Carrot Top

Great story, about the cheesecake man. I wish we all had little shops with marvelous foods coming out from them like this. It is the Great American Tale though, that usually people like this end up franchising. Isn't this the way the Cheesecake Factory was started? One woman baking cheesecakes?

Ha, ha! Good response from your son. Maybe they could eat themselves? Fantastic recipe for lemon-blueberry loaf in 'The New Basics Cookbook' by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. Best I've ever tasted. Works with frozen berries, too! The only problem with the recipe is that people keep demanding that you make it....

I remember a recipe for butterflied roast lamb that was wonderful. Although I do not have the specifics it used a butterflied leg of lamb that was marinated overnight in black coffee with a non-committal sort of oil like canola (nothing with too much taste of its own), molasses, a touch of cider vinegar and some herbs and spices that may have been chopped scallions, cumin, cinnamon, bayleaf and black pepper. The meat was to be grilled, preferably, to create some nice charred parts with a medium-rare center. We used to do it, lacking a good grill, by draining the marinade, browning the surfaces over a high heat on the stove then finishing in the oven. Yummy.

This will take more time than you realize, probably. Any sort of writing that specifically describes something well that a group of other people can read and understand (all in pretty much the same way, as you would wish a recipe to be) has to be thought through pretty thoroughly. As to how you go about organizing it, that depends on your personality. Some people would take the tack to first list the recipes you wish to write, then jot down general notes and ideas and the quanitities and procedures that you do know. Then go forward, making the recipe, and writing down everything as you do it. Then, finally, revise, revise, revise till as close to perfect as it can be. Others would prefer to cook the recipes through one by one, sort of organically adding things as they go along.... In my profession I've had to write many very clear 'standardized recipes' that were either 'from scratch' or of adaptations of something that was close to what the intended final recipe was hopefully to be. These were used by a variety of cooks and chefs in a professional kitchen, each with different ways of doing things, just as a group of cookbook readers would be. There are many cooks who would prefer to 'wing it' and to be creative in their own ways, but it is a fact that one's 'guests' or customers, having eaten something that they truly enjoy, will come back and be greatly dissapointed if they can not have the same thing to eat that tastes exactly the same way as it did before! Here are some guidelines for writing a 'standardized recipe': (With an aside that personally I adore the sort of recipes that Elizabeth David wrote, about as far from standardization as one could imagine!) 1. Define portion amounts on the top (or bottom, I prefer the top) of the page. 2. Name the recipe as clearly as possible so that a reader can 'guess' what it is. 3. List your ingredients in the order in which they will be used. If you have several parts of preparation that must be done separately then combined, break these ingredients up into those sections. This is useful for people who are reading the recipe who may not cook a great deal...it helps with conceptualization of the project and also with setting up 'mise en place'. 4. Be specific and standard in the amounts of your ingredients. If the item to be used comes from a can, list the weight or size of the can. 5. Be specific as to the type of your ingredients. Fresh? or dried herbs...chopped or whole or pureed tomatoes.... 6. When writing the 'how-to' directions, keep them as simple as possible without leaving anything important out. Nobody really wants to read a paragraph on how to do a certain procedure with a knife in one hand, a simmering pot on the stove, and butter burning in the saute pan....the shorter and simpler, the better. 7. Any creative adaptations you know or can think of for the recipe can be posted at the end, including advice on cooling, wrapping, storage, length of freshness, etc. I know this sounds a bit compulsive...but you can not imagine the questions that arise if you are not really specific in your writing of recipes! And each dish...can be sometimes completely changed or altered by just one differing amount of an ingredient or by one differing procedure. So to make your personal intent clear, it has got to be specific. That said, it's a lot of fun to finally have a defined written recipe, whether to be used for professional purposes or not! Good luck! I hope you will share your results!

You have a very wise mother. About the only thing that does silence bickering siblings are superstitions. It's even better when the children think only THEY know of this magic ritual. I'm going to go make up some food superstitions right now, to use at opportune moments!

Incredible. It is almost ninety degrees outside HERE, and goodness knows it must be steaming in Miami in mid-July. Yet you have made me want to get on a plane and take a trip to Miami, maybe even move there! Wonderful, your article. Once again,thank goodness (always!) for our recent immigrants to the US and the bold bright flavors they bring.

What a warm and interesting and also mouthwatering 'thread'! I am fairly new to eGullet and am enjoying exploring the many writings.... It does seem that there should be more users adding their thoughts here...but of course many people are somewhat shy. Me? No, I am not shy! Jewish food (if it is not politically incorrect to call it that nowadays? Perhaps it is...) is naturally of interest to me, both as a (ex)professional chef and as a New Yorker for twenty years (not now), and as a person whose father is Jewish. (That is still true, as far as I know!) You are all lucky, or blessed, to have been given the gift of knowledge of both the faith, the rituals, and the foods...neither of my parents had any interest in passing on the faiths they had been given as children, unfortunately. But as life is (hopefully) long, there is alway the chance to learn, isn't there?! Having married a Catholic (now divorced) I have brought my children to the Catholic church at times...and at other times, in rural areas that we lived in...to Baptist or other similar churches....but recently have made the decision that it is a good idea (both for them and for me) to explore visiting the Shabbat services which are offered in the small city we now live in. So. I hope to have some interesting meals to post here, soon. I am nowhere near as ambitious as ANYONE on this thread! so they will be simple, but I look forward to what you will think.... Karen P.S. I just remembered a great cookbook I used to have on traditional Roman-Jewish food. A fantastic recipe for sweet and sour salmon....

Abra...I am digressing too...but tell me (about your quote at the end of your postings) How does your husband manage to sort out the hungry from the stupid?

Usually when I get berries, I get a whole lot at a time, so just freeze them on baking sheets then pop them into plastic freezer bags for the future. Two things come to mind...no...actually three. The first is simple. A hot raspberry sauce for ice cream made by simply boiling them with sugar and vanilla briefly if you like vanilla. Serving this hot over vanilla ice cream is...well. Just imagine. Another would be raspberry crepes. Another, which is yet another way to preserve the bounty, is to make something like a lemon curd out of the berries, the juice of the crushed berries. It could be made 'straight' just from a lemon curd recipe, or adapted somewhat by adding gelatin to make it more like a dessert to be eaten with a spoon and some whipped cream! I don't have a recipe for this, but my mother-in-law used to make it. Of course, there is always fresh raspberry jello, made with unflavored gelatin. I bet a Cornish Game Hen would be good, split, browned then braised with raspberries and some sort of pepper and chive demi-glace sauce...with or without a finish of cream whisked into the sauce.

I've enjoyed reading all these dinners. Usually I would not even post mine as any gourmet-ish plans are foiled and adapted by my children (ages nine and ten). Today however I am fleeing to the computer to avoid eating another portion of what I cooked for dinner (they are away at camp!) This was simple, and good for anyone who is eating solo: Chunky Caponata, freshly made from ingredients at the farm market, still warm, ladled onto heated pita bread. With a glass of chardonnay and a bit of quiet? Heaven!

It is possible to make home-made sausages with only the requirements of a good sharp knife and some caul fat (which is a membraneous thin layer of fat that will dissolve and baste the sausage when you cook it). Unless he has some good recipes already that he likes and is ready to make a lot of sausage, this is a good way to start. Low expense, and not a lot of production of sausages that may not be to his or your liking. Otherwise, I vote for the Kitchenaid addition. It used to be one could buy hand operated meat grinders, but now you will only find them once in a while at flea markets, as far as I know.

This topic is rather mesmerizing. Here are some more: If you put a piece of the wedding cake under your pillow, you will dream of who you will marry. A raw egg swallowed with a dash of worcestershire and tabasco will cure your hangover. And another...though it is not directly food-oriented, the original 'product' is a food of sorts... What is it about a rabbit's foot that makes it lucky? To me, it is just that some smart rabbit hunter thought of a great way to make some money on the leftovers...

And another one...an Irish one...which I can not remember but it involves bringing a certain food along while visiting all the neighbors on Christmas Eve, to keep the Devil from coming along into the house with you.... I would say the food was a turnip (though I know it is not...that is just the original Jack O' Lantern), yes I will say the food was a turnip...for surely that will bring the Irishmen (and women!) to the table with responses!

And of course, we all know it is imperative to hang wreaths of fresh garlic on our front doors to keep the vampires away.

There is a superstition that a woman from Spain once told me...a good luck ritual to be performed on the stroke of midnight, New Years Eve... Take twelve grapes, eat them one by one, and with each make a wish for the coming year. I'd never heard it before, but have since read of it in several books (though which ones, who knows...!) What a wonderful romantic, superstitious ritual this seems to me!

It does seem that with all the cookbooks that are out on every subject imaginable, German baking is just not often among them, surprisingly. The only book I remember reading German baking in (and I am an avid bookhound) is from the old Time-Life series that was published in the late 1960's. At one point in time, I had all these books, having found them at a bookfair, but they have all been given away over the years, what with moving from place to place, and only the one I consider the best remains in my collection...'The Cooking of Vienna's Empire'. Talk about baking recipes...whoooo! If I were you, I would trot right across the border to Austria for some great baking recipes. If you are set on Germany, however, I think many public libraries carry this collection of Time-Life books. 'The Cooking of Germany', it's probably simply called. Best of luck!

My feeling is that the major part of it has to do with price. Artisan pastries will cost more due to ingredient and labor costs, and many people simply are not interested in even thinking about paying for it. But then again, many have never tasted the difference between the stuff that a production bakery puts on top of its cakes as 'frosting' and a freshly made French buttercream. Some of it has to do with diets...but then again, having avoided the pastries, the packaged cookies are usually in the cupboard, aren't they?! I do think that if most consumers actually saw the huge plastic tubs that hold the usual everyday bakery's and/or the supermarket's bakery's 'makings' (for in general, the purveyors of the bases....toppings, fillings, 'praline' pastes or varieties of chocolate products...sell the same stuff to either of those marketplaces) for the cakes and baked goods they were buying and eating, they would be shocked. For really, there is not a lot of difference between this stuff and the cakemix and can of frosting or instant pudding you can buy on the grocery shelf. Except for variety and maybe 'holding' power. It makes me sad. For a great world of taste, flavor, texture and beauty is simply not commonly available, that could be. Perhaps it is just a niche market, fine or artisan pasty-making, and must be thought of as such.

Finely julienned and combined with carrots cut the same, sauteed lightly in butter or olive oil.... Raw spears, served with a variety of other fresh vegetables with a dip of some sort... Layered up in a vegetable lasagne... With mint and hot peppers if you like them in a 'risotto' made either with rice or orzo... Gratineed in the oven, layered either with tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc. or alternately with a light bechamel enriched with cheese or not...either one topped with browned crumbs or not...

They used to exist. They do exist in Europe and other places around the world. But they seem to have gone missing.....wherever I've looked, outside of a few privileged outposts in large urban areas. What has happened to the bakery that prepares cakes, pies, and hopefully a few other sweet tasty things, from scratch and not from scoops out of large white plastic tubs? Can anyone solve this mystery.....

1. Lenotre's Desserts and Pastries (might be out of print, could order perhaps through one of Amazon's vendors...?) 2. 'Desserts to Die For' by Marcel DeSaulniers 3. 'The Professional Pastry Chef' by Bo Friberg All different, all excellent. These are books that will remain with you for years!

I could be terribly wrong, but it seems in my memory that peach pits are supposed to be poisonous...or at the very least, capable of producing a toxic substance. Any horticulturalists or pharacologists out there with a reference book?

For information of cooking any part of the pig, one of the best books to refer to is Jane Grigson's classic (1967) book 'Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery'. It includes recipes for each and every part of the pig, including chapters on terrines, sausages, hams, 'Extremities', 'The Insides', and 'The Fat of the Pig'. There is a recipe for head-cheese in this book and many for trotters. If you still need a recipe, write back and I'll post it... My personal favorite recipe for pigs feet is (after cooking them for at least three hours and cleaning well) to chop them up and then braise in a strongly flavored, almost medieval flavored tomato sauce...lots of onions, garlic, cinnamon, bay leaves, etc. Absolutely marvelous served on a thick macaroni-type pasta, most particularly on a chilly fall or winter's eve....

Many of the replies to this question of 'Badly-made food you love' have been the foods of childhood. There is a saying by Lin-yu-Tang which I can not pull up at the moment, (but perhaps someone else can?) about how politics or love of country is defined as the tastes one had in their youth. It is strange to remember, in this time where everyone either loves to cook or at the least is knowledgeable in a gourmet-ish way, that in the past generation, cooking was mostly considered a daily task that HAD to be done, endlessly. You couldn't just send out for pizza or pop over to Burger King. Many mothers really did not enjoy cooking, but nonetheless, we have lots of memories of 'Badly-made foods we love'. A lot of the foods listed in these replies also have the advantage of strong flavors, salty!, caramelized or toasted toppings, creamy cheeses melted over everything. So that must be the answer. If you HAVE to cook badly from tiredness or lack of ingredients, at least be sure to make it salty, creamy and toasty. There you have it. An instant 'keeper', that your kids will love much more than the freshly made pasta primavera that you struggled over for hours!