kitwilliams

A Pi Limerick: A favorite project of mine, A new value of Pi to assign. I would set it at three For it's simpler, you see, Than three-point-one-four-one-five-nine. my time is almost up (i'm at Heathrow) someone write a new pi/pie limerick....

bumping this up to say there is now a Baker & Spice in Maida Vale itself. On the corner of Clifton Road and Lanark Road.

No one has mentioned Mennonite Foods & Folkways from South Russia by Norma Jost Voth. Two volumes. I haven't done much cooking from it but I've been very pleased with the baking recipes. Happy cooking, Pete!

Here in the Belmont Shore neighborhood of Long Beach, CA, we have a cupcake shop called "Frosted". I gave them their chance and came to the same conclusion most here have described: dry cake and far too much of the too sweet frosting. The laugh came when I found out that they PURCHASE pre-baked cupcakes and simply frost them on the premises.

Ranoush Juice for fast and delicious Lebanese. Baker & Spice for pastries and wonderful prepared foods to eat at the communal table or take away. Locations in Chelsea (Denyer St.) Belgravia (Elizabeth St.) and Queen's Park (Salusbury Rd.) Lisboa Patisserie (on Golborne Road off Portobello Road) for pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts). Have to second jackal10's recs of both the St Johns and Ottolenghi. Brady's for fish and chips (in Wandsworth).

I bought myself a 12-qt. Hobart on ebay. Fits just fine on the kitchen counter! It dominates the room, needless to say, but my, she's yar! On the KA side, I have my 22-year old 5-qt which is far superior to my newer (albeit used, and a "commercial" model, nonetheless) 5-qt. Just made a pumpernickel in her and she didn't even get warm. Best Christmas present I ever received! So I recommend, if anyone can find a used and in good condition older KA, buy it. It'll do far better for you than the newer models.

Was this a project for Thanksgiving? If so, this is too late for now, but the best thing to poach foie gras in is.........duck or goose fat. Check out Paula Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France for the recipe. Awesome. Just remember to keep the temperature nice and low or it WILL all melt away!

Pecans. Butter and oil, heavy on the butter. A bit of cream. No cinnamon. Nutmeg. A touch of molasses makes all the difference. About a tablespoon per dozen. Doesn't need much. mmmmmmmmmmm. banana muffins. (happy thanksgiving to all!)

Send them to me! I'll make tomato marmalade. Promise to send a jar back to you!

thanks, foodie3! try it and tell me what you think, as others here (you know who you are! ) have called me a traitor to tradition!

foodie3: I use a 10" pan, 2-1/2" high. Heavy aluminum. (I think I purchased them at Surfas in Los Angeles about eight years ago.) Cover bottom of pan with 325 grams of sliced butter, then top with 310 grams of sugar. Place apple halves in concentric circles on top of that. Cook stovetop for about 1/2 an hour, then POUR OFF caramel/liquid into another pan and reduce it separately, leaving apples off the heat (at this point, since apples have reduced, fit in additional apple halves). When caramel is reduced and thickened sufficiently (but don't go too far as you're going to continue cooking stovetop), pour back over apples and simmer for another hour. THEN top with pastry and bake until pastry is baked through. 375 oven, half an hour or until done. The Pink Ladies held up beautifully. As for Pippins, they were always my mother's choice for pie and she made a great apple pie. I hadn't really thought of using them for Tatin as I like my pieces of apple REALLY BIG and Pippins tend to be smaller. I'll just look for the biggest Pippins I can find as I do think you're right, lizard. They might just be terrific. Interesting idea, Tarte Tatin, to let the apples sit overnight... I look forward to trying it and see if it makes much of a difference. Have you ever NOT left them overnight? If so, what difference(s) have you detected? By the way, gorgeous, dark tarte you have pictured!

Good geek reply, Russ, but geek it up a notch and get working on your "technical breakdown on cooking of apples" as soon as you're done with next week's piece! P.S. I'd be glad to help!

Certainly could be both, rickster. In looking at Bouchon, they used Golden Delicious and cooked it stovetop for an hour or so and in the oven for 40 minutes. The apples look closer to my Pink Lady Tatin rather than the Red Delicious - definitely toward the paler end of the scale. In Lenotre's "Desserts Traditionells de France", the recipe recommends "...avec des golden precoces; en automne, avec des boskoops et, en hiver, avec des calvilles ou des reinettes." He calls for 30 minutes stovetop and about the same in the oven. Very, very blonde tarte in the photo. On the other hand, in his "Desserts and Pastries", he calls simply for "tart apples" and cooking stovetop for 20 minutes. He states the caramel should be "very light in color" (why???), then baking for only another 20 minutes. The photo is quite caramelized and the apples almost blackened in spots, they are so dark. So, from this little study, we've learned that we can question whether the technique in the recipes was used for the tartes in the photos!

I did my assigned research project today but thought it better posted in one of the Tarte Tatin threads. Fun. Fascinating. Fattening. (edited to update thread moved from "cooking" to "pastry and baking")

Over in the "What to do with Red Delicious apples?" thread, I suggested Tarte Tatin -- they make a very good TT as they are starchy and hold up to long cooking times. But I was given a little bit of grief about it ( ) by none other than our own russ parsons who suggested I do a Tarte Tatin comparison. It has now been done. 1. Two pans. Two apples (well, two types. actually used 15 of each). Pink Ladies vs. Red Delicious 2. Pink Ladies after an hour of simmering. They gave off a lot of moisture, despite the fact that I peeled them early in the morning and began cooking late afternoon. 3. Red Delicious after an hour of simmering. Did the same with these: peeled and halved these eight hours before cooking. 4. Pink Ladies finished cooking on their own prior to inverting onto puff pastry which was baked on its own (I know, I know. Sacrilege!) 5. Red Delicious coming out of the oven having been finished with pastry baked on top. 6. Two Tatins. I was truly amazed, all during the process, at how pale the Pink Ladies stayed while the Red Delicious turned, as they always do, such a beautiful caramel color. Sorry for the angle of photo. Didn't flip it prior to loading on image gullet. In cookbook photos of Tarte Tatins, I have always been critical of pale looking tarts -- I always thought they had been undercooked. Not so. I learned today that it all depends on the apple. Fascinating. So. My notes on taste: There is certainly more flavor from the Pink Ladies -- there is still a tart element despite the tons of sugar which often prevails. As for the crust, I really do prefer a puff pastry base baked separately, then inverting the apples onto the crust. Not only crisper but it gets baked throughout which is tough to do when baking your base directly on the apples. But the thing about the Red Delicious TT: the texture of the apples is absolutely amazing. They are like silk. Still plenty of body, they hold their shape, they ARE missing that tart element, but oh, the mouth feel is unbelievable. The crust was slightly underdone but I've been served worse. Both are delicious. I prefer the flavor of the Red Ladies. The mouthfeel of the Delicious. The crisp puff pastry crust baked separately which you've all ridiculed me about in previous posts ( ). So somebody tell me of an apple that will give me both the texture and the flavor I want. (Unfortunately, I'm in Southern California where we don't have the varieties available elsewhere.) I'll see if I can decide a winner at breakfast. And thanks for the nudge, Russ. A great project!

Anyone mentioned North Berkeley yet? Chez Panisse. Cheese Board. The French Hotel. Gregoire. Fat Apples. Cafe Fanny, Acme and Kermit Lynch not too far. The original Peet's. The new Epicurious Garden. Saul's Deli. Not too far to Berkeley Bowl. Black Oak Books (great used as well as new cookbook selection). And since you want to be within walking distance, The Walk Shop has the most fashionable yet comfortable/sensible shoes around. As if that isn't enough, Berkeley has great express buses into SF. Not to mention BART. Here's a link to an article in the Berkeley Daily Planet, all about the "gourmet ghetto". North Berkeley

c'mon kit, that's not fair. you KNOW a great cook can make almost anything taste good. even a red delicious. now, if you were to do TWO tartes, one with pink ladies or maybe even Gravensteins ... now that would prove something. ← You're right, Russ. With all the butter and sugar involved, any apple (that can hold its shape) would taste good in a Tarte Tatin. So your challenge sounds good to me. Perhaps I'll see you at the Farmer's Market on Sunday and you can suggest/pick out something sweet, tart and tasty, then I'll do a couple this week. Hmmm. Might check out the array of apples at Plowboys too. Have you done a TT with Gravensteins before? I've always wanted to as I love their flavor but think that they will completely fall apart when cooked for that period of time. Anyway, I've been wanting to do a comparison for ages now. Thanks for the nudge and the challenge! (Damn. That means I need to make puff pastry too. Better get to it!) edited in order to stay on topic and comment that ONE of the Tarte Tatins will be made with Red Delicious!

Russ: I'll send you an invite next time I make a Tarte Tatin.

davecap is absolutely right. they are great for tarte tatin. they are so starchy so hold up very well to long cooking. give it a try...you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Yet another good reason for publishing the weights of ingredients in recipes. There could be a vast, world-wide difference in banana sizes! I've not baked much out of this book but did try the Ukrainian Honey Cake. My notation says "nice" with a note that it's pretty tasty spread with cream cheese.

I'm SO happy to hear that someone else calls them "Hello Dollies"!

Don't know if you Brits who kindly posted on this topic have been to the States and discovered that Americans have turned your lovely tea scones into a completely different beast: the breakfast scone. They can be lovely, light and flavorful or heavy, gummy and far too sweet. But they are flavored into and of themselves as opposed to British tea scones which, despite the desired light and lovely texture, are pretty much a vehicle for clotted cream, jam, curds, and all sorts of other more-ish toppings. I think Nigella Lawson puts clotted cream and treacle on hers. Anyway, what all the above leads up to is the fact that it is not easy finding perfect (tea) scones or even a recipe for them in this country. They are, often, far too sweet. I'm really curious to try the Odlums butterless buttermilk scones. Andiesenjie: have you found Odlums anywhere here in So Cal? I tried to find a mail order source recently and came up with nothing. And what are your thoughts on the butterless scones? Thanks.

I'm a big fan. Just love her. Witty, well-spoken (understatement) and just a pleasure to listen to. I have her "Domestic Goddess" baking book. The gin and tonic jelly is really fun and delicious! Just be very, very careful when you get up from the dinner table -- whoa!!!! I remember seeing a show about her. She's not at all embarrassed by the fact that, from beginning to end of filming a cooking series, she puts on about ten pounds (I can't imagine the weight I would put on!). She loves to cook, she loves to eat. No worries. Why should she? As jgm said, men love her (my boyfriend does!), but so does this middle-aged female! What's not to like? Gracious, gifted and gorgeous! And I was so glad to see, on yesterday's show, that she still closes the show (as she has done in past series') by going to the fridge late at night! So glad to have you on the air again, Nigella!

Do you have The Cheese Board cookbook, Carolyn? Their scones freeze beautifully. They're a drop scone. Can flavor them a million ways in addition to the variations in their book. My particular favorite is the pumpkin version -- as they say in the book, it is surprisingly light for a pumpkin baked good. I also make a ginger version: I add a teaspoon or two of ground ginger to the dry ingredients and lots of chopped crystallized ginger. Edited to say I just re-read your post and realize you want a tea scone, not a breakfast scone. Whatever scone recipe you use, they all tend to freeze and bake up beautifully. And get The Cheese Board Cooperative book. They have good recipes and lots of good ideas.

I LOVE Lesley C and cookman!