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Katie Meadow

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  1. Katie Meadow

    Dinner 2024

    Okay, a stock question for you: sometimes I see recipes identified as Chinese chicken stock. They often contain ginger, but some of them specify using some kind of pork, not typically smoked, like maybe a pork neck bone or something. Is this common?
  2. For a decade I was a member of the SF Mycological Society. When you hang out with those nerds you learn a lot! I picked only what I was sure of. If unknown, I would take a sample and do spore prints when I got home. They were lovely and fun to do, and were a good way to i.d. suspects. I'm still alive for two reasons. One, I was very careful and a good student. Two, at a certain point I became so allergic to poison oak that I just couldn't deal with it any more. Too bad. Nothing quite like Chanterelles cooked in butter on toast.
  3. Well, apparently they haven't been ruled out by me!
  4. One other possibility is that they served what are called "false morels," another species that looks somewhat like a morel to the amateur picker.
  5. Good to post this anywhere mushroom eaters lurk. Worth noting if only as a reminder: do NOT eat wild mushrooms raw. Do not eat ANY mushroom that you are not certain about. And maybe don't eat at that restaurant, either. I know some people eat button or cremini shrooms raw in salads, but I've never been a fan of that either.
  6. According to my calculations, yes! My first exposure to Pi day was when visiting my daughter at college. The science department had tableellis set up selling slices to raise money for something. Very sweet.
  7. I had to unlearn several things my mother taught me, although she didn't teach me much. But then she had some strange ideas across the board. I taught myself to cook when living in NM. All of a sudden I was just into it. To this day I regret not being more flexible and tolerant about cooking with my daughter. So her resistance to my habits was partly being excluded in the first place, and then later, just resistance in general. Now she appreciates my cooking way more, since my husband and I come to visit and shop and cook for her family. With a full-time job, two toddler twins and a food-finicky husband she has a lot going on. There are surprising things her husband just won't touch. Although he will eat very spicy Hunan take out. Long ago I learned it's futile to try and understand food phobias, even mine. Okay, especially mine.
  8. Strange as it may seem, I know two women who potty trained their toddlers with olives.
  9. The market for older stewing chicken in the US must have dwindled to just about zero. Making chicken stock here means using a lot of parts from young birds like backs, feet, etc. Too bad. I would love to try making stock from a real stewing chicken. I have never seen Silkies for sale, either, although I know that some folks into raising chickens have them. Maybe next time I'm in Oakland Chinatown I'll take a closer look at what's available. Typically I buy kosher chicken for eating.
  10. Katie Meadow

    Cabbage

    The NYT picks up the tail end of the cabbage trend in today's food section. According to them, Americans eat 6 lbs cabbage per person per year, down from 9 lbs. They posit that a cabbage weighs one pound. We calculated that we buy approximately 36 heads of cabbage a year. so between the two of us we each eat 18 lbs of cabbage a year. Considering how many people probably buy no cabbage at all, and only consume it at a deli or BBQ joint, that means some of us are eating a lot of cabbage.
  11. Gotta say I'm baffled by the idea of seasoning a non-stick pan. To me, non-stick pan means chemically coated. Not carbon steel or cast iron which does require a little effort to season, develops a "non-stick" surface with proper use and which last a lifetime if taken care of. Typically I buy one relatively inexpensive non-stick pan every few years. I don't use it very often, maybe only for eggs or delicate fish, etc.. Before it gets disgusting or appears beyond its usefulness I toss it and buy another.I really dislike this habit since it is so wasteful, but I thought the whole idea of so-called commercial "non-stick pans," whether they be teflon or newer types of coating, was that they were cheap, and for a while actually non-stick without needing any fuss beyond a simple washing out. I use stainless steel or enamel coated dutch ovens for soups and sauces and anything very acidic, reserving my steel and cast iron for the many tasks that serve them best.
  12. Katie Meadow

    Breakfast 2024

    @blue_dolphinNext time I have dental surgery, which is hopefully never, I'm inviting you up to the Bay Area to put me on the popsicle diet.
  13. The first meal my mother cooked for my father was roast chicken. Back then, chickens were plucked, but not completely. Not only did she leave whatever feathers were on it, but she neglected to note that the cavity had paper-wrapped liver and giblets inside. She tried to learn to cook, but never really overcame her trepidations. My nephews, her grandsons, always loved her chicken and rice dishes. But to be fair, their mother was a weird health freak and cooked dreadful food for them. Would you serve umeboshi plums to a ten year old for whom a burger and fries was the apex of exotic? The older nephew grew up to be a restaurateur, and the younger one has broad enthusiastic tastes. He adores my cooking! He's married into an Italian family and his father-in-law is a master of the seven fishes feast. Ya never know. My own daughter never wanted to learn anything from me and she's rather a slapdash cook. I forgive her, since she has twin toddler girls and works full time. When we visit, my husband and I do a lot of cooking to help out. Their kitchen is small and poorly stocked, with lousy choices for pots and pans. I would gladly buy them all kinds of equipment, but they claim they don't need anything. In my opinion they need almost everything.
  14. For many many years, pre-pandemic, Trader Joe's stocked a basic Valrhona bar identified by a red swoosh. It was labeled Le Noir Amer and it was 71%. It was a hefty bar at 3.5 oz and it was delicious. And it cost $2.99 per, so perfect for every day bites or baking too. This was my go to chocolate bar for many years; simple and delicious, no frills. Valrhona discontinued the product a few years ago, but it was a fantastic deal. I don't believe TJ's carries any Valrhona bars any more. Nothing I've found lately comes close in taste or price. At the super-high end of the spectrum my chocolate of choice is Neuhaus, which is Belgian.
  15. Katie Meadow

    Cabbage

    Without bothering to look back to see how many times I have contributed to the cabbage thread, I can only say that I have been a dedicated cabbage eater for decade; just the typical round cabbage. No, I don't love the smell of boiling cabbage, so that's not in my repertoire. I use it in stir-fries, as often as once a week. I love it quick-pickled with carrots in the most basic style, so that it works great with Asian foods or Mexican. I make lots of slaws, some to eat as a side, some to use in burritos or tacos, especially with fish. But I also like a rather mustardy slaw for certain things like hot dogs. Slaws are endlessly variable. And finally, I love braised stuffed cabbage, simmered in a tomatoey sauce, although I make it rarely because I am lazy and it's a production. At least one cabbage is always on our major shopping list.
  16. What everyone in NM does is roast immense quantities of green chile in the late summer to early fall and then freeze them. When your order a "bowl of green" out of season at any NM restaurant you should assume the chiles are frozen. I've been doing the same since I moved to CA decades ago with the poblanos I bought in the fall at farmers' markets here. It worked fine until the chiles lost their heat. Fresh jalapeños are more easily available during winter and spring; they seem to be shipped routinely from Mexico all year long. But they are now always big, shiny and tasteless.
  17. My experience is much the same, sadly. In the late1960s and early 70's I lived in NM. Jalapeños were reliably hot and not large. Poblanos were also reliably hot but not overwhelmingly so, and just right structurally for chile rellenos. If you wanted a hot long green chile there were varyingly hot ones, increasing in heat to the Hatch chiles grown in the Hatch valley. I moved to CA in the mid-seventies. Most Jalapeños were reliably warm, perfect for making pickled peppers. Most poblanos were also very warm. Slowly over the years they both became milder. I was able to source hot ones at a super mercado here in the East Bay, but then that place, which was truly great, folded. Now if I want a Jalapeño I have to buy serranos, which are often too hot for pickling. Just once in the last few months did a batch of Jalapeños surprise me with heat. I haven't been back to NM in years, but I do know that a mild pepper called Big Jim has infiltrated the market, and are sometimes sold amongst Hatch chiles. Several years ago I found one grower at the local farmers' market with reliably hot poblanos. Since the pandemic, though, even that source has become tepid. It's really disappointing, as a lot of the food I used to cook depended on hot roasted green chiles. The Jalapeños recently have been like green bells, or worse, with no flavor at all. Trying to make the dishes we loved in NM is now almost impossible. s
  18. Katie Meadow

    Breakfast 2024

    A quick search, maybe not so reliable especially when it comes to taxonomy and fungi, identifies a mushroom called a Black Velvet bolete, Tylopilus alboater. Sites suggest it is found east of the Rockies in the US and in China! So, not exactly definitive info, but after all, mushrooms are fleeting and who knows. Supposed to taste very good, though. I often use portobello shrooms in my fried rice. A black bolete would be nice in tomorrow's scrambled eggs. Too bad for me.
  19. Katie Meadow

    Breakfast 2024

    Once upon a time I did a lot of mushroom foraging. We have black chanterelles but I've never heard of a black bolete. Sounds delicious. I quit foraging for the black chanterelles because my only good patch was in dense Poison Oak and I became more and more allergic.
  20. For those of you who wish to order Chinese sesame paste I find the one from Mala Market is great. Can't make Dan Dan noodles without it! Although pricier, I like it better than the one available in nearby Oakland Chinatown. https://themalamarket.com/collections/regional-chinese-sauces-pickles/products/organic-sesame-paste-zhi-ma-jiang Not that it is relevant to Chinese cooking, but since it has been pointed out, tahini is a different animal. For any middle eastern dishes I love the brand Soom, which I order from Amazon. It doesn't separate the way some other products do and it tastes fresh and pure.
  21. Yeah, but it's peanuts, so you can't take it in your lunchbox. Maybe best for a homework cocktail while mom and dad are having their martinis.
  22. Katie Meadow

    Lunch 2024

    Lunch is going to be a party at my house, with favorite nostalgia foods. I'm celebrating being on the right side of the dirt after my bad fall and in no way ready to leave the house yet. One friend has a birthday tomorrow and we're getting a chocolate cake for her. That same friend makes the absolute best matzoh ball soup on the planet, so she's going all out for poor pathetic me and bringing a pot of it. We'll have bagels and lox too. Another friend isn't much of a cook, but she is a party unto herself and my husband is going to make us Mexican Coffees, her favorite alcoholic drink, to have with the cake. It'll all be downhill from there, with me being cranky, my husband doing the cooking, which means a lot of very basic pasta dishes and grilled cheese sandwiches, hours of PT, podcasts, pot gummies and pizza. Things could be worse, of course.
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