Katie Meadow

I have tried frying both ways: without any batter coating and with a very thin light egg and flour batter. I found that the eggplant sans batter sucks up more total olive oil than the battered eggplant (that doesn't sound right does it? That poor battered eggplant!) The batter absorbs only what it needs to brown, but the uncoated eggplant just keeps on absorbing. The result was that the eggplant w/no coating tasted very oily. The eggplant when coated was far more intense in flavor and perfectly soft without being oily. Using relatively thick slices helps to maximize the vegetable and minimize the oil. Really just a personal thing, but for me battering has another bonus, which is that it allows for the integrity of the eggplant in the finished dish. It has more structure that way, making it easier and prettier to serve and less like a mushy casserole. If you are wishing to eliminate the oil and/or the batter I think baking would be a better solution.

kl: brainy idea to add the salt first. How long do you let the meat sit w/salt before adding the rub? Then how long between rubbing and grilling? As a guideline do you like a 1:1 ratio for unsweetened cocoa:brown sugar? Did you prefer the recipe with 3 parts coffee to approx 1 part chili powder to the one that was closer to 1 part each? I know the heat varies depending upon what type of chili you are using, but for the sake of argument let's say ground ancho. I like the idea of finding a workable base of fresh ground coffee, chili, cocoa and sugar, then varying the rub with other herbs or seasonings depending upon what's on hand.

I've just become a Pimm's initiate. Check out the Pimm's thread--very informative! Cucumber is an integral ingredient to most drinks made with Pimm's No. 1. I learned there is a tradition of lemon soda or lemonade as well as ginger ale. Eje above suggests using a ginger beer for a little more spice. That sounds yummy. I think making your own ginger ale with fresh ginger would be fantastic. I didn't see any drinks made with cucumber water, but one person suggested infusing the Pimm's by letting the cucumber sit in it for a couple of hours. I tried it for an hour and then got impatient. It was good! I add a squirt of lemon and some bruised mint to my Pimm's cup; I'm not a soda drinker, and most sodas taste too sweet to me. So far I am using a craft ginger ale. It's good but still benefits from lemon juice to tarten it up.

This cocoa thing got me curious, so I dug up an old SF Chronicle recipe that was adapted from a Scharffenberger recipe, no doubt in their attempt to convince people that their cocoa nibs are, in fact, edible. They are, sort of. My daughter had given me a pack of them and I've been trying to use them up for the better part of a year now. Cocoa nib brownies was the most successful, but this turned out to be a pretty good way to used them. We started with a 1lb flanksteak. The recipe was a little strange, calling for 1 T of hot red pepper flakes. I subbed the same amount of ground ancho chile. It called for 1 T of cocoa nibs, 1 1/2 T of brown sugar (I cut it back to 1 T), half tsp of cumin seeds and 1/4 tsps of dry mustard and allspice. It also called for 1 T of kosher salt, which according the recipe, resulted in each portion having 1.714 mg of sodium. That seemed like a ridiculous amount of salt, and being a person who has, over the years, adapted happily to using less salt, I cut way way back on that. All the ingredients went into the coffee grinder. I tasted it and proceded to add some ground coffee. I couldn't stop myself. The recipe suggested applying the rub at least 8 hours before grilling, so that's what we did. It was very good, considering my proportions were fairly haphazard. Next time I would try it with a rib-eye instead. If flanksteak is at all tough I think it does better with a wetter marinade rather than a dry rub. And all the flanksteak I have been buying this year seems tougher than it used to be, whether I'm doing a stir-fry or grilling it whole. Tri2Cook: your pork rub sounds good, but you don't say if you liked the way it turned out. With almost twice the amount of cocoa to chili, was the taste of the cocoa very pronounced?

You have my sympathy. I have a good friend who has had gout for many years. He is not on any preventive medicine, but takes some prescriptive med when he has an outbreak. A while ago he backed off red meat, but didn't go cold turkey. He still eats shellfish as well, also in moderation. The only thing he completely stopped eating was smoked meats and head-cheese. For some reason that escapes me he ate a lot of head-cheese. He and his wife have upped their consumption of beans and it has not been a problem. Nor is oatmeal; he eats it every day for breakfast. He drinks red wine, also in moderation. He doesn't think cherry juice does anything for him, but does eat large quantities of raspberries and blueberries. He hasn't had an outbreak in over a year, and he had many of them before that. He believes it's the smoked meats and the head-cheese that are the worst offenders. Almost every disease has dietary prohibitions and prescriptions that work for some people. Trial and error. Good luck!

My desire to change from charcoal to gas was motivated solely by convenience. Charcoal grills get fantastic results, but if you have limited time or energy and like grilled foods on a regular basis, even in a mild winter, gas is easier. Now I don't think twice about grilling and probably grill ten times more often than I did with a charcoal grill. That counts for a lot. I wouldn't dispute the superior taste that can be had with wood or charcoal when a practiced chef is on duty, but on the other hand, with a little talent and experimenting, a steak or rotisserie chicken cooked on a gas grill is awfully damned good. One of my main concerns about going to gas was that many of the gas grills I checked out did not have cast iron grill racks. We ended up buying a very modest Weber Genesis for which we were able to order replacement cast iron racks. They don't present a sticking problem and they get plenty hot enough to make for beautiful dark criss-cross grill marks. I know people who really enjoy making a wood or charcoal fire. More power to them! Invite me over! If anyone in my household was so motivated and cared enough to do it at the drop of a hat when tired and hungry I might be the proud owner of a charcoal grill. I might dig a pit and grow my own hickory trees! But all things considered, I get delicious smoky grilled carcinogenic food while I kick back with a gin & tonic and give no thought to my heat source. So what's better, charcoal or gas? Life's too short to argue about it. If it gives you pleasure, bring on the fancy wood. Or turn on the gas.

I kind of don't think so, Chris. I think the concept of an entree--if that is indeed what we are talking about when we talk about focus--is pretty much a standard for vegetarians as well as meat eaters. Whether it revolves around separate hunks of protein, smaller amounts of protein mixed into stir-fry or big soup or a casserole with no animal protein at all, it represents the "main event" in a staggered meal that marches along in a more or less orderly fashion. And my experience with vegetarians (I hope I don't get a lot of flack for this), which includes many many years of eating with my in-laws, is that many vegetarians--at least many who became vegetarians in the sixties--are actually very traditional in the way they approach a meal. They are the folks who forged the "substitute" entrees--tofu burgers, etc--dishes that try to make vegetarian foods look and taste like non-veg foods and which emulate the traditional meals of an American childhood. Many of my daughter's college-age friends who, like her, grew up eating lots of ethic foods have a much more sophisticated approach to a vegetarian diet. But I've digressed. I really don't know much about the origins of Spanish tapas, but that's hardly vegetarian. Clearly in this country we elevated the concept of small plates or tapas from bar food to "why not make a meal of this stuff?" since it was often better and more interesting than just eating one entree, and you could fool yourself into thinking you were eating less. Always appealing for the American Waistline. But have the Spanish had a long tradition of small plates as a complete dinner option? In restaurants that's easy to do, but if you are eating in a Spanish home, or out for country/rustic food in Spain (and I've never been) aren't you most likely to find more traditional menus with a main course?

Dave, I too add strong brewed coffee to red pork chili. For some reason I have never done it with beef chili, but I rarely make beef chili. Sometimes I add bitter chocolate to my chile by mixing unsweetened cocoa with a very small amount of sugar, making a slurry and dumping it in. I usually add coffee and/or this chocolate about a third or halfway through the cooking time, which for a pork stew might be a couple of hours. Dunno exactly why I add it then. Perhaps adding a small dusting of cocoa to a chili rub would be interesting. Sounds like you are already using sugar in your rub, so you could omit any extra of that. If you added a little cinnamon it might be like a mexican chocolate kind of thing--certainly a natural with ancho chili.

Focus or lack thereof is an interesting subject. I find that as I get older I really enjoy dinners that have no focus--which usually translates as no entree. In a good light I would call it a meal of tapas. In the height of summer, on a day I go to the farmers' market that's most likely to be a vegetarian meal, since I can't chose between beautiful corn, beets, tomatoes, fingerlings etc., so we just have them all. You don't necessarily need an entree to make balance. To me, the above small plates with the addition of some yummy cheeses or oysters or pate as an app with drinks would be a perfect meal, but I make the assumption that most guests would prefer a more traditional dinner. I think I have become a pretty quirky eater in some ways; although there aren't many foods I don't like, I do need to limit cholesterol and fat. Many in my husband's family are vegetarians and have grown up with very typical casseroles that often rely on carbohydrates and cheese like the old standards of lasagna, eggplant parm, savory pies and enchiladas. I am used to making that type of thing when we eat with them. Since I need to stay away from cheese and butter, when we eat vegetarian at home it's seldom stuff like that. Perhaps that's why the multi-salad tapas-style is very appealing to me. Back to focus and balance, I would probably have been quite happy with the meal you served, but I can certainly see how that cornucopia of medit food would make you yearn for lamb kabobs. I am guessing you have had them by now or are about to!

I don't eat a lot of beef, but when I have beautiful rib-eye steaks I can't resist this rub. It's more or less from a Bobby Flay recipe called Barbeque Cowboy Steaks. I use less salt, substitute New Mexico chile or ancho chile for black pepper and use less garlic powder or fresh sqeezed garlic. If I am altering 3 out 6 ingredients perhaps it really isn't his recipe any more. This makes enough for three or four steaks. The rub goes on and the steaks sit at room temp for about an hour before grilling. 1 tsp or less salt (he calls for 1 Tbsp, which seems scary to me!) 1 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika 1/2 tsp garlic powder or fresh sqeezed garlic (he uses 1 tsp) 1 tsp ground ancho chili (he uses black pepper) 1 tsp ground dry thyme 1 tsp finely ground coffee beans The ground coffee just knocks me out. I imagine that you could add ground coffee to a variety of chili-based rubs and it would deepen them.

I come from the camp in which "fancy" doesn't necessarily mean expensive ingredients; it can mean labor intensive or complex cooking. Since this is summer, I might go for a paella instead of a cassoulet. Lovely delicate English peas, beautiful bivalves and a dramatic presentation. Not necessarily something that breaks the bank. Having a paella is the perfect excuse to serve jamon (dressed up with melon--yum!) for a starter, which does break the bank. Or proscuitto and melon isn't too shabby either. Can you ever go wrong with oysters? I don't mind the shucking if I have company to talk to, and oysters go great with champagne if it's a special occasion. I like the suggestions above of a tomato consomme if you have some fabulous tomatoes already. That would work even without the crab as something simple made really special. It's the kind of thing almost no one ever makes for themselves. For me the most special foods are the ones the are seasonal and at their peak. The one simple thing I appreciate most these days is fresh wild salmon: healthy, and pricey enough so most people I know don't eat as much of as they would like. For dessert I would showcase whatever fruits are best right now, like peaches. Perfect fresh fruit paired with an exotic sorbet. That pineapple carpaccio w/sichuan jelly and basil sorbet sounds out of this world. Thai basil sorbet, yeah? Ermintrude, where is that recipe?

Is this the kind of movie theater where you eat WHILE you watch the movie? If that's the case, and you can stand to watch a movie with a lot of slurping and clattering going on, then what you drink with your chili cheese fries should be wide open. If you come in late and get the last two seats on the lumpy couch with broken springs and the wobbling postage stamp of a table, get the white wine, which won't stain. But that would be the kind of place where nothing has a bouquet of lychee. I don't see how the chili necessarily makes red wine a no-no. There are plenty of very spicy dishes-- "chicken a la diavolo" or hot Italian sausages or pizza with peppers--that you might drink red wine with. And you certainly have plenty of occasion to drink a red with fries, like when you have steakfrites. Oh, you did mean balcony, right? Because if they serve baloney, or even bologna, then maybe a beer would be better.

Carrots with harissa above sounds very yummy! If you've got some nice tomatoes a Greek salad with some cukes, feta and olives would be perfect, along with a fresh baguette, of course. As long as you are firing up the grill you could make some babganouj; home-made w/grilled eggplant is far superior to any deli-prepared. Medium size eggplants will only take about 20 minutes (while you are prepping other stuff) and then you can grill the other veggies. Cook eggplants, turning to evenly char, til blackened on the outside and very soft inside. Scrape out and mash the pulp, including a little of the smokey skin. Mix in about 1/4 c tahini for two or three eggplants, or to taste. Add a drizzle of olive oil, some lemon juice, salt and cumin. Serve with a sprinkling of paprika and/or chopped parsley and another drizzle. If you don't have pita bread, I find it's just as good or better on a baguette or scooped up with those pricey but delicious Panzanella crackers.

Thank you, Katie. Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it - shaking beef (click). ← Made the recipe pretty much as written, except my flanksteak seemed a little tough, even cutting into it raw, so instead of cubing the meat I decided to slice it very thin and marinate if for half an hour in the soy, oyster sauce, garlic and an addition of a little rice wine. Then I wok-seared it hot and fast. This is a great dish (and so simple!), especially in warm weather, now that real tomatoes are starting to appear. Immensely satisfying combination of strong flavors. Thanks!

I had mixed results and very mixed enthusiasm for making my own hummus until I found three things: a good brand of garbanzos, a good brand of tahini and a good recipe. Chickpeas in a can always taste tinny to me. There is an Italian brand called Annalisa that's not expensive and comes in a jar. The chickpeas taste clean and not stale. As for tahini, I never could deal with that stuff in the can; it's always separated and the solids are like cement. Now I buy a bottled brand made by Sadaf, which I can find in a large Arab or middle eastern deli. It's smooth and needs little mixing so it's very easy to use, and it's 100% sesame w/no preservatives. It's a mystery to me why it doesn't separate, but it doesn't. Tastes really pure and nice. Finally I found a Mark Bittman recipe that makes a balanced and flavorful hummus, and it's easy to adjust the proportions to your taste. I don't think I've had Sabra products; sounds like a good bet in a pinch. I'm pretty much used to making my own hummus and babaganoush; it's fast and simple in the processor and the cost savings are far greater than half, as suggested above. I've seen plenty of flavored spreads that are called "hummus" as if the word means "dip." Seems like a stretch, to me--they might be very good, but in my book hummus means chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon, oil and spices.

That pineapple sounds interesting. Our pineapple choices in this country are going the way of the banana. I find Mexican-grown pineapple is more flavorful than the ubiquitous and very bland Dole Hawaiian, but it isn't always available. Yes, tropical fruits seem to have an affinity for savory and hot, as in salsas and chutneys; of course they grow where the season is long enough to grow hot peppers and tomatoes, so it make sense. I like pineapple the way I first had it as street food in Mexico--with a squirt of lime and a sprinkle of ancho chili powder (in a lovely paper cone!) And I admit to liking it grilled or broiled, with sea salt and brown sugar. Ooh, I 'm having a Sunset Magazine moment.

Thanks to Ce'nedra's recent post on the favorite food blogs thread, I checked out several of them. Whiteonricecouple.com is fabulous. Their noodle tutorial is the best I have ever seen, so anyone with questions about cooking various types of noodles should check that out. Their "Battle of the Banh Mi" is also wonderful; not only great suggestions and recipes for make-your-own but a list of reader recommendations for sandwich places all over the country. Another blog she mentioned is Steamykitchen.com, also very interesting. Excellent blow-by-blow description of how to make the perfect Viet iced coffee. C. sapidus, that shaking beef looks luscious. I don't have "Pleasures of..." Is there a lot more to the recipe/ingredients or is your brief description pretty much how it is? I could probably run with that, but perhaps there's something else I should know? I like the idea of serving tomatoes with it. I used to think the pairing of pineapple and tomato was weird, but now I've grown to like it. There are some interesting soups that make use of that combo. (I sneered at pineapple pizza but I've come 'round on that one too!)

The first time I ever saw those one-handed squeezers was in a market in Mexico. They were bright durable plastic and on the small side--just perfect for those petite limes. I bought several and gave them as gifts. Twenty years later I still use mine for limeade or when I want a quick fix and have juicy fruit. However, for getting your money's worth out of a lemon or a lime nothing works like an old-fashioned wooden reamer. The first time I used one I was amazed by how much juice I could wring out of even an overpriced under-ripe citrus fruit. Downside of course is messing with the seeds. For orange juice I think those hand-powered juicers like grandpappy has are aesthetically pleasing and very efficient. I have the same feeling as Jaz about aluminum; stainess steel is probably sturdier. I don't have any aluminum cookware, but I've always thought that using high-acid foods with aluminum wasn't the best idea.

Okay, thought I would add my two cents. You don't say what type of noodles you are cooking with. I am guessing that times have only changed so much since I lived in New Mexico and that you are not getting fresh rice noodles. Are you getting fresh Chinese wheat noodles? Dried rice noodles? My experience is that the prep for all these noodles is different. I don't know what type of stir-fry you are making. Some dishes use a crispier noodle or nest and then simply get the rest of the stir-fry ingredients poured on top. For a crispy noodle I pre-cook wheat noodles al dente and then coat with oil and bake them. For other stir-fry, when I want my veggies or whatever tossed with noodles--either rice or wheat--I find the best results are when using a thinner noodle. For rice noodles that would mean vermicelli or "S" size, which is I think stands for small, and seems one step up from vermicelli. For wheat noodles I boil them til al dente, dump into a strainer, briefly run cold water over, and then just mix them with a very small amount of peanut or sesame oil. The cold water stops them from cooking of course, and the oil prevents them from sticking. I toss them with a fork gently a couple of times while they are cooling and they can sit til I'm ready. I have easy access to fresh Chinese wheat noodles, but I would think dried wheat noodles would be boiled as per usual, til barely tender if they are going back into the wok before serving. I tend not to use soba in stir-fry; I prefer soba cool. I also don't use udon or other Japanese style noodles for stir-fry, but I don't see why that couldn't be done. For thin rice noodles I don't find it necessary to boil them first, but simply pour very hot water over them and let them sit until they are just this side of tender, or al dente. That takes 15 minutes to half an hour, depending upon thickness. Then I drain them. I coat them with a very small amount of oil as well, but I am not sure it's necessary. I make stir-fry in a wok on very high heat. When the ingredients are close to being tender, or however I prefer them, I add the sauce mixture, cover, and let steam until done, usually less than a minute. If I wish to have a noodle stir-fry (instead of over rice) I add the sauce ingredients just a minute earlier, cover, steam briefly, then dump in the cooled noodles, stir in quickly, cover again, and cook another 30 seconds or a minute until the noodles are heated through. They will soften up a little during that time. That's it. Hope this is helpful.

Many many years ago I shared a few farm animals with a mixed collection of experienced rural types and adventurous hippies. We had one cow and several goats and did a certain amount of experimentation with whatever milk we had. The cow was outstanding, but my recollection of goat's milk butter is that the reason it isn't common is partly the goatey taste but mainly the fact that goat's milk is low in fat, so it isn't exactly cost-effective to try to make butter when the cream yield is so small. I suppose in cultures that don't have cows or among people who can only sustain goats it might be more appealing, although they might have easier access to various oils for cooking. I think it would work paired with anything you could imagine combines well with goat cheese, like spinach or potatoes.

Just so no one gets the wrong idea, I wasn't working from memory, I was just making that up--imagining what it might be like. I guess I'm not far off! I'm pleased to know you made it back in one piece. Cheers! Anyone remember the movie "Local Hero?" I expect most of my false and very fond visual memories of Scotland are due to numerous viewings of that movie seen through a haze of a variety of things. Lovely.

When I was growing up my mother and another mom in our building developed a relationship that revolved around cocktail hour playdates and Scotch. Cigarettes too, but happily my mother quit smoking and never drank to excess. When I tasted her drink and made a terrible face, my mother pronounced Scotch an acquired taste and told me to try another sip when I got my own five-year old. I did, and it was delicious. I prefer my whisky neat and as a nightcap--accompanied if possible by a piece of bittersweet chocolate. Generally I like the more delicate highland Scotch; a little peat goes a long way for me. Bring on the fresh hay and the flowers! For my 50th I was given a bottle of Balvenie (I think it was 21)) and thought it was wonderful. I love Macallan; 18 is seriously yummy, 12 is just fine. When college tuition payments come to an end maybe a bottle of Macallan 25 will be in order. I hope I still have some taste buds by then. Needless to say we don't routinely have a bottle of either in our house. For everyday really low-price blended Scotch we buy Cluny in the giant plastic bottle. It's cheaper than Famous Grouse and I don't find Famous Grouse to be appreciably better. Maybe I'm just used to Cluny. I think it may be more common on the west coast, but I'm not sure. My image of the most dangerous vacation on earth is the self-guided Scotland distillery tour. There I am on a narrow twisty road at the edge of a bog in a driving rainstorm and the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car and the car's on the wrong side of the road and there are sheep all over the place and how many distilleries have we already been to?

This is the kind of question that makes you wish Lidia was going to drop by later for a glass of wine so you could ask her. She pretty much puts herself in the camp of those with Italian-American cooking roots, no? But she would also know exactly where in Italy they combine cheese and fish--if they ever do. I can think of no people more likely to pair cheese with seafood than Americans. We seem to like cheese on everything: goopy, stringy, flaky, salty, every which way. And best of all it comes straight out of the Kraft canister with the nice big holes and you don't have to worry about breaking a nail on the grater. (Okay, I know some folks are nostalgic about that delivery system, but not me.) I am guessing that enough Americans, exuberant over getting their first neighborhood Italian restaurant and used to shaking cheese on their meatballs & spaghetti, didn't hesitate to put it on every entree. What waiter would suggest otherwise? The kids are having fun with it; hey it's like eating in a snow globe! And so...linguini with clams got a fair shake too. What's not to like? Well, to me the combo of cheese and seafood just seems generally icky. My one exception is the southern favorite of cheesy grits and shrimp. As long as the grits aren't overly cheesy--and we're not talkin' pecorino here), and there's a spicy red salsa to go with, it kinda works for me.

I was really disappointed in Whitehouse Crawford the last time I was there. All the dishes were exceptionally salty. None of us really liked our food and we felt ripped off, frankly. My next trip up to Walla Squared may be very soon, and I'm looking forward to trying the new pho place. Nobody has posted any comments about it yet. I'll put in a good word for some of the cheap lunch options, like the taco wagons, and I too appreciate Onion World, which my family always refers to as the Hot Dog Window, and which has very limited open window hours during lunchtime. They do work the grill at the farmers' market on the weekend, so you can have one there. I'm not really a hot dog person, but their sausages are really good. If they would devote just a little thought to the whole package it would be even better: superior buns, grilled carmelized onions (in season no onion can touch a WW sweet!) and dijon mustard would do the trick. And then if they added a papaya drink like Gray's Papaya in NY it would be a dizzying meal. This next trip I plan to investigate the food and drink in Waitsburg; it all sounds wonderful. If that town is carefully and slowly restored without too much kitch or clutter it will be really lovely.

Knowing how fond I am of bittersweet chocolate, my daughter included a package of Scharffenberger cocoa nibs in a gift for me. She didn't know what they were, but I guess they sounded promising. I had no idea what to do with them, so when we made a batch of brownies we threw in a handful of nibs along with chopped walnuts. They were excellent in the brownies, adding depth to the taste and a nice texture, different from anything else. They retained their bite, being neither too hard nor too soft. Why they would act differently in a cookie is interesting.