Katie Meadow
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Posts posted by Katie Meadow
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I've always had great luck with Bookfinder.com. Amazon and Alibris are encorporated there, along with loads of other smaller sellers. The descriptions of condition for used books seems pretty reliable. New books are on the left column, used on the right, in order of lowest price first. I recently bought a used hardcover copy of Jasper White's 50 Chowders for $7.50 (and that includes shipping!) and I can barely tell it's used. I'll check out Addall--I never heard of it, but it sounds similar.
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I rarely fry anything, but this thread is making me pretty interested in doing some chicken. There doesn't seem to be consensus on the buttermilk soak...but it sounds like a good idea. Also, what types of oil seem to be favored? Lard is out for me. Would you want a different oil if you deep-fry vs. shallow fry? Do most of you prefer the taste of peanut oil to corn oil when it comes to fried chicken?
I notice that several folks are sheepish about frying skinless, boneless chicken. If I died and went to heaven I would eat lots of chicken skin and plenty of bacon, but I really can't do that in this life--at least not very often. (And what, by the way, is a chicken tender? Is it just a kid-sized piece of white meat?)
About the highest best use for larger pieces of boneless, skinless fried chicken hit the East Bay several years ago in the form of Betty's Bakesale, a small shop that sells pastries and a few sandwiches. Word spread and lines were long for Betty's fried chicken sandwich. It's simple and fabulous. It looks like she cuts a half breast into approx 3 or maybe 4 lengthwise pieces. I believe she does a buttermilk soak, but I'm not sure. On a french type roll she places several hunks of just-fried chicken, tops it with a generous heap of spicy non-mayonnaise slaw, adds the top half of bread and that's it. Frequently she sells out by noon. Before I went gaga over this sandwich I had never heard or thought about a fried chicken sandwich. I'm guessing there are plenty of you who have, though!
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That watery piece of meat sounds extremely icky. I want the privelege of marinating my own flanksteak, thanks.
I too love flanksteak, and when we grill a whole slab we like to marinate it for most of the day in olive oil and lots of aromatics. I do think it's a cut that benefits from marinating, if it isn't being slow-cooked like a brisket. If I am doing a stir-fry and will be cooking thin slices quickly over very high heat I only marinate the cut slices for maybe 15 minutes, as per my recipes.
I'm getting increasingly fussy (squeamish, practically) about meat; I don't eat a lot of it, but when I do, I want to know that it's been touched by the fewest hands--or processes--possible.
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Thanks so much, Dave. I have a little more help for you. I surfed about this morning and came upon one mention of this cheese. It was in what appears to be a local cheese newsletter of last August called Le Tranche Caille. Down at the bottom, under a heading that loosely translates as "cheeses available in the summer if the sun would only shine" (at least that's how my husband translated it). the spelling is indeed Lou Peralou. Also mentioned are Cocagne, I'itxassou and le Gabieton. Any of those familiar?
The newletter is from Bearn. Where are you?
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Does anyone know Lou Peralou? No, it isn't a cheesemonger, it's a cheese, a Basque sheep's milk brie. It hasn't been sold in my neck of the woods for years and once I was told that it's no longer imported, but I don't know if that's true. It's terribly yummy.
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Perhaps there is a kind of continuum ranging from personal preferences to obsessive-compulsive disorder or eating disorders. Once a person's preferences become so noticeable or so numerous as to interfere with their own pleasure or the pleasure of others at the table it's hard to just call it pickyness. If you can't stand the cranberries touching the potatoes (and I agree it isn't an appetizing combo) and your solution is just to put turkey in between, you're happy, no one's the wiser and everyone has a nice dinner. But if someone serves you dinner already plated who doesn't know that about you and you get upset and ask for another plate, that's crossed beyond picky eating preferences.
I think some people need to draw attention to themselves with food issues. Look how much attention kids get when the are fussy eaters. I know people that have just never grown out of their childhood eating patterns.
If Fat Guy's mom prefers white eggs and has a store across from her building that sells them, she isn't totally irrational in rejecting his offer. But if she has a hard time walking, the streets are icy, it's zero degrees out and the closest store is eight blocks away then it's certainly irrational and perhaps neurotic or even phobic. If she can do without eggs til the next shopping excursion then it's a relatively harmless phobia. Naturally she knows exactly how to push her son's buttons!
I have one pet peave and only because I have two good friends with the same annoying fetish. Both of them refuse to eat carbos and steadfastly deny being on any kind of diet. Neither has any allergies, they just "don't like" bread, pasta, rice, grits etc. And no, they don't know eachother. I forgive them because I love them, but I swear, sometimes I feel like I would pay to see either of them eat a sandwich or a plate of linguini and clams.
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The March issue of Fine Cooking has an analysis of salt chemistry--why it brings out flavor, how it blocks bitterness and enhances sweetness, how it makes meat juicier.
I love discussions about salt. Since I have to limit my salt intake just thinking about salt makes me happy. I used to love salt bagels, salty bloody marys with a side of cheetos....but no more. At family gatherings I would gag on my sister-in-law's cooking, because she doesn't use any salt at all. I still use salt, but very judiciously. I do always salt meat before cooking, but generally use about a quarter of the amount in the recipe.
My tolerance for salt has really changed. The food at many restaurants--and it makes no diff whether it's a dive or a chic joint--is now too salty for me. Oddly enough, when I traveled in Europe last fall, I found the food in Provence to be pretty salty, but the food in Venice wasn't.
So I would agree that salt preferences are very habitual. As for my sister-in-law I have now determined that it wasn't really the lack of salt, she's just a terrible cook; a little sprinkle wouldn't have helped.
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With the theory that I should spend the most money possible and buy Italian, I bought the Rustichella d'Abruzzi whole wheat spaghetti. I am crazy about their pasta (altho in the interests of budget I often use DiCecco.) The whole wheat was inedible. I'm going to stick to the regular stuff and get my fiber some other way.
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I live across the bay from the Ferry Bldg and, believe it or not, have only been there once; most of my farmers' market shopping is done in Berkeley. When my mom was out visiting we went over for the day. The highlight was the sampler platter at Tsar Nicoulai, a local caviar purveyer. That was a treat. I'm not sure if the charcuterie Fatted Calf has a booth there (I'm guessing you have gone to the Market website) but some of their stuff is pretty great. I have a weakness for their Rabbit Pate, which they don't make every week. I'm also a loyal customer of Loulou's Garden. She makes terrific preserves and jams; but I am not sure which days she is there.
Lots of people really like the Charles Phan restaurant The Slanted Door. That's Vietnamese (mainly). I've never been; apparently there's always a line.
I too would go for those Hog Island oysters. If you have the time and inclination, you could go to the source. Hog Island Oysters is in Marshall, ten minutes from Tomales. You can buy oysters to go (byo ice-chest!) or you can sit on the deck and have a shuck-em-yourself picnic overlooking Tomales Bay (they provide the shucking tools and the view.) Those Hog Island Sweets are awfully good. Occasionally they get Olympics from WA, which are not easy to find. There are fabulous hiking trails around there too. My advice, if possible, is to go out there on a weekday if your idea is to eat on the deck; it's like a circus on the weekend.
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The idea that a stock should have an extremely strong flavor is not quite true. What a stock should have is a fairly neutral flavor and a great deal of body. The idea is that the stock is flavored by whatever you add to it later on--meat trimmings, game bones, wine, aromatics, etc...
A broth is a little bit different...a broth is really made with meat and/or meat trimmings and is meant to be very flavorful. If you are making a chicken soup, for example, you want a broth or a broth/stock hybrid. The broth/stock hybrid is really what most home cooks make at home...usually because there is abundance of both at home. If you make your chicken "stock" with cut up chicken carcass, meat and all, you are really making a broth/stock.
I'm not implying that there is something wrong with this, not at all, but just keep in mind that a true stock isn't supposed to taste strongly of animal meat.
This is a great clarification, and is pretty much the way a recent issue of Fine Cooking describes the difference. Broth/stock is what I usually do, since I make soup all the time and never make sauces that call for stock or stock reductions. If I happen to have a cut marrow bone or veal knuckle in the freezer I will throw it into the chicken pot; it doesn't change the rich chickeny flavor, but adds depth and must add to the gelatin.
Upthread I noted that some suggested cooking times for chicken stock are quite long, indicating perhaps it would help to have more meat in the pot or less water to start with. A lot of water and only wings and backs will yield a pretty mild broth, so you might need to continue cooking if only to evaporate the liquid and concentrate the flavor. I use a really big pot, one whole chicken, 2 lbs of feet and 2 lbs of backs. I simmer it for about 2.5 hours, always uncovered (because Julia says so.) In my experience that's enough time to wring out all the flavor from the ingredients, at least with chicken, since those old 7 lb stewing birds have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Meat stock I cook longer.
If I plan to make a soup with chicken meat in it, after about a half hour or 45 minutes I simply yank off the thighs and part of the breast and reserve that meat til later. If I was smart I would quarter the chicken before I put it in the pot, but I admit to a little squeamishness about handling raw chicken.
Put me squarely in the camp of chicken feet. I can't say enough good things about them. 'Member the story of Baba Yaga? The old Russian witch who lived in the forest in a log cabin that walked on chicken feet? Very good real estate, that. Her idea of slow food was....well, not as appetizing as home made chicken soup.
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I have it too, despite the fact that much southern cooking isn't exactly compatible with a low-cholesterol diet. As a result I confess I spend more time reading this book than I do making the recipes--but I love reading it.
I have made Spinach Madeleine several times, and adapted it just a bit by using olive oil to saute the onion (actually I use shallots) and cutting back on the cheese. My sister-in-law grew up in Nashville with this recipe and she subs pepper jack for the cheese and the jalapenos. I used a pecorino fresca and added hot chili flakes. I also omit the bread topping, since that's what she always did, but I am sure that would be delicious--using butter, of course. It's a great recipe.
I've made the tarragon-mustard sauce a couple of times and that's excellent. Anderson uses equal parts of mayo and yogurt (I used Fage 2 percent) which is a really nice change from straight mayo. I served it the first time with my own version of crab cakes and the second time with shrimp cakes made pretty much the way Kim's Shrimp and Crab Cakes is made.
I also used the recipe for Black-eyed Pea Soup with Greens and Ham for inspiration and made a great soup with black beans, left-over ham from a cooked shank and a bunch of kale subbing for the greens using all the other ingredients pretty much as specified. Totally yummy.
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Bagels: I agree--no raisins, cinnamon, berries or parmesan etc. Growing up around the corner from Barney Greengrass I only remember two options: plain or onion. I have to admit I am very fond of everything bagels. And when my body could handle it, salt bagels. But it just isn't a bagel if it's sweet or cheesy.
Pizza: I'm not into the style pizza that has no tomato sauce at all, nor do I like the kitchen sink pizzas with 4 types of cheese, and sixteen other ingredients. I think I'm a pizza purist: modest quantity of tomato sauce, modest quantity of good mozz, a nice thin crispy crust and just a coupla other toppings--keep it simple. When I grew up all pizzas had tomato sauce under the cheese.
Tofu: I don't want my tofu to be tofu meatballs, tofu turkey or tofu burgers. There are so many fabulous ways to cook tofu Asian-style. I want my tofu to look and taste like tofu and my turkey to actually be turkey!
Bacon: Since I indulge rarely I want real bacon make from a pig, not a turkey.
Sushi/rolls: What IS with the avocado? The California Roll has become ubiquitous. It just seems wrong.
Salad dressing: I'm a definite purist about salad dressing for simple greens. Vinegar or lemon, best olive or walnut oil, salt and pepper, a little dijon. No sugar, no honey, no poppyseeds, no hippy dressings.
Ice cream: my father-in-law adores ice cream. He used to make it with a hand-crank in an old-fashioned tub and it was fabulous. Now he watches his weight and cholesterol and buys "lite" ice cream. I've tasted it and it just doesn't compare, it always tastes plasticky or like chemicals to me. I'm for full-fat ice cream. If I have to cut back on fats and dairy (and I do) I'd rather eat a great sorbet or granita than low-fat ice cream. Then I'll treat myself to the real thing once in a while.
Seems like a fine line between being a purist and defending what you grew up with, though. I'm sure my college-age daughter believes that Japanese food always had avocados in it.
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My mother was there a week or so ago and was really disappointed in the food and horrified at the prices. She is less discriminating than I am, and if she doesn't like something it's usually a safe bet that there's something wrong with it. She was with a younger friend who is apparently a very good cook (and who eats out all the time I think) and who felt the same way. S'all I know.
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There are a lot of recipes in the char siu bao cook-off, but my favourite is the one from Andrea Nguyen's book. c. sapidus was kind enough to pm it to me a few months ago, and I just recently (last week!) bought the book. I think I've made that recipe 4 or 5 times since I first received it! I only use it for bao, but when my mother left I sent some with her to family in the Philippines, and they loved it as is. And for what it's worth, the leftover marinade makes excellent sauce for the bao filling.
Although I love the recipe as it is, I was thinking of adding a bit of preserved tofu to it, as some of the comments in the char siu bao topic mentioned that the tofu added something special to the char siu. Haven't yet tried that, though, as I can't bring myself to buy an entire jar of preserved tofu just to make char siu (and I only have a year or so left in my current residence, to I need to use up what I already have in my cupboards!).
I second this recommendation for the Char Siu in Nguyen's book "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen." I would add to it only the caveat that you make sure to cut the pieces at least as thick as suggested before roasting (1.5 inches); the idea being to allow enough time in the oven to crispy-char the edges of the meat without overcooking the interior, which would make it dry and less yummy--which is what happened to a couple of my smaller pieces. I used it on a Chinese-style noodle salad and in a Viet sandwich. I would definitely garnish a wonton soup with it.
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The people I know who have kids spend the late afternoon and evening scrambling, juggling, carting equipment of various kinds from one activity to another. Sometimes a pizza comes home with, but usually one person cooks while the other helps with homework or gives a bath to someone--IF it's a two-parent household. Maybe you go out on the weekend for modestly priced Vietnamese, but even so, going out is at least a little special.
My in-laws have a very different life. They have two high-power jobs, no kids. They eat out in their expensive neighborhood all the time. Nothing special, it's just what they do.
How can a discussion like this avoid the main topic, which is economics? We no longer have a kid at home, but keeping her in college doesn't allow us to eat out very often. I cook. Just about every night. So, my perspective is that going out is a special occasion because it's not a typical one. And in addition, maybe because money is tight, I hate the idea of spending it on mediocre food, or anything that I could do better. So I would rather scrounge for leftovers or eat an omelet and save my dining-out dollars for something really good less frequently. That's a personal decision, but absolutely informed by my lack of funds.
That said, for a restaurant to ask,"Is this a special occasion?" seems downright weird. As far as I'm concerned, any restaurant worth its salt (usually far too much salt) should consider that its job is to make my occasion special. Awright, I'm unrealistic, I know, but I'm more than a little sick of restaurants with a "We're so great" attitude. Bring me my dinner and let me decide if it's special, how that? Yow, I sound cranky. Love Alex Witchell, though.
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My mother has decided to throw herself a 90th birthday party and would like to do it in a restaurant. She lives midtown and is hoping not to travel too far for the party, but that's a secondary consideration. We're talkin' 25 people.
I have checked out some other threads, and Becco sounds good. Has anyone had a party there recently? I don't know what her price range per person is, but I am guessing that Grammercy, Blue Hill, etc. isn't in it. I have eaten at Craft and liked it, but that may also turn out to be too pricey for her. She likes the idea of a limited choice menu rather than the full restaurant menu.
I am not sure she has yet considered there is usually an extra price boost when you have a private room. Are there any restaurants that would work that don't have private rooms? Most of the guests are younger than she is, but I am guessing she still has a few older friends left who might need a quieter space to hear eachother, so perhaps the private room idea is a good one.
Any other suggestions? I'm in CA, so my experience dining out in NY is pretty limited, as you can imagine.
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Okay, now that I know what to look for I am seeing lacinato and dinosaur all over the place. So far I have tried two simple ways of cooking it, both very good.
The first thing I did was a test to see how it behaved in soups the way I usually do big curly kale. I added it, roughly chopped, to a vegetable bean soup that's really my version of Batali's bean soup from Molto Mario. He cooks the cavolo nero longer than I like. I find it to be delicate and sweet--and needs even less cooking time than regular kale. I threw it in about 20 minutes before the end and I think it only really needed 15 minutes. Delicious in soup.
Then last night I tried the greens-on-toast suggested by so many upthread. I did prep the c.n. by cutting out the lower thicker stems but I agree that with very fresh narrow leaves it probably isn't necessary. I sauteed it with garlic, the usual suspects and a pinch of red pepper flakes (does Mario get paid by the red pepper flakes board? When I say a pinch I mean something that fits between two fingers; his pinches have to be trucked in), til wilted, then added a splash of broth and covered it, cooking til the liquid was absorbed, maybe ten minutes. We spread it on garlic-rubbed toast, sprinkled with oil and it was yummy. If I had thought about it I would have served it with a drift of grated pecorino but I forgot.
Tougher greens like collards I like to blanch, but I don't think anything as tender as this stuff needs blanching (which is always an annoying step, as far as I'm concerned.) This is one happy vegetable!
Curly, how do you make kale and butterbean soup? Sounds fabulous.
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It's very interesting to hear from some people in Japan. The day of the NYT article the Japan Fisheries was very quick to publish a refutation of the amounts and effects of mercury in their tuna. Certainly the Japanese have major experience with methyl mercury disasters--Minamata, as mentioned above, and one other as well. Until I looked it up this afternoon I couldn't believe that mercury was pumped into the wastewater for more than 30 years and that over 2,200 people in the minamata area were diagnosed with mercury poisoning.
I guess I have a very cynical viewpoint. Should I not assume that the more the Japanese and others overfish bluefin tuna the higher the price they get per pound? Get it while the getting's good.
Yes, big tuna have more mercury than small fish; toxic metals build up in the system. I guess that's why the site quoted above by helenjp suggests that eating "young bluefin tuna" is fine. Of course their risk assessment is pretty lax, since they don't see a problem with albacore, either. My understanding is that when it comes to canned tuna, that's why chunk light is preferable to white or Albacore--because it is from smaller fish.
I like that Monterey Bay Aquarium site. It offers lots of clear information and is well organized with re to different ways of evaluating health and/or environmental risk.
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A Nebraska ex-pat with limited equipment cooks shark just like everyone else: in a pan or on the grill--and with the latest health info in mind.
Shark is very high up on the list of fish to avoid for two reasons. One, it's the third highest in mercury levels, coming in just below Tilefish and Swordfish. Is there a lot of shark eaten where you are? As a med student it's worth knowing that current recommendation is that children and pregnant women avoid eating shark entirely. Two, it's severely overfished and often caught as a biproduct of fishing methods that are not environmentally sound.
That said, I'm sure it looked nice and fresh in that wheelbarrow.
A great source of info about fish that are safe and fish to avoid is the Monterey Bay Aquarium site.
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Would it help if I supplied the recipe? I have no idea where/what publication it came from. It has a dubious and perhaps alarming quote attributed to Tennessee Williams, which is that the result of making this pie "is good enough to slap your Mama." Perhaps she's the one who was doing the weeping if her own son slapped her.
Here it is: after filling the pie shell with the crumb crust, mix 1/2 c lemon juice, 1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk (no help as to size of can and I assume this is sweetened) and 1 egg yolk. Pour that into the pie plate. In another bowl beat 6 egg whites, 1/2 tsp crm of tartar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extr and 3/4 c sugar until stiff white peaks form. Pour over lemon mix and top w/fresh grated lemon zest. Bake in the oven "at moderate heat" (does that mean approx 350 to you?) just long enough for meringue to brown, about 20 minutes. Cool to room temp, put in fridge til "ice-cold."
I made this twice (not in the last few years, though), most likely following the recipe, since I don't bake a lot. Needless to say I don't carry a torch. My memory is that it was good, but not exactly right. I do have a vested interest in the filling being tart and not eggy. I try to avoid using a lot of egg yolk. According to some of the comments above, the meringue topping in this recipe has an awful lot of egg white and an imprudent amount of sugar. I would be happy to reduce the suger as well.
I am relatively new to eG and don't fully grasp the cook-off thing. How does that work?
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The picture of the Banh Mi sandwich in "Into the..." looked so yummy that for my second project with this book I decided to make sandwiches. I've never ordered one of these Vietnamese sandwiches, altho they are certainly available around where I live, so I had nothing to compare it to.
I got a very nice piece of pork and started by making Char Siu. It came out almost perfect; the only caveat being that it's important to make sure the cut chunks start out at least 1.5 inches thick when they go in the oven. I think some of mine might have been just a little thinner, so by the time the outside was nice and crisped along the edges the interior of a couple pieces was just a bit overcooked. Next time.
I made the simple daikon and carrot pickle using the medium shredder on the cuisinart which turned out just right.
For the chicken liver pate, which I was not about to tackle (the kind of cooking I don't like to do--whizzing meat), I found what I think is an excellent one from my local deli: it is very smooth and with a pleasant not too in-your-face chicken liver taste. Then I followed direx, using everything as suggested. Fabulous! One night we used the sliced pork in a tossed noodle salad (more Chinese, really) but for the next two days both my husband and I ate perfect Viet sandwiches for lunch and dinner! All I needed to do was buy one baguette per day and we were set. If the weather wasn't so cold I would have made iced Vietnamese coffee to go with at lunchtime.
I love this book. And I got a very sweet email from the author in response to a question and comment about one of the restaurants recommended on her website.
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Thanks Renn. That is not the kale I have been buying. I haven't seen it at the Berkeley Farmers Market and my husband, who does the Bowl run, claims he's never seen a label for it there either, but now he will know what to look for. I'm not quite ready to take the ferry for this stuff--yet.
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There's a wonderful recipe in Batali's Molto Italiano for a hearty bean soup with cavolo nero or black kale. I've started to vary the recipe, using lentils, black beans, whatever I have. I have not seen anything labeled "Cavolo Nero" here in the East Bay, nor have I seen anything called "dinosaur," so I have been buying the large kale with the very frilly tightly curled leaves. Which kind is that? Will the real cavolo nero please stand up? Could someone post a picture?
Anyway the kale I am eating is not bitter at all. I find that adding it to any soup about 25 minutes to half an hour before the end works really well. I made a sort of chili with black beans, leftover smoked ham shank and tossed in a bunch of roughly chopped kale and it was great. I'm going to try some of the ideas above so it can star in its own movie.
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I bake brownies a lot. One of the most dependable recipes is the Joy of Cooking Brownies Cockaigne--and I think it's one of the best. If you follow the direx carefully the only thing that can go wrong is if you over or under cook them, which of course isn't the fault of the recipe. The recipe uses melted chocolate, no cocoa. It's old-fashioned bakers chocolate, nothing fancy. I've tried subbing expensive chocolate and like the standard bakers better. The only thing I change routinely is the sugar--I don't like anything too sweet, so I cut back by about 1/3 cup.
I like to use a 9 x 13 pan for "chewy and moist" brownies as the recipe suggests instead of a 9 x 9 pan for "cakey." The texture is very good--I like my brownies dense but not gooey or fudgy. I do mess with the ingredients just a bit when I feel bored: sometimes I add a couple of Tbsp of instant espresso to the hot chocolate/butter mixture. Sometimes I add a handful of cocoa nibs or a half cup or less of chopped high quality chocolate at the end when the nuts go in. I might use Valrhona bittersweet orange or a dark mint chocolate. Other than making sure to cool the chocolate/butter mix before adding and to also cool the brownies well before cutting into them, this is a very forgiving recipe and takes kindly to customizing.
Save my cracking butcher block, Please!
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
Lot of fix-it guys upthread! Since you have only had the board two months you could certainly make a good case for it being defective. Have you gone back to the store or contacted the manufacturer? If it's a quality board or a quality merchant odds are in your favor you can get a replacement or a credit. Might as well try before you get glue all over yourself or end up in tears--oh wait, that's me.