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gfron1

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by gfron1

  1. Panda - those are great pics! We want more... Consider hosting them at ImageGullet - you can do a batch upload.
  2. gfron1

    Dinner! 2007

    Last night I made Jambalaya ala Auntie Young. She's a woman that I paid calls on as she aged who lived in uptown New Orleans. I was thin as a rail back then (now I'm thin as a stick), and she would always try to plump me up. In this version I added shrimp, andouille, chicken and some Spanish chorizo picante just because I had it around. My spouse was embarassed that I took a picture of our Rose, but I thought it was a good wine and a good pairing.
  3. Welcome dzungnguyen! We're looking forward to your contributions and expertise.
  4. Absolutely fantastic opportunity! Looking forward to the next post.
  5. Becca - what's your filling? BTW, great lift on 'em.
  6. I get to add two today... 1. ...you're going for a hike and decide to whip up some trail mix. An hour later you leave, after you've tempered your El Rey White Chocolate, added your nuts and dried fruit, decide to add something unusual so you go for pink peppercorns and use your cookie cutters to make it into fun shapes. 2. ...when your spouse announces that you'll no longer be allowed to buy "nice" clothes because you've ruined too many pairs of pants by getting oil or chocolate on them.
  7. I've been searching high and low because it would be the icing on the cake...a friend of mine has shown me a cookbook for eating hair. Disgusting - yes. He's from Alaska and owns a missile silo in New Mexico if that explains anything.
  8. I also wonder if we're talking dollar value of crop/livestock or weight or packing crate/bushel. Which sends me into two thoughts. Missouri is again becoming known for its wine production (I say it has far to go), but has a history of being one of the top producers in the country. It also has a lot of traditional crops (soybean, corn, etc). The reason that crops do so well is the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and other tributaries that have fertizilized the soil for eons. So when I first saw this thread I thought we were going to talk about what state can you throw a seed over your shoulder and see it grow. Missouri would definitely fall into that category of fertility. My second thought is a rememberance to my time living on a corn farm in Indiana. I was a city boy just living in a farmhouse on leased farm land. One season I planted a garden on the southside of my house. The soil was so moist and soft and I knew I would have a decent crop. My neighbor kept watching me work the garden every morning and would just wave and smile. He also liked to talk about how great his garden was because he used a friend's rabbit poop to make a slurry for his plants. And he did have a great garden...not that we were competing or anything. As the season neared an end and I pulled the biggest tomatoes off of the tallest plants I have ever grown, I took a few to my neighbor to say, "rabbit poop this buddy!" He smuggly asked me if I knew why my plants had done so well. I told him my hard work and probably a bit of chemical runoff from the corn crop. He said, "Yeah, and that you planted on top of your septic tank." So with that, I offer my backyard in Indiana as a nominee for the most fertile state.
  9. The things you wake up thinking about...I wondered who the White House Sommelier was. Turns out there's not. From This article: "Surprisingly, none of these wines were paired by an official White House sommelier — one doesn't exist. In-house ushers sometimes suggest wine matches, according to Laura Bush's Deputy Press Secretary, Tarah Donoghue, but in this case, Bush, her social secretary, and executive chef Cristeta Comerford collaborated on the wine and food pairings." I wonder if a different President might choose to spend money on a sommelier?
  10. gfron1

    Cooking with Beer

    And if you have a bit more time on your hand, you can follow Mette's recipes from the Baking and Pastry Challenge with her deconstructed beer desserts. Here.
  11. Kerry and the rest, thanks. This is really interesting and will go in my 'learn something new everyday' file!
  12. Eegad man!!!! Send that to Fear Factor and win the prize already...just get it off my computer screen.
  13. And Kai - when I went a few weeks back I anticipated the coldness that you would expect of a restaurant with Alinea's prices. I went in revering and respectful. By the end (and not just because of the wines), my spouse and I commented on the friendliness of the staff even before the food. I think you'll determine the tone of the night. I saw parties come in who remained stiff - I think they missed out. We got to know our staff's histories (remember 4 hours). We got to know what courses still make them smile. We got to share our lives with them. I used my bench pillow to relax when I needed to. To me that is exactly why Alinea's staff is top notch - they give you exactly what you want, when you want it. BUT, they also push you to have a new experience in the way that they serve the food. In this case, don't view the website as anything more than them presenting an image that misaligns with a reality - a theme you will experience throughout the evening.
  14. Try just using butter instead of the liquids. Play with the ratios, but really for that purpose you just want to soften the chocolate, so try say 1 C. chocolate with 1/8 C. Butter. And also for that purpose just nuke/melt the chocolate versus doing the whole stove top thing...
  15. Ditto everyone else, but re-emphasizing that we always squirt lemon or lime juice over the top if we want to save it for our morning omelet.
  16. Any chance we could see a pic of what it might look like? Thanks.
  17. The red spot is the syrup...just used to zoom up the flavor a bit. And this panna cotta used 3 C. half and half with 1 C cream - I'm not one to worry about health or weight Glad to know you made it work. In general I think in individual servings so my translations to 9" or other larger formats is a guess at best, plus you always have to determine what effect altitude will have, although I do normally post sea level recipes. BTW, my other favorite easy pastry cream recipe is from Dorie's book with Julia Child. Its a microwave version that I've yet to have fail. Its not quite as refined as PH's, but no one has ever noticed when I've served it to them and its done in minutes with little effort on my part.
  18. I'll get it posted in RecipeGullet today. Let me know how it works out. EDITED TO ADD: Here it is.
  19. Rose Panna Cotta Serves 8 as Dessert. Continuing my recipes from the garden... 1/4 C. Rose (see below) 1 C. Confectioners Sugar 3 C. Half and Half 1 C. Heavy Cream 1 t. Vanilla 1/3 C. Hot Water 2 (.25 oz) Packets of Gelatin The key to making this work is having good roses. I didn't like the taste of rosehip tea, and roses out of the front yard didn't work either. I ended up with Siberian Rose Tea that I bought in Chinatown SF. Heat half and half in a saucepan over medium heat just until soft boil. Add roses. Cover, remove from heat and steep 15 minutes or until the aroma matches your taste. Strain our the roses and discard. In saucepan combine half and half, sugar, cream and vanilla and cook 3 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk hot water and gelatin until it dissolves. Whisk the gelatin into the half and half mixture until fully combined. Remove from heat and pour into your mold. I use decorative silicon cupcake molds. Let set in fridge at least 2 hours or overnight. To remove, gently run knife around top edge, and set in pan of hot water for 10-15 seconds. Drizzle with rose syrup available at middle eastern markets. Do not use rose water - too perfumy. Keywords: Dessert, Easy ( RG1978 )
  20. Chesnut Olive Oil Cake w/Caramel Filling Serves 6 as Dessert. I'm finding olive oil cakes the easy solution to the dry cakes that we often get at high altitude. Experiment with different olive oils. For this recipe I used a mild Spanish oil, but I would try it again with an orange infused or lemon infused oil. 1/2 C. Olive Oil 1 C. Chestnut Flour 1/4 C. Chestnuts 1/2 t. Baking Powder 1/2 t. Baking Soda 1/2 t. Salt 3 L. Eggs, Separated 1/2 C. Honey 1/4 C. Sugar Oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9" Spring form. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add nuts. In another bowl, beat egg yolks, oil, honey, and 2 t. of sugar until thick and pale (5 min). Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed until well mixed. Beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt in another bowl until soft peaks are formed. Add remaining sugar slowly until the whites hold a soft peak. Add 1/4 of whites into batter, then fold in remaining until well mixed. Pour and bake 30 minutes. Cover with foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until done. It is a very moist cake but the toothpick test does still work. I split the cake and filled with Fleur de Sel Caramel that I softened in the microwave, and added butter and cream. Finally, I topped it with a simple glossy ganache. The base recipe started with Gourmet magazine and has had many revisions. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Cake ( RG1977 )
  21. The rosemary wasn't too strong - I had some young leaves that I chopped. The base recipe is from the new Pastry Art & Design...modified of course. I ended up re-making that recipe for dessert tonight in larger form. Lately my desserts have all been from the garden, and everything I'm pulling is the young leaf or bud. Seems to be a good choice so far.
  22. Lemon Rosemary Crust with Rosemary Pastry Cream - very yummy! Rose Panna Cotta with Rose Syrup For this I steeped a great rose (not hip) tea in my milk first. Chestnut Olive Oil Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel filling and chocolate glaze BTW, this is my first use of ImageGullet to make sure pics stay posted here for ever and ever. It was easy - I would encourage everyone to do the same so we don't have dead links in the future.
  23. We have a great carneceria in the next town over (1 hr) - a family from LA. They have the best selection of any meat in the region, and the best carne asada I've ever had. What I like about them is that they know how to butcher like in the good old days - they get the animal and cut it up and use every piece. They even gave me freshly butchered suet last year for mincemeat.
  24. Different uses. I enjoy a square (or more) with a glass of wine or port after a good meal pretty regularly, and I'll scarf a candy bar during the day 'just because.' But, I used a lot of bulk and couveture, as well as some high end bars in my baking too. No either or with this guy.
  25. I really appreciate this dialogue since my store right now is debating what to do about bags. We use plastic only, but we're so sick of seeing Wal-Mart bags hanging off every cactus and cholla plant. Fortunately (or unfortunately for sales) we don't see our bright orange bags out in the fields yet - probably because our clientele is a bit more careful. All that said, we know its not a reality to have all of our customers buy cloth bags. We've also heard of the new corn plastics coming around that biodegrade (in more humid climates, not ours) in 3 months - we're already serving our coffee out of the corn cups. This will be a bonus once they strengthen them a bit more. Our ultimate goals (as consumers) is to give the bags a good life. Not a single bag goes unreused in our house - every single one will end up with dog doo at some point...some bags attract roaches - some doo
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