heidih

Great idea on the jam with hot sauce. I often used a bit of marmalade or jam as the sweet element. It adds so much more than just sweetness. Currant jam was our "go to" in making Ischler Krapfen as a kid. Often hard to find. the best we could do was to be joyous at finding this Smucker's product. I have never had the home-made "real version". Probably head and shoulders above what we got - actually we only were able to source jelly - now I use lingonberry jam when I can find it.

Kim - I played around with chocolate cherry cookies a few years ago and crossed them off the Christmas giving list- just not special enough. I like the oatmeal inclusion and I picked up some dried tart Montmorency cherries that have a deep cherry flavor along with a sour punch. Can you share the recipe? I may need to try again.

I want to pull the skin off that chicken and munch away. What did you think of the cauliflower roasted whole like that?

Salsa was on deck yesterday as I had flavorful gifted homegrown tomatoes, the limes on my tree are at that super juicy almost turning yellow stage, and the hot peppers in the garden are happy in the heat. I managed to graze my way through the day on the salsa, thin crispy tortilla chips, a handful of shrimp, and some pinto beans simmered with a few oregano flower heads and a smoky ancho chile. While the food processor was out yesterday, and because I wanted to use the rest of the cilantro while it was fragrant and perky, I made a rough "pesto" from: cilantro, green onions, garlic, olive oil, hot pepper, touch of kumquat marmalade, fish sauce, lime juice, and roasted peanuts. Fresh ginger would have been nice, but I was out. Today I chunked some sprouty Yukon gold potatoes and set them, covered, in a hot oven. When they were almost tender I added bite-size pieces of lean pork shoulder (had just a bit in the freezer), leftover shrimp, and the pesto. I set that back in the oven and when tender, shoved it under the broiler for just a minute or two to finish. I should have just elected to use the broiler once the meat and pesto was in- to add that grilled flavor without overcooking the meat. Despite that is was excellent accompanied by the two cucumber salads I made here. I think some mint would be nice scissored in when I have another serving.

There is good advices in this topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/52834-polenta-predicament/

A number of eG topics like these may be useful - though the quantity is the daunting element to me http://forums.egullet.org/topic/60929-paella/ http://forums.egullet.org/topic/102236-paella-cook-off-31/

This topic about manager Chris Amirault's experiences as a novice bartender might give you some great insight: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/131897-advice-for-that-old-guy-behind-the-bar/

The harvest this morning was significant and of course this year most friends and neighbors are also experiencing a nice yield. I tried two different preps. With the Japanese cucumbers - roll cut them and mixed with green onion, Korean red pepper paste, a splash of soy, balsamic (no black vinegar in the house), some nasturtium "capers" ,and a thread of toasted sesame oil. These are really tasty. Then I thin sliced the more Kirby style ones on the mandoline and mixed with salt/peppercorns/garlic smashed in the mortar and pestle, some prepared horseradish, dash of sugar, lemon juice and vinegar, and Greek yogurt. I let both preps sit for a few hours and sampled them with some simply boiled Yukon Gold potatoes. Very enjoyable - especially the Japanese cukes.

I thought I was missing something in the question. As Dave asks - Are you talking about a zero-radius sink like this? http://www.justsinks.com/zero-radius-sink/

I find it a lot easier to clean gunk out of a rounded corner than a square one. I also find them more aesthetically pleasing. Here is a picture of the kitchen I re-did last year - the sink cut-out in the granite is gently rounded.

What exactly are you trying to do with the parchment paper? I save all those little lavender colored bits from the new rolls;)

Plantes Vertes - the stew sounds like something I will do when the eggplants (aubergines) overflow the markets in a bit. How did you cook the greens? We call that Rainbow Swiss Chard here in the U.S.

That's a great one Porthos. Is there another piece that fits off to the side where the blade cups attach? We had one when I was a kid but I have not seen it in eons so having trouble visualizing.

A post on Gluten Free Girl and the Chef with an image of cucumbers mixed with yogurt and topped with sesame seeds and toasted walnuts got me lusting after cucumbers and yogurt on a super hot day. I ran out to the little "cucumber patch" and there were two heft ones ready to pick (the long thin Japanese ones). No yogurt in the house so I started my cucumber bowl along the lines of many posts above using a mix of plain white and red wine vinegar. Yogurt is on the shopping list. While searching for this topic I also came upon this earlier one about cucumbers with roasted peanuts and chili oil which I have never done http://forums.egullet.org/topic/137230-cucumber-roasted-peanut-chilli-oil Are crisp and juicy cucumbers appearing in your markets and gardens? What are you doing with them?

Should any of you be itching to do a blogweek, please let me know. We've got summer in the northern hemisphere with lots of grills fired up and prolific produce. For those in winter down south - a blast of coolness on a hot day would be welcome. Just send me a PM.

Boatload of onion confit info in this topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/36754-onion-confit/

Port with livers - excellent choice. Liver has been calling to me so this goes on the option list. Thanks.

What Chinese cooking thread is that? This topic might give you some ideas.

FP - I come from a poppy seed laden pastry culture but not used much by my people in savory. I want to explore that. Did you toast them or otherwise alter them or just sprinkle over? Somewhere here there is a white poppy seed zucchini dish I need to find.

This was super fresh and soft. It smelled like sweet milk with a whiff of herbs (at least how I imagined unpasteuried fresh from the cow or sheep who grazed in the maquis would smell)- we had it for breakfast sprinkled with just a bit of "raw" sugar along with excellent bread

Oh Dave - you reminded me to kick myself in the rear once again for being a fool as a teen. Spent the summer in Corsica and never even tried the astounding cheeses that my friends were snarfing down with relish- wrapped in leaves, covered in herbs, smelling of the maquis.... I did eat the Brocciu every morning that the local guy sold door to door. At least I did not snub the fantastic charcuterie

Corn is also one of those "had the best, screw the rest". I grew some excellent corn in maybe 1997 and again in 2001. Currently do not have the proper location. But I did fall in love with the corn grown around the corner at the now unfortunately closed forever Ishibashi farm stand (see my eG blog here ) I may hit the larger farmers markets and give it a whirl but I think I won't get that intense corn taste that my memory is highlighting. So far it has all been that overly sweet soft stuff. Sweets- well coming from an Austrian-Hungarian bunch of immigrants and having "going to coffee" as the regular social ritual, I was exposed to some great stuff. I rarely bother to eat offered pastries and often they are one bite in and same bite back into the napkin. Baklava is one of my 3 or 4 Christmas offerings learned from mom via a Jordanian woman. When they bring out those big Costco platters of "baklava" I just cringe and mention being pre-diabetic.

I suggest a vintage ice crusher like the Ice-O-Mat (got this one at flea market for $10) Still have to make regular ice cubes or buy them but it is a great tool.

Well along the biochemical route have you read Deborah Madison's new book Vegetable Literacy. It talks about pairing vegetables in the same botanical family.

Did you guys just dig in and slurp out the greatness or was there some sort of sopping up of juices like bread or the like involved? Crab is my favorite.