Franci

I made the Ottolenghi's turkey meatballs. How could I forget how much I detest turkey mince, or turkey in general...not a fan of this one, I'm afraid

It looks very nice CatPoet, I'll try after our vacation 50 g butter?

Ah, ah, Weino, you made me laugh. I'll try the soda bread and if I don't like it, I'll put the bag in the freezer and make porridge in the fall.

Shel_B, I never used steel cuts in baking but I know that if you soak the oats overnight before baking they will soften enough for baking. Read the comments in this link for example. In other breads with whole grain often you can make also a porridge before kneading the bread. I think if making pancakes, I'd use the porridge.

I have an open bag of steel cut oats and would like to use it in baking. I've searched a bit and definitely I'll make a soda bread, not enough to use the whole bag. I don't want to go and buy new ingredients since we are going to be away but I have dry fruits and some nuts to finish, plus corn meal, and regular flour. I would really love if you could share your recipes and tips. Thanks

Have you noticed how popular and expensive are nowadays sprouted nuts and flours?

You can blanch very easily almonds steeping them in just boiled water for a couple minutes. But by it is claimed there are benefits in soaking nuts for long time , and for me, especially if you consume big quantities. I would even considered sprouting them.

The one dessert I've been thought to cover well is the pot de creme, since you don't unmold and want a shiny surface.

I love this Italian bread that is called pane a pasta dura I don't know how good is this particular recipe because I only google it http://vivalafocaccia.com/en/2012/01/08/video-recipe-for-hard-dough-bread/ You can make also a filone. It's more compact than a ciabatta but the crust is cruchy, not hard and the inside soft if you google immage you can see different formats: biove is one http://it.cookandcraftlab.com/2014/01/panepastadura.html miccone di stradella http://www.dolcesalatoweb.it/2011/02/il-miccone-di-stradella/ Then I love for soups or charcuterie the pizza di pasqua al formaggio http://aniceecannella.blogspot.com/2008/03/pizza-di-pasqua-al-formaggio.html Also, don't know if it's too rustic for you but I've always like "panfocaccia" http://profumodilievito.blogspot.com/2010/05/panfocaccia.html And a good potato bread is moist and it's very good with the addition of herbs or cheese.

It looks very nice Diana, how did you like it?

When we were little, my sister and I, would go to visit my grandparents in the North. We were awoken every morning with the smell of coffee and grappa...it was a different time, different generation. I can smell the nutty crust of michette (which you cannot find almost anymore, like those, now) and that ham from the North, that in the South couldn't be found, so good and perfumed, like baby skin. And the smell of my grandfather yellow risotto, alla milanese, with saffron and pancetta, or the smell of nutty butter, pancetta and sage over his gnocchi. Back in the South the smells were completely different. All the butchers in my little town had a brick oven where they roasted lamb offal, lamb chops, bombette and sausages. I can smell the almond wood burning and the scent of the meat. I can smell the fried egg polpette on Sunday morning to be eaten in the sauce with orecchiette. Or the onion focaccia from the bakeries. And the dried fava pure and wild chicory and meatballs. It is strange but of all the other places I've lived or visited I don't have strong memories. I associate the US with the smell of white bread toasted, cinnamon and sugar and France with the buttery smell coming from the bakeries. I have no memories from my years in London

Smithy, it still worked out, even if I dropped the cake on the table...I'm so glad I halved the filling because it would have been too much. This, with the ugly un trimmed piece, is my plate

There are some born vegan desserts I just happen to love, they are more rustic if you want to call it that way. Some of my favorites: -schiacciata con l'uva (it's like a focaccia with grape and sugar) -ciambelline al vino (it's a rustic cookie from around Rome: flour, sugar, extra virgin oil, wine and aniseeds) -sassanelli, LOVE them with fig molasses http://ammodomio.blogspot.com/2012/11/sasanellisassanellisassaneddre.html -panpepato it has honey -panforte (it has honey) -strudels, with strudel dough made with oil and no eggs -castagnaccio -I make some "ravioli" baked with quince or grape jam and I absolutely adore them. -for something flaky, I would look into sweet tahini bread, maybe substituting with other nut butters http://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2009/11/cinnamon-roll-with-tahini-tahinov-hatz/ - crispy cookies like the ines Rosales - Alice's cakes look so inviting even being vegan http://www.kitchenbloodykitchen.com/search/label/Torte%20e%20crostate

I managed to cook the cheesecake with my oven turned off. After 1hr 15 minutes the oven temperature was 90 C. The cake didn't brown but the temperature in the middle was 67-68 C (154 F). So it worked great! I spare you what happened later and how I ruined it...

So, I ended up using a 8x8 inch pan with removable bottom that I had. It's not very tall, so I ended up cutting the filling in half, and I'll cut up very small squares. Problem is that I have an ancient chamber stove it just doesn't go to very low temperatures but keeps the heat for very long. I put the cake in at 400 f from my thermometer and turned off the heat...I'll check in half an hour (total 1 1/2 hours). I hope is going to work

Diana, I was looking at this Alice Water's recipe and this with a frangipane smear on the bottom and rhubarb/raspberry and cannot decide which way to go...

I like it very much FrogPrincess! I'll see if I can find the aprium but meanwhile I'm thinking I should try it with rhubarb. Something similar, which I really LOVED was the cranberries galette, Darienne suggested to me. I think the pate brisee is richer than the one I usually used but it was really good.

Thank you Smithy, I was referring to the recipe calling for the 9 inch round pan. I was thinking I also have 6 rings, 75 mm diameter (about 3 inches), maybe bigger than I'd like, and reading from this thread I got the idea that a big cake texture is better than the texture you could get from small cheese cakes if you are not careful...so, I'm not sure which way to go but the rings would be convenient. With the same formula I could get about 9-10 rings. Could I make the filling and refrigerate the unused portion, while the first batch is cooking and cooling? If I cover the sides of the rings with parchment strips, I don't have to freeze the cheese cakes and just cook and unmold, maybe 20 minutes for that diameter, just guessing.

Without the canning jar. I toast the rice first in the pressure cooker in a little bit of fat (butter or oil, depending on the kind of risotto), sometimes with some softened onion or not. For a cup of rice I use 2 cups stock. 6 minutes (or 5 depending on the brand or quality of rice) from when it goes into pressure. I release the pressure putting the lid under lukewarm water, I don't want to overcook my risotto. I add a touch more stock if it looks too dry, adjust salt, and beat well with a wooden spoon with butter and some grated parmigiano over the sink. I let rest, covered with a towel for a couple minutes. I would imagine that if you do in a canning jar you need to cut down on the liquid a lot as it will not evaporate as much. But I wouldn't want my risotto in a bainmarie...congee taste? not for me.

Jo, next time, I'll take pictures, no soup. 6 minutes for me in the pressure cooker are more than enough.

Hi, I'm bringing this up because I'd like to make a NY style cheese cake and cut into bite size. I have guests over for dinner on Saturday and Sunday so, I could do this in advance and have part of the dessert ready for both dinners. I'm not a cheesecake expert, 10 years have passed since I made one...I'd like to go with something simple, I was thinking of the American Test Kitchen recipe which I found on line. It calls for a 9 inch pan. I have a Pyrex rectangular dish about 7x11 and then a bigger one. But I don't want to make a larger batch. What if I cut the round cheesecake with cookie cutters? I knonw, a little bit of waste. I just realized my cookie cutters are not tall enough. I only have round rings appropriate for this. And if I cook in the pyrex the sides are not straight anyway, so some waste is going to happen also there. I don't like the idea to portion the cake in slices and present it already cut. Any difference in cooking temperatures and time if using glass? Thanks

I was making ginger beer and it was going quite well until I got tired of grating ginger and I thought of feeding my bug with frozen grated ginger, not a great idea, I killed my bug. Ginger bug This my ginger beer, after fermenting, before I put in a bottle to carbonate I also tried to carbonate some cider with my ginger bug but I past the fermentation and it was too vinegary. I'd like to experiment, and these things are not difficult, but like for a bread "mother" I find after a bit I cannot keep up this all the feedings, washing carefully jars and so on. Edit to add: I used the formula from Mastering fermentation

Small cod fritters and "topini fritti"= little mice (fried sage)

I don't know how different it is. I made the pearl barley tabbuleh with marinated feta. It was quite good Long time I made this but I was not a huge fan, I liked better the traditional turkish dish with artichokes and favas. I need to look for the photo I took of this dish, I'll add it if I can find it. I also made from the book the chermoula aubergines and substituted smetana for yogurt. This dish I liked much more the day after.

Octopus and potatoes, salad and some focaccia