Katie Meadow

Okay, here's what I think I know: Yams are completely different from sweet potatoes. True yams are not that commonly available in American markets but may be found in Asian markets. Many of the tuber-like objects listed in the stores as "garnet yams" or "jewel yams" are really a slightly sweeter more orangey sweet potato. What's labeled as sweet potatoes is typically a pale yellow flesh, and tastes more potato-like than the varieties often called yams, which are a bit more squash-like in color and texture. But are not botanical yams. When I make a sweet potato pie I use the pale variety, not the ones labeled yams. When I want a baked dark orangey thing, I buy a "yam." Thanksgiving has rules in my husband's family. It's okay to make something inventive, but you still have to make the standards this family expects. Yams didn't used to be my job, but they are now. They were always roasted in their skins, eaten simply with butter and salt or however. I like that fine. But now that yams have fallen to me, I want to try something different, like a casserole that I can put together the day before and just throw in the oven for less time than it takes to bake whole yams, which compete for oven space and take over an hour to cook. Here's what I don't want: a lot of sugar, marshmallows, maple syrup, heavy cream or pie spices. I want something very simple, savory, like maybe using fresh sage. Can I bake the "yams" ahead, then mash them and mix with brown butter sage, put it in a casserole dish, then just warm it the day of and toss on some crispy sage leaves? How much additional baking time is required if the yams are pre-baked whole first? Should I be adding something as a binder? I'm not averse to adding bourbon if that can be done without the usual sugary components. Any ideas?

You lost me with the guinea pigs, but reeled me back in with the potato pancakes, white pineapple juice and the lovely coffee service. Have you ever made llapingachos? They look totally yummy. I'm on an achiote kick, so anything that uses it gets my attention. About that coffee....what exactly is essence of coffee? It looks like espresso. Do you add the milk to the coffee or vice versa?

Wow, Colada Morada puts our smoothies to shame. Would love to taste that. This blog is fascinating, all the way round--thank you so much. There is a simpler version of corn-flour thickened drink in Mexico and parts Norte called Atole. I believe it is often flavored with cinnamon and sugar and thickened with yellow or blue corn meal masa. When I lived in New Mexico I was close to a family whose roots are in Santa Fe. My friend's father drank it every day for breakfast when he was growing up. I did a few minutes research and it seems that Atole is also very popular for Day of the Dead festivities. About that black corn....can you eat it as corn? Or is it only used as flour? In all the years I lived in NM I never did see an ear of fresh blue corn, only the meal or flour.

Love castelvetranos (also sold as nocellara del belice). Also crazy about the green cerignolas--when they are crunchy, and taste fresh and a little chlorinated, like a clean swimming pool. When they are soft I don't find them so appealing.

I'm still a little hazy on the difference between stock and broth. Is the amount of gelatin the defining element? Since I rarely cook whole chickens I don't save parts--I have to buy them. Generally I buy 1 pound of feet and about 5 or 6 pounds of necks, backs, wings, or other pieces. If I want some tender chicken meat for soup or salad or anything else, I will buy breasts and/or leg-thighs pieces, add them at the beginning, and then take them out when they are just cooked; usually a half hour for the breasts and 45 min for the dark meat. Then I pull off the meat and reserve it and toss the skin and bones back into the pot. My stock cooks at a bare simmer for 3 to 4 hours, uncovered. I use it for soups, flavored rice, whatever. When I make risotto I cut it with water, maybe not quite 50/50, but it depends on original strength.

Maybe the prices are different for lunch? We went for lunch, and I could swear it was $16 for duck plus pancake.

Fingerlings vary in texture, no? I don't much care for the ones called Russian Banana, since they do seem a bit on the soft side. I've had very good Ruby Crescents, but my all time favorites are the French Fingerlings. They have a thin pinkish skin, a knobbly to ovoid shape, and a really nice flavor. I try to be as careful as possible not to overcook them, especially if I want to make a potato salad of some kind; just a minute beyond crisp is how I like them. My fussy anal-retentive method for cooking them: divide them into groups according to size, and add them to boiling salted water biggest group first, waiting a couple of minutes between groups. That way most of them can come out of the water at the same time, although I do test with a sharp knife before taking them out. I told you it was fussy.

How to boil peanuts really is sidetracking on this thread, but just to finish up with that: Of course I forgot about the peanuts being in my mother's fridge until yesterday, our last day in NY. Surprisingly they were not appreciably different than when we bought them. We boiled them with almost enough salt (about six times more than my husband thought was prudent) and promptly forgot about them until they had been boiling more than 45 minutes. They were quite good, could have used a bit more salt, and about 15 minutes less boiling time. They weren't mushy at all, but could have had just a bit more bite. Anyway, I like 'em. As predicted, my mother thought they were a waste of good peanuts. She also thought peanuts grew on small trees, but 93 years of living in big cities can make a person opinionated and naive about where food comes from--and what interesting things people can do with it if they live outside of the greater NY area.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the rotisserie duck over rice was $16 and that included the pancake, which was super delicious. I might be able to eat a whole bowl myself, but after a pork bun and with broccoli on the side, two orders was plenty for three people. And my husband can eat a lot. If we did it again I would order an extra chive pancake so we could each have a whole one, but they are pretty good size and we didn't really miss it.

Every time I come to NY I go with my family to Mezzogiorno. My mother has been eating there since she got an Italian boyfriend in 1970. It's the best! And the space is lovely, especially if you can get a table near the open doors in good weather. They serve the full menu all afternoon, so if you want a quiet leisurely meal go during off hours. No one here ever mentions it. Last summer my brother and I had soft-shell crabs that made us both weak in the knees. I adore the tuna carpaccio; it's succulent and generous. My mom loves the prosciutto. I have to limit tomatoes, and they don't list a white linguini with clams on the menu but they were happy to make it for me. The clams were perfect--pasta necks or little necks (I don't know the difference)--really tender and sweet, and the sauce was a very simple white wine and garlic--no cream, not overly garlicky, so really subtle and delicate. I think linguini alla vongole bianco is one of the hardest dishes to make well; you can't hide anything in it and it can't be glopped up with too much oil or garlic or any cream. My husband had a terrific black linguini with a spicy tomato sauce. It was amazing. My mother always gets something with veal and always loves it. And we always order the Sardinian white wine. It's delicious and not expensive. I can never resist the blood orange sorbet for dessert, and I can never believe how generous the portions are--three good size scoops. My husband had the zabaglione and it was fabulous. They also threw in a plate of wonderful cookies gratis. One thing I've never ordered is the pizza. They have a wood-burning oven and it's probably good pizza. Next time.

Late lunch yesterday, first time ever at Ssam Bar. It was 2:30 and there was almost no one there, which was a little disconcerting after my one experience waiting on line at Noodle. We had pork buns and rotisserie duck with chive pancakes. At $16 a plate it isn't a bad deal, and three of us shared 2 bowls, which was more than enough. I liked the spicy ssam sauce but did not feel the need to add liquid duck fat to anything! Also had the broccoli and the pickle jar. All of it was delicious, including the broccoli, and I hate broccoli. Somehow they managed to eliminate all the broccoli taste and reduce it to essential crunchy vegetable. Is there really fish in the sauce? Maybe that neutralizes the broccoli flavor. Against my better judgement I had to cross the street and try the cereal milk ice cream. Clearly the (presumably) young people who eat this stuff have a much closer bond than I do with Cap'n Crunch or Lucky Charms or whatever cereal is used to make this soft serve ice cream. This stuff would make Trix taste like real fruit. I love cereal milk, but my cereal milk is the result of Barbara's shredded wheat and Berkeley Bowl's mixed corn and wheat flakes; just a bit different.

I went to camp with Barbara Tropp! She was a couple of years older, and not in my bunk, but I remember her being singularly generous. And I did go to her restaurant once, probably shortly after it opened. I had eaten plenty of Chinese food in SF, having lived on the North Beach Chinatown border during the seventies, but I remember how new and different her food was. Looking back (approx 25 yrs ago!) I admit most of the meal is blurry. We sat at the counter. One dish is very sharp in my mind: a noodle pillow; big and crunchy and unique.

Now you're talking. I like them boiled with a few jalapenos added to the salt water to give them a little kick but they're tasty without that too. You can boil them, divide them in bags and freeze them. Pull a bag from the freezer, toss it in the microwave for a few minutes until hot again and they're almost as good as they were when just boiled. First of all I don't really spell "fridge" the way I spelled frig; that's just appalling. Now about those peanuts: A 25 lb. bag of those boiling peanuts below the bin (sorry I don't remember the price) said to boil 2 or more hours. Someone in the store said 30 minutes. Any opinions? And don't tell me to boil them until they are done. I KNOW that. The only thing everyone seems to agree on about boiled peanuts is that it's necessary to use enough salt to send your blood pressure off the charts.

Following up on my very short stay in Atlanta (actually Decatur) while digesting my lunch in a hotel room in Hell's Kitchen NY. We arrived at night, hungry but pleased with ourselves for managing to drive in the dark from the airport to our B & B without making one wrong turn. We met our daughter at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur at about 11 pm. We had to wait for a table--it was hopping. We ordered a few small plates and some chips. Their version of chips are actually large wedges, very tasty, not overly salty. I had some kind of delicious stout. We also ordered the grits fritters, which came topped with little rounds of sausage. I'm not a sausage fan, but the fritters were quite good--very hot and melty in the middle, crispy on the outside. And just because none of us had ever had pimiento cheese we ordered that. I have no idea whether this was a good or bad example of this southern treat, but none of us will be ordering this in the near future. The next morning we met our daughter for a walk in Grant Park and a look at the Cyclorama, then a walk around the old Oakland Cemetery, which was very pleasant, but then the weather was perfect and I'm a person who likes wandering about looking at gravestone inscriptions, especially this time of year. For lunch we went to the Flying Biscuit, along with what appeared to be a good portion of the city. Had to wait for a table. Excellent root beer, really good biscuit--a little on the sweet side but still yummy--and shrimp and creamy grits. The shrimp were some of the tastiest freshest shrimp I've had in a long time and the grits were perfect; richer than I usually make them. It was served with a ribbon of fresh tomatoes, not spicy. Dinner was at Miller Union. Drinks were very good, can't remember exactly what they were, but two were house cocktails and the other was a Manhattan with Rittenhouse rye. My daughter and I just ordered small plates/starters, all good. She had the pork peanut fig pate served with an apply relish and a salad, I had a swiss chard soup (totally delicious--just pure veg, no cream) with a drizzle of some peppery oil, and the pork belly appetizer, which was out of this world good. My husband had a grilled chicken dish that came with a side of roasted okra and field peas. That side was so great we ordered another side of it. Best okra I've ever eaten, and first time ever for field peas. Loved it. The next day (our last) after a tour of the Emory campus and RSPH and a look at the exterior of the CDC we stocked up our poor student's pantry at a remarkable market called the Dekalb Farmers Market or International Market. I've never seen anything like it; sort of a cross between Berkeley Bowl and Ikea; Ikea because it's a two story warehouse as big as four football fields with inventory stacked way up high about the shelves. The produce was beautiful and the prices are amazingly good, even for stuff from CA. There were plenty of multi-ethnic greens and veggies I've heard about but never seen, like culantro and cubanelle peppers. Most amazing was the careful signage, showing the picture as well at the name, so if shoppers don't speak English they can easily find what they want. I couldn't resist buying some fresh boiling peanuts (green?) out of a huge bin and had to ask another shopper how she boiled them. I find them interesting just out of the shell, raw. They are now in my mother's frig, so we can try boiling them tonight or tomorrow. My mother thinks I've gone round the bend. Any one living in Atlanta who doesn't shop at this place is missing out. The meat department alone made my jaw drop: organic goat from one source, Berkshire pig from some place else, etc. And perhaps it doesn't impress any one but me, but seeing sections devoted to different turkey parts such as necks and wings was enough to make me want to move to Atlanta and start making giant vats of stock.

I don't live in NY any longer, but I visit frequently. For true splurges I let my mother buy me a meal. If I'm on my own or with my husband I tend to eat as cheaply as possible and try to find stuff that we just don't get here in the bay area. She lives in midtown, just a few blocks from MOMA. My favorite spots around there are the Halal truck on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th Ave; love their chicken and rice plate with 2 sauces. Also good is Menkui Tei on 56th off 6th. And that would be ramen. I was at Katsu-hama once, and had cold noodles and cold beer, which was very nice, but it was very warm weather then. The cafe and restaurant at MOMA isn't exactly what I call budget, but I haven't eaten there in several years, so I don't really know. Walking around Chinatown is always fun. I love the hand-made noodles at Xi'an. Comfort food for me, perfect for chilly weather. Also NY Noodle Town just down the block. For a medium price lunch I love to go to Luke's Lobster on 81st on the east side. No frills, just the basics, very good meaty lobster roll with chips and a drink with friendly atmosphere. Seating is at large tables so it's easy to strike up a conversation with strangers, which I like. I've had lobster rolls that cost far more and weren't nearly as good as Lukes. And if you don't live on the northeastern seaboard, a lobster roll isn't so easy to come by. I guess everyone should try Papaya King or Gray's Papaya once in their lifetime, but in my opinion the hotdogs are pretty terrible. Dirt cheap, though. I admit that I am fond in a nostalgic way of the papaya drinks.

Do most restaurants treat food left on the plate in the same fashion once it is back in the kitchen? What is that? Are there rules for health reasons or other reasons?

Thanks! I ended up cooking the pork very much as you describe. I started with Daisy Martinez wet rub, but her cooking instructions worried me: the heat was rather high, the meat uncovered the whole time, so definitely not low and slow. I started the pork on a bed of onions at 425 degrees, uncovered in a Creuset pot. After half an hour I turned the oven down to 325, added a minimal amount of white wine plus water (less than an inch) and covered the pot. I cooked it for about 3.5 hours more, checking a couple of times to make sure there was still some moisture in the pot. You are right, that was not an issue. I uncovered the pot for the last 10 minutes, cranked up the heat back to 400, and that was it. Roughly the cooking time was about an hour per pound (the pork weighed just a little over 4 lbs) and the meat was fall-off-the bone tender (well, without the bone) and succulent. There were three of us, including two men who eat like vacuum cleaners, and we still have a generous hunk for leftovers. I have some slaw leftover, so I'm thinking pulled pork sandwiches? Definitely an economical cut of meat--and not fatty, either. Most of the fat is on the top, and melts away into the sauce on the bottom, and as far as I could tell there isn't a lot of interior fat. I would like to try doing a bone-in skin-on roast if I can find one.

Exactly. And I have never heard a waiter call it a doggie bag either. Usually they ask if we would like that wrapped up? We don't eat out often, especially if there's only the two of us, and when we do there is rarely enough food to take home, since I have a husband with a hollow leg and a horror of waste. But since my daughter went off to college I've noticed that she and her friends, and my 20-something nephew who I now see regularly, are religious about bagging up whatever is not eaten. They get downright excited by the prospect of taking home real food. It's sweet. The funny part is that they often are just as happy to have everything put together in the same container.

Okay, I'm making Pernil for the first time. And I've read this thread. Unfortunately my pork shoulder has neither bone nor skin, just a layer of fat on one side. It weighs just a bit over 4 lbs. Prep for tomorrow's meal was done today: made a wet rub, very garlicky, and did the little cuts and inserted rub, then rubbed the remainder on the outside. The hunk is sitting in a bowl covered w/plastic wrap in the fridge. Then I started reading about cooking time and temps. Wild variations! Here's a small selection: Start oven 450 and after an hour turn it down to 300 or 350, cook about 1/2 hr per lb total. Start high, then lower but cover until the last half hour to crisp it up. Start low uncovered, cook an hour, then cover. Turn up the heat the last 15 minutes. Cook at 170 degrees six hours. Cook 250 degrees 3 or 4 hours. Time varied, depending upon heat, anywhere from 3 to 5 hours for a 4 lb roast. Put it on a rack. Don't put it on a rack. Put water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Don't put any liquid in. Baste. Don't baste. So....any advice? I'm getting the feeling that since I have only a modest layer of fat and no skin, perhaps I should be careful not to let it dry out. I have no idea what to do.

Aww....fresh picked local asparagus is worth every....drop.

Are you bored with all pie or just with pumpkin pie? I hate pumpkin anything, so I like sweet potato or apple pie or pecan pie, if it isn't too sickeningly sweet. I've seen some interesting pecan pie recipes lately that involve bourbon and/or espresso. Even one with bacon! If you are the opposite of me, and don't want pie but want something with pumpkin, one alternative to cake is pumpkin creme brulee. I've heard people say it's good. Or ice cream with caramel sauce and toasted salted pepitos. This will be my 32nd consecutive year having Thanksgiving with my husband's family. That will mean, OMG, that Thanksgiving of 2012 will put me in the class of doing it MORE than half my entire life. You can do the math. That's 32 years of my FIL's same cranberry mold from 1950 Sunset Magazine. My husband and I acquired the job of turkey and stuffing about 20 years ago. This is a family that doesn't much like change. And half of them don't like/won't eat the turkey or any stuffing that's cooked inside of it, although that is slowly changing as some of my SIL's encounter menopause and the need for some protein and the sons of vegetarian parents have become lovers of all things meat. The one thing that has thankfully bitten the dust is my BIL's vegetarian gravy. God only knows what was in it, but it involved several cans of something. My best guess: cream of mushroom soup, vegetarian canned broth and some obscure form of tofu or other soy protein. It was one of the worst things I've ever tasted. Yes, he's the relative with that greatest of all distinctions: doesn't make any food for the meal and doesn't do any clean-up. Bring on Thanksgiving!

Perhaps there is something going on with the Hawaiian pineapples these days. I have been disappointed in nearly every pineapple I have purchased this summer. Twice last month I experienced a spoiled (one brownish, one not) interior while the pineapple in the store appeared firm, and definitely not over-ripe; I barely had enough useable fruit for the dessert I planned. I'm going to start buying what appear to be under-ripe pineapples and see if that improves the odds. I particularly like my pineapple on the tart side, but I don't remember having this problem before this year. I usually try to pull out a couple of inner leaves, the theory being that they should come out fairly easily. Don't know if there's any real science behind that, but I usually was able to pick a decent pineapple if the fruit also seemed firm but not greenish. Now I just don't have a clue. In my opinion, Mexican pineapple is far better than fruit grown in Hawaii, but it is very hard to come by. When I lived in New Mexico it seemed easier to find than here in CA, and when I first moved to west coast it seemed possible to find some from south of the border. No more--I never see them.

I make ham stock and keep it in the freezer for beans, soups, etc., but I never heard of ham base. I looked it up and low and behold it's a common product. Some seem more natural than others. The creepiest ones have "ham flavor" as the main source of ham. The instructions on one of these products says to use 1 T base to 1 cup water. That's awfully strong concentrate. I can't see how you would make your own except to make a very strong ham stock, and then cook it down a lot, the advantage being economical storage and the ability to control the strength of the flavor by diluting as desired. I can see how it would be useful for fast gravy; you wouldn't have to spend time cooking down the stock. On the other hand, it takes a fair amount of heat/energy and time to cook down stock to that degree of concentrate, no?

Andie, the recipe you reference on line is the same as mine as far as eggs, milk, flour and butter proportions. For the apples I take one large or two small apples, cut them into 1/3 inch wedges (don't even bother to peel them) and saute them in a pan with butter, a little sugar and cinnamon for a few minutes. They get set aside, and after the batter is poured into the buttered pan, the apples simply get arrange on the top. I think they keep the center from puffing as much as yours. Maybe the apples could go on the bottom, and then the batter could be poured over them and it might puff more. It is awfully good with the brown-butter apples.

Andie, we must be on a similar wavelength. Yesterday morning I couldn't find anything I could toast, so I was forced to actually cook something. I made a recipe I have for Dutch Apple Pancake. It looks like your Dutch Baby, but has caramelized apples baked into it. Having not grown up with Dutch anything, I really never heard of this type of puffed pancake until relatively recently. Considering the ingredients in my recipe, the result is, not surprisingly, kind of a giant reverse horizontal popover and comes out looking much like yours, with the height on the sides and the crater in the center. I bake mine in a cast iron skillet. The recipe calls for a dusting of powdered sugar but I see no need. I assume that Dutch Baby is the name of the pancake, and the dedicated pan is then the Dutch Baby Pan? What else do you do with that pan? A good breakfast, though. But back to reassuring toast today.