Shel_B

Thank you. A friend who builds custom furniture made it for me.

I've never cooked for more than four people here, either, although I believe it can be done without too much difficulty. Still, four is very comfortable. While the space is tight, I'm adapting and learning techniques to better use the space. Before retiring and downsizing, my kitchen was about 375 sq ft with lots of counter space. When I moved in, about 15-mos ago, some friends bought me this cart as a housewarming gift. The extra space for food prep, the Breville, and storage is very helpful.

Trader Joe's Organic Valencia Peanut Butter - Salt Free Oh, my! This is bad! First, allow me to address the salt issue. I usually buy unsalted, fresh ground peanut butter from one of three sources, and I don't mind, in fact, I prefer, salt-free peanut butter. But for some reason, this p'butter was very bland and lacking in peanut flavor. Maybe this nut butter, for some reason, needs salt. The contents were oily, even after draining the oil that typically floats to the top on these natural peanut butters. When I mixed the peanut butter there was very little resistance to the spoon - very little! I've never encountered anything quite like it. Keeping the p'butter in the fridge didn't firm it up, as is usually the case. It spread almost like a thick milkshake, and, in fact, peanut butter dripped from the bread. As for crunchy, well, there was a dearth of crunchy in this jar. I could easily count the peanut pieces on the bread or in each spoonful. If you like thin, bland, and insipid peanut butter, this one's for you. I'll go back to my regular sources the next time I want peanut butter.

MetsFan5 Kitchen Remodel Pics

My small kitchen ....

Thanks, I'll take a look when I get home, after the weekend. I'm not a honey fan, as such, but I do use it and enjoy it. It might be a nice change from the more typical sugar.

That sounds perfect! Thanks! Maybe I'll pick up some Frog Hollow the next time I hit the Berkeley Farmers market. I have been very disappointed with recommendations for various jams and preserves that I received here. Everything tasted overcooked and over sugared.

This looks interesting. I'll look into it further. I don't mind extra effort .... and I will be making small batches. What do you mean by "higher quality?"

Soon it will be the season for fresh fruit, and I've promised myself that this year I'll make some preserves, especially apricot, maybe cherry, but other fruits as well. Saw some books on the subject at a bookstore this morning, but have no idea if they are any good. Any recommendations for books, literature, links that may be helpful? Maybe some details about the content would be helpful. Thanks!

I used "about 50-grams of dried mushrooms," not 10-ounces. 50 grams = 1.76-ounces. Actually, I rounded off. The exact amount was 48.5 grams, in either case less than the 2-oz you suggest. You can see the porcinis at 40-grams on the scale, and can probably interpolate to some degree the weight of the shiitakes. Read my post again. The milk didn't burn. I just went back an looked at the pot again to be sure.

But ground up mushrooms soaked in water have no further use. The remaining mushroom pieces can be used for other dishes. And I did not want to use water ... I think my original question made that clear. I've made plenty of infusions using water and mushrooms, such as the 2 quarts of mushroom stock in my freezer (http://forums.egullet.org/topic/146256-mushroom-stock-ideas-wanted/?hl=%2Bmushroom+%2Bstock), which I could have used had I wanted to use water. While you, and others, jump on my case for not doing this your way, and for my not wanting to follow your sage advice, I know, and thought I was clear about, what I wanted to do. I said, "One idea that I want to play with is infusing the milk or cream with mushroom flavor from dried mushrooms. Might that work by simply heating the dairy and adding dried mushroom pieces and letting them steep?" IOW, I wanted to try and experiment with that technique. In fact, at least one person here, Deryn, suggested I experiment with the idea. She said "In addition, I also suggest that you take a few of the dried mushrooms you say you have already and try the infusion 'experiment'. So I did ... In my searches for ideas about this technique, I also discovered a cold infusion, where the mushroom pieces are soaked in the milk or cream overnight in the refrigerator. That would probably have a lot less intense flavor than your water technique, but it is something I shall try at some point. Not everything has to be intensely flavored. There is a decided lack of subtlety in many recipes and ideas that are floating around. More is not always better. Finally, if I don't experiment and play around with ideas that don't conform to someone else's concept of what is right, or commonplace, I don't learn. And maybe even others won't learn from my experiences, whether successful or night.

It really depends on what you want. I just finished infusing 10-oz of half-and-half with about 50 grams of dried mushrooms, mixed 20% shiitake and 80% porcini, and, as it is, the mushroom flavor is almost too strong for my intended use. Considering there will be butter and flour added to thicken the mixture (to make a condensed-type soup), as well as some aromatics and additional fresh mushrooms, it's expected that the infused flavor will be nicely balanced for my purposes. Here are the shiitake pieces before adding to the porcini pieces: And these are the porcini pieces: This is the combined pieces in the pot with 10-oz of half-and-half. Note the color of the dairy: I kept the temperature below boiling at all times. 208-degrees is the hottest I allowed the mixture to get: This shows the infused half-and-half ready to come off the heat. You can see it has a nice tan color. That color equals flavor, IMO: Finally, the strained infusion in a bowl, ready to be added to other ingredients to make the condensed soup:

If you look again, you'll see that the ingredient is Condensed cream of mushroom soup, which is an ingredient that we use in casseroles. Sorry if I'm too cryptic for you.

Let's see if I understand you. I want to infuse into milk or cream, and you're suggesting water ... is that correct? I don't necessarily want the dairy to evaporate, but if it does to some degree, it's the mushroom infused dairy taste that I want. Water will dilute the flavor of the dairy, yes? In the FWIW Dep't, some artisan cheeses are infused with mushrooms ... We can also add flavor in a more subtle way by infusing the milk with dried mushrooms,

Well, thanks for Googling around. I am not making a soup, rather, an ingredient that will replace an ingredient I can't get right now. I have no recipe just yet, only an idea, but I do want to try the dairy infusion as I think it will add to what I want to do. When I develop the recipe, and finalize the idea, I'll post it on eG. I found a couple of recipes that infuse dairy with mushroom pieces, so, at this point, I'm convinced it's a workable idea. In fact, there was a discussion here that I'd completely forgotten about, although it's for a dessert not a soup (which is not quite what I want to make in any case), as it's the infusion process that I am interested in at the moment. I'd be happy to send you the recipes I have in which the cream is infused with mushroom flavor. You said that I stated this step was but one of many in my 'recipe' - I didn't. What I said was that "the infusion would only be one step in the preparation ..." Since there's no recipe just yet, I can't say how many steps there may be, although the idea is taking shape.

Thanks for explaining that. The original idea was to infuse the dairy with pieces of dried mushroom, and at this point that's still the plan.

I am not making a cream sauce. The infusion I want to make will be done in milk or cream, so there is no water involved.

Pleased explain what difference it makes. I have several types - porcini, shiitake, candy cap, morel, and one other. I won't be using the candy cap, most likely a porcini-shitake blend.

Have you actually done that?

We have some potlucks coming up in the next couple of months, and the Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup that we prefer is not available, so I decided to make my own. One idea that I want to play with is infusing the milk or cream with mushroom flavor from dried mushrooms. Might that work by simply heating the dairy and adding dried mushroom pieces and letting them steep? Is there more to it than that? And just to be clear, the infusion would only be one step in the preparation ... Thanks!

How did you get the heart-shaped brand on to the scallops?

Thanks for the compliment. I'm not yet very accomplished at making biscuits, so the puff pastry seemed like a good idea, and a good starting point for my first attempt. Certainly, other approaches to the topping will be tried. Circumstances dictated the easiest approach this time.

We don't drink much, so leftover wine and champagne is not unusual here, and I like to find uses for the leftovers. I used Dufour brand puff pastry. Ingredients are butter, flour, water, salt, and lemon juice.

We like parsnips, too, and I thought about using them, but the ones I saw in the market didn't look great, so I passed. Also, I sometimes think parsnips + carrots is a little much unless the proportions are just right. Having not made the pot pie before, I'd have just been guessing at the proportions. After making and eating this, I now have a better idea of what ingredients and proportions might work for subsequent pies. It's an evolving process.

This was quite an adventure. I never made a pot pie before, never used puff pastry, and I screwed up the recipe. I used way too much flour, and by the time I realized it didn't look right, I was deeply committed. I fiddled and fussed, and ended up saving the filling, but I also ended up with more pot pie than planned. There will be leftovers - lots of leftovers. But it turned out to be pretty good, especially for a first attempt. Use all dark meat chicken, as Toots doesn't care for breast. Chicken was diced and sautéed before adding to the dish. Sauce included champagne, left over from new years eve and frozen, butter, flour, chicken stock, cream, milk, tarragon. Other ingredients were carrots, leeks, celery, peas, and small onions. The puff pastry was Dufour, and the results were great. Buttery and flaky, except where the pastry came in contact with the filling. Seems that didn't help the flakiness. Overall I am happy with the first result, learned what I might do differently, and will definitely do this again.