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pistolabella

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Everything posted by pistolabella

  1. I'm signed up for 2 quiches as a contribution to an office "brunch" tomorrow. We'll be eating around 11:00 a.m.; I arrive at work at 7:30 a.m. and have access to a a fridge but no oven for reheating.My hope is that I can prepare the two quiches tonight , bring them to the work fridge in the morning, and let them come towards room temperature 20 minutes or so before 11:00 tomorrow. I figure if I bake them in the morning, they are still subject to either a) sitting out too long and/or b) eventually ending up in the fridge before 11:00 anyway and then there's just too much out/in and that could make the moisture factor weird.So - I'm looking for tips on making these tonight. I used to make quiche all the time but it's been a few years and I'm kind of nervous, especially with the circumstances. I am guessing I definitely need to blind bake, and choose toppings that don't have a ton of moisture. What are the best cheeses to use? And finally, the best ratio of eggs to milk? I seem to recall preferring quiches with more eggs...like 5 or so, whereas most of the recipes I've been looking at this morning only call for 3. I also would like to use cream instead of milk because that's what I have on hand. For fillings, I was thinking spinach & sundried tomato for one and I'm not sure about the 2nd quiche. What do you think? What are your tips?
  2. Very interesting re: the spoon method, Kim. I'm filing that one away. We put country ham in our greens all year and have it for breakfast a time or two a month, so at holiday time a "city" ham is a real treat. My in-laws order one from Honeybaked and it's delicious, a crowd-pleaser, makes great leftovers and sandwiches. I look forward to it every year, more than the turkey. Leading up to the big day I'm making the inevitable last minute edits to the menu. There will be a broccoli casserole because I'm nostalgic for family I won't be seeing this year, and the dish was always served on their table growing up. I am still doing 2 types of dressing; although I maintain cornbread is king, I know it isn't for everyone and there is something about a good herbed bread stuffing, too. Making my pans of cornbread tomorrow to chunk up and get good and dry. Getting wishy washy about my wild rice "dressing" (casserole). If I opt to stud it with fruit and keep it light, I will be eating it for a week, whereas if I stick to ritual and add the sausage, sweet peppers and cream of mushroom, I know it will get eaten up and it is quite good. At the end of the day, the enjoyment I get from making a crowd pleasing dish overrides my desire to make "just one healthy thing" every year, and I'm not exactly mad about it I suck at making desserts. Thankfully, various members of my husband's family are still on board to bring sweets. We always end up with a Nothing Bundt Cake at every occasion and my word, they are delicious. Highly recommend to anyone with a franchise location in their area, needing to outsource a sweet treat.
  3. Kim, as a very indulged 35 year old only child, I think you're great for hosting again at your daughter's request! I think i will take your advice on not precooking the spinach, and on the eggs. Being able to purchase them ahead takes such cumbersome task off my hands; I hate making deviled eggs. There must be a level in Hell for the mildly ill behaved that sentences one to a lifetime of peeling eggs.
  4. I look forward to the holiday cooking posts every year. I'm going to have to give those gougeres a whirl. I'm going to get a head start on Thanksgiving appetizers and sides that I can freeze. The cornbread for the dressing. Sausage balls using some of the spicy bulk sausage I picked up at Benton's Bacon in Madisonville. The wild rice casserole. Alison Roman's salted butter chocolate chip shortbread cookie dough (great to throw in the freezer). I need a new green thing, maybe a spinach Madeline that will come together easily. Any suggestions? This one is looking good so far: https://food52.com/recipes/74218-spinach-madeline Also - opinions on how long deviled eggs are both tasty and safe in the fridge? I thoughtlessly tagged on a tray of them when I ordered my turkey from Fresh Market - so I will be picking them up Tuesday night. Will I kill everyone I serve them to on Thursday?
  5. Fantastic! Thank you both. My restaurant choices are 100% based upon browsing TripAdvisor and old Eater hot lists. I'm not super-attached to the idea of any particular restaurant so I really appreciate your suggestions of better places.
  6. Thanks for that! Also thanks for tagging weinoo....I didn't realize you could do that on eGullet and solves my conundrum of wanting to ask about the cocktail spots in the Beverages & Libations forum as well, so I will tag a few posters I follow from there... @Rafa do you have any tips on the above?
  7. My husband and I are coming to New York later this summert for the first time and I would love some opinions on cocktail bars and restaurants we're considering. There are obviously waaaay too many interesting sounding places to visit, so these are our running lists...any tips, warnings, or recommendations for something better much appreciated! First the cocktails: Blacktail, Pouring Ribbons, Dead Rabbit, Amor y Amargo, Angel Share, Orient Express, Mulberry Project, Attaboy and we have to hit Death & Co. because their book is really what opened up the world of making drinks for us. I personally think I can live without PDT. Anything I should know or suggestions that would be better? Is the food good at Blacktail as well? Where is Phil Ward working these days? I also want to visit Bemmelman's bar and the Algonquin hotel bar, but more for the history than to sit around for any long period. Also - are there two Angel Share locations, and if so are they distinctly different? For restaurants - I am intrigued by the downstairs / bistro portion of La Esquina; Spotted Pig; Prune; Baohaus; Song e Napule pizza; Claudette; Left Bank; Shabu-tatsu; Monte's Trattoria (anything similarly old-school in the area that you like better?); Barbuto. I'd also like to sample some delicious dumplings if anyone can suggest a quick/fast/cheap place that's good. We're staying at the Jane Hotel, so any other recommendations or tips in that vicinity appreciated.Thank you!
  8. I think there are a few sections that will be salvageable for pulled pork but some parts are already dry and tough as a shoe. I guess we'll work with what we have tonight, and next weekend - I try again! Thanks for the suggestions .
  9. So I had the bright idea to smoke a pork butt in our gas grill. I had read about the method, had everything in place, my grill set up for indirect cooking, thought everything was going great...until just now I realized I was reading the celsius and not the farenheit on the temperature gauge (never used this grill before and just didn't think to check). The pork has been on about 3 hours now. I wondered how it was achieving such a lovely color so "quickly" (was supposed to take about 8 hours. What should / can I do? The internal temp is about 150. I've since turned the heat down and its right around 220. Any tips...greatly appreciated. I feel like a real dummy.
  10. Wellll I hate to be such a tease with the mole making, but last night my husband came down with a horrible stomach flu so there will be no such Mexican cooking project this week. We'll be postponing til next weekend so that he can enjoy as well, and I'll update then. This weekend's project is now to make some good soups for him to have while on the mend. KayB - we're in the Knoxville area. Never know what to *really* expect with the snow forecasts here, but I have a feeling we'll actually see something this time.
  11. I'm a big fan of ryes, and have found that a lot of the typical, readily-available ones in my area are not to my liking - I really dislike Bulleit & Knob Creek, for example. Typically our go-to house ryes for cocktails are, in order of preference, Old Overholt & Rittenhouse - both fairly cheap but packing the "spiciness" i like. I am also big fan of Willet 3 year for both cocktails and sips. Woodford will "do" if I'm ordering a cocktail out, but I probably wouldn't buy it for home.
  12. For some things, I never know when to start a new thread or revive an ancient one that has lots of good input. In this case, my subject is mole, and I found several old posts about mole, and then this post which features plenty of mole as well but seems to enjoy better success and discussion when revived, so here I am . East TN is being told we can expect another last 'bout of winter weather this weekend, so I want to cook something delicious and complicated and cozy. I have had mole and homemade tortillas on my list for ages, so this seems like a good time. I've enjoyed a lot of good mole varieties over the years but never made one (of any type) myself. I've settled on the mole rojo a la Rick Bayless (I've seen it pop up in various places around here), with a little inspiration from a Oaxacan culture blog as well. https://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/my-first-mole-rich-red-mole-with-chicken http://oaxacaculture.com/2012/03/recipe-making-authentic-mole-rojo-in-teotitlan-del-valle/ As the second link references Mexican chocolate with almonds, I'm quite excited because I have a disc of Taza mexican almond chocolate I've been hoarding for no real reason until now. I'm really looking forward to this and will post pics / let you know how it turns out! any tips based on the two recipes I linked? I am going to continue reading over all the great old mole posts i'm finding on eGullet.
  13. Will just be my husband and myself...I think charcuterie (we'll have just received the latest box from our Carnivore subscription) and some good olives for grazing, and a couple of small homemade pizzas when the hunger hits. We use Publix bakery pizza dough balls on an Emile Henry pizza stone, sauce made with Muir Glen fire crushed tomatoes and a wad of fresh basil simmers low until we need it. Toppings consist of whatever needs to go from the Fridge, and possibly whatever's left on the charcuterie board. A nice, sippy Tiki drink or two like a Mai Tai and mayhaps I will make some brownies when the inevitable midgame boredom hits me.
  14. great to know. im goimg to try no soak next time.
  15. great tips! i started robirdstx soak method and now i can get ready for the "fun" part \ aromatics and whatnot. definitely plan on trying them in the oven soon as well.
  16. reviving this thread as i want to make some black bean soup this afternoon. its crummy and icy and cold out and i would like to let some soup simmer in the dutch oven. i have a 12 oz package of beans but did not have the forsight to soak them. ive spent the last 20 mins reading various articles on the merits of cooking them unsoaked, or doing a quick soak, or not bothering at all if they arent soaked. anyone care tonshare your experiences with dried black beans and quick soaking or not soaking ?
  17. pistolabella

    Carnitas

    The boar looks amazing. I guess to clarify when I say "wet" I mean we've ended up with some meat just swimming in liquid, which is not how I'm used to eating them at taquerias. I will check out the other thread - thanks! It didn't show up when I did a search.
  18. pistolabella

    Carnitas

    I'd like to try my hand at homemade carnitas again after a long time of not making them. I plan to do it Monday while I'm off work, so I will have plenty of time to fiddle with it. What's your favorite method / recipe? In the past I've tried various approaches I've found online. My husband is pickier about the outcome than I am. His biggest complaint is that they often end up too "wet". I've tried Smitten Kitchen's riff on Homesick Texan. I've tried Homesick Texan's riff on Diana Kennedy ( this was my favorite ). I've read about using Coca Cola, insisting on orange juice, using only water. How do I get big, tender chunks with caramelized and browned ends?
  19. My best friend is having a baby this week and I want to periodically drop some food for she and her husband. I want to keep it easy, low-fuss/muss for them, but I need some help with ideas. She's not nursing so that isn't an issue, and I know her tastes pretty well. I want to avoid noodley cream-of-something soup things. I'm doing a lasagna, but what else would you suggest, along with reheating instructions I can include? I do not have children so I have no idea what those first days are like, but I know she will have a few family members in the house to be fed as well. I'll also include some cut up fresh fruit and ready to eat salad. Casseroles? Soups? What do new moms need and want?
  20. Thanks for the sweet tater recipe!! as for the cider-roasted veg, I'm going to riff on these recipes...I've seen suggestion of roasting ahead of time and then bringing back to temp, but I may have to do a trial of that first. I don't want a tray full of beautiful but soggy vegetables. Maybe I'll do as Real Simple suggests, and roast them the day of, a couple of hours before dinner..then just keep them at room temperature. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-vegetable-salad-apple-cider-vinaigrette http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/seasonal/make-ahead-thanksgiving-recipes/cider-roasted-vegetables
  21. I am cooking my very first Thanksgiving dinner this year....and I'm pretty excited. I have tons of questions and techniques to figure out, but the menu is looking like this: Nibbles : cranberry chipotle sausage balls; a cheese/relish tray; spiced nuts - Fresh whole turkey in this brine : http://inasouthernkitchen.com/the-turkey-brine/ - traditional herb dressing (my parents will bring) - a "wild card" dressing/stuffing I will make - tbd, possibly cornbread (if the sh*t hits the fan, this will be the dish that doesn't make the cut as it is the least necessary) - My stepfather's amazing shiitake and sherry turkey gravy - sweet potato casserole - pecan topping - considering trying a crockpot recipe I found for this but a little unsure about that - cranberry clementine relish (parents bring this as well) - Collard green gratin - cider roasted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, garlic, parsnips) - green beans with bacon Dessert: - a pumpkin something my mom will make - chocolate coca cola cake I am excited and also totally overwhelmed. I can rattle of 30 things I'd like to make, but, I'm one lady with one oven and one fridge so something's got to give. I am also scared of buying into too many "make this in a crock pot" and "make this 2 weeks ahead" things. It's tempting, but if it doesn't cut the mustard, I am stuck with a slow cooker full of gluey potatoes. All tips for first timers appreciated! I would totally add a mac & cheese to the mix if anyone has a highly-recommended version that can actually be made ahead and reheated without turning into a brick.
  22. First trip to St. Martin coming up this summer and I'd love current restaurant recommendations. I've deduced Grand Case is the hot spot for dining and fortunately that's where we're staying. Any standout restaurants - both fancy and beach-bar calibre that I shouldn't miss anywhere on the island? Best place for a people watching / touristy day in Philipsburg? A preference between the two restaurants on Pinel Island? Thanks!
  23. Opinions on any of the following for a steak: My short list right now is Bavette's, Swift & Sons, Cherry Circle, Mon Ami Gabi, Chop House...I'm open to suggestion. Straight up steak house, bistro, Italian / steakhouse, anything is OK. I'd like to be able to hear my fiance talking over dinner if that isn't a tall order. We'll be in town next week so I want to make a reservation. Ideally nothing more spendy than what I've mentioned above. Thanks!
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