FoodMan

Very, very nice, Jennifer, BTW I love your show . What kind of eggs did you use? Free range? The reason I ask is because my brioche made with good old supermarket eggs is no as nice and yellow as yours. Ok, now can we discuss what is everyon'e favorite use for leftover brioche? I always seem to make French Toast. Elie

I guess it's already been said , but I also use buttermilk to make creme fraiche since the stuff is so damn expensive and I NEVER buy it. My end result is quiet thick with a nice tang to it. I also use the only cream I can find...ultra-pasturized. I've used sour cream with live cultures to make it as well but I prefer buttermilk. My ratio is about 2Tbsp. of buttermilk per cup of cream and let it sit at room temp for about 12 hrs although I let it sit close to 24hrs. and I got a more sour end result but still very good. Elie

Elie, I love the bunny brioche! Just curious - which formula did you use? I made the dough for the Middle Class Brioche today, and I am giving it an overnight rest. I'll make dinner rolls and craquelin in the morning. That's too bad you didn't have any sugar cubes. You should definitely try the craquelin next time you make brioche! ← I always use the middle-class brioche which is plenty rich. elie

Let's not get caught up with semantics. As it has been demonstarted numerous times, the same dish could be called different things in different countries or even regions. The ground chicken skewers are pretty common in persian restaurants but I am not sure how they get them to not fall apart. My suggestion would be to add a minimal amount of bread crumbs. I do that when I make my chicken burgers, maybe a couple of Tbsps. per pound, and you can hardly know they are there. I tried making it without the bread crumbs once and it was one big mess. Elie

I didi some looking online and yeah, I think they were shiitake's. They definitly and an earthier flavor and aroma. I guess I was surprised since they were pretty cheap (1.97 for about a 1lb package), I thought these mushrooms are supposed to be more expensive. Elie

I made the brioch for breakfast yesterday. I don't have brioche molds so I normally use muffin cups or I bake them free form (I did both this time around). I also baked one in a loaf pan once. The funny thing is that I wanted to make brioche in order to try the craquelin variation but I forgot to make sure I actually have sugar cubes . The bread still turned out awsome even though not as nicely shaped as laura's, mine suffered from the lope-sided syndrome. I served it with freshly made pear-chocolate spread, a breakfast fit for a king. Note how the big one in the back looks like a bunny, I fully intended for it to like like this .

I also by far prefer meringue fopr a topping rather than whipped cream. Going back to the original question though, here is my understanding: - Tres Leches Cake, is a cake soaked in a mixture of three milks. Typically whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk. -Dolce De Leche cake can be different things to different people. I mean the term Dolce De Leche means roughly, milk jam aka caramel. So a tres leches cake soaked in milk and dolce de leche can be dubbed Dolce De Leche cake I guess. I also have a recipe for dolce de leche cake with apples. So, you see as far as I know this name is not as clearly defined as the Tres Leche name. Hopefully a more experienced pastry person might have a better explanation than mine. Elie

I tried the chicken and galangal soup for dinner last night from Thompson's book and was very happy with it. It was simple to make and had great flavor. BTW, bouight the mushrooms fresh from the Asian grocery store for a very good price. the label just said fresh mushrooms but what are they really called? I think they are the fresh version of the typical brown round dried ones. I really wanted to try making some type of rice cakes with my newly acquired glutinous rice, but I had no time. Elie

Wednesday night: - Potato an leek soup, used the recipe from Les Halles. -Zuchini-goat cheese bread Last night: -Thai Chicken and Galangal soup served with white steemed rice Elie

First off, a big warm welcome to the Society Linda! I have to agree with Almass' comment up there, growing up I ate green almonds by the bucket loads since my family owns almond orchards in Lebanon and never had any ill effect. Could it be the cold beer consumed at the same time that neutralized it ? I really think your engineer friend is at worst case wrong about almonds, or at best exaggerating. I seriously never heard of anyone getting seriously sick from eating almonds. Now, apricot and peach seeds and the like is a different story. I actually sent a question about the "edible" apricot seeds and the bitter ones used in jams in Lebanon to Dr. Robert Wolke, author of "What Einstein Told His Cook". Click Here to see his reponse to it and to other 'seedy' questions. Bottom line ,IMHO, is if you get a hold of some green almonds, eat them. Elie

No I really am NOT lugging a whole leg of ham for several reasons: - Luggage space - $$$ - Customs - Wife's wrath if I try smuggling a cured pig's leg in her suitcase So, at the most I'll buy a nice slab vac packed and bring that back. Elie

Yes! Did you get white or brown? ← hah! I knew the color is supposed to be white, so I bought the white. I think they had a third variety that said "no talic" also. I'm glad I spent my money on the right item though. Thanks. Elie

Wow...triangular pizza, how'd you do that ? Seriously though these look great, especially the shrimp one. Last night I made a simple zuchini and beef stew with tomatoes and peppers. Served it with rice. Elie

Here's a semi-stupid question for you. I've never used sticky rice before, but since I want to include it in my Thai repertoir I decided to pick some up from my local Asian store during lunch break today. All I could find is what was labeled as "Sweet Rice (glutinous)" in both brown and white variations. I did buy a bag of the stuff but I am not sure if it is the same thing. Is it? Elie

Thanks for the suggestions. I love the idea of picking up some canned tapas. Also I cannot believe I forgot about Saffron. Needless to say the great Jamon Serrano and Manchego were already on the list. I am hoping I will have time to stop by The Boqueria. From these pics it looks like an amazing place. So the list thus far looks something like this: -Jamon -Manchego -Saffron -chocolate -Canned stuff (Piquillo, anchovies,...) -Olive Oil -Wine Elie

Sure, or even a large cake pan would do. Thanks for the detailed instructions. Makes perfect sense. Elie

Laura- Those pistures are outstanding. I have to make brioche pretty soon. I also love the Craquelin idea, I mean it is so simple and so...right. Just soak the cubes in some sort of syrup and wrap in broiche? Sounds like a great breakfast. Elie

I will be in Barcelona and elBulli in the end of this month. Of course I would like to bring a few food items back with me. What should I bring back? Cheeses, chocolates, wine,...? What shops are a must-visit? Thanks Elie

Almass, maybe you can answer my question from above. what is the difference between sour milk and spoiled milk? Thanks ~WBC ← Here is my undestanding. It is all a question of bacteria strain. Both sour milk and spoiled milk are really "spoiled". However, some bacteria make it taste sour and good, others make it taste nasty and can make you sick. The same concept of moldy cheese, some mold is desirable while other mold is not. Sorry, if this makes it evne more confusing. I believe there is a yogurt thread in "cooking" that might shed more light on the process. EDIT: Click here to go to the yogurt thread. Elie

I made the McAllen fajitas for mother's day. They were pretty good but very much on the sour side, too much lime juice. Next time I will cut the lime juice significantly. I was planning on making the Ninfas red salsa but it says to put the tomatoes in boiling water and does not give a quantity for the water. So I opted for the smoked tomato salsa instead. Very good choice, it was awsome. Elie

I tried another couple of products from the CM brand. -Apparently they have another EV Olive oil with a CM brand. This one does not have the "Organics" logo though so I guess it is not organic. It is also produced in Sapin rather than Italy like the other one and costs about half as much. I did like it a lot more than the Italian one which was very mild. This Spanish olive oil has a much richer taste and a good olive flavor. -I tried the "Organics" canned Italian tomatoes. Very good taste and color. Actually better than the US grown "San Marzano" tomatoes I used to buy. However, the price is not cheaper than other top brands like Bella Tera. Elie

Back in France we actually used "Danone nature" to make Aryan... ← Check out my eGCI class from more details... Elie ← hi all-- i have always loved yogurt and buttermilk, but i just discovered Ayran in the last few weeks. the first time i tried it, i was like, "eww, how can you tell if this is bad?" but now i love it. Elie: i am going to go look at your eGCI course, but i have a question: does the Ayran undergo any *additional* fermentation process, because the kind i'm getting here (in Montreal, from a Turkish food court restaurant) tastes too sour and 'sparkly' (almost carbonated) to just be the fermentation from the yogurt? the container says it has yogurt, water, salt, milk solids, and additional bacterial cultures. thanks in advance, gus ← It depends what you mean by additional fermentation. I guess it could. So, let's say you make Ayran at home and leave it for a week in the fridge. The cultures in there from the yogurt are still alive and will make the ayran more sour than the first day it was made. It also depends on the yogurt used, if the yogurt is already sour then the resulting Ayran will be sour. As far as carbonation, it was mentioned that upthread that some people use carbonated water to make ayran. I would think this would be stated on the list of ingredients though. Elie

Michelle, I feel the same way, you are correct that different regions make the same thing in a different way. What is traditional Vs. not tradiitonal has been debated endlessly on these forums and we are NOT going to do this here. We sure are not going to debate the spelling of words as I clearly stated in another thread. In this case we are talking about Sfoof. I grew up in Lebanon and when I hear the word Sfoof, it means a yellow anise flavored cake and nothing more. Everyone I know including firends and family and friends of friends....feels the same way. I apologize for calling that traditional because for all I know it could be a modern variation of some other cake I guess. So for the purposes of this cake, the traditional (or is "common" a better word )variation refers to the anise flavored one. that is what I meant when I replied back to Almass who said the chef didi not offer a recipe for the "traditional" variation. I will post both adapted recipes when I get a chance. Elie

What about places like Whole foods or Central Market. They must have it. elie

Yes the recipe I made is the one I know, the fennel flavored ones. I used sesame because that's what the recipe asks for and I liked it very much. Honestly, the ones I had as a kid had neither sesame nor pinenuts. So, I guess it varies. Note: the book is divided by region (kadaa'), not by the traditional app-entree-dessert format. Actually he offers 2 different Sfoof recipes not 3 as I mentioned. The above one is on page 660 from Bshari, the other one is Sfoof Bil Dibs from Baabda on page 62. This one uses Dibs Kharoob, a type of molasses made from ...well...Kharoob (I have no idea what this is in English) instead of sugar for a sweetner. I have never had this variety but it has a cool black color due to the molasses. It also has no fennel or turmeric. Almass, do you know what Kharoob is in English? I know it is a pod that looks like Tamarind, but I do not believe it is the same thing. Elie ← - So ChefRamzi offers two little known variant of Sfoof and does not offer the traditional version? Maybe it's hidden in another "kadaa" section? Note to self: I wonder how many dishes any chef "really" tries out before publishing a book? especially when it is an Encyclopedia kind of book. - Of course the perfect accompagnement to Debs el Kharoob is Tahineh which is the famous one and only "Debs weh T'hineh". No need for a chef recipe here. Simply mix Debs (Kharoob) with white T'hineh and balance to taste as some like it more tarty than others. And scoop with Arabic flat bread. ← Almass- I am not sure what you mean by "So ChefRamzi offers two little known variant of Sfoof and does not offer the traditional version?". he DOES offer the traditional Anise falvored one i:e the one I made. He also offers the one falvored with the dibs. So let us rephrase, He offers 2 recipes the traditional anise one and the Carob -apparently it is carob- molasses one. Sorry if that was not clear. As far as how many recipes in this book are tested, please see previous comments in this very thread. However, this recipe works fine the way it is written. I agree with your second comment about the "Debs weh T'hineh", but that is not the subject of our comments here. Elie