Katie Meadow
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Posts posted by Katie Meadow
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7 hours ago, liuzhou said:
I fully intend to! We'll see how it goes. Thanks.
New kitchen. Small, like most Chinese kitchens, but more than usually has lots of storage space.
Looks very nice and serviceable. Great to have big windows over the sink and counter. Just curious, it seems to me that your last move wasn't very long ago, but my sense of time is getting less reliable. And I've been living in the same house since 1986, so moving is something I barely remember how to do. Why did you move again? And so happy you are back to cooking!
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On 1/15/2024 at 7:02 AM, Tropicalsenior said:
Yes, you got it. And It75 years from now when everybody else has throwing theirs away, he can put it on eBay and make a fortune.
It would be more valuable with it's companion piece, the KNOON
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Out of curiosity I looked up some grain comparisons.
I ran across some mistakes when it comes to gluten content. A few sources misidentified barley as gluten free. It isn't, and neither is rye. Both are contra-indicated for people who react poorly to gluten. Rice noodles are gluten free. But buckwheat noodles, or soba, are usually made with wheat and some percentage of buckwheat. You can find all-buckwheat soba but read ingredients carefully. In my experience soba made w/out any wheat is hard to manage when it comes to texture.
Bulgar, cracked wheat, farro and freekeh are all wheat products and contain gluten. Grains without gluten are, off the top of my head, or course rice, amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat, which is a grass not a wheat. Freekah, as far as I can make out, is toasted green wheat. It's a bit smokey and different, but good--kind of took me by surprise the first time I made it.
Bulgur has half the calories of farro. And according to one source also has twice the fiber of farrow. Supposedly farro has more protein and iron. All these stats make me suspicious, so take them with a grain of....salt. I'm certainly no expert, nor do I have gluten sensitivity.
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3 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:
uhmmmm,,, "a case" ? we buy it dry in a bag.
I stock / have all manner of dried beans, barley, rice - 3,4 varieties, pastas of every shape, orzo (ok ok, it's a pasta)
they all make their appearance regularly in the cycle of home cooking.
'not fond' - can relate . . . it maintains a chewy consistence. it is not, for example, my choice for a 'stir fry' type dish.
works in a stew dish - subject to what percentage is a chewy grain vs. 'other' . . .
the one downside to cooking 'such stuff' separately is ... they may miss out on the 'secondary' seasoning effect of being cooked 'with the dish'
If you cook the grain separately but in stock instead of water, that helps w flavor.
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2 hours ago, BeeZee said:
You can also find recipes for "farrotto" which is farro cooked like a risotto. I'm a fan of the grain for it's chew, it works for room temp salads or hot as a side dish, reheats well, and as @Katie Meadow says, great to add to soup because it doesn't turn to mush.
I can't abide mushy grains in soups, so I tend to cook rice, barley, farro, noodles, whatever, separately and just add it into individuals bowls to serve. With leftovers of grain and soup I store them separately in the fridge as well. Sometimes I put a few tablespoons of cooled soup broth into the grain container so it doesn't dry out. Really the best way to control the texture of the grain.
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Just now, ElsieD said:
For the first time in my life I bought and cooked some Farro the other day. When cool, I added roasted sweet potatoes, corn, basil, cherry tomatoes and mustard-dijon dressing. I could not believe how good this was. Any other Farro lovers? What dishes do you make with it?
Yes, farro is delicious. Makes wonderful grain salads and i especially like it in soups. Great in various minestrone or vegetable soups along with beans.
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2 hours ago, liuzhou said:
True (I've seen similar reports), but the legal shark fin market is in sharp declne. President Xi banned it from all official entertainment (where most fin was eaten) both nationally and at local level. Also, a growing public awareness of the horrific harvesting methds has had an effect.
Yes, there will still be black market supplies, but they too have been curtailed. How far new attitudes will take things, remains to be seen.
Okay, that makes me feel a teensy bit better. I'm having one of those days when everything grim comes flying out of the walls. I just bailed on a sci-fi movie that was just too depressing.
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Both swordfish and shark top the high mercury list along with other big predators like tuna, mackerel and marlin Swordfish are also prone to parasitic worms so if you see it on a menu at a sushi restaurant....just don't.
Not exactly on topic, but concerning shark, many species of which are endangered, which is one more reason to avoid eating them, I just saw an article about how the Chinese are now getting around the anti-finning laws. They simply take the whole shark instead of just the fin. So I assume that the folks who supply the fin market are eating a lot of shark.
Back to swordfish. It's been so long since I've eaten swordfish or shark I can't remember what either tastes like. If it's true that shark can be sold as swordfish because of taste or texture or just because consumers don't know the difference, then best to avoid anything called swordfish. Yech, what a mess.
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6 hours ago, weinoo said:
That was the reason for my post, as it was the reason for many of Ruscha's works of art.
Here's a stupid piece of information about me. Ed Ruscha picked me up at the Met and took me to his apartment, which, by the way, was really nice. I was a college student at the time. However, he started to get very grabby and I escaped and ran. God only knows what I was thinking.
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On 1/10/2024 at 3:34 AM, Senior Sea Kayaker said:
I never tried SPAM until about twenty years ago on the Big Island Hawaii. Never really noticed it in grocery stores at home. Spam musubi and fried as part of a plate lunch. Interesting to try but not a fan.
The packaging is iconic. I loved seeing the giant towers of Spam in Hawaii store displays. I've opened a can to taste it exactly once. See what Paul Theroux has to say about it--or don't, it's very creepy!
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10 hours ago, JohnT said:
@Katie Meadow Surly your temp should read 221°F / 105°C and not 228°F? My marmalade is stopped at 105°C and I get a perfect set every time. If I use orange (Not Saville) I always add the juice of one lemon to the fluid to get the pectin to set. We do not get Saville oranges anywhere where I live.
All I can tell you about the desired temperature is that our candy thermometer registers 212 F and at the same time, the thermapen registers 228. I don't know why there's a difference, but we generally go by the Instant Read results. Marmalades run the gamut when it comes to the set. We prefer ours on the delicate side when it comes to zest (thin cut with no pith) and not too densely set, so it is easily spreadable. I have no idea if our temperature gauges are accurate, but it works for us.
Marmalade has enough sugar so that the finished jars don't need further boiling. We make enough product in a couple of months during Seville season in CA to last all year, usually about 24 jars. We do sometimes add other citrus, but always of a sour/bitterr nature, such as grapefruit and lemon, often meyer lemons, but the greater percentage of juice comes from the Sevilles. One fun addition is Bergamot, two or three per batch, including the peel. Subtle and different, a little floral, still bitter.
And yes, it's that time again! My husband spotted some Sevilles the last time he shopped, but he said they didn't look very good, so hopefully the quality will improve over the next few weeks. I admit, we are both addicted and can't imagine not having a generous supply all year long. We do eat a lot of toast at our house.
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Briefly, without telling you the quantities and measurements, here's my process. Citrus is juiced and measured, and put in a large dutch oven. Twice as much water is added, and the bag of pips. This gets simmered for about 30 min. The zest/peel gets added, and the mix continues to simmer another 30 min. The pips bag gets removed, then the liquid gets measured and the sugar (I used regular white granulated)is added (3/4 cup sugar : each cup liquid) That gets boiled until it reaches approx 228 degrees on an instant read thermometer. We don't do any kind of test. This temperature always seems to work for us. So there are two stages: before the sugar is added the mix is kept at a med simmer. After sugar is added the mix gets boiled, otherwise you would be in the kitchen til midnight.
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59 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:
@TicTac I am glad you were able to find Seville oranges! As Katie said, use the juice in the marmalade. They tend to not have a lot, but that depends on the variety and freshness. I also use the juice of a sweet orange (following David Lebovitz's recipe). It's there for flavor, and so is the liquor component (scotch is traditional, rum also works quite well), if you choose to include it. The beauty of making marmalade is that you can make it exactly to your liking!
Cheesecloth is absolutely fine, actually that's what I used in my first batches. It can shed at the edges, so you just have to keep an eye on that (make a tight bundle and you will be fine). Also, if it is the fabric type, it is not reusable and you will need another piece for the next batch. Because I make marmalade regularly, I upgraded to a cheese / nut bag - I just wash it at the end and it is good to go for another round of marmalade or jam.
As to what goes into the bag, unlike Katie, I include seeds and pith as they are both great sources of pectin. Initially I was worried that including the pith would make the marmalade less clear, but that is not the case at all.
A mix of white and dark brown sugar works very well. I have done it in the past either intentionally (for another boost of flavor, caramel notes) or unintentionally because I realized at the last minute that I didn't have enough white sugar on hand. Again, another opportunity to create the flavor profile you like the best.
It's nice to know that using pith in with the pips didn't result in cloudiness; that's the reason I always avoided the pith.
We've been making marmalade for so many years that a while back I invested in a pack of Celestial Gifts 5x7 muslin bags. They do seem pricey, but they are reusable two or three times or more and save me a big headache. I bought them five years ago and have plenty left for the foreseeable future. I typically make 4 batches a season, and each batch yields 6-7 jars.
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2 hours ago, TicTac said:
Ok so I finally found some organic seville oranges (organic is important to us as citrus is heavily sprayed and given we are eating the rind and all...)
Please remind me, I am assuming that I use the juice from the oranges in the cooking process? I have 10 med-large'ish size oranges that I am going to make, I believe they were about 3.5-4lbs.
I do not have a special bag like that, but do have cheese cloth - will that suffice for a little bag to house the pith and seeds?
I read above @FrogPrincesse used both another citrus juice as well as rum - I am assuming those are just additional flavour agents and not required, per say?
Going to get the kids to help me with this batch so I can pass the tradition down to the next generation.
Of course you use as much juice as you can squeeze from the oranges. Also, when making up a bag for pips try to remove as much pith as possible and just use the seeds. And make sure the bag closes tightly so no seeds escape into the liquid .Yes you can certainly use other citrus fruit in the mix, but depending upon which ones you use you may need to adjust the sugar.
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On 1/6/2024 at 10:54 AM, OlyveOyl said:
And to add to the abomination cake, faux banana pastry cream for the filling + the marshmallow fluff frosting with added mini marshmallows to top the cake.
If you are too lazy to make the banana pastry cream or you can't find artificial banana flavor I suggest calling your doctor for a Rx for Children's Augmentin syrup. That would be a win win: super artificial banana flavor and a healthy dose of antibiotics just in case.
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22 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:
Correct (and fixed)! 1.5 kg of sugar, as I am not a big fan of Seville soup...
You are lucky to have learned from your grandfather! There is no tradition of making marmalade in my (French) family, so I learned through trial and error and with the tips from other eGulleters. For me the biggest improvement was to use the right pot! When I used a tall/narrow pot in my first attempts, getting the marmalade to set would take forever (several hours). Now it's a much faster process, thankfully.
Yes, a pot with wide surface area is of course one way to shorten the time when cooking down marmalade. But that and sugar alone won't get you the consistency you are looking for and the bitterness as well. I use the pips (seeds). Put most of the seeds after juicing, and with as little pith as possible, into a muslin bag and add that to the mix. I tie the bag to the handle of the pot so it hangs below the surface of the liquid. There are gelling products you can buy, but this seems to be the easiest and cheapest way to get the control you want.
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If you have read any of @liuzhou 's recent posts you already know that Chinese food is almost endlessly varied. However, I believe it is possible to learn to make a relatively easy and basic stir-fry using vegetables that are available to you and with a small investment in basic condiments. The trick is that a decent wok and a relatively high flame are essential. Many people try to make stir-fry in a saucepan with inadequate heat, and that's really just a sauté. Personally a stir-fry is my go-to easy and fast meal, and the best way I know of to combine different vegetables. And one technique or method can get you started. There's a short learning curve when it comes to what ingredients to add when, but that will make sense quickly. And you do need to prep all ingredients before cooking, because you will probably need to work fast.
Maybe someone else can suggest books that get you into Chinese cooking; I've honed my technique from various sources, and can't think of just one book to recommend for a beginner.
Where do you live? What kinds of ingredients are you most likely to find near you? That might get you more specific responses here.
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5 hours ago, TdeV said:
My hands are the problem; I need a superior grating ability (with many shapes unworkable).
And I have busted a couple workbowls for the Cuisinart trying to chop up cheese.
No workable solutions at present.
Ideas welcome.
Maybe a Moulinex would work for you? Would work for a cheese like cheddar or mozzarella.
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I guess these are all useful comments, but honestly, have you ever known anyone who wouldn't grate cheese because they lacked the "proper tool?" I'm not trying to be snarky, I was just born that way.
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7 hours ago, KennethT said:
I don't know if we've had this discussion before but does your schmaltz have bits of rendered chicken skin and/or onions? If so, that's what my grandmother and father would call gribenes in Yiddish. Schmaltz was just the pure fat.
Agree: schmaltz is just the fat. Gribenes, to me, means chicken skin cooked in the fat until it's crispy. As far as I know, my grandmother never cooked anything, except for gribenes. My mother, not a great cook, learned nothing from her. Most of what I got from my mother I had to unlearn. My father did make a mean chopped chicken liver, though lacking schmaltz he used butter. And he always added cognac. I'm planning to do the same for New Year's Day!
though, and that's what I am planning to have on New Year's Day.
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On 12/27/2023 at 2:13 PM, blue_dolphin said:
The eggnog is not blue. Apparently I need better lighting in there by the fireplace.
Since I was sipping the nog slowly, I placed 2 ice cubes into the glass to keep it cool and you can see one bobbing on top.
I'll consider this creative advice and see what I can do though it sounds like a potential choking hazard!
If, god forbid, that happens, your obit will practically write itself.
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Miroco milk frother. The quietest electric appliance on earth!. Heats and froths in short order, with various froth settings. I long ago gave up on those little stick frothers which are far too frustrating to deal with in the morning. My husband claims I said something a few months back about wanting one, however i swear I don't remember. The joys of memory loss! You get stuff you want that appear like magic. This toy is totally fun. I'm trying to limit coffee and increase calcium, so this is a win win, and perfectly timed as one of my gifts to him this holiday was.....coffee.
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On 12/25/2023 at 11:25 AM, blue_dolphin said:
Third breakfast:
Eggnog (per Jeffery Morganthaler), @JAZ's spicy sweet nuts made with pecans and more coffee.
Is that eggnog as blue as it looks? And what's that iceberg floating in it? Methinks it need a teeny tiny replica of the Titanic floated at the top. Then you can call the drink "The Last Eggnog."
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Pulses: beans, peas, lentils - love 'em? hate 'em?
in Cooking
Posted
Yes, and the great thing about RG beans, besides the amazing variety, is how fresh they are. But I find that if I keep them more than a few months they do get old and need more soaking and cooking, just like shelf-stale grocery legumes. So I try to order enough to qualify for free shipping, and then order again as needed. My favorites are not often stocked where we shop locally. My husband loves RG popcorn and I'm addicted to Indio oregano and the pineapple vinegar, so shipping. I don't have a huge amount of freezer space, and a lot of it is taken up by stocks of various kinds, so I don't freeze many cooked foods. But nothing freezes so well as a pot of beans nor makes such a satisfying emergency meal.
Yo! @SLB: mo buttah mo bettah, right?