djyee100

I like epazote. It's strong, but also a little minty to me. I've seen it & tasted it in a variety of Mexican dishes, like a green mole, quesadillas & empanadas. Not too much, only a sprig or two, chopped up. You can substitute it for cilantro, and add it to the pot at the same time as you would cook with cilantro. It's cooked in dishes, rather than sprinkled on raw, to tame its strong flavor. I've tasted quesadillas with epazote, but with a heartier filling than cheese--a summer squash filling. The epazote cooks with the squash (along with garlic, onion, tomato & chiles). I like this recipe for a fava bean snack. So do other people, for an appetizer. A variation on a recipe from Diana Kennedy's My Mexico. Spicy Fava Beans with Onions 3 1/2 cups fava beans, removed from pods, with inner skin left on 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups thinly sliced white or red onion 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 jalapeno chiles, seeds and veins removed, cut into thin strips 1/4 cup water 2 sprigs of epazote or 2 tablespoons cilantro, coarsely chopped 1 teaspoon salt With a paring knife or peeler, shave off a thin portion of the skin where the fava beans were attached to the pod (the dark spot on the skin). This allows the flavors to penetrate into the beans. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and chiles, and cook until onion is translucent but not browned. Add the beans, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and water. Cover the pan and cook over medium-low heat for about 7 to 10 minutes until beans are tender. Check the mixture occasionally and shake the pan so the mixture doesn't stick. Let the vegetables steam-cook in their juices. Add a little more water if necessary. Then add the epazote or cilantro, and let everything cook for another minute or so. Taste for salt, and add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt or more as needed. Serve warm or at room temperature. Note: I've also cooked this recipe with edamame, removed from their pods, with cilantro, & that tasted good too.

A discussion about cooking rice noodles for Pad Thai came up on the Thai Cooking thread. Starts with post # 833 dated 29 Nov 2009. I cook Kasma Loha-unchit's recipe for Pad Thai, which says to soak the noodles for 40 mins to 1 hr in cool or room temp water. The recipe is on her website.

Spirit of the Earth: Native Cooking from Latin America by Beverly Cox & Martin Jacobs. An attempt at authentic recipes for food throughout Latin America, not just Mexico. I've cooked a few recipes, and they were delicious. The ingredients can be hard to find, e.g., unusual chiles or herbs, although Cox gives some substitutions in the recipes, or suggestions under Ingredients at the back of the book. I find myself substituting ingredients quite a bit. The results can be worth the extra effort. I've made some great, unusual dishes from this cookbook, like a Bolivian Squash Chowder. Now out of print, but available through Amazon or Abebooks http://www.abebooks.com/.

Sur La Table is selling the machine for $299. Macy's may have it for the same price. Williams Sonoma is out of stock and will remain so after their fire sale last wk. I haven't seen the machine at a cheaper price elsewhere. Perhaps another EGulleter can help you.

Try Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-GM6000-Gelato-Self-Refrigerating-Compressor/dp/B002RT91FM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1280009284&sr=8-1 BTW, the container holds more than the 1.5 pints as sometimes listed online. The container holds 1 quart, with about 1/2" head room remaining. A couple people on Amazon have noticed this error in the specs also.

How long are you cooking the tomatoes for? After more prolonged cooking they tend to flip from acidic to sweet. Not long. This was a quickie marinara sauce that was supposed to cook for 20 mins. The recipe did say to add sugar to reduce acidity, but even that didn't do the trick. I shelved the recipe after cooking it a few times. Thanks for the info.

Alums of the Cradle of Flavor thread might recognize this one, Stir-Fried Chinese Egg Noodles with Shrimp and Asian Greens (Mee Goreng Tauceo), a stirfry of shrimp, greens, bean sprouts, and noodles in a savory-sweet sauce of soybean paste and black soy sauce. One of my faves for a wknight meal. I always double the amt of shrimp in the recipe. The recipe is here: http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/stir-fried-chinese-egg-noodles-with-shrimp-and-asian-greens

I use vinegar as a last line of defense to reduce too much acidity in a tomato sauce. I'm talking about the screeching acidity you can get in a tomato sauce made from very acidic canned tomatoes. First I add salt, to bring out other flavors in the sauce to balance the acidity, and if that doesn't work, I try a little sugar. When that doesn't work, I reach for the vinegar bottle. The cook who gave me this tip suggested cider vinegar. I don't like the taste of cider vinegar in tomato sauce, so I've tried other vinegars, like red wine vinegar. It works. The vinegar masks the offensive acidity. You taste the vinegar more and the over-the-top acidity of the canned tomatoes less. Besides brightening a sauce, vinegar can be the sauce. I like this reduced vinegar sauce on fried fish, or baked or broiled fish that has been rubbed with olive oil. Malt Vinegar Reduction: Combine 1 1/2 cups malt vinegar with 1 TB brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Reduce by 2/3. Drizzle lightly over fish. My adaptation of a recipe from Chef Mike C at Kitchen on Fire. http://www.kitchenonfire.com/

I don't feel sorry for you. I attended a cooking demo recently and tasted a fig marmalade with lamb sausages. The fig marmalade was delish. So were the sausages. Since you have a fig tree, you can wrap the sausage meat in fig leaves & grill 'em. Lucky you. The recipe is from Victoria Wise's Sausage, available on Googlebooks, page 97: http://books.google.com/books?id=ABkfNxwy708C&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=wise+turkish+lamb+sausage+fig+fennel+marmalade&source=bl&ots=9fLEpoNOhv&sig=UMRBtd9xXkHNvkWu6PS61kIt1Nw&hl=en&ei=Q_FJTMelI4X0swP-__VI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

It was that time again to empty out the fridge and freezer of odds & ends, not to mention wilting, soon-to-expire vegetables, and to make soup. Some well-aged scallions and leeks, celery, string beans, tomatoes, and zucchini out of the fridge; a single chorizo sausage from the freezer; and a half-bag of Rancho Gordo scarlet runner beans, some dusty dried shittakes, garlic, and red potatoes from the cupboards. The result was a soupe au pistou (sort of) that began in southern France (garlic, string beans, tomatoes, zucchini) and meandered across the border to Spain (red beans, chorizo). Don't ask me to explain about the shittakes. I'll only say they tasted good. I garnished the soup with a basil-sage pesto (goodbye to the leftover basil in the fridge), and served it with plenty of crusty bread. Presenting...Soupe au Pistou (Sort Of)

It sounds like this dish is a typical Cantonese-style shellfish stirfry/braise, served cold or at room temp. Any Cantonese shellfish stirfry recipe should help you get started. I suspect that this was the restaurant's specialty that a talented chef got just right. It's not something I've encountered in other Chinese restaurants, or in my family's cooking. Another tack you can take: there's a cold asparagus/greens dish with that kind of sauce served in dim sum restaurants. Maybe find that recipe, and use the sauce on some chilled cooked mussels. Hope you can reverse engineer the recipe.

Is this the recipe? Sounds like it. http://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/desserts/96.html Darienne, I think your first impression is correct. The recipe doesn't clearly tell you to chill the mixture in the fridge, and it should. A line is missing from the body of the instructions. The Preparation notes at the beginning of the recipe are only a synopsis. It's not supposed to substitute for the instructions. Notice how the Preparation notes are missing from the online version. Unless, of course, Cuisinart thinks that a mixture of strawberries at room temp, plus milk, sugar, and cream that have been warmed by beating with a mixer can still be frozen in this maker. I've never encountered a freezer container type maker that could do that--not without thoroughly chilling the ice cream base first. I would expect results like the OP's with this recipe.

Wow, Darienne, the manual doesn't say to chill the ice cream base? There must be lots of disappointed new owners of that ice cream maker. RobertM, I may be repeating some points from above, but this is what I've learned about making ice cream with a freezer bowl unit: - I make the ice cream base the night before, and chill it overnight. The freezer bowl chills at least overnight. I've gotten in the habit of keeping the freezer bowl in the freezer at all times. Then I never have to think about it. - I freeze the dasher with the freezer bowl and I've noticed my ice cream freezes faster. - If the recipe calls for add-ins, like nuts or chocolate chips to be added to the frozen ice cream, I chill those ingredients too. - On hot days, I turn on the air conditioner while the ice cream is churning. I've noticed a very warm room will inhibit freezing the ice cream. - I chill the container in which I pack the ice cream for the freezer. It doesn't take long--I put the container in the freezer while the ice cream is churning. That way no ice cream melts against the sides of the container to later form those pesky ice crystals. A couple years ago, while answering another query on EGullet, I posted my favorite strawberry ice cream recipe, my adaptation from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food. It's a custard-based ice cream, & sometimes people don't want to cook a custard. But if you do, here's the link to that message board. See my post #4, dated 24 October 2008.

Blether, that recipe for hasina kebabs sounds delicious. SobaAddict, I liked your penne with sungold tomatoes, & decided to do something with the half box of penne that's been sitting in my cupboard. For tonight's dinner here, a starter of Baked Artichokes with Onions, Lemon, Black Olives & Mint, from Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe Cookbook. My favorite way to prepare artichokes. The artichokes cook slowly over a confit of onions. I love the aroma of the ingredients when I'm prepping the dish--the smells of olive oil, lemon & mint mixed with the sliced onions. The recipe is here. My cookbook says 4 cloves of garlic, not 2, & that's what I like to use. I usually cook the recipe with kalamata olives, & it still tastes good. http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/baked-artichokes-with-onions-lemons-black-olives-and-mint Followed by Penne in Spicy Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic, Olives, and Capers. (The olive jar got a workout tonight.) I wanted to cook something like pasta alla puttanesca, but not with the traditional tomato sauce. I had all these great heirloom tomatoes from the market, so I put together a fresh tomato sauce from those. To cook this pasta dish: Start boiling 1/2 lb of dry pasta and let it cook while preparing the sauce. In a large saute pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat, and add in 4 cloves of chopped garlic. Let cook briefly, then toss in 4 shallots, thinly sliced. Let the garlic and shallots cook until they are very soft and golden. Toss in 3 TB of coarsely chopped capers, 3 TB of chopped olives, and 1/4 tsp or more of red pepper flakes. Cook for a minute or so. Pour in 2 TB olive oil, let it heat, then add in 4 cups of tomatoes, preferably a variety of heirloom tomatoes, cut up into bite-size chunks. Let the tomatoes soften and release their juices, but still keep most of their shape. When the tomatoes have softened and warmed through, toss in 2 TB chopped fresh basil. Taste & adjust for salt; the sauce should be well-seasoned. Gently combine with the hot cooked pasta. (I barely combine the pasta and the sauce because I want to keep the tomato pieces whole. When you remove the mixture from the pan, it will combine some more.) Serve in a warmed bowl, garnished with more fresh basil and grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese. A dessert of Blackberry Ice Cream with sliced white nectarines. I couldn't resist the blackberries at the farmers market. I tasted a berry & almost swooned. But I had plenty of fruit at home, the berries were not cheap, and I walked away from the stall...for about five paces. Then I swiveled around & bought the berries. The vendor thought I was funny & knocked a dollar off the price. The berries were worth it! This was one of the best ice creams I've ever made. It tastes like blackberry jam with cream, and basically, that's all it is. To make Blackberry Ice Cream: Puree 3 cups of blackberries in the food processor. With a wooden spoon, push the puree through a fine sieve set over a bowl to remove the seeds. (Turn on some music while you do this.) When you have at least 1 cup of sieved puree, you can stop. In a small saucepan, heat 3/4 cup sugar with 1 cup whipping cream, stirring the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. Stir in another 1 cup of cream and the sieved puree. Taste and add a few drops of vanilla. If desired, add some fresh lemon juice, a few drops at a time, so that the mixture tastes bright. Chill the mixture thoroughly and freeze in an ice cream maker. My adaptation of the recipe in Lindsey Shere's Chez Panisse Desserts. I'm lovin' the summer produce at the market these days.

Numerous copies are also available through Abebooks, which is a consortium of used book sellers. http://www.abebooks.com/

Did Bayless do the cooking for the photos? If somebody else did, maybe he/she got a little creative with the recipe. Sometimes that happens inadvertently, sometimes it happens for a better food photo. Chris, this is a wonderful thread. I'm enjoying it so much. Thanks!

Grilled Steak with Herbs, oven fries made from Yukon Gold potatoes, and a cherry tomato salad. The tomatoes were the first of the season from my CSA. I split the tomatoes and tossed them with garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil & a dash of salt. That's all, & they tasted so good. When I grill steak with herbs, I use the fresh herbs I have around. Today's mix was Thai basil, oregano, and thyme. The original recipe comes from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food. It's available here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/grilled-sirloin-steak-with-herbs

I've always thought of duck as a Thai food. I've eaten duck in Thailand. But what do I know? So I posted the question on the email group run by my Thai cooking teacher, Kasma Loha-unchit. Her husband Michael Babcock, among others, posted replies. I thought Michael's response said it all: Kasma's website is here: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/index.html Under the Recipes section is a recipe for Roast Duck Curry.

Wonderful food, everyone. Kim, that smoked lamb looks great. I could eat that! For dinner last night, a stirfry/braise of pork strips, green beans, garlic, fresno chiles, roasted chili paste (nam prik pow), and fresh basil. In the wok, ready to be served over hot rice. To make this stirfry: Heat oil over high heat in a wok. Saute 3/4 lb tender pork strips until the meat is parcooked and browned. Remove to a bowl. Heat more oil in the wok, & toss in 3 cloves of garlic, chopped. Let cook briefly until softened. Add in 2 fresno chiles, slivered with seeds. Toss and cook for a minute or so. Add in 3/4 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces. Toss and cook the green beans until they are slightly softened and glossy. Return the meat to the pan, & combine. Stir in 1/2 cup water, and 2-3 TB of roasted chili paste (nam prik pow). Cover the wok, lower the heat to moderate, & let the mixture cook until the beans are tender and the meat is cooked through. Check occasionally, and if necessary, add more water so the mixture doesn't burn. Uncover, season with 2 TB fish sauce and if desired, a few pinches of sugar. Add in 1 cup of fresh basil leaves (preferably Thai basil) and toss until wilted. Taste and adjust for fish sauce and/or salt. Serve hot over steamed rice. For dessert, Strawberry Sorbet. The strawberries at the market have been great, very ripe and sweet. To make Strawberry Sorbet: Boil 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water over medium heat in a small saucepan for 5 mins. Let cool completely. (I put the syrup in a pyrex bowl and stick it in the freezer.) Wash, drain, and hull 4 cups (1 quart) of strawberries. Puree in a food processor or blender. Combine the berry puree with the cooled syrup. Add 1/4 tsp kirsch. Chill the mixture thoroughly, and freeze in an ice cream maker. My adaptation of the recipe in Lindsey Shere's Chez Panisse Desserts.

I'm enjoying this thread, thanks for the pix and posts. Marjoram's similar to but milder than oregano, so you can substitute it in anything where you might use oregano, like spaghetti sauce or pizza topping. It also goes well with string beans or cooked dried beans in a bean salad with olive oil or vinaigrette. I've baked the Marjoram Cornbread from Jerry Traunfeld's Herbfarm cookbook, & liked it. An adapted recipe (same ingredients) is here: http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/recipes/marjoram_corn_bread%20.htm Years ago I used to buy Oreganato, one of Peter Reinhart's breads from his Brother Juniper's Bakery. I liked that bread, but it was discontinued from production--I suspect because people can find oregano overpowering. But with marjoram, I think that bread would be even better than the original Oreganato. It's great with sandwiches, like an roasted eggplant, tomato, mozzarella sandwich with a drizzle of vinaigrette. I suggest reducing the garlic and black pepper in the recipe to match the milder taste of marjoram. The recipe is available on Googlebooks, Page 76 http://books.google.com/books?id=t8uxaPHAh_kC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=brother+juniper%27s+oreganato&source=bl&ots=SPKiCNsNso&sig=rCbyFm2xUF92VPrFOcqbFuGNGKg&hl=en&ei=vog7TPOqEo-gsQOh8b3aCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=brother%20juniper%27s%20oreganato&f=false Last but not least, I remember baking a Shaker recipe for an herb bread, with sage, rosemary, dill, and a pinch of cloves or nutmeg. No reason why you can't do an herb bread with any extra herbs you have lying around. That hint of spice in the herb bread was intriguing, too.

I like to braise cut-up stalks of celery with a beef stew. As an accompanying vegetable with carrots, the braised celery is delicious--and mild, too, with long cooking. There's a crab with curry powder dish I tried in Thailand, very good, that includes big pieces of Chinese celery. The Chinese celery makes that dish. Without the sharp flavor of celery, that curry would be far less distinctive, even ordinary. I'm pretty sure the recipe is in Thompson's Thai Food cookbook.

I can't think of any cookbook to recommend that is only about chiles, but perhaps somebody else can. I suggest that you cook those spicy dishes that you've wanted to try for a long time, and adjust the chiles and other hot spices downward until you get used to them. One of my friends loves to grill in the summer, and she puts chopped fresh chile (jalapeno or serrano) in the marinade for meat or chicken. That's one way to put some chile in your cooking. Are you interested in Thai food? Quick and Easy Thai by Nancie McDermott might be a good place to start. The author lived for years in Thailand, and when she returned to the U.S. and taught cooking classes, she realized her students couldn't find many ingredients and didn't have hours to prep dinner. So she streamlined her recipes. She's careful to say her recipes are Thai-style, rather than authentic Thai. McDermott's recipes use various ingredients for heat: fresh chiles (Thai, jalapeno, serrano, nothing esoteric), dried chiles, red chili flakes, curry paste (storebought or homemade), curry powder, sriracha. The heat level of her food is moderate, like a Thai restaurant in the U.S. I like her food, and I've cooked a bunch of recipes from the book. Googlebooks has a preview here: http://books.google.com/books?id=RAP42dIAumoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Quick+and+Easy+Thai&source=bl&ots=Htv52Z9Hi_&sig=HYP14SJHZDgXtujXtS5Um4vNkwQ&hl=en&ei=1Ek5TPyxHcP2nAfZx4GABA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Notice how many of this family are tough for people to deal with: fennel, parsnips, asafoetida, coriander, caraway--not just celery. It's an assertive family. Parsley is assertive, in a nice way. Poison hemlock...well...

This is only common sense, but I'll say it anyway: work up gradually past your comfort level. Also, you might want to check out the different heat levels of the chiles you're trying. Plenty of info about the Scoville scale on the web. A rule of thumb I was taught: the smaller the chile, the more hot it's likely to be. It's as though all that heat gets concentrated into smaller and smaller packages. When I was introduced to Southern Indian, then Thai food, I made sure to serve these incendiary dishes with plenty of rice or bread. The starches help temper the heat in your mouth. Some dairy products help too. I always kept a carton of yogurt on hand. In emergencies, I ran to the fridge and took a glug of milk. Drinking water feels cool and refreshing, but doesn't do anything to mitigate the chile oils that are spread in your mouth--go for the starches and yogurt. Are you clear about handling chiles so that the oil doesn't accidentally get into your eyes or on your clothing? The chile oils are in the white vein or placenta inside the chile pepper. I don't use plastic gloves when cutting chiles (too clumsy), so I stay aware of where the chile oils are and wash down my hands, the knife, the cutting board and the counter with soap immediately after I am done. If roasting dried chiles, I find that a pinch of salt in the skillet helps keep the fumes down. I make sure the kitchen is well ventilated, too. It's great you're expanding your palate!

This is one of my go-to recipes for company, Soft-Shell Tacos with Salmon, Avocado Salsa, and Spicy Cherry Tomato Salad from Beverly Gannon's Hali-imaile General Store cookbook. You don't have to use salmon. Any kind of tasty fresh fish will do. People love these tacos, and ask me for the recipe. The recipe is on Googlebooks, Page 72, here: http://books.google.com/books?id=hUK0obUbHHYC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=general+store+cookbook+salmon+tacos&source=bl&ots=p-xaYKUjig&sig=eBccLj0L8rH10K62Xq_mJQ1zTWo&hl=en&ei=Jf80TL2_BMHsnQeMjcnZAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false