blue_dolphin

I don't usually drink vodka but was curious and picked this up at Whole Foods after reading a note in the LA Times ( Ventura distillers make vodka -- from local strawberries ): Since it's a neutral spirit, there is no strawberry taste on the tongue (no sweet or tartness) and the aroma is very subtly fruity but the strawberry essence comes through after you take a sip. It added a little something special to a vodka tonic and I think I'll try a gimlet. Not sure what else I will do with it but now I know what distilled strawberries taste like!

I second Darienne's request for a little more info on that Tequila Chicken. Please. I buy Alta Dena manufacturing cream at Smart & Final but I've never seen it anywhere else. Schlepping around in an RV has never really appealed to me but I'm very much enjoying the opportunity to go along with you!

You've reminded me that I have a bottle of Angel's Envy Rye that I hid from my visiting brother. I must retrieve it and pour myself a portion as I thought it was lovely stuff.

Thank you, MSRadell! It was very tasty indeed. The strongest flavor came from the leeks, the cooked radishes added a sweet earthiness and the crisp fresh radish garnish was a nice contrast. It certainly didn't scream, "RADISH!" although I might have gone a little too Pepto-Bismol with the pink color from the beet juice and would probably dial that back a bit next time!

I am regularly vexed by the frequent presence of radishes in my weekly CSA box. There are lovely French breakfast radishes, multicolored Easter radishes and slender white icicle radishes. All are delightfully fresh, with lively, peppery greens and I enjoy a few in salads, with bread and butter, etc. but more often than not, they sink to the bottom of the vegetable drawer until they are tossed and replaced by a fresher radish contingent. The other day, I modified my usual recipe for turnip soup from Deborah Madison's Greens Cookbook and made this pretty radish and leek soup garnished with a juilenne of radish leaves and slivered fresh radishes: I trimmed 3 bunches of radishes (reserving the greens from the freshest bunch for the garnish, along with 3 of the nicest looking radishes), soaked them in cool water, scrubbed them well with a brush to remove any dirt and halved the bigger ones. I had about 1.25 lbs after trimming. I also trimmed, washed and thinly sliced 2 leeks. I melted 3 tablespoons of butter in a pot with 1/2 cup water. Added the leeks, radishes, a few branches of fresh thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. I stewed them, covered, over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, and then added a can of evaporated milk and about 2 cups of low fat milk. That gets heated gently and cooked until the radishes are completely tender. I puréed the soup my Blendtec and seasoned with freshly ground pepper. At this point, the soup was tasty, but didn't look any different from other cream soups so I used a bit of cooked beet to add some color and garnished the bowls with finely chopped radish greens and fresh radish. If I had 3 very fresh bunches of radishes (rather than one fresh, one week old and one even older), I might have followed the original turnip soup recipe, cooked the greens and added them to the soup, but I would have missed the contrast the fresh greens bring here. No doubt the radishes that Liuzhou asked about in this thread are long gone and I'm sure this isn't the sort of dish one would choose for a few fresh radishes, but I thought I'd post this in a thread where others seeking radish recipes might find it. I know I'm looking forward to making it again when the radishes pile up in the vegetable drawer, particularly in cooler weather.

Dorie Greenspan's All-in-One Holiday cake has pumpkin puree, fresh apple and cranberries and pecans and is baked in a Bundt pan but could easily be baked in a couple of loaf pans instead. I realize that some of these ingredients aren't commonly available outside of North America but it's on my mind as I'm going to make one later in the week to have on hand for weekend house guests .

Thank you so much for correcting me, Anna. I actully pulled up an old thread to check the title and then botched Katie's name. So sorry. But very happy to give credit to the book. It's a great resource.

Shelby, thanks for the reminder to get started on some gift planning before things get too crazy. Which I think will happen next week! Last year, I ended up pulling together some very, very last minute gifts by rummaging through my bookshelves and pantry. A pasta cookbook was wrapped up with a couple of packages of fancy pasta and some sun-dried tomatos. My homemade limoncello went out with Kathy Casey's Sips and Apps or Lisa Loeb's Shake, Stir, Pour and a few pounds of Rancho Gordo beans accompanied my Heirloom Beans cookbook. The books were all in like-new condition and I put them together in pretty baskets so I don't think it was too obvious but I should do some better advance planning this year! Yesterday, I ordered a copy of Dorie Greenspan's new Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere with the intention of getting a peek at it before giving it to a friend. Hopefully I'll identify some sort of speciality bakeware that can accompany the book. Edited to add: This is on the silly side, but I forgot to mention that I recently gifted copies of the little Will it Waffle cookbook to a couple of waffle-iron-owning friends who have reported having fun with it and getting more use out of their waffle irons.

An unintentional cauliflower breakfast happened to me this morning. I'd been wanting to make some roasted cauliflower to toss with pasta but of late, it's been too hot to crank up the oven at dinner time. I decided to take advantage of today's cooler weather and get the cauliflower preped first thing. A pretty colored cauliflower from my CSA box: Made two nice pans of roasted cauliflower: Ooops! Breakfast was on that now-empty pan. I think there's still enough left to toss with my pasta for dinner. If I can stay away from it between now and then!

As Hassouni said, you can certainly infuse flavors into any sort of alcoholic base. I've followed the recipe here for tequila por mi amante (strawberry infused tequila) and it is delightful to sip or mix with. Although with all those perfect berries giving their all, I usually sip it rather than mix and dilute their effort. I bet the blackberries would make a beautifully colored infusion. If I had a wealth of blackberries, I think I'd try Katie Loeb's suggestions for Blackberry Shrub. I think the sweetness of the berries would appreciate the hit of tartness from the vinegar in a shrub. If you decide to go with a straight infusion, I think I'd include the zest of a lemon for a bit of brightness.

Ditto Craig E's thanks for posting these tasting notes, Chris. I have been greatly enjoying both your prose and photos and am remiss in posting my own thanks. I've never had sake and never had any desire to explore it as I had a notion that "good" sake was extremely expensive and beyond my budget. I'm not sure I will embark on anything approaching your own efforts but, I'll certainly be open to sake tasting opportunities that come my way.

Theo in Seattle makes a Bread and Dark Chocolate bar that I quite enjoy so I'd bet there are possibilities in that direction.

I don't think this really qualifies as "making a drink" but I like a warm mug of Trader Joe's spicy cider with a couple of glugs of Laird's bonded apple brandy. A wedge of orange peel spritzed over the top if I'm being fancy.

Hi Darienne - I'm not Deryn and the recipe I use is not from Rick Bayless but from Jaz here on egullet. I use her recipe for Spicy Sweet Walnuts with pecans and substitute chipotle for some or all of the cayenne. I was going to suggest this recipe to the OP as I think it work out fine in an oven with uneven heat (assuming it does heat ) I'll also note that the version of the recipe that I saved indicates a wider range of cayenne and I usually use between one and one-and-a-half teaspoons for a pound of nuts.

Sounds like snow apple is also called the Fameuse apple and has a long history in Canada. I wonder if that name is used more commonly. I have never heard of either one. Then again, I've never heard of most of the apples listed on the OrangePippin website that I linked to. What a pity so few of them are widely available. But I guess it's the same with most of our industrial produce these days. One kind of banana. Just a few types of cherries. So sad.

The only recipe I use it in is a faux-smoked salmon spread. During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, everything in my kitchen cupboards landed on the floor and many bottles broke, including the liquid smoke. Everyone who came in the kitchen afterwards thought there must have been a fire due to the strong smoky smell!

I'll second Shelby's thanks for sharing this story, Anna. I think it's so interesting how our growing up experiences affect us into adulthood. Like the husbands you describe, my grandfather expected a full meal (meat, potato & veg) on the table the minute he came home from work. The kicker is that he worked nights on the railroad so my grandmother had to get up and have this meal on the table at 6 AM. She then moved on to breakfast for the 5 children, packed their lunches and cooked another dinner for herself and the kids in the evening. This was in the '20s & '30s so even if it was simple fare, that had to have been a heck of a lot of work. My mom followed the same path and always had dinner ready to be served immediately following my dad's pre-dinner cocktail interlude. I'm usually on my own and follow Shelby with a little kick back time before starting to cook, but when my mom is visiting me I feel like I have to go straight to the kitchen and get to cooking as soon as I come home from work. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to both Anna and Kerry for taking us along on your adventures. I greatly enjoy following along. Oh, and I'm curious about all that fermenting apple juice. Are you going to transport it back home or will the fermentation finish in situ on the island?

This is absolutely not in the same category as the wonderful dishes you are all posting! I am visiting my mom in northern NY and picked up a few too many Macs at the local orchard. I can make some applesauce but thought I’d look for a savory application and found this recipe for Sweet and Savory Warm Apple Onion Relish. I cooked the following together: 1 yellow onion, chopped 2 apples (Macs) 2 T butter 1 T maple syrup 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 squirt mustard (recipe called for “ 2T stone ground mustard”) 1/8 c. cognac Had a bit for lunch with some crusty bread, sharp cheddar and fresh apple. Very nice. A nicer mustard than I had available would probably add something. But a nicer mustard might prefer to smeared on the bread on its own, too! I have a honeynut squash that I will cube and roast for supper and toss with some of this but I look forwarding to trying it on sandwiches and with pork chops or roast chicken as well.

My name is blue_dolphin and I am an addict.....a TJ's addict! I'm staying with my mother for a bit, here in rural northern NY. I was OK for a little over a week when the pumpkin edition of the Fearless Flyer appeared in my inbox and pushed me over the edge. Up until earlier this year, my abstinence would have continued, but there is now a way for me to get my TJ's fix. I headed to the ferry dock, shelled out $10 each way and enjoyed a bit of fall foliage on my drive down to the TJ's in Burlington, VT, opened in May of this year. Ahhhhhhhhh! It felt so good to get my hands on that red shopping cart and wheel it around the aisles filled with familiar treats. I've lived in such close proximity to TJ's in So Cal for so many years that I forgot what it's like to go without! I'm nibbling a freshly baked pumpkin crossiant with my TJ's coffee as I write this. Mmmmmmmm.

I use pretty much the same categories that Lisa Shock mentioned above. Something like that allows you to choose the categories that make the most sense for your own collection. Lisa uses sub-sections for her extensive pastry/baking/dessert collection as you might for your meat/butchering/grilling books. There are always some judgement calls - my Alice Waters books are in with the vegetarian cookbooks rather than the celebrity chef books but at least that narrows it down to two shelves to scout through!

This would be along the lines of the shepherd's pie muffins that FauxPas mentioned. Year before last, I saw a recipe for leftover stuffing muffins that incorporated any and all Thanksgiving dinner leftovers: stuffing, turkey, vegetables, even a bit of whole berry cranberry sauce, lightly bound with some beaten egg and cheese. Sounds sort of weird but I made some and they ended up being a tasty breakfast or served alongside some soup for a lunch or supper.

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed the article. I like popcorn but always remember the comment of a French post-doc in my group: "Ugh, popcorn: it has no taste and just a horrible smell!"

Smithy - I love the term "applet" for these little guys and "applet tartlet" sounds even cuter! It brings to mind my dad's name for the little beet thinnings from his garden: "beetlets." And the baby carrots were "carrot pups." Makes me smile to remember him.

I just put two pots of RG beans into the oven to cook (Russ Parson's method) - Good Mother Stallard and Ayocote Blanco. It's been so hot lately, I couldn't bear to turn on the oven so I'm enjoying the bean-y fragrance that's starting to waft through the kitchen on this delightfully cool morning. What I like to have in my pantry at all times are Midnight Black, Goat's Eye or Good Mother Stallard, Yellow Indian Woman, White Tepary and a medium-sized white bean like Alubia Blanca de San Jose Iturbide (Marrow used to be my fave but these are just as good and it cracks me up that a little bean has such a long name!) and Garbanzos. Christmas Limas are really special in the salad with quinoa, beets and avocado from the RG Heirloom Beans cookbook but that's the only recipe I love them in so they make a regular appearance but are not staples like the others. I was inspired by Andie to pull up my previous Rancho Gordo orders, dating back to 2005. I used to travel to SF often for work and picked up other varieties, some that I never saw listed on the website, at the Ferry Plaza market but I didn't keep a record of those. I bolded those I've ordered multiple times and underlined my staples. Marrow Bean - no longer available from RG Cellini Runner Bean Vallarta Bean Tepary Bean (White) Black Valentine Bean Ojo de Cabra Bean (Goat's Eye) Yellow Indian Woman Bean Scarlet Runner Bean Good Mother Stallard Wren's Egg Bean Ojo de Tigre Bean (Tiger's Eye) Flageolet Bean Nightfall (Black) Bean Tepary Bean (Brown) Santa Maria Pinquito Bean Rio Zape Bean Flor de Junio Borlotti Classic Garbanzo Beans Pebbles Bean Midnight Black Bean Cranberry Bean- Cargamanto Red Nightfall Bean Christmas Lima Bean Rice Bean Rio Zape Bean Mayacoba Bean Lila Beans Flor de Junio: Silvia 2009 Sangre de Toro Bean Ayocote Morado Beans (Purple Runners) Runner Cannellini Bean Baby Lima Beans Zarco Beans Alubia Criollo (White Runner) Beans Alubia Blanca de San Jose Iturbide Ayocote Blanco (White Runner) Beans I usually order at least 10 lbs at a time to justify the shippping cost. Garbanzos are pantry staples and I'll order garbanzos from RG but also pick them up elsewhere. I agree with patrickamory they were not relevatory, at least in my hands. edited to note that the beans are listed in the order that I first purchased them, not of preference or anything else

I'll throw in with the last 2 posters but also guess that it's the special warm flavor imparted by toasted cumin, rather than just the raw seeds.