Kim D

These books are so much more than I dreamed they would be and I've only looked at a few pages. We grow oysters. There are instructions for Beet Juice-Fed Oysters. We catch fish. There are instructions for killing fish with the Ike Jime method. There are no compromises in these books. To say I am in awe would not do justice to how I feel.

I'm back. I opened the kitchen manual to a random page and I already love this book. The recipe is for Sauerkraut. What I appreciate is knowing that you store it until the pH is below 4.0. And that you add a 1% brine if the cabbage doesn't get submerged in its juices by the third day. My undergrad is engineering. My job is building business applications. This book was written for geeks like me. And you.

I came here to post one grainy picture of the packaging that I took with my phone. Now that I see there are proper pictures here, I can sign off for the weekend and start reading!

Kim, When did you order yours? August 8 Was that with Amazon.com or Amazon.ca? I ordered on August 13th and haven't heard anything yet. I'll be sad if I just missed the cutoff and have to wait for the next batch. Amazon.com One more day to wait. Hope you don't have to wait much longer.

Kim, When did you order yours? August 8

I just got an email saying my order has shipped and is scheduled to arrive on Friday March 4. I have a chamber vacuum sealer. And an immersion circulator. Can't wait.

Ethiopian. I buy teff online From www.teffco.com. I was going to post a picture of my injera but can't seem to do that with my iPad. Thai. Indian. Cajun. Bistro French. Peasant food from anywhere.

I got an Vacmaster VP210 Chamber Sealer. I love it but can't quite figure out how I can vacuum package soups in it. If I never figure that out, I will still think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

I recently bought a pressure cooker because I wanted to make Dal Makhani. The recipe I found called for using one. I love having an excuse for buying more toys so that was all I needed. The recipe calls for rajma and I have to agree with you that they are not all that tasty. I thought it was because I bought the kidney beans from my local grocery store and they were old. I picked up rajma from an Indian grocery and though they were better, they still didn't have much flavor.That said, I've made the recipe twice in the last month. Good to know it could taste even better.

I've done turkey legs three times since Thanksgiving. This last time I also did turkey thighs. Slathered the meat with a bit of duck fat, 175 F for 6 or 8 hours. Simply incredible. I would not have thought it possible to make something this good at home. I can honestly say I've never had better.

I would love a pasta maker. The Viante looks good but at that price point I just don't see it lasting. Ideas in Food likes the Arcobaleno Pasta Extruder. I just don't need that kind of capacity. Is this something out there that's in between those two? If so, I'll put it on my wish list!

I am so glad I pre-ordered this book! Tomato confit. Mushroom ketchup. Rendered beef suet. I am in heaven. The more I can make from scratch, the happier I am. I may just explode. In a good way.

Why would I want to resist temptation?

I've never understood why someone would want a signed bookplate. Unless that bookplate had a personal message. I've pre-ordered the book from Amazon and can't wait to get my hands on it. And I know it's going to cost me way more than $421.87... Years ago a friend gave me a bottle of Campari along with a recipe for a negroni. That gift cost me $250 because I had to buy martini glasses, a cocktail shaker, gin, vermouth. I know that as a result of buying Modernist Cuisine, I'll be adding to my collection of kitchen toys.

I am lucky to have easy access to duck. And some times goose. I recently bought two cases of duck legs and thighs for $125. And a goose for $15. For less than $150, I made Duck Ragu with fresh duck one night, roasted the goose for New Year's Eve dinner, used the carcass to make Goose Carcass Gumbo, put up almost two dozen legs for duck confit using fat rendered from this batch and leftover fat from the last batch, rendered a jar of goose fat, rendered an extra jar of duck fat, and froze half a dozen bags with 6 ducks legs each. With prices like that, it would be crazy not to make it myself.

Old-school kosher dills and sauerkraut are made using lacto-fermentation. It does not require a yogurt/milk-based starter, as the bacteria in question are generally already present on vegetables, but since it's the same bacteria and the same microbial processes as yogurt, you can cross the processes to give your pickling a boost. ← Good to know. Thank you!

I have done that. You only need a few tablespoons per quart. It gets things going really fast, for almost instant fermentation gratification! ← I've only heard about lacto-fermentation. Never seen it. Never tasted it. Does it give it a sour taste?When I ordered my Yogotherm, it came with a packet of yogurt culture. Anyone prefer yogurt made with powdered culture over liquid yogurt?

I make yogurt at least a couple of times a month. One of these days I'm going to use the liquid that weeps out of it in lacto-fermentation recipes.I've made ricotta once or twice. And quark. And creme fraiche. It all tastes so much better than what I buy in the store. But, even if it didn't, I would continue making it because I like knowing when it was made and what went in to it.

I've had my injera batter (teff flour and water, that's it) going for a month or two and it's nice and sour. I decided to try using a cold pan and that did not work for me at all. Has anyone had success with that technique? When I started out, I made injera in my crepe pan over medium heat. Now that I've gotten more experience, I've been using a mitad at the highest heat. I use a thinner batter and get a better rise. A quart-size mason jar holds the right amount of batter to make four injera.

I just bought my second Yogotherm so I can have one in the City and one in the country. When I first started making yogurt, I added powdered milk. Because I was used to the thickness of yogurts that had stabilizers. Then I bought Seven Stars yogurt and it was noticeably thinner. And now, I prefer thinner yogurt. Tastes more natural and less processed. To me.

My first taste of Ethiopian food was at Ras Dashen. I loved it.I haven't been back to Chicago since we moved to New York a year ago. If I ever get back, I will be making a bee line to Ras Dashen and Kukulu market.

Steve, Any chance that you'll be selling your beans at Union Square Greenmarket this Wednesday when you do your book signing? - Kim

Two pound bags of mangosteens were going for $8. So I bought one. And was disappointed. The fruit tasted bitter and was a bit pink. Read the tag. Said to keep frozen. Ah well. On the bright side, I used the trick of pushing the flower end against the countertop and it cracked right open. I also picked up sugar apples. Never had them before. $5/pound got me two. The first one was rock hard inside. The second one was custardy. I liked it. Now I need to get good at picking them out. - Kim

Last week, mangosteens were $9/pound and this week $7/pound in Chinatown. Hope the downward trend in price continues. I've been spending more money on mangosteens, lychees and langons than on meat.

I have all of the Duigud-Alford books except the Seductions of Rice. I happen to really like Mangoes and Curry Leaves, too. The Mountain Dal and Bangla Dal with Lime are my favorite dal recipes. ← Mountain Dal is one of my favorite recipes. My husband isn't so hip on it so I make it when he's out of town. I haven't made the Bangla Dal yet but I will. I've come to love tamarind.What I like about the Alford-Duguid books is that they've gotten me to be more free-flowing and intuitive when it comes to cooking. My husband teases me because, when we first started cooking, I had to measure. Everything. And it had to be exact. If a recipe called for 1 cup of chopped onion, then I would measure an exact cup of onions. Alford-Duguid (and Kasma Loha-unchit) have taught me that the measurements are not as important as how it tastes. You need that balance of hot, sour, salty, sweet. Measuring exactly won't get you the right flavor profile. The recipes in Beyond the Wall are simple and basic. They seem to be those kind of recipes that moms don't understand why they need to be written down. Like boiling eggs. You boil eggs. Why would you need a recipe for that? Well, some of us do. Or at least did. The latest recipe I made is Pressed Tofu with Scallions and Ginger. Easy recipe. The quality of the ingredients makes all the difference.