FoodMan

Is it just me or is the W&D no longer available? Even the old links in this thread do not work.

As always thanks for the pictures and descriptions! I have not had excellent Kibbeh Nayeh since my last trip to my grandmother's house in Lebanon three years ago. I had some at a California wedding a few months ago and it was ok, not great. It is traditional in my family's household to serve a spiced ground onion mixture with the kibbeh. the spices include allspice, black pepper, rosebuds, margoram, cloves, cumin and probably a few others. The mixture is ground with raw onion and forms a past. This in small quantities is used to spread on pita bread and then topped with the raw kibbeh, olive oil and mint leaves. Absolute perfection. I really need to make some raw kibbeh sometime.

Ah! That bunny looks awsome Judith. I have to make one too. Did you have any problem with it coming out dry? In Naples at Table the author has two baked eggplant Neapolitan style, only the one he calles "white" is battered, deep fried and has sliced hard cooked eggs in it.

I cannot believe I forgot to post my Lomo recipe from a month or so ago. Here it is based on the Bresaola recipe from the book: 1.5 lb pork loin with fat 13 gr kosher salt 15 gr sugar 2 gr DC Cure #2 3 gr coarse black pepper 2 gr dry thyme 1 gr cayenne (Actually next time I'll use more) 2 gr paprika Cure just like the Bresaola and hang till wieght is reduced by 30% BTW- my latest physical was top notch as well, and I also hardly ever eat processed food. Fast food to me is a Vietnamese BBQ pork sandwich or a Colombian charcoal rotisserie chicken plate. Both take less than five minutes to buy and cost less then a #1 Combo at Wendy's.

Darn it! I should've insisted on the yeasts you suggested rather than take the proprietor's suggestion. Oh well, we'll see what I'll end up with, I'm guessing something not as tangy as you intended.

Chris- two questions about this latest batch of beer I'm brewing. Keep in mind that I used a Belgian Wit Beer from White Labs (I think something like WLP400). 1- The fermentation is still going on since Sunday at the rate of a few gurgles every 40 seconds or so. It never exactly had that spike as far as I could tell. Is that ok? 2- Will this kind of yeast also benefit from a higher temp than normal like you mention in the lesson? I have it in a room that is probably in the high 80s most of the day.

Absolutely stunning work Patrick! My only complain: where are the rest of the pictures?! This is a tease.

Hathor- That is a lovely baked pasta. aren't these the best? I don't think I've ever had a baked pasta dish that is not good...pasta, gooey, crusty cheese, meats and vegetables, very hard to go wrong. Shaya- Your fried items are jusy gorgeous I can almost (I wish) taste them. Sunday’s Neapolitan dinner: - Primo was pasta with Ricotta and tomato sauce, from “Naples at Table”. The proper pasta for this should be large and tubular, sort of like Manicotti according to Schwartz. I had large rigatoni, so I used that. It had homemade ricotta, parm, basil and tomato sauce. A simple and utterly delicious dish, I can eat this by itself any day. - Secondo, Neapolitan meatballs, also from “Naples at Table”. I made a double batch of those lovely meatballs. I froze half of them for the “Big Night” Timpano later this month. The meatballs had beef, parsley, lots of bread, Pecorino, raisins and pinenuts. My wife declared these in tomato sauce “the best meatballs she’s ever had”! I agree. The mix before adding the soaked bread Ready to form Formed polpette Served - Dolco was a homemade blueberry gelato. Sure blueberries are American, but I am confident that any Neapolitan would love this intense creamy gelato (it has 2 whole pounds of berries, 8 yolks and 3 cups of cream based on a recipe by Alton Brown). I literally cannot get enough of this concoction.

I did manage to brew the beer from the last recipe this Sunday. - I made a four gallon batch, so I added an extra 1/2 lb sugar and extra 2 lbs of DME. I used light wheat extract. I did also double the spicing and the hops, but not the grains. - I must have a bigger cooler than yours Chris. I actually had to keep my cooler tilted to make sure the gallon of water covers most of the grains. The liquid cleared very quickly and had a very light brown color. - The guy at the brew shop recommended I use a good Belgian Wit Yeast from White labs with the recipe. So, I uised that. - This morning, 20 hours or so after brewing, I see a few gurgles every few seconds but nothing crazy. I'm hoping it will pick up more soon. Well, It smelled and tasted great, a little more bitter than I expected actually but nice and malty and not too spicy. I am sure all this will mellow and even out with age. I will report more when I have updates. After this batch, it's Porter time!

Abra- Thank you for the fantastic report. How many pounds of short ribs did you need to make 2.5 pounds of diced boneless meat? So is that 1/2 oz or 1 tsp? or is 1/2 oz = 1 tsp? Thanks for sharing Michael.

Here are two or three... It's the weekend! Someone besides me needs to test the recipe and let me know if anything needs editing Summer is almost over and this cold pudding is a perfect summery treat

Hello all- In preparation for the upcoming November eG Spotlight Conversation with Dorie Greenspan, we started a thread dedicated to baking recipes from her new book "Baking: From my Home to Yours". Like the Baking from Chocolates by Pierre Herme thread, let's use this new thread to share our latest baking experiences, successes and problems from this new book. Dorie will check in often to share her tips, hints and insights. Click here to start baking Thank you so much to "rjwong" for starting this thread and alerting us to the earlier than expected release of the Baking book.

Felice, Patrick S and I invite you to join us in Baking with Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. This thread is the place to include your notes and share with us photos of recipes you have prepared from it. It is also the place where Dorie will check in often and provide her insights and tips about baking from this lovely book. Dorie will be joining us for an eG Spotlight Conversation in November as well. That would be the perfect place to ask all you want to know about how she came to baking and to work with Julia Child, Pierre Herme and Daniel Boulud or any other question related to her career and body of work. Baking: From my home to yours. The title says it all, this is a book filled with 300 recipes created for the home baker, recipes that use simple, easy to find and use ingredients and few expensive tools. Dorie applies the lessons from three decades of experience to discuss a subject very dear to her: Home Baking. This experience means that the recipes are far ranging, from a simple spicy muffin to a decadent dramatic black and white cake for a special occasion to Pierre Herme’s luscious lemon tart. Dorie has written or co-written eight previous books including four with masters: Baking with Julia with Julia Child, Desserts by Pierre Herme, Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme and Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud Cookbook. Another of her books is the wonderful Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops. Related topics in the eG Forums: Baking: from my home to yours for general discussion and comments on the book. Cooking with Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. Baking with Julia, recipes Let the baking begin!

I think I will finally have some time and space to brew the last recipe this weekend. I am still drinking the last of the red ale and enjoying it very much.

P.N.- I promise you, I will give the version with uncooked tomatoes a try. Who knows, maybe the prior time the tomatoes were off. I will try it with very good quality S Marzano and see. About the eggplant, the recipe is from Naples at Table and I think the author credits Don Alfonso as the originator. Working from memory here, but I think it is slices of eggplant coated in a thick egg batter and fried, then layered with a bittersweet chocolate sauce. I'll verify when I get back home.

Hi the sauce should not contain anything but salt if you really need to. It should be just made of crushed peeled San Marzano tomatoes. It should not be cooked. In addition, the Margherita should not include garlic, onion and oregano. Below is few example of my margherita, marinara and the crust consistency and structure: ← Darn it, I knew this was going to happen! I am not even going to think about arguing with a person named Pizza Napoletana about...pizza Napoletana. You are certainly more in the know about this than I am. I can only point you to my original disclaimer and apology and please apply that to Pizza Margarita too. On the bright side I did use very good quality San Marzano tomatoes and I used the onion/garlic/herbs very sparingly. I also have tried the no cook-pure canned tomato version before (granted not in Naples, but in my kitchen) and I prefer the one I make . What's up with the eggplant in chocolate sauce? I am so intrigued with this I might try it this weekend for a dolci course. Anyone tried it? thoughts?

Chef Crash- Does your wife not place a layer of bread on top? At least she toasts the bread though and that is key! Nicolai- I like the "nest" theory, who knows. I am not sure how Ramzi serves it, The recipe I used is based on his though and it certainly is not "crusty". Mixing syrup into the bread crumbs pretty much guarantees that. On the other hand it is not soggy or mushy like some versions I've had in Lebanon where simple un-toasted bread is used. The main crunch comes from the nuts on top. As for Chef Ramzi's recipes, we know they are not well tested if tested at all. I use them like I mentioned, for inspiration and ideas and I love flipping through the full color pictures of food and Lebanese sights. If he gets his own line of pots and pans and meals, hey good for him, but please let us not dwell on this here, this is not the thread for it.

I'm sold on it and your picture looks fantastic. How did it taste? What did u serve it with?

The other day I was flipping through the Chef Ramzi book looking for inspiration for a dessert and I stumbled onto his recipe for "Aish el Saraya". I had not had this in years and I've always seen it made with soggy white bread slices that were not that interesting. His recipe used toasted bread crumbs instead and the picture lookes amazing topped with pistachios. So, I adabted his recipe, tweaking it a good bit and using my own measures since we all know that his recipes are not well tested. I have to say the result was spectacular and using toasted bread crumbs is a definite must! Click here for the recipe Aish el Saraya translates roughly to “bread of the mansion”. The word Aish in Egyptian dialect usually means bread, this leads me to believe that this dessert is originally from Egypt. Of course I have no proof or research to support this so I am just theorizing here. On the other hand Aish in Arabic also means life or living, so this dessert could possibly refer to a life of luxury, a life filled with mansions, cream and sugar. Anyone has any other ideas about the origin/name of this dish? In any case this is an absolutely delicious, simple and refreshing dessert that requires no baking and whose components can be prepared well in advance. The nut topping is traditionally toasted pistachios, that will give you a very nice color contrast to the bread too. However, toasted almonds are also just as good if not better. Try a mix of both or either one. In the final picture I only used almonds because I was out of pistachios. The 3 components of the pudding First layer of bread crumbs Added cream filling Ready to serve Because of the "crumbly" nature of this dessert, serving it and making it look pretty is not easy, but I promise it tasted fantastic. Reminded me a little of "Mafrookah" if any of you have ever had that.

Exactly, because also if it is too close it will be pretty hard to use the peel and slide the pies in and out.

hmmm..don't know about putting bricks on top. It will probably help, but it's also a hassle to remove. Now, the bricks layer the bottom of the oven and they always stay there. I cannot say I am not intrigued tough, so next time I might try placing bricks on one of the racks as well.

Aish al Saraya (Middle Eastern Bread and Cream Pudding) Serves 10 as Dessert. Aish el Saraya translates roughly to “bread of the mansion”. The word Aish in Egyptian dialect means bread, this leads me to believe that this dessert is originally from Egypt. Of course I have no proof or research to support this so I am just theorizing here. On the other hand Aish in Arabic also means life or living, so this dessert could possibly refer to a life of luxury, a life filled with mansions, cream and sugar. In any case this is an absolutely delicious, simple and refreshing dessert that requires no baking an whose components can be prepared well in advance. The nut topping is traditionally toasted pistachios, that will give you a very nice color contrast to the bread too. However, toasted almonds are also just as good if not better. Try a mix of both or either one. In the picture I only used almonds because I was out of pistachios. 3 c toasted bread crumbs (see note) 1-1/2 c fragrant syrup (Atr, see note), plus 0.5 cup additional for serving if desired 2 c cream filling (Kashta, see note) - In a bowl mix the bread with the 1.5 cups syrup till you have a crumbly loose “dough”. - In a round cake pan, I like a 9 inch spring form pan, but any dish will do as long as it is at least 2 inches deep, layer half the bread crumb mixture and pat with your hand to compact a little. It should not be as compact as pie dough. - Layer the cream on top of the bread crumbs. Add the rest of the bread crumbs on top of the cream and pat them down as much as possible without squashing the cream. Top with the toasted nuts. - Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving and serve it cold, with an extra drizzle of syrup if desired (I think it is already perfectly sweetened on its own). NOTE: Please make your own bread crumbs for this, the store bought ones are not good. Use regular white bread, challah, or any other soft not too sweet bread. Place the slices in the oven and toast till golden brown. Crumble them in the food processor and process till you have fine-textured crumbs. For 3 cups, you need about 12 slices of white bread. NOTE: For the Fragrant syrup recipe, click here NOTE: For the cream filling recipe, click here Keywords: Dessert, Lebanese, Easy, Mediterranean, Breakfast, Middle Eastern, Pudding ( RG1786 )

Lovely food Kevin. The pasta looks great as does the -as Mario would call it- hammered broccoli contorno. As much as I respect Marcella, I certainly disagree with her opinion about pasta water. That pasta water trick is one of the coolest things I learned from watching/reading Mario. I kicked off Campania with my wife's probably favorite thing to eat. She requested it as soon as she hear we're in beautiful Naples! PIZZA MARGARITA! My favorite pizza dough for this is J. Steingarten's recipe in his second book. It is a very loose dough rested in the fridge overnight. It is so loose you definitly cannot do that flying pizza trick, but it makes the lovliest crispy chewy dough ever. I do not follow any recipe for tomato sauce, I just use good quality canned tomatoes BOTH onions and garlic, dried oregano and some fresh basil. I get the oven screaming hot for to bake the pizza and the oven is always lined with bricks for baking bread and pizza. The pizza "mise" Before baking topped with fresh mozzarella Finished and topped with fresh basil

It's simply yogurt with the excess water drained out. Click here for a recipe.

very very psyched! I bought the Schwartz book a month ago and cannot wait to start cooking. The problem here, just like Sicily, is where and what to start. I mean so many things are from Napoli and surroundigs. I made my first meal yesterday and will post as soon as time allows and pics are downloaded. hint: it is a baked item! BTW, and I apologize for any Neapolitans here for this, but I am planning to break one rule Mr. Schwartz talks about quiet often. I am talking about the "ONLY use garlic OR onions, but not both in a dish"!!! I say that is nuts and in my book the two usually go hand in hand. so be forwarned, rampant rule breaking will ensue here and I will make sure to document it Who besides me is up to making a nice Timpano? I am hoping to make one following Mario's recipe online towards the end of the month. Maybe prep the components seperatly and combine them and bake them the day of service.