zoe b

well, I just popped it in the oven--in the Corning pan--being a Doubting Thomas I Just Want To See For Myself. Not being totally foolish, I hope, as my non-stick bread pans are horribly sticky--so I think it's worth a try to see if I can preserve the one pot-ness of this recipe which is its charm--there is always a pile of things next to the sink to be washed in my kitchen . Z

hah--mizducky had the same thought as I did! the Hub is going to a guys only SB party--taking Asian style wings --using Hugh Carpenter's hoisin-based barbecue sauce. But I am having a private party with many subtitled B&W movies where almost nothing happens (or possibly too much happens) and Vietnamese spring rolls & champagne. Z

I hope I catch you before you try baking it in a Corning casserole! This dough is sticky beyond belief. I tried baking it in non-stick loaf pans with no success in releasing it. That is the reason I now line even my non-stick loaf pans with parchment. ← well, you have caught me--my rationale for the Corning being that I bake the Bittman bread in this casserole & it pops out fine--although in that recipe the dish is preheated--do you think that is what makes the bread non-stick in that case? Z

I don't know, gougeres seem just perfect to me without anything additional--I don't think I'd care for bacon in them at all. Maybe some black pepper... Zoe

This looks really interesting--thanks so much for posting about it. I'm going to start it right now--I don't have a non stick pan, so I think I'll use my round small corning casserole. I think I'll put a little whole wheat flour in it, too. Will report results. Zoe

those pans are gorgeous--I picked one up at a closeout sore around 10 years a got for 10 bucks--gave it as a wedding gift--I've been mad at myself ever since--i wish I had it now! Zoe

I made fried chicken for the first time yesterday--this was supposed to be a cooking afternoon with my cuz the trained chef --but it seems that there was a big football game so the guest list grew to 10--not what i wanted to happen when trying out something for the first time that involves hot grease......... But the chicken was a success--what a mess, though--grease everywhere--luckily the cuz just kept wiping surfaces down to keep things under control. I cut up four chickens and marinated the pieces in buttermilk, hot sauce and salt--didn't cook all of the chicken--probably 10 pieces left uncooked. I have no desire to either eat or cook fried chicken again anytime soon, so the question is--should i freeze them in the marinade, or wipe it off--i seem to remember that you shouldn't leave chicken in buttermilk too long as it makes it mooshy . thanks--Z

can you (or anyone else here) rec'd a good lobster broth recipe, or is it just simmer the shells in water with an onion and some parsley? (and a bisque recipe too if you wouldnt mind)? thanks ← here's a classic recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...er-Stock-231559 but really you can just make a simple stock if you want--the most important thing is to cook for a very short time--my fish guy told me this--and it's true--any fish/shellfish--just cook for about 15 minutes. and guys--each suggestion is more luscious than the last! It does seem that anything you do with lobster will be fabulous! I do feel strangely drawn to the lob and grits, though! If i can talk the hub into this i might go that route--he doesn't love shrimp & grits as much as i do--when we are in Charleston I have em at least once a day! Zoe

Let me get this said. It stinks for the lobster fishermen--I can't imagine how they are paying their bills with the price of lobster. But it has meant that we are having lobster pretty often this winter. I don't think not buying the cheap lobsters is gonna help them. If i lived near the docks i'd go and buy directly from them but I don't. So, anyway-we had too much food on NYE--the lobsters got steamed, but weren't eaten. Five pounds of lobster results in a lot of meat--two meals worth, in my opinion. So last night we had warm lobster salad--a bed of red leaf lettuce, a little sorrel, carrot strips, cukes, grape tomatoes, some roasted cauliflower bits, water chestnuts, and a warm thai-style vinaigrette--lemon juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, sugar, pepper flakes, left over butter, olive oil--sauteed some garlic, ginger and green onion in the vinaigrette, added lobster chunks and stirred til warm --served over the greens with bread and butter on the side--delish, if i do say so myself. Tonight will be lobster pasta--what do you like best--red, olive oil, cream--a combo of sauces? I don't want to overwhelm the lob, just enhance All suggestions welcome. Zoe

pretty good haul yesterday at the thrifts about 15 pieces of Dansk Flora Bayberry china--to ebay a diner style mug--very heavy--that has a little man saying "eat at Joe's"--probably a repro, but it's cute so i don't care. and a cookbook--The New Costa Rican Cuisine--got it because we love Costa Rica--but only have had very simple food there--bean & rice & fish or meat--which was delish, but I thought I'd like to learn a little more about the foods of the country. Checked on Amazon--there's one copy for $189! Soe I listed it for $175--you never know. It's a university press book nd quite often these are rare and desirable. Zoe

maggiethecat said-- I so agree--don't like her books at all--BUT the cookbooks are very desirable--I sold one for a pretty penny--so watch out for them.... Zoe

Hiroyuki-- I am deeply grateful for your tutorial and recipe--I made tempura tonight and it was successful--the first time ever I've fried something and it wasn't greasy! I used all veggies--sweet potato, asparagus, onion and eggplant. I only had some green tea noodles--but the smokiness was very tasty after the tempura. Thank you so much! I love tempura, but fried food makes me sick, usually--I think this time I will be fine! I can't wait to make this again, for company. Zoe

Our daily, The Newark Star-Ledger, 's food section has been crap for years--it's mostly wire service, and the cover food article's recipes are all grabbed off the internet--that POs me so much.

I just came to a conclusion about pie crust and decided to see what everyone here had to say on this important topic. I came from a shortening pie crust tradition--actually more of a Mrs. Smith's tradition to tell the truth! Since adulthood I've made all butter pie crusts--different recipes--julia Child, Martha Stewart. Recently I decided all butter was just too greasy--I like flaky, but i also like crisp and tender. I tried lard--the Hub's aunt, who was Southern, made wonderful lard crusts--My lard is pretty soft--it's from a pig we bought--have had trouble getting the proportions right--you simply can't use all lard of this type for a decent crust. Had to make 2 pies quickly this weekend so went to Joy of Cooking--used the basic pie crust recipe and it was divine--called for 2/3 cup of shortening and two tbls of butter. It was flaky, tender and crisp--easy to work with--it rolled out nice and thin so you got a shell of crust not a slab of it. I don't even know why i had shortening in the house as I've shunned it for years--and although it's the worst of the choices for health, I'm gonna use it for pies--after all, pie is never going to be a healthy choice--if if is, it won't be good.

Since I was generous and gave all the white meat left over to my daughter & SIL to take home with them--no sandwiches for us! But I am making soup--at the stock stage, haven't decided which direction to go in--it may be Italianish because i think I have some tired broccoli rabe in the fridge I didn't get to before Turkey Day--so will add white beans and either rice or pasta. Turkey enchiladas are great--make a red chile sauce for them , pour it over and bake--stuffed also with cheese, and sauteed onions. It's pretty good in a stir fry--just add the turkey last and heat it through before you do the sauce. But I, too, was planning a pot pie--I like a biscuit topping--make one with lots of cornmeal--maybe add some chopped sage and parsley. Zoe

Yes, the farmer mentioned that his customers do this. Menu plans changed at the last minute--the hub wanted MEAT for dinner--so I did a braised rump roast (wine and garlic and onions) , boiled potatoes, and added the sorrel along with the butter and olive oil. It didn't really melt since i wasn't actually cooking it with the potatoes--it stayed pretty green. It was good, but the sorrel flavor wasn't really intense--it was rather delicate. Zoe

I'm not sure if anyone who's never had Devilled Ham as a child will love it trying it for the first time as an adult. I did love it as a kid--but if i try and pull up the taste memory of it now what i get mostly is salty. I've always been intrigued by the idea of making my own devilled ham--there's a recipe in Joy--and a famous statement--something like--Hell is two people and a ham. But I can always think of other things to do with leftover ham--soup and beans, scalloped potatoes. Z

Magictofu-- good --sounds delicious--I'm doing this! PamR-- I also came across this soup and it sounds interesting--I d like to make it some day--I'm definitely going to try and grow sorrel next year so i can have access to large quantities of it. FoodMan-- That option to search within the book is pretty neat--thanks for tipping me off about it. I actually have this book--in a box somewhere, unfortunately--so searched in it on Amazon--I forgot what a magnificent book this is. It was one of my first cookbooks and i didn''t know enough then to realize what a treasure it is--Olney was a wonderful writer as well as a cook--and a wonderful teacher, too--i made all kinds of exotic things successfully from this book--pates and stews and salads not ever heard of in my American childhood. Those other sorrel options in the Olney book are intriguing. I also found in a Food & Wine Annual cookbook a recipe for roasted new potatoes--you put them in a bowl with olive oil and butter, and mix in a lot of julienned sorrel--supposedly the sorrel melts into the potatoes--i like the sound of this--again for future experiments. So, I'll probably go with salmon baked with some kind of a crust--pecan seems to be popular--and the sauce a la Magictofu--buttered orzo, roasted aparagus. I'll make a simple arugula salad (got this from the same farmer--our arugula is just finished) with sliced apples and dried cranberries and some more pecans. For dessert--ice cream with prunes in port and snickerdoodle biscotti . Thanks for sharing thoughts about sorrel with me-your input really helped my get a grip! Z

I just got three nice little bunches of sorrel from a fellow vendor at a market--something i've only read about, but always wanted to try. I spent a lot of time searching--found only sorrel sauce--for salmon, usually, and soup--we're having people for dinner and i wanted to use it then. For want of inspiration, I'm thinking salmon with sorrel sauce--have any other ideas? Also, I'm unclear on how to handle it--should it only be added at the very last minute? If i do a soup, i like making enough for leftovers---so what is lost when sorrel is reheated--the green color or flavor--or both? Z

First, I have to say that I grew up with Bisquick--biscuits, pancakes, shortcake, coffee cake, impossible pie--all of the above. But I left home, and became someone who makes everything from scratch. However, in September my family--siblings & spouses and kids--rented a house in Ocean City NJ for my Mom's 80th b-day. As the only people who were driving, we inherited all the pantry leftovers--some low fat Bisquick was included. It sat in my pantry until one night last week when we were having a sausage & bean & potato & chard stew for dinner--and I had no good bread in the house and no desire to go to the store--so I made biscuits with the Bisquick--and I have to say they were really good--light, just slightly sweet and a little crunchy on the bottom--so good that I made them again tonight. I didn't read the ingredients list real carefully, but I did see that canola is the oil--nothing hydrogenated. it goes on the list with Light Hellman's--the only other low fat product that i think is decent. Zoe

yes, I was thrilled to realize this! docscons said "You should definitely hit the food and Cocktail Museums located together within the River Walk Complex. IMO, they are currently the only reason to go in there, but they are worth it." Good, we now have a respectable excuse for being there--of course we will do it--but now we don't have to feel like total tourists--we can be knowledgeable tourists--hehe. And i'm interested in hearing more about gumbo..... Zoe

Well, I'm reading and printing this thread and getting more & more excited--we'll be in the City from Nov 6-11--staying at my sister's little apt in the Warehouse District. So thanks for all the info above--if we manage to hit half of the places talked about they won't let us on the plane to go home! We want to eat lots, and listen to great music and just generally BE in New Orleans. Any suggestions on a good guide ? We'll have enough time to do a little exploring and add a little Culcher to the experience--I know this is OT so ignore it if you want. Zoe

This is an Australian herb--apparently more lemony than lemons--it has many culinary uses, but I want to use it for my soaps--does anyone know of a bulk supplier in this country? Zoe

Yeah, I'm sure if you are running a biz you want things to be best quality, but i just get a kick out of using odd and/or plebian ingredients in food for the general heck of it. How will you manage the kumquat in the cookies? It would seem to be pretty hard to zest a kumquat--maybe dry them and grind em up? I have some citric acid, actually, so I'll compare the taste with the lemonade Koolaid when I get some and report back. Zoe

I just did a google search for recipes, and a lot of them seem to use unsweetened Kool-aid lemonade powder for the coating--with powdered sugar--I'm feeling strangely interested in seeing what this tastes like--i'm guessing it's citric acid--so it might taste pretty good.