annecros
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Posts posted by annecros
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I used to never cook fresh peaches either. Then I moved to southern California, land of peaches from June til October. They're never as good as peaches from trees that got a good chill in the winter, so turning them into baked goods is often useful. Besides, they're one of the BF's favorite fruits, so we eat rather a lot of them... one gets tired of fresh peaches, even if they're fragrant and tasty.
Freezer works, cook top doesn't. I may be able to pervert the rice cooker into cooking them tho. Hadn't thought of macerating them, or of panna cotta. BF and I both rather like panna cotta, so that might be a good spot to explore.
Sadly for the ice cream and gelato ideas, I'm the food processor and thing that stirs icy stuff. And I'm forgetful and liable to cut myself if I try to chop icy stuff. However, I can see how macerated peaches on ice cream could be lovely. I'd not insult these peaches by trying to do peach melba with the pitiable excuses for raspberries I can get, but they might rather like cherries. And cherries are in season and we can get pretty good ones.
I'll see if I can find poundcake, or I might save that idea for when the oven works again. Poundcake topped with peaches could be delicious
Thank you all for the ideas.Emily
Good to know that the freezer works. All is not lost, if you have a freezer.
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I have around a half dozen peaches. My oven isn't working (yay for apartment living). I need clever ideas for what to do with the peaches since I can't make any of the baked goods I'd usually do.
Right now the only working kitchen equipment is a crock pot, a microwave and a rice cooker.
Yes, we *could* eat them out of hand, and they'd be yummy that way. But other ideas would be good.
Emily
Is your freezer working?
They freeze quite well, and will be easy to fill a pie or cobbler when the oven is up and operational.
Otherwise:
ICE CREAM! You will get no closer to heaven than homemade peach ice cream. Everyone should do it.
I have also sliced them, sprinkled a little sugar over, then poured cream on top and eaten them with a spoon.
Anne
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I do not understand this discussion.
Cake = sweet thing, various flavourings, with or without icing/frosting/fondant (dont go there); usually eaten in dessert situations.
Pie = 2 layers of pastry with MEAT inbetween. Usually eaten in savoury situations, and at football.
I speak from a position of authority. I am born a Yorkshire lass, so pastry and pies are in my blood. We probably actually invented them,but will never be able to prove it.
Perhaps the expression "as American as apple pie" was coined to proclaim independence from England? Surely now that you live in another colonized land you have developed a keener understanding of such a desire.
As a concession to our shared debt, we do have chicken pot pies, often bought pre-made in individual servings at supermarkets. The larger, family-sized, home-made versions tend to be what might be called a casserole here, concessions made to British roots by sometimes placing a crust on top, whether crimped pastry or what, again, WE refer to as 'biscuit" like, spooned on rough for a savory cobbler. Then there's Shepherd's Pie, a nod to your northern origins, lass. We do that, too.
However, we are muts and while for a long time, suspicious, picky, boring, boring eaters, many of us, we have emerged as generous, greedy paws who takes what we can from the savory, hand-held pies of Eastern Europe and Latin America and not just the stuff that D.H. Lawrence's miners brought down into the sooty earth. We love puffy stuffed Chinese buns and all those other Asian goodies that wrap rice or wheat-flour disks around seafood, vegetables and shredded pork...as is the case in Australia.
As for what you might call puddings
(pudding is usually our version of Bird's instant custard powder in different flavors), we like the Italian crostada as well as the French tart, but the Italy-France business is complicated. Let's just say, there's tremendous multiculturalism in the desserts we now serve, although the earliest ones with fruit might owe most to practical ingenuity. What do you do with all that fruit you canned and turned into jam over the summer? Pie!!!Of course, there's mincemeat pie, too, as pointed out before, a deep bow to medieval dishes, British or not. Still, put a pumpkin next to a mincemeat pie on the Thanksgiving table, the squash wins every time.
In writing your book, you might check out something that was published recently in our land: Humble Pie (reviews were mixed). About some, if certainly not all the values ascribed to pie: Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, the title a reference to an American folk song.
Interesting. I just did that exactly last Thanksgiving, and the mince meat went through the roof.
I still do not care for it personally. Was quite surprised when hubby and the next generation went nuts over it, but had to cook two more, and one whole pumpkin pie (that I normally cook 2 of just to cover the parade) went into the garbage.
For the record, I still don't like mince meat.
For the record, Chicken Pot Pie in my house is a big deal, made from scratch, not frozen in an individualized tin.
Yeah, we are mutts, aren't we?
Take the best, leave the rest.
Anne
Edited: I must add here, that pudding in my mother's house, and my house, consisted of a custard stirred and nursed upon the stove top. I know that puddings on the other side is generally anything sweet.
Mutts we are.
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Well, Mayhaw Man, you did say "well made" in your introductory post, so no going back on making a pie less than what it is.
Pie. I hate it, but pie.
Caramel Cake, Seven Layer Fudge, Sour Cream Pound Cakes, love them all.
But do without a chicken pot pie, a quiche, a peach cobbler, and god forbid, living the rest of my life knowing that I will never taste a spoon full of fresh blackberry cobbler?
Pie.
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I agree that fondant is a nasty thing to put on a perfectly good cake. I agree it holds up well.
But, fondant in the confectionary? Indespensible. Consider your latest chocolate covered cherry.
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Hmm, what's important to me other than Barbecue?....
Chicken Fried Steak with Applewood Smoked Bacon Cornbread, and Oven-Roasted Okra & Tomatoes -- Which you can read all about on my eGullet foodblog.
Oh joy!
Yep, already planned dinner for tonight, but tomorrow its that for sure!
Thanks,
Anne
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annecros,
Sorry I lost the thread. Yes it was a coffee can! How'd you know?
You know the saddest thing was when my great-grandmother went to live in a nursing home and she had to drink tea made from a powder. Just vile.
Oh wow! When my mother was really sick and I went to visit her, she was drinking instant tea and frozen dinners. I was heart broken for her. Seriously.
I immediately creamed some corn, smothered some squash, fixed some green beans and new potatoes, fried up some streak o' lean, and baked some biscuits - to go along with the pitcher of sweet tea, fresh brewed.
Her health improved dramatically over that week of fat and nutrient dense food. She had withered away to almost nothing. Who could blame her, sitting there without anything decent to eat!
Anne
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To me, tipping has lost all meaning. Tipping used to be an appreciation of good service - something extra. Now it's mandatory since restaurants pay servers so little. 15% has long been considered standard, so anything less makes the patron a jerk (regardless of the level of service). And many people tip more since that's the only way to indicate that service was actually good.
I've traveled quite a bit in Asia where tipping is unknown, yet the service is the best in the world. In fact, during my first trip to Japan I tried to tip, but was vehemently refused each time. (Once, the server chased me down the street to return the tip I'd left on the table. He wouldn't take it even after I explained that it was a tip.) Of course, a living wage is built into the meal price, so prices are higher - by about 15-20%. I'd love to see restaurants in the US switch to this system, but that's a pipe dream. Wouldn't that make the group tipping situation so much easier?
Funny story: I once heard this from a waitress. An elderly couple were regulars at the restaurant where she worked. They dined there several times a week and always sat at one of her tables. Every time, the man chatted with the waitress and left a big tip. Every time, his wife hung back as they left and retrieved the tip - the ENTIRE tip. The man never knew and the waitress never said anything. Apparently, this went on for years.
Interesting. Restaurants in the US have always paid servers next to nothing. There isn't anything new or unusual about that. As far as I know, tipping has always been customary in the US. And, honestly, it is always on a sliding scale. Even for generous tippers like myself.
Outside of the US, I do understand that tipping is unheard of, if not offensive to the server. But the server's wage and the cost of the meal have to be adjusted against the economy, so it hurts my head too much to do the math. But the 15-20% that the meal is higher in one case, is spent at the discrection of the diner vs. the service actually received in the other. Pick your poison.
These tipping threads always go over the edge!
There will be no comfortable solution to the group tipping situation. Come on. Surely, you know that there are cheapskates, regular people, and generous people. The angles will all be worked one way or the other. In sent back food, complaints, whining, tantrums. There is always a way to get out of it.
I loved your little story. That waitress is a real professional. She paid the same attention to her customer every time, regardless.
I bet she average better than 15% at the end of the day overall.
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A cup and a half. That is what you are dealing with.
That is just a starter.
It keeps very well.
A tablespoon or two to start this, that or the other.
It keeps incredibly well in the fridge, and even better (think forever) in the freezer.
Dip in for anything that needs a kick. Yes, potatoes absotuley, but vegetable matter does very well with a bit of bacon fat.
Congratulations upon a start upon having a larder handy.
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What the heck does "authentic" mean, anyway?
In what contexts? "Authentic" Mexican or Chinese only has meaning, for example, if you treat those vast cuisines as monoliths -- which isn't a very authentic way to treat them.
Who wants "authenticity"? What does that desire mean?
Anyone want to start us off with a pleasantly assertive definition?
a quick down-and-dirty definition might include the synonyms bona fide, genuine, real, true, undoubted, unquestionable ....
used in the context in which I did in the food trends thread? Authentic Italian cuisine as opposed to American-Italian cuisine ... that was all I meant, chrisamirault ...
nothing either fancy nor convoluted ...
Mario and Lidia versus Chef Boyardee ...
Hmm. And I suppose you will concede that there is an authentic Italian American Cusinine that does not encompass Chef Boyardee?
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Frankly, the blue steel pans are obsolete in a professional kitchen.
Teehee.
Well, judging from her discussion of her heat source, I am guessing this is an other than professional kitchen. Just like mine.
Cookware for home use is sort of a hobby of mine. I have 100+ year old cast iron pieces, some blue steel that dates to around the 70's I think, Stainless including one very large pressure cooker that I was finally able to replace the seal on, some aluminum, some copper clad, and some very fancy non stick caphalon that is modern. I have very old copper molds on display in my kitchen, that I pull down, wash off, and use when the need arises. They are pretty, old, and suitable for certain applications.
Heck, I have a spatterware enamel roaster that is certainly older than I am, as my mother used it to cook cabbage rolls when I was a little bit of a thing, and by goodness, my cabbage rolls come out much better cooked in this piece than any other.
I think matching the needs of the dish to the personality and traits of the cookware is the focus of the home cook. Following "trends" is not what the home kitchen is about to me. The home kitchen for me means using the knowledge, skills and techniques used by those who came before me, while also trying new things with new tools.
Mom was cooking with Le Cru the first time it was trendy back in the 60s. It was cheap then as well. I am cooking with the same Le Cru now that it is trendy again. I never stopped, as she started handing it down to me as I started making my home.
I also own a blue steel wok. I have never encountered anything that does the job better.
Anne
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Here's a link to the manufacturer's product page and here's the pan I bought. Looks like it's the budget line "for less powerful heat sources," which certainly applies to my stovetop.
As per everyone's recommendations, I'll try to season the pan well before moving on to eggs.
Fry some bacon. Then fry some more bacon.
Hey, who can't use prefried bacon, and rendered bacon fat? Staples in my fridge.
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I have several of these. They impart quite of the heat quality and effects of cast iron, but are generally lighter. I would still prefer my cast iron for low and slow, and my cast iron chicken fryer has no rival, but for your purposes and the ways you intend to use it, it sounds ideal.
Treat it just as you treat cast iron. Use it to maintain the season, once you have established one. Then respect the seasoning.
If it DOES happen to rust, then scrub it all off and start over. Otherwise you have a very inexpensive alternative to cast iron, with quite a few of the benefits, and less weight.
Anne
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I agree with the person who said cooked food. Anything raw I can do, but cooked...no go both in restaurants or at home. When I say cooked, I mean anything cooked, including pasta, rice, bread. My threshold has to do both both % humidity and temperature. The extreme of no cooked foods kicks in at high summer DC temp/humidity. At 80F and 60% humidity, I can still do rice and pasta. Probably why I used to drop 5 pounds over the summer. I also avoid any hot beverages (duh), including my morning coffee.
Will you eat cold cooked foods? Like, cold chicken? Pasta salad? That's one of my favorite summer things. One of my favorite anytime things, really.
Judging by the inclusion of "bread" in your list, I'm guessing not, but I'm not sure...
OH MAN! Cold Pasta Salad. All about summer.
Just have to get up early enough in the morning to prepare and pop it into the fridge before it gets hot out.
But Pasta Salad? Must eat. With anything grilled, but most especially smoked pork butt.
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Well, the availability changes in the summer, and I think that influences a lot of my eating choices.
My beloved bean soup and garlic cheese toast are banished. Just can't do it. But beans and rice, yeah, I can do those.
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I had a great granmother and grandpa Griner, right there in South Georgia.
We always willted the salad with a hot dressing of bacon grease, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. Crumbled bacon on top. Not too much sugar, just enough to cut the acid, and you did have to eat it right away or it got nasty.
That cucumber salad says summer back home in the south to me. I was raised with it. But my German mother-in-law finds it very familiar, as well.
There were too many cultural influences in the South to really run any down, I think. That's what makes the cusine so interesting, complex and unpredictable at times.
Corn, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes from the Native Americans, who had been cooking with them for centuries. Peas and okra from Africa, not to mention some skills concerning preparing and preserving large hunks of meat. If you want to prepare a leafy green vegetable or a sausage, I can't think of a better person to consult with than a European.
Interesting stuff.
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Oh man, I forgot about beets. I've tried people, I really have. They're so pretty but I just can't eat them.
Isn't it strange? I love all other root vegetables. Parsnips, rutabaga, carrots, radish, turnip, you name it. Give me more.
But when the beets come out at the holidays, and hubby and son love them, they are so pretty and enticing I know that they MUST be good. They even smell good to me. Sadly for me, they are not a good thing.
I try them once every three or four years, only to say to myself, "Self, you still hate beets."
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Wow, I love this thread.
Cheesecake is lovely, and I double the cream cheese on my bagle every time, and carrot cake is not the same without the cream cheese icing.
Now, to my irrational dislikes:
Raw onion has to be number one. Loved them so much, until I got pregnant with my first 21+ years ago. Haven't touched a raw onion since, but cook with onion constantly. Except (isn't there always an exception?) when they are in a decent chicken or tuna salad. Or potato salad. Or deviled eggs. Weird, huh? I guess they are stealthy like that.
Fish - Funny. I am either enthralled or sickened, no in between, no grey areas. Either it is wonderful or lovely, or I cannot stand to smell it, and I have no way of predicting which way it will go.
Overcooked Beef - Just can't do it, unless it is a pot roast or brisket, which is an entirely different thing. I can't eat a MW burger. It is like sawdust. No matter how skillfully overcooked it is. And if you put an overcooked Porterhouse in front of me, I will literally cry.
Cannot eat Mayo. Never have, never will. I can tolerate Miracle Whip in salads, and homemade mayo works OK, but never ever ever ever on a hamburger! Mayo, or any other whitish salad dressing sort of thing on a burger, will send me screaming.
Beets. I hate beets. They make me gag.
Eggs must be scrambled hard, with one exception. I want a runny thick yellow yolk when they are poached, so I can sop my toast in it. Don't ask me why, I do not know.
Cilantro = Soap
No raw seafood. Period. It just keeps getting bigger in my mouth, triggering the socially unacceptable gag reflex.
Canned biscuits and instant grits. I might throw something at you.
Not big on lamb.
Of course, you are hearing from a woman who cannot take the cotton wadding out of the top of the aspirin bottle. Skeeves me. When I get a bottle with it in there, I hand it over to my husband who proceeds to chase me around the house with it. I just cannot stand it. It makes my mouth dry up and pucker, and sets my teeth on edge. I don't know why.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polenta
"Description
Polenta is made with either coarsely, medium or finely ground dried yellow or white cornmeal (ground maize), depending on the region and the texture desired.[1] As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier forms of grain mush (known as puls or pulmentum in Latin) commonly eaten in Roman times and after. Early forms of polenta were made with such starches as the grain farro and chestnut flour, both of which are still used in small quantity today. When boiled, polenta has smooth creamy textures, caused by the presence of starch molecules dissolved into the water.
[edit]
Similarity with grits
Polenta is very similar to corn grits, a common dish in the cuisine of the Southern United States, with the difference that grits are made from coarsely ground corn, hull and all. Most popularly grits are made from corn which has been processed into hominy (see nixtamalization), which originates in Mexican cuisine, making it grittier yet. Polenta's similarity to boiled maize dishes of Mexico, where maize originated, may be a coincidence, as polenta is not a part of Spanish cuisine."
People boil their grains to make mush. All over the world. There just isn't that big a distinction, excepting that probably as a whole food being ground from the whole grain, grits probably have a higher nutritional value, or at least more dietary fiber.
I have had plenty of yellow grits. Dad used to prefer them.
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Thanks for the input. I think I will give grass fed beef a spin. We eat our beef medium rare anyway, so overcooking shouldn't be a problem.
Will only purchase a small portion at this time though, and I do kind of like the guy at the SteakBurger site. After all, how can a man who loves Border Collies be a bad person?
I have a freezer, but here in South Florida we have had two consecutive summers in which community BBQs were held so that we didn't have to waste the meat we had frozen because the electricity was down from anywhere from a week to two or three, because of hurricanes.
Hurricane season begins June 1.
My canning skills have become much better recently.
I am looking forward to trying this. I am just hoping it is as tasty and satisfying as many are saying it is. A great burger is greeted with hosannas in my home. A mediocre burger is greeted with polite "That was good, Mom." statements.
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Has anyone had an opportunity to try these?
I have a sister-in-law raving about them, but I am not familiar with grass fed beef, and am wondering what the drawbacks are.
I am concerned that the fat content may be too low to make a decent burger, but the hominess, the knowing where your meat comes from, the desire to eat an animal that is not artificially "inflated" has me intrigued.
Also, we have a wide range of dietary concerns in the house right now, ranging from a hubby who has no health problems with diet and can eat what he wants, to a son that recently had a flare of Ulcerative Colitis who has to watch everything he eats, to everything in between.
Thanks in advance.
Anne
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I do Mom's from time to time, and hubby absolutely loves the huge cloves. He remarks on them every time, and says "I really like these whole cloves!"
He eats them straight up. And loves them.
I am happy with the residual results in the sauce.
I prefer Patsy's to Mom's personally.
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I have eaten this regularly (IBS issues) and at first, yeah it will knock your tummy out of whack for a while. But anything you introduce into your gut tends to do so, settling down after a couple of weeks in my experience. I eat it about once every other day, and am doing fine with it. I like it better than the probiotic tablets that I was taking every day.
Ironically, some things that make you "regular" can quite often work for both eds of the spectrum of irregularity. Fiber is one of those. My gastroenterologist explained it to me, but I am sure you don't want me to go into the graphic detail that he did. My IBS is of the split personality type, alternating from one extreme to another.
I seem to be ablt to normalize by digestion by using a combination of probiotic and fibre supplements, but I still have those days.
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Amazing. All this guilt and angst and diet obsessiveness, yet aren't we supposed to be the world leaders in obesity? Even among our poor?
Somebody is eating.
Why Use fondant?
in Pastry & Baking
Posted · Edited by annecros (log)
So, after reading page after page:
Cake or Pie?
That just isn't a fair question, is it?
The rest of my life? Please, if I can produce one, I can produce another.
ETA: I meant to say:
"An Other"