LindaK

Last time I was in NYC, I had several excellent, pricey meals--but lunch at Great NY Noodletown was my favorite. The wonton soup was superb, maybe a dozen or more wontons, obviously handmade, each enclosing a large, whole shrimp, in an excellent broth. All for $5-7, depending on whether you added noodles. The pork was excellent, but so was the huge platter of baby bok choy, the tiniest, sweetest, most perfectly cooked bok choy I've ever had. can't remember the price exactly, but somewhere around $5. three bowls of wonton soup, a platter of baby pork, and the bok choy came to about $10 per person. Skip one of the sides and you're under $8.

This is what I tried (unsuccessfully) to say above. This level of understanding of common, everyday cooking challenges would be a wonderful class--sign me up! This is my favorite eG tip of the week. I had no idea.

What an enormous topic! I'd be interested in flours (especially wheat flours) and how their properties (such as gluten level) affect their interactions with other ingredients. So for example, pastry /AP/whole wheat/semolina flours in (1) doughs with fats, as with pastry doughs or egg pastas, or (2) doughs with yeast, as with breads. Lots of hands-on opportunities there.

Here in Boston, food stamps can be used at our farmers markets. Last year, the city launched a program that underwrites the cost of doubling the value of food stamps used at farmers markets. The Boston Globe wrote about it here. The article notes that a few other cities have similar programs--Atlanta, San Diego, Providence, and Holyoke, MA. Given the subtitle of this topic, I hasten to add that the program was not intended to benefit hipsters (although if they are unemployed and qualify for food stamps, shop the farmers' markets, by all means). Rather, fresh produce can be hard to access in central cities, especially in less affluent neighborhoods, and though farmers' markets are great, they aren't necessarily inexpensive. This program helps bring down the cost of one of the few healthy options available to many people. Making local products more affordable benefits both the customers and the local farmers. (Disclosure: I work for the city of Boston.)

Welcome to eGullet, Jim.Lee! This is quite a topic to begin with. you'll probably get better advice if you tell us more about the scope of your own skills/experience and your future renovation plans. Are you thinking about new cabinets and appliances in your existing kitchen configuration? or are you thinking about moving plumbing, gas lines, structural changes, etc.? The bigger the changes, the more likely you probably need help, unless you have the skills or lots of time to learn them on the job. When you say DYI, do you mean "do all the work yourself" or do you mean act as your own general contractor? And again, what is your skill level, either with the trades or managing many subs? I did a major kitchen reno 18 months ago, and it was quite the learning experience. Not only did I have no skills for the work needed, but I'd never managed a significant construction project. So being a kitchen renovation virgin, the smartest things I did was (1) spend money for an architect to draw up detailed plans in advance, and (2) hire a GC to manage the project. Having good plans in advance meant that I didn't need to stop work midstream (which costs money and screws up timetables) to figure out issues. Having a good GC is the greatest blessing I can imagine--s/he is the conductor to an orchestra of tradespeople, city inspectors and permits, etc. Mine kept a big project on time and on budget. No question, though, it's more expensive than DYI. That said, now that I've done one, I have a sense of the juggling involved. I'll never be able to do my own electrical or plumbing work, but I now have the confidence to manage a smaller project. Don't kid yourself, a kitchen renovation takes a lot of time and attention. I didn't document my renovation, but other eG folks have. Check out: and

Biscuits from anywhere. Fast food breakfast sandwiches with biscuits are a special weakness, but I even like the tasteless biscuits from the cardboard rolls in the supermarket.

Ditto to what Anna says. The rinds freeze well, just throw them in a simmering pot of soup, a tomato sauce or even a stew. The extra bonus comes when you pull them out, they're soft and chewy, makes a great nibble for the chef!

They are both excellent resources, but don't really think of them as selling the same products, though there is certainly overlap. KAF I use for my baking and pastry flours. Bob's Red Mill carries excellent "specialty" flours. Those I've used and loved include: garbanzo, graham, buckwheat, almond and hazelnut flours, and several grades of corn meal--the coarse corn meal makes the best polenta I've ever produced. Not long ago I picked up some teff flour, thinking that one of these days I might try my hand at injera and ethiopian food (never tried cooking either but love them). I don't think you can get those from KAF.

I'm guessing that the addition of the cookies serves as a thickening agent as well as adding flavor to the squash. By itself, butternut squash puree is too thin for ravioli filling--I've tried and failed, so I speak from experience. I've experimented with adding ricotta cheese, that helped give it body but it diluted the flavor. Drying the squash puree over low heat helped but didn't quite do the trick with either texture or flavor. Now I know that the cookies are the secret ingredient. Grazie!

I added a little garam masala to some sauted shallots before combining with some butternut squash puree, stock, etc. for a soup. Excellent. Used sparingly, the spices didn't dominate at all, rather they helped temper the sweetness of the squash and give the finished soup a little more complexity. This combo is a keeper.

Over in the eG Culinary Institute class on Preservation Basics there's a brief description of how to dry herbs in a low oven. It notes that basil does not dry well.

We're still getting snow in this part of the world, but it's time to start thinking about starting a few things that like the cold spring weather. I'll probably try starting some kale and spinach at the end of March, and hold off planting peas until April. No point even thinking about putting in tomatoes or beans until mid/late May. What have other cold climate gardners found to be successful as early crops?

The book is available on Amazon here. Reviews are mixed. Cachan, how interesting or unusual are the foods included in the book?

Boston.com recently ran a piece on the shop and the owner: He’s shaking it up

There's a article in today's Boston Globe about how some New England area sushi chefs are responding to sustainability concerns: Tuna at risk? Sushi chefs find other fish in the sea

Welcome to eGullet, Bonnie! I've been using Penzey's spices forever, including their various curry blends. I like them too, but for a while now have been trying to stay away from the pre-made blends and make my own. Especially with long-simmered legume dishes (I have a pot of chana masala simmering on the stove right now), I find the premade curry powder to be too one-dimensional. But I won't throw away the Penzey's premade. One of my favorites quick dishes is to dust Penzey's sweet curry powder on fish fillets (salt and pepper, too) before giving them a saute in some butter. It's tasty, but I don't fool myself that it's authentically Indian.

I've also been happy with the cinnamons I've bought from Penzey's. Recently they began offering a blend of their four different styles: China, Vietnamese, Korintje, and Ceylon. I've been meaning to give it a try but haven't yet.

I love lentils, though at home I tend to stick with the traditional french lentil salad recipe. Cook the lentils with an onion (studded with a few cloves), a carrot, a handful of parsley, a bay leaf, and a rind of bacon. Let them cool in the liquid before straining and removing the veggies. Toss with chopped shallots, parsley, a mustardy vinaigrette, sprinkle with crisp bacon lardons. heaven, even if you skip the bacon. There's a small turkish restaurant near my office that serves the most amazing red lentil soup. It's actually quite a thin soup but the depth of flavor is amazing. I can taste mint, but otherwise I don't know what gives it so much flavor--if anyone is familiar with similar recipes, please share, I'd love to make it at home.

I'm here to report both a success and a failure. During last night's baking binge, I made my first batch of Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies. I say "first" because I will definitely be making them again. A perfect balance between the molasses and the sugars/spices, which is not always the case with recipes for this cookie. I did make one modification, though, because of my audience: the addition of pepper seemed too sophisticated for the college-age crowd I was cooking for, so I omitted it. But I liked Dorie's idea of an extra kick so I added about 1/3 cup of finely minced candied ginger. Oh my. When I make them for my adult friends, though, to serve with ice cream as the book suggests, I'll add the pepper too. The failure was a surprise--the Chewy, Chunky Blondies. A surprise because I've made them a few times and they were always perfect. So the fault is definitely mine and not the recipe. My first inkling that something was wrong was when I did the usual skewer test. The top was the right color, the sides were starting to pull away from the pan, but the skewer showed it wasn't done. A few tries later it seemed okay, though a bit overcooked on the sides. When I finally turned it out of the pan, I was shocked that, apart from the edges, the bottom was barely cooked and loose. I salvaged the edges for my own nibbles, but the rest went in the disposal. So here's what I think happened: the recipe calls for the 9x13 pan to be set on a baking sheet. Honestly, I'm not certain if I followed that direction before (yes, I should take notes..) but I'm guessing that if I did, I used one of my thin baking sheets that aren't good for much else. This time, I set it on one of my heavy commercial baking sheets, so the bottom of the 9x13 pan probably didn't get sufficient heat. If anyone has any guidance on this point, please share. I'm going to make them again soon to test my theory--they're too good not to have as part of my repetoire.

Two that I like but don't see mentioned here: Smitten Kitchen The Kitchn over at Apartment Therapy.

Whoah... I need to learn more about these Japanese knives and techniques. I've long been happy with the Trinity described here--my chef knives in different sizes, the paring, and boning knives. Chris, your knife is a thing of beauty but it looks BIG. Unless I'm whacking something with bones that requires no finesse, I need a knife that doesn't feel much bigger than my hand. Power is good, though, so I am intrigued by the testimonals here about Japanese knives. More info, everyone.

Someone must be fearless about acknowledging their ignorance, so let it be me: what is Pommes Maxim? None of my French cookbooks mention it. And I love potatoes.

They do make great containers for the freezer, though, if you want to freeze anything liquid--purees, sauces, stocks, etc. Perfect for small amounts or single-servings of leftovers. Just label them, which you'd probably do anyway. During the winter months when I buy produce from the grocer (rather than the farmers market), I often buy salad greens that come in rather large plastic boxes. These I always save. They are great for storing bulky things (ie., an open bag of flour) or loose items that I don't use often (ie., my cookie cutters), they stack nicely and you can see what's in them. They also make excellent transportable containers, good for picnics or bringing cookies to the office, when you don't want to deal with bringing plates or tupperware home.

I'm in, too. My list is short on specific recipes, but doing the research will be half the fun for me: 1. pain aux raisins -- an excuse to play with French patisserie 2. duck terrine -- an excuse to cook from the eG terrine topic 3. tagine of lamb smothered with onions, from Paula Wolfert's the Slow Mediterranean Kitchen -- I've been eyeing this recipe for a while 4. curry -- find one or two recipes I can adopt. Nice that others here are doing curries, I've already gotten some good ideas 5. TBD, something ambitious from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Alford and Duguid -- so far I've just been reading, time to start cooking

My favorite Italian grocer began selling their homemade ricotta this past summer, and I've found it to be really versatile. I like it with honey or a bitter marmalade on crostini for a sweet or spread very thinly on crostini as a base for braesola. Great ideas here for getting me away from the crostini habit. And it sounds easy to make, maybe that's my next project.