LindaK

This is really my only experience with hash. 'Creamy Chicken Hash' which I got from a Good Housekeeping cookbook. Dead simple. Diced potato, seasoned and sauteed in oil. Then some cream, which is reduced and some diced cooked chicken added after the heat is turned off just to warm through. It's good by itself, but strikes me as a sort of 'mother dish' to which many twists could be applied. Same here. Cream. I'm having trouble getting my head around the food processor shredded ingredient version of hash. The resulting texture is all wrong, and frankly it looks less than appealing. Hash is a derivative of "hacher" for a reason!

Teapot, nice tile choice, it looks great. Congratulations on the kitchen remodel, and enjoy the new range! Snadra, when I did my remodel a few years ago, I considered a large sheet glass backsplash for all the reasons you mention. Here in the states, at least, they're very expensive. I was also warned about the high cost of any repair, since if there's any damage you have to repair the entire sheet. In the end, I went with oversized glass tiles and epoxy grout, still not cheap but more affordable. Cleanup is a breeze, as you say. And a few months ago when my heavy Kitchen Aid mixer slipped out of my hands when moving it and slammed into the backsplash and cracked a tile, I only had to replace the one.

FrogPrincesse, those look lovely. Are you happy with your buckwheat crepe recipe? I've tried several and while they're okay, they're always heavier and not as as tasty as those I get in France. So I'm still searching for my perfect galette recipe.

I hope so! Gorgeous pics, too, so much to look forward to.

I've only made hash with corned beef, so I'm looking forward to learning about some of the variations, especially with vegetables or fish. I always thought that fish cakes were the pescetarian equivalent of hash. Last weekend I ordered corned beef hash with my eggs at a local place during brunch. What they served looked more like "pulled" corned beef. The meat was shredded, with only a minimal amount of potato and nothing else. Quelle horreur! It didn't matter that the meat was good, as hash it was all wrong.

A question for those who already have one of these: has the voltage difference caused any problems for you? I have a friend who travels to Japan periodically, and I've been thinking of asking her to bring one back when she visits again.

This is how I generally use tuna in pasta. Lemon is essential, and I find that chili pepper flakes are surprisingly good with tuna. The only thing I'd add is a green herb, usually parsley. Speaking of green herbs, I never thought to add mint to a pasta sauce, but this sounds excellent.

I make a similar red lentil soup from the excellent cookbook Sultan's Kitchen, a local Turkish restaurant. Recipe here Best lentil soup ever. It's hard to believe something so simple can be so tasty. The dried mint makes it.

I'm in the no rosemary camp, too woody to eat uncooked on soup. And though I love sage, raw sage is very strong and musty-tasting. I do love it fried and crumbled on pasta, it could work if used sparingly on soup. Similarly, thyme cooked with the soup sounds delicious, uncooked thyme leaves no so much. If you're going to sprinkle raw, chopped herbs on soup, I think it needs to be a soft-leaf variety. Parsley, chives, chervil, winter savory, possibly tarragon would work, depending on your taste preferences. Think about making an herb paste, with a bit of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, to spread on a toasted crouton and float on the soup. Pretty and a nice hit of flavor.

I'm hardly an expert on pressure cooking, but as far as volume goes, everything I've read here and elsewhere says that you can't fill a pressure cooker to the top of the pot/lid. You would never have ingredients and liquid coming up to the top, that would likely be dangerous. At most, 2/3 full and if cooking ingredients that will expand substantially (rice, beans), only half full. So if you really want to cook large cuts of meat or large volumes of anything, you want a bigger pot. Keep in mind that a good pressure cooker is heavy, even before it's filled with food.

Chris, thanks for blogging! I'm an admirer of your cooking, so am looking forward this. I will forever be envious of anyone who has lemons growing in their back yard.

tortilla espanola--easy to make ahead, serves at room temperature bacalao (codfish) fritters--you can make the mixture ahead of time and fry a batch or two a la minute. Assuming you use potatoes and no flour, it's gluten-free chorizo in cider--it dresses up plain chorizo and is easy to make ahead, just needs reheating Manchego and membrillo (quince paste)--a fantastic combo flan--you need some sweets, right? This one is simple and gluten-free

Shocked at Japanese rice in a Spanish dish?? Nah. Last week I used basmati in my Polish stuffed cabbage...I am impressed with the grocery run in a blizzard, though. I made a salt cod run last week so I am well stocked up (though nothing is soaked yet) but have yet to decide what to cook next. This is a good default. And I agree, the leftovers are great!

They're available here, though not widely (Boston doesn't have a big deli culture) and the quality differs markedly. A good one is not easy to find. My local pub offers a "vegetarian reuben" which is everything but the corned beef. Grrr.

Trader Joe's offers an organic virgin coconut oil, 16 oz for $5.99. I picked up a jar today. Nice, light coconut aroma and flavor.

That is a showstopper! Lovely. I hope your guests were suitably impressed. How far ahead of time can you make one of these before it turns into a soggy mess?

Your recipe sounds delicious, I'd like to give it a try. It does raise a question for me, though, about the cabbage roll: sauce ratio. You say that you use sauce sparingly, only to keep the leaves moist. I always thought that cabbage rolls cooked by simmering in the sauce, so that they'd need sufficient sauce to be mostly submerged. Is that unnecessary--have I been over-saucing all these years? If you use less, do you need to baste the rolls while they cook? I do like having sauce to spoon over cabbage rolls when I serve them, but can't imagine a pot full of heavy cream.

That's a recipe I haven't tried, but it sounds like I ought to. Dorie's introductory notes in the recipe suggest reusing the oils, either for cooking or for a vinaigrette, mayonnaise, etc. I might hesitate to use the oil from the cured salmon unless I planned on cooking with it. Here's a topic that I would read through first: Botulism concerns re infused oils and confit

Zaatar croissants? what an interesting idea--are there any other French/Lebanese hybrid pastries or dishes that you typically see? Thanks for reporting here, Beirut is fast moving up my list of "must visit" places.

After you've stuffed the leaves, they simmer in a sauce or gravy until cooked. A tomato sauce is typical, but I also grew up with a brown gravy version. If you've never made them before, this topic makes for a good read, and there's a nice pictoral of the stuffing/rolling process here. btw, the turkey filling was drier than the usual beef or pork. Not a suprise, since turkey is much leaner. They were still tasty. Now I have a few servings in the freezer for future dinners. These are great cold-weather food.

Bump. I should have known there would be a great conversation on stuffed cabbage! Maybe it was the light snow on the ground this morning, but I suddenly craved stuffed cabbage. I had a cabbage, so stopped by the market on the way home and picked up some ground turkey for the filling. I know it doesn't have the fat of other meats, but I'm hoping it turns out well. No recipe, just pantry ingredients: sauted onion, carrot, some garlic, beaten egg, along with rice. A light tomato sauce for the simmer, they're cooking now. Here they are going into the casserole, aren't they pretty? I'll do more reading here before I make my next batch. Anyone else cooking stuffed cabbage?

Your friend did very well. Choosing smaller tile that comes in sheets is always a cost-saving alternative. Larger or irregular sized tile that needs to be individually hand set will cost more, both for the product and the installation. The $800 for tile + installation mentioned here doesn't surprise me at all.

Franci, are risotta al salto the "pancakes" in your photo? They look delicious. Are they just refried risotto?

I have a glass tile, a medium blue-grey, oversized subway (6x12"). The grout is a very light grey, it looks white from a distance. I love it. My kitchen doesn't get a lot of light (despite many windows, it's a tight urban space) and the reflective quality of the tile really brightens the kitchen. And though it hides nothing when it's dirty, it's a snap to clean, just some windex and a paper towel. The downside is that it's expensive to install. And definitely go with the epoxy grout, whatever you choose. I would not put a rail or shelf behind or over the stove. The safety hazard others have noted. Sitting over high BTU burners can't be healthy for any ingredients and grease will coat everything. Have fun with your renovation!

A friend gave me a variety of homemade preserves as a holiday gift. Included was a jar labeled "Green Plum Tkemali" I've never heard of Tkemali, so did a quick search--it's a common condiment from the republic of Georgia made from sour (unripe) red or green plums. A taste confirmed the description: it's savory-sweet-sour, rich with spices, a bit of heat. Unusual and very good. I don't have a recipe to recommend, but a search yielded many. A couple that look representative: http://www.notesandrecipes.com/2010/03/tkemali-sour-plum-sauce.html http://www.food.com/recipe/sour-plum-sauce-tkemali-227279