djyee100

I'm wondering whether the cheaper sugar is beet sugar, and the more expensive sugar is cane sugar. For what it's worth, you can read these articles. The rule of thumb I learned (about the time the first article came out), use cane sugar in baking because many of the old recipes were written for cane sugar; and cane and beet sugar do not bake up the same. http://articles.sfgate.com/1999-03-31/food/17683415_1_sugar-industry-beet-and-cane-california-beet-growers-association Go down the page to a discussion of beet vs cane sugar: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2005/12/sugar.html I've never done any significant testing of beet vs cane sugar myself. I always use cane sugar in any case.

Kim, do you have a link for the burger recipe? I've missed reading that one. As for the salad dressing, if it's an oil, vinegar, herb combination it might taste good as a marinade for some roasted veg. I rub leftover salad dressing on chunks of potatoes, carrots, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, and roast the veg in a hot oven (400-425 F) until the vegs are tender and golden brown.

I'll sidle up to the chef at parties, if he/she is not too busy, and chat about the food. But then I go into my princess mode, sit down, and enjoy being served. Once a friend, a chef and cooking teacher, did some cooking at a party for our mutual friends, and I joined him in the kitchen to help out. That was great. He was making all these pork siu mai, and showed me how to make them well. If you can combine a party with a cooking lesson, more power to you, I say. But then another friend, also a chef, told me about this: He was invited to a party, and when he arrived he discovered the host and hostess had set up raw food, pots and pans, and jokingly put him to making dinner for himself, them, and the rest of their guests. This friend is way too much a nice guy. He was a good sport about cooking the dinner, but later he asked me what I thought about it. I told him his hosts' behavior was not nice*. * expurgated version to comply with EGullet rules.

Something I've tried recently, with a combination of oyster and other fresh mushrooms: Cut the mushrooms into manageable pieces, and put them in a Chinese sandpot or earthenware casserole with sliced garlic cloves, a drizzle of olive oil, maybe a little chopped fresh thyme if you have it. Cover with a round of parchment paper, then the lid of the pot, and cook over low heat for about 45 mins. Shake the pot occasionally so they don't stick. Season with S&P before service. The mushrooms cook in their own juices and come out with an intense flavor. If you have a heat diffuser, it's better to use it with the sandpot or earthenware for stovetop cooking. This is my adaptation of a recipe in Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking.

Agree. Also, if kids working 1 1/2 hrs a wk in the kitchen or garden is the reason why these schools are failing, then the schools are in worse shape than I had thought. As I was reading the article, this question came to me: Where are the voices of the Edible Schoolyard administrators, volunteers, parents, and students? Flanagan purports to speak about their opinions, beliefs, and experience, with all its supposed shortcomings. What do they have to say about it? But the only living voices in the article, outside of Flanagan's, come from Michael Piscal, a charter school CEO for South LA, who agrees with her, and an email snippet from a personal friend who, Flanagan says, is pro-Waters. Did Flanagan ever interview people from the Edible Schoolyard? Visit the site and observe the students' experience? Talk to them about it? In fact, did she talk to any school administrators from other similar programs in the state for this article? The school administrators and teachers I know, some from the Berkeley school system, care deeply about the students in their charge. If their students are not benefitting from the program, or are even being hurt from it, wouldn't they notice or care? Flanagan's research for the article does not appear to have taken her far from her home computer in Compton, a suburb of LA. Her sources are books, studies, statistics; visits to 2 supermarkets in Compton; and a reference to a volunteer food bank job in LA. Shuttles fly between LA and the SF or Oakland airports every hour. Why didn't Flanagan hop on a plane for the one-hour flight and visit Edible Schoolyard? or call or email people involved with the Edible Schoolyard? If she said she was writing an article for Atlantic, I'm sure somebody would have talked with her or emailed a response. The fact that Flanagan did none of these things--or, if she did, failed to mention what Edible Schoolyard proponents had to say to her--speaks volumes for this article and how much attention it's worth.

There's a strong Asian component in the food scene here, at least in the urban and suburban areas--Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Burmese, even Tibetan. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. There's also food from the European Mediterranean, Africa, India, Middle East, and places in between, and they play a role in the California food scene also. The OP asked what is "Californian cuisine," which I interpreted to mean the classic image of California cuisine to outsiders, much as the term "Southern cooking" may bring up the images of fried chicken, biscuits with gravy, ham, collards, and the like. Obviously, to the insider, Southern cooking means more than just those few iconic items. The better supermarkets and the farmers mkts here seem to stock items like figs and blood oranges when they're in season. Again, this would be in the urban and suburban areas. Why the Californians you met haven't tasted these things I can't say. I don't know where they were shopping and living. But it seems to me that a big range of produce is available for anyone willing to shop for it, and there's plenty of it. Yes, because there's so much of it. But don't worry, we keep all the best stuff for ourselves. Welcome to California, and good luck on your move!

You've asked a good question, but I certainly don't have a definitive answer. To me Californian cuisine is - distinctly Mediterranean, with herbs, fruits and vegs from the Mediterranean climate. Olive oil rather than butter. Herbs like basil, marjoram, oregano, dill, & mint. Tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, fennel. Lemons & oranges. Anchovies, olives, capers. Garlic!! - outdoorsy and informal, generally, especially with the emphasis on grilling. Even the food served at the elite restaurants looks like it could be eaten on the patio. - more herbaceous and bitter in flavor than the other American regional cuisines, because of all the fresh produce in it; more tart because of all the wine we drink. - tends to come across as direct and strong-flavored, rather than subtle, complex, or nuanced. Compare with French haute cuisine, for example. - can have an attitude that "anything goes," with both good and uh, not so good, results. E.g., California pizza. A cook at one of the well-known restaurants around here once said that ideally, the food should look like it fell from the garden onto the plate. She rolled her eyes when she said that, because all that natural beauty and flavor require superb ingredients and, believe it or not, effort. I think Joanne Weir presents California cooking well in her Wine Country cookbooks. (Northern Calif cuisine anyway. Maybe I shouldn't speak for Southern Calif.) I own More Cooking in the Wine Country, & I 've cooked a bunch of recipes from it, with good results. Another cookbook, Wine Country Cooking, has a preview on Googlebooks, if you would like a better idea of California cuisine: http://books.google.com/books?id=zsE4R2CGq9sC&printsec=frontcover&dq=joanne+weir&cd=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I'll say it again. Such wonderful, gorgeous food here, & I love the variety of styles. Better than any magazine.

Chinese celery is a variety with many leaves and skinny stalks, and a stronger flavor than regular supermarket celery. I only use it in recipes that specifically call for it. I wouldn't substitute Chinese celery for regular celery, or vice versa. The Asian dishes seem to need that strong accent of Chinese celery, when it's in the recipe, and Western dishes are overwhelmed by it. http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blchineseing5.htm I agree, braised celery tastes very good, and I've added celery pieces to braise along with carrots in a beef stew.

I was taught to brown the chicken really well to alleviate the purple color issue. Once in a while I've found a cheap burgundy that's decent for this dish. More often, not--the cheap wines have off flavors that I dislike. I've cooked with beaujolais or a good Rhone red, with tasty results.

A great idea for a thread, Anna. Many recipes that I want to cook, and they have been lying around my house, sometimes for years. For this challenge I'll cook (1) a menu of Northern Indian food from chef Ruta Kahate, with a main dish of prawns in makhani sauce (curried butter & cream sauce); (2) a menu of Southern Indian food, also from Ruta Kahate, with a main of shrimp cakes with sambar masala; (3) poached halibut with clams and chives, a recipe from James Peterson; (4) bourride, also from James Peterson; (5) Spanish pizza (Coca) with saffron roasted potatoes and romesco sauce, a recipe from chef Mary Karlin.

That happens, doesn't it? Yes please share the recipe it looks amazing. Ambra & Aloha Steve, this is the recipe you requested. I make this dish the same way my parents did, and I've cooked it for decades. I remember serving it to my college roommate. Enjoy! SHRIMP WITH LOBSTER SAUCE, CANTONESE STYLE 2-3 TB peanut oil 1-2 TB fermented or salted black beans, finely chopped 1 TB chopped garlic (optional) 1/2 TB grated fresh gingerroot 1/2 lb ground pork 1 lb raw large shrimp, peeled & deveined 1-2 TB soy sauce 1 TB rice wine or dry sherry 1 tsp sugar ground black pepper 1/2 cup water 2 TB cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 cup water 2 scallions, thinly sliced 2 eggs, lightly beaten Heat the oil in a wok over high heat and add in the black beans, garlic, and gingerroot (if using). Toss a few times. Add the ground pork, breaking it up into small chunks with the spatula. Let the pork saute until the red color disappears, but the meat is still pink. Add in the shrimp and cook until they begin to curl. Stir in soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, sugar, and black pepper. Combine well. Let cook for a minute or two. Pour in 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the pork is almost done. Add the cornstarch, and boil until the sauce thickens, stirring the mixture so it doesn't scorch. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more water. Toss in the scallions and combine. The mixture should be at high simmer. Remove the pan from the heat. Quickly pour in the eggs and mix well. The sauce should become creamy. Taste and adjust for soy sauce or salt. Serve immediately over hot steamed rice.

I baked the Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits yesterday morning, before a friend came by for coffee. Now that's a handy recipe. I managed to throw together and bake the biscuits in about 30 mins, while still half asleep. They were very good, and I ate two of them. My friend took the rest of the batch home for her grandchildren, so those biscuits are out of my house, TG.

I had a problem with the previously posted link, but this link seems to work. http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/kaflime.html

Dinner started with focaccia (Acme's Herb Slab) and Roasted Almonds with Herbs from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food. The nuts are tossed with salted water-- a clever trick for salting them evenly--, combined with herbs (I threw in fresh thyme and rosemary), then roasted until they are golden brown inside. While warm they are tossed with a little olive oil. The result is delicious and addictive. I had to put the nuts in another room, because I was munching on them as I cooked. A main course of Roasted Chicken with Moroccan Flavors, from Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking, with Green Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic, another recipe from MCPC, and roasted fingerling potatoes. The chicken is rubbed with a mixture of butter, garlic, coriander, paprika, saffron, cayenne, and parsley before roasting. It's supposed to be a whole chicken, stuffed with lemon quarters, and roasted in an oven that's fitted with pizza stones on the top and bottom racks. I opted for chicken legs placed on lemon slices, and forget that pizza stone setup in my oven, it hasn't happened yet. The dish still turned out delicious. For Green Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic, the green beans are combined with onions, garlic, and tomato, and stewed in an earthenware casserole with a generous amt of olive oil. The green beans become very tender and aromatic. I've already made this dish twice, so it's definitely entered the repertoire. A dessert of Apple Crostata with Brandied Currants, my variation of a recipe for Apple Crostata with Zante Grapes in Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe Cookbook.

That's the chunkiest butternut squash I've ever seen on the left. Delicata squash on the right. I can't offer any suggestion for the delicata squash. I find them difficult to peel (not that much flesh inside, it seems to me), so I simply roast and butter them. Butternut squash, OTOH, is great for soup or pie. I cook butternut squash-ginger soup starting from Beverly Gannon's carrot-ginger soup in her General Store cookbook. I do a 1:1 substitution of butternut squash for carrots. BTW, the carrot-ginger soup is good too. The recipe is on Googlebooks, page 12. http://books.google.com/books?id=hUK0obUbHHYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=beverly+gannon&cd=2#v=onepage&q=carrot%20ginger%20soup&f=false My favorite squash pie, made with brandy, comes from David Lebovitz in his Room For Dessert cookbook. This blog has an adapted recipe for the pie (same ingredients, different instructions): http://pghtasted.blogspot.com/2008/10/butternut-squash-pie.html

Yes please share the recipe it looks amazing. Yes, I will share the recipe, but I'll need a few days before I can sit down and write it down. Busy thru the wkend and Monday. Happy New Year, everyone!

Wonderful holiday dinners, everyone. JMahl, I enjoyed the pix of your lovely Chanukah table and office party. thanks! Deensiebat, I never heard of Marmitako. Sounds delicious, & I want to try it. Kim, that cornbread looks perfect. A down-home dinner here, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, Cantonese Style. This dish was a treat when I was growing up. At Xmas, my parents served it with lobster. My father took the family to a seafood wholesaler he knew and we bought these gigantic lobsters for the holiday dinner. This was New England in the 1960s, folks, when gigantic lobsters were still around, at a price within reach!

I don't have any suggestions for gan guo, don't think I've ever tried it. I did a search on the web for more info because I wasn't sure what the dish was. It sounds like a combination of meat and veg that are cooked in a wok full of oil. What puzzles you about the cooking method? I once cooked an Indian recipe that reminds me of gan guo. Chicken pieces in a marinade of ginger, garlic, chiles and shallots were cooked in a cupful of hot oil in the wok. It wasn't deep-frying, it wasn't shallow-frying. It was more like the meat and marinade were being braised in very hot oil. I also came across this link, to my linguistic edification: TMI?

A version of Sao Jorge cheese, south of the border from you--St George cheese, made at the Matos cheese factory in Santa Rosa, Ca. An excellent cheese, served at the top restaurants around here. I like it plain on the cheese board, and I've also added it to a tomato & caramelized onion tart, with yummy results. http://www.laurawerlin.com/cotm_stgeorge.html I'll have to take a look at that cookbook the next time I'm in the bookstore. ETA: The price quoted on that link sounds way out of date.

Some years ago, in a fit of nutritional correctness, I decided I would not eat tomatoes out of season. Where I live, that means no fresh tomatoes from early November to June. My resolve didn't last beyond January. I was dying for fresh tomatoes. These days I've found some good hothouse tomatoes that are locally grown and sold at the farmers mkt. I have also reclassified tomatoes from food to medicine.

I like lemon curd with some whipped cream folded into it.

Allspice is supposed to taste like a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Pinches of any or all of those 3 spices shd make a good substitute.

Years ago Saveur Mag printed a recipe for "French-Canadian Ketchup" (issue no. 47), that it called the traditional condiment to tourtiere. While I haven't cooked this ketchup myself, I was intrigued enough to clip the recipe. So the ketchup can't be all that bad. My adapted recipe for the ketchup: 6 red or green tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped 2 large white onions, chopped 4 ribs celery, chopped 2 peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped 2 pears, peeled, cored, and chopped 2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped 1 1/2 cups white vinegar 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 bay leaves 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over med-low heat until ketchup is thick (like chutney), about 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. Store in the fridge (the mag says it's good for 6 months), or pack and seal in sterilized jars. Don't ask me where people are supposed to find peaches in December. Maybe that's the place to substitute some raisins.

A weeknight dinner here, but I had some extra time to cook. A starter of Creamy Bean Soup with Red Peppers, from Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking. The beans are the Rancho Gordo Yellow Indian Woman variety, which I hadn't tried before. These beans are dense and smooth-textured, and very flavorful. The chunk of duck fat I threw into the soup (my own addition) didn't hurt either. Towards the end of cooking time, roasted red peppers and slivered black olives are stirred into the soup. Free-range Pekin duck was on sale at the market, so I bought one for Slow-Cooked Duck with Olives from Paula Wolfert's Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. The duck is rubbed with herbes de Provence, then slowly roasted in the oven. The duck meat comes out moist, very tender, and falling off the bone. This dish will be one of my go-to recipes for entertaining. Almost all the cooking can be done ahead of time. About ten minutes before service, you reheat and crisp the duck under the broiler, and reheat the sauce with the olives. That's it. I served the duck with beet greens sauteed with olive oil and garlic, and watermelon radishes braised with butter and a couple pinches of sugar in an earthenware casserole. When my CSA delivers watermelon radishes, I always wonder what to do with them. This cooking method mellows out the radishes, and makes them sweet, with a texture like turnips. No pic, but a special dessert of fresh, local, seasonal, peel-your-own Satsuma Mandarins. (The cook was too busy to make anything more. )