Catherine Iino

I've never used the leaves, but I love the bulb, or whatever it's called. You can just slice it and eat it raw, with a bit of salt, as a healthy snack. Sometimes I julienne it and make a mustardy dressing like the one for celery remoulade. No need to blanch it first. Enjoy!

I'm bumping this topic because I will be in Sicily for ten days in August, and would love to hear any further thoughts on foods and wines to search out. I've copied down all the suggestions in the thread so far--thanks, all.

Can anyone help me? I have planted rhubarb in three different gardens now. Each time, I have selected breeds that are supposed to have deep red stalks. Each time, the rhubarb grows terrifically, but the stalks are mostly green, occasionally pale pink at the base. Too much of something? Not enough of something? I've looked at a lot of books and haven't found any reference to this problem.

Let me add my thanks for your lovely blog to everyone else's. I was in Amsterdam three or four years ago and found it a wonderful city. And you don't really want to cut your brownies any more evenly than you did. This way, people can choose the size they want (and convince themselves that they can have a second one because the first was "small").

Hey, did I mention that mayonnaise has eggs in it? Sorry, people. My computer was not getting along with egullet this morning. I'll try to edit out a couple of those duplicates.

[the same post got sent three times]

[the same post got sent three times]

Don't forget that mayonnaise has eggs in it.

Thank you, Emily. I share your taste in this entirely. But I know I do have a couple of blind spots in my otherwise perfect taste--the most notable being blue cheeses, which I just can't abide--so I thought I'd ask.

A question: Often in restaurants I have been served risotto that I thought was undercooked. I'm all for al dente; these actually seem chalky or gritty. But am I just ignorant? Is that a traditional way to serve risotto?

I just stumbled on this cook-off, having made a really quick-and-dirty risotto with asparagus and smoked salmon last evening. But reading through this thread inspires me to try Shalmanese's miso-based risotto with asparagus. (The NYTimes had a recipe for asparagus with miso-butter sauce on Wednesday, so the combination just seems promising.) I might even try it using short-grained Japanese rice (sometimes labeled sushi rice).

I did try the back-of-the-spoon thing, sometimes with better effect than others. What worked best for me was actually spooning the jello in over the white layers, although sometimes that set too fast. I think the jello mixed with the yogurt is particularly tender, so those layers could be dislodged by even a slightly forceful trickle. Still, as I said, the whole mold looked great in the end. The white layers really do make the thing glow.

Bump. I've been making red wine vinegar for about a year now, using Abra's description of the process in her old blog. It's fun, and the vinegar is much better than storebought. I was wondering if you, Abra, or anyone else has made sherry vinegar. Does it take as long as white wine vinegar? And can you use the mother from the red wine vinegar? Also: I inferred from Abra's blog and some other stuff online that vinegar-in-progress should not be exposed to light--hence the crockery. But is that true? Could you make vinegar in a glass jar? Thank you for your advice, past and future.

I, too, made the Rainbow Jello mold for Easter. I did the bundt pan version. My brother and my daughter love Jello, so I thought it would be a great surprise for them. I think the recipe in recipe gullet says it serves 20, but 6 of us--my husband wouldn't touch the stuff--ate about two-thirds of it. Like everyone else, I received oohs and aahs all out of proportion to the difficulty of the recipe. I mean, I've made dacquoises and the likes for these folks, for heaven's sake! But, in fact, the Jello mold isn't quite as easy as Rachel et al. made it seem. If you don't time the layers exactly right, and pour the next layer very, very gently, you loosen pieces of the preceding layer, especially the white ones. The result was glorious anyway. I have to say, making a Jello mold is the last thing I expected to inspired to do by egullet. (My daughters' second response, after the oohs and aahs, was, "But, Mom, you don't believe in blue food!")

I actually use a plumbing torch, not one of those clever little ones designed for the kitchen. If I were to bring that along, it would cement my reputation as an over-the-top foodie. Which is to say, the others--including my husband--would think I was completely nuts. Maybe I'd better go with something else this time. It's just that you guys made the milles crepes look so luscious.

How long do you think the brulee will hold up? I am supposed to go out to dinner tomorrow evening and bring a dessert to someone's house afterwards. I would love to try making a 1K Crepes, but would the brulee hold up for eight hours or so?

Does anyone have definitive information on the health value/risk of coconut oil? You can find tracts both for and against, and I don't know who to believe!

Pistachio and herb filling for choux puffs I think this may be based on an old James Beard recipe; it's been years since I wrote it down. You might try lightening it with some sour cream or yogurt. 1-1/2 c cream cheese 3 T chopped chives 1 T chopped parsley 1 tsp dijon mustard 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c coarsely chopped pistachios Cream together all the ingredients except the nuts. Stir in the nuts. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Vegetarian, Easy ( RG1674 )

I used to make this filling for small cream puffs: Cream together: 1 1/2 cups cream cheese 3 tbsp. chopped chives 1 tbsp chopped parsley 1 tsp dijon mustard 1/2 tsp salt Stir in 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios. It was really good. If I were making it now, I think I'd try lightening it up a bit with some sour cream or yogurt.

After reading through the 14 pages of this thread in one swell foop and wiping the drool off my keyboard, I checked the Bradley Smoker site, http://www.bradleysmoker.com/home.htm, and I want to point out the recall notice there to all of you who have been lucky enough to acquire one recently, just in case.

I hope this isn't too far off the subject of food, but before we equate big Walmart and big Whole Foods, it's no small point that, according to the article, "Whole Foods pays its workers a solid living wage—its lowest earners average $13.15 an hour—with excellent benefits and health care. No executive makes more than 14 times the employee average," while Walmart's wages and benefits are notoriously bad.

Andisenji--That frozen food knife should be hung on a wall. It's beautiful! Cathy

To avoid the loaves blowing out like that, try proofing them a little longer before you bake them; the blowing out can be the result of too much oven spring. I do think the poolish step makes a big difference. You may notice it more if you make a few batches with the poolish and then try going back to straight dough. If I switch to some new, better quality product or technique, I often don't really notice much difference until I try going back to the former item. For example, in the last year I started buying eggs from a neighbor who keeps chickens--much fresher, yellower, and tastier than store-bought. At first, it didn't seem to make a big difference to me, but when I used supermarket eggs again, everything I made with them tasted flat. Same with good, nonultrapasteurized cream. Be careful what you upgrade; you may be making a long-term commitment!

I don't know what your restaurant will look like, but I think if you could get one of those revolving glass-enclosed display cases that Mizducky mentioned, that would just say "American Classic dessert." Also, remember the Betty Crocker kid's cookbook? I bet there are a lot of people around who would have instant nostalgia if they saw an igloo cake or Good Kid Cookies or Clown Cupcakes. I never made those, but i spent hours looking at the pictures.

Remarkable. My own guess would be parallel evolution, however. (Or maybe intelligent design?) I just wish she'd included a recipe for kanom krok in the article.