guys, could you cut out some of the quote-in-quotes? I'm going cross-eyed!

We're putting the band back together... Does ours go to 'leven? Not quite. Think closer to Chicago

I get a big one from my mom every year. She actually uses the gross supermarket fruit but the cake is delicious and I still like it. (I'm not a big dessert person but a sucker for any spiced cakes). She makes a little flower design on the top which is cute, since that was my job as a kid. I have her send it to me as early as possible so I can properly soak it in liquor. For some reason in the past few years she decided buying alcohol was too troublesome and has tried to soak the thing with fruit juice. Heresy!

It worries me that I know exactly what this is. Yes, you definitely need to burn a CD: Maybe you can split the difference with some experimental german girl band? I'm thinking Chicks on Speed...

I firmly believe Dimitri's in Queen's Village, along with Bob & Barbara's, is the reason I am married today. What a great way to impress a date. Our ritual is to sit at the bar and watch those guys do their thing. We order a bunch of appetizers and polish off a bottle of wine, mezze style. We always order: Octopus, hummus, a salad, clams. Maybe a whole snapper. If we have more people with us, the garlic shrimp and a lamb entree for the table. I can't even begin to explain how much I love that place. Our first date was outside at White Dog, our second was at Ghiottone and our third at Dimitri's, followed by Nate and Co. at B&Bs. Effie's has also been around for a while...they recently added an upstairs that is attractive and great for parties. Took a slew of future in-laws there and they took care of us very nicely. Jamaican Jerk Hut is great fun on the summer, when you can sit outside. Bring a bottle of rum and they'll make you an awesome mixer. I have dreams about their jerk pork and meat pies...

Count another cilantro fan in the ranks, raw and cooked. Maybe you just have to have grown up with it. I also love okra and eggplant and good canned tuna in oil and good anchovies and all shellfish without exception and and and...

Is this like those mango-loid perversions Mongo was suggesting on that GM thread? What if we don't want to be a crab roll? The Jewel Osco had those in their bakery bins -- I used them for cheesesteaks once in a pinch, and frankly they were closer to the real thing (albeit a little smaller) than anything else I'd tried.

That's the assumption I had before I moved to the rural midwest, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a large and thriving Mexican population and the groceries that serve them. Even the local Walmart carries nopales, pozole and masa harina. And we're talking otherwise very white-bread town here. (Ronnie Suburban can vouch for this). The more rural you are, the more likely you have a migrant farm worker population. Two more things I thought of: you can do a web search on area farmer's markets/farm stands etc. Here in Illinois I found the Land Connection, which has been a lifesaver. Another thing: If a whole chicken is too expensive you can buy the more unpopular parts for real cheap: Chicken backs to make stock (sometimes if you ask you can even get these for free -- my grandfather used to get them from the supermarket for next to nothing for bait in his crab trap). Finally: non-instant oatmeal for breakfast. No fancy packaging, kills hunger for hours and is good for you. You can also make porridges using barley or leftover rice, with syrup or honey. The more filling the breakfast, the less tempted you will feel to buy something in the middle of the day.

reesek, the way the arabs do it is even easier -- they just float a couple of pods in the little cup of coffee. Worth a try if you are ever having a small cup of the heavy stuff and don't feel like working too hard. (Basically just pour the coffee over the seeds).

The only thing I can add to all the good suggestions above is -- greens like kale, turnip & mustard greens are extremely cheap and very healthy. Do you have a farmer's market nearby? I bought a giant bunch turnip greens for $1.50 last week. Great with onions that are caramelized until crisp. Or with bacon. In any case, you won't acquire any huge nutritional deficiencies from one week of poverty, but incorporating these ideas into your menu afterwards will go a long way towards avoiding this situation in the future

One way I used to save money on food when travelling was, rather than eat out at mediocre places for every meal, go grocery shopping for most meals (a great travel experience in and of itself, going to a foreign supermarkets, farmer's markets, bakeries, cheese shops etc) and then spend the money I saved on places that I was really really interested in going. Another good bet is to try ethnic places, like Ethiopian, Indian, Vietnamese -- they tend to be less expensive, are usually quite good for the money, not the same as the ethnic renditions you would get in this country (odd, right?) and tend to be visited by local younger student types so have a lot of nice energy.

The stems are great blanched and then gratin-ed.

Brussels Sprouts are only stinky when overcooked. Now I realize you probably refuse to go near the things, but for anyone slightly curious, here's how I've made many sprout converts: I split the bottoms and blanch for about 8 minutes -- until just tender, slightly undercooked. Cut 'em in half and let them dry on kitchen towels. (Basically, this is the julia child version of preparing sprouts that will be re-cooked). When nearly time to serve, I heat up a big pan with veg oil. Toss in about a tbsp of black mustard seeds, until they start to pop. Then some garlic, cumin, coriander and red pepper flakes, and throw in the sprouts and toss around for a few minutes -- there should be enough oil and it should be hot enough that they caramelize slightly around the edges. Generously salt and (fresh ground, natch) black pepper.

Pullman loaves are cool. I think I read somewhere they are especially popular in Japan. I can't say I ever saw them in Philly, though I admit I wasn't searching for them -- maybe one of those asian bakeries in Chinatown might be worth a shot? Oh, I think the bread itself is like an enriched white bread, with eggs and stuff. In fact, I think breadbaker's apprentice has a recipe, if baking is an option. Basically, prototypical american sandwich bread. Brini Maxwell is not a real woman?!

Heh, most of my favorite foods have been mentioned here. So I have this thing where, if I dislike a certain food I become obsessed with trying all ways of preparing it until I find one I like, or figure out what I dislike about it. Chicken livers underwent just such an intensive procedure, and here is the problem. It's gross!

I WANT!!!!

Ha. I don't mind things that take time to eat (more time in between for drinking!) but I am really impatient about stuff that takes a long time to cook. Bolognese lasagne for instance. love it, but I end up eating the sauce before I ever get around to making the noodles. I am an instant gratification typa gal.

You are a school teacher, right? I am really surprised you think this. You have probaby experienced the difference between teaching a classroom of 12 students vs. teaching a classroom of 40 students. It is hard to teach even the best students in such a distracting environment. And frankly, eventually even the best students come across something they just don't understand and need help with. Especially when it comes to something like (my area) math. And if the help isn't there, there is a stronger chance disadvantaged kids will fall through the cracks. What I tend to find is that kids from better educated families will assume the subject is hard, and will work harder at it, whereas student with less-educated families will just assume they are incapable of doing the work, and give up. To get away from the class issue, this is something I see very often between boys and girls in math classes. Boys typically will just assume a subject is hard, and work harder, whereas girls will assume there is some biological reason they don't get it, and shut down. And usually, the performance differences between the two groups are not all that great to begin with. I don't mean to make arguments from personal experience, but most of the reasearch I've read tends to support this. Finally, in poorer schools there is less access to computers, lab equipment, well-trained teachers, well-educated parents who can help with homework, etc. My experience comes from having volunteer tutored inner city elementary students in math. Their teachers could barely handle keeping the class quiet, didn't really know the material well enough to have some flexibility in explaining it. The younger kids were very clever and enthusiastic but as soon as they reached a certain age it just seemed like all the environmental factors around them would conspire to make them really cynical and unresponsive. And frankly, I couldn't blame them, as even the most hardworking students just couldn't write well enough to get into anything but a junior college, which, unless you plan to transfer, is barely worth the money in terms of the job it will get you. It was just so depressing to watch those kids get lost in the system. I am getting off this subject now as this is a food forum, but this notion that people get stuck being poor because they lack some sort of ability really frustrates the hell out of me. And that "dregs of society" comment is shameful. (edited for clarity. And also, I would love it if we got off this income disparity issue.)