DanM

You can make a Yerushalami Kugel, which is cooked vermicelli baked with eggs, sugar,and lots of black pepper. Dan

This will be a strictly dairy dish, no meat products. Dashi is an option, but darn near impossible to find kosher. I do have some smoked paprika that I could add. The corn is a good idea, but the roasted frozen corn would require kosher supervision, which unfortunately it does not have. The fun and creative process of working in a kosher home. Dan

I'm looking for help making a good fish chowder. Most of the recipes I see online call for bacon or clam juice, which I will not use in my kosher kitchen. I am thinking about using a potato leek soup as the base for the soup, which is simply leeks, potato, and garlic sauteed and simmered in veg broth with a bouquet garni. I will only puree a quarter of it to help thicken the soup. I will then add some chunks of Alaskan cod and simmer until barely done. I will then add some cream and butter to finish it out. Garnish with chives. Any thoughts or additions? Thanks! Dan

Some commercial yogurts use starches to thicken them, which completely ruins the taste of the yogurt. Others add so much sugar that you lose the tang. I agree with Fat Guy on Trader Joes European Yogurt. Milk, cultures, and nothing else. I add some fruit and maybe some granola. My 1 year old likes it with mashed avocados. Dan

What faults are you experiencing right now?

I have a tendency to give the vacuum packed shelf stable Indian fare at the market a second thought. In a pinch, they are okay, but pale in comparison with other versions. Pouch tuna in some cases tastes better to me. I think the thin nature of the packaging may lead too less cooking time than what is required to preserve a can of tuna. Dan

The Spice House has a few recipes for Ras El Hanout at http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/ras-el-hanout Look at the bottom of the page. I cannot speak to how good these recipes are, but I hope it helps. Dan

Is this the right place to post this? I am sure everyone here has searched Google for recipes at one point or another. They just released a new search feature called Recipe View. If you search for a recipe, click on the recipe option on the left to see them listed individually with options to narrow down the recipe by ingredient, calorie, etc... Here is an example.

I politely let them know that it is a violation of health codes and to redo my order. If I'm really pissy, I will call it in. I have been tempted to tell them that I work for the health dept and that if I ever see it happen again, I would have them shut down for unsafe food handling processes. Dan

I agree with soups. Nothing makes a velvety smooth cream of whatever soup like my Vitamix and a pass through the strainer. I don't use it to cook the soup as I feel it is an inefficient way to heat products and you cannot develop slow cooked flavor in it. Frosties are also fun. Dump some broken up candy, ice cream, and a little milk to adjust thickness into the vitamix for a tasty treat. I am also looking at making a nice white bean dip with the machine. Dan ETA... I forgot to mention baby food. Perfect for pureed veg for the infant, if you have one.

Another approach would be to vacuum pack and freeze the soups. As angevin said, the easiest way to "condense" a soup is to leave out some or most of the broth, stock or water. Dan

If you go to Lovell's, check out the lounge in the lower level. Mr. Lovell has artifacts from Apollo 13 on display and a few props from the movie.

I also have an issue with how hens are treated. While I realize that "cage free" is not necessarily better in most cases, it is a good start. I have been quite happy with Costco (Kirkland's) cage free organic AA grade eggs. I get them in 2 doz flats for about $2.75 per dozen. Otherwise, I buy Trader Joe's cage free eggs. One thing I find interesting here in the US is that cage free and typically organic eggs are only available in brown eggs, not white. Dan

You can always get a robostir automatic stirring devices, but it goes the wrong way and will mess up your Corrialis effect induced flavors. It will also be thrown in the junk drawer and added to the thread of most useless kitchen gadgets. https://robostir.com/ Dan

A big bag of fries just dripping with peanut oil used to be a guilty treat of mine. I ask them to hold off on the token syrophoam cup in the bag. Its just silly and a waste. The cup is also partially melted or deformed and who knows what type of chemicals are leached into the fries. I know the store by me also shows where the potatoes are brought in from. Dan

Hey. At least they did not create a reality TV series with the Food Network to make the next great chicken recipe that will be featured on their menu... Dan

Thanks for all of the ideas! Once I am back on my feet and able to cook again, I will give some of these ideas a try. Dan

Cream of name your vegetable soups have been at the heart of my diet for the past few weeks with this liquid diet I am on. I recently purchased a copy of James Peterson's Splendid Soups and have made some wonderful soups from there. I have a few nitpicks with the book, but that can be a discussion for another time. I need some fresh ideas and spins on classic cream of ? soups. What are your favorites?

Last week they cooked at RAO's restaurant and this week Whole Foods, a Top Chef sponsor, is prominently displaying and placed on sale RAO's pasta sauce. Coincidence?

Does anyone here miss Trader Vic's before it was kitch?

I will not miss the food in the college cafeteria. It was so bad that I gave the school a letter stating that unless they give me a certified kosher meal plan, I want out of the cafeteria requirement. And they did. Snapple before it went mainstream.

They are now carrying dairy free coconut milk ice cream mochi from Thailand. I tried one last night and it was pretty good. The mochi is not as soft and chewy as other brands though.

A local grocer occasionally has medium eggs on sale, so I pick those up for breakfast. For all other purposes, especially for recipes and formulas, I use large eggs. The oddball is carton pasteurized eggs which I measure at 1/4 cup per egg.

Is it okay to admit that I would love a small black hole to open under my kitchen and suck it in whole? It would be nice to start over. The items I would like to see die are the 24" harvest gold Kenmore oven and maybe the cooktop. Dan

I'd add on the wine vs. beer question, that I've found almost impossible to screw up a stew using wine. Using a strongly flavored beer a la Guinness, I've found a bit trickier to do as the reduced beer can overwhelm the flavor of the rest of the stew. I've never tried Chimay, but if you were going to go with a stout, I suggest finding a recipe to get the flavor balance right. One of our favorite winter dishes is Flemish beef stew - carbonade. This classic is made with beer. I kind of make my own version, but it's similar to this one: Beef & Beer Stew And there's a terrific recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art - Carbonnades a la Flamande. About the beer she says: "Beer is typical for the Belgian braise, and gives a quite different character to beef than the red wine of the bourguignon. A bit of brown sugar masks the beer's slightly bitter quality, and a little vinegar at the end gives character." Not sure this would suit your purposes this time, Dan, but it's a great, great dish. One of the world's classics. Okay, you have me sold. It sounds good to me and my wife. It will also go well with a bottle of Oud Bruin I brewed for my daughter before she was born. Her birthday is a week from Monday, so it will be a good occasion to crack one open.