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kermie

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Everything posted by kermie

  1. If you're cooking at home and want to rest your meat, keep it warm but not let it keep cooking how do you do this - WHILE keeping the skin/crackling crispy. If you cover it, it goes soggy. If you don't it gets cold. Is this really obvious and I'm missing something?
  2. kermie

    Truffle salt

    pretty much anything that you would finish with salt. Very good with mushroom dishes, ie mushroom risotto, - but again towards the end. Anything eggs, pasta, scallops, roast chicken. It's pretty much all been said - I'm just reaffirming its yumminess.
  3. Having been to Scandinavia a few times I think vancouver would be perfect for a scandinavian restaurant. The fish dishes, especially salmon and all the roe. I think it is really misrepresented and it can be very interesting indeed. Also from what I can remember there was only 1 first nations restaurant that has long since closed down - is that still the case. First nations would be a great idea.
  4. As a tecky I love to get certain info off the net fast. For a quick overview of a particular dish, or ideas for an ingredient I do a general scout on the net. Then I think, hmmm, yes that sounds good I think I have a recipe for that in xyz book. If not I have already saved the ones that looked best from my scout to refer to if I need to. Also I collect cookbooks, when I travle and especially obscure, and strange vintage ones. Just the act of searching for a lovely cookbook in a second hand bookshop - the treasure hunt and the oh my god I can't believe this is here - is fun. Also, there is nothing better than lying in bed/or by the garden on a sunday morning with coffee/tea, reading cookbooks. ps. its interesting to note that when I do find a recipe off the net that I like I too print it off, put it in a sleeve and it goes into a binder. The more I use a computer, the more I cook and garden.
  5. Potentially stupid question - but how does one keep the liquid temperature constant during the cooking time?
  6. also a must for my eggnog now is captain morgans spiced rum - adds a great flavour. and yes leaving your eggnog a few days does help it - even without the alcohol.
  7. In fact, I live in the Uk now and have to make my eggnog from scratch. We had a party the other night - no one had ever had it before and most people thought it was advocaat. How strange. They didn't even know what candy canes were though. So after I get them reaquainted with their very own 'halloween' i'll reintroduce them to eggnog.
  8. Hi, I used to live there, what would you like to know? You can't go wrong with wines in this area. Really good. Gnocchi and risotti are the thing to eat here as well as some local specialities. If you're into truffles then pop over to slovenia for some of the cheapest, best truffle dishes ever - also excellent seafood. So close we used to go there for gas. Also sorbetti are my favourite things in this region - melon or lemon ice cream with vodka - a sort of a drink but super yummy and only here are they called this otherwise you get normal 'sorbet'. Trieste is also the home of Illy cafe (he used to be the mayor maybe still is), so you will get very good coffee and specialty illy cups (every year they do a special design). You'll also get some of the local hungarian/austrian cuisine combos - I can't remember what they're called but they'll tell you. If you can book early enough there is a guy - in udine i think- who does dinner out of his home 3 or 4 months of the year - it's booked way ahead of time but super. Sorry I can't remember the names of these places as my ex who was a super wine and food snob and very wealthy used to take me to all these places - we would even drive to venice for dinner - so eating out so much has all become a blur now. I do remember the champagne risotto at the elefante bianco in trieste though. we used to go so often they would open wine for us in the afternoon for when we arrived in the evening. I'll try to remember more. Let me know if there's anything specific.
  9. kermie

    Any good eel recipes?

    Also because I know how difficult they can be to find that is exactly why i snabbed them and put them in the freezer. They look quite weird in there i have to say.
  10. kermie

    Any good eel recipes?

    Thanks everyone - interesting ideas. Still not sure which to try. I have about 6 which the fishmonger recommended for 2 people - I listen and try. Might try them this weekend - am leaning towards japanese style because that's what i'm familiar with but would like to try the dutch way too. *Chufi - I got them at my local fish monger in badhoevedorp. Another local one in nieuwe sloten has a bunch of them live right now. I can give you the details if you want. Do you have any specifics to your recipe - how long do you braise it for? My problem is that I don't know what is considered a small eel or a big one so I will have to guess and wing it. Will keep you updated. But let me knowif you have other ideas.
  11. I got some fresh eels - that i've since put in the freezer cause i had no idea what to do with them. Apart from unagi does anyone have any ideas? Have never cooked with them so any tips would be great. thanks
  12. Actually as a negroni drinker - started while living in Italy - all the italians (who i've asked in various places throughout the country) make it this way: 1/3 gin 1/3 campari 1/3 martini rossi thats it.
  13. Thanks for letting me know. It seems such a shame that we still live in the middle ages.
  14. kermie

    Wine in boxes

    I find that a very strange argument for the environment. Unless I missed it, it seems that the whole point of recycling has been missed. What will happen to all those boxes as opposed to the glass bottles. If they are actually recyclable then I can see the point, but if not aren't they just shifting the focus from one issue to another to make it seem more current? I even prefer milk in bottles though.
  15. Most of my Italian cookbooks are in Italian - so I as I do read Italian - I am curious what you would be recommending.
  16. kermie

    Brittany

    It's not about cultural vagueness actually - I'm just busy and sometimes a bit scattered. Also - for the people against the Poulard omlette - (aside from its location) sometimes it's nice to try something that is interesting and local and famous for its particular thing, even if you don't end up liking it. The omlette happens to be unlike any other i've tried and as someone who is interested in cooking I was therefore interested to try it and experience it. Just like when I ate sheeps head in Morroco, licked an ant's bum in Australia, or had yak lung in Tibet (just to name a mere drop of bizarre things I've eaten because it was the local thing to try where I'd travelled).
  17. kermie

    Brittany

    is Norman... which is in Normandy. ← yes true but we did it all in one trip driving down from amsterdam and when i read this thread i was trying to answer quickly and the whole thing got lumped together. I actually have kept all the cards to the restaurants etc but have been to busy to get them out - sorry. the 'secret' to the omlette is actually in the beating - a lot. No its not everyone's cup of tea but it is famous for the region - even if it is normandy. haha.
  18. zucchini flowers - chat up someone with a garden/allotment, at this time of year people will give them away. mirin - have you tried T&T?
  19. kermie

    Sexy food?

    what about vietnamese rolls - the outer layer is soft and the combo of crunch and vermicelli inside with the lovely taste of dip is quite an interesting texture in ones mouth.
  20. I'm sooo happy for you. I have that feeling every time I make a successful loaf of bread. To me it is the ultimate in kitchen alchemy and providing I don't take it too seriously if it doesn't work - makes me super excited when it does. The first few attempts were for whole wheat flour (as we don't usually eat white bread). Then I tried all purpose white, then white bread flour (which I found much better). Now I mix half white bread flour and half whole wheat bread flour. I can even stick one half of the dough in the freezer and still come up with good results. My bread would probably never meet the standards of some of the experts here but we enjoy it and until practice makes perfect this is what we eat.
  21. I only started to put on weight once I started my journey in learning about making desserts and breads. It's hard to halve recipes for cakes and the more scientific baking at my stage so we end up with a whole giant cake for the two of us. My neighbour has even started gaining weight since we moved here - haha. That's a good sign I guess. I will definitely have to learn the portion control method and have people round more for experiments.
  22. I'm not a bread maker - I was merely giving my own experience as a suggestion. When I, personally, changed flour it improved the bread dramatically. That's it. As only one other person responded at that time and it hadn't been mentioned I thought I'd throw it out there. I'm sure there are a billion other reasons and techniques.
  23. kermie

    Sexy food?

    sorry tri2cook I wasn't actually responding to your msg I think it just came out after yours due to timing. our job is to throw out ideas - if you get some that are good or are inspired to others -that is the whole point. I only mentioned the manbit shaped pasta actually to show that even the italians get the penne joke and make fun of it themselves but i guess i said the story backwards and it came out differently than i intended. oh well. what about spears of pineapple or banana for the fondue? nigella has a recipe for slut red raspberries in chardonnay (jello)- which is very nice and not lewd looking (actually quite pretty) good name too. popsicles could just be brought round at a certain point in the evening and thats it. no to the cheese fondue. but what about spears of veg (baby courgette, carrot and cherry tomatoes etc with a bagna cauda)
  24. hahahaha. i wish i had thought to get the information myself when i was there. I've experienced the truffles there first hand and they are really good. I am, however, a bit lazy so i usually get my truffles when i go to italy. i used to live there and have other (more available) friends too for when I get low. I actually (and a lot of Italians who cook with truffle) prefer the black anyway as it has a stronger flavour and ends up being cheaper. I'm not an expert or anything I just know what I like after eating a lot - and I LOVE truffles. A cheap date - perhaps.
  25. Try finding a place in slovenia/croatia that can deliver truffles if it's possible. Italians in the know often go to slovenia or croatia for truffles as they are high quality but half the price. I'll see if I can ask a friend of mine but he's often away and a bit hard to reach.
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