janeer

I agree.

Aunt Carrie's closest; Flo's' Evelyn's in Tiverton.

Fritters of all kinds, especially corn, onion rings, shrimp, and fried cheese puffs like these. Spring rolls like these. Fried zucchini blossoms. Everything. I have always wanted a commercial fryer. Maggiethecat mentioned the Presto; I have sworn by the Betty G Cooker Fryer in the absence of a commercial one.

There is an excellent recipe for Brandied Strawberries in Katherine Plageman's Fine Preserving. I use Christian Brothers brandy, sometimes throw in some cognac.

Freshness is key to taste and performance, and I do love local eggs. Here is how to recognize the freshest eggs when buying at a market: My link

One pickle I really enjoyed in Japan was daikon sticks pickled with yuzu zest, which is what made me think of it. What was her method to use the lemon juice - in place of or in addition to vinegar? I had to look yuzu up--sounds very nice, a little like jicama with lime, of which I am fond. My grandmother used lemon juice only, I think; I was small. If there was vinegar as well, it would have been apple cider vinegar, but my memory is lemon only.

Did she use lemon juice or lemon zest, or both? Just lemon juice, but zest would be nice too.

In Rhode Island, where fried fish is raised to high art, we use local yellow tail flounder or "scrod"--small cod--and sometimes haddock. All are flaky and fresh tasting; some restaurants offer both flounder (for the purists) and scrod, and charge more for the flounder.

I too like pickles for appetizers. I adore the versatile Mexican pickled onion--Rick Bayless's recipe in Authentic Mexican is good--which are a terrific garnish for almost anything; I keep them on hand. My favorite quick pickle is olive oil pickles, recipe here, that I have made for, oh, 30 years. I love them straight from the freezer. My grandmother used to make a quick pickle with cucumber, lemon, and sugar that was very nice.

Ah, a long way from here. But now I will keep my eye out, they should be showing up within the month.

that is beautiful. I will have to try that--love the dry-fried green beans with pork from her other book. Where do you live that you are you getting fresh favas?

Of the 400 or so cookbooks I used to own, now pared down to about 150, I can say unequivocably that the ones that inspired me to cook through, and which I did at various times of my life, are: --Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams--I treasure this book, and give it as a gift frequently. --French Country Cooking by Charles Virion--if you can find it --Lenotre Desserts and Pastries (even though you claim not to be a baker, if you're a scientist you probably just need practice) --Jim Fobel's Old Fashioned Baking Book --Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy --Fine Preserving by Katherine Plageman --The Making of A Cook by Madeline Kamman --The Cake Bible by Rose L Beranbaum --Secrets of a Jewish Baker by George Greenstein I'll stop here for now, and will skip the Asian options. Every one of these books is worthy. And of course, you can't go wrong doing Hazan's Classic Italian, as has been said. Zuni Cafe Cookbook I believe has also been mentioned.

If you are doing FLOUR tortillas, you can cook about 6 at a time on a stove-top griddle, such as a Caphalon or Lodge (i.e., not a nonstick); oven is not a good choice unless you have a large baking stone, but it would need to be quite hot and you could burn your hand turning them. Not good. You can, however, reheat in the oven: wrap tightly in foil and heat in a low oven. If you use the microwave, wrap in damp paper towels or cloth towel and heat BRIEFLY. Overheating in the microwave makes flour tortillas tough and even brittle--the regular oven is better if you are doing a lot and don't want to be watching them so closely.

Here is the recipe I have used for nearly 40 years. Authentic flour tortillas do not contain baking powder. Tortillas de harina 4 c flour 2 tea salt 6 T lard 1 to 1 1/4 c lukewarm water Sift flour and salt and work in shortening. Gradually add water to form a ball; knead until smooth and form into balls about the size of small eggs. Cover and let rest about 15 min. Roll or pat out. Place on medium-hot comal (ungreased iron pan)and cook about 2 minutes on 1 side; flip and cook about another minute on the other,lightly "tickling" it with your fingers to encourage it to puff up. Remove to a plate and cover.

Chiles Rellenos

Fellini's, which is superb and for which I always find an excuse to stop for a slice or two, and my other revered pizza from Star Tavern in NJ, where I grew up, are both perfectly round. I like Todd English's food (am very fond of his polenta with golden raisins, for example, and was an early aficionado of his Charlestown restaurant as well as Figs on Charles Street), so will not take him too literally. As for myself, here is both an oval and a rectangular pizza.

Liquid smoke, a completely natural product, works quite well. There is a book, Cheater BBQ, written by some acquaintances of mine, that describes the method. It uses a slow cooker, but you can use the oven at 300 and a covered pan; it is similar to what I have done for years out of laziness--a few hours outdoors in the smoker, then too impatient to mind it, transfer to a pan in the oven, cover with foil, and cook low and slow til ready. Frankly, I can scarcely tell the difference from complete smoking outdoors. The Cheater book is all done indoors. It calls for 1/2 cup Liquid Smoke for a 5-6 lb Boston Butt but I suggest less. Use your usual rub, dump in the Liquid Smoke, cover and cook til ready to pull, 6-8 hours (10 is fine if you throw it in before bed for the next day). Voila. Don't forget the coleslaw and soft little homemade rolls. Jane Little Compton Mornings

I am extremely fond of BBA as well for a good basic book. Another is Greenstein's Secrets of a Jewish Baker, designed for home bakers but thorough and including some rare recipes for European ryes.

In response to two comments on this thread--that it's impossible to get the red color without a dye, and whether you can preserve without heating--I offer my recipe for pickled cherries, which I use in drinks. They are like maraschino cherries except that they have a little sour edge to them. Sour cherries, of course, are only available for a few weeks each summer. So gather while ye may. My link Here is a pic of the finished product. Jane www.littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com

In addition to these listed, all good and in my collection, I like Katherine Plageman's Fine Preserving. Not much instruction, but very good recipes.

This is one of my PRIZED books out of a collection of hundreds. As you say, gorgeous, and recipes are incredible. To add to your list: the spicy meatloaf, the oven-fried chicken, the half-a-pound cake (perhaps the greatest tasting cake ever): you cannot go wrong. This is a brilliant book. Other favorites that I use over and over again (I do have and like the Beard, but the original NYT Cookbook is also great) are these--most out of print, I'm afraid: --Charles Virion: French Country Cooking. For satisfying French home cooking --Lenotre: Desserts and Pastries. A photo for almost everything, great recipes --Jim Fobel: Old-Fashioned Baking Book. I absolutely love this book; many recipes are from his family --Katherine Plageman: Fine Preserving I could go on...great topic. Bad on the pocketbook! My WebpageLittle Compton Mornings

No, it's not nostalgia. Perked coffee is rich, HOT, and has great aroma and depth of flavor. My very first blog entry was on perked coffee.

I've been baking from this book for a couple of weeks now. Have made several of the yeasted breads, using the Rich Sour Cream Sweet Dough, made cinnamon rolls, rustic horns ( not sure about the name), kuchens, and crumb buns. I like this book, even though I too have many baking books. Have not done Danish or croissants yet, but I will soon. ← thank you; any book that has a crumb bun recipe and sour cream yeast dough sounds good to me.

Has anyone used Walter's latest baking book and do you have an opinion on whether it is worth adding to an already extensive baking collection? Particularly interested in the yeasted bread sections--danish, etc. Thanks.

A forgotten but truly excellent book is The Chinese Cookbook by Virginia Lee with Craig Claiborne. It was ahead of its time, and is out of print, but you can still find it.