djyee100

Pastameshugana, a fabulous feast for your appreciation dinner. I'll have some bacon-wrapped asparagus, please. C. Sapidus, I hope your panel of judges has eased up on you, because your recent meals look fantastic. JMahl, homemade Italian sausage? I see your sausage-making progresses! I like the beef bourguignon too--perfect for this cold weather. Robirdstx, glad to see you back with your yummy food. Wonderful Xmas dinners here. I didn't host the Xmas dinner, so I had the energy to cook today. I made a variation of Vietnamese Shaking Beef with Garlic Sauce (Bo Luc Lac). This dish will please garlic-lovers. The recipe is available online. No pea shoots in the house, but plenty of bok choy, so I subbed some sauteed bok choy. Shaking Beef is delicious over watercress or arugula also. I tossed in some slivered fresno chiles with the beef. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shaking-beef-with-pea-shoot-salad

Why would the ramekin be a problem? I don't think they are any thicker than my Pyrex glass dishes. In fact there appear to be lots of porcelain pie dishes out there. I don't know what the material of your ramekins are. Mine are stoneware. Stoneware, or any ceramic, conducts heat slowly compared to glass (pyrex) or metal. I don't use stoneware for baking pies because I'm concerned the bottom crust will not be fully cooked and browned when the filling and the top crust are done. I would expect the ceramic pan to be slow to heat up and cook the bottom crust. If I'm baking a pie with a bottom crust, I use a metal pan.

Are you OK with a melded pie? The blueberry juices will run under the apple filling, the apple juices (with cinnamon & nutmeg) will mix with the blueberries. Have you considered dispensing with a pie pan and making a freeform apple galette? Blueberry filling, OTOH, seems to need a pan under it. You can also use individual ramekins and top the filling with a crust. A bottom crust will probably not cook well in a porcelain ramekin, and be careful that the filling doesn't burn.

FrogPrincesse, you can wrap the whole kaffir limes individually in plastic wrap, and keep them in the freezer. They will last at least a year (I've been told). Cut off as much peel as you need at any time, and put the lime back in the freezer. That's how I keep my kaffir limes. The limes are most commonly used for their peel in Thai curry pastes. My new ingredient(s): the different varieties of dates. I've always liked them, but I never paid much attention to them before. I used to buy a couple clamshells of medjools at the supermarket every winter, and that was that. About a month ago I became interested in the different varieties I saw at the farmers' market, and I've been trying them out. Some dates I bought at the farmers' market today. They're from the Coachella Valley in southern California. The small, round, brown ones are Barhi; the medium brown oblongs are Cire (a variety particular to this grower); the blond, toffee-colored oblongs are Zahidi. The very dark brown oblongs look like Medjools, even though I didn't order any of those. The vendor may have popped a few in the bag as a bonus. The dates have different tastes and textures. Barhi dates, for example, are soft, luscious, and very sweet. The Zahidi is not that sweet (for a date), and firm; they're good for cooking. Medjools are also very sweet dates and good for eating out of hand--one of my faves.

I could only find FDA regs for dishwashing in restaurants/food establishments. For manual dishwashing in restaurants, the FDA requires a 3-step process: wash, rinse, sanitize. It makes sense to let these dishes air-dry after they've been sanitized. Dish towels are less clean and would undo the sanitization. However, at home people typically don't sanitize after rinsing, so dish towels make sense. Or air-drying, for that matter.

Put it in your holiday eggnog. Or make gelato. Banana gelato: http://www.food.com/recipe/banana-gelato-457098 (from Pamela Sheldon Johns' cookbook). Custard gelato: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Custard-Gelato-103830 .

Tomalley has been described as grayish-green. I remember it as the distinctly green stuff when you open up a raw lobster. The roe or unfertilized eggs (coral) have been described as black or dark forest green when raw, that turn orange-red when cooked.

I've eaten sweetbreads in a mushroom-Madeira sauce & they were great. I didn't cook them myself, though, I ate the sweetbreads at a local restaurant. The dish was like this recipe: http://events.nytimes.com/recipes/2198/1987/03/11/Sweetbreads-With-Madeira-Sauce/recipe.html

The unfertilized eggs (coral) are inside the tail of a female lobster and not visible outside the lobster. Sometimes when you break off the tail of a steamed lobster, you'll see a bright red-orange thing inside. That's the coral. And yes, it is legal to catch these lobsters. The lobsters carrying eggs externally, on the underside of their tails (like in the photos above), are protected in the U.S. by state and federal law. There is no distinction as to the color of the eggs in the state statutes that I looked at. Any lobster carrying eggs externally is protected. The intention of the law is to save the breeders. Peter The Eater mentioned the v-shaped notch that Canadian fishermen are supposed to put in the lobster's tail fin. That's a requirement in various state laws here as well.

I once cooked a butter pecan ice cream that involved mixing melted butter into the ice cream base. It didn't come out well. The butter froze into little globules in the ice cream. The texture was unpleasant and the taste of frozen butter (if you think about it) is not that great. Perhaps some serious blending with an immersion blender would have helped, but overall, I'm unenthusiastic about adding butter to an ice cream. The recipe I tried is on Googlebooks, here: http://books.google.com/books?id=ReV1lS1J9NMC&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=weir+butter+pecan+ice+cream&source=bl&ots=wzICPnOfiD&sig=zzo256pXAOkQgpS8WzU71YAuUEg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Kv7sTtGOCeSJiALGqcH8DQ&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Yes. A quick search, and I found statutes prohibiting the taking of egg-bearing lobsters in Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. That covers a large portion of the commercial lobster catch. There may be other state statutes, I just didn't find them this time around. As I mentioned, federal law comprehensively covers illegal takings of any fish or wildlife in foreign countries, and their importation into the U.S. If someone gets the clever idea of brushing off the eggs and selling the lobsters, that's illegal, too.

As I understand it, the roe is the unfertilized eggs in a female lobster, sometimes called the "coral." Catching and selling egg-bearing "berried" lobsters appears to be widely illegal in the U.S. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "Egg-bearing females are ... protected and if caught, must be placed back in the sea." http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/faq/fishfaq7.html Furthermore, if female lobsters are illegally taken in the waters of a foreign country and imported into the U.S., that's also illegal under federal law.

I've heard about this practice (usually from people who rinse their dishes and are aghast at those who do not). Since the replies here are from Rinsers, and I'm a Rinser myself, I did a little googling. From a blog, this is what the Non-Rinsers say: -- it's easier -- it saves water -- dishwashing detergent is not "toxic" (Note: this may be an incorrect assumption.) -- as long as you can't taste the soap and the dishes look clean, what's the fuss?

A down-home Thai dinner of Pork with Hot Shrimp Paste (Moo Pad Gkabpi). It's very hot and savory-salty. Tender pork strips are stir-fried in a paste of garlic, chiles, lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar, and a scoopful of Asian shrimp paste. People will like this dish if they are on good terms with shrimp paste, or perhaps its Western counterpart, anchovies. To make Pork with Hot Shrimp Paste (Moo Pad Gkabpi): Make a paste by gradually grinding or blending together 5 chopped garlic cloves, 5 chopped fresh Thai bird chiles, 2 TB good-quality shrimp paste, 1 tsp freshly ground white pepper, 2-3 TB fresh lime juice, 1 TB fish sauce, and 3 TB palm sugar. Taste and adjust. If the paste is too salty, add more lime juice and/or sugar to modify the saltiness. Heat 3-4 TB peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Add in the paste and fry until the paste darkens to reddish-brown, about one minute. Toss in 1 1/2 lbs tender pork strips (butt or loin) and stirfry until cooked through. Watch that the mixture doesn't burn. At the end of cooking time, toss in a handful of fresh basil, preferably Thai basil. Serve immediately over hot steamed rice. My variation of a recipe from Kasma Loha-unchit. This pork & shrimp paste combo always says traditional peasant food to me. My parents regularly served a Chinese version of this dish, chopped pork with shrimp paste, garlic, & soy sauce, with other embellishments in the mix. They steamed the pork mixture and served it over rice.

Dcarch, pls try to post more often, because when I view too much of your dazzling food all at once, I start to reel at the computer. Persimmon ice cream? I am there.

How about going with the fact that it's like a soft caramel? Wrap mouthfuls in little squares of colored foil or cellophane, even waxed paper in a pinch. It would be the kind of sweet that you have to unwrap and lick off the wrapper. A shop around here sells very soft caramels like that, & I'm addicted to them.

Katie, I would suggest The Cheese Board: Collective Works if you and your husband like that bakery or its progeny, Arizmendi. There are recipes for all the bakery's goods--their breads, muffins, scones, pizza. Nothing complicated in any of the recipes I've tried, all solid recipes, and tasty. Does your husband do no-knead bread? You could look at Jim Lahey's My Bread, based on his NYT no-knead method. Has your husband read Peter Reinhart's Brother Juniper's Bread Book? It's a delightful read. It also has the recipes for the original Brother Juniper's Bakery breads, if you remember those. Not really a cookbook, though.

The red on white is the most striking at first glance and best conveys what is inside. Have you tried the red on white top with a red bottom? I like the typeface fine. Perhaps Baroness's criticism is more about your use of all caps. Words in upper and lower case letters are easier to read than words in all caps. Scientists who study these things say the ups and downs of the letters make it easier for the eye to catch the shape of the letters and recognize the words. So just be more selective about the words you put in all caps. Perhaps your name and "Maple Leafs" in all caps, the rest in upper and lower case? To illustrate, which is easier to read: MAPLE WALNUT SHORTBREAD COOKIES BISCUITS SABLES D'ERABLE AVEC NOIX GALLETAS DE MANTEQUILLA CON NUECES Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies Biscuits Sables D'Erable Avec Noix Galletas De Mantequilla Con Nueces

I've tried to order this grinder from two different stores on the Rakuten website. The first one, eBest, required that I sign up for a Japanese forwarding address. I did. I ordered the grinder. After a flurry of communications from them, all in Japanese, they cancelled the order. Even with the Google translator, I could not figure out what the problem was. They did not respond to my inquiries in English. The second store, Sanei Matsuno, accepted the order with my request for Rakuten international shipping. The estimated shipping cost, they told me, was 10,000 yen (about $128). The grinder itself cost about $102. When I inquired about the high shipping cost, it was "corrected" to 5400 yen, about $70. Still too expensive. I cancelled the order. About this time I looked up Iwatani reps in the U.S. and emailed one of them re: purchase of this grinder from anyone in the U.S. I have not received any response.

And/or some other cooling dairy on the menu, such as a yogurt salad. I'd also suggest chapatis on the table, or another bland starch, to give the palate a rest from the many spicy dishes. Sounds like you're fixed on the traditional Xmas pudding for dessert. If not, you could consider a Parsi wedding custard. One recipe I googled here: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art170504.asp

You'll have to ask the Whole Foods people for more details. Monterey Aquarium's Seafood Watch gives all squid at least a "good alternative" rating (meaning "OK", though not great). http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=22 New England Aquarium also gives squid a good rating. http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/projects/fisheries_bycatch_aquaculture/sustainable_fisheries/celebrate_seafood/ocean-friendly_seafood/species/market_squid.php Of course, no species is "sustainable" in the face of overfishing and poor fisheries management. But squid are in lots better shape than some other fished species.

Do you know what kind of pudding? It might be possible to play off the flavor of the dessert with the main course. Usually a starter (antipasti), then pasta or soup, followed by a protein (meat, fish, egg) with veggie & bread on the side. Dessert follows all. When braising meat, the pasta is served with the sauce from the braised meat; then the meat (with a little sauce) follows separately. For example, if you make the braised short ribs, you'd serve pasta with the sauce from the braise, then for the next course, serve the short ribs with a little sauce, a veggie side dish, and some bread to mop it all up. I've found that the pasta followed by the separate meat course is a very pleasant, relaxed way to eat. No big portions of pasta that early in the dinner, BTW--only very modest-sized portions of pasta. I've been taking some cooking classes with Rosetta Costantino (My Calabria cookbook). These are some menus from her classes. Maybe they will give you some ideas of what you can do. http://www.cookingwithrosetta.com/class-winter-comfort-foods-of-calabria.html http://www.cookingwithrosetta.com/class-a-taste-of-calabria.html http://www.cookingwithrosetta.com/class-carnevale-in-calabria.html http://www.cookingwithrosetta.com/class-a-taste-of-sicily..html Sounds like you have a wonderful meal in the making. Have fun! ETA: I'm assuming the braising sauce is tomato-based, or otherwise suited for pasta.

thanks, Kouign Aman, for jogging my memory. I tasted Alice Medrich's peanut butter clouds at a demo, and I thought they were great. A recipe is available online. The version I tried only had peanut butter and chopped peanuts in them, no hazelnuts/almonds or chocolate. This is a recipe for a more extravagant version of the cookie, though it will still taste good with less. http://alicemedrich.blogspot.com/2010/09/national-homemade-cookie-day.html

Wow, Pastrygirl, I didn't think anyone except myself owned Reich's book. Yes, it is very traditional, based on the author's family recipes going back generations. The author notes that some of the recipes, before she rewrote and tested them, contained the measurement "loth" that was abolished at the time of Napoleon. The author's family was Viennese. They fled Vienna and then Paris during WWII, before coming to the U.S. I've cooked only a little out of this book myself, with mixed results due more to my pastry skills rather than the quality of the book. The recipes that turned out well were great. I've also heard good things about Rick Rodgers' Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, although I don't own the book and have never cooked from it.

I've never seen it as Bulgalbi before, only as Galbi, and I had that question in my mind also. However, the recipe gave the name Bulgalbi so I kept it. The source is a 1996 cookbook by Sunset Publishing.