kitwilliams

My Cauliflower Album Above is a link to my album in image gullet showing the photos my friend (don't know if I can legally give him a plug here? please advise) took of this week's farmers market purchases. Both purple and "cheddar cheese" cauliflower (I think "butter" would be a more appropriate name), tomatoes and apples. The cauliflower purchased from the organic cauliflower man (his name is Neil -- I don't know the name of the farm) at the long beach marina farmers market. I'll have to post photos on the roasted cauliflower thread after this evening! I'll try and post one of the pictures here as well...hope it works!

We had a gorgeous head of purple cauliflower from the organic cauliflower/potato man at the Long Beach (California) Marina Farmers Market on Sunday. Sliced it up just now. Did the olive oil and s&p bit, and ended up cooking it for 40 minutes! It is so good. The little crispies, the oil, the salt and pepper. And, oddly enough, this one has reduced much more than either the Romanesque or the white cauliflower --- anyone know if purple cauliflower has a higher water content than others? I'm going back to the kitchen for more...

Ramps. Thanks for reminding me...I need to bump that thread up to find out when the ramp festival in West Virginia will be held this year...

A lemon dacquoise would be pretty darn tasty (I made one last week -- I always forget how fabulous they are). Decorate it with some strawberries -- or rhubarb compote since you do have it currently available -- for a little color. And flavor! joeyk2k: i am soooo envious. the forced rhubarb you have in the UK is so beautiful! and rhubarb crumble -- one of my all time favorite comfort foods.

They are called "silicone flex" and are a rusty-orange color. They have served me well, but I'm still saving up for copper!

Anyone tried the "blunch" at Perdix? Looks fun. Perdix

Are they still making Delaware Punch? I used to love that stuff.

As for that plentiful Irish bread, bake yourself a loaf of Barm Brack. The yeasted kind, not the "tea" brack which is like so many British loaves made of tea-soaked fruit and chemical leavening. With currants and a bit of candied citrus peel, it makes the best toast in the world. Probably pretty damn good French Toast too. And bread pudding... Excellent recipe for it in Darina Allen's book...can't remember which one and I left it at work. The bread is called Halloween Barm Brack and has little symbols baked into it: a ring, you'll get married this year; a thimble, you'll be a spinster... Wish I had a loaf now...oh! I do have hot cross buns! nearly as good.

Neil: How would this hold up in a three-layer cake -- substantial enough?

"Best" would include (in my idea of the perfect hot cross bun) mixed spice, currants and candied lemon and orange peel. And I concur with DameD as to the best way to eat them: split them, toast them, butter them and serve with a perfect cuppa!

cute story, cakewalk. but now i'm craving ginger scones. fortuntely, i'm driving up to l.a. in a bit so think i'll make a detour to la brea bakery. yes, those scones are delicious but when i've made them, they never quite turn out like the ones at the bakery. at least they haven't for me. has anyone here eaten the real thing and baked them at home as well? how did they compare?

Served chilled, having bruleed the top. Almost better than creme brulee!

TurtleMeng: I see you live in Los Angeles. Get thee to Surfas. They sell them already blanched. Well worth the price...even though it did recently go up. Used to be three pounds for $16 or $18 bucks. Now they're bagged by the pound and I think they were $8 last time I was there. Definitely toast them.

The thing about scones is that there is the traditional British scone, served at tea with clotted cream and jam, and there is what I call the breakfast scone which, I believe, came into being here in the US. They don't much resemble one another and British scones would not usually be eaten without adornment whereas breakfast scones are sweeter, bigger, and come an infinite variety of additions in order to not require the addition of jam/cream/butter. As some of you have mentioned, many breakfast scones could be used as doorstops. But they can be delicious as well and they don't have to be heavy. Some are rolled out, some are drop. Cream and buttermilk tend to be the liquids utilized. Some have no fruit or simply the traditional currant. But cranberries, dried cherries, ginger, nuts, chocolate -- all have made their way into scones. If you're in a reputable establishment, give them a try...you might be pleasantly surprised! If you're anywhere near La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, Nancy Silverton's Ginger Scones are awesome.

The caramel on that cake is definitely a must. You might want to stop at just poking the holes and pouring it on and leaving the frosting step out...although for frosting, it's pretty good, albeit sweet.

mmmmm. spice cake. glad you reminded me, Patrick...it's going to be rainy for the next few days and spice cake is soooo good on a rainy day. especially with a good book and coffee. no, tea. no, coffee. no, tea. now that is something you just can't decide beforehand. Gotta wait until the moment to see if it is a coffee-or-tea-with-spice-cake moment!

Glad you've found a recipe that works (albeit misshapen) for you, Jay. But I just have to put in a plug that Paula Wolfert's recipe is still the one that works best for me. I use the Silicone Flex molds, purchased at Bridge Kitchenware. They seem to be one of the more substantial of the silicone molds and the results from them are very good.

i thought it was just me! i'm notoriously pastry averse, but this is a great dough. rolled out like a dream. ← Russ: Did you measure your flour by weight or by the cup? My reason for asking is that I have always made it 5 ounces to the cup when using a/p flour (dip&sweep), whereas Keller/Cerciello makes it 6 -- a significant difference. I recall someone in this thread saying their pastry was too floury however you obviously love it -- flour weight could well be the cause in difference of opinion. Inquiring minds want to know! PS Parrish/Magic Line is in nearby Gardena!

Thanks for your answer to my questions, chefcyn, however I am very sad to say that the bees and their hive are no more. They suddenly swarmed, one morning, and went directly next door and settled on our neighbor's tree. Since they have a small child and dogs, they IMMEDIATELY called a bee man (after first calling my father to ask if he would pay for the removal of the bees since they were HIS bees!!!!!!! -- unbelievable!) who didn't come and simply take them away, but sprayed murderous pesticides which, I'm sure, were more harmful to child and canine than our gentle bees who never hurt anyone in the two years they resided here. When we took down all the comb, we found more embryonic bees than honey! But what little honey there was was unbelievably tasty. Those same neighbors' wisteria was more beautiful than ever while the bees were here. I knew the wisteria would suffer with the loss of the bees. But I was mistaken as to the source of their suffering. It suffered from the neighbors, as they chopped it down, along with their coral tree. Back on topic -- I'll never make any canneles for them!!

Love the Romanesco cauliflower shot...bought some myself in Long Beach today. I've had it every Sunday for the last three weeks. Absolutely addictive!

Not to say any way is better than other, but I have had no problems, ever, with the following: put can(s) of sweetened condensed milk in deep saucepan so that they are well covered with water. bring to boil, reduce to a simmer for two and a half hours, checking every so often to ensure cans are covered. With tongs, turn cans over and continue to simmer for another two and a half hours. Done. Chill.

I agree with the above comments but how about as an individual breakfast pastry, Allan? I finally got around to trying it yesterday. I had just a few organic red and golden delicious apples lying around. Halved and cooked them as per my regular Tatin, cooled, then placed one half on each square of croissant dough, bringing two corners up, overlapping the apple. Once baked, drizzled the remaining caramel over top. Crisp, flakey, sweet, buttery. I'll be making them again.

Forgive me if someone has already posted this link (I just don't have time to search through the whole thread), but I just came across it and knew there would be many interested parties hanging out here. Macarons tour in Tokyo

Trader Joe's Gorilla Crunch and Koala Crisp. Very yum. Very sweet. Very kiddish. Whole milk. And good ol' Raisin Bran. My problem with cereal is that I can never stop at one bowl. Never. Going for the Raisin Bran right now.

I was babysitting during our recent rainstorms. We (my four-year-old friend and I) decided to roast wienies over the charcoals in the living room fireplace (don't worry -- the gas was off). We got them nice and crusty and blistered -- well, mine was. A four-year-old likes them pretty rare. Buttered buns, stuck under the broiler and, the kicker, individual Velveeta slices wrapped around the dog and stuck into the buttered bun. Nothing else. Perfect. Took me back to a chain we used to have here in the west, Pup 'n' Taco. Anyone else remember them? Of course, we had S'mores for dessert.