Parmhero

I was just in Houston for the first time on a business trip. After a little research I settled on Dolce Vita, which is right next to Indika (I pulled into Indika's parking lot by mistake). We had a great meal at Dolce Vita. It's full name is Dolce Vita pizzeria enoteca and specializes in gourmet thin crust brick oven pizzas. We had a robiola, leek, and pancetta pizza as an appetizer, and seared sea bass with a white wine lemon butter sauce as a main course. Thre mini cannolis and cappuccino were excellent for dessert. Indika looked interesting but I guess I'm glad we chose Dolce Vita.

Sky High Apple Pie Apple pie is a family favorite, so I make a fair number of them in the fall. My pies are pretty basic and rustic. The only real difference is in the number of apples and the height of the pies. And this week we’re going mile high. The apple of choice is Macintosh. Sometimes I’ll use Granny Smiths, sometimes a mix of Grannys and Macs. The filling is apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, brown sugar, lemon juice, and ¼ cup flour. I like the apples to be softly firm, holding shape but yielding. Not hard. And not swimming in gooey goop. I cut the apples into quarters, and each quarter into thirds or halves. Inner sanctum, apples heaped, dotted with butter. Top on, ready to go The final result. Fresh from the oven. A slice. A slice ala mode.

I’m also a proponent of fresh pumpkin. I’ve used Libby’s and it makes a good pie, but I think a fresh pumpkin is better. It's more work than opening a can, but it's not that difficult. Use a small sugar pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds and glop, bake cut side down for an hour at 350 degrees. Scoop out pulp and puree. I agree with IlCuoco that fresh sweet potatoes are also excellent, baked or boiled, using basic pumpkin filling recipe—cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, sugar, eggs, cream. Here are some recycled pix of a fresh pumpkin pie from a recent post in the Dessert thread. So take the fresh pumpkin challenge and report back.

mmm...your mystery ingredient looks like intertwined strands of cheddar and mozzarella string cheese, percyn. - -- - - - - - - - Yesterday’s fare was a typical Saturday morning breakfast—omelet, home fries, breakfast sausage, toasted bagel with butter, coffee. Omelet filling is cheddar, parmesan, sautéed onions and potatoes. Bite! Weather this morning was sunny, not too cold. Dog thought balloon: “Would you please let me out already…”

Stack It Up As everyone knows, Sunday is pancake day at chez Parmhero. Today's stack: Big Daddy’s Whopping Mother Load Apple walnut pancakes, eggs over easy, bacon, with coffee and the Sunday Times. Zoom in before the eating begins. A bite. Gratuitous dog shot

Nice pix of some obviously good eats, percyn. Looks like a great trip. And you're in the world's fifth best country, according to the latest survey by The United Nations, which just ranked Norway as the world's best nation to live in for a sixth consecutive year. Iceland was No. 2, followed by Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Japan and the United States. The U.N. Development Program's human development index is based on such criteria as life expectancy, education and income. Skol!

Very pretty, Patrick. The pumpkins look uncooked, but carving them out and into shapely containers is a chore. The sides look planed. Nice job.

Thanks for the kind words, yunnermeier, GTO, and Ling. juliachildish: You only need one smallish pumpkin for 2 cups of puree. It will weigh 5-6 pounds. I paid 39 cents per pound for the two pumpkins I bought at one of the farm stands pictured above. Each pumpkin cost about $2.50.

Oats Glorious Oats! On a rainy autumn day in New England... ...nothing hits the spot like a nice hot bowl of oatmeal. Today’s fare is Quaker's old fashioned oatmeal with raisins, walnuts, and a splash of cream. Bursting with nutty goodness. Plus the cholesterol lowering benefits of oats. The KitchenAid Skull says: Eat Healthy or Die!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere It’s pumpkin harvest time here in The Northeast U.S., and pumpkins are omnipresent—at food stores, farm stands, and as house decorations. So it was only natural to want to pick up some sugar pumpkins and bake a pumpkin pie. Canned pumpkin is OK, but I think there is a difference in using a fresh pumpkin. Below is one of our little pie darlings To prepare the pumpkin, I cut the pumpkin in half, scooped out the seeds and goop, pulled off the top stump, and baked the pumpkin for an hour, cut side down, at 350 degrees. Above are the pumpkin halves after baking. The pulp gets nice and soft. After it cooled a bit, I scooped out the pulp and pureed it in a food processor. Above is the pie ready to go in the oven. The baked pie A slice with a dollop of whipped cream Parmhero’s Pumpkin Pie 2 cups pumpkin puree, 4 eggs, ½ cup heavy cream, ½ cup half and half, 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp allspice, 1 tsp vanilla. Pie crust is 1 cup of unbleached flour, 7 TB of unsalted butter, cold water, and a little salt. Parting Shot: Swan Lake

We paid something like $28 for a duck for two at the Peking Duck House on Mott St. About $14 each plus tip. I didn't find that too pricey.

A Lesson in the Key of Lime I saw that stores in my area were carrying Key limes, so I decided I would make a Key lime pie from real Key limes. But since I had never made a Key lime pie before, I had to do some research to determine what constituted an authentic Key lime pie. Say What? I discovered that while all authorities agreed that an authentic Key lime pie consisted of three key ingredients—Key limes, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks—there was controversy about what constituted the crust and topping of an authentic Key lime pie. For example, the Wikipedia states that: “Authentic Key lime pies are topped with meringue before baked.” Contrarily, the GourmetSleuth reports that: “The traditional preparation does not put any meringue on the top of the pie.” An entry on What's Cooking America reports that: “Aficionados of key lime pies argue endlessly about the proper way to make one. Graham-cracker or pastry crust? Meringue on top or whipped cream, or neither? Cooked or uncooked filling? The one thing that they do agree on is that under no circumstances should you ever add green food coloring. The filling of authentic key lime pie is a light yellow.” On about.com, we find that: “Key Lime Pie recipes have few variations. The most common variations are the topping and the crust. The toppings are either a meringue or whipped cream.” The author favors whipped cream. However, the about.com author also says that, “Traditionally, a regular piecrust is used, but a graham cracker crust is becoming more popular. Since a Key Lime Pie is kept and served cold, the regular crust tends to get soggy, but a graham cracker crust does not.” Hmmm. GourmetSleuth and other authorities say a graham cracker crust is the traditional way. On joyofbaking.com, we find another variation— that the meringue topping, like whipped cream, can be added after the pie has cooled. “Once the pie has baked and cooled there are two ways to garnish this pie. While some use a meringue topping I like whipped cream as its smooth texture and sweet taste just finishes off this pie perfectly.” Self-Baking Pie Authorities do agree that original Key lime pies generally were not baked—that the reaction of the lime juice with the condensed milk and egg yolks created a custard. For example, from foodreference.com, we learn that: “Because of the Keys isolation before the railroad was opened in 1912, fresh milk was hard to come by. So Gail Borden's invention of sweetened condensed (canned) milk in 1859 came in handy. It also meant that you could make a custard pie without the necessity of cooking it. The Key lime juice by itself was enough to curdle the condensed milk and egg yolks. No one knows who made the first one. They were probably made with pie crusts at first, but soon the Graham cracker crust became the standard.” And from whatscookingamerica.net, we learn that: “It was not until the 1930s that the first recipes were written down. Until then everyone just knew how to make the pie. No fresh milk, no refrigeration, and no ice was available in the Keys until the arrival of tank trucks with the opening of the Overseas Highway in 1930. Because of this lack of milk, local cooks had to rely on canned sweetened condensed milk, which was invented in 1856 by Gail Borden. Key lime may be the star ingredient of the key lime pie, but it is the sweetened condensed milk that makes it so smooth and delicious.” (More confusion: Notice that whatscookingamerica.com has Gail Borden inventing condensed milk in 1856 and the Keys’ isolation ending with the Overseas Highway opening in 1930, while foodreference.com has Gail Borden inventing condensed milk in 1859 and the Keys’ isolation ending with the railroad opening in 1912.) What's the Difference? From www.keylime.com, we learn: "The key lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) is in a class all of its own. Much smaller than regular "Persian" limes, the key lime ranges in size from a ping-pong ball to a golf ball (about 10cm to16cm in circumference).The peel is thin, smooth and greenish-yellow when ripe. The flesh is also greenish-yellow and full of highly poly embryonic seeds (two or more plants from one seed). The interior is divided by 10 to 12 segments, quite juicy and has a higher acidity than regular Persian limes. Key limes have a very distinctive aroma, which makes them valuable for culinary use." No Key Limes from the Keys We also learn that Key limes no longer are grown and exported from the Florida Keys: “Homestead was the last place in Florida where Key limes were grown commercially, but the groves have been lost to hurricanes, citrus disease and encroaching development.” And sadly: “Today the key lime is almost a phantom and any remaining trees are only found in back yards and their fruit never leave the Florida Keys.” About the origins of the Key lime trees themselves, we learn: “The Key lime tree, which is native to Malaysia, probably first arrived in the Florida Keys in the 1500s with the Spanish.” And that “They are also know as Mexican or West Indian limes.” Finally, a March 2006 road trip report by Charles Passy in The New York Times confirms that there is no single, indisputably authentic version of Key lime pie: “The pie can be found in places from roadside diners to swank hotel restaurants. And if you drive out along the Key lime pie trail — U.S. 1 from Key Largo to Key West — you’ll find no two pies are quite alike.” So, do you have to cook a Key lime pie today? From the Key Lime Shop FAQ we find this Q&A: Q- Do I have to cook a Key Lime Pie? A- No. The acids (which are high in Key Limes) actually cook the pie itself, but we think a cooked pie is tastier and has a better texture. My Pie Recipes varied in the number of egg yolks to use—generally from 2 to 4. I went with the basic GourmetSleuth recipe and used four egg yolks, one 14. oz. can of Bordens sweetened condensed milk, a little over a half cup of fresh squeezed key lime juice (about 2 dozen Key limes), and I used about 2TB of Key lime zest, a bit more than the recommended 2 tsp. I went with a plain graham cracker crust—I used 18 original Nabisco graham crackers, about 2 TB brown sugar, and one stick of butter, melted. I pulverized the graham crackers in a food processor and mixed in the melted butter and sugar in a bowl with a rubber spatula. I worked the crust into shape in a glass pie plate with my fingers. I baked my crust for 12 minutes, then filled it and baked the pie for 15 minutes. (Some recipes add ground nuts to the graham cracker crust. For example, Paula Deen uses ½ cup almonds in her crust. Adding ground nuts is a nice touch, but I decided to do the first one “pure.”) I’m not a big meringue fan, and I found the GourmetSleuth credible in that authentic key lime pies do not use meringue. I also sided with the GourmetSleuth and others who favored whipped cream as an optional topping served as a dollop. So I made whipped cream with heavy cream, a little brown sugar, 1 TB sour cream, and pure vanilla extract. The limes So here she is. My maiden Key lime pie: A slice Add a dollop of whipped cream, bam!, a pecan halve, wham!, and there you have it, Voila! The pie was excellent—a delicious melding of tart, sweet, creamy, buttery lime custard and cookie cracker crumb crust. One last note of interest: As of July 1, 2006, Key Lime Pie is the Florida state pie.

Peanut oil and extra virgin olive oil are pretty much the only ones I use. I go through a fair amount of peanut oil. It is actually hard to find sometimes. Stores that do sell it tend to sell only Mr. Peanut brand in 24 oz. plastic containers. And it costs $4.29 to $4.99 for 24 oz. (1.5 pints). There used to be a Hollywood brand peanut oil sold, but it's disappeared. I can also get more obscure brands of peanut oil in larger containers in some Asian food stores.

Nice try, tejon. But I agree that your stew looks too appetizing. I'm sorry, it doesn't make the cut. Perhaps in the future you'll be able to bring something unquestionably reprehensible to the table.

I'm glad you liked it. We aim to please. I ate most of it. How could I not? Such a masterpiece of visual repulsion begs to be eaten, so one might judge whether it tastes as bad as it looks. Besides, I was really hungry and had already paid for it. The sausage was dreary, the prosciutto nasty (and rubbery), the salami not too repulsive and chicken mostly edible. The "bile-like" sauce had no flavor and the rice (devoid, I might add, of mushrooms) was over-cooked, under-seasoned, dry and altogether horrible. ← Thank you, ringflinger, for your testimony. Your tasting confirms the visual foulness of the platter and brings a completeness and sense of closure to the episode. Your act of consumption is another stirring example of man’s quest for knowledge and the extent to which he will go to gain it. I commend you.

Yes, that plate of food is a winner. It is exceedingly repugnant. In cataloging the many nasty elements, we note: The sawed-off bit of sausage “thumb” with moldering gray areas. The bile-like green-gray sauce on a piece of rubbery-looking prosciutto. The yellow chicken-artichoke-egg substance smeared with green mucous sauce. The broken slice of cappicola studded with bits of fat and gristle. The dreary brown rice in which a stream of bilious gray sauce has run and collected into a mucosal gob. The unattractive dusting of rust-brown spice. Overall, an artless presentation compounded by the unappealing character of each particular foodstuff. A truly revolting collection. Now, the question is, did you eat it?

Yes, you hit it. Pecorino Romano is sharper, Parmesan milder. They complement one another, or add those dimensions, when used in combination.

Here's an updated report on CNN: Spinach & E. coli on CNN Health chiefs: Don't eat bagged spinach POSTED: 11:00 a.m. EDT, September 15, 2006

Sounds like French cooking was Greek to her.

Thanks, Ling. Thanks, manavano. Hope the patented eggmaster technique yields good results. Thanks for the china insight manavano. I'll have to delve further into that. Glad your semi-retired egg gadget will get some use.

Thanks, Daniel, The china is the property of the people we rent the house from each summer. It’s like an old friend—always nice to see it when we return. I’m not an expert, so if anyone with china expertise knows anything about the style or history, please chime in. Thanks, NYC Mike, Get your "Parmhero Rocks!" T-shirts, on sale now for $9.99.

Thanks, Kim Shook. Thanks, Percy. My secret eggmaster technique: Put two eggs in cold water and bring the pot to a boil. Depending on the size of the eggs, you develop a feel for when they’re cooked just right—approx. 1 to 2 minutes after the water begins to boil. Take them out with tongs or a spoon, run under cold water for a second or two to make it easier to handle the eggs with bare hands. Tap the eggs with a teaspoon at just the right spot to crack the egg, lift off the top, then extract the egg with a deft swirl of the spoon within the shell. Timing, precision, practice…eggmagic.

For several weeks in July and August, Parmhero was on vacation at an undisclosed location in the Adirondacks. While there, he regularly enjoyed a breakfast of soft-boiled eggs and toast. Pictured below is the very first breakfast of his vacation. There’s something pristine about soft-boiled eggs. You just can’t dip your toast into the runny yolk of an omelet. This Hobie Cat can fly. In a strong wind, it's scary fast. Back home in Connecticut, he continues to enjoy soft-boiled eggs and toast as an alternative to his many omelet creations.

What he said. It's been a peachy week. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

heh.... hmmph.... yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye...i am the egg man...goo goo ga choob....