djyee100

Glad the recipe turned out well and people liked it. Was the final dish like the eggplant parmesan you ate in Varenna?

Apropos of the subject, I howled when I read this short blog entry by David Lebovitz. "French Salads": http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008...er_ma.html#more Resolved by a subsequent blog and a beautiful salad I want to make for myself. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008...nch_sunday.html

I was told that salting and draining the eggplant slices, then pressing them dry between layers of paper towels cuts down on how much oil the eggplant will absorb. The chef also advised using a generous amt of oil to fry the eggplant--she said the eggplant absorbed less oil that way. I know, I know, it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but that's what she said. The last time I fried eggplant like this (salt, drain, press)--for another recipe last week--the eggplant fried up well and did not seem to absorb much more oil than you would expect from fried food. Regular plain ol' eggplant slices can absorb a horrendous amt of oil when you fry them. The first time I made eggplant parmesan, so many years ago, I took the dish to a potluck party and I was afraid nobody wd like it because of all the olive oil in it. Nope. No one realized how much oil was in the dish (I certainly wasn't going to say), and they loved the eggplant. Said it was just about the best they had ever tasted.

How about this? My favorite recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. A local chef gave me this recipe several years ago. My notes say it is from Naples. EGGPLANT PARMESAN 1 1/2 lbs eggplant (or 3 medium-size eggplants) salt olive oil 3 1/2 cups tomato sauce 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced 2 TB freshly chopped basil leaves 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Trim and slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch slices. Salt generously and layer into a colander. Cover with a plate and a weight (like a big can of tomatoes). Let drain in the sink or over a bowl for one hour. When the hour is up, press and dry the eggplant slices between layers of paper towels. Fry them in a generous amount of olive oil until browned on both sides. Drain the slices on paper towels or on a rack. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To assemble: Spread 1/3 of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9" X 12" baking dish. Layer on 1/2 of the eggplant slices, 1/2 of the mozzarella, and 1/2 of the basil. Repeat the layers, starting with the tomato sauce. Finish with the remaining tomato sauce and the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30-40 mins until bubbling. Serve warm or at room temperature. Note: The original recipe called for 2 cups of tomato sauce. I like more. I use a 28 oz can of Muir Glen tomato sauce and add in sauteed garlic and sauteed chopped onion (well-cooked). I've also made this recipe substituting zucchini for the eggplant, and that tastes good too. My notes say you can also use fennel and artichokes in this recipe. Enjoy!

Second the motion. ← My first thought also. It's time for her to bring out the new book. The baking pages in my copy of her Cookwise book are worn out.

I don't think it's the idea of the market basket that is so critical. When I've talked to CSA members around here (not only members of my CSA), people care about 1) the high quality fresh produce from a CSA, 2) it's organic and offered at a lower price than Whole Foods, 3) they know something of the farm and the people who run it; if the farm is organic, they support the farm's ecological goals. The farm or organization that's running the CSA matters a great deal. One organization I know of--a store that brokers produce from several farms, as far as I can tell--gives its CSA members the leftover produce that didn't sell in its retail outlet. Those members don't last for long. Sometimes people give funny reasons for joining a CSA. One woman, busy with a young family, said she belongs to my CSA because "I don't want to go to the supermarket and have to think!" I hate to admit it, but that's one of my reasons, too.

I've never come across a cookbook like that. You could check out Everyday Greens by Annie Somerville and The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. Both books present professional food that has been simplified for the home cook. ETA: Wait! Julia Child did a cookbook, In Julia's Kitchen With Master Chefs. You might find it in your public library too. http://www.amazon.com/Julias-Kitchen-Maste...14884702&sr=8-1

Have you considered starting a CSA? My CSA got its start 16 yrs ago when ONE interested person contacted the farm and said she wanted to start a CSA for her area. That CSA now serves hundreds of families in numerous locations throughout the SF Bay Area. It does take commitment, and in the beginning the coordinator (that would be you) will be a volunteer. So, if you have the inclination, and the time-- An easy way to begin, once you find a farm, is to sit in the farmers market with a table, a display, and some flyers for a few wks and ask people to sign up. The CSA is a go when you reach your target number. If the farm is one that sells also at the farmers mkt, people can pick up their CSA orders at that farm's stand during the farmers mkt hours. The whole CSA order shd be discounted compared to what people can pick up a la carte at the farm stand; and people shd know there are no substitutions with something they might like better at the farm stand, because of the discount. There's some organization and paperwork that comes with a CSA. The first coordinator for my CSA received free orders; I think she was also paid a little for her work. Now the farm has hired staff in its office to handle all the CSA matters.

For a casual, friendly dinner, how about soft tacos with grilled vegetables? I like to lay out all the ingredients on the table and let people make their own, and people seem to like that. Some ideas for tacos with the fixin's: tortillas (of course); tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, summer squash, onions for grilling; sour cream, tomato salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese, pickled jalapenos, & sliced olives for the toppings. You can purchase the salsa and guacamole at the supermarket if you don't have time to make your own.

I've never made rumtopf, but I've made something very similar, vieux garcon, which is layers of seasonal fruit preserved in brandy and sugar. I was told the preserve is called vieux garcon, or "bachelor," because it resembles a bachelor's abode: everything thrown on top of everything else, and nothing cleaned up (at least by French housewife standards). I made my preserve with cherries, apricots, plums, peaches and nectarines. I could have gone on and added in grapes, pears and apples thru the fall, but I got busy by midsummer and forgot about it. My advice is to add decent tasting liquor. I was told I could use cheap brandy (and I did), but a better quality brandy (less alcohol-y tasting) would have made a big difference in flavor--it would have been worth it, IMO. I was also told to choose ripe and unblemished fruit, and if necessary, choose the firmer underripe fruit rather than overripe fruit. Once the most recently added fruit has been sitting in the jar for a month, you can dig in and start eating. Yum! I especially liked this preserve over ice cream. You can serve it with poundcake or biscotti, too. The fruits all taste different when they're likkered up and it's fun to compare them. In my preserve, the apricots in brandy were fantastic, the peaches surprisingly less so. A little of this fruit mix goes a long way, and I ended up with much more preserve than I knew what to do with. Next time I'll buy some pretty jars and give it away as gifts. ETA: The notes to my recipe say that at first the fruits will float on top, but as they absorb sugar they will sink to the bottom of the jar. I don't remember trying to weigh down the fruit so it would be submerged. I decided to be authentic and made this recipe in casual bachelor mode.

I once attended a party where the chef prepared a kind of Tex-Mex dim sum (steamed shu mai). The filling was ground chicken, plus tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, and serrano or jalapeno chiles--all well chopped up and mixed in with the chicken. The chef also added a mild cheese (Monterey Jack?) to the mix, but I didn't like the cheese in this dish. The filling would taste as good in potstickers, probably better since the potstickers are fried. Let us know what you decide to make!

I'm not sure how you're cooking pak choi (or bok choy) now, but these recipes are part of my regular repertoire. I like them all. I've always cooked bok choy in an Asian style. I don't know of any good non-Asian dishes for it. Asian Greens with Garlic and Chiles: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...D-GARLIC-237115 Chinese Egg Noodles with Shrimp and Asian Greens: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/coo...gg_noodles.html Bok Choy with Roasted Peanuts: http://css.wsu.edu/organicfarm/newsletters...GANIC052907.pdf Stir-fried Mixed Greens: http://www.14acrefarm.com/recipes/rachel_summer.htm (keep scrolling down the webpage)

So, did your MIL write the recipe out for you? ← I wanted to ask the same question, but I didn't have the nerve.

As far as I can tell, this dessert is like whipped cream firmed up with gelatin (plus sweetened and flavored with lemon). I checked Shirley Corriher's Cookwise. For whipped cream firmed with gelatin, she says to heat the gelatin just enough to dissolve it, let the gelatin cool to body temperature, then whisk it into the cream (in your case, evap milk). She cautions that gelatin that is too warm will deflate the cream; gelatin that is too cold will turn chunky rather than foamy when it hits the cold cream. She says that gelatin at body temperature or slightly above is ideal. Hope this helps. ETA: you add the gelatin to the cream close to the end of whipping in order to firm it, as previous posts have described.

A community bulletin board for a neighborhood served by my CSA began posting recipes for the veggies in the weekly box. http://www.rockridgeresidents.org/index.ph...id=97&Itemid=29 The idea seems to have run out of steam after a couple months, but it's still a worthy idea for people who are committed. Perhaps a blog format for the group, and more of an emphasis on easy dishes for wkday meals? The veggies are seasonal, so the recipes could be handy for a few weeks.

So are you saying that whipping the eggs creates a more stable foam structure for when you churn the ice cream? i.e., the ice cream incorporates more air during churning because of this stable foam structure?

Those greens look fabulous! My first suggestion is to invest in some top-quality olive oils and vinegars for salads, if you haven't done so already. Right off the top of my head, I agree with DScott's advice. I always make sure that I have some homemade stock in the freezer, and parmigiano-reggiano or romano cheeses on hand. I also cook many Asian stirfries with my veggies: garlic, gingerroot, peanut oil, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch or arrowroot for thickening the sauce, and toasted sesame oil for garnish. I keep canned coconut milk around for SE Asian stirfries. I suggest that you check out Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food. Her recipes are geared for the high-quality produce you're receiving from your CSA, and the recipes are easy enough for wkday meals. The cookbook also has a lengthy chapter about pantry staples that you may find useful. Don't be put-off by how outrageously simple some of the recipes are. They're designed to show off the best of a particular fruit or veggie. I've owned the book for only a few wks, but I've cooked 20 recipes from it, and l'm lovin' it. When confronted with an unfamiliar veggie from my CSA (rutabagas??), my go-to book is Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I've recommended that book to a bunch of people.

I am referring to dense gelato I've purchased from a local gelateria. The gelato I've made is lighter textured, because of the recipes I'm following (Pamela Sheldon Johns' Gelato! cookbook). I am assuming that allowing the egg yolks to rest would result in a denser gelato, yes? While flipping thru the book yesterday, I noticed that Johns offers this alternative to the ice cream machine: Place the gelato base in a stainless steel bowl, and freeze until the mixture is partially frozen. Then beat it with a wire whisk until it is creamy. Return the mixture to the freezer, and repeat this process once or twice. I've never tried this method, but it sounds like it would produce a very dense but (hopefully) creamy gelato.

Re: chewy, foamy, or fluffy ice cream. I'm wondering if I should stay out of this discussion, but fools rush in where angels fear to tread... In my experience, there's some truth to Professor Goff's statement (posts # 7, 20). When I beat the egg yolks with sugar real good for some gelati (about 10 mins on a hand mixer), the gelati came out lighter in texture, more like homemade ice cream (not that overaerated commercial stuff) than typically dense gelato. So I would say that beating the egg yolks and sugar until voluminous can affect the texture of the final product. Whether that's good or not depends on individual taste. Also, I don't know how "authentic" this lighter-textured gelato is. But I like it. As for shockingly yellow ice cream, most commercial eggs have fair to middling pale yolks that do not color the ice cream excessively. More often fresh farm eggs have those bright yellow yolks (depending on what the chickens feed on), but when the yolks are mixed with cream and milk, would the color really be a problem? I doubt it.

I vote for Cowgirl Creamery and Acme Bread, which I both love. Arizmendi, which is an offspring of the Cheese Board Bakery in Berkeley, is another fav. For pastry I point people to Citizen Cake: http://www.citizencake.com/ Chef-owner Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake has a new cookbook out too: http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Falkners-D...12888163&sr=8-1

I've encountered only one set of ice cream recipes that require serious beating of the egg yolks and sugar before adding them to the base, and those are the gelato recipes in Pamela Sheldon Johns' Gelato! cookbook. Her recipe for Custard Gelato is reprinted here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...D-GELATO-103830 As you can see, her recipe (typical of other gelato recipes in her book) contains a high proportion of milk to cream. Some of her gelato recipes have no cream at all. I'm guessing that the heavy-duty beating of the egg yolks and sugar, not to mention the whipped cream added later, make for the lightness and creaminess of her gelati. The texture is very fine, creamy but not as heavy as high butterfat ice creams. I don't know the science whys and wherefores behind beating the egg yolks and sugar, but I'd love to find out (Paul?). I was introduced to these gelati when I assisted a pastry chef in her prep for a corporate dinner. Even though the recipe says to use a blender, she had me beat those egg yolks and sugar for a good 10 mins or so with a hand mixer (a KitchenAid is OK too), and she was careful that the mixture was light and voluminous when I was done. In her experience, that gave the best results for these gelati.

Thanks for the research. I wondered about the technique of mixing the yolks with sugar. I prefer dissolving the sugar in the milk, then adding the egg yolks. But because I like Lucchetti's and Pappas' recipes, I cook from their books and follow their techniques. Easy to switch the technique around to sugar-in-milk mode, of course, and I think I will do that from now on. Yes, pls let us know of your experiments with new recipes.

It's not a silly question, it's actually a good question. I'll have to say ditto to everything Josho said so well. Keep in mind that commercial ice creams have to hit a price point, & the cost of the ice cream reflects overhead & labor, not only ingredients. Even the best premium ice creams, which can sell for $5 per pint (ouch), will cut corners on the quality of the ingredients. If you're making the ice cream yourself, you can use only cream & milk (in the proportions you want), whole fresh eggs, real organic vanilla beans, Scharfenberger or Valhrona chocolate, the works. For that $5 you can make some great ice cream at home, & more of it. The down side, of course, is that you have to make it. That takes time and effort. There's also a learning curve for making ice cream. When I first made my own ice cream, I curdled it because of overheating, and I can remember a few batches that ended up down the sink. But now I'm practiced enough that I can make ice cream without thinking about it, & the process is easy. A silicone spatula, which helps scrape the bottom of the pan so well, also did wonders to prevent curdling. Josho is right, it's all good, but homemade ice cream is way better than any commercial supermarket variety I've tasted.

Shirley Corriher's Cookwise and Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking both contain a few pages on the science behind ice cream making. Are you making ice cream for yourself as a home cook or do you plan to turn out ice cream in volume for sale? In my experience, the simple ice cream recipes with a custard base, no additives, taste best and have the best texture when cooked and frozen properly. Unfortunately those ice creams do not hold well in the freezer for more than a few days, but usually they're eaten up before then. I once took a class with the food technician-owner of a local gelateria. He shared his recipes and "secrets" for ice cream that would keep longer without crystallizing in the freezer, such as the addition of cornstarch to the base. He also used skim milk powder. When I tried those recipes at home, they did not work well. His recipes relied on high-powered commercial ice cream makers to homogenize the cornstarch and skim milk powder. The ice creams came out lumpy, and frankly, they didn't taste that good. I've cooked David Lebovitz's ice cream recipes for years with excellent results (Room for Dessert, The Perfect Scoop). Alice Waters in The Art of Simple Food has 2 basic ice cream recipes (vanilla and strawberry), and many variations on each of those recipes. Both Lebovitz and Waters make the classic custard base for their ice creams. Emily Lucchetti in A Passion For Ice Cream and Lou Seibert Pappas in Sorbets and Ice Creams also make the custard base, but I notice that they mix the egg yolks with sugar before incorporating that mixture into heated Half & Half. Their ice creams may be less prone to curdling, since the yolks are stabilized by the sugar (I'm guessing) but I think their ice creams tend to taste sweeter--the sugar taste is more forward--than with the classic custard method. (Or maybe I'm imagining things.) Pamela Sheldon Johns' Gelato! cookbook has finally been reprinted this spring, after used copies went for sale online for $40. The new paperback edition costs $14.95. I've cooked my favorite gelatos out of this book. LittleIsland and RuthWells, I suggest looking at Shirley Corriher's Cookwise book for her troubleshooting on ice cream. She points out several places in the cooking and chilling process where it is important to hit certain temperatures so that ice cream has the proper texture.

Thanks to Egullet, this story has a happy ending. Chefpeon and I could really get into it here about convection ovens, but I guess we shd spare the other people on this thread. Well, maybe I could say one thing more. As for hot spots--convection ovens have 'em. I and the other assts for the cooking classes always had to rotate the pans for even browning on all the different ovens we worked on. Once an asst failed to rotate a batch of cookies, & they came out of the oven with a clear pattern of the hot spots marked on 'em. At least then we knew for sure where the hot spots were in that oven. This was on a Viking wall oven.