Mjx

This is quite lovely stuff, sweet but balanced: Also got a bottle of The Kraken... I mean, it's got a picture of a squid on the bottle, how could this be a mistake?

The thin, crip shells for profiteroles are fantastic stuffed with smoked salmon and dill; full of flavour, neat and tidy to eat, a little unexpected, yet not too 'out there' for more conservative breakfasters. Baby spinach might be nice added to these, too.

For the last few months I’ve been playing with the idea of a cocktail garden: sort of like an herb garden, but with plants you use fresh, in cocktails and other mixed drinks. A couple of weeks ago, while visiting some friends, we ended up discussing this idea over a pitcher of mojitos, which was followed by their giving me a birthday present that included a lovely little lime tree in bloom, and a couple of the most fragrant mint plants I’ve ever come across: a fledgling mojito garden. I’d love to take this further, but I’m been stymied by being unable to think of any other fresh plants that are regularly used in cocktails (presumably because I know next to nothing about cocktails), but I’m sure there must be quite a few. If you were given free rein to grow (or have someone grow for you, if gardening is not your thing) your personal supply of fresh botanical ingredients for your favourite cocktails, what would you plant?

If you're having trouble finding an induction cooktop (or one that has a compatible plug), I would not get too worked up about it: whatever advantages induction cooktops may have, I do not believe they get any hotter than glass ceramic (which gets extremely hot). You do need adequate contact between the wok and the heat source, but that will be identical with glass ceramic and induction.

Most of the people I know who have vegetable gardens do grow radishes, so I imagine that they are not regarded as difficult. The worst-case scenario is you end up back where you are now, so it might be worth trying to grow them, as you're alreadygrowing some other things, and wouldn't be starting from scratch (e.g. taking up part of your yard and prepping the soil).

Might be worth posting your question in the Reading Terminal Market or 2013 Farmers Markets topic (you might mention some of their alternate names, too). I can't imagine that radishes would ship well, even if you did find an online source, since they tend to go rubbery if they're not kept cool and moist.

Are you looking for the radishes or the seeds (since you mention 'online' and 'August', it sort of sounds like you're after seeds)? Sustainable Seed Co. has them (http://sustainableseedco.com/heirloom-vegetable-seeds/pe-t/radish-heirloom-seeds/watermelon-radish-seeds.html), and the actual radishes seem like something that should be available at farmer's markets, if there's a good one near you.

Please elaborate on this a bit?

I'm extremely fond of Madeira, but cannot always find my preferred Boal, so I'll sometimes try something else. Usually, that's meant that I ended up with something drier, which has worked out well, but I recently picked up a bottle of Justino's 'Fine Rich', and it's... well, a bit icky, which may be inelegant, but so is this Madeira. It's not just that it's very sweet (seldom a problem for me), but it's unbalanced and extrmely heavy, it even smells too sweet. Any one have experience/recommendations for other ingredients that might be mixed with this Madeira that would balance out/mitigate the aggressive syrupiness? I'm open to cocktail suggestions, too.

Thank you very much! I know how particular you are about the quality of your results, so I'm really looking forward to giving this a go. Important: be sure your eggs are at room temp before incorporating into butter/sugar/flour mixture. Also, the butter should be quite soft. I kept mine on the side of the stove for 10 minutes or so. It should be a soft pomade. Thanks, and noted!

Try contacting Bodum directly about the problem; I see they've discontinued the item, so it can't have been a smashing success. If all else fails, you can use it as a heatable bread basket, to keep your bread warm at table.

How about Forelle Blau as a central dish to build around?

Thank you very much! I know how particular you are about the quality of your results, so I'm really looking forward to giving this a go. @keychris: How is the crumb on those, and what is their texture like, once they're soaked?

mm84321, would you care to share the recipe you're currently using? I tried making baba au rhum once, long ago, and the results were so unpleasant that I haven't tried since. I haven't been thrilled with most restaurant offerings I've come across, either, so I'd love to hear of a reliable recipe.

Quite a bit of discussion, here: Working in Europe.

Add one for me: just received Modernist Cuisine at Home as a gift

Check out the discussion in the later part of the Bubble Tea topic.

But this isn't a textbook on photography!

Ah, I didn't realise the stems would make such a difference. The recipe is: 2lb sugar 1.3l boiling water 4 lemons 70g citric acid 30 large elderflower heads Dissolve sugar and water over heat, cool. Grate in lemon rind, slice lemons and add to syrup. Add citric acid, stir, add flowers. Cover with cloth, leave for 48 hours. Strain through sterile muslin into sterile bowl, pour through sterile funnel into sterile bottles. Plantes Vertes, does this give more of a syrup or a concentrate? Also, have you come across any discussion of the reason for the long steep? I've found nothing and keep puzzling over it; my only guess is that it is intended to extract from any stalks present, and that their flavour is/was traditionally an intrinsic part of the cordial's overall profile.

These look great to me, too! Is there any chance that the depression in a bialy is the result of a controlled fall? What I mean is, if the centre stays moist well after the rest is set, taking the tray out of the oven at that point, and slamming it down might cause the centres to collapse without collpsing the edges. Putting the onions on the bialys as soon as they're formed and set for their final rise should give their moisture time to seep into the dough, making it wetter than the rest.

My understanding is that the term may be applied to any cream or sauce with a light, mousse-like consistency, savoury or sweet; unless 'mousseline' is actually part of a name, it doesn't identify any unique, specific entitly, it's applied to many different things.

My boyfriend brought these back for me, from a trip to Sweden (in case this seems totally lame, from here this the equivalent of going to VT from NY, if people in VT spoke Frisian or something): The name somehow says it all. It tasted vaguely of chocolate and... things, which the labels enabled me to convince myself were not unlike the flavours of caramel and something red. My guess is that if you grew up with this, it has significant nostalgia value.

I have made the cordial with the stems on (and had plenty that was made that way), but the stems do make for a stronger flavour that not everyone likes, and might be a problem for someone who is used to the commercially made product, so it's probably worth trying a 'flowers only batch' once, before throwing in the towel. What recipe do you use?

Not a fatal error, but picking the florets free of the stems does make a difference. There could be lots of reasons you didn't care for the result: the recipe may not have been a good one (e.g. the proportions of ingredients/other instructions may be off); there may have been too many stems/insects; or, you might just not care for the flavour of a home-made product. The best recipes use weights, not 'xx flower heads', but they're not so easy to find. I also question the traditional steeping times given, since these are such tiny, fresh flowers. I made some last summer, taking the extra step of picking off the florets (I also reduced the steeping time), and when the cordial was offered to the neighbours' small daughters, they took it to be polite, but after one sip, they declared it really good, and asked for more, ultimately finishing off a pitcherful between them, which astonished their mother, since they normally would drink as little of it as manners permitted.

From what I've read, the methods used for clementines should work equally well for your mini mandarins, but I've never tried this (I was really hoping someone with experience would comment); by the time it occurred to me that candying whole fruit was something that could be done at home, my kitchen access had become too restricted to give it a go, but while I bide my time, I pretty much devour every article and discussion regarding this (which how I came to think of the threads I linked to).