djyee100
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Posts posted by djyee100
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When a question pops in your mind, and you want to find a cookbook, what do you think of first?
An author? the title of a cookbook? a general category? Something else? What is your most common venue for using cookbooks?
No cut-and-dried right answer, obviously. I suggest that you examine your own habits and go with a design that suits you. A library or bookstore style can offer possibilities, but they're organized to suit as many people as possible, not just you.
When I read your post, it sounds like you are naturally organizing your books by category. Curing, BBQ, and Butchering are all subtopics of meat cookery in general. You can have one section for Meat on your shelves, subcategories of Curing, BBQ, and Butchering, and within the subcategories, you can alphabetize by author. Joy of Cooking can go under a General/Reference category--again, depending on how you use this book. The categories themselves can be alphabetical, or you can organize them by Most Used to Least Used, the most used being placed in a convenient spot. Just one suggestion.
You can mix and match styles, depending on the kind of cookbook and how you use it. There are no rules here. For example, your most used cookbooks can be placed in categories and subcategories, then possibly alphabetically after that. Everything else can be organized alphabetically by author or title, or even shelved at random if they're not that important to you.
To suit myself, I organize my cookbooks (hundreds of them) mostly alphabetically by author, because that's how I remember and recognize my books. I make exceptions for some categories, like my wine books and literary food writing. My principal reference for meat cooking is James Peterson's book. I have a few other meat cookbooks shelved next to his, because I don't remember those authors otherwise. Same for a small Mediterranean cookbook whose author I don't remember--it's shelved with my Paula Wolfert cookbooks, which I use all the time for Mediterranean cooking. My Joy of Cooking is shelved under J, because I always think of the title of this book first, even though my system is basically alphabetical by author.
Sounds idiosyncratic, doesn't it? But I find everything easily because the system follows how I think about and use my books.
good luck, let us know how it goes.
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I can't help you with a personal rec. I rarely travel in this part of the Bay Area except for SFO. There's an In-n-Out Burger in Millbrae. Other than that, if I were in your position, I'd check listings and reviews on Open Table.
Burlingame, San Mateo, Millbrae:
http://www.opentable.com/ca/burlingame-restaurants
http://www.opentable.com/ca/san-mateo-restaurants
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You're talking about SFO, SF International Airport, right? Any reason that you have to dine near the airport rather than inside it? Plenty of good restaurants inside SFO. Also, the BART line will take you directly into the airport.
http://sf.eater.com/2013/5/23/6430253/where-to-eat-at-san-francisco-international-airport-sfoIf you really do need someplace near the airport, let me think about it.
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I've found two local farms that are willing to sell mutton, but we have to plan up to a year in advance...
If you haven't tried this yet...Before you give up on your local source, I suggest that you contact a meat CSA located near Spokane. (I don't know anything about them, only found the link online.) They don't sell mutton or lamb. But they do have a membership and send out a regular newsletter. Ask them if they will put a notice in their newsletter for people interested in sharing a whole mutton with you, along with your contact info. Also, they might have ideas about how you can find others interested in eating mutton.
http://www.rockyridgeranchspokane.com/csa_winter.php
My other suggestion is to find a halal market near you. Some of their clientele might like mutton and the market orders it for them.
I did a google search for "meat csa mutton" and several sources popped up. Perhaps one of them will ship to you.
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I suggest that you check out Jane Grigson's writings also. On Googlebooks, Grigson's commentary and recipe for burnt cream:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ej3cNgbF90gC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=Jane+Grigson+trinity+cambridge+burnt+cream&source=bl&ots=hsWUiKXp9s&sig=VTYgsGkfE9OZ1j21vTA4EPMV9ko&hl=en&sa=X&ei=diInVK3OHJOxogSxuYCwDw&ved=0CFUQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Grigson%20trinity%20cambridge%20burnt%20cream&f=false
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I've decided that I'm going to host an unfashionable dinner party, replete with forgotten (but good) hits from the fifties, sixties and seventies. Unfortunately, I have no first-hand experience of this era...
You're making me feel old, James.
When I read the posts here, I'm reminded of how heavy these retro foods are. That says something about why they are disfavored now.
Vol-au-vent, usually filled with creamy something, followed by beef stroganoff with sour cream sauce sounds a bit much to me. Your guests will be satiated before you roll out any dessert.
I like the idea of Steak Diane rather than beef stroganoff. The Steak Diane seems more lively. A recipe from Saveur,
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Steak-Diane It has madeira in it.
Are Duchesse potatoes out of favor now? I don't remember seeing them around in ages, but then, I don't frequent restaurants where they might be served. I think they had their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.
(Duchesse potatoes recipe,
http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/pommes-duchesse-french-piped-potatoes )
The few times I've eaten a good aspic, I thought they were so light and refreshing, especially as a summer food. They're not limited to tomato juice.
http://www.dailywt.com/7-retro-aspic-recipes/
My idea for a retro/unfashionable menu. I would call this one "Upscale 1960s."
Prawn cocktail with tabasco
Some kind of vegetable aspic, a good one
Steak Diane with Duchesse potatoes and braised spinach
Grand Marnier souffle (be careful of tricky timing here, unless you do a twice-cooked souffle)
Chocolates filled with cherries and liqueur (I remember eating these as a kid. Like this,
http://www.amazon.com/Mon-Cheri-Chocolate-Covered-Cherries/dp/B000KYQXDY )
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Custard style macaroni and cheese is common old-fashioned potluck food in this area.
Something like this.... http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/custard-style-mac-and-cheese/6981102f-cb19-4d53-a550-55fe2d1b65ae
I think this recipe is going on the right track. I googled "custard style macaroni and cheese" and a bunch of recipes came up. It was described as being a Southern variation of mac and cheese as well. I've never tried this kind of mac and cheese. Learn something new everyday.
Yeah, that was the blog post I found. I discounted the Safeway post a little, just because the blogger specifically said the texture was like egg whites had been folded in, like a dessert...
I didn't know what to make of the blogger's post. She disliked this style of mac & cheese, and that may have affected her description of it. The description sounded so weird and unappetizing to me. How could so many people like this mac & cheese? It's ironic that other people online raved about Clifton's mac & cheese, said it was the best they've ever had, and yet they didn't describe it.
Susie Q, I suggest that you consult the expert--your father. Ask him what he liked about Clifton's mac & cheese (beyond the egg custard base), and tweak some recipes in that direction.
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This recipe:
http://recipes.safeway.com/recipe/19368/chuck-s-favorite-mac-and-cheese.aspxOne reviewer said it was the Clifton's Cafeteria mac and cheese. See CookingKat's post.
http://recipes.safeway.com/recipe/19368/reviews-comments.aspx?page=135The cottage cheese and sour cream ingredients would make it creamy and tangy. I wouldn't call it custardy in the sense of egg custard, though.
I used to make Broccoli Mushroom Noodle Casserole from Mollie Katzen's original Moosewood Cookbook. It had a cheesy cottage cheese & sour cream sauce with eggs in it. The eggs bound and enriched the sauce. Very popular back in the day, when I brought it to potlucks for friends. You could experiment with the addition of eggs to the Chuck's recipe (above).
The BMN casserole recipe:
http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/broccoli-mushroom-noodle-casserole/45480good luck with your search!
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Braised Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives, my post #138:
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/113221-purge-the-larder/page-5
What a fun thread that was on EGullet.If you don't want to make your own preserved lemons, a specialty food shop like the Pasta Shop probably has them.
Roast pork shoulder stuffed with herbs and lemon, my post #1755:
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143510-dinner-2011/page-59Asian-style steamed lemon chicken. A friend made it for me a long time ago, and I thought it was good. Something like this:
http://chilliandmint.com/2012/06/20/the-perfect-steamed-lemon-chicken/Lemon risotto, like this:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Risotto-106451
I have a vague memory of eating lemon risotto with asparagus, though I didn't cook it.If you're making any kind of deep-fried seafood, e.g., fritto misto, you can make lemon fritto misto also. Thinly slice a Meyer lemon, remove the seeds. Immediately before frying (not sooner or the slices will be gummy), dip the lemon slices in flour on both sides. Drop into the hot oil. When the slices are golden, remove and drain. These taste great with the fried seafood.
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I would give any category related to readability or useability a 10 (Content and theme, Visuals for instruction or clarity,
How the text is displayed on the page). Images can be inspiring or informative, I give that an 8. Book size and handling, 5, because I can use a wide range of book sizes. Coffee table size cookbooks, with heavy paper, are the most difficult size for me to handle. They're clumsy to cook from, and they take up counterspace. For this reason I rarely buy them.And since I have your attention...
I insist on readable type for cookbooks I buy. I also want clear page design so I can turn around in the kitchen, check the recipe quickly, and continue cooking.
I hate ingredient lists in italics or other difficult-to-read typefaces. Pul-leez! Don't make it hard for me to compile a grocery list or check my progress on prep. I also dislike colored paper for the pages when there's insufficient contrast with the type color, e.g., brown type on beige paper. Pul-leez! I prefer to cook without eye strain!
There are some funky typefaces out there, supposedly artsy, that are brutal to read. One of them I recall--an old-fashioned typewriter typeface, irregular and faded out, that appeared in the recipes of a cookbook I would otherwise have bought. I've seen other typefaces in recent cookbooks that look striking or charming on the page as a whole, but are impracticable for someone trying to follow the recipe and cook.
Photos are nice if they accurately show what the dish should look like at the end, not some stylist's fantasy based on the recipe.
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Some wines I've tried since my last post.
2012 Manincor Bianco 'Reserva delle Comtese' IGT Alto Adige, a zesty white blend from the Alto Adige region in Italy. 60% pinot bianco, 30% chardonnay, 10% sauvignon blanc. Very grapefruit-y, with a lemon note in the finish. Undertone of sweet white fruit...white peaches? Clean-tasting, quite tart. Would match well with batter-fried seafood, though that's not what I was cooking at the time.
2012 Eric Kent Chardonnay, Russian River Valley. Melon, stone fruit, something honey or caramel, citrus peel. A buttery note from the oak, not overwhelming. Starts off delicate and shows heft at the mid-palate. Long finish with a tart note. Excellent balance overall. Very aromatic, fruity and floral, which I found most enchanting about this wine.
2012 Flowers Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast. A beautiful chardonnay, very well-balanced. Citrus and stone fruit, with a long minerally finish. A buttery popcorn note. Weighty in the mouth. A classic feel to this wine; it shows all the strengths of a modern chardonnay without the pitfalls. Paired with Pacific salmon with fennel and cream.
I've been focused on California chardonnays lately. Over the years familiarity has bred boredom and I've looked farther afield for white wines. But recently I've come home for chardonnay and explored some of the smaller producers.
Flowers belongs to a group named "In Pursuit of Balance." Their aim is to produce and advocate for more restrained, balanced pinot noirs and chardonnays in California (read: no more oaky fruit bombs for these varietals). The group formed in 2011, although this trend in California wines has been going on for longer than that.
http://inpursuitofbalance.com/ -
My method is to spin the herbs in a salad spinner twice, emptying the water out in between spins, then laying out the herbs to dry further on a flour sack dishtowel for 10-15 mins. It works for me. It helps that I live in a dry climate most of the year.
In olden days, lettuce and herbs were put in a net bag, and the kids were sent out to the backyard to swing the bag around until the greens were dry. I haven't tried that one. But it didn't make an appearance on your comprehensive list, so I add it here.
Rolling up herbs in a flour sack dishtowel and shaking it will take off some excess water too.
Other than that, would you have better luck with moist herbs if you used kitchen herb shears rather than a knife?
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I have recently found the mussels I buy are extremely small in what appear to be normal size shells. I know for certain they are not over cook. Asked about this recently on eG and was told it had to do with their reproductive cycle.
??? And were the mussels falling out of their shells when cooked?
In the northern hemisphere, it's the natural spawning season for mussels. But in Australia, it's winter. I would expect mussels to be at their peak now.
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The empty shells, the small size of the mussels--it sounds like the mussels were overcooked. In general, mussels will shrink and fall off the shell when overcooked. Were the small mussels tough or rubbery?
Mussels should cooked only until they open. When I cook mussels, I remove them from the stove at that point, even if the flesh looks somewhat raw. Residual heat from the sauce or pan will complete the cooking. If someone has overcrowded the pan, though, some mussels will be overcooked before others are cooked at all.
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I'm curious what recipe calls for a bottle of Italian dressing. Is the dressing supposed to be a quick and dirty way to marinate an ingredient?
I suggest the usual garlic vinaigrette, oil and vinegar of your choice in 3:1 proportion, with a sprinkling of finely crushed, dried Mediterranean herbs of your choice: oregano, marjoram, rosemary, etc. Fresh basil and parsley are also possibilities, and a squirt of lemon juice depending on what you're cooking. If there's grilling somewhere down the line, the fresh herbs will cause black blotches on your food when cooked. Hence, the commercial dressing ingredient (my guess).
Commercial dressings have a fair amt of sugar and sometimes a sweet-sour profile. If a sprinkle of sugar is appropriate for this dish, go for it.
If you're only marinating with this dressing, you can be more lax with the oil:vinegar proportions, and not picky about the quality of the oil. The oil is only supposed to be a carrier for the flavors of the marinade. As always, taste as you go.
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The two Lindy's recipes above are each a bit different. Every time I see recipes for an "original" NY cheesecake I think of the old joke about someone's mother always serving leftovers, the original recipe was never found...
I believe many attempts were made to reverse engineer the Lindy's recipe after the restaurant closed. And how many pastry cooks who worked at the restaurant knew how to make the cheesecake anyway?
I first encountered a "Lindy's" recipe in a cheese cookbook I owned decades ago. That's what made me think of Lindy's in the first place. The Australian recipe, because of its back story and source, goes to the front of the pack IMO. The Saveur recipe was probably adapted and tweaked from several sources. Unlike the Australian recipe, the Saveur recipe is well-written and shows recipe-testing.
I found both recipes (and others like it online) fascinating to read. It's so Italian. The crust is basically a pasta frolla. The filling reminds me of the basic cheesecake of the ancient Romans, which was not much more than farmer's cheese, eggs and flour to bind, seasoning, and baking time to dry out the whole thing. I wonder if the first recipe was made with farmer's cheese, with cream added to enrich it. When the recipe came to the U.S., cream cheese was subbed for the farmer's cheese, and the cheesecake became much heavier and rich. We'll never know, of course, this is my imagination at work.
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I'm no cheesecake expert. However, when I think of NY cheesecake I think of Lindy's. Not the current version sold in NYC, but the cheesecake from the original restaurant that closed. The recipe was thought to be lost, and now it is found. Try googling "Lindy's cheesecake." I liked these links:
http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Lost-recipe-for-legendary-cheesecake-found-3631242.php -- Don't believe the stock photo with this article, BTW
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For dinner a couple nights ago. A rioja, 2009 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Reserva. Mostly tempranillo and garnacha (grenache). Prominent cherries and vanilla from the get-go, some raspberry and blackberry too, a little leather, a vegetal note. Good fruit, well-balanced, nice aroma and finish. Medium body. Alcohol heat well-masked by fruit; grippy tannins. Done in the traditional style, which some people criticize as over-oaked. Still, this wine is very good drinking.
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In an email newsletter dated today, food writer Janet Fletcher had this to say:
"So Long, Roquefort?"
Have you heard about all those people getting sick from eating Roquefort, raw-milk Morbier and raw-milk Tomme de Savoie? I haven’t either because it hasn’t happened. And the FDA is going to make sure that it doesn’t.
In fact, the agency’s tightened guidelines are making these French classics scarce at American cheese counters. Temporarily? Forever more? We can’t know. But several European creameries recently learned that their products are on Import Alert, meaning that the FDA considers the cheeses unfit for sale. You may still find some of these cheeses in shops because distributors had inventory, but we could be looking at a holiday season without Roquefort...
Few dispute the need for government oversight of food safety. There are a lot of bad actors out there. But the French eat far more Roquefort than we do—only Comté outsells it in France —and they are not getting sick from it. So why the stepped-up enforcement by the FDA?As far as I know, there is a lack of evidence that crafted raw milk cheeses pose a significant health risk. Yet the FDA is cracking down on raw milk cheeses without sufficient scientific basis. They are putting up impossible barriers for American artisanal cheesemakers, and restricting imports as well. The beneficiary of these restrictions, if any, are the big factory cheesemakers. The FDA is conveniently reducing competition for them. People have to ask the FDA, "Why? What's the justification for these restrictions?"
Unfortunately I cannot print out more of Janet Fletcher's informative article, due to copyright infringement considerations. Also, I cannot find the newsletter on Janet's website. Otherwise, I would give you the link. Below is the link to her website, with info to subscribe to her newsletter. Janet Fletcher is a cookbook author and instructor in cheese classes in the Bay Area.
http://janetfletcher.com/ -
From roadfood.com. A search yesterday yielded nothing. A second try today, and the website remembered Tulsa.
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurants/SearchResults.aspx?st=latlong&latlongid=495&ob=LatLon
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Thanks for the links. This is the FDA's second hit on the artisanal cheese industry in as many months.
I was struck by the disconnect between the various FDA field officers and the Wash DC bureaucracy, and the uncertain environment the FDA is creating for American artisanal cheeses. I doubt the FDA would play around like this with the mega-producers of factory cheese. Meanwhile, my opinion of Monica Metz, the FDA branch chief in charge of cheesemaking, has gone down yet another notch. Ms Metz made her prior career with one of the world's largest cheese producers (rubber mozzarella is their specialty). One wonders about her outlook and willingness to harm the artisanal cheesemaking movement.
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Any updates on SLC? I'm looking for unpretentious, quality restaurants in the area.
I did a search on roadfood.com for the cities you've requested on your recent EGullet posts. SLC, Tulsa, Cheyenne came up negative at first, then suddenly the website changed its mind and popped out a map of good restaurants for the Rockies. I tried to do an additional search for Reno, but the website decided it had done enough for me today.
Here's the map. Hope it's still there for you.
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurants/SearchResults.aspx?st=latlong&latlongid=390&ob=LatLon
Roadfood.com is the brainchild of food writers Jane and Michael Stern. I only know of them from their contributions to Saveur mag. I suggest you play with the website yourself. It may decide it knows a few restaurants in Reno after all.
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A rosé from Southern California, 2013 Presqu'ile Pinot Noir Rosé, Santa Maria Valley. 100% pinot noir, stainless steel fermented. I normally don't like rosé, but I like this one. Crisp and zesty, plenty of acidity but it's not harsh. Rounder on the palate compared to other rosés I've tried. Good balance, firm, fruity (for a rosé). Starts off watermelon and turns into apple. Mineral in the finish. Also some alcohol heat in the finish, but it's not a flaw. Very pretty, jewel-like color of coral pink--I kept holding up my glass to look at it. Easy drinking on the patio, this wine would match well with charcuterie and finger foods.
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Interesting technology but apparently it depends on the cork being intact. I've heard that you should recork bottles every twenty years or so, but recorking isn't always practical.
Yes, the cork must be intact. As I mentioned above, once the bottle is opened, the oxidation process begins and no known technology can change that.
Most wines are opened within a 20-year time frame anyway. The expensive wines age and eventually deteriorate in the bottle just like the cheapies. Great wines simply take longer to do it. For those relatively few bottles worth recorking, I'm sure the zillionaires can afford to have the bottles properly preserved.
Best method to cook boudin noir...?
in Cooking
Posted
I've only tried boudin noir that's quite soft when raw--made only from blood, pork, pork fat, panade and seasonings. I got the recipe at a cooking demo, had great plans to make the sausage at home, but none of that ever happened. This particular sausage was so soft that I would not slice and grill it before cooking it.
I was told to poach the sausage in simmering salted water until it reaches an internal temp of 140F. The chef made an estimate of 20 mins cooking time for water at 170F. The sausage should still be a little soft when done, not hard. Then the sausage can be grilled slowly over medium heat to brown it.
I've eaten boudin noir with homemade sauerkraut--really liked that.