FoodMan

I have a pound or two of BOSC pears that I want to use up. Can they be substituted for apples? Is the use of Balsamic vinegar "traditional" Suvir?? I'm assuming not. What do you normally use this chutney with? FM

Grandma lives in a town in North Lebanon. She does send me foodstuffs but not Samen, the reason being that there are more important stuff to send such (that's what I got two weeks ago) as hommade fig-almond preserves and "shanklish" which is a type of moldy smelly cheese that I absolutely love and is very common in north Lebanon and Syria. So Samen unfortunatly is not on her mailing list . If i did have it however I would probably use it for sauteing and as a tasty addition to rice or burgul. FM

Samen (not Smen) is not rancid butter or rancid ghee. The Samen that my grandma and mom use in Lebanon is actually homemade and smells and tastes very pleasant. My grandmother churns her own butter in a small washer, yes a clothes washer !!!! no kidding , of course she only uses it for that purpose and it fits a few gallons of milk and is not a high speed one but rather one of those old ones that twirl clockwise/anti clockwise for as long as they are on (perfect for churning the butter). She then makes the Samen like Suvir described by melting the butter and and skimming any impurities and you have "samen". It is used to cook a lot of stuff like eggs, bulgur, rice, or any other item that needs to be sauteed. And it does have a strong nice aroma to it (BUT NOT RANCID, UNLESS IT WAS RANCID OF COURSE). However I am not sure what the difference is between "ghee" and "Samen"!!! Sorry Suvir. FM

Thanks for the response Suvir. I will try making a batch this weekend with probably half the amount (4lbs). I'm sure it will bring me great joy, as for my loved one (wife) she is very sensitive to spicy/hot/heavely condimented foods and will probably not try it. This is why I cook Indian food for myself only and make them as hot as I like FM

They also have a recipe for "Chicken Biryani" Suvir that is a little different (it has tomatoes for once) than yours and they have a "Chicken braised in yogurt" that seems similar to your "Murgh Korma". I haven't gone in details aboput the recipes yet, but would like to read your comments if you bought the issue. FM

I just stumbled on this tomato chutney thread today and I have to say WOW!!! I cannot wait to try it. However since the tomato season is over is it ok to use some tomatoes available now (perhaps some organic ones from Central Market)? What should I look for in the tomatoes? I really never tatsed tomato chutney before so I would love to try it especially if homemade. I do enjoy Canning and I usually do jams and jellies both sweet and spicy. So preserving a savory Indian tomato chutney sounds heavenly. Is it worth the try with off-season tomatoes? or should I wait till next summer!!! FM

Thank you for this great food history lesson Suvir (hope to see a lot more like it in your book). Food and food history never cease to amaze me and stir up my imagination for trying new and ancient recipes. When I mentioned cooking in yogurt and the similarities between Indian and Lebanese/middle eastern recipes and techniques I was thinking about stuff like the lamb (or beef) braised in a delicate yogurt sauce that has been stabilized to prevent curdling. This is an ancient recipe that can be found in Claudia Roden's middle eastern cooking book. It is called "Laban Umo" (?sp) or by it's ancient name "Maddira". "Laban Umo" in Arabic means "his mother's milk" and refers to cooking the young calf/lamb in the milk that could potentially be from it's mother!!! If you've never tried it check it out in the Roden book (I'm assuming you have it Suvir). A Wonderful "Korma" type dish. Another is my mom's "Koussa bi laban" which is a dish I haven't had for years. It means "Zuchini in Yogurt" and this is not the big zuchinis you find here. She uses much smaller (4-5 inches) specimens with a very light green skin, cores them and stuffs them with rice and ground beef. Then they are slowly cooked in stabilized yogurt with crushed dried mint and other spices (I actually think Roden's book has this recipe as well). This sure takes me back to my childhood. I will defenitly try cooking it if I find suitable zuchinis. Two great examples froma great cuisine. I wondered the same thing and I ended up just removing the cloves and peppercorns while eating. FM

Per Suvir's request I plated and took a picture of the Korma that I prepared from his recipe. It was great. I've cooked several Indian dishes before and would love to try more. I usually cook a chicken curry and serve it with some fragrant lemon rice and chutney. The array and use of spices is my main attraction to all Indian dishes in addition to cooking with yogurt. Not to mention the subtle similarities between Indian and middle eastern (Lebanese) cooking. the combination of Cardamom with cinnamon, chillies, cloves, coriander and yogurt is heavenly. I guess I will be trying the Biryani next Suvir. Thanks Again FM

I guess Pate Brisee Sucre it is. Thanks Suvir. FM *note to self add "Larousse Gastronomique" to Christmas wish list*

Actually I expected Julia to ask for tossing the apples in lemon juice but in the recipe that I used from "Mastering the Art... Volume I" she only asks for tossing them in sugar and optional cinnamon. Since it was my first TT I did not want to stray from the recipe and decided to use lemon juice on my second try (lemon zest sounds good too). Before reading this thread and Julia's recipe I thought all TT are made with puff pastry. but since julia's recipe asks for "Pate Brisee Sucre" I assumed that this is the more traditional. Am I correct in this assumption? FM

Tonight it was Indian dinner courtesy of Suvir. I tried his Murgh Korma recipe served with some steamed rice (was out of Basmati) and Urud Dahl. It was superb, thick and creamy like some sort of white curry. The combination of the spices ,aromatics and yogurt was fantastic. Dessert : Julia Child's Tart Tatin FM

Thanks you for the excellent expalnation Suvir. It is true Awbrig the blue one is the one where the tarte was baked in and the second one (white) is the one it was inverted into for serving. I absolutely loved its buttery caramely taste Suvir and the crunchy pecans were a delectable addition. As to what I would do different I mentioned making the pastry THICKER not thinner. I know it looks pretty thick in the pic but it is actually pretty thin especially in the center (Julia said to role the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness, I might do a 1/4 inch next time). The other thing I might try and do is to get more color on the apples maybe by cooking a tad longer or even caramelizing the apples with some sugar under the broiler (Julia mentions that as well). I served it with a some Breyers French Vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche would also be great but I had no homemade at the moment. As for the pastry I also used what Julia asks for in the recipe --"Pate Brisee Sucree" or Sweet Short Paste. Thanks for all the comments FM

All this talk about Tart Tatin made me want to try one for myself. Since I've never had a real tart Tatin before I thought it would be a good experience and an exercise in French cooking. So I decided to follow Julia's recipe from "Mastering the Art..." and I added a little twist--- Texas Pecans in between the apples. The result was a deliciouse buttery upside down tart. The only thing that I might change next time is the thickness of the pastry (I also used Julia's recipe for short sweet pastry crust) to make it a little thicker. have a look and let me know if it should look much different. FM

a grated green apple and a sliced bannana

Recently our local Mega Mart (aka Kroger) started a section which I refer to as "The Jamie Oliver Section" due to the fact that it contains English staples that were not found there a few months ago. I used to go there looking for "Golden Syrup", Custard, Digestive biscuits and other stuff I've seen or read about with Jamie Oliver, and find nothing but maple syrup and nilla wafers!! So I'm assuming several others must've asked about these items and Kroger started stocking them in limited quantities in this one section in the Ethnic foods aisle. Now I can find all this stuff and some others that I've never heard before. One such items is the "Black Treacle" made by the same company that makes "Golden Syrup". Of course I was intrigued and almost bought it, however I thought it might be prudent to post a question or two about it first. What is it used for? Any recipes? Can I use it like molasses or cain syrup is used? Your insight and help is appreciated. FM

Priscilla, you are correct the Garam and Curry powder are certainly not traditional Lebanese seasonings. However at my mother's house she quiet often seasoned the yogurt dipping sauce at least with salt and sometimes a little crushed dried mint, and if eating a more substantial meal like "Grilled or Fried stuffed Kibbi" she also added some chopped cucumbers. I do that sometimes too but I really love the spicy/fragrant addition of Indian spices. Cinnamon sounds interesting as well and I'll try it tonight with some of the leftover grape leaves. FM

Last night it was a very satisfying Lebanese vegetarian dinner. I made some rolled grape leaves stuffed with a mixture of rice, tomatoes, parsley, onions and mint. This was served with some lentils cooked with tomatoes and onions. for a sauce I made my favorite accompaniment to grape leaves: Homemade yogurt dipping sauce infused with garam masala and curry powder. Since I made a big batch of yogurt I will probably try Suvir's Korma over the weekend. FM

Braised beef in barollo from Batali's book. Served with homemade crusty bread for myself and egg noodles for the wife. I made a bit too much so I am freezing half of it for another rainy day... maybe have it with some gnochi. yum. Dessert: buttermilk pie with a pecan strussel(sp?) topping from the last issue of food and wine. We have a great crop of pecans from my inlaws tree so I have two sealed bags of shelled pecans in my freezer. Will be using often. FM

You don't really have to use sugar at all. It just adds and extra layer of flavor. You can just use Kosher salt, water and whatever flavoring you like (garlic, onion, herbs and spices). If the rice syrup is water soluble and tastes good then try it. FM

You can brine pretty much ANYTHING. I've done it with chicken (whole), Chicken (parts-- especially breasts), pork butt, pork chops (best way to eat pork chops), salmon and duck pieces. So the flavors and the cuts of meat are endless. As for doing it in the enamel pot, I don't see why not unless the brine is too acidic maybe (but then they are not supposed to be). The best way to do it though; if it is not too big of a piece of meat; is in a zip lock bag and then put the sealed bag in a pot in the fridge. makes it easier to turn the meat if you need to and it is cleaner. (edit to answer the second question) FM

Brining is a wonderfull thing it makes the meat moist and very flavorful as the flavor is carried by osmosis (or diffusion-- but lets not get too technical) into the cells of the meat . No injection or basting can do that. For thanksgiving I made Alton Brown's brined turkey and it was a hit. guests were picking the meat while I was carving. Defenitly give it a try and you will love it. PS: If you are brining the turkey in a 5 gallon bucket it might not fit in the refrigerator so just place it in a cool place (no more than 6 hrs) and since you add a gallon of ice to the liquid and since the liquid is very salty there really is no fear from contamination. Brined Turkey

WARNING: LOTS O' DRIVEL BUT I HAD TO GET OUT OF MY SYSTEM!!! SO IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO, DO IT NOW INSTEAD OF READING MY POST. My experiment with Kabocha Squash: SO I was browsing throught he produce department at Central Market this past weekend and they had quiet a nice selection of great looking winter squashes. I normally buy either butternut or Acorn, however being the adventurous type that I am I go for a pretty looking "Organic Kabocha Squash" thinking to myself "So what if I've never tried this type before? How different could it be?"... 3 days later... Teusday night dinner: The wife was out shopping so I decide to cook half of my Kabocha. I was planning on homemade raviolis with some sage butter but since I got home sort of late I decide to do Mario Batali's "BUTTERNUT squash with Penne Rigate"-- the keyword is apparently BUTTERNUT SQUASH. As soon as I cut into the damn thing I think to myself "This could be bad" since it was pretty hard but I keep going on with the recipe which basically asks the cook to saute the squash. The Kabocha was the driest most starchy squash I've ever encountered even though it tastes pretty sweet and nutty. Needless to say the Teusday night dinner was HORRIBLE the squash was so dry it was almost non-swallowable. Thanks God my wife did not tatse it. Moral of the story: Bake the Kabocha or stew it. Thursday night dinner: With half of the squash in my fridge and two Chicken breasts defrosted I decide to make a fall type dinner worthy of my starchy but sweet Kabocha. So I pound the chicken and roll it jelly roll like with a stuffing of dried apricots , raisins, butter and ground cardamom. They are then browned and finished in the oven. As for the squash, I baked it until very soft and pureed it with rosemary, cream and a little sourcream. When the chicken was cooked I made a pan sauce with some Gin (no real junipers on hand ), shallots, stock and mounted with butter. The chicken was cut into rounds and served around the squash puree and topped with the sauce. What a difference!! the squash tasted superb, creamy and bold. It was perfect with the cardamom flavored chicken. But will I buy a Kabocha again???? probably not. I still prefer my butternut. FM

Morrocan chicken with honey and tomatoes. Recipe from Claudia Roden's middle eatsern cook book. Basically the chicken is braised with a sauce of tomatoes, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, and onion. When the chicken is cooked the sauce is reduced and honey is added. I served it sprinkled with toasted almonds with plain basmati rice. FM

Clazones made with home made pizza dough and stuffed with Eggplant Caponata, mozzarella, smoked ham and olives. FM

Here is my tried and true advice with some help from Alton Brown. You are not doing anything wrong really, just some tweeking is needed. Check out my homemade pizza (I use the same dough for calzones as well): The trick to get a wonderfull thin crispy/chewy crust is to do 2 things: 1- after incorporating the water and yeast, knead the dough for about 30 minutes if you are doing it by hand (that's what I do) or about 15 minutes if you have an electric mixer with a dough hook. This will get the gluten worked up and the dough will become very flexible and "stertchable". 2- instead of letting ity rise in a warm place, place it in the fridge for about 5 hours or even better over night. Trust me this makes all the diffrence (I used to do the warm place rise for a while but never did it again after trying this one). the dough will not rise as much of course but the taste and the texture are divine. So with out further a due (sp?), here is the basic recipe that I use (only now I do it from memory). Please let us know how it turns out for you: Alton Brown's Pizza Good Luck FM