snowangel

Malawry, given that there has been a recent thread on the Cooking forum, could you please elaborate on pasta making, how to get it really thin, what you are looking for before you run it through the rollers, etc? I have been having trouble making pasta (I have an Atlas). Assuming you make more pasta than you can run through the rollers at one time, do you run one portion through tinner and thinner and thinner and then move on to the next portion? Details, here, or on Pasta Machine thread, please!!!! P. S. You inspired Diana (12) and I to make mayo a couple of days ago. We are now wondering why we ever purchased the stuff? Thanks.

If I'm using raw chicken/bones, sometimes I roast bones, sometimes not. Roasting adds color, and seems to impart a little something different. But, we often do roast chicken ala Marcella Hazan, and the carcas always goes into the stock pot. If you get a pre-roasted chicken, there's no reason not to add that carcas to the stock, either. I believe, from different threads, that there are those who are pro-roasting bones and those that consider this bastardization. I just do whatever I feel like that day. Stopped at my local butcher's today to get some bacon and kielbasa, and he was glad to see me -- I now have 15 lbs. of assorted beef bones (shins, shanks, knuckles, etc.) in the freezer; I will make stock with these just as soon as I can use my kitchen again; these were freebies! He also had a nice bag of bacon ends which he let me have for $.49/lb. Pays to get to know your butcher.

So I'm not the only one...

I make this one all of the time, and my kids have come to love this version a lot more than the traditional chicken soup served in MN (chicken, broth, carrots, egg noodles). The only thing I really prefer is to use dark meat -- I think bones and dark meat provide more flavor, and dark meat is, in the opinion of our family, has better texture. My mom and dad eat a lot of boneless chicken breasts, so I tend to get whole chickens, remove the breast meat for them, and keep the good stuff for us! Makes everyone happy.

My mother's chicken soup was more Asian... Cook chicken (whole chicken or dark meat parts) in water with star anise, ginger, onion, a bit of fish sauce, a couple of hot peppers (whole). Once you have a nice broth, remove chicken from bones. Add whacked up bok choi and those bean thread noodles (I cut them into manageable lengths), and finish with a bit of sesame oil. I serve with a bowl of nam pla and slivered prik e noo peppers and lime wedges. I tend to make a huge batch and freeze some without the noodles and bok choi, adding those when I'm ready for the batch from the freezer.

This post has brought back an old memory. We arrived in Thailand, fresh from Nebraska, on my birthday, mid 1960's. I think it was my 8th birthday. We were whisked from Don Muang airport to the grand old Erawan hotel, from when we were whisked to the home of one of the deans at the University my father would be teaching at. We were treated to quite a meal. I remember plate after plate after plate. My first taste of saute. My first curry. My first time to ever see a whole fish (head and all) on one plate. The list was endless. I also, that night, had my first larb (made with raw pork, which is what I associate with larb), as well as another salad, which is very much akin to larb -- a squid salad. It's one I make with some regularity. Chop up squid (not too fine), and boil for a couple of minutes. Mix with chopped cilantro, lots of lime juice, prik e noo peppers, some ginger, and shallots (cut lenghtwise). Great with sticky rice. While not considered larb, it can be considered another variation. I had trouble with the texture of raw pork at first, but grew to love larb. The Thais present at this meal were rather amazed that an 8 year old girl from Nebraska would take so readily to this food. Someone in another thread mentioned that perhaps foodies are born, not made. Now that I think of it, I was probably just an 8 year old seeking a way out of traditional, bland, cream of mushroom food that had been my diet.

Elaborate, please!

So I just pull it out of the freezer, run warm water over the bottom of the container, plop it in the stove on low, and in a few minutes you can take a knife or fork and break it up into bits.

Congrats six pack! Green curry is a hit in our house, and one that doesn't take too long to prepare. You noted "shallots (OK, I know they are not traditional)" -- but they can be very traditional. I think when I was growing up, when we said "onions," we more often meant shallots. My Thai market always has shallots (but rarely onions, unless green onions) and at a fraction of the price of shallots in a regular grocery (I think they are currently $.79/lb). And, glad you used dark meat. It is better than boneless chicken breasts, which is typical in the U. S. Finally, if you can't find lime leaves, lime zest or juice can be a good substute. Thai's are very big on limes, but I don't recall lemons really being a part of cooking there. Lemongrass yes, but lemons not much. And, no, it's not the same without the basil.

One of the things I like about putting the dough in the fridge is that you can usually use less yeast (notice the Alton Brown recipe has 1 t., not one pkg. which I think is over 2 t.) I'm not sure why dough is better with less yeast, but it is. And, doesn't the fridge thing give gluten more time to develop? This may be a question for a premiere bread baker (and I know there are several here).

Ah, yes, Jinmyo is correct. I love making stock. A good relationship with a butcher can lead one to easily procure all sort of bones perfect for stock making. My butcher now calls me when he has a plethora of them! At any given time, there are a few bags of "stuff" in my freezer -- chicken parts, beef parts, veggie "stuff" just waiting to be made into flavorful stock, of which I control sodium and flavor. As well, my freezer always has containers of various kinds of stock -- a couple varieties of chicken stock, beef stock, vegetable stock. I freeze in 1 cup portions, so I can take as many or as few out as I need. I usually have a little leftover when I freeze, so there are some smaller portions frozen, as well. I would never buy boned chicken parts; bone them myself and I have food for stock. Just as I never buy cut up chickens. When I was working full-time, I would also make stock in the crock pot. Set it to go in the morning, and voila, stock when I returned (I would heat and skim before putting in the crock pot. The crock pot didn't make the quantities I can make in my big stock pot, but, make it often enough, and you'll have plenty. Not only do you have incredible taste, but stock cooking perfumes the whole house.

I can second Adam's review of Thai Food by David Thompson. I grew up in Thailand, and watched our succession of Thai cooks cook, watched the ladies at the markets pound their pastes, and ate every possible food from street vendors, hole in the wall restaurants -- both in Bangkok and the rest of the country -- and most everything here is right on the money. Definitely one to own. I checked it out of the library and renewed it so many times I don't think they'll ever let me check it out again, so it is #1 on my Xmas list. This one may but the other Thai cookbooks I have on that bookshelf at the back of the basement. And, yes, the cover is cool.

Meant to add that even people who profess to "hate" tofu seem to like the deep-fried version. Mouthfeel is exquistly contrasting.

Experience of growing up in Thailand suggests that "rules" don't necessarily apply. What applies is what sounds good, tastes good, has good texture, smells good, and is what you want. As Peter (age 6) would say "joy" -- your senses are happy.

Hauenstein. Don't know if you can even get it anymore. Tasted like week old open beer with cigarette butt thrown in for good measure. Yuck. The thought makes me want to hork.

If you like Al Sicherman's style and ideas, go to www.startribune.com every Thursday morning, and click on taste section and look for "tidbits" column. He also has a column in the paper on Mondays (usually not food-related). Here in the Twin Cities, we love Al Sicherman, a Minneapolis guy. He's had some really hard personal knocks, but has always bounced back with a sense of humor.

You would be correct. When we go fishing at our cabin (near International Falls, MN), we fillet them and I saute them in butter. If it's high summer, they are accompanied by sliced tomatos from the garden and a salad of greens, also from the garden; and sweet corn picked that morning. It is really very good. I've lived in Minneapolis (across the Miss. River from St. Paul) for many years, and never have run across the dish mentioned by Wilfrid. Walleye has a delicate taste and texture and I can't imagine why one would choose to cover it up. The worst I've ever come across was at a potluck -- shell macaroni with cubes of velveeta and canned peas (drained) glued together with Miracle Whip. As the afternoon wore on, this particular dish looked worse and worse and worse, and my vinegarette potato salad kept disappearing. For truely awful recipes, look on the back of cereal, cracker, etc. boxes. Yikes. And, to think they probably paid someone to come up with these!

Yes, I am. I'm getting together with a friend this weekend who has a bazillion cookbooks, and she recommended his, as well as some by Diana Kennedy. Sounds like I need to raid her bookshelves! When it comes to food from different cultures, I'm just about as happy reading about the different styles of homes vs. restaurants and the different regions as actual recipes.

Thanks, Jaymes, for remembering my request! A couple of comments/questions: When you talk about "green chiles," what kind of chiles? Yes, less is more. That's sort of what I was getting at. I know my neighbor uses leftover carnitas at times -- she has indicated that if she doesn't have enough left over for traditional "taco" use, she makes enchiladas with them. And, I think I may have mentioned the ones I have had (tortillas prepared like in your first recipe) that had a smattering of cheese and onions in them, were folded in half, overlapped, blanketed with a bit more sauce, with a "ridge" of cheese on top. One of the things I really liked about these is that the tortillas sort of took center stage, and the fact that by just ribboning them with sauce before baking, the edges of the tortillas were sauced, but crunchy. Cheese. I have very easy access to many kinds of Mexican cheese. This begs for an explanation of the different kinds, and potential uses. This may require yet another thread. And, while we're on other threads, how about Mexican stews? Soups (other than tortilla soup)?

Ranks up there with Xmas eve at my in-laws. Lutefisk on boiled potatoes (peeled, of course) with white sauce. Accompanied by cauliflower with white sauce (I should mention that in her household, pepper is a spice, and one rarely used). Let's not forget the lefse with butter and white sugar. Any wonder that I always bring a colorful cooked vegetable and a great salad full of wonderful, flavorful greens (or reds)? (Last year, I also brought a roasted beet salad with raspberry vinegarette, stilton, and walnuts.)

What did they taste like?

This is how I learned to make Thai curries, when I was about 10 and living in Thailand. All of the Thai cooks I know make it like this: Assuming you are using canned coconut milk (and not fresh coconut cream and coconut milk), make sure that you do not shake the can before using. Open the top of the can and carefully spoon the thick cream on the top into a pan. Cook the coconut cream until it is bubbling and starts to separate, and then add your curry paste. Once this is aromatic, stir in the coconut milk. Once this is hot, add your meat, and when this is cooked, add your veggies. Taste and add some fish sauce and a bit of sugar (but not too much). I think the most common curry I ate in Thailand was green curry with chicken. We tended to eat at "local" restaurants (frequented by very few farangs), so the chicken was not the boneless breast pieces that are most common in the U. S. Rather, they would "dice" an entire chicken -- skin, bones and fat -- into about a 1-2" dice. The most common vegetables in this were either bamboo shoots (cut into matchsticks) or those golf-ball sized green and white speckled/striped eggplants, halved or quartered, depending on size. Lots of Thai basil at the end. Especially in small towns, we rarely ate curry with pork or beef -- these seemed to be more commonly used in stir fries. Fish was, however, was common, especially in southern Thailand. Masaman curry (same basic preparation, just using masaman curry paste) was always made with beef or lamb, and had potatos and peanuts in it. Another favorite "curry" preparation was made with ground pork and long beans. Heat a little oil in a wok or skillet, add some curry paste, and when fragrant, add ground pork. When cooked, add longbeans cut into 1-2" lengths. In Thai homes, and in little "holes" in the wall, it was not uncommon for these dishes for these dishes to be served at room temperature; the "hot" (temperature-wise) dishes tended to be the soups, stir-fries, fried fish dishes. And, at least in Bangkok, most home cooks did not make their own curry paste -- you purchased hand-made curry paste at the market. They had huge bowls of the stuff. The vendor would scoop out however much you wanted and wrap it in a banana leaf. About the time I left Thailand (late 70's), canned curry paste was becoming more popular, and the first widely available brand was Maesri.

Regular. It's what my great-grandmother and grandmother used. I don't think you could get dutch processed early in this century in Walton, NE.

Chocolate cake/cupcakes Cream 1/2 cup butter and 2 cups sugar. Add 2 eggs, beat well. Add 1 cup buttermilk (or milk that has vinegar added; OK per great grandmother if you don't have buttermilk). Then add 1 t. baking soda dissolved in a bit of hot water and 2/3 cup cocoa dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water. Mix in 2-1/4 cup flour. Bake in 350 oven "until done" (sic). Makes "enough" cupcakes (sic) or 3 9" layer cakes (I still have her pans!). Both she and my grandmother said that this would also work in a 9x13 pan, but that was "cheating." If you do cupcakes, remember to fill the cups (grease cups and top of cupcake pan well) enough so you get the brims. They also indicated that cupcake liners were a "waste of money and space on the grocery list." Frosting: Mix 1 cup sugar and enough cocoa so it looks right, then stir in 1 cup cream. Cook to soft ball stage (I'm not sure what that is on candy thermometer). At that point, the bubbles will be nice "splat" bubbles and if you are stirring fast, you will be able to barely see the bottom of the pan (that's how I learned). Beat frosting until spreading consistency. Frosting does not work well in humid weather -- it wants to slide off the cake or seep into cake. I also have killer recipe for burnt sugar cake. Recipe written on card with a fountain pen. Well used.

It's cupcakes. The ones my great-grandmother made for my grandmother, my grandmother made for my mother, my mother made for me and that I know make for my kids. Chocolate (buttermilk/cocoa recipe; I still have the card, handrwritten by my great grandmother), with frosting (1 cup cream, 1 cup sugar, cocoa so it looks right, cooked to soft-ball stage). First, you grease the cupcake tins. Not just the cupcake parts, but the whole top, too. Then you will cupcake tins too much, so that when they bake, you get this crispy part that goes onto the top of the cupcake tin. Remove carefully, you don't want to break these brims! Frost. Eat the crunchy "brims" first, then eat off the frosting, then eat the rest of the cupcake.