Shel_B

Some time ago, Judy Rodgers of San Francisco's Zuni Cafe, mentioned that she uses clean, white, cloth napkins for straining stock. The idea made sense to me, and I now use old, white hadkerchiefs and lint-free napkins and towels for straining and filtering. I also use fragrance free, organic dtergent when doing the laundry, and I feel comfortable with this setup. No more cheese cloth and wasting money buying what is arguably a second rate product. Some people are concerned about chemicals, etc., in t the towels. How pure is cheese cloth?

Thanks for the pointer. I will definitely stop by. Their web site has piqued my interest. I'm familiar with Brown Sugar. I'm not a big fried chicken and waffle fan, whether served together or separately. Brown Sugar's are good, though.

So where is this place? Name and address, please. I'm always on the lookout for decent pastrami and corned beef.

I've seen the instruction for various kinds of oil, although not mustard oil. I see it frequently for olive oil.

Recently I've been thinking about that instruction which appears in numerous recipes. It seems like a counter-productive idea as, once oil starts to smoke, it starts breaking down, yes? Is there any benefit to heating cooking oil to the smoke point?

Toots has been making this dish for decades. The original recipe came from a hospital lunch program back in Michigan in the 1950s, and she modified it substantially. The nice thing about it is that it's very adaptable, and it keeps and travels well. She's been using it for pot lucks for years ... this is my variation on it. Vera’s Spinach-Cheese Frittata 2 1-lb pkgs frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, water pressed out, leaves separated frozen corn to taste (10 – 12oz +/-) or, preferably, TJ's canned corn, drained (not creamed corn) 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (or similar) 4 eggs, beaten 2 heaping TBS wheat or white flour 8 - 12 oz shredded pkg cheese, or grate some yourself (Gruyere, Emmentaler, Pepper Jack) 1 or 2 4-oz cans diced green peppers (TJ’s has good ones) 1 tsp minced or pressed garlic a little fresh ground nutmeg S&P to taste (usually I use no salt and add about ½ - 1 tsp fresh ground black or white pepper Put separated and well drained spinach in a very large bowl. Dump soup into another large bowl. Grind in pepper, add nutmeg, and mix. Add canned corn (Do not use creamed or cream-style corn) or frozen corn, green chile peppers, and sprinkle flour over all. Add eggs, garlic, and shredded cheese, and mix together very well. Add mixture to spinach and mix well. Lightly butter/oil 8x8 baking dish and add the mixture Bake @ 350-deg for about 40 minutes. During the last few minutes add buttered bread crumbs as optional topping, and bake or broil until toasted. With this dish, you really must check the time as it can vary a bit depending on the exact amount of ingredients used, moisture content, size and depth of baking dish, your preference for firmness and dryness, etc. Try adding sliced mushrooms instead of corn or with corn. TJ’s has condensed Portobello mushroom soup. Make white sauce and add ‘shrooms or corn or? Add bacon or ham pieces?

People have different palates and preferences. While a cook may prepare a dish the way he or she feels it's best presented, the person eating it may prefer more or less of a particular flavor. Should a restaurant, or a cook, be so presumptuous to decide for the diner what's most suitable, or should the diner have the option to fine tune the seasoning to his or her preference?

I like my chicken salad with tarragon ... About 2 cups shredded chicken, a couple of spring onions or scallions, a small stalk of celery, diced, a bit of flat leaf parsley, about 2 tbs celery leaves, a tbs or so of chopped, fresh tarragon, some good EVOO and lemon juice, some white wine vinegar, and a bit of not too intense Dijon mustard, plus S&P, makes a nice starting point for a chicken salad. My preference is breast meat, but Toots likes dark meat, so we use both. As you can see, no mayo.

Any comments about or experience with Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware? Is it simiar to Corningware?

All of my cookware is of pretty good quality, but Toots has inexpensive cookware at her apartment. Many of her pots have lids with holes in them, or are in some way vented. The cookware that I use doesn't have these vents. So, why does inexpensive cookwarehave vent holes and the better quality cookware not have them? Does any better qualty cookware have vent holes? Are they of any real value, or are they just a gimmick? If they are of value, why don't better quality pots and pand have them? Just curious ...

CorningWare for the Stove Top Problems with New Pyrex?

I alsoread that the new Pyrex is not as "tough" as the older Pyrex. As for the Corningware, I'm thining about the white kind, as that's what I have.

What's the practical difference between Corningware and Pyrex. Can some things be done with one and not the other, such as being used on a stove top or going from the refrigerator or freezer to the oven? Is one better for certain types of cooking, or cooking certain foods?

This is a short youtube video about some of the produce sold in Whole Foods. It's an eye opener. I don't know how old the information is, but being an avid label-reader, I know, from personal experience, that much of what's presented was true when I last shopped at WF. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=JQ31Ljd9T_Y

I'm so tired of hearing that the negative, hurtful things people do is a resut of childhood problems. These are people who know right from wrong, so even if their mother was mean to them or their father smacked them around a bit, they still know that what they are doing is wrong. It's just a cop out and a plea for sympathy and leniency. Screw 'em - let them pay at least the same price the regular folks pay.

Recently I saw a picture on eGullet of a French press standing atop a trivet on someone's kitchen countertop. Coincidentally, a few days before, a houseguest set my French press on a pot holder on my countertop. I'd never seen such a thing before, and I've never done it. So, under what circumstances would it be adviseable to use a trivet, etc., to, I suppose, protect the countertop? What kind of countertop needs protecting, and from what? Does any countertop need protecting from a French press, which already has some space between the hot liquid and the top of the counter? Thanks!

Cream! I usually drink coffee black, but every now and then I'd like some cream in it. Many coffee bars offer "cream" that is really half-and-half. Some offer a variety of "whiteners," such as half-and-half, whole and skim milk, soy milk, etc., but not real cream. I might be asked if I'd like cream with the coffee, but often it's half-and-half that's being offered. So, my peeve is that other items are described as cream, and that real cream is very difficult to find in a coffee shop. There are only three places that I know of in Berkeley that offer real cream, and two offer manufacturing cream All the other shops I've visited offer ersatz cream.

Fulton Valley and Hoffman in Northern California are well generally regarded commercial producers. Fulton Valley is probably the better choice. http://www.fultonvalley.com/about_us.php

Berkeley Farms in N. Cal sells manufacturing cream. There's no milk in it.

I found this site that describes the different types of sherry. Maybe it will be useful to someone. http://wine.about.com/od/winebasic1/a/SherryWine.htm

That I know ... Thanks!

OK, that's one vote for inexpensive being OK What's cream sherry? How's it different from non-cream sherry, like the Amontillado?

I've just recetly started to use sherry in my cooking, and thus far it's been to add flavor to soup, stock, and sauces, and to deglaze pans. I know there are different styles of sherry, and certainly a wide range of prices and, perhaps, even quality. However, for the described purposes, does the style, price, and quality make much, if any, difference. Rightg now I'm using a bottle of Amontillado that I picked up at TJ's for about $7.00 or so, and it seems to be OK. Any comments would be very welcome. Thanks!

I've a 1-quart saucepan that is my most used pot. The 4-quart All-Clad saucepan is probably next in line along with the 10-inch skillet.

Well, I was really only thinking of an occasional short time use. No, I'm not looking for long-term soljutions, and my question, while relevant, was as much out of curiosity as anything else.