Bonnie Ruth

I have noticed that, too. Sometimes I have to buy the overpriced crumbles because they don't have any wedges. Could that be what is really going on, that the stores are pushing the crumbles because they are more expensive?

There is an article in the May 2007 issue of Popular Science about chemicals that have been developed at the biotechnology startup Senomyx in San Diego that alter taste receptors and trick the brain into thinking that a food tastes better than it really does, so it won't require as much sugar and salt. They have also developed bitter blockers to make vegetables taste better, especially to children. These are currently in tests with Coca Cola and Nestles, among others; the first products containing Senomyx's "savory flavor enhancers"could debut as soon as this month. Labels will not show the ingredients because their quantities don't warrant reporting, but the article says to watch nutrition labels for a drop in MSG. It seems like there would be a drop in sugar and salt too. I don't know how to post a link, or even if this article is available online. If I can figure out how to scan it and post it, I will, but I've already told you most of it.

The first thing that came to mind for me was a Margarita. Just tequila, triple sec and lime juice - sugar free. Then, my mind naturally drifted to a sugar free Mojito... I really have to go by and see that guy. I did speak to Curtis on the phone, and he has thousands of plants that he is growing - but he has in fact quit selling plants as it was infringing upon his inventory. He says they are easy to grow, but slow growing. Thirty days to germination, then three years from seed to fruit. It would take quite an investment of time and space. ← I am disturbed to hear Curtis isn't selling the plants anymore, or that they take three years from seed to fruit. He didn't tell me either of those things. I hope my fruit order comes soon.

Thanks for your advice and tips Corinna. This is the recipe I've settled on though I intend to increase the amount of dry mustard, paprika, and cayenne called for. The source is Astray Recipes. I'll definitely report back with my results, good, bad or ugly. ← Okay, I got all inspired by this thread and made mayonnaise for the first time yesterday, using the variation of the Marjorie Scofield recipe. I made it to use on potato salad, which I made from an old Joy of Cooking recipe that calls for marinating the potatoes in homemade french dressing before adding homemade mayonnaise. I had previously ignored the homemade mayonnaise part and used commercial mayonnaise. It was much, much better with the homemade! I am hooked. It was a lovely, bright flavor that I never got before. I do, however, have some questions about the recipe. What kind of blender do you have, that you can talk about running it very slowly? My Waring has just low and high, and even low is powerful enough that I rarely use high for anything. I had the ingredients all blended to the point I was supposed to start adding the oil, and I just couldn't see doing it in there. So I dumped everything into a bowl and whisked the oil in by hand. The emulsion was fine, but really thin. So then I put it back in the blender, and it thickened immediately. My mixer will run slowly. Wouldn't it be better to do this in there? Or with an immersion blender?

A couple observations: First, I saw a "Good Eats" episode last night where Alton Brown flash-froze fresh strawberries solid by mixing them in a cooler with broken-up dry ice. I wonder if this would work for miracle fruits, thereby extending their freezer life. Second, where can they be grown? I live in Maryland and am guessing they can't be grown here without a greenhouse. What a shame. If they're going for $1.50 or so a pop and some trees are popping out thousands... I could at least see them selling well at a farmer's market, with demonstrations available. I really want to try one. ← The dry ice flash freezing is a fantastic idea. If it works for strawberries, I can't imagine why it wouldn't for any other fruit. I talked with him about whether they can be grown in Colorado, and he seemed to think they could just be kept inside in a pot if necessary. We'll see about that; I've never been able to grow anything inside here that really needed sun. It will be at least 2 weeks before my order can be filled. I will post immediately when I have tried it.

← Okay, thanks to Anne Crosby, I was able to speak today with Curtis, a miracle fruit grower in Ft. Lauderdale (954.587.3766 - his web site is miraclefruitman, but I couldn't get into it). He says he is the only grower selling this fruit. He sells trees, fruit, and seeds. The seeds can be grown in a pot, indoors or out. The tree bears year-round; he has one 10-year-old tree that produces 1,000 fruit at one bearing (every 4 months). Each fruit contains one seed, and each seed makes one tree. The fruit is very perishable but can be kept 5 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. If you want to use a seed to grow a tree, remove it before putting the fruit in the fridge. The seeds are grown in a 50/50 perlite and peat moss mix. I have been thinking this over, and although I did order some of the fruit ($1.80 each, with a minimum order of 20), I am very curious to see whether it results in a different set of problems. One doctor at a taste and smell research center told me that probably what I have is not really an amplification of sour, but a suppression of something else that should modify the sour. So what other flavors might be amplified if sour is supressed? From the information on here, it appears this activates sweet receptors rather than suppressing sour, but the end result seems the same. I might be surprised how many foods depend on some sour flavor.

Err, maybe some of our Japanese friends can help us out here: Click for Japanese site that sells There are growers in my area. I may need to take a foraging trip this weekend. This is all too interesting. ←

Could I ever use some of this! As a result of an inner ear surgery 20 years ago, I have a lingering taste disorder that amplifies sour flavors. Even smelling a lemon produces an overwhelming sour lemon flavor in my mouth. I have to be very careful with what I eat, which is frustrating to a food lover; a lot of interesting foods have a sour component. If I could just modify that with one of these tablets, voila! How do we find out about getting some?

There seem to be a few items that crop up here more than others. Licorice, olives, eggplant. Licorice is so big a dislike for me that I wouldn't have thought to mention it; I mean of COURSE I don't eat it! Did I mention I hate pickles? The cilantro thing is interesting; the first times I had it, I detested it. For a long time I thought it could ruin any dish. Finally I must have started getting used to it, and now I use it a lot and would miss it in any dish that is supposed to have it. I don't think I could ever get used to yogurt or pickles or olives that way. I love chocolate but won't eat one with a soft center, like cream. Only exception is chocolate covered cherries; otherwise I want my chocolate solid or with nuts...well, maybe caramel. As a child I thought squash was the most horrible thing in the world, and now I can't imagine disliking anything so sweet and flavorful. I am pretty sure I tasted something in it then that I don't taste now. Does anyone else remember some foods really tasting different when you were a child?

Was this with just one pound of beans? I'm never clear how much a ham hock flavors. ← Yes one lb. beans. It wasn't actually a ham hock but a smoked shank. The ones I get are quite large so I have the meat cutter split them lenghthwise, probably about 1/2 lb. or a bit less. They are very meaty and have a better ham flavor then tha hocks sold in my local grocery store. ← Thanks, getting too much flavor from the ham hock was my concern. I didn't realize you could get them split. I like shanks better, too.

Was this with just one pound of beans? I'm never clear how much a ham hock flavors.

Once I got to thinking about it, and was reminded by others'postings, I came up with a 12-item list. Several were the vegetables I was made to eat as a child, that nauseate me to this day (I mean even looking at them!). The worst of those are frozen green peas and frozen lima beans. Other dislikes are less explainable, like marshmallows and watermelon. I realized when I was five that I didn't like either of those, and I wanted to because they were family treats that everyone else enjoyed. I felt left out, but I couldn't stand them and still can't. I also can't eat yogurt or pickles; probably I don't much like sour. I can't stand olives but have learned to like their flavor in a martini. I have a hard time eating eggplant in any form, and actually I don't like most American Italian food. I have had Italian food in Italy that I liked, but it was nothing like the Italian food here. And I really can't stand American Chinese food. I ate a bite of persimmon off a tree once, also when I was five, and cried because I disliked it so much. I haven't tried one since. Isn't the latest research saying taste is as individual as fingerprints? I can't imagine not liking chicken or blackberries.

What are the rules about infusing oils, then? I know I read something about this before but don't remember it.

Thanks to all of you!. I have ordered the Peterson book from Amazon.

I need suggestions for a good (best) cookbook for someone wanting to do some serious fish cooking. If you were to have just one fish cookbook, what would it be?

Good grief, I never knew you were supposed to toast for bread crumbs. I just used stale bread, processed it and put it in a jar. I have always wondered, however, why bread crumbs don't mold. Sometimes I am afraid to use them if I have kept them a long time, even though I can't see or smell anything wrong with them. Food science, anyone?

I'm sure there's a wide range of oven temperatures that will work. Fundamentally, the beans aren't being cooked by the heat of the oven as much as by the water in the pot. So the issue is what oven temperature you need in order to keep the water at a nice simmer. My old oven needed a 325 setting to maintain a braise, whereas my current oven does just fine on 250. I think this is related to more than just the calibration of the controls. My current oven just seems to be really good at transferring energy. I have no idea why. Perhaps the pot one uses makes a difference too, though I don't really know why it would. People ultimately need to find the right temperature for their ovens. If your beans are just sitting there in water that's not hot enough, not much is going to happen. Meanwhile, you don't want to go to like 400 because then you'll boil the crap out of your beans. I'd suggest maybe starting with 275 and working up or down from there. The idea is you want some surface bubbles, like on a pot of simmering stock. It's nice to have a bean pot with a glass lid in order to make this determination. ← Which brings us back to my elevation question and the lower boiling point of water. No matter where I set the oven temperature, the water can't get any hotter than boiling. I think I did have the kind of simmer you describe; probably I just needed to cook them a lot longer. And if darker colored beans cook faster, I might limit myself to them. I am going to do this again right away.

Thanks for the input. It was good to hear from Russ Parsons himself on this subject. I don't think my water in Denver is excessively hard, but maybe I should try bottled water and see. And I will try a more gourmet bean source. I just couldn't find any of the Bob's Red Mill variety when I was looking. Forgot to say I had a ham hock in the liquid and possibly too much liquid. Would that make the beans not cook?

Well, I had a total, total failure. I used Great Northern Beans bought from the bin at Wild Oats, after being assured they buy in small batches and have fresh beans. I live in Denver, so the lower temperature at which water boils may have had something to do with it. But they NEVER DID get done. After three hours, when they were still like rocks, I threw them out. What could have gone wrong?

Fine Cooking rated tomato pastes not long ago. Their favorite was bionaturae, which does come in a can, followed by Amore in a tube. Bionaturae was considerably less expensive, and when I tried it, I agreed it had much more of a tomato flavor than any I had used before, including even Contadina. It is made from tuscan tomatoes, whatever that means.

How funny it seems to find eGullet subscribers not knowing anything to do with saffron! Here is my favorite (and incredibly easy) recipe for heavenly saffron flavor: CHICKEN VELVET SOUP WITH SAFFRON 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/3 cup butter 1/2 cup flour Quart of chicken broth (preferably homemade, but low-salt canned works fine) One to two cups half-and-half 1/2 to one teaspoon saffron (I always use the whole package, which I think is one teaspoon) Salt and pepper to taste Heat broth to boiling, simmer chicken until not pink. Do not overcook, but do be sure there is no pink left. You can cook it more in the soup, but it will not have the same fluffy texture. Remove chicken from broth and let cool. Make a roux of the butter, flour and half-and-half, over very low heat. Stir until smooth. Add slowly to chicken broth. Put cooled chicken in a food processor and process until very fine. Add to blended broth and milk. Stir in saffron and salt and pepper. Serve with homemade croutons. For additional body and food value, you can blend one or two raw eggs with about 1/2 to one cup of cooked rice, blend until fine and add at the end. I use more chicken broth if I am going to do this. A friend once kept me alive on this when I was in the hospital and couldn't eat the hospital food. Since then it is what I always take people when they have been in the hospital.

Bonnie I am in Denver also . Any of the mexican Carniceria(SP) have it, Its a bit thinner than the real thing. If you are out west there is a place on 44th and Ward rd. called Edwards meats. They have the real thing...(even jowls) Bud Thank you so much! I know the place you are talking about; I will go there this week. b ←

I also use the small 4-pack bottles for cooking wine. But Fine Cooking had a tip in the latest issue about using boxed wine for cooking. Apparently it keeps better because it doesn't get exposed to air.