ruthcooks

I make lots of souffles ahead and don't have special recipes. I simply make the souffles and fill the individual ramekins about 2/3 to 3/4 full, cover with plastic wrap and either leave at room temp (for an hour or two) or refrigerate if it will be two hours or more. I place the souffles on a sheet pan or in a baking dish, if I am going to bake in a water bath, so one whole sheet of wrap covers all of them. Add five minutes or so to baking time if they are chilled. Note: I don't think this would work on egg whites only souffles. I don't like them or make them, my souffles always have a bechamel base.

Chicken salad alien? In the U.S., at least in the South, if your restaurant serves chicken salad people will call it a tea room. Most of said tea rooms do not even serve afternoon tea, they are open for lunch. I looked up recipes for bridge rolls. It seems to be what we would call dinner rolls here, although we would use more sugar. Do they have a connotation as a workingman's lunch, like a sandwich? Our dinner rolls are too small to make a sandwich, although may be served at finger food buffets as a "ham roll". Marmite? er, no, not here.

Abra said it just right, Megan. I noticed this about you when you first came on the scene: what food knowledge and sophistication for one so young! Thanks for blogging for us.

Welcome, MariaA. I have never posted pictures either, so I hope someone with experience will chime in to tell you how. I used to live (for a short, dreadful time) in Cedar Rapids IA, and was told that to be authentic kolaches must be made with chicken fat. I was not impressed.

What is DOP? Since no one has addressed this question, I looked it up and found... "in 1996, the European Union denoted the tomatoes with a DOP (Protected Denomination of Origin)." Although why this is not called PDO, I cannot say.

Frankie Johnson's FireHouse Diner (with a blinky neon 'u' while everything else stays lit). But what would people go there to "eat"? Hooters has it's wings... ← Cockles and Muscles alive, alive-o

I've never had a chocolate, raspberry or strawberry swirl that had enough swirls in it. I'd like to see a reverse swirl in which there was just enough vanilla ice cream to separate thick swirls of fruit or chocolate. At least half of each, plus whatever. Fudge & Marshmallow Swirl Peach or Sour Cherry Swirl with pieces of soft almond macaroons or meringues You could add nuts, but I don't like cold, hard chunks of things in ice cream. I prefer to have warm nuts toasted in butter (sometimes salted) on top. Pannetone Ice Cream? I think Eggnog might do, it's Christmas-y too. Or, if you're up to making it, see my Frozen Plum Pudding as a start.

The Food Network has replaced "foam" with "fluff".

Try spelling raspberry correctly if you are searching.

There must be another reason besides pan size. I've had this rubber layer show up in a Chocolate Chiffon cake which I used to make perfectly.

I had this problem for years, until I recently read here on eG that the ultra-pasteurized stuff needed to be beaten longer. I whipped the devil out of it and to my surprise the cream stayed whipped until it was gone, about 4 days later. My thanks to the person who posted that tip!

OK, time to counter the "New York" view with some Heartland reality. In the small town where my mother and sister live, I doubt that there are more than 5 people who even know what "artisanal cheese" is. No such cheese is available within a 45 minute drive. On the other hand, their very small Wal-Mart has taken on the flavor of the community, such as the pharmacist doing home delivery of drugs when needed. It's function is almost like a community center where everyone meets. Some businesses failed when Wal-Mart came in, but they were in the nature of a dusty old shoe store which was only staying in business because the mortgage had been paid off on the rickety building. A similar situation developed here (30 miles west of Philly) with grocery stores. The "local store" (5-6 miles miles away) was a Genuardi's when I moved here about 5 years ago. It was sold to Safeway. Then a new Giant opened about a half mile away with very low prices. Genuardi/Safeway is struggling. I like it because the store is so much smaller--fast in and out, easy on the arthritis--and the staff has little turnover. It's becoming increasingly difficult to stay loyal, however, as their traffic is so low that produce is suffering. Their prices are totally unreasonable. They try to stock foods if you request them, but certain things become unavailable for no reason. This week, petite diced (canned) tomatoes and tuna in oil disappeared from the shelves, and I got soft (fresh) tomatoes, rotten potatoes and a bad eggplant. I'm about to cave in, but whatcha gonna do? And I'm curious--isn't Costco a big box store?

Great to see you blogging again, Rochelle. I thought teaching cooking classes was the most fun of anything I've ever done in the food business. Are you referring to the baby as "he" because you know it's a boy, or just being generic? I have a recipe for what James Beard called "Disgustingly Rich Potatoes" with butter, heavy cream and Gruyere. The potatoes are first baked, then mashed with a fork--good if you wanted to do a taste test on boiling vs. baking the potatoes first.

My recipe is about half of the one above: 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 cup sugar, etc. for a dozen cupcakes. The filling calls for 3 ounces cream cheese, 1 egg yolk and 1 egg in the filling, and the other egg white is in the cake mixture. Perhaps there is just too much filling in the above recipe, and the weight of it simply bears down on the cake batter so the cake takes the path of least resistance. Oops, I also had a senior moment! This recipe does not call for placing a spoon of batter on top, that must have been in another recipe. I'm posting the recipe on RecipeGullet. Black Bottom Cupcakes

Black Bottom Cupcakes Serves 12 as Dessert. These are great for picnics and for kids: no messy icing. They freeze well. Filling: 3 or 4 ounces cream cheese 1 egg 1 egg yolk (reserve white for cake) 1/4 c sugar Dash of salt 1/2 c chocolate chips or chopped chocolate Cake: 1-1/2 c sifted flour 1/4 c cocoa 1 c sugar 3/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 c water 1/3 c salad oil 1 egg white 1 T mild vinegar 1 tsp vanilla extract Topping: 3/4 c chopped toasted almonds 1 T sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 12 paper cupcake liners in a muffin tin. You can combine the filling ingredients with a food processor if you double this recipe; otherwise I think a hand mixer is best. Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in a small bowl and combine until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips and reserve. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Dump out onto waxed paper (we’re saving a bowl). In same bowl, combine water, oil, egg white, vinegar and vanilla with same whisk. Pour dry ingredients all at once over wet ingredients and fold in with a rubber scraper until no flour remains visible. Divide chocolate batter between the cups. Place a spoon of cream cheese filling on top. Now sprinkle with the almonds, then the sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, testing with a skewer or toothpick. Cool a few minutes before removing to rack to finish cooling. Keywords: Dessert, Chocolate, Cake, Easy ( RG1622 )

A similar recipe is an old favorite of mine: it calls for reserving some of the chocolate batter and placing a teaspoon or so over the cream cheese filling. (Also, mine are topped with a sprinkling of sugar and some slivered almonds.) I think your chocolate batter is rising around the edges of the cheese so this tip might help.

The boil in the can method of caramelizing condensed milk is very dangerous. For years, the manufacturers have warned against it. Here is one example: Eagle Brand Recipe For your own and your family's safety, try one of the other methods. There is one I didn't see mentioned: remove label and can lid, cover with foil and bake in oven. I'm not sure how long.

Abra, My "jelly roll pan" is 11 x 15. I've heard some people refer to a half sheet pan as a jelly roll pan, and I think they measure 12 x 17 or so. If you were using the larger size, this would account for the thinness of the layers.* You do need to beat this with an electric mixer unless you are especially strong. I have always assumed that all choux pastes need to be beaten like crazy. I have a processor version that I use other times but not in this recipe. Another thing is that the cream puff won't rise if you add too much egg, so egg size is important. The paste should be spreadable but not a bit runny. With large or extra large eggs, add the last egg a tablespoon at a time. *Actually I call the pans my "little cookie sheet" and my "big cookie sheet" as I had been making cookies for 40 years before I ever heard of a sheet pan. Hope you'll try it again! Edited to say I've revised the recipe accordingly. It's here in RecipeGullet: Swedish Kringle

Maggie, did you ever think that life-being-boring was one reason you started smoking in the first place? Makes more sense to me. Sleeping is, however, often used to escape from life and avoid thinking about unpleasantness. If you are sleeping too much, so what? If this is one of the tools you use to keep from smoking, it's working! Congratulations on your 6 days. For the other strugglers: Possibly the most difficult part in quitting is that you can no longer tell yourself stories about smoking. Like the alcoholic's "I can quit anytime I want to." You have to admit to yourself that smoking is a bad thing and you are an addict, yes, just like the ones who get high on drugs and drunk on booze. Not easy to face. Often times, addicts quit abusing one substance and immediately start abusing another. Alcoholics quit drinking and start chain smoking. Smokers quit and turn to caffeine in coffee or chocolate. Some theories suggest that all physical addictions are born from the desire to be loved, and you have to love yourself first. And if that ain't a tough nut to crack. I was lucky enough to have attended a number of seminars given by a company out of Louisiana called "Education for Living." One of their sayings is: rocks are hard, water's wet and X is where you are. It's a great reminder to jolt yourself back into reality and realize that you simply cannot do anything about the past. Where your X was then, you felt you needed a cigarette and you had one. Don't beat yourself up, but don't use it as an excuse to have one today. Today's X is different. (Keeping a journal is a great idea...you can say things you can't say on eGullet.) Soldier on!

Wal-Mart has lots of small plastic boxes with drawers. I keep all my spices in a three drawer office container meant to hold 8 x 11 inch paper. Each drawer will hold 12-16 cans or jars. The drawers don't shut out all of the light, but I keep it out of direct sunlight. I'm considering keeping the seeds in the freezer, as they seem to get rancid before the other stuff goes off. Similar to those bread trays are the ones which hold bedding plants at nurserys.

Here's a suggestion for making yourself hungry in the morning: on waking, drink a cup of hot water with a tablespoon or two of lemon juice in it. When I did this, I was ravenous within about a half hour. Otherwise, I can go for hours without food.

I have to tell my smoking stories, too. I started as a freshman in college and continued through the first couple of years of my marriage. My ex got a cold and ended up quitting, and pronounced (he was quite the controller) that if he quit, I could too. One day I realized that I only cared about smoking when I was playing bridge, and that he continued to smoke the occasional cigar. When I pointed this out to him, he realized the wisdom of my argument--and quit smoking cigars! He made life miserable until I quit around age 22 or 23. Fast forward through several decades of smoldering resentment on this subject, to 1990 when we separated. I pulled the most stupid "I'll show him" revenge by starting to smoke again. He didn't give a damn, he was GONE. I smoked on and off for about 5 years until I just quit, like so many others have described. Nasty, nasty habit, which I don't tolerate for a minute now. I've always thought there was a correlation between smokers and people who didn't eat dessert. Perhaps they just couldn't wait for that cigarette and substituted it for dessert. Maybe Marlene and snowangel will now turn into sugar freaks. (I don't know Dave's view toward sweets.) Good luck to the three of you, and to all the others who are now struggling.

My favorite cream puff filling is called a cornstarch custard. You stir in a double boiler until it starts to thicken, then cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the (tempered) eggs/egg yolks for the last 5 minutes. The recipe says to cut the milk if you are going to mold the custard. Perhaps all you might need to do--assuming you like your custard anyway--is to cut the liquid. Personally, I can't imagine this filling made with water.

Hello Sara, My name is Ruth and I'm another short person like you--I used to be your height, 5'2", but gravity has taken its toll. At 4' 11 3/4" I now can reach almost nothing in the kitchen. Of all the careers in the culinary arts and food industry, yours is the one which seems most exciting to me because it changes every day. When I moved to PA 5 years ago and finally got to see the Food Network, I watched your show as many times a day as it was on. Especially interesting to me was seeing so many chefs and cookbook writers who were just names with no pictures. My favorite was Shirley Corriher. Of all your recipes which I've tried, your grandmother's Chocolate Bits Pudding is my favorite. It tastes so rich, and is so easy to make in the microwave. My request is this: could you give us a menu or two of the meals you serve to the clients in Gourmet's exec dining room? Menu planning is to me the most interesting facet of cooking. Thank you for being here. Ruth

I have a muffin recipe using stone ground corn meal, whole wheat flour, soy flour and wheat germ if that would be of any interest to you. I used to make them for my ex's lunches for cholesterol reasons.