annecros

OK, so there are actual differences in the product (type of wheat) in addition to the preparation method. Thanks guys. Jamie Lee, I don't have a Thai cold noodle recipe for you, but have been known to eat Thai noodles cold right out of the fridge standing over the sink the next day! When I was discussing the cookoff with hubby yesterday, he mentioned that his Oma (he was born in Freidberg en Hessen) used to serve spaetzle cold with a sort of cold and savory cherry/pepper "soup" that was actually a sauce. Is anybody out there familiar with this sort of preparation? I googled it, but had a hard time finding specifics. With all the cherries in the markets now, it might make for something interesting and tasty.

I will communicate your thanks to the Kitchen Team, as it really is a group decision, and we all thought you had a great idea. I am looking forward to your contributions and learning from you, and maybe you can answer a question I have. Are Asian noodles, as a rule, entirely different from pasta? It confuses me when I see recipes that call for spaghetti or vermicelli that are Asian. I know common knowledge says that the Chinese invented pasta, but are they truly identical and interchangable? I am, confused.

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. This time, we're focusing on cold noodles, suggested by Society Member "Hiroyuki" as a great way to beat the Summer heat. Some version of a cold noodle dish can be found in virtually any cusine in the world. Whether you've wanted to try your hand at Somen (Japanese cold noodles), Nang Myung (Korean), or Aunt Irene's Cold Pasta Salad let's go for it! Let's talk about the various types of noodles and each one's virtues! Homemade vs. dried? Dressings and additions? Nosing around the forums brought up several topics: "Pasta Salad" the topic "Cold Noodles w/ Szechuan v. Dan Dan Mein" "Pasta Salad for Father's Day" "Pasta Salad lacking Nuance" "Nyang Mun (Naengmyun) Korean cold noodle dish" RecipeGullet offers these great looking recipes: "Cold Peanut Noodles" "Orzo Salad with Apricots" "Curried Macaroni Salad" I am not familar with anything other than cold pasta salad with ranch dressing dumped on it (I know, I know, but my kids consider it the required side dish for BBQ) - so I am looking for cookbooks that can help me out. I am considering the following: "The Noodle Cook Book: Delicious Recipes for Crispy, Stir-Fried, Boiled, Sweet, Spicy, Hot and Cold Noodles" by Hayto Kunumi "Noodle" by Terry Durack and Geoff Lung "James McNair's Cold Pasta" by James McNair "Garde Manger, The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen" by The Cuinary Institute of America Any other good cookbook suggestions out there? Who's up for some cold comfort in July?

What a wonderful read! As a 12 year old, I was a dancing peanut in Sylvester, GA's annual peanut parade - I think the costume was 12 years old as well, and had been worn by other 12 year olds for the previous 11 years... Thanks for the memories.

Corn Cob Jelly is actually very pretty, and quite tasty. Link to recipe Amazon sells it at $3 per 4.8z jar! If I remember correctly, squirrels love them as well. I usually compost.

It is time to consider a Cook-Off for August. Please, PM your suggestions to Chris (chrisamirault), Pam (Pam R), Susan (snowangel), Corinna (corinna dunne) or myself (annecros) - thanks. Anne

Ug. You nailed mine. Perishables in the magazine racks. Where has your butter been? Restocked or not. Makes me all the more a fan of the back is the new front mentality.

Yep, traditional half sours are fermented pickles.

What method and recipe are you using? Is this a fermented pickle? As far as cloudiness is concerned, it can be caused by any number of things: While fermenting, the brine might become cloudy due to lactic acid bacteria growth during the fermentation period. If you want a noncloudy appearance, a fresh brine can be used to pack the pickles when they are ready for processing. In nonfermented pickles (fresh pack), it might indicate spoilage. Check the pickles for signs of off-odors and mushiness of the pickles. If these signs are absent, the pickles should be OK. Did you use regular table salt? That may cause slight cloudiness because of anticaking agents and so forth, so try to use pickling and canning salt. Hard water might also cause cloudiness. If soft water is not available, boil the hard water and let it sit undisturbed overnight, or just buy distilled if you are not doing a large quantity. Did you use garlic cloves, and did they turn green or blueish green? That is sometimes an indication that your water is hard, but some garlic just naturally has more pigment and you may get it anyway.

What are you looking for? Seafood is really good in the area, and BBQ is plentiful. I haven't been to the Space Coast in some time, but have friends who have relatives there and can ask around.

That truffled polenta is justifiably famous. Can you tell us more about the Clam Linguine? The pasta looks perfect, and the sauce looks like a very "clean" sort of fresh taste. Not too heavy?

It's called Mirai. And a very nice corn it is. Very sweet, with cobs full of consistently sized kernels. Farmers near Philadelphia have been growing it for about three years. It can be had at the Reading Terminal Market in late July and well into August, though it's a tad more expensive. ← That's it. Thank you. The seed can be had around and about though. Sounds like a late season, if I understand seasonality in your region. I am sure I will trial it sooner or later, but corn just takes up so much space! Even densely planted, the way I do it. As far as Princess, Queen and King coming in with that order of precedence - it makes sense. Silver King was always later than Silver Queen. Though, only by weeks. Peaches and Cream is also lovely, if you can get the real thing, and not just generic "bicolor" corn.

Ah - you are asking the ever present acidity/food safety question that the Ball Blue Book and the USDA enforce absolutely strictly with no wiggle room. 5% acidity is the golden rule of canning. It is up to you. The way I get around it with cucumber pickles is to make a 2 to 1 or sometimes a 3 to 1 ratio of vineger/water, bring all to a boil for ten minutes, pour into the loaded jar and go straight to the fridge so that I can live with myself, and still eat the pickle. Now, even at 2 or 3 to 1 the USDA recommends an extended processing time for the canned pickles (various, depending upon wether you are doing a boiling water bath or canning under pressure, jar size, etc.) that actually cooks the cucumber in the process and has a detrimintal effect on crispness. Two ways to get around that are to either lime the cucumbers in advance, or use a product called "pickle crisp" as an additive. The end result is a pickle that can be processed under heat that is sufficient to kill any bacteria, but will retain a crisp finish to the tooth, because of the addition of calcium to the pourous cucumber. It takes time and study. I am sort of a lazy pickler. All that being said, gazillions of pickles were made using the "open kettle" method (that is, stuffing the sterlized jars with the raw veg, bringing the brine to a boil and boiling ten minutes, then filling the jar to overflowing and slapping a lid on it) for a very long time, over many generations and decades. They went into the pantry as soon as they cooled off enough to handle, and stayed there all winter, consumed on a regular basis. Some of those folks died and were in the cemetary by 40 though, so who knows?

My best guess: Illegally young Florida Lobster. There's no way that would measure if it is, in fact. You didn't say where you were dining. Jail bait?

Actually, with our clawless abominations down here (known as "spiny" or "Florida" lobster) it is usually just a quick kinfe point where the head meets the top of the body. Then split (from nose to stern), gut and stuff with crab meat dressing while it is still - well, you know what it is still doing. That is, unless the enthusiastic sport diver didn't just wring the tail off the poor bugger under water and leave the rest to nurture the other wildlife on the reef that the lobster has been terrorizing. Maine lobsters? Hey, they'd pinch my nose off if they had half a chance.

Truck corn is always the bomb. You can even eat it raw without risking a tummy ache. It's not so much the variety, I have found. It is the fact that it is recently harvested. The "Silvers" are almost too sweet for my tastes - (I am savory if nothing else) - I prefer something like Trucker's Favorite Yellow torn off the stalk. Water boiling while you shuck. The newer super sweets have a much longer shelf life, but the old fashioned just plain sweets have a nicer sweetness to them that unfortunately degrades within hours. It is sort of like the difference between real cane sugar and aspartame, if you will. But, those are my tastes. And there is a new variety out of Japan that beings with an "M" that I am sure I will be suckered into growing within a couple of years. If you have access to boiling water, break up and blanch some cob corn and freeze quickly - if you have access to a freezer or some dry ice. It will serve you well. You are in NC at a great time of year for produce. There should be some peaches around about now as well, keep your eyes peeled.

No help here with the mystery organ, either. And I thought I had seen it all! But, am wondering why they would give you something inedible, as they seem to be very much into bang for the buck when you buy an animal. Isn't goat a great BBQ? I think it is entirely underrated in the world (except for the Islands - they know what to do with a goat in the Carib). Looks like you got a babe. Good job. Head cheese is just a boiling and reducing process. A terrine if you will. Hubby loves it, me not so much. I am happy to see you posting. Something tells me you are going to be lots of fun, Anna. ETA: The spooning out of the brain was brilliant. The use of tools is what separates us from goats and pigs. Tongues are difficult. I know of no easy way to do that. A very nice Brunswick Stew can be produced from the head as well.

Pickles on July 4th. More details later.

Wow! That was a job, and they look beautiful. What is that, about a dozen pints or so? ← Thank you Anne! Yeah it came out to 12. I usually do about 24, but I dunno if I am going to have time. If I don't have to work out of the home someday, I'll be pickling a bunch. ← Working out of the home is interesting, but working in the home is even MORE interesting. I know - am there, doing that. It does look really good, and gosh you have to preserve it when it comes in, right? More nutrition there than many people would think, as well. Good job.

Daddy. He grew up poor, but not ignorant.

There is a sort of cultural phobia of germs some people have against foraging. If they could only see the warehouses, and containers, and back storerooms where the food is stored and transported before it is wrapped up in plastic and a green tray, they would be in the woods in a minute! Then there is the field the foods are grown in, that happens to be outdoors and regularly sprayed with fungicide and pesticide and water from a shallow well. We won't get into slaughterhouses...

Tasted so much better, didn't it? THAT is why we go through so much trouble.

Absolutely! Kids make great foragers, and it is a great bonding exercise for them. Educational - my parents and grandparents would tell me so many stories about their parents and grandparents, a quiet time to talk about serious issues, teaching a child about how to identify edibles and what to stay away from (there are rattlesnakes in blackberry bushes - trust me, you also get to see a water moccasin in a mayhaw bog from time to time), a great way to get the kids off their butts and outdoors to burn some energy. I am so grateful that my kids were around my father before he died, and got to take those walks in the woods with him. Yeah for you on the nut trees! I bet you can't wait for October/November! Put those kids to work! If you have a boggy area, chances are you may have, or can cultivate, a mayhaw tree with all that hardwood around. Oh, and don't forget, those nut woods make great smoking chips as well. Pecan is my favorite on pork.

It is a hawthorn (very like a crabapple), actually, that grows in swampy areas. Click here for all the Mayhaw dope Wonderful jelly. Don't buy any off the shelf, though, you'll be dissappointed. You really must forage and make it yourself.

Brilliant. I bet those drunk raisins would make an excellent fold in for a rum cake as well.