BertaBurtonLake

Plain and simple, from what you describe as your method, your temp is too high. Covering your pan traps heat and will produce overcooked (tough, dry) results. for a 2-3 egg omelet, I use a 12" nonstick pan, heat over medium heat until the butter foams, then reduce the heat to low. The higher heat at the beginning will assure your eggs start to set the second they hit the pan. Add your beaten egg and swirl the pan so the bottom is covered. Gently pull the set egg from the edges to the middle with a spatula or fork, tilting the pan so the uncooked egg runs into the vacated space. You can also "lift" the set egg up so he uncooked eggs run under the set eggs. Do this until the eggs are soft set and too thick to run into empty spaces. Add your room temperature ingredients (cheese, onion etc) and fold. Remember, the added ingredients will drop the temp of the overall dish. Let sit for several seconds and then slide it off onto your plate. Carry over heat will finish the omelet and you should have an omelet with a pale tender outside and soft set egg inside. Hope this helps Berta

I have been asked and agreed to cater my friends' wedding reception for 100 people. I need help with quantities of food needed for the number of people attending. If those of you who have such experience could chime in with assistance in this area, I would be most grateful. Specific items I need help determining the amounts follow the menu. Mini crab cakes with Remoulade sauce Meatballs in sauce (has not been determined whether they will be lamb or beef or what sauce) Whole braised mushrooms Chicken skewers with different sauces Sandwich bar with: Cold Beef tenderloin Turkey breast Ham various cheeses various mayos and mustards Cold poached salmon with condiments capers diced red onion lemon or lime dill sauce Shrimp cocktail with homemade sauce shrimp and artichoke dip with pita points and water crackers fruit skewers with dressing creme de menthe brownie bites lemon tarts wedding cake Specific questions: How many whole beef tenderloins will I need? How many salmon fillets? What additional condiments than what I listed would you include? How many whole turkey breasts? How many meatballs (assuming a bite sized ball)? The wedding is not until December 13, so I have some time to figure this all out, but though I would come to those who already know for the definitive answers! Thanks, Berta

Disjoint wings, reserving tips for stock making. Lay them out on a layer of paper towels. Dust with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Alternatively, sprinkle liberally with Tony Chachere's. Shake in a bag with cornstarch, making sure to shake off any excess. Deep fry or pan fry in lard or peanut oil til brown and crispy. Toss in a mixture of Frank's Red Hot and melted butter (yes, butter. Margarine sux!) equal parts mixed together well. Serve with bleu cheese dip/dressing and celery sticks. Make tons as thay will disappear fast!! I never prepare less than 12 lbs at a time. I have been instructed by my family and friends that less than that is just a tease. Bleu cheese dip/dressing 1.5 cups each good stiff mayo and sour cream juice of 1 lemon 1 large clove garlic, pressed or finely minced (more if you love garlic) 2 Tbsp finely minced shallots or sweet onion (grated works well, too) 6-8 ounces crumbled good quality bleu cheese salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste whole milk buttermilk (to thin to dressing consistency) mix first 4 ingredients together until smooth. incorporate cheese. Season to taste. Add buttermilk to desired consistency for dressing, if desired. Berta

My favorite is lavender lemonade. Soak a couple of tablespoons of lavender flowers in hot water for 15 minutes. Use this water for part of your total water in your favorite lemonade recipe. So refreshing! Berta

Things to do with Boursin: Crumble, brown and drain pork sausage. Mix with boursin. Stuff large olive oil brushed mushroom caps. Top with panko. Bake until golden brown. mix a large container of boursin with 2 cups hearty beef broth. Saute 1 1/2 cups rice until opaque. Mix boursin mixture with rice. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Pour in a casserole and bake at 350F till rice is done and liquid absorbed. Fill pastry bag with room temp boursin. Pipe into hollowed cherry tomatoes, sugar snap pea pods, cucumber shells, small cooked, chilled hollowed out new potatoes and on the backs of cold, steamed butterflied shrimp for lo vely hors d'oureves. Process cooked chicken livers with boursin and a little olive oil for a nice twist on pate. substitute boursin for the cream cheese in a cheesecake recipe and omit the sugar. Make your crust with ground pecans and butter. Add sauteed onions, blanched asparagus, crisp crumbled bacon and chopped cooked shrimp for a savory cheese cake. Make it in parchment lined half sheet pans and cut into squares for serving. Size depends on whether serving as an app or entree. Berta

OMG, by all means, try it with duck fat! But a little goes a long way... ← Pictures!! This thread is worthless without pics! Sounds FABULOUS!!

Braised Lamb Shanks Serves 6 as Main Dish. We raise our own sheep, so lamb is a staple meat in our home. I first made this dish on a cold snowy day: to me, the best times for cooking. The result of this dish is more a hearty, very thick stew, suitable for putting over rice, mashed potatoes, noodles, or any other substantial starch. The smells are divine; almost edible! I hope you will try it and enjoy it as much as our family does 3 lb lamb shanks (my butcher cuts them 2-3" thick, at my request) 1 large sweet onion, chopped 3 cloves peeled and smashed garlic 2 c dry red wine (I use whatever is open) 3 c water or stock, hot 1/2 can tomato paste several whole sprigs of thyme, tied together pepper, to taste kosher salt olive oil Preheat oven to 325F. Heat olive oil on medium high almost to the smoke point in a large skillet. Salt shanks liberally on both sides with kosher salt. Sear shanks 4 at a time until nicely browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove shanks to a large dutch oven with a tight fitting lid. Reduce temperature under skillet to medium and deglaze pan with the red wine. Add the water or stock and add the onions and garlic and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the tomato paste until well incorporated. Add the thyme sprigs and pepper. Pour this sauce over the shanks in the dutch oven. Cover and bake for 4 hours. Reduce heat to 250F and cook an additional 2 hours. Remove meat from the dutch oven, picking over for bones and large fat pieces. Add picked over meat to the sauce in the dutch oven. With dutch oven on stovetop over medium to medium low heat, cook until thick. Adjust seasonings and serve. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Lamb, Dinner ( RG2087 )

Ok, so I am a little late responding to this as the holidays were wonderfully full and hectic, but here is my contribution. We had a total of eight people for dinner on NYE, including some out of town houseguests and my two children (ages 10 and 12, gourmands in their own right). We had a formal 6 course dinner. Shrimp cocktail ( the cocktail sauce was a "doctored up" Crosse and Blackwell. I added some fresh grated horseradish from my garden, lemon juice and a little Worcestershire sauce) Poached garlic soup with shredded parmesan, chopped parsley (from the garden), and shaved black truffle garnish with poached garlic butter toasted croissants Salad of baby arugula, tango and romaine with Roquefort vinaigrette and grape tomatoes Lavender sorbet (lavender, too, from my garden..harvested last spring and dried) Angus choice standing rib roast: 12.5 lbs, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper crusted, seared stovetop and slow roasted to medium rare perfection in a slow oven. Like buttah, I tell you!)Accompanied by loaded twice baked potatoes and sauteed green beans. Mocha mousse with Tia Maria sauce Dinner was fabulous, the company was even better and it was the best New Year's Eve we have had in a long time.. Cheers and all the best to all of you for gastonomic delights and prosperity in 2008. Berta

Years ago, I stopped making a sit-down Christmas dinner. The reasons for this were two. One, I was tired of spending all day in the kitchen cooking while everyone else was socializing and enjoying new Christmas presents. The second reason was an incident which occured 10 years ago. I had made a traditional English Christmas dinner with Roasted Prime Rib (THAT will set you back a bundle!) with Yorkshire pudding etc. As you know, neither of those "holds" well if dinner is delayed for some reason. My daughter and her fiancee were driving in, supposedly to arrive 2 hours before dinner......until in the seasonally early dark of the evening when only 10 miles from our home they hit a cow. Yes, it was a black cow in the black of the night. Needless to say, they were then delayed 3 hours while the police were called and came, the farmer moved the cow...blah, blah, blah. Dinner was ruined. Since that year, I have done a heavy hors d'oeurves buffet every Christmas Day. That way, I can do preparations ahead of time and food is out all afternoon (appropriately replenished and kept hot or cold as needed...no food poisoning here!) for grazing family and visitors who drop in during the day and evening. Short story made long...I would like some suggestions of hot things I could serve which can be kept in a chafing dish. I have some things I do every years because I have been informed by my family that it "would not be Christmas without them", but would like to change it up a little this years. Any suggestions or recipes from all you great cooks out there? While not a professional chef, I am adept in the kitchen. Foods that can be prepared up to a couple of days and held in the fridge till heating and serving time would be perfect. Thanks in advence, Berta

Hi all you wonderful chefs, cooks and foodies out there. Well, Thanksgiving is over and done for this year (including leftovers but for the carcasses in the freezer for later soup making) and Christmas (or other holiday) cooking time is here! I am going to be making quite a few of my gifts to friends, neighbors, teachers etc this year and wanted to include chocolate truffles in some of them. I had some sublimely wonderful violet truffles once which I purchased at a chocolatier in Culpeper, Va. and wonder if rosewater would transfer well to this application. Do you think these would be good? Or nasty? What quantity of rosewater would I use? Comments and suggestions please. Thanks for any help with this, Berta

Anne: I feel your pain! My son-in-law wanted that soup green bean casserole too. I could not bring myself to do that, so I "gourmet-ized" the concept. Here is what I did, if you are interested. (measurements are approximate according to memory because I cook by "feel" when I make things up. I can reproduce it for myself but YMMV) 6-8 slices bacon, crumbled and set aside (reserve the fat) 1/2 sweet onion, diced 1 portabello shroom, diced a few shiitakes, diced 5-6 white shrooms, diced about 1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, snapped, blanched and drained sea or kosher salt fresh ground mixed pepper 3 Tbsp reserved bacon grease 3 Tbsp flour 1 1/2 cups half and half saute the shrooms and onion in the reserved bacon fat. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Add the half and half, whisking till smooth. Cook until thickened. Add the sauteed shrooms. Pour this sauce over the blanched green beans, add seasonings and mix well. Taste and correct seasonings. Turn out into a greased casserole and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Scatter the reserved bacon crumbles prior to serving. I hope this makes sense. I mostly cook by "feel" so YMMV. Please let me know if you try it, how it turns out and if you like it. My Son-in-law thought it way better then the condensed soup version. All the best, Berta

This is the first year we will have Thanksgiving in our new house. It is a great house for entertaining so I am really looking forward to it. We will have 12 people for dinner. My menu for this year is as follows: munchies: Cheese straws shrimp and artichoke dip spiced pecans baked brie with pears, apple and grapes Dinner: Roast wild turkey (2 young jakes shot by my son YUM!) mashed potatoes giblet gravy cornbread dressing with pecans bourbon sweet potatoes zucchini and tomatoes gratin sauteed brussels sprouts with onion and bacon Southern collards succotash (an old Southern Living recipe with cream and onions-delish) Coca-cola salad (a family tradition-congealed salad with bing cherries) yeast rolls with herbed butter Dessert: Damson pie with unsweetened whipped cream blanc mange with orange jelly 7 day coconut cake pumpkin streusel pie with gingersnap crust coffee mouse with Tia Maria sauce

You could use soy milk or rice milk, but I would not eat it! In a pinch, you can reconstitute dry non dairy creamer like Cremora or CoffeeMate to make a passable "light cream" for a quiche that is much better in its performance in a quiche than the soy or rice alternatives. This may also fit your "anti-Rich's" position. I am not sure about Cremora, but CoffeeMate used to have its reconstitution formula on the label. Alternatively, you could google it. I know you dissolve the non-dairy powder in hot H2O and refrigerate, but do not remember the proportions. Good luck! Berta

The only things I really measure when preparing are: coffee, gelatins, and baking (except for biscuits and pie crusts)

Ah, fried chicken. I can think of no other food, really, that inspires more debate over how to do it. Battered vs dredged; marinated vs dry seasoned; brined vs not; deep fried vs shallow fried.....you know the drill lol I grew up in Georgia with an African-American nanny/cook/housekeeper (don't hate me for my childhood circumstance :-) ). We always looked forward to those times when my parents would go out of town and she would stay overnight with us as those were the times she cooked fried chicken, grits and greens for supper (grits and greens are a whole 'nother subject). I learned from the age of awareness how to make fried chicken just by watching her; perched on a stool...watching and listenening to her stories about growing up on a remote, primitive island in SC. She also taught us how to make and fish with a handline and "fin" crabs so they would not pinch you after caught if you had no basket in which to put them...but I digress.. Catherine's Fried Chicken (no measurements given as she never measured anything) AP flour, about 3 cups generous amount of salt black pepper (enough so when shaken together you can see the pepper as specks about 1/4 inch apart) A handful of salt about a quart of water A young chicken, cut up (2 each wings, thighs, breasts, legs, backs)but can be nore if desired as long as you increase other components accordingly. Soak the chicken in a brine of the water and salt for about 2 hours at room temperature. Remove chicken from brine into a seive in the sink to drain. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a brown paper bag (these day, I use a gallon Ziploc) Add the chicken, a couple of pieces at a time, shaking the bag well after each addition. Leave the bag to sit while you get the fat up to temp, approximately 15-20 minutes, shaking the bag from time to time. about 3" melted fat: lard combined half and half with peanut oil in a 12" cast iron dutch oven with a lid. She never used a thermometer..she could tell when the temp was right by the way the fat "moved". She let it come to temp slowly over medium to medium low heat which took about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the chicken to the hot fat 3-4 pieces at a time, shaking the chicken in the bag before each addition. Place the lid on the dutch oven and fry for about 10-15 minutes on the first side with the lid on. You can remove the lid to see if pieces need to be moved around but do not turn them yet and keep the lid on for the most part. When the chicken is done to the desired browness on the first side, remove the lid and turn the chicken over, frying on the second side until it reaches the desired color. Remove the chicken from the pan to drain on a rack with a brown paper bag under it. Repeat until all chicken is cooked. As I said, this was always served with grits with plenty of butter stirred in until it was all melted and homogenous, and greens (usually collards) cooked with bacon or fatback. As I was the one who stayed in the kitchen, soaking up the tutelage of this remarkable woman: my black mother, we were the ones to share the cook's treat...those delicious little pieces of skin she trimmed off when cutting up the chicken, fried to perfection and consumed as readily as her wit and wisdom. Try it, if you are used to preparing fried chicken a different way. Let us know your results and pass on the legacy of "Catherine's Fried Chicken" Peace, Berta