Emily_R

I think this seems totally reasonable for new cooks who are unaccustomed to playing with multiple spices... I don't understand the huff about this product here -- this hardly seems worth the indignation when there are so many far more wretched convenience products out there... emily

What a great thread! I started cooking at an early age, when my mom encouraged my efforts to make concoctions in the kitchen. My first claim to fame at age 7 was potatoes sauteed with onions and water chestnuts! Just kept going from there... Butterflied stuffed leg of lamb when I was around 12... Made thanksgiving dinner of individual stuffed cornish game hens when I was about 13... Didn't cook as much in college, but since then its been an explosion... I've just loved learning to cook from different cuisines -- Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Greek... The thing that has helped my cooking the most in the past three years has been the new year's resolution I started... I vowed to make at least one new recipe a week and to keep track of them all in a log book... That effort has yielded amazing dividends, both in stretching my cooking, keeping me excited to keep at it, etc...

Hi John -- I just made a batch of white sangria last week, and wanted to mention that the best addition was a small handful of peeled sliced ginger. Really added a depth of flavor that felt missing before. Emily

Baroness -- thanks for the post about the cherry larabars. I had never even looked at larabars as I figured they were just more of the pasty processed yuck. But I read your post and then was hungry and in a natural foods store today... Took a look at the cherry larabar, was amazed at the three ingredients, bought it, and it was delicious! A great snack, not too sweet as you said, and just enough to quell my hunger. Thanks!

Help! I have friends whose uncle gave them a frozen wild duck, pheasant, and "chucker." They don't have any more information about these birds (how young/old, etc). They've enlisted me to cook them for a dinner party. Can someone point me towards the most foolproof way to cook all three (preferably at once)? Any chance that a big braise -- like the coq au vin posted earlier -- might work for all three of them? Many many thanks, Emily

Hey folks -- so I'm drowning in asparagus from our garden, and made this asparagus pesto the other night. It is absolutely delicious! A few notes -- I used almonds instead of pine nuts, and stirred in about 1/4 cup of ricotta to the pasta and pesto mixture... I think this would be over the top good with a few grilled shrimp... http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/asparagus_pesto_with_pasta/

My guess is that Sunday evening you should be ok without a reservation, especially at 6:30ish... Hope you enjoy it!

I personally love Pylos, a fantastic Greek restaurant on 7th street between 1st and Avenue A...

Hey Corinna -- It'll be hard to really substitute for Korean Chili Paste, but my best guess is maybe a sweetish miso plus some hot chile sauce? Anyone else out there have thoughts on this? Emily

Thanks Boston -- that helps me understand better. Agreed that the liqueur I love is indeed something like a desert wine. I'll take a look at its alcohol concentration and think of doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations in terms of adding raspberry juice...

Ha! That's not cause for shame -- just a sign that you're a true Rhode Islander! I remember feeling compelled to get some Dunkin' Donuts at the airport every time I left Providence, just as a show of loyalty to Lil Rhody...

Haven't read the whole thread, but have to report my ultimate favorite -- the huge yellow tomato called Kelloggs Breakfast. If you can find this -- grow it! Divine, juice-dripping-down-your-chin huge tomatoes... My favorite thing to do with them is to chop some yellow tomatoes into the bottom of a bowl, pour over some just-boiled spaghetti, dot with lots of butter and salt, and mix until the tomatoes melt and become the most amazing on-the-spot sauce...

Hi folks -- I hope this won't be sidetracking us too much, but I have a question about making flour tortillas for a crowd. I'm going to be cooking for a crowd of 7 on Friday. I'm wondering if there is a way to cook the tortillas briefly in a hot oven on the open oven racks (or on several baking sheets) to allow me to cook multiple tortillas at a time (rather than one or two at a time in a hot skillet). Alternatively, if there is a way to cook them in a skillet earlier in the day and then re-warm them, please let me know! Thanks in advance for your help, Emily

My guess is that hand smooshing (at least for delicate raspberries -- strawberries may require a potato masher?) and then draining in several layers of cheesecloth would work pretty well... I'm still trying to parse through bostonapothecary's post -- not understanding what the downsides to steeping the mashed berries in alcohol and then straining (compared to straining and just mixing the juice with the alcohol) are...

Just made the Caesar salad recipe from the new issue of Fine Cooking -- too much anchovy and too much garlic for me, even though I like both of those flavors. They were so dominating that the balance just seemed out of whack. Recipe calls for 6 anchovy filets and 4 large cloves of garlic in the dressing. I'd cut that back to 4 and 2... Emily

Many thanks to both of you! Chiantiglace -- I think you're right -- I think I may have used slightly less egg whites than I did the last time. My recipe called for 90 grams of egg whites, and I remember using 3 whites last time, and this time being surprised when it seemed to take only two egg whites to weigh the 90 grams. Maybe I mis-weighed them... I'll also be sure to give parchment a try... Emily

Hi folks -- About a week ago I made my first batch of macarons, and beginners luck -- they turned out perfectly: glossy top, nice feet, etc. Today I tried and here's what I got. Can anyone help with a quick diagnosis? My oven heat can be uneven -- could it have been too hot? I also think there's a chance I undermixed, as the mixture was still quite thick when I piped it... I reviewed some of the many macaron pages here, and thought undermixing might be the culprit - it would help if someone could just take a look and let me know if that's likely... Thanks! Emily

Just wanted to say that this thread is a perfect example of what makes egullet so awesome! Love the project, and thanks for filling us in step-by-step! Emily

Hi all -- My friend recently got me a DIVINE bottle of raspberry liqueur from finger lakes distillery -- it is heaven -- the essence of raspberry and summer in a bottle. Website for the distillery says it is a mix of black and red raspberries in a grape-brandy base. My husband and I live in the fingerlakes on about 5 acres, and we are going to have an enormous crop of raspberries (both black and red) this year. We thought it would be fun to try making this type of liqueur ourselves. Does anyone out there have any experience making raspberry liqueur? A recipe that you could share? Some of the recipes I've found online later have comments saying they turned out like cough syrup... This liqueur I was given is very thin -- while sweet, it doesn't have a syrupy consistency at all. Many thanks in advance... Emily

One of my favorite skinless boneless thigh recipe is this one for Korean Spicy Chili Paste chicken -- easy, delicious, and leftovers make for the worlds best fried rice the next day... http://weekofmenus.blogspot.com/2009/07/korean-chili-paste-spicy-chicken-mae-un.html

So glad this thread is getting revived. I've got another one to add, also a smitten kitchen recipe... Chickpeas with spinach and smoked paprika, tomato, and cubed bread that melts into it. Really amazing -- totally more than the sum of its parts. I've had it for dinner over rice, for brunch over toast with a fried egg... I'll link to the recipe here, but I also want to post my *much* simplified instructions -- for some reason hers are really laborious and fussy (unusual for her recipes) when there is no need... http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/spinach-and-chickpeas/. Also note that I've added a leek to this whenever I've made it... Here are my simplified instructions Sauté garlic and leek in oil. When golden, add spices and toast about a minute. Then add tomatoes or tomato sauce, splash of wine, and chickpeas, and let cook a little (5 minutes?). Add bread cubes and mush them in to thicken the sauce. Add red wine vinegar and mix in. Then add spinach and cook until wilted.

Thanks for posting this Jen! Sounds fantastic and is going on my short list of recipes to try...

Chicken Marbella -- just made it for company this weekend... Marinates over night, then cooks for an hour... I usually make it with couscous, which cooks in an instant... I'll usually do it with a make-ahead vegetable, like I'll braise some swiss chard either the day before or earlier that day, and then just heat it up while making the couscous.

Gotta say I disagree with the preference of this episode over the first. There was nothing in this elimination challenge that I found myself dying to eat, which was in sharp contrast to the previous episode. And yuck yuck yuck to Marcus. His pinched forced face when Carmen won was the epitome of sore loser. To me, what makes this show different from the main Top Chef is that these people should all be at a level where they don't need to win by being happy to capitalize on someone else's misfortune. Marcus didn't need to drop everything to help her, but his win-at-all-costs attitude was totally at odds with Hubert Keller and Rick Bayless, my favorite contestants from last season.

Diana -- You didn't say in your original post if the kitchen is just cooking-only or if it is also really small. I live in an 1879 gothic victorian, and it has a cooking-only kitchen that is at the back of the house. When we were considering buying, I was really concerned, and had all kinds of ideas for how we would move the kitchen to make it more central, bust down the wall into the dining room to make it more open, etc, etc. As it turns out, the cooking only kitchen has been fine -- when we have guests, they hang out in the kitchen with me, where I've put a few stools along the wall. Is it perfect? No. But the rest of the house is, and the kitchen is big and easy to work in. So my question is whether the kitchen is cookable, even if its not currently easily accessible to the rest of the living space... Emily