Okanagancook

GF, she does make some strange faces at times. She was pissed that the prep chef did not follow her instructions on the veggie prep and then she had to X the dish from the menu. Must be frustrating. there was another reference to the dish as written are not being executed to the letter so it bare no resemblance to the original dish. cheers

That tomato confiture is similar to our beloved 'tomato chutney' seeing we have the chutney on hand I will use that.

There is a bit of a disconnect in the book with this recipe. The savoury tomato confiture recipe notes say serve with these beans but the bean recipe doesn't mention this. started reading the book. introduction: recommends a a notebook to take experiences on recipes to a useful level....no mention of colour of said notebook. she makes excellent points about seasonality and quality of ingredients and being flexible about what you find at the store/market. she has side bars on most recipes giving recommended side dishes along with seasonal picks she emphasizes meal composition with balance. I find many home made meals at friends lack this very important aspect of a meal, ie coleslaw goes with pulled pork and not a proper spinach salad. It might be a lovely spinach salad but it doesn't go with pulled pork....in my books anyways. sauces: i have not not seen the recommendation of using a squeeze bottle to make mayo...brilliant the recipes make a lot or maybe more than two people can use before going off so I will need to make half recipes. the sauces look like multi-use sauces. so far so good but will have to make some. still reading.

A warm welcome from the Okanagan. The apples are coming! followed by the pairs. followed by new release red wine at the Fall Wine Festival....20,000 visitors expected this festival as the reputation of British Columbia wines spreads. jump in and start participating. For the most part this is a very accepting forum.

I found the salt the same about Guatemala salt. Sheesh. I've never seen Guatemala salt let along 'fine-grained medium-moisture!

Forgot to mention the print is too small for my eyes

It arrived today. A very nice book. You can tell it is good, just intuitively. Kinda like the Keller books. i started at the back. Ingredients and equipment. I find if I like what is put forth here it bodes well for the rest of the book. I liked all of it. also liked the acknowledgements. the recipes are well organized, similar in format to the Keller books....why mess with success? i really like the recipe introductions. So important nowadays with so many heartless cookbooks. she makes one want to make stock then Demi glacé . the ingredients aren't in general unattainable. i like her notes about how and what to buy for ingredients the photography is stunning. this is a well thought out book. A nice present this would make. need to start cooking from it. I may start with that chicken liver mousse. Looks better than the one I made from Julia's second book.

Yes, thank you ElainaA for putting me on to fresh she'll beans. I am planting tons next season.

Frantically eating out of the freezer to make room for our two lambs soon to arrive. Not terribly photogenic nor interesting.

True 'service' is almost non-existence these days.

You are right, the must haves are very personal. So MH is not Your cuppa tea, er Grappa! I am aware of the regional differences concerning Italian cooking. I just find her recipes and ingredients to my liking. I am not mistaken. I have other Italian cookbooks from other regions, but find I keep coming back to MH. what Alex said.

My fingers are crossed.

Oh, yes. Very astute BD!

Such a lot of work, but well worth it. Great job. You will be happy in the winter.

Doesn't sound as though you would like the fresh tasting Rao sauce. I will use my garden tomatoes for the Serious Eats sauce...when they have ripened under the newspaper downstairs.

rustwood. I have not tried that recipe. I looked it up and it is a very different sauce compared to Rao's. Rao's is very 'tomatoeee' and is a bright red colour. It isn't simmered as long so the tomato flavour is quite 'fresh'. The Serious Eats recipe looks like it would be a more complex tasting sauce with the vegetables and loads of garlic. Then finishing with the minced herbs is quite different. Not that this is bad but different. Marcella Hazen's tomato sauce made with butter and a whole onion is another different sauce but good. She tosses the onion after the sauce is cooked also. So, it is kind of in the middle. Thanks for sharing. I will have to try the serious eats recipe.

Good job on the dumpling forming. Those shapes are not easy to make. My mouth is watering now.

Julia, The Way To Cook Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook Marcella Hazen's Essentials of Italian cooking I could go on I like Harold McGee also

MANY THANKS! It was all very interesting.

Yup, seeds are in. But, the jarred sauce doesn't seem to have as many, hum...

Ron Shewchuk's BBQ dipping sauce. I processed them for 20 minutes so hopefully they'll be ok. It's got commercial ketchup; vinegar; honey and sugar in the formulation . The sauce is very rich so one doesn't need much hence the small jars for the two of us.

Basil pasta with Rao's tomato sauce and some meatballs. We also had a salad. The pasta wasn't very good. I put too much basil in the dough so there is no chew in the texture.

I made the Rao's recipe yesterday. Very, very easy. Total cost was about $9 to $10 with a yield of 1200 ml. Two cans of high quality Italian plum tomatoes. The yellow centre core removed and the tomatoes squished with your hands. Saute 3 Tablespoons finely chopped onions for 5 minutes. Add 1 crushed garlic clove. After one minute at the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer for an hour lid off. If it is the right consistency for you add a pinch of oregano and six torn fresh basil leaves. Taste for salt and pepper. That's it. I think it tasted pretty close to the jarred stuff. I did add a little sugar to my sauce, maybe a teaspoon.

I found mine at a mom and pop and son specialty store...my saviour in our smallish town. They have really nice stuff. They are Portguese. Their cheese and cured meat counter is excellent. I asked if he could get some piquillo peppers in and sure enough the next week there they were. I bought six jars as a thank you.

That looks awesome Smithy! what temp did you do them at? 135 F? For 90 min? My guess.