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Katie Meadow

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Everything posted by Katie Meadow

  1. http://www.everywhereist.com/i-made-the-pizza-cinnamon-rolls-from-mario-batalis-sexual-misconduct-apology-letter/ In case you have not seen this yet, I think it is hilarious. It was referred to as a "hate bake." Just one woman's take on the cinnamon roll apology.
  2. Follow up even though I said I wouldn't. This morning I crisped up my grits cakes in my new Cuisinart nonstick pan. It is so nonstick that they practically leapt out of the pan on their own.
  3. My 10 inch nonstick skillet was a Sur La Table brand, a gift many years ago. I use it only for scrambled eggs and for pan-frying slabs of cooked grits, so it doesn't get heavy use, but it is crummy looking and at the end of its life. I am good with lids. After a quick read of this thread I made my decision. I am in the camp of folks who really don't like non-stick pans, so I went with inexpensive. I ordered a Cuisinart DSA-22-24 from Amazon for $22. It came yesterday, looks just like a nonstick pan should, is on the heavy side (that's good) and I will give it a test run tomorrow morning. If there is anything dysfunctional or weird about it I will follow up. Otherwise assume I have no complaints and expect to outlive several more of these things.
  4. This is hilarious, frankly. I agree with the posters who think wine is not necessary. I also think that they may feel obliged to open it when they have already chosen the wine and cheese pairing they like. Wine is always a great gift when you are invited for a dinner party, but when the host is clearly highlighting wine, it seems a little redundant, especially since you don't know them well. Home made spiced pecans is a nice gift, but may not go with their wine and cheeses and they might also feel obliged to serve them. If there is a local deli or gourmet store near you, consider getting some of your favorite olives, something not too heavily spiced. You won't outshine their offerings and who wouldn't want some olives with wine and cheese? Like Suzi, I think it is perfectly appropriate to call and ask if there is anything they would like you to contribute if you don't want to just bring something of your choice. Do NOT bring wine and cheese!
  5. Bumping up..... Never having made stuffed vine leaves / domades / dolmadakia, I've read a variety of recipes on line and many have very different methods for treating the leaves and cooking the rice filling. I pretty much know what ingredients I wish to use, and I want them to be vegetarian, but I am looking for suggestions or recommendations on technique. 1) Leaf prep. This time of year we are talking about jarred leaves, and that's what I've got. Some recipes call for rinsing, some call for soaking, and some call for blanching. What do you do to prep jarred grape leaves? Is it about decreasing the brine or about making them more tender? 2) Rice prep. Many recipes call for a surprising amount of oil to cook the onions and rice before adding water or broth. Most stuffed vine leaves that I have eaten do have a pronounced olive oil taste, but why on earth would you use one cup of oil to 1 cup of rice? I will not be using onions. My rice is long grain basmati. The ratio of rice to water or broth seems to vary wildly, as does cooking time. Most recipes suggest half-cooking the rice, since the rolls get steamed for at least 30 minutes after filling, but many use ratios such as 1 rice/ 2 water, which to me means the rice will be fully cooked when the liquid is absorbed, so that doesn't seem right. How cooked should the rice be? I don't want soft gummy rice in the end result. 3) Herbs and spices. Some recipes suggest adding fresh herbs like dill and mint when cooking the rice. Others prefer to mix them in after the rice is cooked, assuming the flavors will have plenty of time to develop while steaming. What do you do? 4) Use of lemon juice. Some recipes add lemon juice to the rice cooking liquid, others don't. Some add the juice to the water used to steam the dolmades. What? Some add oil to the steaming process. Again, what works for you? Thanks! This does not seem like something terribly complicated, but the differences in techniques used are amazing to me. Are the differences geographic or just personal style? Is there a Turkish style and a Greek style?
  6. Best of luck! Six days should give you some nap time when arranging the bottles becomes too stressful. I don't see why white plastic tops should be harder to come by than others, but they are. That's why I am forced to have a second shelf with black tops; it really offends my sense of order, but not enough to shell out any dollars. It's nice to see that you will have pollen and cod liver oil at arms reach.
  7. That Valrhona 71 Le Noir is my go-to snacking bar and definitely my favorite plain bar. Trader Joe's price is unbeatable, especially given the quality of the chocolate. Generally I am not a big snacker when on my laptop, as I am often lounging on a favored couch, and I don't want the responsibility of getting food stains on it.
  8. Here's my solution, but it is the result of saving many spice jars over many years. My spices are on rows of shallow shelves above the countertop. The drawback of open shelving is that the bottles need to be cleaned often. The other unfortunate thing is the location adjacent to the range/hood, which means they are subject to more warmth than other areas of the kitchen, but I am careful to buy small quantities and replace old spices as necessary.The shelves are about two bottles deep and they are organized pretty much by use, although that is variable. All bottles are labeled and re-used, as I pretty much buy my spices in bulk in small envelopes and transfer them to bottles right away. Over the years I have bought enough spices of different brands to result in a good collection of little bottles with various colored tops. So the shelves are color coded. I know where everything is supposed to be, but this really helps my husband with his infrequent forays. Five shelves, from the top down: 1) oversize items and misc less frequently used things (need an assist to reach). 2) Black Tops: aromatics often used in Indian foods: curry, turmeric, coriander, mustard seeds, etc. 3) Blue Tops: loosely associated w/baking: extracts, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, whole nutmegs, etc. 4) Red Tops: anything to do with paprika or pepper or chile, etc. 5) Black Tops again: mostly green things such as oregano, bay leaves, sage, rosemary, etc. plus a couple of exotic salts. On the counter are a few things I use all the time, like some salts, pepper grinder, large jar of small red chile pods. As you can deduce, in fifty years of buying spices the greatest number of products have come with black tops. I do have some white top bottles and mostly those hold salts. The bottles are of various sizes, brands and eras, and the labeling is far from uniform, so I am not embarrassed by being too "matchy matchy." That would be awful.
  9. I've made two simple dishes from the book so far. One is the orange and radish salad; hard to go wrong there, although I can easily see making this as a side for a Southwestern or Mexican meal, given the main flavors are cumin and cilantro. The mint gives it a twist, and I added just a little splash of olive oil. Today I made the tomato rice. Delicious! And seriously easy. We had it with some mango pickle, not home made. I used canned tomato but I can see using fresh ones in summer. The suggestion to make the tomato sauce component ahead of time makes this a slam-dunk. Again, it would be hard not to like this, since I can be happy throwing salt on a juicy chopped heirloom tomato, adding olive oil or butter, and then just dumping it on hot basmati rice. I know it has been touched on up thread, but to me it is really amazing how many recipes have neither onion or garlic. The use of asafetida is a revelation for me, especially since I'm not eating onions these days. Perfect. The other thing about this book is the almost routine use of oil instead of butter, as I always associate ghee (and lots of it) with most Indian food. Again, excellent for me since I try to limit my butter intake as well. I've marked so many recipes in the book that I can't possibly try them all before it is due back at the library, so if several more dishes are big hits I may have to go ahead and buy myself a copy.
  10. Modest or meduim or average size fries. Not too teeny or too fat. Good quality potatoes to start with. Fried in tallow. Golden brown and crispy on the outside, creamy, not mealy on the inside. Served with a choice of aioli or home-made ketchup. Or a dip made with smoked paprika... What exactly is meant by steak fries / frites? Is there a fry-size implied? I don't typically order steak frites but I do like moules frites. Those fries are often small to medium size, but not like shoe string.
  11. Dopey fact, only relevant because pork chops have been mentioned twice: I have eaten a pork chop exactly once in 70 years, or more correctly been served one once. I don't believe I ate it. When I was young my mother made a memorably awful meal with pork chops and never repeated the recipe or the chops. I'm pretty sure her parents never ate pork, so her experience may have been limited, although in all fairness she was a lousy cook generally. And it's not that I don't eat pork; I've just never ordered a chop or cooked one myself.
  12. It makes no sense to me to choose "one of" vs "repeat." My goal for trying new recipes is to find ones that are keepers and worth repeating. If something new turns out to be great I will def make it again. If it is just as good as I remembered (like a week ago!) it will be in frequent rotation until we get tired of it or improve on it or find something better that replaces it. Most keepers that pass the test of time do morph a bit over the years. The only dish that seems to get made the exact same way every time is Coq au Vin, but that's because my husband makes it and he simply follows the recipe with no changes. And I stay out of his way.
  13. Yes, especially since we don't go out very often. Certain restaurants I know have desserts that I like. Others not so much. I like to encourage my husband to have something even if I don't want anything; he needs the calories and we don't generally eat dessert at home other than a piece of chocolate and an evening whisky. He's very frugal and denies himself when there's no good reason to do so. I will usually have a couple nibbles of whatever he gets if it looks good. I often like to wait after a meal to have a dessert, especially if it is something like cake or pie, so typically at a restaurant a few of bites of something will be all I really want. I don't eat much dairy and very little cheese now, but I've never liked cheese after a meal. As an app with drinks or as a small meal along with some fruit, but not as a dessert. My dad, however, did. He liked to follow a nice steak dinner with a wedge of camembert. He wasn't a healthy eater, needless to say.
  14. To suggest that a pill or bar-sized meal that would provide a sense of fullness, satisfy all nutritional needs of a well-balanced meal and possibly not taste dreadful is not a future that is very realistic. It isn't going to happen. Eating cat food or, god forbid, Soylent Green, is more realistic. @timotb, it appears that rather than thinking out of the box you have boxed yourself into a corner. Your choices are many, but none of them are magic. It sounds like you don't enjoy cooking or don't have time to make food that you would like to eat. Of course you are not alone; you share desperation and crankiness with many of us on a bad day. Chain fast food is generally awful. That elusive mom and pop dive that can make you a fabulous quick meal for cheap is a very special place and we all wish there were more of them. For good food at a restaurant you need time or money or both. In my experience over the years with eG I would venture to say that by far the greater percentage of members cook most of their meals themselves, and if you look at enough posts you will see that most pictures are of home-cooked food, not restaurant meals. The simplest solution to your problem has already been invented. It's called a sandwich that you make yourself in the morning. You can make it exactly the way you like it and it can be very cost effective and doesn't really take very long to do once you are in practice. Ask anyone with kids; I've done it sleep deprived and blindfolded in under thirty seconds. If all the solutions to your food quandaries are making you depressed there ARE pills for that. Bon appetit, indeed!
  15. I fear I am guilty of said rudeness and apologize. In general I must say that eG members are a very friendly and fair-minded bunch, and in this case it does appear that poster got ambushed.
  16. timotb: That's your idea of a revolution? Sign me up for La Resistance!
  17. I confess. My daughter just turned 30 and there are still a couple of pix of her as a kindergartener on the fridge. We did buy a new fridge about eight years ago and I must have transferred items and their magnets from the old fridge, but I am at a loss to remember the actual act of transfer. That act, like the one weinoo is contemplating, has been blocked from memory in service to sentiment. One thing I know: I haven't added anything new since then. I do have some very nice magnets, too: a wonderful Frida Kahlo, a holographic magnet from the Tate in London, an ancient one from New Mexico that has a tiny recipe on it for biscochitos, some lovely translucent colored ones my mother bought at the MOMA store and a very detailed hand-painted one on wood of a saguaro cactus that was acquired when we eloped to Bisbee Arizona oh so many years ago.
  18. I'm following along here with interest. The book is on my library queue. I'm on a very annoying restricted diet right now in which most legumes and all wheat is off the table, so Asian food rules. Mysteriously chickpeas seem to be allowed, so those chickpea tomato pancakes have extra appeal. I love the marriage of curry or turmeric and dill. I've seen recipes for chana dal that often use dill. And sometimes I put both curry and dill in chicken salad; at first I thought it was like opposite ends of the earth, but I really like it. One of the most dramatic and delicious uses of turmeric and dill is in the Viet dish Cha Ca La Vong, a fish dish with rice noodles, heavy on both flavors.
  19. Emmey, before going to costly extremes or wasted ingredients it might be a good idea to do some reading. There are plenty of good sources for Pho recipes, no two the same. You can see how different cooks achieve the umami you strive for as well as get an idea for the ratio of meat and bones to water. Check out who has written well regarded Viet cookbooks so you aren't flying blind. It sounds like some basics are in order. Andrea Nguyen and Mai Pham are two good names, but there are plenty more. Perhaps some people who are following this thread can suggest other authors and titles they trust.
  20. I have never been to China or Vietnam, so my experience of these soups comes primarily from restaurants in NY and the Bay Area. I wish I had friends who grew up in Asian households and who had a deep tradition of homemade soups, but I don't have that either. I do agree that my home made stocks and broths are not replications of restaurant soups. However, I've grow to prefer them, since they are clean and unadulterated. Emmey you may be overthinking this. As Heidi says, these are rustic soups and if you make them at home without a lot of additives they will taste like the meats they are made from. One mistake many people make (and I do it too) is to use too little meat and too few bones. Making home made stock isn't exactly cheap, contrary to our intuition about "broth from scraps," especially when we are talking about a rich pho base. Trying to bump up the umami with bonito flakes and other ingredients more often used for Japanese broth is an interesting experiment, but I would be surprised if that ended up tasting more like the Viet restaurant soups you are aspiring to. A squirt of Red Boat is a lot easier and a lot more traditional. But variety is, at least, one of the spices of life, if not always the most "authentic.". If you make it from scratch it can't be Faux Pho.
  21. A broth for wonton soup and a broth for pho are two very different animals. Literally. Pho is mainly beef. A good place to start for that might be Andrea Nguyen. She has a recipe in her first basic book "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" and she has written a whole book devoted to pho, I think. It's a very rich deep broth made from various cuts of beef, bones, etc. I have made it, and it's a labor of love. As noted above, it can vary a lot, depending on who your Viet granny is. My one objection to some restaurant pho is that it is too sweet. Wonton soup is typically chicken-based, in my experience. Chinese chicken stock often involves a bit of pork, such as cooking pork neck bones along with your chicken backs, feet, carcass, whatever. You can add ginger, lemongrass, star anise to taste. I like to make a simple chicken stock with a couple of pork neck bones and no Asian flavorings to freeze for a variety of soups. Then if I want an Asian or wonton broth I just simmer the broth for 15 minutes or so with those flavorings. It works, and I don't have to have quarts of Asian broth overwhelming my freezer. In a pinch, if I have a stock made with only chicken parts, I sometimes add a bit of ham broth to give it a little kick when I add my lemongrass, ginger, etc. Restaurant wonton soups and pho also suffer a common problem, at least for me, and that's too much salt. Nothing beats home-made broth.
  22. I get this flyer maybe quarterly, I don't keep track. Seems awfully silly. If everything sold at TJ's was as bizarre as most of the "new" stuff they highlight in the flyer I wouldn't ever shop there. We buy the same old six or seven things regularly from TJ's and rarely anything else.
  23. I'm retired, my husband is doing consulting work part time out of the house. I don't know how it happened but we shifted to basically two real meals a day, a latish breakfast and then linner, typically at 3-4 pm. We go to bed around midnight, so if we are peckish it is usually a snack and cocktails in the evening, or sometimes my husband is hungrier and just eats a sandwich or leftovers. If we are lucky and I've made some dessert, there might be a late meal of cake or rice pudding or whatever. If I'm being honest, I really like having cocktail hour and watching the news, but I'm a cheap date and after one cocktail I'm unlikely to want to cook much or deal with a full meal. So this works for me. There's almost always lots of good bread in the house since my husband started baking regularly, so that's an easy fix in the evening. He's got a hollow leg and not an ounce of fat on him, so sometimes I worry that three meals a day would be better for him, but he makes up for it by sometimes eating staggering (to me) amounts, matched only by my millennial nephew when he comes for dinner. (And no, we don't subject our guests to our idiosyncratic schedule.) The two-meal thing really works for me; I don't like going to bed feeling full. Back in the day when we both worked out of the house or when our daughter was at home we ate three squarish meals, scraping together a dinner at around 7 or a bit later, whenever we got it together.
  24. I'm curious why kale would be a good choice to juice--it's so tough and fibrous. Does the fiber break down in a super powerful juicer or blender? Not that I'm about to try it. I prefer my vegetables with a bit of a bite. Mustard greens are really good pickled. My brother grows it just so he can pickle it. Punchy! Nice as a side for Asian foods or alongside grits or mac n cheese.
  25. @Anna N that is truly hilarious. I have ordered the same book from the library at least a couple of times. Once it took me a quarter of the way through to realize I had already read it. But finding your own handwritten note in the copy, well.....how did my note get into that copy of the book? Oh, wait.
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