Pat W

Elsie, I also am indebted to Pierogi. I made this last weekend. Not only was it lovely that evening, but it reheated very nicely the next day. The only down side to this dish is that you eventually run out of it and end up gazing sadly at the bottom of the empty bowl. pat

Thank you for that link. She's great! It looks like I'll be spending some time watching the rest of her videos. Do you have any more recommendations? pat w.

There's a "Recipes That Rock" thread in the Cooking Forum that I've been enjoying. It occurred to me today that the one recipe I tried this year that completely changed the way we eat was Zoe's 5 Minute Artisan Bread. I confessed this on the Recipe Rock thread, but I wanted to mention it here as well. Ever since the first time I tried this, we have always had a batch of dough in the refrigerator. The other night, after a long day at work, I was dead tired and made a small boule out of the last bit of dough in the bucket. With all my heart I wanted to just abandon the empty bucket and not mix up another batch, but I couldn't. For one thing, I didn't want to lose the lovely flavor that has built up, but mostly I couldn't bear the thought of not having the dough on hand. Zoe, you did indeed rock our world. pat w.

Now that I think about it, the one recipe that really rocked my world this year was Zoe Francois's artisan bread. There is a thread dedicated to this in the baking forum. Before I stumbled upon this recipe (I think it was in the New York Times) I rarely made bread more than once or twice a month, even though I have a bread making machine. Now I bake bread at least three and maybe four times a week. Since the first time I tried this, I've never been without a batch of dough in the fridge and we very rarely actually buy bread anymore. The bread ends up costing about 30 cents a loaf, is ridiculously easy to make and tastes far better than anything we can buy locally. It also makes great toast (as well as grilled cheese sandwiches). I don't have much experience being an evangelist, but this stuff rocks. pat w. Edited to add that even though the recipe is free from the NYT, I ended up buying the book and... to be completely accurate, I have no experience being an evangelist. I'm much more comfortable in the role of naysayer.

Since I can't be trusted around a bag of Cheetos, I never buy them anymore. About a month ago I picked up some Little Bear Crunchitos baked cheese snacks. The "33% less fat" caught my attention. I tried a couple and wasn't all that impressed. Then absent mindedly I had a couple more.... then.... well, you get the picture. I more or less finished off the bag. I think that pretty well killed the 33% less fat advantage. Several bags later, I fear I must stand up before you all, hang my head and admit.... Yes, I'm a Crunchito-holic and I can't quite manage to "just say no". My keyboard is turning orange. pat w.

Thank you Pierogi! If I can lay my hands on some Gorgonzola, tonight's dinner is in the bag. pat w.

I've been following this thread from the beginning, but somehow I missed the original tomato and Gorgonzola pasta post. Could someone please help me out here? By the way, because of you guys, I finally subscribed to the Fine Cooking website, and boy am I glad I did! So far I've made the "Cod with Mushrooms, Garlic & Vermouth" and the "Pasta with Tuna, Tomato, & Green Olives". They both were stellar, but the tuna/pasta stuff goes on my lifetime favorite list. I love this thread. pat w

Actually, whenever I need to cut up chicken I use an inexpensive plastic board & then throw it in the dishwasher. I use the beautiful Boardsmith board for everything else. pat w.

The Boardsmith boards are indeed substantial, but that hasn't been a problem for me. My board was designed to fit over one half of a double sink. Every night, after I'm done cooking, I move it off the sink so the moisture from the drain won't harm it. (If you are reading this David, rest assured that I am following your instructions to the letter.) My board has small rubber bumpers on the bottom to keep it from sliding off the sink. If I were getting one to use on a counter, I would probably skip the feet. As I've mentioned in previous posts, this is just a wonderful board. pat w.

I have the same question. Could we please get just a little more guidance on how to whip up this sumptious treat? pat w.

Well that started my day with a smile.

I too am a little confused about the difference between stromboli & calzones, but since I got mixed up with the Artisan Bread thread in the Pastry and Baking forum, I've been making spinach & ricotta calzones about once a week & we have been enjoying them immensely. This used to seem like such a daunting project, but having the aforementioned dough on hand, it's been a snap to put one together after work. Our tummies are happy but our waistbands are in danger of expanding. pat

Hi tino27, Thanks for addressing this. I used the same bulk yeast that I have been buying from our local coop since the beginning. I've also been using the same amount of salt each time: 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of Kosher salt. I should also add that the kitchen didn't seem to be any warmer than usual. pat (Edited because of a dumb grammatical error, which was the only dumb grammatical error that I managed to catch.)

I was converted to Dorie's biscuit recipe the first time I tried it. But, I must confess that I never used the whole milk the recipe calls for. We usually just have 2% on hand. I'm posting because yesterday I made the recipe exactly as written. I used whole milk with the cake flour option. These are without a doubt the best biscuits I have ever had. Fluffy inside with a delightful flaky crunch outside. I cannot gush enough about them. So, if you haven't made these exactly as Dorie directed, you really, truly must. pat

I've been using this container that I got last year from King Arthur. It was working perfectly..... until Sunday. So here's what happened. I have been using Pillsbury's unbleached ap flour. 2 lbs to 3 cups of water. Last Sunday I used King Arthur ap 2 lbs to 3 1/4 cups of water. We heard a loud pop coming from the kitchen but assumed our young cat had knocked something off a shelf (again). Some time later I went into the kitchen and discovered that the dough had blown the top off the container and was now spilling over and blobbing down the sides. It looked rather sinister, actually. So what happened? A measly quarter cup of water created a monster? I am confused. By the way, the dough smells as delicious as usual. Does anyone else find them selves popping little fingerfuls of dough into their mouth, or should I seek counseling? pat

Bob, Thank you for posting that!!! After all of those emails with David, it was great to see him at work. Bekki, When my butcher block came, it was so beautiful I didn't want to use it either, but at Bob's not so gentle urging I finally did. So... I've been happily slicing & dicing on it every day for the last three months or so. The subtle signs of use only make it look more attractive. It is a cutting board, after all. I can't tell you how much pleasure I get out of using it. I love to roll out cookies & biscuits on it. Using a dough scraper it's a snap to get the flour off. Food may not taste better prepared on a Boardsmith block, but the cook is sure happier... and, as we all know, a happy cook is a good thing. pat

We bought a VillaWare Belgian Wafflemaker a few months ago and have been very happy with it. In fact we like it so much that we've even bought one for a friend. At first I used a Belgian waffle mix but after I found the Amazing Overnight Waffle recipe in The 150 Best American Recipes I was converted. It's also a yeasted recipe (very fast & easy) and makes the best waffles we've ever had. They also freeze well. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. Mmmm... a hot crisp waffle topped with blueberries & maple syrup..... it just doesn't get better than that. pat

That was one of the big surprises for me too. It's delicious warm or cold. My husband thinks it makes fantastic toast, but I actually prefer it untoasted. The flavor is as wonderful as the texture. This is great stuff! Zoe is definitely my hero. pat

Wow! That is really helpful. Thank you. pat

Thanks Randi, No, they are cranberries... but now that you mention it, candied cherries might be a nice variation. I also think raisins might be a good idea. pat

Last night it was cold with snow & blowing snow, so I did the only sensible thing and baked an All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake. (If we count Groundhog Day as a holiday I'm not too far out of season.) It's still cold & snowy, but this with coffee was a great way to start the day. laniloa has inspired me to try the chocolate biscotti with dried cherries next. pat

Well, going on the theory, if you can't provide inspiration, you might as well provide comic relief... Tonight was pizza night. It was supposed to have been last night, but we were way too tired. Soooo, after warming the house with the ritual preheating of the stone, I liberally dusted the pizza peel with cornmeal. Then I pulled the last batch of light wheat dough out of the fridge, plopped it on the counter and rolled it out to a perfection of thinness. It was truly a thing of beauty. While happily singing along with Tom Petty, I spread a light layer of pizza sauce one it, sprinkled it lovingly with thinly sliced mushrooms, topped it with fresh mozzarella and stepped back to admire my exquisite creation. It was at that moment, gasp of horror here, I realized that the dough was still on the counter. I had completely forgotten to move it to the peel before topping. Our kitchen is usually on the chilly side, but after having been warmed by a 550 degree oven for thirty minutes, was quite toasty. There I was. It was the last batch of dough so I couldn't throw it out & pretend this had never happened. Moreover, even though it had been speedily topped, the magnificently thin dough was growing a little melty and we were starving. What to do, what to do. Well, I found two new Manila file folders & attempted to slide them under the dough from two different directions. This actually came very close to working. Then I did my best to transfer the pizza from the Manila folders to the pizza peel. As I said, this came very close to working. We did not starve. The mis-shapen, now un-thin pizza baked up very nicely. While it wasn't the finest pizza I've ever made, it was still better than anything we could have gotten locally or found in the frozen food aisle. Once again, the idiot-proof side of Zoe's dough is celebrated. The moral of this sad story is: Never try to bake while listening to Tom Petty. pat

Anna N do you ever sleep??? Both breads are beautiful, but you've really inspired me to make the sandwich bread. By the way, I've also been confused about the loaf pan sizes. A lovely round loaf of the light whole wheat is resting at this very moment. It's the second loaf of the batch, we though the first was even tastier than the basic recipe. I made up a half recipe of the brioche dough a few days ago & baked one loaf. It was tasty but seemed kind of small. Since I don't have a brioche pan & am not sure how the finished loaf is supposed to look, I don't know if mine was OK. I'm thinking that I should have let it raise longer. Regrettably I didn't have time to take a photo. I find myself on a bread baking treadmill because we can't bear to go back to the miserable stuff in the grocery store. Zoe's bread has definitely raised our quality of life. pat

Mallet, that is an amazing dinner. How many cooks did it take to pull this off? Re: The Vegetable Tourte with chive-cream sauce. It looks spectacular, but here is a really dumb question... What exactly is a tourte? pat w.

Hi Pat, I would have loved to have used the rum syrup. However, my husband is a teetotaler and really dislikes the taste of alcohol. I also have a 21 month old son, and while I'm not neurotic about alcohol around him, I don't make a habit of giving it to him either. Also, I wanted to freeze one of the cakes and eat the other one with my family, and a soaked cake doesn't freeze well. ← Actually, it's nice to know the that this poundcake is so good that the syrup is optional. By the way, I completely agree with you. I'm probably as far from neurotic about alcohol as you can get, but I wouldn't dream of giving it to children either. pat