enurmi

I'm preparing to host a dinner for my sister and her boyfriend in honor of her birthday. I would really like to have a wine pairing, but I personally know very little about wine, so I thought I might enlist the help of the talented eGulleteers. I need something in the low-mid price range, too. If anyone could offer some advice, I would be so grateful! Here's the basic layout of the menu, in terms of flavors: Avocado, Radish Tomato, Red Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, Bread Scallop with Orange Beet, Green Apple, Olive Oil Salmon, Polenta Pea, Mint White Grape, Vanilla Blackberry, Cantaloupe Vanilla, Pear, Almond Hazelnut, Chocolate, Blackberry Thank you so much!

I made some brownies just yesterday! I use an adaptation of Alton Brown's recipe, and, if I may say so myself, they are absolutely delicious. Nice and chocolatey, and I plan to freeze my next batch so that I can have warm, fudgy brownies for a few weeks without having to buy pound after pound of flour.

I look forward to new posts by Shauna at Gluten Free Girl (who has taught me so much about celiac), and Adam at Amateur Gourmet is always fun to read. I also like Orangette, 101 Cookbooks, Chocolate and Zucchini, and the Domestic Goddess.

Two nights ago was majadara-- caramelized onions, lentils, and basmati riced cooked to creamy deliciousness with rice pudding for dessert (sister got her wisdom teeth pulled and couldn't chew). Last night was pistachio soup (inspired by the March Gourmet) and a radish-cucumber pickle, with brownies for dessert. I have some onion confit going on 24 hours right now, so that will probably be my dinner with a little bread and some salad.

I like a mix of .5-1 Tblspn each natural and dutch-process cocoa powder, with 1-2 Tblspn sugar and a pinch of kosher salt for every 1-1.5 c milk. I mix .25-.5 c of the milk into a slurry with the other ingredients as I heat the rest of the milk, then mix it all together. Delicious, and very rich.

Rosemary. I just plain don't like the taste! Give me thyme or basil ( ) any day. And veal-- I don't like the taste, the texture, anything... It's been awhile since I've tried it, so I'd be willing to try it again, but no guarantees.

Well, I bought the Benriner! I love it, but I still have to get used to the julienne settings, definitely-- I don't quite have them figured out yet.

I really need some advice, quickly if possible, about buying mandolines. I've pretty much narrowed it down to either the Super Benriner ($50) or the adjustable Kyocera ($30). I think it may be worth it to get the Benriner and have the julienne blade, but I'm not positive... Does anyone have experience with both brands? Thanks!

Culinary Artistry by Dorenberg and Page, for the third time... Gear for Your Kitchen by Brown, second time and Working the Plate by Styler... and those are just the food books. Firstly, I hope I did the links right... took me long enough. Secondly, is it a sign of addiction that I take CA and WtP with me every time I go on vacation? I NEED them, goshdarnit!

This confuses me a little... I buy water bottles because a) they are easy to carry around and not worrisome to lose, and b) the water tastes better. What's wrong with that?

There are two different things referred to as cinnamon-- 'real' cinnamon and cassia, which is what most Americans know as cinnamon. However, I doubt this would have much bearing on the topic at hand because 'real' cinnamon is milder not spicier than cassia, and has a gentler sweetness. I would go with cassia/cinnamon oil, as others have said, as the culprit for 'spicy' cinnamon.

Well, I know a little bit... Potassium nitrate (KNO3) is often used in salt substitutes because of it's salty flavor; it is naturally occurring though (I believe) most compounds produced for commercial use are produced in laboratories. But, I suppose, seawater is an aqueous solution of NaCl, KNO3, and... MgSO4, I believe. (Word names would be sodium chloride, potassium nitrate, and magnesium sulfate (not anhydrous...heptahydrate?), aka salt, saltpeter, and epsom salt) They would "use geyser steam" (WOW! ALL ORGANIC!! I must buy this stuff now) to evaporate the water, leaving behind crystals of the three compounds.

Ah, reading that link helps out a lot... Still, a big part of me thinks it must be illegal to mislead the customer by making them think that they are eating actual salt. In reality, that "low sodium" sea "salt" is just salt plus magnesium and potassium (probably potassium nitrate). Very misleading.

I'm looking for a good, reliable online source for spices... as far as I know, there are no spice shops around where I live. (if anyone knows any around DC, that would be preferable) I've been looking into www.thespicehouse.com Does anyone have any experience with them? If not, are there any other good (relatively inexpensive) online vendors I should look into? Thanks!

YUM!!! that sounds awesome!! do you have a tortilla press? ← Nope, unfortunately no tortilla press.. made do with my hands and a little bit of contortion, though! Yours sounds fantastic too-- I want some of that ice cream!

Homemade corn tortillas with lightly cooked, sweet golden corn cut from the cob, black beans with rice, black bean-corn salsa, and creamy avocado.

What what what???? Chemically, I'm consternated. Salt = NaCl. I can understand if they used a potassium nitrate but they claim to use real salt, which is always NaCl. Chemically, there is no way (AFAIK) to reduce the amount of sodium in that. 1 cation of Sodium (which will always have a +1 charge) will always bond with 1 cation of Chlorine (which will always have a -1 charge). Can anyone give a scientific explanation? It sounds suspiciously like PR bull.

Funny that this thread should come up right now! I am, at heart, a water drinker. It's the only thing I drink, and I drink a lot of it. (Take a bottle with me in the morning, refill it 3-5 times a day) Usually, the only other thing I drink is tea-- no milk or sugar. However, I made some rich delicious brownies on Friday and when I tasted one, the first thing I thought was "I NEED some milk." It wasn't even a want, I NEEDED milk. So I got out a glass and every day since I've had two cups of cold, frosty skim every night with my brownie. Methinks a new tradition is being formed! (Plus these brownies should freeze perfectly, so really, I shouldn't ever make them again because I am going to gain a lot of weight if I do.)

Feel free to pick my brain! For me, chocolate is a very personal-taste thing. I mean, some people love the Scharffen I mentioned and think it is the best chocolate-- I personally don't love it. It depends a lot on what you look for in a bar. Since you asked, I went back and held a little tasting (oh the things I do for the sake of experimentation-- oh the sacrifices) between the Chocolove 77, my favorite really dark chocolate, and the Lindt 70. The Lindt isn't bad-- I'm not saying that-- but it's not what I look for in a chocolate. It has a citrusy undertone and a very tangy aftertaste that doesn't appeal to me. To me, it doesn't have quite enough backbone to stand up to the strong aftertaste. The 77 is a little more deep and fruity with a very light bitter-chocolatey aftertone. Again, this is just personal opinion-- I find the Chocolove far more satisfyingly chocolatey. The Lindt's undertones/aftertaste distract from the chocolate taste itself, for me. I would definitely say to try some other chocolates (perhaps a Green and Black... or no, more for me! ) and see what you like best, since Lindt is the only one you've tried, but if you decide you like Lidnt the best (which you may well do), then I'm all for that! No chocolate police here! I live in DC and I find my chocolate at the Whole Foods and Balducci's near me. Also, increasingly so, I've been finding some high quality dark chocolate in my Giant-- probably because it was just renovated to be more "gourmet". Good luck!

I've been wanting to have my own little cheese tasting for awhile now, so I thought I'd come to the experts! I want to put together a 4-5 cheese little menu to try. I'm open to almost anything, but I don't really like blue cheese. If possible, if anyone has suggestions of what to have along side that would be fantastic! And also, preferably nothing too too exotic, because the gourmet grocers near me has a nice selection, but not gigantic.

As I was eating some chocolate today, I thought I'd resurrect this thread and add another question: what chocolates do you have in your stash right now and what are they best suited to? For my part, in my small (albeit rapidly expanding) stash, I have a block of El Rey for molding (delicious) Green and Black 60 with Currants and Hazelnuts: hands down my favorite for out of hand Valrhona 71: I tried some a little while ago, don't really remember what I thought Venchi 56: unopened Chocolove 77: decent, dark, not too bitter, slightly fruity-- a good choice for nibbling when you need a real chocolate fix Scharffen Berger 71: okay in very small amounts, otherwise too bitter and acidic-- not my favorite Lindt 70: okay, I wouldn't buy it again now that I've found better And the requisite bag of Ghirardelli 60 chips in the freezer for a quick fix Overall, I think so far Chocolove is my favorite for plain, deep goodness, but Green and Black beats everything else easy for my favorite all around. Delicious chocolate with hardly any bitterness but a nice, fruity roundness which is compounded nicely by the currants and hazelnuts... rest assured, I'll be trying more of them! Meanwhile, I don't think I'll spend my money on SB or Lindt any more.

I occasionally like my risotto (heretically, I believe) with toasted pinenuts, parmigiano, and a basil puree. (deconstructed pesto=mmmmmm)

I completely agree. I'm rather appalled, actually, at the angry and sometimes self-righteous invective directed at the OP. I understand if you disagree, but there have been at least three posts which directly and viciously attack the OP; for posts about not being rude, they certainly seem hypocritical. It's easy to censure someone on the internet, without having to see them face to face, but the same rules of etiquette and decency apply. Can't we all play nice?

I'm sorry, but this seems incredibly unnecessarily harsh and caustic. I know that sometimes on the internet it's hard to temper your words, but such unrestrained vitriol at a stranger makes me sad; in my opinion, your post is far ruder than her original transgression. I agree! I'm kind of surprised, I admit, at the righteous indignation of some of these posts... I know for me, I would probably try to order something but not really eat it. It's not a matter of me being a 'snob,' it's that eating the kind of food mentioned makes me feel sick and bloated. If you make a conscious choice to stop eating processed foods, why does that not garner the same respect as other eating choices? As mentioned before, if someone chooses not to drink or not to eat meat or to go on a diet, it would be rude to force them to eat something they didn't want to. I'd also like to differentiate between refusing home cooked food at someone's house and being reluctant to order from a bad restaurant. And I completely disagree with whoever said that you are obligated to order, pay, eat, and pretend to enjoy what you are eating. I have been in situations at restaurants where my food was just horrible; I didn't eat more than a few bites. There's a difference between graciously setting your fork aside and drinking water while you maintain conversation and yelling, "This food SUCKS." IMO, you are in no way obligated to feign enjoyment of food made at a restaurant. At a home, the rules are all different-- if it was a real foodie, really good friend, I would tell them the absolute truth, if it were anyone else I would thank them and tell them I enjoyed it.

That looks SO good... I'm a sucker for radishes and crisp cucumbers. So, what... mandolin sliced? What sort of dressing? Vinegary so it's almost pickled? mmm... *floats off into dreamland* I had mini penne with fresh mashed avocado thinned with pasta water and a goodly sprinkle of sea salt.