snowangel

I had company the night I made the pork/mango dish and sent the leftovers home with my cousin (he loves leftovers) and prounced them even better when re-heated. I really need to either increase what I make, or quit inviting people over because I haven't had any leftovers myself .

I used the recipe from my new book True Thai, by Victor Sodsook. I can't remember without looking upthread whether you have it... If not and you would like me to post it, I would be happy to. Gotta go to work now, though... L8r... ← I don't own that book. I should probably check it out from the library to see if I want it! Yes, do post the recipe.

From the time they were babies, my kids were pushed up to the counter and watched me cook. As they got bigger, they graduated to sitting on the counter. Then standing on the stepstool. I'll never for get when Diana was 3 or 4. Friends were over, the other mom wat mincing stuff. Diana said very clearly -- "no, when you want little tiny pieces, rock the knife like a rocker." Watching them come alive and learn things before kindergarten that I didn't know until I was in my 30's has been magic. That, and eggs. What they add to baked goods. What you can do with them on their own. What you can do to then with a bunch of leftover stuff in the fridge.

Thanks for the report, helens. In lieu of a cazuela, what would you recommend? I would have thought that the potatoes would have been cooked through. Probably parboil. Might be easier to briefly parboil them already sliced? Edited to add: I did mark the recipe in my book to reflect your thoughts.

Home with the kids today, the topic of food came up, and I was recounting the days when every baby shower had crepes. Back when the Magic Pan was on Nicollet Mall. I think we'll make crepes this weekend. Sweet and savory. Anybody else remember the Magic Pan?

Are you going to wait until you've moved in and cooked on the cooktop before you make a decision about replacing it with a slide-in?

Did you use a recipe or wing it? That just sounds wonderful. And, the plate of accompaniments. I'm so ready to see edible flowers blooming in my yard... I'm going to something Thai with noodles tomorrow night. Depends on what strikes my fancy at the local market tomorrow.

Leftover smoked chicken thighs made the most wonderful enchiladas tonight. Roasted tomato and pepper sauce. I really like enchiladas with leftover smoked meat. Yummy.

fifi, if I remember correctly, you own "All About Braising." Read the recipe for Beef Rendang and see if you, too, don't think Asian carnitas!

I got my foley at Goodwill a couple of years ago for about a buck.

Zuni Cafe cookbook has an absolutely wonderful asparagus, rice and pancetta soup. It's fast and impresses everyone.

And the hits keep coming. Tonight was pork braised with mango, lime and coconut (milk). I didn't have any serrano chilis, so substituted a big bird. This dish was really outstanding. I'll admit up front I didn't brown and braise in a skillet. I did it in my LC. Heck, that pot has to serve as more than just decoration. And, after the browning parts, I did it in the oven. I didn't have nearly as much evaporation as Molly suggested her technique would provide, but that was just fine with us. The only warning I can give is that this dish does need a green garnish. Parsley would be OK, but I think green onion tops would be, well, tops! So, I didn't photo it. I didn't have a good green garnish. Best of all, everything I've needed for every recipe from this book is available, easily, at my local supermarket. I can't say that I'll only do a braise a month from this book, at this time of year. Later this week, I expect it will be the braised salmon.

Problem with this one, I think, is that veal shanks can be tough to find, and expensive. I know that for the gumbo, Torakris had trouble finding smoked sausages. I think it's important that we select something with readily available ingredients -- everywhere. Paella actually sounds good. Although a lot do not have ready access to really fresh seafood, I'm figuring frozen would work in a pinch.

I'd like to keep a global feel to this. Something to challenge most of us. This past cook-off was terrific. Nothing that isn't fairly accessible. A new skill (dark roux) to learn. I liked that there was challenge in learning a new and time-consuming technique. I don't have any suggestions. Sigh.

Back to the gas. Does someone deliver? Do you have a guage on the tank so you have an idea of when you are almost out? Up at our cabin, we are lucky to have a 250 gallon tank with a guage, so we know when we need to have the gas man come and gas it up.

Leftovers are also very nice crisped up and included in hash browns which can be made even better by the addition of a cooked egg with runny yolks. I have also successfully frozen leftover braised meat when need be. The catch is that it needs to be covered or coated with fat. If not, it's sort of like sawdust. Dry, chewy sawdust.

I'm on for tomorrow. They had beautiful country-style ribs (bone-in) at the meat market today. I also have a mango. So, it's the pork with lime/mango and coconut tomorrow night. I will post more about after it's done. I must admit that I have done three other braises from this book -- the pork in milk, brussels sprouts and chicken with prune and olives. They have all been outstanding. Really wonderful. At some point this week or next weekend, I want to do the leeks with bacon. Oh, and I have a aide of wild salmon in the freezer and there is that salmon braised with bacon and mushrooms.... One of the great things about braising is that I can get everything into the oven before the kids get home, which leads to more time to help with homework.

Your dining room is beautiful! Is the furniture new? And, I would love to see the parts of your kitchen that you haven't shown yet. Is there anything you don't like about your New Space?

I will state first off that I had a "stupid" day. I knew it would be such when I sat down to pay bills this morning, licked the envelopes, put stamps on them, stuck them in the mail box and put the flag up. Came back inside to discover that I hadn't put a single on of the checks I'd written out in the envelopes. The day progressed (or digressed) from there. But, it was to be a gumbo day, and I had to baptize my new Le Creuset 5+ quart oval. So, I set out to gumbo. I decided to go with the recipe fifi carefully included on page 1 of this thread. I printed the recipe. I carefully gathered all of the ingredients and proceded to chop the trinity, and added cayenne to this. Got out the oil and flour. Got out the new pan. Realizing that I would be standing and stirring for a long time, carefully chose music (Don Walser's "Down at the Sky View"). Had a smoke. Cracked open a beer. Peed. Cranked the tunes. Started rouxing. Interesting this about the roux. It seems to go through the same sort of "stalls" as smoking a butt. Realized then that I had left the instructions by the computer, but by this time, the roux was beyond leaving it for even a 30-second dash. Here is a photo of my roux. I took it a shade darker, but I had left the camera on and it went into standby mode, so didn't take a picture of the darker stuff. This is where I started to have some trouble. I added the trinity, and after about two minutes, it is still sputtering, and the roux is getting even darker, so I added a tidge of stock. Then I had my Oh, Shit moment. I thought I remembered that fifi said that the cut-up sausage should be added to this mixture and stirred for another 5 minutes or so before adding the stock. Although I had carefully takent he sausages out of the fridge, opened the package and put them on my prep board, I had forgotten to cut them up. Things in the pan were going fast and furious enough that I didn't figure I should quit stirring to cut sausages (first time on a Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm that I longed for a kid to be home ). So, I attempted to cut a sausage with one hand, and that particular one flew across the room. So, I went ahead and added the stock, then cut the sausage and added it. This is the sausage I used: It is from Hackenmeuller's in Robbinsdale (MN) was was garlicky, with a pepper punch. Let the simmering begin! Two hours later, as instructed, I added some cut up chicken thighs that had been dusted with some sort of Emerile stuff that someone gave us (I couldn't find cajun spice mix at my local market). A bit later, I added cut up okra. So, I'm ready to plate up. I was sure I had parsley. What I had was a bag of cilantro, well past it's prime, so we did not garnish. This is it: It was wonderful. Eveyone loved it (add caveate that Heidi was not home for supper). Even Peter, who has been picky ate it. Since Peter is just learning to love hot spicy, I didn't put as much cayenne in as I would do for Paul, Diana and I, so I augmented mine with Tabasco Chipotle. We ate more than half the pot. So stuffed afterwards we laid around. I will take the leftovers to my folks tomorrow. They both have colds (like all of us) and I do think that this is a good remedy for said illness. The pot cleaned up like a dream, with the exception of the two stickers. In yet another stupid moment, I neglected to remove both the LC sticker and the UPC code stickers from the pan. One thing that struck me is that a squeeze of lime just might be good on Gumbo. We are happy and full. My new LC was baptized in proper style. One thing that I worried about was that this was an oval and I wouldn't get a good simmer on the narrow ends. Not to worry. That metal holds enough heat to simmer the parts that aren't over the burner.

Welcome, CurlySue! And, congrats on the roast chicken. I, for one, prefer either using lemon or thyme, but that's just my personal preference. To make the rest of the sauce more gravy like, start by making a roux. Equal parts of butter and flour. Melt the butter, add the flour, and stir for a few minutes (over heat); what you are doing here is getting rid of the floury taste. Add the stock and stir, and it will thicken. Just like magic. Yes, the bones. Keep collecting bones; one carcass won't make much stock. Then, add the bones and some pieces of raw chicken to a pot to make stock. If you haven't read the ECI class on stock-making , please do (it's here). It will be most helpful. In fact, if you are just embarking on cooking savory food, be sure and peruse all of the classes.

Quiche (or it's frittata sorta cousin) are frequent visitors in our house. First off, they can accommodate a variety of ingredients (although I am partial to the Lorraine). Whatever, whenever. Second, they are kind to those who, like Heidi, have trouble masticating and eating. Third, eggs are a kind food. When I was horribly morning, noon, evening and middle of the night sick (morning sickness?) with Heidi, eggs were a good thing. Quiche was a good way to stash other stuff into the diet. Same goes for Heidi and many other people with "eating disabilities" nowadays. I make my own crusts, but back when I worked outside the home and had too many things going on, a frozen crust was better than nothing. Was a frozen crust better than what I make? No. Was it better than some of the other things I could have come up with on that night, yes. Quiche also has one of those benefits of being good cold, at room, or gently reheated in the nuker on defrost mode. It holds well. We frittata'd tonight, although I would have called it more of a crustless quiche, since once the skillet was warm, I stuck it into the oven and went over Peter's spelling list with him. Better make a proper quiche soon.

We go sub-zero (F) tonight. Tomorrow I gumbo and pretend that I am down south where the living is green, not white. Edited to add: I crave spicy food when it is cold outside. (And, when it is hot outside)

If you opt for a discontinued color at an outlet, you can do way better than that.

Thanks, Dean, for keeping us updated. Yes on the breaker box. Not only is it unsafe, but it's probably a lot cheaper to do it now. What's the time-line for cabinets and cupboards?

Assuming that mom is going to be home with all three kids (or even two of the three), one of the most helpful things you can do is provide some food she can feed herself and the kids during the day, when dad is at work. Stuff that requires almost no prep, other than nuking. Mac and cheese. Some stuff that mom can fix one-handed while she is nursing or hold the new little one. Yes, some dinners for the freezer are great, but so is popping in with some deli treats for the mom and a rotisserie chicken and a bagged salad. I remember well when we brought Peter home from the hospital. I was home with two kids all day, with a third half the day, and feeding us during the day was almost more difficult that feeding us at night, because I'd cook or get something ready for dinner the next night after Paul got home, and after the kids were in bed.