Katie Meadow

If you live within a reasonable distance of a "supermercado" or a large store that caters to a hispanic population you may find they make their own salsas, and often a good variety. Mi Pueblo, near me, has at least six different salsas that they make and sell in bulk; definitely better than the jarred stuff. Just saying; obviously not everyone lives in a place with a latino population large enough to support that kind of store. If your town has a good taco truck they might sell their salsa to you if you bring a container.

Andiesenji, I have to say my curiosity knows no bounds. I have pantry envy of course, but my imagination is getting the better of me. You must live in some kind of farm/palace. Do you have a cow named Betsy who milks herself and then drops off a bucket to the dutch doors on her way out to graze in the orchards? Love seeing your pix. Wish I was your neighbor!

For me, the important thing about the chicken is that it not be overcooked. I like to use kosher or brined chicken. I slice the breast, cook the slices quickly in oil or butter and drain on paper towels, making sure to remove them from the pan just before they are absolutely cooked through; it will be cooked through by the time it cools. Then I don't see much difference whether I shred or dice the chicken coarsely, since it is tender either way. My chicken salad is of the sandwich variety, but pretty plain: mixed with celery, a restrained amount of mayo and/or creme fraiche, a little dijon or fresh dill, salt and pepper. Or I might go in another direction and add a little curry powder. Actually curry and dill are not bad together, a combo that can be found in some Vietnamese foods. Right before eating I stir in some chopped walnuts. My latest favorite way to eat chicken salad is with some kind of chutney, whether in a sandwich or just a scoop. Right now I'm big on mango pickle. Leftover roast chicken isn't my favorite thing, but I have a husband who loves it, so it doesn't go to waste.

This is a peculiar thread. At first when I saw it several years ago I thought the intention was simply to identify locales in the world where it was common to eat brown rice, but I see no one else thought about it like that. I grew up eating Uncle Ben's. In the late sixties and into the seventies I ate plenty of brown rice and so did everyone I knew. There were a few years of gloppy casseroles and god know's what. Whatever was good for us about brown rice was drowned in cheese and zucchini and tofu. I can't remember the last time I ate brown rice. It must have been 25 or 30 years now that I've eaten exclusively white rice. I just don't like brown rice at all any more, and honestly I don't know if I ever did. When I go out for Asian food it's always white rice. At Thai restaurants I love to order sticky rice. At home I cook rice almost every day, and it is always white basmati; with chicken, fish, stir-fry, curry, etc. I'm an addict. I can be happy with just a bowl of white rice and a little butter and salt. If I want a change, and something heartier and more rustic I switch to bulgur wheat or farro, but that's mostly in soups. I eat white rice with just about everything.

My favorite East Bay liquor store recommended the following for a a gift, which I gave to my husband for xmas: Traverse City Whiskey Co. North Coast Rye. That would be Michigan, but the north coast of which lake escapes me, since I'm geographically challenged. I told him Bulleit was our house rye, which I mostly sip, and that we liked a smooth rye, not too raw, not too spicy. It is delicious. 90 proof. Have no idea where this is available; there are so many ryes I hear about that are simply not available here. I never heard of it before, but if it makes its way to the left coast, maybe it can be found on other coasts. I often read alluring tidbits about Pikesville but have never seen it in these parts.

Pepin's pear example highlights the fact that ingredients vary, even when following a recipe, and adjustments made by experienced cooks are often required. Some recipes for newbies often do warn about variables like that--unripe fruit, the difference that large chunks vs small chunks of any ingredient can make as far as timing, etc. Some might appreciate those warnings, but as Pepin implies, you can't anticipate everything. Other problems might arise as the inexperienced cook tries to interpret instructions such as mince, slice thinly, chop coarsely, etc. These are not really examples of bad recipes as Pepin makes clear. Bad recipes would include omitting ingredients and measurement confusions as noted above; these are often just proofreading mistakes, but they can wreak havoc. To my mind the worst kind of bad recipe is one that makes blatant errors in technique, and I'm sure everyone can think of certain instructions that bug them the most. For me the single most common bad instruction is when to add garlic. If followed to the letter, many recipes would have you saute garlic until it is burnt to a crisp and smells awful, simply because they don't add the garlic at a reasonable time.

Turkey soup is the ultimate in comfort food. This doesn't sound comforting. I'm with Anna, buy another Turkey. Or, easier, buy some turkey parts like wings and necks, roast them for an hour, then dump them in a soup pot and bask in the knowledge that it will be GOOD for you as well as delicious. Unless, of course, you are trying to put yourself in a coma before the inauguration.

Nothing bad about sour cream or creme fraiche with fried or roasted potatoes, but if you are serving a brisket with your latkes you most likely wouldn't do dairy with that, you would do applesauce. That's always been my own preference: home made applesauce with a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of cinnamon. If I'm serving potato pancakes with a vegetarian meal, I might serve both apple sauce and a dairy topping on the side. For New Years Day tomorrow I'm going French Hanukah by way of the Carolinas: Duck fat roasted potatoes with a side of apples sautéed in butter and a drizzle of Steen's cane syrup. And I will make some simple vegetable potage, just because I have some chard and misc vegetables rolling around the crisper and a quart of turkey stock in the freezer. So that would be French Catfish Pie Soup.

I've never heard of using sorrel in borscht, or spinach for that matter. Traditionally sorrel or sorrel combined with other greens was used for "grass soup" as my dad used to call it, otherwise known as Tchav. I'm not saying it wouldn't be tasty, but it is a very different flavor profile. The borscht my family ate didn't have potatoes in it, which I think is more typical of Belarus borscht. I'm no authority, though! Beet greens sounds like a smart addition.

Didn't there used to be a popular thread on eG where you named three ingredients that are incompatible if not revolting together?. For me the Elvis would be at the top of the list: banana, peanut butter and bacon. Nothing appeals no matter how it's combined, two elements or all three. Yech. As my dad would say, with an emphasis on his inability to pronounce anything French, "Chacun a son gout." That's hilarious! The right bread would be a cinnamon raisin bagel. Something else that should be abolished.

Okay, pan fry it is. You say with oil. I thought it just fries in a little of its own duck fat, no?

Build it and I will come.

Road Ragu is pretty definitive. My husband, after seeing what happened to a very unfortunate small dog, coined the term "Bichon Fricassee." Okay, I apologize to the lovers of the breed. Question about prepping duck confit for a sandwich: I'm going to make confit banh mi for a little Boxing Day party, now that it's in my head. I've eaten it, but never made it. Nor have I ever made confit. I'm going to buy prepared confit. Looks like opinions are divided between the oven method to crisp and warm vs the stove top cast iron method. What are the pros and cons?

We had catfish pie for lunch. If you have been keeping up with your breakfast thread you know that catfish pie has no catfish in it. We had leftover yams with butter and salt and the small remains of curried cauliflower, cleverly scrambled into eggs. Dispatched the two carrots and one lonely apple as sides and the fridge looks pretty sparse. Berkeley Bowl, usually our major shopping expedition now carries a yam called "Red Diane." It is better, at least to me, than Garnet, Jewel or Beauregard yams. (Not true yams of course, but the orangey more squashily varieties of sweet potatoes.) Anyway, if you come across Red Dianes don't hesitate. Just as good the second day reheated.

Shredded duck confit banh mi. Crispy duck confit tacos.

Sadly I have never found a way to successfully reduce the salt in a dish--soup or otherwise--after the damage is done. Diluting the broth seems like a recipe for ruining a soup. Faced with salty soup I might try adding a pre-cooked unsalted starch such as rice to change the balance a little and amortize the salt. I don't salt my broth or stock when making it, nor do I put much salt in the soup as it cooks. I will taste it at the end, and add some, but prefer to err on the side of not salty and then add some tasty finishing salt on a bowl by bowl basis, to taste. Also over time I have learned to be very wary of any and all ingredients lists; most recipes are heavy on salt, at least for me, and that goes for famous restaurant cook books especially.

Agreed. Although Crisper Soup has a certain directness about it. If the item in question is so old that you believe it has undergone a genetic mutation you can call it Crispr Soup. I've been calling those meals put together of invisibles "kitchen sink" meals, but I like Catfish Pie way better.

Is there a perfect pairing topic? With my Pina Colada I need a pupu platter with pigs in a blanket. Once, in a galaxy far far away, I must have had that. It must have been at a late 70's 50's party.

Liuzhou, nothing like an old wives' tale, right? Eat a banana a day for leg cramps. Plus yams and other potassium rich foods. Seriously I have a friend who swears by bananas for this. Your sandwich looks very tasty. The eggs look perfect, with the yolks exactly the way I like them. Sleep well!

For new moms or in fact for anyone who might need help with food and cooking-- those recovering from surgery or grieving or just not up to cooking--most friends and neighbors bring casseroles that are heavy and cheesy. Bring something different, like soups with lots of vegetables. Home made chicken soup; does anyone not like that? (Well, anyone who isn't a vegetarian). A loaf of really good bakery bread is always welcome for obvious reasons. I made a lentil and tomato soup once for a friend who was so thankful; she said she was overwhelmed with casseroles and had to stuff them in the freezer. The above pot roast is a good idea, as it can be versatile. Green beans dressed with lemon and oil that can be eaten room temp. Keep in mind that many people have partners who also don't have time to cook but who probably DO have time to run out to get a sandwich or take-away. The support system needs a home-cooked meal too.

This "raclette melter" is a hilarious contraption. I had no idea! I couldn't grasp how it might work, so I googled several videos of them in action. I wish I had a video of some 5th graders figuring out how to use it without adult supervision. I am guessing the Swiss instructions are more detailed than than the Ikea ones would be, if the Swedish ever wanted such a thing. But I'm sure the Swedes would come up with a good name for it. Like "Maelstrum" or "Gloop." There are various amazing iterations of these melters, aka raclette grills. One uses three votive candles as a heating element. I assume the Swiss have been making giant wheels of raclette long before they figured out the ideal use for electric heating coils. Is there a mini Swiss Army one for use on camping trips? I think my husband needs that for a holiday gift.

Same here, I add cooked noodles or rice at the end. But if I have a lot of soup and expect leftovers I only add them to individual portions; just sitting in hot broth and then cooling down makes them too soft for me.

I adore pot pie, if it's the real thing. In the past I have often found leftover cooked turkey to be less than forgiving when it comes to pot pie or gumbo or even added to soup, but this year we made some changes to the way we cook our turkey and the result was some amazingly moist and tender meat. So, turkey pot pie, which I admit is a lot of work, was in order, especially as my favorite nephew was coming over and he is a definitely a pie fanatic, sweet or savory. (Only pies at his wedding!) I used a mix of breast and dark meat, potatoes, carrots, parsnip, turnip, a few grilled baby onions, chard and peas and a binder of sautéed leeks and shallots, turkey stock, a little cream plus a bit of the rich gravy left over from Thanksgiving dinner. I had enough filling for two pies. My husband made the pie dough. We cooked the first one and my nephew and his wife took home what was left of it, which wasn't much. We baked the second one today. The filling doesn't suffer at all from being in the fridge overnight. The only adjustment I made was to add a bit more gravy to kick up the flavor and make up any lost moisture resulting from a night in the fridge. This will be a yearly tradition from now on. David Ross, I love smoked turkey. It's especially useful for making stock for red beans and rice -- always appreciated by guests who don't eat pork. Truthfully my motivation for cooking turkey is mainly the uses I can put it to afterwards.

We had a drink we liked very much last week: equal parts gin, Aperol, cointreau and lemon juice, plus a dash or a few drops of Absinthe. The friend who made it got the recipe from someone and didn't have a name for it. I think it is similar to a Corpse Reviver 2, in which Lillet is used in place of Aperol. Does anyone know the name for this drink?

Turkey soup, my drug of choice. This year I ended up with two carcasses (thank you my great neighbor!) and there was so much bone and meat that I had to make two batches of stock. I now have about 9-10 quarts in the freezer. And for two days I've been drinking bowl after bowl out of the stockpot or whatever won't fit neatly in a container. I like to start out very plain: just broth, salt and a little sichuan pepper. I might throw in a little cooked rice or a squeeze of lime juice. Then I start dreaming about what kinds of soups I will make in the next couple of months. Minestrone with Marcella beans and greens? Mexican tortilla soup? All good. What kinds of turkey soups do you like?