FoodMan

I was getting ready to yell thinking we were talking about Sandra Lee as well!! . I do have a question about this great looking Wendy banana cake though. Is the recipe enough for two 9inch cake pans? From the picture (which are great BTW) it seems so. Elie

Lemoncurd- your desserts come out amazing! especially this Pave and your earlier Black Forest, they are just perfect. Curlysue, I am pretty sure you burnt the sugar to get a nasty bitter caramel. Did you see ANY wisps (no matter how tiny) of smoke coming out of the sugar when it boiled? The only time I saw this was when I answered the damn phone while making caramel and I thought the sugar still LOOKED fine, but it was in fact pretty nasty when I tasted it. Elie

It really is a very satisfying "hobby" that benefits everyone. I love to bake bread and it has been a quasi-resolution of mine not to buy supermarket bread ladden with fat, corn syrup along with God knows what else. I am proud to say that this year we bought bread only once. The rest of the time I bake, at least once a week and I try to vary, but my standbys are three breads, a sourdough white (sometimes I mix some rye in it) based on Jackal10's recipe, the multigrain bread form PR apprentice, and the best wheat loaf ever called "Robin's Bread" from the Alford/Duguid book, this is what I baked last night after a long retardation, it is lovely. Elie

That is pretty bad. We never buy any food items there, not even candy bars. So far all the stuff I bought is doing ok though. Well I have not tried the small sauce cups to make cakes yet but the scoop and measuring cups seem ok. Elie

This whole Manna thread is pretty amazing. I have heard of manna as a kid told to me as a bible story. I never saw or tasted it, however, a friend once told me that in Iraq they do eat manna in the form of a sweet they make. So, I was under the impression that today's manna is nothing more than a concoction named manna and not THE manna of the bible. Reading through this thread I think we can divide manna into at least four categories: 1- The bible's manna, the one provided for the Israelis by God when they were lost in the dessert for 40 years. 2- A form of secretion/resin from a tree that is sweet and crystalizes (think Maple syrup) 3- A man-made concotion that has nothing to do with trees, bugs or the bible. 4- A hybrid Manna, made using the resin of the tree AND used with other additives to make some sort of candy or cake. I do have several thoughts about each one of these and I will post them soon. In the meantime, does this sound accurate to you? Am I missing anything? Elie

here is Ore's picture of the Manna lady: Elie

Last week I accompanied my wife to pick up some balloons at a dollar store, called something like “Dollar Tree” but I am not sure. I was truly surprised but how many kitchen “stuff” you can buy for a dollar each. I picked up nice sturdy measuring spoon/cup (8 piece set), wax paper (Reynolds brand), stainless steel with plastic handle ice cream scoop and small stainless steel “ramekins” called Sauce Cups but I am thinking about using them for small cakes- test pending (set of 4). Of course all the bigger items are not a good purchase (knives, pans, pots,…) and I will not buy them at this place. But all the other stuff including tupperware, measuring cups, aluminum foil, plastic wrap sounds like a very good deal. I figured I’ll test the stuff and see if it is not worth a dollar, I’ll see if that ice cream scoop breaks on me or something. Worst case scenario, I am out a single dollar! Does anyone else shop at the dollar store for kitchen supplies? What good bargains have you found? Is there a reason not to buy the stuff there? Elie

Here is last week's Multigrain bread. Sorry it took me a while to download the pic. Vengroff, these look excellent. Behemoth, I am glad you got much better results this time. That is exactly how it should look. Elie

Patrick- You are a genious, this has to make for a wonderful combo and I will do that next time I make the mousse. Judging by how these pics look, that might be very soon... Elie

I am speechless looking at all this amazing food!! Great job everyone. Helenas- That pork is divine, for a second I thought it was Foi Gras . I have to cook some pork belly soon. Friday: I made calzones, stuffed them with leftover homemade meatballs from Monday, sauteed beet greens (they caused the bleeding effect in the picture , but I love them), pickled banana peppers and fresh oregano from the graden and mozzarella cheese. Don't you just love leftovers? Saturday: Roasted smoked sausage lentils Parlsey and celery salad Dessert: canelles (P. Wolfert's great recipe) Sunday: Quick penne pasta, tossed with olive oil packed tuna, sauteed frozen spinach, garlic and preserved lemons. This has to be our all time favorite "fast food" Had more canelles for dessert, the batter produces an even better result when its older. Elie

I do not eat that much mayonaise . Mainly becuase of the claories involved, and because when I do eat it I like a nice thick shmeer of the stuff. With this being said if I am making burgers or any other MAyo loving food (steak sandwiches, Slaw, poato salad, BLT,..) I always make my own ina blender, it takes a couple of minutes and IMO tastes better than anything in a jar be it Hellman's or Kraft, either of which can be found in my fridge for the occasional use. Someone said that mayo can be made without a blender in 2 minutes?? HOW? It is a very slow process by hand, and I only did it a couple of times for fun. Elie

Houston Chronicle's Dining Guide: Serious entrees, served with fun Alison Cook visits the steak house whose name will be right at home on the plaque of a NY brokerage firm - Smith and Wollensky. The food seems to be a hit and miss. Due Recognition Dai Huynh reports: - Zula to recieve the Ivy Award for excellence. Bravo! - Felix, the Tex-Mex landmark, will not close it's doors...for now. Houston Press Dining Section: French Food Sans Frenchmen Robb Walsh reviews Bistro Calais as part of a trio of French restaurant articles. Elie

The quick and dirty answer: Yes! Def. Semi-Homemade: a "cooking" show on Food TV hosted by Sandra Lee Seriously though, of course not. I do eat the occasional fast food burger or the chicken fingers, but like Jason said they are usually fillers and eaten during my short lunch hour. As for real semi-homemade stuff, like using frozen/canned items to make a quick dinner, I do that too. Favotites include canned tuna in olive oil and a variety of frozen veggies to add to quick meals. This is real Semi-homemade food. I never purchase prepared frozen items that you just have to microwave or stick in the oven. Elie

I think the operative word in Rhulman's post is "properly". Sure a good and tasty pie can be made with a frozen pie shell, but it is not how a proper quiche should be. even a homemade pastry in a pie dish will not give a much better result than the store-bought and frozen variety. The reason for that is the thickness of the pastry and the depth of the dish. Elie

Growing up, I thought my mom was nuts eating watermelon with a hard braided salty cheese in Lebanon. Little did I know that Feta and watermelon is an awsome combo....I did call to tell her that BTW. One of my favorite quick snacks: Fritos and yogurt! You have to try this one. Use plain yogurt seasoned with a little salt, pour over fritos and enjoy. This is also a take on middle eastern food. I am used to eating a type of toasted flat bread made from corn with yogurt, so Fritos were a natural replacement. I even top it with some cooked spicy ground beef sometimes to make a Frito pie . Elie edit: plain corn flakes work good too, with a different texture/taste rpofile though.

Very fun and interesting read. Like Russ says the Bouchon crust is not as "easy" as it looks since it tends to break. Once you get it right though, then it works perfect. More about the Bouchon quiche in this Bouchon thread. Mainly on the 2nd and 3rd page. It also has Russ's along with other members' notes on it. Seth- Bisquick with the custard sounds disgusting!! I'm guessing it turns into some kind of custardy cake . Please tell her not to call it quiche, sheesh! Elie

Thanks everyone for the recs. Noe seems to be the consenus pick so that's the choice.. Been to Annie, Mark's and Hugo's a few times each and just wanted to try something new in the area. Checked the menu which looks very interesting. Plus, since I'm staying at the hotel, they're giving me some flexibility on the reservation time (going to be a long day of intense labor negotiations that can end "whenever") Thanks again. ← We would love a brief --or extended-- report about the place after you check it out . Elie

I heard good things about Noe as well. Also there is "Tony's" in the area. If you do not mind driving for an extra 10 minutes or so, Mark's is another choice as well as Hugo's, Damian's, Rouge and several others inside the loop 610. Elie

I cooked these at home for the first time a few weeks ago. Previously I only ordered them in a restaurant. I used Batali's recipe from the BABBO book. Like you I was nto sure how much membrane/sinew to remove but I just used common sense and removed as much as pissible while keeping the thing intact. His procedure was as follows: -soak/clean in water -poach -remove membrane and sinew -dust with Wondra flour -panfry until the juices run clear which is not too long I was very happy I tried this at home. They were very cheap and tasted excellent. Here is a pic of the finished dish. Elie

LOL...that was my first thought when I saw this topic started by Richard!! Thanks for the conversion equation. I will be using my trustee instant yeast when making this recipe in babba form. Elie

Welcome to the eGullet Society Jack, I happen to agree that chili should not be that complicated (not to say made this way is not very tasty). Usually mine has a few ingredients (beef, chili powder, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and stock or water). I would like to know what CASI rules are well. Elie

Loper- Welcome to the thread and the site, this "first ccontribution" looks absolutly amazing! Susan- I never had kidney pie but now I really want to try it (I do like kidney in general) As usual, here goes a few days' worth of dinners: Saturday- -Congee with ginger, chillies, chives, and cilantro (inspired by Jin's). I made it a little thicker than it should be so it can stand up to the chicken. -Spice and tea smoked chicken. rubbed with Szechuan pepper salt and marinated for about 12 hrs. Then it is stuffed with aromatics, wok steamed, dried, and smoked in the wok. the first pic is right after it came out of the smoking wok. This chicken is great and the leftovers cold or in a chicken salad are the best. Sunday- Leftovers with a twist. Since I had a good amount of chicken left as well as congee. I prepared, -Chicken Pad Thai -With the more or less stiff congee I made rice cakes. I mixed the congee with lots of cilantro, chicves and ginger. Formed into patties and pan fried. Very crunchy on the outside and soft gooy on the inside, perfect. Served it with a soy dipping sauce and lettuce leaves and hot sauce. Valentines dinner- -Carrot and beet soup. Both veggies are from my garden so they were excellent and looked wonderful as a soup. -Spaghetti and meatballs (by family request). -Small Lemon tarts, curd made from Meyer lemons from the garden as well. Elie

I made a few jars of Meyer Lemon marmalade from my tree this season. I love it's taste but I do not eat it as much as other preserves. So, I decided to use in desserts. I am thinking gelato and curd. Yesterday I made lemon curd using the marmalade. I based the recipe on Robert Wolke's in his 'Einstein' book. I simply substituted all the sugar in the recipe with the marmalade. I have to say it was pretty good with an nice bitter edge from the peel and great color. The curd went into pre-baked small tart shells. Did I even make lemon curd or is this called something else now? Elie

Great baking everyone!! These brioche look awsome, I made them several times but I do not have the molds so I either bake like a loaf or use one of PR instrucions to shape and put it in muffin cups. That Anadama looks perfect as well. I love it but my wife, alas, is not too crazy about the crunchy polenta that is used. As for the ciabatta, Behemoth, Vengroff is probably correct. I would guess it needs to be wetter, and handled gently so as to preserve the air bubbles. Tonight I am baking the Multigrain Bread Extraoridinaire which is PR's take on Straun(sp?) bread. This has been a staple in my house since I tried it a few months ago. It really makes the best toast both in texture and taste. I try to make it at least once a month. More to follow. Elie

Yeah the addition of boiled potato made it into my grandmother's garlic sauce that she served with grilled chicken as well. The it was promptly removed because it alters the garlic flavor. See we want pure garlic and nothing to reduce it's pungency . Elie