zoe b
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Posts posted by zoe b
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thanks, Scarpetta, for the mini Italian lesson--I really need to take a course --watching Italian cooking shows on Sunday morning can only take you so far!
And Franci, I'm salivating at your description of the rotolo--I'm doing a cooking get together with a friend Saturday--maybe she'll want to make this with me.
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I did see rottolo coming up when I was searching, but then rottolo was referred to as a pasta--so I didn't look further--I'll go back and check--thanks, Kevin--Z
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sorry, my Italian is abysmal--is the singular gnoccho?
anyway, the hub was watching Lidia's Family Table and called me to see this--Lidia made roast turkey with what I think was a a giant gnoccho--I didn't catch what she called it--the hub said it was wrapped in cheesecloth and simmered--it was served sliced--looked like it had golden raisins in it--it would serve the same function as stuffing, I imagine--and it did look good--have spent some time hunting for this, but no luck--any advice?
Zoe
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meatball sandwiches, a real Mini and the desert--that is fabulous, Caroline!
I want to do that right now....
and I've never participated in a lobster bake on the beach--that would be very high on my list of wonderful experiences
"P.S. Was it actually pine needles that was in Paula Wolfert's recipe? It would be sad to have to disprove my romantic, metaphoric point with mere facts. . . but if so, I wonder where the recipe came from, geographically, and the "why" of pine needles as opposed to any other thing that could be used. . .flavor-wise, pine would not be my choice if there were anything else at all growing around the area that could be used. . .pine has that scent to me of clean linoleum floors. . . "
sorry to pop yer bubble, Karen--the dish isn't in O'Brien's book, only on Wolfert's.
I don't have it any more--why I got rid of this cookbook I don't know--it was during a mad divesting frenzy--I
ll end up buying it again now, I know--
but I don't remember what country the recipe was from--you don't get pine sol--it's more charred resiny.
I'm sure it's authentic--she's very reliable on that score.
edited--ok, I googled to see if I could find out more about the recipe
http://www.paula-wolfert.com/books/swf_reviews.html
this is a review of another Wolfert book where she has an indoor version of the recipe--and it's from the Charente.
Z
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I'm reading Edna O'Brien's book--The High Road
and loving it--she a fearless writer.
It's about a woman who is running from an affair gone wrong. She has just arrived in a little town on the coast of Spain.
Here's a description of the sea--
.of such blueness that it seemed not to be water but a potion, of magical propertiesSo anyway, the narrator is doing a lot of walking around, and theres a lot of mention of pine needles underfoot.....and this got me thinking of this way we did mussels a few times--from Paula Wolfert's I think it was the Mediterranean Cookbook.
You get a wood plank and arrange mussels on it, hinge side up, and cover the mussels with a thick layer of pine needles. Then you light the pine needles and wait untill they have all burnt off--the mussels are cooked and ready to be eaten.
It was an incredibly messy thing to do--but it was fun--although if you'd had a few drinks it got kind of crazy.
The mussels were good, but always had quite a bit of roughage--somehow the pine needle ash got into them--if you saw the Bushmen cooking an ostrich egg for Anthony Bourdain a few weeks ago, there were some similarities.
But as soon as it warms up I intend to cook mussels this way again--anyone have any unusual cooking methods to share?
Zoe
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I've sold at farmer's markets for the past five years or so--the bakery stand always does really well.
Get a pop up canopy at costco--they have good cheap ones--I can put mine up by myself it's so easy.
Your list looks good--you'll have to get to know your market and discover what your customers want--but only listen to the ones who are buying--there are always too many who just look and then ask for something you don't have as a way to make conversation.
Having a few things that will keep from week to week is a really good idea--it's horrible to have to give away all of your products after a really slow day.
I love FMs--the customers are generally pretty nice and the other vendors are great--everyone looks out for each other--and we have lots of laughs.
Zoe
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CP--I was rummaging around the Net looking for soymilk maker info and found this site
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/forum/index.html
there are a lot of posts about large quantity cooking--and it's the kind of food you are working on.
Z
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cool and make sure it's in something tightly sealed--a bucket as advised above is good.
Air, leading to oxidation is the enemy of coca butter--any fat--think butter left out uncovered.
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about those recalcitrant rutabagas--poke holes in them and nuke em for a bit until they soften up to the point where you can cut into them--I do this for all of the tough root veggies.
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a beautiful meal--you are doing good work, girl!!!
sausage and mashed potatoes with oniony gravy--I had that in pubs in England and I dream about it.
serve some kind of sharp greens in a salad with it
and apple crisp for dessert--oh, wait is that the V-Day dinner?
cupcakes are fun--you could make chocolate ones with pink frosting and sprinkles.
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I just watched Idiocracy- and this movie, set in a future US with an extremely stupid population, covers some of the issues raised in Pollan's article in a pretty amusing fashion.
The crops are all dying--and Luke Wilson-- an average guy in the present --but the smartest man in the world in the future (never mind how he gets there), notices that green stuff is coming out of the irrigation sprayers--it turns out it's Brawn-something--a gatorade-like sports drink--this company has convinced the entire population that water is something that comes out of toilets--and why would you drink that?
The only thing that people seem to eat is a globby yellow fat of some sort that comes in giant tubs--people have stacks of them in their houses.
This future doesn't appear too far off to me.
I think Pollan's most important point is that a large part of the population is eating food that is cheap to produce and has a long shelf life--food that corporations prefer to sell--not the food that tastes the best and is the most enjoyable to eat.
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I wonder if you could just make a double strength sugar syrup (2:1) and steep unsweetened coconut in it overnight--that's how i make all my syrups. I'm going to try it--sounds good.
Zoe
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I grew up with Bisquick--pancakes, waffles, shortcake, biscuits--every recipe on the back of the box.
I used to take a box camping when the kids were little --for breakfasts.
And the impossible pies were often made then--the quiche was good, and my father in law loved coconut custard pie so i used to make that for him.
It's just as easy now to make up the mixture for whatever, and one less item in my pantry so i don't buy iy any more, but i think it has its uses.
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just made the French Yogurt cake--this is as fast as making a box cake!!
I really had it mixed up and in the oven in 5 minutes.
You may have passed it over because it looks so simple, but it is really delicious--I've only eaten a crumb as it's still cooling, but it's light and has a very different texture from an American tea bread--it tastes very eggy, and is not too sweet--I'm going to glaze it with lavender syrup as I only have a teeny bit of homemade marmalade left and don't want to use it up for a glaze.
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I found a thread here on soy milk makers with some discussion of the Soyajoy maker--the complaints that i found most interesting were that it's a pain to clean.
apparently the same company has a new model--Soyapower--that supposedly is easier to clean--has some other features that i don't care about--safety latch, plastic exterior that stays cool--these are more relevant for a house with kids.
Anyway, has anyone tried the newer model?--it's a lot more expensive , so if there really isn't any big difference I'll go with the original model.
thanks--Zoe
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smithy said--
"My dad always used to say that there was no point in going to Las Vegas if you were a farmer. "
So true! Oh, I feel for those farmers--I know how close to the bone their operations are even on a good year--that they have the strength to keep it up is amazing--that temptation to sell their land to developers and make tracks to Arizona must get overwhelming at times.
Zoe
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Heather said=--
"And I too always make brownies from scratch. I've got a killer recipe and get more consistent results with brownies than with scratch cakes."
this made me laugh as the only mix I use is Duncan Hines Brownie Mix--this, if you make sure you underbake it, is a pretty good emergency dessert (people dropping in and staying for dinner, or kids wanting to take something to school the next day) with good vanilla or coffee ice cream on top.
I grew up on mix cakes--my mother was never into baking--and i don't often make cakes, so didn't have a whole lot of luck getting a light cake until I tried the Cooks Illustrated yellow cake recipe--that makes a wonderful cake.
And I just made the Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake from the Williams Sonoma website based on a Gulleter's recommendation--also very good.
I had always had problems getting the layers out of the pans in one piece, but when I finally decided that doing the waxed paper lining thing might be worth a try my cake making just got a little less fearful.
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I don't sell perishables, but ideally, wholesale is 2x costs--or another way to figure is 1/2 of retail--but the realistic pricing is what the market will bear, unfortunately--your customers know what they can move the product out for, and will want to pay 1/2 of that.
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wow, I think everything looked wonderful, and did go pretty well for the first time--each week it will get easier, and less exhausting.
Please, if you can manage, keep us up to date on what you are doing--it's totally fascinating.
I think buying whatever meat is on sale that week is a good idea--probably your biggest money saver in the long run.
But the little things can nickel and dime ya to death--if you got someone to donate a freezer is there a place for it in the facility--you could try Craigslist or Freecycle for one--this way you could stock up on staples.
And people, please stop acting as though CaliPoutine is being condescending to her "customers"=--I think she is simply responding to what her restrictions are-- tastes, time constraints and financial limits.
Zoe
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this is weird how suddenly, people start trying the same thing at the same time!!
I've made sure I had a few bags of frozen veggies in the freezer for the past year or so--we fix a dinner for my MIL every day, and she eats around 4:30 in the afternoon, so they've been convenient if I didn't cook a veg for dinner the night before (often we just have a salad with our dinner).
anyway, I have always thrown frozen veggies into a clean the fridge soup, agree about frozen spinach being great to add to something--I would never serve plain frozen spinach as a side on a plate for dinner--yeech!
Fat Guy about Bittman--
"He said that the following were better frozen (though he was speaking in the context of February -- he wasn't saying these would be better than local, in-season greenmarket examples): turnips, peas, corn, green beans, limas, favas, edamame and pepper strips. He also included a recipe for an omelette made with frozen rutabaga, and sang the praises of Michel Richard's frozen Brussels sprouts. "
I agree about all of these, except the green beans--don't like them much plain.
And about lima beans--way better than fresh ones--I did a test of this several summers ago--in NJ which is a big grower of limas--bought fresh ones at the farm stand--cooked them and compared them to frozen--the frozen were sweeter and more tender.
I have to try the brussel sprouts cooked as Bittman describes--I did succumb to a couple bags of them--we love brussels sprouts--could easily eat 2 pints of them for dinner--and they are so expensive--the frozen ones steamed were still mooshy and tasteless--just as I remember them from my childhood.
And Danf-- about edamame--they should be cooked a little more than you are doing--not til they are mushy, but they should be tender--try some in Japanese restaurant to get an idea
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well, if we have a reminiscence from nola2chi, and one from rachel, we can make it through the day!
My mother didn't make the salmon croquettes, but I remember shopping trips with her to Philly, ending with an elegant lady's dinner at Stouffers--Mom would have a cocktail, I wold also--shirley temple--and i wouild often order the salmon or chicken croquettes--but i think these were the ones I've read the recipe for in old cookbooks--where you make a bechamel and mix up and chill and roll in a few things and chill and probably chill and roll again and then deep fry and then make a sauce, and then commit suicide as far as I'm concerned.
and Fat Guy--I have a feeling that canned salmon predated canned tuna as a pantry staple--it truly was the one fish item that ever reached anywhere away from the coasts.
I don't think I would ever want tuna croquettes from canned tuna--hot ( canned)tuna has always made me gag--a nightmare was being served tuna casserole at a friend's house as a kid.
Zoe
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I was just reading the Les Halles Cookbook while I was eating lunch and saw that AB said that a lot of chefs don't even bother with the veal demi-glace now--just do a dark chicken one--any thoughts on this?
I'm going to make a D-G in the next few weeks--have to collect the bones--which is more versatile in your opinion? Obviously the chicken one won't have quite as much of the gelatinousness of the veal base--any other differences?
Z
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"has Tony visited a place where they don't consume alcohol?"
yeah, I think at least one of the India episodes was alcohol free--and the hub remarked at the time of viewing--for that reason not as much fun.
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definitely rumaki
I did a 50s cocktail party a few years ago and served rumaki, cocktail dogs cooked over sterno--something we adored as kids and thought was the heighth of sophistication-- vichysoisse and caesar salad--lots of fun.
had martinis, manhattans, whisky sours, (I had to disguise my wine in a highball glass as i am not a cocktail drinker.
and I collect vintage party aprons, so had aprons for everybody to wear.
[The Asian Market] Asian Rices
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
blether said--
I asked the Indian gentleman who supplies all my spices, beans and Indian rice about the weevil problem. "Put a clove of garlic in" he said. Each time, I put a (peeled, uncut: somehow I doubted that unpeeled would be sufficient) single clove of garlic in with 5kg of rice and haven't had a problem since. The garlic doesn't taint the rice. The clove gets shrivelled over time but still no insects. The container isn't airtight - I can't comment on airtight storage as I've never used it.
this is great news! I have an old pantry and I think weevils are down inside the shelves where I can't get rid of them all--washing the shelves with bleach solution--I've tried everything--but if this works for me I'll be able to take all the flour out of my fridge ,finally, and not have to say a prayer that my rice doesn't wriggle when I scoop it out of the bag!!!
Zoe