Snadra

That's pretty much how I make them. Except I've always done them by hand, and poured the boiling water over the flour, letting it rest before mixing, and only rolled and coiled once. Medium heat is absolutely the way to go. I have frozen them before cooking to cook later. If you only partially defrost before cooking they come out not too badly. Double rolling and using the processor is a great idea. I tend to use either peanut oil or lard for the fat component, and I sprinkle with salt before rolling up with the scallions. I also like a lot of scallions in mine, but you need to be careful to not let them break through. Also, champ is a delicious thing to eat!

I've moved from a small kitchen with little counter space to one with even less. The only things that live out now are the coffee grinder, kettle, knife block and the cutting boards which are tucked behind the block. That leaves me with about half a metre next to the stove and about an arm span on the other side of the U. There is a microwave spot above the oven, the (dead) kitchenaid lives in the hall cupboard along with a few dry ingredients, and the food processor will also live there when it comes up from Sydney. No mug tree, no utensil jugs. There is a fruit bowl that lives on the pseudo-breakfast bar that is behind the longer expanse of counter.

I would agree, but I think it has more to do with the familiarity of potatoes and the perception of rice as a thing you eat with restaurant foods, rather than with dishes you make at home. Pasta is simple because you boil a lot of water, throw in the pasta and set the time. Potatoes are simple because you have always had them and know how to deal with them and as a rule they are all about boiling in water in a pot. Rice seems harder because you need to measure it and the cooking water accurately and cook it at the correct temperature so as not to burn it (excluding a rice cooker). Add that to a cooking style that doesn't really complement rice-based dishes and you can see how rice gives an impression of being troublesome.

I've had it and it's not so great. Not terrible, but *meh* compared to freshly cooked rice. Even living as a lazy and temporarily single person I don't find it's worth it. But last year I overheard a group of people talking about it and how fabulous it was. So convenient, saves time, perfectly cooked, etc. I suspect a lot of people find rice painful to cook, particularly if they are from a potatoes & noodles eating background and rice isn't a big part of their diet. I too don't understand purchasing bottles and bottles of water when you have perfectly nice and safe tap water. For most (but not all) of us living in places where the water is less than stellar a Brita filter or similar is more cost- and waste-efficient. Just buy a re-usable bottle, for heaven's sake! Having said that I currently have several 10-litre containers of water in the house because we're still on a voluntary boil water alert after the recent floods, and the water in my rainwater tank was doubling as a bird bath until we put another cover over the filter.

And suddenly I see a huge market opportunity!

I love those dishwasher tablets - especially the ones that come in dissolvable wrappings. No mess or stickiness or measuring needed. We tend to stock up when they are on sale because they are more expensive than powder or liquid, but they really do give a nice clean. I don't understand cheap supermarket sausages that come in two flavours: thick or thin (although they can be acceptable eaten outdoors and served nearly burnt with lots of onions in a bit of folded white bread). Actually, a lot of my things are meat-related: premade rissoles and burgers, pork 'spareribs, that are sliced like thick rashers (how do you cook them?), gravy beef (ditto), and marinated meats. The last always tastes so chemical to me. As for cake mixes, I understand them, I just don't bother with them as they seem to be nearly as much work as a quick cake from scratch, and more expensive. Also, we don't have it here, but Cool Whip. Never understood that stuff.

When I get these i like to panfry or grill them and eat them in a sandwich - either as a variation of a club sandwich or with a pseudo-Caesar salad. I have also marinated in soy and ginger wine and eaten them over rice with a vaguely Asian-flavoured coleslaw. They need to be cooked quickly over high heat for best results in my experience. They don't dry out if you're careful not to over cook. Chicken Milanese with rocket salad sounds delightful too!

Thanks Jaymes for all the ideas! It's so true what you say about giving anything a try - that's pretty much my attitude. It gives me a chance to try out lots of new things without expanding my own waistline too much, and if the staff don't like it either Year 8 or the chickens can have a go.

The milk and cream mix is for 'half and half', qa common light cream for sale in noth america. I've always been able to get kbuttermilk quite easily (haven't looked here), but when I run out I thin out Greek yoghurt with some milk as a substitute.

That probably calls for brazillian cheese bread, which is made with tapioca! As far as mixing dairy and meat, my understanding is that it cannot be done in the same meal. I'm not sure how long you must wait after a meat meal and to have dairy. Which reminds me, what about a potato-topped fish pie? Fish is parve, isn't it? So it could be eaten with the dairy in a fish pie. And in a meat meal a shepherds pie with non-dairy mash would work too.

This is something I have struggled with myself! As a rule I buy 'pure cream' or 'pouring cream' in a carton to whip. It has 35% milk fat and no additives. There is also thickened cream which comes in regular or light versions. The regular ones often have 'perfect for whipping' on the bottle. They have stabilisers added (usually halal) and pour out looking quite thick. The light versions have lower fat, and I think they are meant to be used for cooking rather than whipping. I have used thickened cream in my coffee (usually I take it black) and it seems fine, although it takes more effort to stir it in. Light thickened usually has about 18% fat, while I think half and half has 15%. I've always avoided recipes that call for half and half, but I think you could probably get a similar effect if you use half pure cream and half full cream milk. As for the others, some pure cream is more like double thick. It comes in a container and has 45% fat. It's nice as a scone topping or for a hot pie or dessert, but I don't have much experience with it otherwise. It's very thick and sticky, and doesn't have stabilisers in it. I've come across some labelled double thick that do have thickeners in them, but I can't remember what the fat content was. Some links that are vaguely helpful to me (I say vaguely, because some of what they say contradicts what I see at the shops): http://gourmettraveller.com.au/ExpertAdvice_200851_142. http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Dairy-food-and-recipes/Dairy-Products/Cream/Types-of-Cream.aspx http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/food/cookingtips/787196/the-beginners-guide-to-cream

Even though I was aware of the restrictions during Passover I only just realised how attractive potatoes suddenly become when grains are so restricted! That's some tough work.... Kind of fun though! Some of the things that come to mind are: * A dish of champ with a green salad (I love wilted greens with creamy mash) * lazy perogies: broken up boiled potato topped with copious amounts of fried onion and sour cream, wilted cabbage on the side * scrambled eggs with plain boiled potatoes with cold butter, sliced tomatoes and a heavy scattering of fresh mixed herbs * sliced boiled eggs in a mustard flavoured white sauce (assuming it could be appropriately thickened with potato flour) over boiled potatoes with a green veg * potato pancakes (yeah, yeah, but I love them!) with applesauce * zucchini fritters made with lots of parsley and mint and green onion, served with either tomato sauce or Greek yoghurt. * salmon patties flavoured with dill or oregano and lemon, served with boiled potatoes and a chunky and spicy zucchini, capsicum and eggplant tomato sauce * ricotta and spinach dumplings (using meal or potato flour in place of wheat flour) with tomato basil sauce * grilled or roasted meats with salads - lemon and olive oil potato salad - warm sweet potato slices with herbed vinaigrette - green salad - slow roasted plum tomatoes with thyme - roasted capsicum - quinoa with herbs - asparagus with lemon - wilted cucumber with dill - roasted pumpkin with sumac, pine nuts and parsley leaves (I usually add croutons and shaved Parmesan, but obviously that bit won't go) * finally, the traditional Aussie roast dinner: leg of lamb with roasted potatoes and pumpkin, carrots and other assorted veg. Gravy is traditional, but I think you could use potato flour to thicken. As far as desserts go, I don't know what the restrictions are about following meat meals, but I assume most of the following would be for dairy meals: * This * tapioca pudding with fruit compote * kissel * Apple snow * banana "ice cream" made from blitzed frozen banana * queens pudding thickened with matza meal instead of breadcrumbs * fruit and cheese plate * I commonly do a shared dessert plate for company that has pieces of candied ginger, broken up chocolate, nuts and dried fruits

Maple syrup care packages arrive ocassionally and I hoard them like a really greedy girl! We do get camp syrup here, which would be fine for ocassional sharing (my turn comes every four weeks), so I might have to come up with some kind of porcine maple goodness! In fact, one of the teachers is slaughtering her pigs next term, and I'm in discussions regarding getting some kidney lard, belly and cheeks (I do not have the equipment or stomach to make a head cheese like my mother used to). I might see about getting a pork neck as well and do that with maple glaze, and then maybe into some buns? Chicken curry sandwiches is a great idea for next time! Blueberries are pretty available frozen, so some mini blueberry muffins might work well. And now I'm hungry too!

I baked the layers (I used a sheet pan and cut each rectangle in half) the night before and kept them in the freezer following the smitten instructions. The next morning at around 7am I whipped 500ml of cream with a little vanilla (no sugar) and layered the cake with that. I kept in the freezer until just before I left at 8.15 then in the fridge at school. We have morning tea at 10am. It kept really well, BUT the only cream I now have access to is thickened cream, which has gelatine stabilisers in it, so that could be part of it. I have made the cake before from epicurious as a roll and it is great that way too - but for almost no more work people were wowed by the layers - and it was easy to cut into squares. As a roll it keeps overnight reasonably well, so if you're using it the same day and you've stabilised the cream I think it would be okay. The layers weren't as airy as when I made the roll, but it was probably due to mixing issues on my part - the big bowl was really full!!

Hi Sandra. About the 500 grams thingy...would you also use 500 grams of rhubarb. I am thinking of trying it for the Easter weekend and don't want to mess it up time #1. Thanks. ps. My DH just pointed out to me that I am somewhat lacking in sense. It's only the 5th of April and we live in the far frozen north. There is no rhubarb ready to eat. It snowed here just last week. Oh well...Margarita pie it is. I probably would use 500 grams of rhubarb as well, but I do like a "fruity" cake! It really was a lovely cake, and I think she suggests apples work well too. But anyway, aren't you diligently forcing rhubarb in your secret snow-covered hothouse? My mum just sent me pics of the spring she's experiencing...snow, snow and more snow, while here it is 30 degrees at the start of autumn....

I posted in the Teachers morning tea thread about this, but I really need to rave some more. Pille's Estonian Rhubarb Cake totally rocks (I made it with plums and didn't mix them with sugar). Gorgeous and slightly resilient bottom layer, then fruit encased in a softer sponge on top. This is a great way to turn fruit into cake. I used the 400 grams of fruit, but I think next time I will use a little more, as the cake can take it. It has really simple flavours and highlights the fruit. I loved the tart contrast of the plums against the sweetness of the cake. It would be amazing with the original rhubarb or with gooseberries.

Well, last day of term today (two weeks off school!!! Wooooooo!!!) and my faculty put on morning tea again. This time I made a proper effort, although unfortunately I used none of the suggestions here - I went with what I had available. It's the fifth day of autumn (and a balmy 30C!) so there is still some stone fruit around, and plums were on sale at the IGA. I made Pille's Estonian Rhubarb Cake, replacing the rhubarb with plums and not mixing them with sugar. I LOVED it, but it wasn't the most popular dish on the table and probably would have been better made this morning instead of last night. Next time I make it I will use closer to 500 grams of fruit, but it may well be my new standard fruit cake. I also made a Lighter than air chocolate cake as we have a few gluten free people and can't have things with nuts in them at school. It was a huge hit (chocolate, say no more) and still manageable with a handheld mixer, although it was a huge amount of batter to put together. Finally I made a stack of cucumber and herbed cream cheese (parsley, basil and green onion cause thats what i had) finger sandwiches which flew off the plate. There was a lot of sweet stuff this morning, which probably helped. I will definitely make more savouries from now on. Of course,I rushed out leaving a total disaster in the kitchen to come home to. Sigh... Next term I will definitely make some mini tourtière and more sandwiches!

There have been reports that some organic produce is higher in certain elements (I think arsenic was one of the culprits), and I believe it has something to do with how the produce takes up nutrients from the soil. I have not read any reliable reports that organic produce is higher in nutrients, but personally that is not why I buy organic produce (not that I buy everything organic) - my reasoning has more to do with a concern over environmental degradation caused by excessive pesticide/herbicide use. Regarding fish farming, it can actually be very damaging to the environment and to wild fish stocks. 'feeder fish' are being over fished in order to feed fish on farms, intensive farms can create disease pits which have the ability to infect wild populations and the farms themselves create infertile wastelands (prawn farming practices can extremely destructive to habitats). What's a seafood lover to do? We try to buy organic meat as much as possible for two reasons: firstly certified producers have a higher standard of animal welfare (at least in Australia); secondly, we have done side by side tests of organic vs conventional chicken, and there is a taste difference. The last surprised me, because I wasn't expecting to notice a difference. I certainly can't say I noticed much of a difference in the taste of organic produce (a few farm stands notwithstanding).

I grew up in a non-Jewish household and we always had applesauce with our potato pancakes. I make homemade unsweetened applesauce just for these and I love the way the tartness and freshness cuts the oil. But the things are always the whole meal in our house rather than a side dish. Regarding the use of apples, there is an old German dish known as Himmel und Erde which is apple and potato mash - maybe it's part of the same continuum.

Industrial processes have undoubtedly increased crop yields around the world, as has selective breeding (and it's disingenuous to pretend gene splicing is the same thing done by people in white coats). However, it's arguable that the potential of GM to save the poor peoples from starvation would rely pretty heavily on the likelihood we can create food that self-distributes and ignores political borders. "Feeding the poor" is less a farming problem than a problem of distribution and politics.

Not that I've made ricotta yet, but I have purchased citric acid in the baking section of the supermarket here. It was next to the baking powder and cream of tartar.

There was an article in the NYTimes about this eons ago and I seem to remember that it said eating organic potatoes ( and i think carrots) was more effective than eating organic onions. Something about the amount of pesticides/inorganic fertilisers needed to grow them and the likelihood they would be impregnated with same.

I use Evernote and OneNote for non-food applications, and Evernote for food stuff. I find them different beasts and I think for what you are describing Evernote is the easier choice. I find OneNote is more structured, plus the cloud nature of Evernote makes it quite portable. But check them both out as they are useful for lots of stuff! Until I read the post above I didnt even know OneNote was available on iPhones.

Eat more shark! Except for endangered species. It is delicious. But Stuart's in Melbourne, so flake should be easy. Back to the OP, a charcoal-grilled pork chops, on the bone, would also be fabulous.

The two things that come to mind first are a steak frites with bernaise and green beans and roasted crisp-skin pork belly seasoned with fennel and garlic and eaten with rice and steamed greens. And I love Fuschia Dunlop's red cooked beef in her Sichuan cookbook. And kaarage chicken. And maybe get 'the best' fish and chips you can. I'm fond of flake and flathead. So more than two things...