Shel_B

There are many pasta dishes that can be made without the ingredients you've mentioned. One that I made recently is Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe, spaghetti with cheese and pepper. Add a green salad with an appropriate dressing and you've got a nice, tasty, classic Italian meal. shel

A chef friend tasted Diamond Crystal and Morton's Kosher Salt, and he concluded that there was a clear difference between the two, with Diamond Crystal having a "cleaner" taste. Another person, on another cooking board, came to the same conclusion. shel

There's a steamed calamari recipe I want to try and one of the seasoning ingredients is peperoncino, the Italian chile peppers, sprinkled on the calamari after it's cooked and just prior to serving. If I can't find them here, what would be a good substitute? Just to be clear, I'm not looking for the pickled or jarred peppers, but the plain chile peppers. Thanks for any suggestions, shel

Propylene glycol is used as an antifreeze, it is also used in our food and cosmetics. scb

http://www.kozyshack.com/products.html Kozy Shack makes some pretty good puddings for a pre-packeage commercial product. They're my go to pudding if I'm in the mood for something like that. The page at the link above has a store locator in the upper right corner. You have to scroll down a bit to see the locator. Good luck! shel PS ... Hmm, I didn't see butterscotch on their site, yet I know I've had it. Maybe it was discontinued <shrug>

You left out yellow prussiate of soda (a water-soluble, anti-caking agent) shel

For a long time Diamond Crystal has been my kosher salt of choice. What other kosher or similar salts are people using? I'm looking for better, fresher and cleaner tasting salt. Any suggestions? Recently I read (perhaps in these forums) that kosher salt, per se, isn't available in some parts of the world, specifically Europe. What is used in those places instead of kosher salt?

Thanks for posting that. I never heard of curtido and looked up some recipes. It seems to be something I'd enjoy making and eating. shel

Last year some of the markets here had white, yellow, and purple carrots. That got me to look into the history of carrots, and a few days ago, while looking for information about black carrots (as a result of my interest in creating a black hummus), I came across the site. I don't know if the purple carrots we had here are the same as those carrots of Kyoto, but you've piqued my curiosity. shel

If you like carrots, or are just interested in finding out a little more about them, then The Carrot Museum might be an enjoyable and educational visit. http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/today.html shel

My dad's past on, but he would be 93 now. I don't remember him ever cooking except on Saturday mornings. I'd get up early and wait for him to come downstairs, and hed prepare breakfast. It would just be the two of us, our time. He'd make "bullseye" eggs (fried eggs, the yolk being the bullseye), scrambled eggs, French toast, salami and eggs, or matzoh brie. That was it. The food was OK, but the part of breakfast I liked best was being with my dad. He'd stand at the stove playing around in the pan, and regale me with wonderful stories about when he was growing up, or stories about his time in WWII. The one I remember most clearly was how he made French toast for the guys without eggs, and soaking the bread in milk and water in his helmet, and then frying it up for the guys to share. shel

Just to see if it can be done, but, if it can, I've envisioned some interesting presentation possibilities. Never having worked with squid ink, I've no idea how it would affect the flavor of the dish, nor do I know how to use it or where to get it. Any suggestions? scb

Yes, black beans give a greyish color. They probably won't give the dark color I'm hoping to find. scb

Hi, I've used black garbanzos before - I have access to three different beans here. The one I used did have a lighter interior than the exterior, but was a bit darker than a typical garbanzo. I'll have to check the others to see how dark their interiors are. The flavor of the black beans is quite a bit different than the typical bean, and that's mostly why I use the black beans. I'll look into your coloring suggestions. Thanks! scb

Decided to whip up a batch of hummus today. However, instead of canned garbanzo beans I want to use dried beans, and I realized that there's an Indian grocery nearby that sells black garbanzos. OK! Then it occured to me that there are black sesame seeds, and I found a source for black tahini. Based on what I now know, the hummus will end up a somewhat unappetizing grey, not what I want, regardless of taste. So, what might be used to color the hummus to give it a black color? shel

The article is still on line here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...25/FD107260.DTL

Hi, thanks for the information. Although I've found a couple of ww pastas that are more than satisfactory, the Barilla seems like it may be a good addition to the pantry. I'll be near a market that carries the product later today, so I'' probably grab a box and give it a try. Thanks! scb

There is more than enough space for the spinner. I don't have the patience to hand dry all those lettuce leaves, and some would be a PITA to hand dry, such as the spring mix I often use. With the spinner I now have, a 24yo Copco, the greens are dried very well as long as the spinner is not overloaded. Of course, it is possible that the Oxo and the Zyliss won't dry the greens as well as my current Copco does. shel

Yep, the old one is about to go south. Any recommendations for a good one? Features to look for? scb

Reading all the praise heaped upon Sabra, and never having heard of them, I visited their web site. Hummus made with Canola or Soybean oil doesn't interest me, nor does the other junk found in the ingredient list. I'll continue making my own or buy the hummus made at the local middle eastern deli, where the ingredients are fresh and high quality. Sabra, it seems, is made in NYC - that's a long way from the San Francisco area. scb

I looked up sodium triphospahe: "In foods, STPP is used to retain moisture. Many governments regulate the quantities allowed in foods, as it can substantially increase the sale weight of seafood in particular. Many people find STPP to add an unpleasant taste to food, particularly delicate seafood. The taste tends to be slightly sharp and soapy and is particularly detectable in mild-tasting foods. The increased water holding properties can also lead to a more diluted flavor in the food." Does your wild caught Gulf shrimp contain salt? scb

This morning I paid a visit to the local Trader Joe's and wandered over to the frozen sea food case as I was thinking of getting some shrimp to put into a salad. Reading the labels, I saw that every package of frozen shrimp, cooked or raw, from Thailand or Vietnam, contained salt. WTF, thought I, is this something new? Is this a standard practice with frozen shrimp, or just TJ's frozen shrimp? Or just shrimp from Thailand and Vietnam? Why does the frozen shrimp need salt, or does it? Is the salt there to enhance the poor flavor of farmed shrimp? Or perhaps to afford some "protection" to the shrimp if it starts to defrost on the journey to the freezer? Do other brands include salt? If anyone has frozen shrimp in their freezer, would you be kind enough to check the ingredients and post what you find, including the brand and where you bought the frosty crustaceans? Thanks, scb

OK, I found it: Agrumato scb

There's a type of olive oil that is made by crushing fresh, tree-ripened citrus fruit together with the olives at the time of pressing. I can't recall what that type of oil is called Avagmollo? Something along that line, I believe. Any help? scb

I'd say the long peppers are Balinese Long Peppers, which are a more intense and flavorful black pepper - somewhat oversimplified. Whole Foods in my area carries them, which is where I learned about them. http://www.bigtreebali.com/wildcrafted_pepper.htm I'll see if I can find out more about the other peppers. I'm curious too. scb