Pierogi

Andie, to be sure I'm interpreting this correctly (math was NEVER a strong point....), when I've got it going, and use it, I take what I need for the bread, dump half of the remaining, and then feed it (assuming its at a point that it needs food). Or, if I'm not making bread, then I simply dump half of the quantity, feed it, and keep going until it needs replenishment. I guess what I'm confused about is what I do when I take some to make bread. Do I feed then, or wait until the next scheduled interval? Thanks again......

Andie and Rickster, thanks so much for the input (especially about the sink disposal and the hot water....my poor, 1940's vintage plumbing is also appreciative). I'll keep you all posted as I start this adventure, probably next weekend. And everyone else, keep the advice coming.

I am a relatively novice bread maker. I've only been really serious about it for a couple of years. I have gotten fairly adept at boules and baguettes, and I made some fluffy, buttery dinner rolls about a month ago that made me twitterpate. Overall, I am very pleased with my progress, and I think I'm well on my way to becoming really good at making yeasted things. One thing, however, I have not attempted is "real" sourdough. There are a couple of obvious reasons, all starting with the starter (arf arf). Mostly it's the quantity involved. I'm single, and I don't bake bread every week. Probably, at most, I make it twice a month, and that's in the cooler weather. I don't bake much, if at all, during the heat of the summer, since I don't have A/C, and the thought of turning on the oven when it's 95° in the kitchen makes me crabby. So, realistically, at most, I'd make a loaf of sourdough maybe, MAYBE 6 or 7 times a year, because I would want to switch it out with other styles of bread during the "baking" months. I've recently found a recipe for a starter that seems less involved than others I've seen, and I'm willing to give it a try. However, it calls for 2.5C flour, 1.5C water 1 Tbsp. sugar and 3/4 ounce yeast to start, fed with 1C flour and 0.5C water every "few" days for a "few" weeks if its refrigerated. Then you can go down to once per week. I'm envisioning this starter taking over my small house. I'm planning on sharing it with a friend, but even she will not use up all her share before I need to divide and conquer the critter again. Long story (question) short: Can I cut the starting amounts in half, as well as the "feeding" amounts (but obviously not the frequency) to have a more reasonable size for my needs? Thanks, I'm looking forward to your collective wisdom.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.........not for nearly as many tasks as others. Definately the spatchcocking thing, and the twine cutting. Other than that, mostly for opening things that are vacuum packed in plastic...cheese, bacon, etc. Oh, and taking the baggie off of one of the newspapers in the morning. The one small, local paper carrier insists on tying the top of the baggie. But not a top 10 tool, for sure. I usually grab them only for tasks where I'm afraid I'll slice my thumb off if I use a knife instead !

See, yeah......I don't think I agree with this. IMHO, it's the opposite. I used to subscribe to Gourmet probably 25-30 years ago, and it was MUCH more travel-centric and much less geared to the home cook. Stodgy is how I'd describe it then. That was why I dropped it then, and, after another 2 or 3 years of subscribing, dropped it again about 5 years ago. But when I'd pick it up recently at the grocery store (like the last 2 years or so....) it was more about things *I* could do. Even if it were based on haute cuisine concepts, they seemed to be making an effort to make those recipes accessible. Less stories about the private chefs on the yachts with the magnums of Dom, and more about "here's how you make the latest/hotest/trendiest dishes in YOUR kitchen". They still took you to the Riviera, but told you how you could cook that food in Long Beach. Or Lodi. Or Lompoc. And the writing never really faded.......or disappointed. The photography was part of the allure, I think. It was the "artsy-fartsy" side of the magazine, and that was part of the appeal, at least to me. But finally, yes, more actual writing by Reichel can't be a bad thing, even though it comes at the price of passing of the icon that was Gourmet.

Out-FREAKIN'-standing !! Edit to say.......OK, that was *supposed* to pull your pic along with the reply. Because really, w/out the pic, the comment looses it's punch. Guess I'm still learning this new software.......or sumthin'.

I, for one, am bereft. I subscribe to both Gourmet and Bon Appetit, as well as Saveur, Fine Cuisine and Cooking At Home. They all fill different needs and niches in my life. I used to take Food and Wine, but dropped it when I realized that it had become meh-ish. It seemed as though all the articles in F&W were re-do's of articles that had appeared in BA and Gourmet 6 months earlier. I do still pick it up from the newsstand when it looks interesting. That's been maybe 3-4 times per year recently. I also used to take Cook's Illustrated, but dropped that one this year; I feel as though I've moved past it. But Gourmet, I will sorely miss. It was the writing, the quality and the depth of the writing, that drew me in, and has kept me coming back for many years. There have been stretches where I wasn't a subscriber....then I'd pick up an issue or two, and realize what a void it left in my culinary education when I didn't have it. I had just gone through one of those spells....hadn't subscribed for about 2 years (busy life/bad ju-ju coming down/not enough time to keep up with the magazines/not enough $$$ for all of them...), and I had been going back and reading some of the multi-year backlog I had of Gourmet/BA/F&W from the times I subscribed to all of them. Gourmet spoke to me. Maybe as I've matured, I've come to appreciate the art better. I don't know. I do use recipes from Gourmet, just made one last weekend as a matter of fact. But yeah, it was never so much, at least not lately, about the recipes. It was about the articles. They were frequently gems. I look at BA as the "Lifestyle section" of food magazines.....lots of fluffy features, and decent recipes. Gourmet was equivalent to the Op/Ed section of the New York Times. From Reichel's opening letter to the last page recipes that were variations on a single theme, there was almost always a piece in each issue that made you pause, and think, and go....."hmmmmm". I too, am very much looking forward to what Reichel will do next. I've loved her work for decades. Its just too damn bad.

I do this *all* the time in the fall when the California grapes start coming in. Good with all colors of grapes as well. People turn up their noses at the thought of the combo of roasted grapes and Italian sausages, but it is a combination made in culinary Heaven. Soooo good. About time to make this again, with the weather cooling and the grapes at their peak.

I'd guess someone may be about to quit, or they're having problems scheduling the current chefs due to their outside commitments. Rumor was that Batali got a pass on appearing this season due to other things he was involved in. Looks like it is Batali's replacement. He wasn't in last night's IC credits at all. Not even listed as one of the Iron Chefs. I had heard it was to be Cora's replacement......she's pregnant, as is her partner, and wanted time off to care for the 2 new babies. I'll be really bummed if it's Batali. The last of the Old Guard FN personalities.....

Did you make the "Very Hot Cajun Sauce" as well ? If so, was it that murderous? Some of Prudhomme's stuff is relatively tame (which the meatloaf stikes me as) and some is off the charts HOT (which to me, without making it, seems like the sauce would be). I trust you Jaymes, your carnitas are Da Bomb. Tell me about the sauce, if you can. TIA.

Scotch is *always* good, but in the interest of temperance (and/or sobriety....) there's the cliched yet tryptophan rich turkey sandwich. Or just a nibble on some cooked turkey. Always good for a post-prandial snooze.

Snowangel, I am most CERTAINLY not a knitter, but I think you're on a good track. I can't offer any technical help about shrinkage, et al, but I'd certainly use one. I think the only real issue is to make sure that the yarn is hefty enough so that each side of the "cozy" is sufficiently thick to absorb the heat from the handle. Definate YES on the loop thingie. Mine have small loops that I hang on the same hook as my regular hot pads/oven mitts so that they're readily accessible (and more importantly, visible). Can't wait to see the outcome.

Hmmmmmmm. See I've been blindly following this... * Clean your SILPAT mat with a damp, soft sponge, then rinse with clean water. * Shake to remove excess water and dry in open air. * A mild detergent or soap may be used if needed. * Note: a slight oily residue after washing is normal, as is a slight discoloration. Strong flavored foods may leave a trace scent on the SILPAT. ...and wondering if the "slight oily residue after washing" is a Good Thing (sorry Martha). But I've been dealing with it. Never thought to throw them in the dishwasher.....but yeah, life's too short to futz with washing & drying the things. I do store them flat, though. As do apparently a lot of people, I just plop them into the sheet pans I normally use them with, and skip on by. I layer them in wax paper, just 'cause, at the moment I first stored them, it seemed like a smart thing to do, what with that slight oily residue.

"Kitchen" toothbrushes are vital for many, many tasks. Cleaning ginger fibers out of a Microplane, for instance (even in a dishwasher, the fine, hairy fibers survive more often than not). Cleaning sieves. Cleaning the parts of your food processor blades where they fit onto the drive shaft of the machine, but where, still, miraculously, gunk still collects. Cleaning ceramic ginger graters of the same hairy fibers. Finally, if you have any level of fingernails whatsoever, using a toothbrush to remove any trace of capsacin oil from under said nails will ensure you never have the delightful experience of inserting a contact lens along with a good hit of hot pepper. Don't ask me how I know this.

Get thee a "handle cozy" for lack of a better term. I have a couple that are made almost identically to a hot pad/oven mitt, but shaped to fit a skillet handle, i.e. long & narrow. I got them at World Market (Cost Plus) ages ago. But I have also seen them in silicone, and Teflon-impregnated. I use them RELIGIOUSLY on my one saute pan that doesn't have a handle that disipates heat, and on any pan I have put in the oven and pulled out (done the palm burn bit one too many times my own self). If nothing else, the sight of the cozy on the red-hot handle is a visual reminder to be freakin' careful with the pan ! And Vicodin helps just about anything....

One of my favorites is a "Mexican" slaw. It goes particularly well with, well, Mexican food (duh !) like enchiladas and tacos. I've even used it for a topping for fish tacos. Cabbage, shredded English (seedless) cucumber, cut into thin strips (recipe says to peel & seed, I usually don't bother) 1 small onion, diced fine Cilantro, chopped (to taste) Dressing Olive oil Fresh squeezed lime juice Garlic, crushed/minced (to taste) Salt & Pepper Mix veggies, dress right before serving. Adjust seasonings, amount of cilantro to taste. The ratio of EVOO to lime juice is like 2:1 or so, maybe a little heavier on the lime juice. Really, it's all to taste. This is so refreshing, and so light, and as I said, a wonderful compliment to Mexican/Southwestern foods.

As someone who has a version of those glasses, I'd say RUN, RUN from them. You need to have crushed ice in the base to make them work, a LOT of crushed ice. This is tough in a home situation, it took me almost a whole tray of ice cubes (don't have/need an ice maker) to make enough crushed ice to fill that thing. Then, the ice melts together in the base as it sits, and becomes one solid mass, which you have to wrestle the glass back into. It's a pain, and the set I have is made of such thin glass, I always worried I'd have one of the blasted things shatter in my hand. They look cool, very cool, I'll grant you that, but it is surely an idea whos time has NOT come. I have seen them used for shrimp cocktails, and I would use them for that....because you don't need to keep taking the bowl in and out of the base, so even if the base ice freezes solid, its not a big deal. For drinks, go for a regular, stemmed, cocktail glass, and freeze it well before you fill it. For the size drinks you're making, that will keep the martini chilled for the duration. Just my $0.02.

Not other sections or papers, Heidi, but I'll share a moment of silence with you for the LA Times food section that was. I remember well the glory days of Reichel's stewardship, and the time when I could spend at least an hour perusing the articles and recipes. No longer, sorry to say. 15 minutes tops, and *THAT'S* only when they feature a Russ Parsons article. Wednesdays used to be a highlight of the newspaper-receiving week for me, even my pathetic little hometown rag used to have a passable food section. Now, its almost a throw-away. And contrary to what the media barons would have you believe, the content they used to have is NOT on the web. The Times' website is pretty good, but the section of it dedicated to food and restaurants is merely a web-posting of the sorry offerings in the print version. Such a loss......

50% ground chuck, 25% ground pork and 25% ground veal. For those of you that can't find ground veal, get some cheap veal steaks/chops/etc., trim it up, but don't take off all the fat, and blitz it in your food processor for a bit. Works like a charm. The pork adds flavor and the veal lightens the mix. An egg, and some bread crumbs (fresh is best, but panko works) and spices/seasonings/herbs as the mood strikes. Fresh parsley and thyme are the most usual suspects. MAYBE sage, and a hint of rosemary, but just a hint. S&P of course. Milk yes, to soak the bread crumbs if they're fresh. Garlic always. Onions, probably 99.9% of the time (pre-sauteed or just diced very fine). Bacon on top usually. Sorry, but yes, sometimes catsup on top. Never, ever tomato SAUCE on top. Mashed potatoes with a brown gravy from the drippings on the side. The best part is the meatloaf sammiches for lunch at work the rest of the week.....

I think canola oil stinks from the very moment the container is opened! I always detect "off" flavors in canola; it's awful for roux-making, starts smelling funny almost from the start. I find that the cheaper grades of canola are the worst offenders, and I would certainly never use them for deep frying. I'm to the point I won't even use them for sauteeing any longer. The nasty fish smell is immediate, and permeates the food to a point that it's inedible. Much as I adore Trader Joe's, and think their private labeled products are awesome, their brand of canola is probably the stinkiest of all. I have about 1.5C of it left in my pantry, and I won't replace it. There is a "premium" brand of canola, I believe its called "Canola Harvest" maybe.....anyway, that's not too bad, but it costs almost as much as peanut oil. If I were doing a lot of deep frying, and was doing things where I could filter the oil, and reuse it, I'd use peanut for sure. Otherwise, probably corn oil. But NOT canola.

and that And implies that her beouf bourguinon recipe has perhaps more steps than are entirely necessary. Is it worth learning to do things "Julia's Way"? It depends, I think, on your level of commitment to "cooking" and the "culinary arts". If you want to cook well, and to understand and appreciate the history and the development of the craft (art, profession, trade, obsession, whatever you call it) and the relationship of that history to the current state of "cuisine", then yes, it is so very worth it to learn to do things "Julia's Way", or any other "classic" way. Why the heck else is Escoffier still taught in culinary schools? Granted, "Julia's Way" is not going to be your go-to methodology when you roll home from a lousy day at work at 7:30 p.m., and need to feed several cranky kids and a significant other, not to mention yourself, in enough time to allow homework, quality time and soccer practice to happen. But having and understanding the basics of "Julia's Way" will speed that task along for sure. If you understand the basic techniques and principles, you'll get a decent home-cooked meal on the table that will outstrip any alternatives. Knowing how to handle quick-cooking proteins, how to make a pan sauce, how to balance tastes, all of that is fundamental to being a "good cook" as well as a committed home cook. You save the projects that require "endless patience" for occasion cooking or the weekends when you have the time to accomplish them. Now.....the Trendoids who are scarfing up "MTAOFC" (v. 1 & 2) and "The Way To Cook" or even "From Julia's Kitchen" because they thought Julie's blog was cool, and they liked the movie are going to be sorely disappointed, not to mention very very surprised. This ain't 30-Minute Meals, baby. And a lot of those volumes purchased because they liked the movie will be ending up in garage sales in about a year. Their loss. But the Trendoids won't know it, because they'll be on to The Next Bestest Hottest Thing. The rest of us will be lovingly baby-sitting that Bouef Bourginion and the Queen of Sheba cake, and reveling in the experience of it. (sorry Nakji, I can't for the life of me get all of your original post to come along into this one....I'm assuming it's a transition issue with the new software???)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.......gotcha ! Works for me !

Totally agree about the St. Germaine bottle, it reminds me of the Chrysler Building in NY. The Tanquery 10 gin bottle is also gorgeous, from the shape and "faceting" to the beautiful green. The 750 mL bottle of Boodles gin is pretty cool as well.

We've had *such* a mild summer here in Southern California that I was actually inspired to make chili a couple of weeks ago, and it was damn good. Had some of the leftovers tonight for chili-cheese fries. The cool, cloudy weather lulled me into believing we would have an actual "autumn" with that snap in the air, and my thoughts have been turning towards stews and braises and short ribs (oh my). Right on schedule, we rocketed up 25 degrees in 2 days, and its back to salads and grilled steaks. Although my heart is craving a daube, I can't think of eating such hearty fare in 97° heat. Maybe in January.........

OK I know *I'VE* got a few mental images of what, exactly a "boo-boo kitty" ( ) is, but I'd love to know what it actually is ! Back to topic, freezer contents, only have the one as part of a top fridge/bottom freezer combo: The usual suspects of frozen veg and berries a bag of frozen french fries and another of onion rings (the shame) ice cream bars and some other odds & ends frozen desserts from Trader Joe's for when I get a sweet craving a gallon bag of left-over picadillo (homemade) a hunk of left over roast beef a hunk of left over grilled Santa Maria style tri tip a ham bone waiting for cooler weather and split pea soup homemade grenadine leftover canned tomato puree tomato water cubes for tomato martinis bay leaves and excess spices leftover tomato paste pre-portioned into 1 tablespoon dollops some halibut steaks and jumbo shrimp (purchased frozen) Parmesan cheese rinds for the next pot of minestrone leftover ground pork, veal and beef waiting for cooler weather and a meat loaf a commercial pie crust a ball of homemade pizza dough Way TOO much leftover bread ostensibly being saved for bread crumbs/croutons, but really only existing to annoy me every time I open the door Interestingly, I was one of the advocates of flour/grain storage in the freezer, but then I actually started using the freezer to store things I might actually use in the future, and baking enough to go through flour before it sprouts wings. No longer need to store in the deep freeze, which is a good thing, since there is now no room for it ! But I do have a pound bag of recently obtained semolina flour waiting for, you guessed it, COOLER WEATHER and either bread or pasta.