Kim D

Gumbo was a success! By the time we got back to the campground, it was dark. Luckily, I had a headlamp and used that to see into the pot to make sure that the roux didn't get too dark when I heated it up. I shouldn't have worried. At the last minute, I was told that two members of our group couldn't eat shrimp. No problemo as I had intended on making two pots of gumbo anyway. Another member didn't like spicy so we made crawfish etoufee for her. We had such a great group of people. The only reason there were any leftovers is because not everyone understood the concept of gumbo. By the end of the night we had a quart of liquid left -- not a speck of meat in it. - Kim

I have my fingers crossed. My roux is currently the color of a Hershey bar. I'm bringing flour and oil along just in case. Thank you very much for the advice! I'm bringing a camera and hope to post pictures when I get back. - Kim

This weekend my husband and I are going camping with 22 other people. I volunteered to cook gumbo Saturday night. And I need advice. Mostly about adding the roux. Yesterday I made a dark roux (that got even darker while it was cooling in a metal bowl) using 2 cups of oil and 2-1/2 cups of flour. After it cooled off, I put it in a plastic container in the refrigerator. So, my question is how do I make gumbo using a pre-made roux? I'm thinking that I'll slice the andouille, cook that and use any rendered grease to cook the trinity. Then I'll add chicken stock, shrimp stock and clam juice. (I use the recipe from Cook's Illustrated for Creole-Style Shrimp and Sausage gumbo.) Should I add the roux with the trinity? Or with the chicken stock? Does the quantity of roux I use change because the roux is added later in the process? I'm not sure how much gumbo to make for that many people but that's a question for later. If I screw up adding the roux, it won't matter if I have enough ingredients. - Kim

At my husband's suggestion, I made the Cranberry Upside-Downer with sour cherries instead of cranberries. The only other change was to replace some of the vanilla with almond extract. Awesome. - Kim

I use my bamboo steamer to reheat all leftovers including rice. When I remodeled my kitchen, my microwave was banished to the basement. Never to return.

The agony of adapting to different equipment beats the heck out of living in a hotel and having no access to a kitchen. My husband and I have made several month-long trips to London and NYC. In London, I baked apple pies in a teeny convection oven and I think they were the best apple pies I've ever made. Why? Not because of the equipment, that's for sure. It was because of the ingredients. In NYC, I make awesome dinners in a kitchen that's smaller than the bathroom. The stove has an oven that has to be lit with a match. The refrigerator has a freezer that has to be defrosted. And the sink (of course there's no dishwasher) is in the corner between the stove and the refrigerator making a very tight squeeze for two people to cook anything. Give me an inferior kitchen any day of the week. I'll gladly trade cooking in my house in Chicago with a six-burner Thermador, a Sub-Zero refrigerator (with the freezer at the bottom where it belongs), and a Miele dishwasher for an apartment on the Upper West Side with inferior equipment but access to ingredients that I just can't get here in Chicago. That said, I would love to find a nicer apartment with a better kitchen on the UWS for a price I can afford. Then I'll complain about the equipment. - Kim

A few years ago I picked up "It Rains Fishes" by Kasma Loha-unchit in a used book store. Then I found her website. If I lived near Berkely, nothing could keep me from taking her classes.Do you buy palm sugar in the hockey puck shape or in the plastic jar? Yesterday, I decided to buy the stuff in the jar and almost changed my mind. Some of the jars had a thin liquid layer. One had a fly floating in it. Eww.

Although I currently live in Chicago, I've been spending quite a bit of time in New York. When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I cook for my husband. Truth be told, I write software. But, I can do that anywhere. So I end up following my husband to wherever he is working. And I spend hours grocery shopping and reading cookbooks. The first day I had access to a stove (I would rather be in a tiny apartment with a kitchen than a luxurious hotel room without one), I grabbed my backpack and headed off to Chinatown. Armed with a list of places to shop garnered from this thread and the thread linked to by FatTony. My first stop was the Thai and Indonesian Grocery. I picked up a bag of Jasmine rice, nam prik pao, fish sauce and frozen lemongrass imported from Thailand. My next stop was either Kam Man on Canal or Dynasty Supermarket on Elizabeth. I've spent time in both places and can't quite remember which is which. I was searching for a bamboo steamer reinforced with metal like the ones I saw at New Yeah. I didn't find one but I haven't given up. There are a couple supply stores on Bowery that look promising. I also picked up a black Silkie chicken. I had never seen one before so I bought it to make chicken stock and laab. The apartment has limited cookware. No stockpot. But I made do. With a very dull knife, I hacked off the chicken's head at the bottom of the neck. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see a face in my stock, but decided what the heck. After all, the leg still had the feet attached. I was going to see chicken toes, why not see the beak? I have to say that the stock was the most gelatinous stuff I have ever made. The chicken had a different texture than I'm used to and the flesh is black. The next day I bought a red snapper from a fish monger at 135 Mott. I was a bit intimidated but there was no way I was going to _not_ buy a fish. And some shrimps. I would move to New York just for the fish. I was never a fish fan until I bought fish at Steve Hatt in London. Chicago just can't compete. Especially not on price. My snapper cost $5. I baked it in banana leaves with a paste of coriander roots and peppercorns. Making a paste with a coffee grinder works, but not very well. The next day I found the Thai grocer on Mosco and bought a small mortar and pestle. This is my favorite store. I had been looking everywhere for rau ram and she had it! And fresh Thai lemongrass. And betel leaves. I had had them at a Vietnamese restaurant in London and that was the only time I'd seen them. Now I just need to remember what that dish was. I haven't found the Chinese sausage shop but I think I'll look for it next week when I'm back in New York.

Sometimes I just have no idea what I'm doing in the kitchen. So I just wing it. The first time we used lemongrass, we had no idea how much of it to use. We probably threw away more than we should have. The first time we used cilantro in curry paste, we had no idea where the root started and where it ended. When does the root start being the stem? And are those hairy things that hang off the root to be used or not? We didn't know. And since no one was watching, we used the bits we wanted. And it tasted great.

The golf ball-sized eggplants. Kasma Loha-unchit's Easy Green Curry recipe calls for pea eggplants. When I asked at Thai Grocery why I hadn't seen them in a while, I was told that they could no longer import them. Why would they be banned? I also asked when they were going to get in coriander with the roots attached. I was told that Florida didn't have any yet and that coriander from Mexico has to have the roots cut off.

Thai eggplant is my favorite new food. I love the seeds. We've made The Best Eggplant Dish Ever twice in the last week. On Sunday, we made chicken with red curry and threw in half a dozen Thai eggplants. We always throw extra in our Jungle Curry. I think they steal the show. - Kim

I love the smell and taste of fish sauce. It's hard to remember back to when I thought the smell was too strong. On my last trip to Thai Grocery, I asked for a recommendation for a stronger smelling fish sauce because Tiparos, Three Crabs and Squid brand weren't cutting it for me. Before I knew much of anything about Thai, I used to order Pad Talay. Yum! Unfortunately, the Bangkok Star restaurant closed some years back. And I can't quite remember all of the ingredients. I remember that the sauce was red. I don't remember a strong taste of coconut but it might have been in there. I remember straw mushrooms, fake crab, shrimp, cuttlefish, maybe some red bell pepper. This weekend I made a batch of red curry paste. If someone has a recipe for Pad Talay, I would be all ears. - Kim

Maybe it's a little like wine. One variety won't do everything. I don't think Ceylon would ever be the only cinnamon in my cupboard, but I like it as a delicate dessert flavor. I wouldn't want Tahitian vanilla as the only vanilla in my cupboard either. And if I could only use one of either spice, I would doubtless fall back on the ones I grew up with - cassia and madagascar. ← I grew up with McCormick's and Imitation. So much to discover. I look forward to the day when Tahitian and Madagascar mean more to me than words on a label. I made Katharine Hepburn's Brownies this morning. I think I've only made brownies a handful of times in my life. And I'm sure that at least one of those times was with the Jiffy mix twenty years ago. While I can't see making anything out of a box when I can make it from scratch, my expectation of how a brownie should taste is the way I remember the Jiffy mix tasting.

Odd, mine certainly had a cinnamon taste, too. Perhaps because I use that Vietnamese cinnamon which is pretty strong. ← I used "Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon" from The Spice House and I agree that it is pretty strong. At least it was when I used vanilla extract without the almond extract.Maybe it's the Green Mountain Flavors Pure Almond Extract combination with Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract that masked the cinnamon taste. I remember the almond extract smelling very strong. Which is interesting because I don't remember a pronounced almond taste in the finished product. I've made a note of it in my recipe database. Next time I'll try just the almond extract and see what happens.

How indeed. If only I could. I bought a deep freezer earlier this year. I can see throwing a few bags of cranberries in there so I'll have them on hand when I need to make a last minute dessert. - Kim

I did not toast the nuts. I thought about it, but I hate to change more than one thing at a time. The change I made was adding both vanilla and almond extract. It was good, but it masked the cinnamon taste. Not that anyone complained. The cake is gone and I'm out of dessert. Again. - Kim edit: Fixed typo.

We had unexpected guests last night and we were out of dessert. Made a quick trip to Whole Foods. Cranberries were on sale and I couldn't resist. What a quick and easy recipe! The best part is that you don't have to wait for it to cool. It's best when it's warm. My husband said that even he could make it and I don't think he's ever made a dessert in his life. This is my favorite recipe from the book so far. I especially like the crunchiness of the walnuts. - Kim

I almost used both. Next time I will. I had to stop cooking from this book because the recipes are too good. The Cranberry Upside-Downer lasted less than one day. The Classic Banana Bundt cake lasted three days but it was torture not to finish it off sooner. I was hoping that it would taste stale or something so I could throw it away. But it was good to the last crumb. Darn you Dorie Greenspan!

I bought cranberries from the Farmer's Maret about two weeks ago and left them sitting on my countertop until I could figure out what to do with them. Well, I decided to have a look at them yesterday. I shouldn't have waited so long. I was able to salvage about 2 cups worth and started looking for recipes. I found Cranberry Upside-Downer and decided to try it. I didn't have high expectations because my cranberries weren't in the best of shape. But I figured I could always scrape off the cranberries and eat the cake part. What an awesome cake. I love the tartness of the cranberries. I cannot imagine this cake tasting better than this but I'm looking forward to making it again with fresh cranberries. - Kim

I've had this book for ages but had only made the pizza dough. Until last week. This summer we got hooked on Ciabatta from the Farmer's Market. Unfortunately, the vendor is from Evanston and we never go there. Farmer's Market ends in December so I decided I needed to make my own Ciabatta. How hard could it be? I made the poolish, read the directions, got overwhelmed and let it sit in the refrigerator for three days. After taking it out of the refrigerator and letting it come up to temperature, I weighed the flour, mixed it with the yeast and salt in the bowl of my KitchenAid. Added the poolish and 6 tablespoons of water. Turned the machine to low. Now, why was I surprised that flour flew everywhere? I was more surprised by the line "You may need to add additional flour to firm up the dough"? Seriously? Is there anyone here who has had to add additional flour? I added a couple more tablespoons of water but not the entire 3/4 cup. Because I hadn't read this thread. The bread was very tasty. Even though it didn't have many holes. I was still more than pleased with the outcome because it tasted better than store-bought breads. Then I read this thread and found I was not alone. And I tried again. But first, I bought a Ciabatta roll from Farmer's market so I could do a side-by-side comparison. This time, I added more water to the poolish than the recipe called for. I kept adding water until it was the consistency of a very thick pancake batter. I only let it rest in the fridge overnight. This time when I added the 13.5 ounces of flour, I also added at least a cup of water. The recipe calls for 6 tablespoons to 3/4 cup but it needed more. I never would have had the nerve to add that much water had I not read this thread. I baked the bread on a pizza stone on the middle rack. I had a pan in the rack underneath and added a cup of boiling water to it when I put the bread in the oven. I did not spritz the sides of the oven with water as I can't find my spritzer. Next time. This time, I had beautiful holes in my bread. Hard to believe the difference in taste and texture. This bread was so light and airy. I cut the purchased Ciabatta roll. The crumb looked very much like my first attempt. Where were the holes? Now that I know what Ciabatta should look like, I wonder if the bakery Ciabatta rolls ever had big holes. But now I know that I can make Ciabatta. Maybe not as good as a bakery can on a good day but definitely better than a bakery can on a bad day.

The Applesauce Spice Bars recipe calls for unsweetened applesauce. I had a bunch of apples on hand so I chopped all but one and cooked them with a cup of apple cider. When they were soft, I put them through my foodmill to get rid of the peels and seeds. Can't get much simpler than that. We're not much for frostings or glazes so all I had to do was cook the bars. Another winner.

I've thought about making buttermilk but just haven't gotten around to it. Yet. Darina Allen has a recipe for a Buttermilk Plant in her Irish Traditional Cooking book. The ingredients: 30 grams sugar 30 grams yeast 1.2 litres tepid milk and water The directions say to cream the yeast with the sugar so I'm assuming the yeast is in cake form. The tepid milk-water is added slowly to the sugar-yeast. That mixture is put in a container that has been scalded. The container is covered and left in a warm place ( for a couple of days ) until it looks and smells like buttermilk. At that point, the liquid is poured through muslin. The stuff that's left in the muslin is the plant. Pour tepid water over that to wash off all the milk. Put the plant in a scalded container and add 1.2 litres tepid milk and water. Put it back in a warm place. Repeat every five days. Cleanliness is important. Never use hot milk-water or you'll kill the plant. Sounds easy enough. And I would think that the buttermilk would taste better after a few generations. There is no mention of raw milk and there's no mention of what the ratio of milk and water should be.

I made the Double Apple Bundt Cake again. This time with homemade apple butter. Even better. More apple-y. I can't decide between tart tatin and applesauce bars. I might have to make both. After I make applesauce. I am just in heaven. I love apples.

Dartagnan is just the best. I got my shipment yesterday. Stuff was missing. I got stuff I didn't order. I got charged for shipping even though my order qualified for free shipping. I called and got put on hold. The phone rang and rang and rang and rang. So, why am I saying that Dartagnan is the best? I must admit that when I called, I had very low expectations. Customer service just isn't what it used to be. I expected to get the run around. People just don't accept responsibility any more. They make excuses. After what must have been a good ten minutes, Lynne picked up the phone and I explained what happened. She checked out the facts and told me that she would take care of everything. And she did. She told me she would call me back to let me know when I could expect the rest of my order. In less than two hours, I had my answer. This morning I got the missing items. The receipt showed a credit for the shipping charge and the items I received in error. I cannot say enough about how well I was treated. The quality of Dartagnan products more than meets my expectations and so does Dartagnan customer service.

Yes. Ariane's Freezer is the place to be.