ruthcooks

Three more, cause I just can't resist bargains, like getting a $35 book for $7.50. The Hands of a Chef, Jody Adams (the bargain) Sweet Miniatures, Flo Braker Quick Pickles, Schlesinger et.al.

Sorry, double post.

I've found that people who do taste before salting do not have the same needs for salting the same foods. My daughter cooks with less salt than I, yet I've seen her and/or her husband--salt some foods at her table which I don't think need it. And I've seen us salting the same foods, too. If a guest salts before seasoning, I just figure he does not have a very sophisticated palate. If someone refuses me the salt and pepper, however, she is tactless, arrogant and an altogether unlikeable creature. No worry, I won't grace her table again. (Or I'll sneak in my own salt; what's she gonna do, wrestle me for it?)

Here’s a version adapted from an adaptation from “Rao’s Cookbook”. I haven’t tried it but I’ve heard good things about the restaurant. They say to cut the chicken into 12 pieces, and cook 10 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered. What 12, do you think? I think it would be tastier to use a larger chicken or two that would take longer to cook and develop the flavors. Take note: all you people mad for braising! Chicken Scarpariello 2 cut up chickens, about 2 1/2 lbs. each, backbones removed vegetable oil 4 links Italian sausage (hot, mild or a combination) cut in one inch pieces 2 large or 3 small bell peppers of different colors (red, yellow, green), cut into thin strips 1 large onion, slivered 1 large clove garlic, minced 2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded, cut into rounds 6 or 8 hot cherry peppers in vinegar, whole 1/2 cup each: dry white wine chicken broth red wine vinegar 1 to 3 teaspoons dried oregano Salt and pepper to taste Optional: 3 small potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced or diced The original recipe calls for one and a half cups of vegetable oil, in which the chicken, sausages, peppers and onions are browned and the oil discarded. Some of you may prefer to use all or part olive oil and just enough to sauté each of the ingredients in order, adding more as needed. That way you may season each ingredient with salt and pepper as you go. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Sauté chicken in oil until brown and remove to paper towels to drain. Sauté sausage pieces until brown and drain. Sauté the bell and jalapeno peppers, onions and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add cherry peppers, white wine, chicken broth, vinegar, and oregano to pan. Return chicken and sausages to pan and season if you have not already done so. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through. Remove lid and continue cooking until the sauce has reduced slightly. Even better, they say, if cooked a day ahead, refrigerated and reheated the second day.

Forgot to add: stir, stir, stir. These need to be stirred almost constantly and for about 1 1/2 hours. Made them today and my grandsons are swooning. A 9" bread pan is the right size for this small batch. On second thought, it's not so small. Makes about 40 when cut into squares the dimension of Kraft caramels, which will never satisfy you again once you taste these.

Desserts, even chocolate, with tea don't appeal to me because I like it sweetened except with Chinese food. Occasionally with milk, if it's too strong, but never lemon. As a beverage with food, I like tea best with grilled cheese or buttered toast, or a cold sandwich. The best tea I ever tasted was raisin tea. Now I drink mostly green tea.

For me, pot roast is all about the gravy. I find the best brown gravy comes from cooking the roast in my ancient electric skillet, and letting the liquid boil away several times. The meat browns more each time, and then I add water. Takes some watching. I season with rosemary at the beginning and steam whole carrots on top of the roast (the flat cut roasts, I like arm cut best, or chuck) during the last 20 minutes or so, and serve with Yorkshire pudding or mashed potatoes. I got rid of all my Le Creuset years ago. Too heavy, hard to clean, stuff stuck when browning. Just not right for me.

I am more disturbed by a lack of color, especially all white. Stewed chicken, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, that kind of thing. Doesn't taste right to me. Neither does a meal that's all green or all red tones.

Google "personal chefs in Canada" and you'll get lots of people to call. If you want an overall idea of what personal chefs can do, visit the American site personalchef.com, a group to which I belonged for several years, and check out some of the chef's websites under "Find a Personal Chef Now."

←

Making soft caramels was my final exam test recipe in my major foods course in college! Since cream does not caramelize as fast as milk, this recipe added the cream in three portions, after each one raising the temperature to the final desired degree. Much easier than fooling with adding cream to hot caramel syrup, IMO. Result? Caramels were perfect and written exam good. I got an A and an offer of a full scholarship in Foods and Nutrition. Didn't take it because chemistry was the bane of my collegiate world. I've been thinking about making my grandson those caramels before he gets his braces on in two weeks.

Ricotta cheese. Over the years, I thought it ruined every dish I made with it. Then I ate it cold, on a chocolate ricotta muffin, and loved it. Now I eat it with fruit compote for breakfast sometimes. Guess it's cooked or hot or in combination with tomatoes that I don't like. I'll never eat it in lasagne, though, 'cause I don't like lasagne no matter how it's made.

Yes, having diabetes does come in handy sometimes when you don't want to eat what's offered to you. "I'd love to, but better not," saves the day. Once a friend gave me a piece of her homemade bread made in her new bread machine. A single bite proved dry and stale, so I said I must not eat all those carbs between meals but would take it home with me. Instead of pitching it, I made toast--one of the tastiest pieces of toast ever--next day for breakfast. Here's another great line: "It's just like my momma used to make!" Whether she did or not, and whether it was good or bad, that's always taken as a compliment.

Back in the days I made my own puff pastry, I think the flat Napoleons were baked with another cookie sheet on top. Oops! Superflous answer--did not read rest of thread. This new "system" for reading threads is freaking me out.

What lucky kids! Hope they appreciated all your work.

The concept of finding a new guru is one thing...throwing people into committees where some people spend most of their time in oneupmanship is another. I think the judges ought to have six guns and shoot the overbearing idiots. But then, who would shoot the judges? A better way of finding the style guru would be to place each one of the competitors IN CHARGE for one show. Being Martha is about being queen, not worker bee. This show is all about appealing to the reality show fans, and little else. Back to watching CSI.

I've been told that frying corn was a technique for making field corn palatable, back in the days when slaves/poor Southerners relied on field produce for food. Creamed corn, however, is a more delicate dish made from the kernels and juice scrapings from young sweet corn, AKA green corn. Field corn is still sometimes sold in farm stands, as I sadly discovered when I bought some Trucker's Favorite by accident when I lived in Tennessee. Too bad Hap Towne's is gone from Nashville. I took it as quite a compliment when Hap told me that my restaurant, far removed from a meat and three, was one of HIS favorite places to dine.

No kidding, Bechtelsville? I live mid-way between Schwenksville and Limerick, and go to the chiropractor in Bechtelsville frequently. Tell me, have you found anywhere decent to dine out in Pottstown or surrounding area? Have a great time at King Arthur, I have a lot of money "invested" there!

No, but you might call the end result "Stag and Suds"

And, after all that, they didn't have any cherries? You need some of these!

Living your life in the Midwest (and many other parts of the US) and eating only the local and seasonal produce means you would never taste oranges or any other citrus fruit, artichokes, avocadoes, almonds, bananas...the list is endless. I never saw a raw fig until I was almost 40. Pass the cherries.

Since my ex worked in broadcasting, we moved a lot and over the years I entertained many starving young single DJs, news reporters and the like. This is the menu I developed for first time guests whose tastes I did not know. The "little something" before dinner was not standard, but was usually something simple like smoked turkey pate or gougere puffs. Next came a salad course of wilted lettuce with bacon dressing, then chicken in a Dijon-cream-oyster mushroom sauce, rice souffle, green beans, and for dessert a Tart Normandy. The tart consisted of a butter pastry crust, a layer of sauteed apples with rum and apricot jam, covered with an almond-cream custard. If picking a single recipe which everyone asks for, I'd choose my mashed potato casserole with loads of sour cream, parsley and green onions. It was inspired by a college foods course I took decades ago. Note: most people who love it and ask for the recipe don't make it, once they find out how much sour cream is involved.

Congratulations, Katie...best of luck in your new job.

When you pull the leaves from thyme stalks (or any other kind of herb), you do it in reverse. Pull back from the growing end of the branch, toward the big stem or root end. You'll be pulling against the grain and they will come right off.

Cook's Illus. New Best Recipe and Lewis & Peacock's Southern cookbook for Christmas. Ordered these: 2 low carb & coconut oil diet cookbooks, Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating, Sheraton's Eating My Words and Sutherland's Cookoff: Recipe Fever in America. Seven in all.