Terrasanct

I once ordered "truffled potatoes" and they tasted nothing of truffles or even truffle oil. I asked the waiter about it, and he said that it was just a method of making mashed potatoes, it didn't have anything to do with actual truffles. Okay... And don't you love it when the 19 year old waiter looks at you like you're a complete idiot when you ask questions?

The gelatin might be worth a try but I wonder what effect it would have in the ice cream. I know it is used in some recipes without eggs. I just read the On Food and Cooking section on ice cream as suggested and it sounds like emulsifiers are the important part here. Since egg yolks act as emulsifiers, I wonder what effect it would have to add more of them in a custard base?

Hmmph, I'd like to see a piece of shoo-fly cake!

I'll change things all the time, but when you're baking you really have to understand what you're doing. You just can't replace white flour with wheat without drastic changes in the end product. And why would anyone use margarine in the first place? It's not any healthier than butter and it just doesn't turn out the same. Most margarine has the same number of calories unless it has water in it, which really means you don't want to bake with it. And I have a rule that I don't ever try out a new recipe on anyone outside of family. If I take something to a dinner it has to be good.

Try Trader Joe's Greek yogurt. It's very good. Not too sour. I prefer the very sour yogurts, so Nancy's is one you might want to avoid. It's one of the best as far as I'm concerned--thick and sour.

Yeah, I know the chocolate chips have polydextrose, but there is such a small amount in the recipe that I doubt it made much difference in the texture. I wondered if that would have any effect. I am going to do some experiments with polyD and erythritol but so far it hasn't seemed any big deal to defrost the container for a few seconds in the microwave. And I've been making small batches, too.

I make great pad thai with it. It's nice to have noodles again after cutting them out of my diet. They're especially good as leftovers, after they absorb all the flavors. I couldn't figure out how to use the block of stuff, but the shirataki noodles worked really well.

I forgot a few: Sushi, at Disneyworld when I was 18. I thought the wasabi was guacamole! Head cheese, when I was a kid. My dad loved it. The worst part was coming home from school and finding a burlap bag with a pig's head in it. We always had tongue and all the other strange things from butchering cows. But I also had my first porterhouse steak when I was really young, too. My first real Indian food, not until my 30's. I loved it immediately.

I know I haven't tried everything I want to yet. First escargot--5th grade. Our teacher wanted us to try something exotic. I was one of the only girls who tried it. I thought it tasted like garlic and rubber. Earthworms, powdered and added to doughnuts, high school. Stinging nettles, grade school. Seaweed, grade school. My mom was an adventurous eater, too. Halvah, grade school. Yogurt, grade school--it sounds strange now to think of eating yogurt for the first time, but it was only in the health food stores back then. Passion fruit--Australia, 1980's. Lamb, Utah, 1980's. First clams--that goes too far back to remember, since I'm from Seattle. We used to go dig them. Crab memories go way back, too. My first blueberry was rotten so I thought blueberries were bad for years. Foie Gras, just last year in Billings. I liked it. Raw oysters I try every few years and I still just don't get it. Fried oysters when I was a kid, loved them. First lobster, Harrahs in Reno when I was 19, married, and with my first child. First pig baked in a pit (yum) and poi (not yum) when I was 16. I haven't tried any foams. Haven't eaten at any world class restaurants, but at many really good ones. Truffles, about five years ago--bottled. No fresh ones yet. I used them to make pizza and they were very good. Nothing alive, don't plan to try fugu either. First coffee when I was 12, doctored with a huge amount of creamer and sugar. First taste of beer at 18, didn't like it. Antelope, that I cut up myself after my husband shot it, when I was in my 20's. Not my favorite. When living in Rock Springs, Wyoming, I also tried venison, sage hen, and elk. First real hoagie, Philly, in the 80's. I could only eat half of it because it was so big. The first time I ever had cheesecake was when I made it myself, after getting married. My mom never made it.

Cakes are just too sweet most of the time. But if I feel like a piece of cake, I'll get a really rich chocolate flourless cake or a nice light lemon cake. I don't have either pie or cake very often, but I'm still sticking with pie for now. Besides, talking eggs can't be wrong. http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/pie.htm

Here is the original (and I don't know where it's from so I hope I'm not violating any copyright laws): Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe: 2 cups (480 ml) half-and-half 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (50 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 ounces (55 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped 4 large egg yolks 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar In a small saucepan gradually whisk together the half and half and the cocoa powder until it is a smooth paste. Place over medium-high heat and bring the half-and-half cocoa mixture and the vanilla bean (if using) to the scalding point (the milk begins to foam up). Remove from heat, take out the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from the bean with the back of a knife, and mix the seeds back into the half-and-half. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth. Meanwhile in a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about two minutes). You can do this with a wire whisk or I like to use a hand mixer. Gradually pour the scalding half-and-half mixture into the whipped egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle. If any lumps do form, strain the mixture first before heating. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until the custard thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon (170 degrees F) (77 degrees C). The term 'coat a spoon' is a technique used mainly as a way to test when an egg-based custard or sauce is done. A spoon, usually wooden, is placed in the custard and, when the spoon is raised, the film of custard on the back of the spoon will stay in place even when you draw a line with your finger through the middle of the custard. Immediately remove the custard from the heat and continue to stir the custard for a few minutes so it does not overcook. At this point stir in the vanilla extract, if using. Cover and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate the custard until it is completely cold (several hours but preferably overnight). Transfer the cold custard to the container of your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer the ice cream to a chilled container and store in the freezer. If the ice cream becomes too hard place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving so it can soften. ********* Here are the changes I made: For the semisweet chocolate I used MiniCarb chocolate chips, no sugar alcohols. I used regular old Hersheys cocoa, since it's what I always have. Sugar I replaced with Splenda and a pinch of SteviaPlus, to taste. I added a pinch of salt, which really enhanced the flavor--I think I'd add the salt even for the original recipe. I weighed everything, and used the vanilla bean, not the extract. I strained after cooking, because it made more sense to me. I couldn't get it up to 170 but it was cooked enough and plenty thick. My husband said, after tasting it, "You've just restored my faith in ice cream." So I think he liked it. For the brandied cherries, I used some bing cherries from my freezer, added Splenda, a bit of orange juice, and some brandy, heated, thickened with cornstarch, added a bit of vanilla and a little more brandy to taste. The ice cream was so rich it really did need something served with it.

Pie. There are a lot of good cakes out there, and some of them have the advantage of chocolate, but I was a cake decorator for years...and got tired of cake. Especially since most places don't know how to make a frosting that won't send you into immediate diabetic coma. My relationship with pie is more complicated. I never liked pie. I never made pie. I have five children, and at least two of them made passable pies, so I never learned. I don't understand "easy as pie" because it isn't. Cake seemed much easier, unless I was decorating one for a wedding. After all of my pie-making kids grew up I decided to end my stand-off with pie. If I was going to make pie, I'd have to learn how to make the best pie ever. So I did. I experimented with every kind of pie crust recipe until I got it just right. It took a bit longer for the apple pie filling, but I finally perfected that, too. Making the perfect pie involved making my own lard, of course. When my husband and I go for a drive, we often end up at a local cafe in the middle of nowhere (and in Montana there's a LOT of nowhere) and we have to have pie. Here in this part of the country, pie is an integral part of the farm diet, and there are some old ladies who really know their stuff. My goal is to try all of the places listed in Montana magazine a few years ago as the best pie places in Montana. My husband is a native Montanan, and he likes every piece of pie he eats. I don't think he understands my need to critique.

I got that CI magazine and read the report about vanilla ice creams. Interesting. I'm still on the ice cream kick--today I made a great sugar free chocolate that was so smooth and creamy. Very rich, too. I imagine it will turn into a solid block of ice, but after an hour or two in the freezer it was still quite scoopable. I served it with brandied cherries, whipped cream, and a few thin ginger cookies. It was worth the 20 or so dishes it took to produce. The ice cream had a custard base, which I really do prefer, with cocoa and semisweet chocolate added. I used MiniCarb chocolate chips, which do have some polydextrose in them, but no sugar alcohols. I'm really liking my Cuisinart ice cream maker--it's so much easier not to have to bother with the salt and ice. Plus the advantage of being able to see and taste the ice cream without stopping the machine.

So you what? Ended up with peppered pickles?

After reading (most) of this thread I had to try it, too. I used the slow cooker and about four pounds of onions. Cooked most of the day and overnight with demiglace, white wine, water, butter and olive oil and not much else. It turned out really well--I've already finished off one of the pints. I'll have to make it again this weekend when my husband is out of town--he doesn't like the smell, but to me, it just smells like dinner cooking. Yum.

I think you're right--sometimes we do things because it's important to keep up traditions. Not because they're easy or inexpensive. Maybe people are canning now not because they have to, but because it means something. It's like making bread--it used to be for physical sustenance, now it's more of a spiritual thing. Good points.

I always look up the USDA stuff online. Don't want to mess with botulism. If I had someone here to help, I'd probably can a lot more. Canning by myself, usually in August, leaves something to be desired. Like company, and a second brain in case I forget how to use mine in the heat. My husband is no good in the kitchen. I was making several batches of pepper jelly at the same time one summer and he wandered into the kitchen complaining that he was hungry. I kid you not, while I was pouring hot pepper jelly into canning jars, I had to walk him through the process of making a tuna sandwich. So...yeah...I don't ask him for help with the canning. If any of you want to post recipes, that would be great.

I'd never heard of haibun before, but I looked it up. Interesting. When you can salmon, do you use a pressure canner? That's one thing I've never done; I guess I knew too many people who'd been injured by the old style of pressure cooker.

Thanks for the recipe. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen. Cali, when you make the low sugar jam do you can it? I make a lot of mine low sugar but I freeze them because the canned ones need a certain amount of sugar or acid to be safe.

I was growing a big garden and canning everything, then all of my kids grew up. With just two of us, it didn't make sense to spend all of the time gardening and canning. We just don't eat that much of it. I still send things to my kids and give them away, though. Another thing I really enjoyed was picking wild things to make jam--here in central Montana there aren't that many, but I've made chokecherry jam and wild plum preserves. Also crabapple jelly from my neighbor's tree. I like the idea of preserving the wild fruits. I'd love to get my hands on some huckleberries, but they don't grow in this part of the state. And no one will tell you where to pick them! They're too prized. The tomato-bourbon jam sounds interesting. Recipe?

When I was growing up we canned hundreds of quarts of peaches, pears, cherries, and other fruit we got cheap or sometimes free. Also lots of jams and preserves. When I have a garden I do some canning to make salsa, pepper jelly, and things I can't readily find in the store. But not a lot, and not really anymore, although I still have my canning kettle, just in case. It can be an expensive hobby, especially if you have to pay full price for fruit instead of picking it from your own trees. If you can, why do you do it? To save money? To make things you can't buy? To give away? Or maybe to preserve an overabundance of things you've grown yourself? I'm interested in the reasons, if anyone still does it.

I can't get the Terra olive oil and rosemary chips--I'll eat the whole bag at one sitting. I don't usually eat potato chips at all. I also like the mixed Terra chips with all the different kinds.

I think that's why some people don't like Breyers Vanilla--not enough "gooey" stuff added. To me it tastes very natural and good. All in all, I'd rather use eggs and cream than mono- and diglycerides.

I did like the custard-based one better. But I do in general because I think the texture is superior. Some uncooked ice creams, while they taste really good, can get crystals and fat globules in them. It reminds me of the ice cream we made when I was a kid, but it's not something I'd want myself anymore.

I'm not planning to use any tobacco in my ice cream, so no worries! I meant to say that erythritol and maltitol are sugar alcohols. And there is a big difference between the two. Erythritol does produce a cooling sensation on the tongue, which shouldn't be a problem in ice cream. I actually have some of that and some polydextrose so I might give it a shot. Here is a quote from a place that produces erythritol: Another quote, this one about polydextrose: Oh, and the ice cream I made last night is now frozen solid, even though it was made with some sugar. So I might as well just use the other stuff.