FoodMan

I've tried a few recipes for doughnuts, but this one that I tried last week, is by far my favorite. It's from Jamie Oliver's newest book, Cook with Jamie (available from Amazon.uk now), and it makes amazingly fluffy and light yeast doughnuts. I also like using this spiced sugar to coat them rather than a glaze. I decided to fill some of them with raspberry jelly and left some plain. I will certainly be making this again soon.

Those sweet potato biscuits are excellent. I had a couple of sweet potatoes that needed to beused up, so I cooked them and used them to make those biscuits. Excellent flavor and fluffy texture, not to mention the color.

I invited a couple of friends over for burgers last weekend and popped open the Porter. Certainly exceeded my expectations! It was smooth, mildly bitter and has a lovely subtle roasty aroma that is almost sweet. It was such a big hit that everyone offered to chip in to buy me more ingredients to make another batch and split it between all of us. Thanks Tongo

Abra- In Lebanon it is usually pronounced "ur-ban" (or oor-ban I guess) and BTW I do not think this works good with savory foods. Try it for breakfast or with coffee as a snack.

The crab with pasta to me sounds so Venetian and looks divine Kevin. I've been waiting all year (well more than a year actually) to try my hand at makign Bigoli with duck ragu from Batali's book using whole wheat and a meat grinder. So, that is my pledge for this month. Also, I could not find any specific Venetian bread to make in my books. any ideas? Definitly a risotto or 2 and some polenta preparations.

Yet there are millions of strong, healthy young adults who grew up eating just that. I know plenty of families -- I mean, middle class people I went to law school with -- whose kids eat almost exclusively processed foods, starting with things like Pop Tarts in the morning, moving on to awful public school lunches, to various convenience foods for dinner, with chips, cookies and other snacks in between. They rarely eat a piece of fruit or a salad. And they're in great shape. Is it the best way to eat? Maybe not. But no matter how much you, Pollan and anybody else believes there's no nutrition in McDonald's food and that soda is going to kill our children, it's not a supportable claim. ← Steven- I know smokers who lived to be in their 80s too, but that does not mean smoking is ok for you. I think you are looking at the Pollan articel from the perspective of the "glass is half empty" and trying hard to find fault in it. I think his first statement and most of his - was it 8 pieces of advise- which he admits are not scientific, make a whole lot of sense.

I bought the Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE-95XL and -of course we've only used it a few times so far- it works very very well. Fast, efficient and a snap to clean.

It is always great to see more quiche-converts! You did an awsome job eldereno. BTW, Russ a springform pan is fine if it is the right size. The problem is that most people have the 3 inch deep ones and that one is too big.

Elie, I loaded recipe and pictures on my blog here I really like this dough, it work very well also for savory strudels. I hope it helps. ← Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

Franci- that is some lovely strudel. Please more details, dough proportions, filling and baking. The most success I've had with a strudel was using the recipe from Alford and Duguid's "Home Baking" book. As for cooking polenta, I really like Paula Wolfert's oven method in Slow Mediteranean Kitchen. I have not read far into Heat to check out Buford's method, maybe I will today.

Awsome! congrats to you too. FWIW, my wife also avoided cold cuts and cured meats when she was pregnant. Not just because they are not cooked (sometimes) but mainly bacause of the high salt content. However, she ate fresh pork (chops, loin, butt,...) on a regular basis. No reason to avoid that. I know I've said it before, but she also drank wine in moderation in her thrid trimester (Dr. assured her it is more than safe to drink 4 or 5 oz of wine). Ok, now unless someone else is having a baby, let's get back to food .

Thai Sunday dinner, all recipes are from Thompson’s “Thai Food”: Pad Thai. Duck and Tofu Curry. Fish Soup with Caramel broth and Chinese Celery. For dessert we had coconut sweet sticky rice with canned mango…the canned mango were not too bad. Sorry, no pic. Click here for more details

Thai dinner, all recipes are from Thompson’s “Thai Food”: Pad Thai. I’m guessing no explanation is necessary here. Duck and Tofu Curry. I pounded the paste for this curry the day before so I can have less work to do on Sunday. This was absolutely divine, although the original recipe is called RED Duck Curry, mine looked more brown. Probably my dried chilies were more brown than red. The tofu was my addition as well, since I had a bunch left after frying them for the pad thai. Fish Soup with Caramel broth and Chinese Celery. This was also delicious and very simple to make. The caramel here is of course caramelized palm sugar. I used sea bass fillets rather than trout. For dessert we had coconut sweet sticky rice with canned mango…the canned mango were not too bad. Sorry, no pic.

I am in the market for a juicer/juice extractor to make fresh fruit and vegetable juices on a regular basis. My highest criteria: - Can make at least 2-4 cups of juice easily - Does not clog and need cleaning every 2 carrots - Is easy to clean. I hated an old one I had where it takes 30 minutes to clean the damn mesh from making 1 measly cup of juice, but I guess that is unavoidable…or is it? - Price range under $200, preferably under 150…or less. - The ability to efficiently juice citrus would be a plus. Any one owns one they can recommend? So far seems like this one might be one of the top options. Thanks!

mrbigjas- I agree about the cuisine not being too photogenic, but your nice spread is very nice looking and appetizing. Certainly better than my roast. Congrats Franci!

Does a cook use frozen phyllo? Sure, I have not the time nor the skill to make it at home and packaged ones are quiet good. powdered hollandaise? Hell no crackers from a box? Usually yes, because they taste good although I've made pretty good saltines a couple of times Raisins? Perfectly good raisins are available at the store in bulk, and making them at home is not feasible or efficient Pre-milled flour? Same as raisins. I do not use boxed cake mixes for the same reasons Ludja listed. I basically see no reason to use them. Please however do not take my comment as an attack on anyone who does. I was just answering for myself.

This is terribly shocking and sad news! My wife and I met Bux in Spain in 2005 and had the pleasure of sharing a wonderful Pintxo and Cava meal with him. I still cannot believe he's gone. I will raise my next Cava for you Bux, you will be terribly missed and may you rest in peace. Our condolences to the family.

Do you do tier cakes? ← I am no professional baker, just a home baker and I do a lot of layered cakes but not tier cakes. I think I've done only one tiered cake for my son's B-day and it worked out pretty good.

in response to the title of this thread: Hell No.

Just recieved my bottle of "Cachaca Fazenda Mae De Ouro" so I immediatly whipped up a couple of caipirinhas. That is some very good stuff.

quiet alright Pontormo...honestly the cooking of TAA does not turn me on much . It's a bit too German and that has never been my cup of tea. Although a strudle in the near future might not be a bad idea .

It’s pretty chilly here in Houston for the past couple of days, so I made a very rich, filling and comforting black eyed pea soup with spicy andouille sausage and fried crispy leeks. This sure hit the spot and the leftovers are my lunch today.

I dug in L R Kaspar’s The Italian Country Table for a couple of recipes from TAA, and like Kevin, I felt a nice plate of hot comfort food is ideal in this chilly weather. I made a pot roast using her recipe for the Tyrolean Roast Beef. It was pretty good with interesting spicing. To got with it I also followed her advice and served Margarita’s Buttermilk Crushed potatoes. I really enjoyed the flavor of these potatoes and the drizzle of browned butter on top was an excellent touch.

Cento is usually my go to brand because it is available at the store I shop at regularly (HEB) and it is pretty good. Although whenever I go to Central MArket I try to buy a few cans of Carmelina brand, I think it is better. Actually Kevin I almost picked up a can of the cherry tomatoes from Cento because I remember you said you used them on your pizza. Then I noticed the price, about 3 times that of the regular San Marzano variety canned plum tomatoes!

Way back in the early pages of this thread, we had a discussion about the proper tomato “sauce” for a proper pizza margarita. Pizza Napoletana kindly pointed out that only crushed tomatoes with very little seasonings should be used instead of a cooked sauce. Kevin concurred. I promised to give that a shot next time around. So, this past Sunday, I fired up the oven and baked a few pizzas including a Margarita or two. I only used crushed tomatoes (canned San Marzano) with some salt, pepper and a touch of garlic for a “sauce”. I have to agree, I much prefer this version where the lovely tomato flavor and acidity shine through. Click here for the less 'authentic' pizzas from that dinner