LindaK

It sounds like a reduction problem. Maybe adjusting your heat? I'm looking at her instructions in "Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking." It calls for 1.5 cups of lentils to 4.5 cups of water, plus the tumeric. Instructions are to cook over medium heat for 40 minutes, partially covered. Then cook over low heat, covered, for another 25 minutes. End result: "there should be 4-1/2 cups puree; if not, add enough water to bring to that quantity." The recipe goes from there.

After many years of freezing pesto, I stand behind the advice to freeze it without the cheese. Huge flavor difference. And no extra effort required--you have to grate before freezing or afterwards. Absolutely worth waiting. It makes sense to me. Maybe freezing a big chunk of parmesan works well, but once it's grated, that's a lot of exposed surface area.

Frannyfran, welcome to eGullet! I can only comment from a consumer's perspective. A moderate price increase when one includes service, that seems obvious and justifiable, I've never thought to question it and I imagine that most customers would understand. Take-out might be a different matter. Depends on the overlap between your farmers market clientele and those in the shop. I've run into similar price differences and, unless they're significant, have always assumed that when in the shop, I was paying for real estate.

You're right, it was rather dense. Maybe more eggs next time too. Or perhaps that what the pastry cream is for.

Franci, those pastries sound interesting and delicious. They're testing the depth of my Italian cookbooks. I'm finding recipes or mention of some of the dishes you describe, but not all, so thanks for the links. Now that I'm scouring my bookshelves, I am finding others that use olive oil pastry--I especially like the sound of a torta di erbette e carciofi, wild greens and artichoke torta. You mention chickpea and cocoa--really? is it meant as a sweet? Jane, that was my reaction too! Now I'm marvelling that it took me so long to discover it. I like the stone fruit idea.

Do others make pastry dough with olive oil? Until yesterday, I’d never done so. I was making a tourte aux blettes, a swiss chard tart, and many of the recipes call for pastry dough made with olive oil. There are several variations on the dough, too. The most basic is flour, water, and olive oil. Others add eggs, still others a pinch of baking powder. I opted for the basic recipe out of curiosity. It couldn’t have been simpler—stir the ingredients together with a fork, roll/press it out—and the result was a flaky pie crust with the unmistakable flavor of olive oil. Very rich, delicious, though perhaps too much so in a double crusted application. Next time I make the tourte I’ll try one of the variations but the basic olive oil pastry would be great for a single crust tart. The concept of olive oil-based pastry dough is such an obvious one for savory tarts, I’m wondering why it isn’t called for more often. Do you make it? How do you use it?

I’m curious if others have made or sampled tourte aux blettes—a double crusted sweet swiss chard tart that’s a Mediterranean specialty. The other day I finally got around to making one. The concept has always intrigued me but I’ve never really been convinced that I want sugar with my chard. This summer my garden’s overflowing with chard so it seemed like the time. Only when I started scanning my recipes did I realize how many variations existed for this tart—from mostly savory to unabashedly sweet. Raisins seem to be the one universal addition, sometimes pine nuts. Francois Payard calls for pastry cream and rum, Daniel Boulud adds cream, honey, and orange zest. The other variable seems to be the dough. Payard and Boulud use sweet pastry dough, while others use dough made with olive oil—some with eggs, some without. For my first try, I opted for a mostly savory version, adding a little honey for sweetness (I dislike raisins) and some pine nuts. For the dough, I went with basic olive oil dough, which I’d never made before. I liked the end result very much, but to my surprise think that next time I’ll move further in the sweet direction. The contrast wasn’t jarring, as I’d imagined, rather the honey nicely balanced the earthy chard. Likewise, I’ll use a lighter dough, probably still olive oil-based but with eggs. I’m not quite ready for pate sucre or pastry cream with my chard.

I've alwaya had good results following Julia Child's pate a choux recipe in MTA v. 1 and here's what she says about making it ahead of time: “If it is not used immediately, rub the surface with butter and cover with waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming…beat it vigorously in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat for a moment until it is smooth and free from lumps and is barely warm to your finger…Pate a choux may be kept under refrigeration for several days or it may be frozen. Reheated gently as just described, it will produce a good small puff…” I've tried it and it does work. The puff is not as high as when it's fresh. This technique doesn't let you form the individual puffs ahead of time, though. Since the baked puffs freeze and reheat so well, I'd agree with others that that's the route to take if don't want to make and serve the puffs the same day.

A tube of anchovy paste. I don't always have anchovies around and though not nearly as good, the paste lasts forever and a little bit does the trick.

Everyone is talking about dishes--how about glassware? They may not be stacked like dishes, but the glassware in the back row or upper shelves can get pretty lonely, while the last glasses in, sitting in the front row, get used over and over... I make an effort to rotate my use of stemware, which I keep on open shelving, so that nothing stays ignored in the back for very long. Anything kept on open shelves can get dusty if not used frequently, so it's all about keeping them clean and saving me work.

Emily, yes, I know. I've used them before, but have never grown them. These were still mostly white inside and there wasn't much flavor to them. We had such a long, cold, rainy spring here, everything in the garden is late this year.

I picked some of my tomatillos this afternoon--but alas, when I cut into a few, they weren't ripe. This is my first time growing them, so obviously have a lot to learn. Does anyone know if they ripen off the vine, as tomatoes do? There are still plenty in the garden, I just need a little more patience. In the meatime, if I see any in my regular farmers market, I'll pick some up, I'm anxious to try some of these ideas.

damn, white chili, escabeche...I'm getting very hungry. What are "milanesas??

Welcome to eGullet, dhkim2. There's a old topic on pho broth that's worth reading, maybe it will help: the perfect pho broth

Someone needs to start a drinks topic on this one! You must be thinking of someone else, I love cilantro. I'll admit that I didn't always, but that was in a galaxy long ago and far, far away. All these pickling, brining suggestions sound really good. First, though I think I'm going to try some of these salsas and sauces. And I'm going to be on the lookout for some good whole trout, I'd love to try EatNopales' suggestion for Tlapiques--it being corn season it's easy to have fresh corn husks left over from cooking corn (I know you said corn leaves, EatNopales, but hopefully the fresh husks will work, I'm unlikely to get my hands on the leaves).

The New York Times recently reviewed 20 boxed wines here: Thinking Inside the Box

love these ideas. What do you call this drink? It would be green, so can't be "bloody."

On a whim (and with memories of the great Cooking from "Fiesta at Rick's" topic), I put a tomatillo plant in my garden this year. It’s grown like crazy! Now I’m looking at tons of fruit with not much idea of what to do with it beyond basic salsa verde and sauce verde. Are there other uses for tomatillos? What are your favorite ways to use salsa verde and sauce verde? Does anyone preserve or freeze them?

Heidi, your tomato-shrimp-yogurt dinner sounds delicious, must give it a try. cdarch, beautiful tomatoes and photos. cute couple. Until recently, only my cherry tomatoes were producing heavily--sungolds and sweet 100s. Great for salads and pastas. Now I'm getting some of the larger heirlooms. I've been keeping it simple and enjoying them sliced with olive oil and a bit of salt, sometimes with fresh mozzarella, more often topped with my favorite combo of warm green beans, crumbled feta, and basil. Last night it was cool enough to turn on my oven, so I threw together a quick freeform tomato tart. Puff pastry I keep in the frezer for such emergencies, topped by a light smear of tapenade, scattered bits of smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced tomatoes, olive oil. Sprinkled with chives and basil out of the oven. Nothing fancy but very tasty.

The first thing I'd add is some finely grated lemon zest. Not much, but it really brightens ricotta so I imagine it would work with cottage cheese. Then I'd throw in a handful of chopped herbs. Parsley, chives, basil, or mint would all work well, depends on what you have on hand or prefer.

The New York Times gave Lucky Peach a glowing review recently here. And reports that the app is still a work in progress.

Lamb bacon...I want some. Now. You may have pushed me over the slippery slope of smoking and charcuterie. Thank you. I nominate this sandwich for inclusion in the Ultimate BLT Sandwich topic.

If anyone is looking for beach reading, or any reading, I'd like to recommend Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink. It's a collection of articles, essays, short fiction, and cartoons from the New Yorker magazine. What a treasure. Authors ranges from early contributors such as Dorothy Parker, M.F.K. Fisher, and A.J. Leibling to contemporary writers such as Adam Gopnik, Don DeLillo, and Julian Barnes. Some chef-authors too, such as Anthony Bourdain and Gabrielle Hamilton. And the range of topics! The history of ketchup and food marketing from Malcolm Gladwell, Calvin Trillin on bagels, John Cheever on gin, Judith Thurman on artisian tofu in Japan... And some beautifully written profiles that brought tears to my eyes: Calvin Tomkins writing about Paul and Julia Child on the road, promoting her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and John McPhee writing of his week in a canoe and on the Appalachian trail, food foraging and philosophizing with the food naturalist Euell Gibbons. I've read perhaps half of the collection. I'm slowing down now, I don't want it to end. If only I was actually on a beach, it would be perfect.

When I lived in the landlocked midwest, fresh trout was always available in the average grocery store. My favorite recipe was also the simplest: for each small whole fish: - one small clove garlic, minced; 1-3 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs; salt, pepper, olive oil. Herbs can be anything you like, but judge amount accordingly (strong herbs like sage are used sparingly, parsley, chives, etc. can be used liberally). - rub the inside cavity of the fish with a bit of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Evenly distribute garlic and herbs. Close fish, rub outside with a bit more olive oil. - grill or panfry. Serve with lemon wedges.

Everything I've read says don't even try it. A pressure cooker and a pressure fryer are not the same thing. See this post in the pressure cooker topic.