DanM

The Lee Brothers have a great recipe in Simple Fresh Southern for carrots pickled with shallots and celery seeds. The book is worth it just for this recipe. On another topic. Any thoughts on carrot tops? I buy them regularly from the farmers market and never figured out what to do with the greens. Dan

Yes, we keep kosher, but will eat out vegetarian. Thanks! Dan

My wife, daughter (who will be 10 months old), and will be in the Beverly Hills area in mid December for a wedding. We will be staying at the Residence Inn Hotel. I am wondering what people recommend in the area for lunch that is less than $20 per entree and willing to have our silly little girl join us. Also, are there any great bakeries/pastry shops were I can pick up a few baked goods for breakfast? Finally, are there any grocery stores in the area? Thanks! Dan

I recommend finding a copy of The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition. It is out of print, but well worth the search. It goes through most major fruits and vegetables and describes what to look for, how to store it, nutritional data, preparation instructions, and other useful info. It also has information on meats, grains, and other raw foods. Dan

May I be crass and suggest anything sold with Rachel Ray's name on it??

Check out rishi-tea.com. They are a small company out of Milwaukee that sells high quality teas that are often organic and/or fair trade. Dan

The Lee Brothers have a killer rice pudding popsicle in their latest book. Dan

I highly recommend two books. Rick Bayless Mexican Everyday and Lee Brothers Simple Fresh Southern. I have made these books the backbone of recent meals. Most of the recipes can me prepped in 30 minutes. Many recipes can be cooked in that period of time, but there are also crockpot and long cook recipes. Dan

In the end it turned out pretty good, but could be better. I'm not sure if it was the double baking, but the chocolate cake portion was very dense, almost brownie like. Is this what it is supposed to be like? The biggest hit was the Soft Drink recipe in the book. I really don't know how to describe it, except very refreshing and delicious! I really recommend it. Dan

Dan, I think you can just make the cake. The recipe is fairly forgiving, so even if you need to bake it longer you probably won't end up with a cake that's too dry. All ovens are different and yours might be exactly right for this cake, but you won't know til you try Do or do not... there is no try. I baked it for a little over an hour and the tooth[ick came out clean. It sat in the fridge overnight only to found that the center caved in... I unmolded it and found the flan a half cooked soupy mess and it looks like the cake absorbed some of the flan mix . I coaxed it back in the pan and it is back in the oven for another 30 minutes. At this point, the cake is probably a loss so anything is worth trying. Dan

I am about to need a new bottle of light rum for cocktails and whatnot. I would prefer to buy rum from a small distillery over Diagio or other industrial giants. I would prefer to spend less than $40 for the bottle. What are my best choices? Thanks! Dan

I am licking a spoon of cajeta right now...

Kosher espresso powder is hard to find and I don't have an espresso machine... So I will admit that when a recipe calls for espresso powder, I grab Nescafe.

Due to a chronic digestive disorder, I haven't been able to eat whole kernel corn for almost 10 years. Certain parts of corn kernels do not break down during digestion and can cause a blockage down the road. I occasionally have to fight a craving for a fire roasted ear of corn doused in butter and season salt, like you get at the local fare. I have to suffice with a roasted, blended corn soup, but its not the same. Same goes for popcorn and there is no alternatives to that. Are there others here in my shoes? I there foods you are banned from eating, but crave? Dan

Nothing annoys me more in a restaurant than watching a parent spending his or her dinner with the family on a crackberry. Put the fraking thing away and enjoy some quality family time! Regarding those who make calls from the bathroom. I once heard a guy in a stall talking on his cell phone, so I said, "man that chili burns on both ends, got any extra toilet paper over there?". I quickly ran from the loo after that one. Dan

Thanks Chris. I am also going to make the Chocoflan, aka Impossible Cake tonight. I am a bit worried given the comments here about it not baking all the way though. Should we start a separate thread on this in the Pastry section of the site? Dan

We have veg every night for dinner and quite often for lunch as it is usually the leftovers from the night before. Here is my process on meal planning that I started this past summer. First, veg is the center of every meal. Meats are an accompaniment and luxury, so it is used sparingly. I rarely make meat the center of the meal. Grains, legumes, root veg, breads, and the like are extenders to fill out the meal. Fruits are dessert or breakfast (for me at least, I cannot speak for my wife). On Sunday, we walk to the farmer's market and pick up stuff for the next 3 days and maybe a little extra. I then pick and choose through my findings to create meals. Recipes are either made up or from a few simple recipe books (not Rachel Ray) I have collected. I repeat the process on Wednesday. Sunday afternoon and either Wednesday or Thursday I go to the local supermarkets to buy the remainder of the ingredients. It will be interesting to see how I adopt it for the winter. Dan

Only use fresh tomatoes when they either come from the garden or from the farmer's market. The rest of the year, they taste quite similar cardboard... but I may be insulting cardboard. The rest of the year I avoid fresh tomatoes whenever possible and use canned (mostly Muir Glenn) tomatoes for everything else. Maybe next year I will be blessed with the time to can up a few dozen quarts of tomatoes for the winter. Most berries are also a problem, especially raspberries and strawberries. Another thing I only buy when I get them fresh from the picking fields. Dan

I just finished filling 40 roasted garlic, ricotta, and swiss chard tamales. As Chris mentioned, I ran out of swiss chard before anything else. I probably have a quarter of the masa dough left over and about a third of the ricotta. I have more than enough for the party on Tuesday, so I am going to store the remaining masa dough. How long can this stuff sit in the fridge? Can it be frozen? Dan

I will be making horchata next week for some friends who are visiting. I typically use brown rice in my kitchen. I was wondering if it is possible to make horchata with brown rice. Does it affect the flavor? Is there anything different that I need to do? Thanks! Dan

I have seen it here at Whole Paycheck, but only for fresh fish. I wish they would expand it to their frozen fish options as well. I do have a bone to pick with marking all farmed fish as safe. IIRC, some fish farming is actually bad for the environment. Dan

I forgot to mention Mexican cheeses. And what about kosher turkey bacon?

While they will definitely not help you with all things pork, Romanian Sausage may be a good place to start. If Milwaukee is is not too far, you can also try Usingers Sausage on Old World 3rd St. Usingers is the pork sausage capitol of Milwaukee. Dan

What is your transportation like? If you have a car, I recommend Lou Malnati's for authentic Chicago Pizza. Its in Skokie, so it is a drive from the city. Rick Bayless also has a restaurant in Macy's flagship store on State Ave, if you crave Mexican. Hot Chocolate is a great late dessert place. If you need a beer, check out The Publican. Dan

Although it is from his other book, Everyday Mexican, I highly recommend the chorizo, mushroom, and zucchini tacos. The chorizo is optional and we make it without in our household. The chorizo and mushrooms are cooked and then simmered with the zuchinni in a tomato chipotle sauce. Dan