kbjesq
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Posts posted by kbjesq
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Hooray, Randi's back! Thanks for starting early.
I love your cooking for seniors thread. And thanks for bringing us along for what promises to be a very, very busy week ahead. I look forward to hearing more about your new jobs.
PS Love the dogs, too.
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That looks absolutely delicious!
Marcia.
Thank you, Marcia. I'm learning that taking photos of food is more difficult than preparing it.
Peter's fried seafood looks so good! Last night we started with a cod and shrimp chowder with lemon thyme, followed by parmesan-crusted chicken breasts, browned butter brussels sprouts (say that 3 times, fast!) and sourdough toast with roasted garlic. I'm going to work on my photography skills.
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Thanks for the words of encouragement, everyone. Here is my first post in the dinner forum. Last night's dinner was grilled, butterflied cornish hens from the June/July issue of CI, roasted cauliflower from recipe gullet, and scalloped potatoes with parmesan. Not shown: steamed, first-of-the-season fresh butter and sugar corn.
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Bagels, with sesame and sea salt. I am not a good baker and I have never made bagels before, yet the recipe and directions were easy to follow, and the bagels were delicious. Thank you, Mr. Reinhart.
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who's up next? I am getting hungry
If the next blog doesn't start soon, I am going to have to start paying attention to the work on my desk.
Don't we at least get a hint or something? Please?
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so, i have a rice cooker which i use to cook brown rice. and, one of the things the instuction booklet recommended was to presoak the rice before you begin cooking the rice. does this mean that the longer you soak the rice, the better? is there ever a point where soaking the rice too long would be detrimental?
Soaking rice tends to shorten the cooking time. I would not soak it for more than 30 minutes to 1 hour, though.
Some people say that soaking also makes the rice fluffier and less likely to break during cooking, but I have not noticed these effects.
I suspect that your rice cooker's instruction manual suggests soaking the brown rice in order for it to cook in an amount of time similar to that required by white rice.
Some people suggest soaking all kinds of rice, however, I don't believe this is a hugely common practice. And the rice should definitely be washed before it is soaked.
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And here´s tonight´s dinner! Come on, people, we need more dinners on the Dinner thread!
Chufi, I love your posts, your blogs, your dinners and your photos.
But speaking for myself (and I suspect a few other egulleteers), I read the dinner thread every day with the intention of joining in. Then I look at the marvelous photos and descriptions of what you all are serving, and I think (as in Monty Python's Holy Grail), "I am not worthy!"
P.S. I used to think I was a good cook, until I joined egullet.
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ONIGIRI KITS!!!
With a mold and special plastic/nori sheets like you get in Japanese Combini Onigiri!
YAY!
Thank you so much for posting this! Rona Y. was kind enough to send me some of those special plastic/nori sheets to use in my daughter's bento, and I have had a hard time figuring out how to get them to work. The pictorial cleared this up! I will give it a go tomorrow morning. Thanks again.
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If I wanted to stay in the $2,500 neighborhood, I'd give the BlueStar RCS30 a good look -- not nearly as polished as the Capital, but still a very solid piece of equipment...
I didn't know that the Capitals were that expensive. Wow. Still, though, if you've only got 30" to work with, I would at least take a look.
I have a Bluestar cooktop and it is the bomb. I could not be happier. It is genuinely a pleasure to prepare food on the Bluestar. I have no complaints, whatsoever.
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My guess is the temperature was about 800 degrees too high - these were clearly has-beans. I now use the electric crockpot.
Look on the bright side - at least you were cooking outside! I did this to a pot of beans once in my oven. The smell lasted for months! Pee yew.
Thank you for your postings. Blog on!
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All I'm spotting locally appears to be mundane stuff with fancy packaging and average quality - and none of it carries any brand name I've seen in Wegmans or in specialty food stores.
Sadly, that is my experience, too. I have never seen anything with Charlie Trotter's name on it (or anyone else that I have recognized). But they do (once in awhile) have some great deals on Le Creuset and bath towels!
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I'd like to try and get this story finished in the next two weeks, so if you have something to say about seaweed - favorite type, best recipe, biggest seaweed screw up and where you like to buy it - please let me know.
I'm not from Chicago, I'm presently from Florida by way of New England, so I hope you don't mind my butting in here. I'm glad that you are writing an article about seaweed. Seaweed is a sadly neglected vegetable here in the U.S.
Hijiki! Mmmm. Soak in a saucepan with water to cover for 10 minutes, then add a splash of sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and mirin if you have it or a bit of sugar if you don't. Add a few thinly sliced carrots and simmer for 10-15 minutes until most of the water is gone.
We were just talking about Dulse on another thread. Dulse is finely chopped and used by many folks as a seasoning. But I like to eat it like potato chips by spreading it on an oiled baking sheet (after rinsing and squeezing dry) and toasting in a low oven until dry and crunchy. You can add a sprinkling of grated cheese and run it under the broiler for a nacho effect.
Reasons to eat seaweed: It's very nutrious, but low in calories. There's plenty of it. It is relatively inexpensive (depending on where you buy it). It's easy to store and prepare. It tastes great.
Reasons not to eat seaweed: ??
Best place to buy seaweed: Asian markets or healthfood stores. The latter typically have much higher prices.
Biggest seaweed screw up: Serving it to my former in-laws, who were shocked and appalled, based on their expressions, and refused to even taste it. Oh well.
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If I had to buy a new 30" range today, I would look very hard at the 30" Capital Precision series. It has five burners, including a 25k integrated wok burner in the center, rotisserie, great broiler, convection, racks that slide all the way out, and a whole slew of other features. See it here.
I'm glad that I'm not in the market, though, because there so many great choices out there that it would be hard to decide.
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food has been a huge element of the show from the start. It really seems that at least half the scenes involve food.
I never thought about that until just now. You are right. And sure enough, there is a Soprano's Family Cookbook that has received 83 reviews and 4.5 stars on Amazon.
Amazing.
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Alton Brown's creations notwithstanding, there are no decent shows on Foodnetwork except for the occasional re-run of the original Iron Chef series, and I'm not even sure that those are on anymore. (Also, once in awhile, Sara Moulton's show, "Sara's Secrets" seems to be broadcast in the middle of the night, according to my Tivo). In general, the programming on Foodnetwork is so horrific that I refuse to watch it anymore.
PBS has the best food-related shows, including Gourmet's "Diary of a Foodie". That is a great show - probably my current favorite. (BTW, prior episodes are available as free podcasts: click here).
If you have kids, on PBS you might enjoy the latest season of "Chef's A Field - Culinary Adventures that Begin on the Farm", which will feature "Kids on the Farm".
On PBS, Food Trip with Todd English is also good, as is Simply Ming, Ming's Quest, Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter, Fast Food My Way with Jacques Pepin, etc.
On the Travel Channel, there is Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods". These shows are entertaining once in awhile, as long as you have them recorded and don't have to watch the endless commercials.
P.S. Anyone interested in the food served at Alinea, Moto, Fat Duck, etc. should check out Episode 20 of "Diary of a Foodie"here: episode 20.
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I have never seen a recipe but have tried doing things with it like flavoring oil, making a salty purple glaze, etc. It has a good colour and definitely "resonates with a strong marine note" but its hard to work with.
Hi Peter:
I'm loving your blog. I'm originally from New Hampshire where poutine (french fry/gravy kind) is very popular. I miss the Northeast!
Dulse is delicious if prepared properly. It should be thoroughly rinsed to remove seagull droppings and starfish (if present). Wring out as much water as you can, then spread on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake at a low temperature until most of the moisture has evaporated. Remove from the oven, top lightly with a mild, grated cheese, then run under the broiler to melt the cheese. Watch carefully, as it will go from golden-brown to burnt in a nanosecond. (If the dulse has burned, just throw it out, as there is no hope for it).
The result is like a chewy, ocean-flavored nacho chip, and quite delicious. The dulse flakes are also a very tasty addition to potato salad.
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About two months ago, I bought a Mr. Bento lunch thermous. I love this thing! It's made packing my lunches for work a whole lot more fun.
Good for you! I've been packing bentos for my daughter for quite awhile now. I'm going to get a Ms. Bento and start bringing my own lunch, too.
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I miss the food already...
I've eaten my way around Mexico City several times. It is so underrated as a food destination. From street vendors, to open air markets, to fine dining, Mexico City has it going on. It is truly unfortunate that most Americans have no appreciation for the greatness of real Mexican food.
Here is a good guide book for those interested in the best food in Mexico City: Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler .
Disclaimer: I am related to the author, but it is a great book, even according to independent book reviewers (who are in no way related to the author)!
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I love the Asian noodle ideas and the Vietnamese salad roll idea.
If this might be too "adventurous" for your group (I live in the South and I know plenty of folks that would find a cold sesame noodle salad just plain weird), you could make a cheese tortellini salad with herb vinaigrette and veggies (broccoli, grape tomatoes, etc.). That would be a little different from the usual pasta salad, but not so far out there as to be frightening to the "more than a few unsophisticated palates" that you mentioned.
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Both Charlie Trotter ("Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter") and Ming Tsai ("Simply Ming") have detailed the procedure for poaching seafood in fat on their public television shows.
Charlie Trotter did salmon poached in herb-infused olive oil, and Ming did butter-poached lobster, the details of which you can find here: butter poached lobster
Unfortunately, I cannot find the archives for the Charlie Trotter shows, but I do recall that he cooked the salmon at extremely low temperature for an extended period of time, and that he infused the oil with herbs and removed them before poaching the salmon.
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Conch is best fresh. Anthing else is a compromise and canned is yuck! Conch doesn't travel well and that is one of the reason is it rarely seen fresh outside of the Carribean and Florida.-Dick
Agree that fresh is best, however, I live in FL and even I have a hard time finding fresh. Frozen is not bad, but do not buy the pre-tenderized stuff.
Allow the conch meat to thaw in the refrigerator (may take 24 hours+ depending on thickness). Remove the meat and tenderize using the smooth side of a meat mallet before proceeding with the recipe. I prefer the meat diced rather than ground for all purposes.
There are lots of good conch chowder recipes on the web, most are tomato-based and include garlic, lime juice, thyme and cilantro. I disagree with any recipe that suggests boiling at any point, however. I find that cooking it over very low heat (barely simmering) until the meat is tender (usually 30 minutes or so) yields the best result. I had some great conch chowder in the Bahamas that substituted sweet potato for the standard white potato, and in a sparing amount. The sweetness added a nice element to the broth.
Conch can be substituted for calamari in Italian sauces (I happen to love it in a spicy Fra Diavolo sauce).
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I haven't mentioned this so far, but my family always say "Itadakimasu", which means "(We/I) will (humbly) receive", before having a meal, and "Gochisousama" (or "Gochisousama deshita", which is a past form, and is more polite), which means "It was a feast", after having a meal.
Hiroyuki, your blog this week truly was a feast. My entire family has enjoyed sharing this week with you. So much, in fact, that we are now planning to visit Japan in December! Thank you very much and I hope that good health returns to your family, very soon.
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They are packed fairly firmly though, and people pack things diagonally into corners, which is where they'd move anyway, with larger items in the middle.
Finally (bit hard to explain) there is a knack to packing them - while it looks like a sand-picture from on top, in fact the layers often overlap slantwise just a little (one reason why leaves etc are often used as separators, I guess), which means that you end up with a shallow V-shaped gap at one end of the box. The idea is to jam something bulky in there which practically locks everything into place like a keystone. Makes you wonder what the Japanese bento looked like before cherry tomatoes were invented
.Thank you, Helen. This is a good explanation of the bento-packing technique. I have not come close to mastering it, though! It's a shame that more Americans are not interested in their children's diets. The school lunches here are, for the most part, just dreadful. It is no surprise that childhood obesity is epidemic here. I showed my daughter the pictures of school lunch posted by Hiroyuki, and she was quite envious!
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Interesting ad that I found in yesterday's paper:
Kyara ben (character bento) contest.
I continue to enjoy your blog. I hope this is not a silly question, but how do such elaborate bento contents survive a trip to school?
My own experience packing bentos is rather limited, but I have found that the contents must be packed rather snugly or they will be all jumbled up when it is time to eat lunch. The items in the picture above do not seem to be tightly packed. Wouldn't they get mixed up during the ride to school? Perhaps Japanese children carry their lunches more carefully than American school children!
eG Foodblog: Calipoutine - Sparsley Settled Spaces w/ Hungry Faces
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Hi Randi,
Thanks for taking us along with you this week.
These child safety latches are inexpensive (a couple of bucks) and easy to install and will keep pooches and small children out of your cabinets! See an example here.
Did you meet with the kitchen designer yet? We have pull-out trash bins now, and we are very happy with them. I don't think a dog could get into them unless he tore down the entire cabinet. Along with the earlier comments regarding countertop choices, I would also recommend granite. It is easy to keep clean. Just make sure that you order the polished, and not honed, finish. From what I understand, the honed finish is porous and susceptible to staining. I would love to hear more about your new kitchen ideas and plans. Are you replacing the appliances, as well?