mhjoseph

I finally baked a successful sourdough after many bricks. I used this recipe for San Francisco Sourdough except for baking at 500F with steam as described in BBA and lowering to 450F after 10 min. Huge oven spring, fantastic tangy taste, crisp crust. It's the first time I got the shape of a batard close to being correct.

I highly recommend the Jamican Jerk Seasoning mix from The Spice HouseI can't vouch for authenticity but it is really fantastic.Actually, I've only used it for chicken, but I'm that the results are the same for any meat you choose.

They come out fine with bread flour. I've also used KA Sir Lancelot High Gluten and they do come out chewier but I wouldn't hesitate to use bread flour. The problem that I'm having though, is getting seeds and onions to stick, any advice?

I find that King Arthur Sir Lancelot High Gluten flour is terrific for bagels, the only problem is that I have to mail order it. Speaking of bagels though, I can't get the seeds and onions to stick. I coat with them when the bagels are still wet from boiling. I've never seen a bagel recipe calling for using eggs which the only sure thing I can think of to make them stick. You're using an Italian flour with fairly low protein content that is used to make Napoletana-style pizza. You should definitely look into a higher protein content flour.. King Arthur's bread flour is 12.7% protein. I don't know if that's the only thing that will fix your bagels though. I first made the BBA bagels using KA All-Purpose flour (11.7%) and they deflated during boiling. Same thing happened when I used the KA bread flour. Another poster in another thread with bagel problems thinks it might be overproofing, but I don't know. Or maybe we're not making the dough stiff enough. ←

That sounds delicious. I think I'll be trying that very soon. Is there a particular type of rice she uses? Could I trouble you to find out what kind of oil she uses as well? ← I'll gladly share the whole process. She uses basmati and soaks it anywhere from a few hours to overnight which will make the cooked rice grains bigger. You then drain off the water and add to a pot of salted boiling water and cook it like you would pasta until al dente. Drain off the water again using a colander, put the dry pot back on the fire and add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil such as canola. Put rice back in on top of the hot oil, mounding it towards the center and make a couple of holes in the mound with the handle of spoon. Cover and let it cook for 30-45 minutes until you have a crisp crust. When its done invert the pot on a serving platter and you should have the crust on top. You can put thin slices of potatoes or pita bread on the bottom also. If you Google Persian rice you find more ideas and recipes.

Boil, drain, heat oil in the pot and return the drained rice and steam is the method that my Persian wife uses. It produces a crust called tahdig which a big delicacy in that culture.

I am really anxious to find out. It's only a couple of minutes from my home but I'm trying to hold off until after Passover since we're trying to clear out the cupboards. Hopefully, someone will fill us in before then.

Is there a substitute for the ginger snaps? Would powdered ginger with whatever other spices are in ginger snaps with flour work?

I always use a 1:1 ratio plus an additional half of a rice cup of water (i.e. 3 cups rice and 3 1/2 cups water). It works well for both basmati and long grain white rice.

Check out www.sodaclub.com. We have one and use it almost daily. The flavorings I don't think are that great but I think they send you a sampler so you can decide for yourself.

I am using the Gaggia MDF for espresso on a fairly high end machine and am able to produce amazing shots. The main complaint people have about it is that the difference in fineness between clicks on the adjustment is too great but that can be compensation for with your tamp pressure. I have had the machine for 3-4 years and have had no issues with it at all. I previously used a Solis Maestro and don't feel that is an espresso quality grinder, although I still use it for FP and Aeropress brewing. When I bought my Gaggia it was on sale for $150 so that helped my decision making, as was the though of how much should I spent on my one cup a day habit. I've been researching burr grinders for a while and have sort of hit an impass. I'd like to get some updated feedback from readers of this thread. I considering the following: Solis Maestro Plus - around $150; Gaggia MDF - close to $200 the Kitchenaid - around $200 the Rocky - around $300 I mostly make drip and french press coffee, and will soon try vacuum brewing. So I'm leaning towards the Solis. However, at some point I may get bit by the espresso bug, and I understand that the Solis and Kitchenaid (and perhaps the Gaggia?) aren't great at grinding for espresso. So my questions are: Does anyone have experience using the Solis and/or the Gaggia for espresso? If so, what are your impressions? Thanks. ←

A better question for me is where to get decent bagels by mail order and they don't charge an arm and a leg for shipping. All I can find locally are bagel shaped pieces of bread and I looking for an old-fashioned water bagel. I need a place with kosher certification.

Hi Pam, thanks for the wonderful demos on Jewish food, really enjoying them. My mom uses the boil-rinse method, while I just skim, mainly because I don't like the extra work that comes with rinsing. Having said that, she spends considerably less time skimming after she's rinsed all the scum away. Mom's soup is flavourful. I don't think the boil-rinse method reduces the final flavour, but we've never done a controlled comparison. ← Any suggestions on what to do with the resulting chicken meat? I don't really care for it as it comes out of the pot but I sure it can be redeployed in some other dish.

I use a recipe that was in the NYT a few years ago called Barista Burgers which you can Google for the exact recipe. The ingredients include onion, garlic, soy sauce, honey, ginger and some other items. I've gotten nothing but rave reviews when I've served them to guests.

NancyH, I was going through this thread this morning. In case you haven't found carp in Cleveland in the the past two years, try Shimon's Poultry and Fish on Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights.

I didn't really think about it, I guess I am just eating them because it is what my mom bought for us. Last week I bought a hue pack of English muffins and none of my kid's liked them, they said they prefer the Japanese English muffins... ← Try Trader Joe's bagels. IMHO, the best in Cleveland.

I agree about the fresness factor. Also very interesting is that although most beans deliver great results for drip or press pot coffee within 24 hours after roasting (apart from a bit of bloom in the brewing process due ot the extra Co2 being released)... most espresso blends yield much better results when allowed to rest for 3 to 5 days after roasting. Thus means if you buy from a roaster that ships fresh (i.e. on day of roast) and you use a service like Priority Mail - you'll get the beans at just about the optimal time to begin using them. I continue to be amazed when I pull a few shots from a blend I worked up from just-roasted beans and think "Hmmm... not bad but could be a bit better". And then three or four days later I pull a few shots from the same batch of beans and it's stellar. ← Why not really go over the edge and try homeroasting, you can't get any fresher. It's as easy as making popcorn and very similar. Check out www.sweetmarias.com or the Homeroasting forums on Coffeegeek.

There is an article in today's Plain Dealer about CAM: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/...7600.xml&coll=2

I've been lurking here for a while. Decided that it was time to say something. I visited CAM last week and it IS HUGE and clean! I was impressed by the fact the vegetables are clearly labled in English and the overhead signs above each aisle indicate what types of products are contained therein just like in any American supermarket. There is just a huge selection of products. Back to the Whole Foods discussion, construction is well underway with many of the outer walls in place. The sign in front states "Early 2007 opening." ← mhjoseph, It is nice to see more Clevelanders coming on board! Welcome! Thanks for the information about CAM, it is going to be on my first stops when I get to Cleveland. Though I am bringing enough curry roux, Pocky and Hi-chew to pretty much open up my own shop. ←

I visited CAM last week and it IS HUGE and clean! I was impressed by the fact the vegetables are clearly labled in English and the overhead signs above each aisle indicate what types of products are contained therein just like in any American supermarket. There is just a huge selection of products. Back to the Whole Foods discussion, construction is well underway with many of the outer walls in place. The sign in front states "Early 2007 opening."