Shel_B

I bought some of the Talamanca recently and absolutely LOVE it. I took some into a place where I often eat lunch and shared it with some people, and they all thought it was great as well. Highly recommended!

I bought a couple of boxes of Holyland Matzo (http://estouest.blog.lemonde.fr/files/2007/03/holylandmatzos.1174436055.jpg) that Trader Joe's was carrying. The price was about 1/3 the price of Streits or Manischwitz, and the matzo was nice and crispy. It held up very well to making matzo brie, which was the intended purpose of the purchase. It was also pretty strong, holding up well to spreading with butter or cream cheese - it didn't break as easily as some other matzohs I've tried. I really like the crisp, firm texture.

Just because you only use the pan for omelets doesn't make the non-stick pan a unitasker. After all, it can be used for making sauces, frying and sautéing meat or vegetables ...

Recently the local TJ's has started carrying Trader Joe's Whole Grain Dijon Mustard. It's a fairly strong, deep flavored mustard. We like it quite a bit - much better and more interesting than the earlier TJ's Dijon that we tried. Anyone else try it and like it?

I'll look into the book. There are plenty available on line for as little as 99-cents. Frontier products has been the subject of a major recall in March. I usually don't use Frontier products. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm204072.htm

I'll take a look at Ripert's books. I've looked through Johnson's book a few times (it is a good one) and finally broke down and ordered it a few days ago. I buy my fresh fish from him - been doing so for years - as I live near the market and his product is first rate. FWIW, he co-wrote the California Seafood Cookbook, another excellent book. I got my copy directly from Paul as he sold them at the market.

For a variety of reasons, I'll be eating a lot more fish and cutting back on red meat and some dairy products. Although I've cooked a fair amount of fish in my day, a lot of it has been very simple, like poaching salmon or baking and grilling. This was fine as I didn't eat fish often and my limited cooking methods were adequate. Now I'd like to get some more exciting ideas for cooking fish and sea food, but at the same time I'd like to keep the cooking methods low in saturated fat. Using olive oil and other flavored oils is fine, and calories are not an issue. Learning more about what herbs go best with what fish would be helpful. And recommendations for fish cookbooks would be appreciated.

I know how to brew coffee, I sometimes roast my own at home with a coffee roaster, and I understand about old coffe, under roasted coffee, and the like. This was not old coffee, nor was it under roasted. It was just not roasted the way I prefer my beans to be roasted. I bought a dark roast that was not to my satisfaction. The same beans from the same roaster, roasted darker, are more to my liking. Therefore my question. The answer, it seems, is that I can't re-roast the coffee beans. Although, in another venue, a fellow mentioned an article in coffeegeek.com that said the Swiss often do it, although the coffee takes on a different character. I've not read the article yet. Thanks for jumping in.

Recently I bought some dark roasted coffee, but it turned out the roast wasn't dark enpough for my taste. While sipping the insipid brew, I asked myself, "Why can't I take these beans and roast them some more?" Now I'm asking you, the coffee mavens. Can this be done? And how might be the best way to do it? Thanks!

Yesterday I bought some chorizo sausage for the first time. From the package information it was Mexican style. I believe there's a Spanish style, and maybe some other types as well. Since I bought the sausage to pill a dog, I didn't care much about taste or quality. Actually, I bought it because it was the cheapest sausage in the meat case. However, I did fry up a small piece just to give it a taste. It was incredibly greasy - there was a big puddle of grease in the skillet - and that allowed the meat, such as it was, to crisp up nicely. But there's more to sausage than crispy meat. So, what should this chorizo novice look for in good chorizo? Is it usually so greasy? What meats and spices would be considered for a good quality, traditional chorizo? What are the differences between Mexican, Spanish, and other types of chorizo? Thanks!

So, has anyone got a few good ideas for these delicious and sometimes all-too-seasonal little jewels? I'm running out of ideas and my recipe computer is in the shop. I've got chicken broth and plenty of schmaltz, and of course, matzoh.

Does the percentage of butter to water matter much, if ast all? In any case, about how much butter would be needed for how many grams of pot? Any rough ideas based on experience or from articles? Thanks!

Thanks!

Try a Bocca di Dama, a traditional Italian almond cake.

I am a medical marijuana user, and I don't really care for smoking pot. However, it's sometimes the only relief I can get from my back pain. Maybe pot brownies will help. Does anyone have any ideas on how best to incorporate marijuana into brownies or other baked goods?

Assuming approximately equal capacities, is there any practical difference between the Staub Coq au Vin pot and the Staub Oval Cocotte? Dimensions? Interior color or design? Thanks!

A friend has recently developed a problem digesting cow's milk dairy products. What would be a good substitute for heavy cream? Hopefully something that's not loaded with sugar and strange sounding chemical names.

Le Creuset suggests that their pots be preheated in the oven before being put on the stove top. At least that's what I was told by someone who claimed to know such things. Perhaps bringing the pot slowly up to temp on the stove top would accomplish much the same thing.

It may have been mentioned here that browning and searing is better done on raw cast iron than on enameled cast iron. If that's the case, and one wants to braise in an enameled pot like a Le Creuset, how would one get the most flavor from browning on raw cast iron into the enameled pot? Would the raw cast iron fond be deglazed and then the liquid transfered to the enameled pot? Or might therfe be another, perhaps better, method? Thamks!

The other day I cooked up some corned beef in a black Le Creuset Dutch oven. In the past I've uses a white one, about the same size. It seems that the black LC would have the water boiling at an oven setting less than the white pot. In fact, I had to turn the oven down twice to maintain a simmer. So, will a black pot absorb more heat in an oven, and, by extension, transfer that heat to the food and the cooking liquid? Thanks!

Some years ago I made a recipe for an excellent meat stock, and over the years have made it several times. Lately, however, it's becoming more difficult to get the veal bones that the technique calls for (the recipe calls for both beef and veal bones), and I was wsondering just what the veal bones brings to the pot. What do I gain when using veal bones that beef bones won't give me? Thanks!

This thread got me to order a few items from Pepper Passion, and I was quite pleased with the service and prompt delivery. One of the peppers that I ordered was the Tellicherry, and it was wonderful: not as much heat as some previous Tellicherry pepper that I bought, but lots of great flavor. Highly recommended! Pepper on cheese is another wonderful combination. I like to take a favorite cheese, melt it, and grind some black pepper over it. I love the gooey, pepper texture and flavor of peppered, melted cheese. With the increasing number of pepper varieties available, and the almost endless varieties of cheese, matching pepper and cheese can be a fun experiment.

It's time to get one or two new sheet pans, actually, half sheet pans. Over the years I've used them irregularly, and used whatever was handy - good pans, poor quality pans, non-stick, and those made from various materials. However, these pans will be the first that I've actually purchased. So, what do I look for? What materials are out there besides aluminum in its various incarnations: non-stick, anodized, plain? Are stainless steel pans available? How well/poorly might they make? Is the material really important? After all, the pans will often pre-heat in the oven, or remain in the oven a fair amount of time, so they'll have ample time to reach temperature, and often times the pan really isn't used for cooking so much as to just hold the food tems. Am I missing something here? The most frequent use will be for roasting vegetables and bones, rarely, if ever, for making cookies and baked goods, but that's always a possibility. Does any one material excel at these tasks?

I've been using Full Belly Farm for more than a year. They deliver fresah produce weekly to several local drop off spots and, for a few extra dollars, will deliver directly to the house. Apart from produce, which, because of its unique nature sometimes, Full Belly provides a few recipes along with the box of goodies. Lamb is also available at certain times of the year and comes butchered and packed. Sometimes local organic wine is also available (although I've not tried it) as well as fresh pressed apple juic e and cider. The lamb is some of the best I've tasted, and the pressed juice and cider is quite good as well. Sincde I moved, getting to the local CSA dropoff point has been a little difficult and I may have the produce delivered if it will continue being difficult to pick up the produce easily.

I seem to recall reading that peppers develop their heat in reaction to stress. Lack of water and high ambient and ground temperatures stress the plant and the plant, therefore, produces hotter peppers. Perhaps because there's a greater demand for peppers these days, more commercial growing techniques are used, providing more water to quicken the pepper plants growth and, as a consequence, the peppers produced are less stressed and less hot. In addition, there are peppers that are bred to be milder. Like you, I've found the jalapeños and serranos (especially those used in some commercial products like canned chipotles and the peppers used in some salsa) to be lacking in heat and flavor. Article discussing the thread subject