patrickamory

Soba early for tomatoes - were they hothouse? How are they?

Anna - yummy looking pakora! And I'm going to guess that while the Branston pickle wasn't _appropriate_, it was still extremely delicious with the pakore?

I love this cookbook. Also - Anna - if anything might make you intrigued with these cuisines, it could be the photography in Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. To my mind it sets a new standard in cookbook photography. Soba, some recipes I've particularly enjoyed: - Na'ama's fattoush (p. 29) - Cannellini bean & lamb soup (p. 135) - Roasted chicken with clementines & arak (p. 179) - Chicken with caramelized onion and cardamom rice (p. 184) <--- this is particularly fantastic What didn't work for me: - The much-lauded hummus. I've tried it several times and it's just not my kind of hummus. Quick plug for a recipe in Plenty (which I agree isn't as good as Jerusalem): - Eggplant with buttermilk sauce (the cover illustration too) (p. 110) I think there maybe an existing thread on this cookbook? I could be wrong...

Hi Katie, when you say toast do you mean as in a risotto, or as in a tahdig? Because I understand that in Iran they make rice cookers that can make a tahdig… something that I think is very difficult or impossible in a Japanese rice cooker (I could be wrong!)

Catching up here… wow so many great meals, it's impossible to single any of them out. But I will say Kim that your smoked kielbasa and pulled pork look wonderful. Not being able to have a grill is my one regret about living in Manhattan. For me it's been very busy at work so just another easy weekday meal, pasta with tuna.

Wow, I just googled Yu's Family Kitchen. Looks incredible!

Good point Sylvia. Arguably Richard Olney was a celebrity chef, for his time. Maybe not such a household name as Julia Child, but several books that made it to paperback, and the inspiration for a generation of cooks, American English and French, who did become celebrities. rotuts, I guarantee that Olney was as involved in the production of the French editions as the English and American ones. The photography features his actual hands and was mostly done in London btw. There are significant differences even between the US and UK editions so I'd expect the French ones to vary as well - extremely cool that you have those. Btw - Olney had little to do with the selection of recipes (as opposed to the techniques that take up most of each book), many of which were sourced from various public domain sources, or adapted from other cookbook authors. They often have little to do with the techniques section. Though Olney included recipes in his other books, he had little truck with them at least when it came to following them to the letter, and highly recommended that aspiring cooks master techniques and ingredients and then improvise. (He did have a peculiar fixation on stuffing things, though.)

I must be the last person in the world to still make my rice on the stovetop. Carolina, basmati, jasmine, sticky, arborio, carnaroli, polo / tahdig. It all turns out great, though of course very different methods are used for each kind. Repeatedly tempted by the prospect of a Zojirushi rice cooker, especially the one that can sub as a slow cooker, but counter space is simply not available. Given the choice between a rice cooker and a wet grinder, I have to opt for the latter.

I got first (Jersey) strawberries of the season there a couple weekends ago. Really delicious - though $5 a box. Hopefully cheaper now?

I may be hungry, but I'm blown away by a few of the recent posts... Ann french-dip sandwiches are one of my favorite things on earth Bruce do you make a lot of Cuban food? and if so what is your information source or do you just make it up? Gran Cocina? Ashen that looks like a perfect burger of its type….. juicy but with the nice sizzled crunchy bits on the outside of the patty liuzhou I would not need to be sold on a Dunlop recipe, even sans sugar, but I love rabbit even more, and yes those peppercorns look perfect. Now what about those chiles? I find it hard to locate good fresh dried Sichuan chiles and I need an equivalent. They're bright red but comparatively mild in the scheme of things, right? A certain smoky fruitiness, certainly you would die if you ate them (but you eat around them), and they lend a bright spiciness rather than killing you? Or? mgaretz your first time? gorgeous brisket, gorgeous smoke ring Anna yes poached eggs on toast is the ultimate comfort food. My mom used to make it for me when I was sick, as a child. OK - just 2 boring weekday meals from me. Chicken thighs marinated in salt, herbes de provence, toasted ground Sichuan peppercorns, and paprika, then browned in ghee. Deglazed the pan with rice wine for the sauce. Served with Carolina rice and leftover Filipino cucumber salad. and - spaghetti made with that Il Casale tomato sauce I posted recently.

Thanks Katie, extremely useful and detailed post. I'm definitely going to be checking out rice bran oil (thanks liuzhou!) I'm not so concerned about which oils have or don't have omega 3s or omega 6es… more about whether the refining process might produce hazardous byproducts.

mm well that looks incredible… did you use a real vin jaune or just a savagnin (I'm guessing the latter is fine for cooking purposes)? Was this a classic poulet à vin jaune et aux morilles or did you update the recipe?

Sorry and yes… ALSO... what oil that fits the above description that doesn't carry sizable health risks, not that there seems to be particularly reliable information on that these days outside of trans-fats. I'm not particularly worried about consuming huge quantities of animal fat or coconut oil or anything in between, but I am a bit concerned about the number of oils, especially the ones available in large quantities for affordable prices, that seem to be produced industrially using various chemical solvents like hexane. Maybe it's an idle worry?

Fair enough, but by the end, I think a lot of people were answering just the topic question I'm happy this spawned a 4-page thread, but what I was really curious about was what affordable, neutral-tasting oil people would use in situations calling for such… including but not exclusively meaning deep-frying, and I got a lot of interesting answers. (And as much as I love them, olive oil of any sort, butter and peanut oil do not fit the bill.)

I learned about steaming eggs from David Thompson's Thai Cooking (with regard to duck eggs, but it works for chicken eggs too), and have never looked back.

Guys - we all use extra virgin olive oil, butter, pork fat and lard, ghee, suet, and various nice oils that are expensive in large quantities (coconut, avocado, grapeseed etc.), and not including peanut oil (to which I have an aversion). Thanks to everyone for their informative answers, but please go back to the original question which was - what NEUTRAL and NON-SCREWED-WITH oil do you use when called for in LARGE QUANTITIES? E.g. for deep frying. I was not asking people for their every-day cooking oils. The most interesting answer here so far has been rice bran oil, which I intend to investigate. (Makes me realize I have to phrase topic questions better when making the original posting. People coming in 4 pages later are not likely to see the details.)

Lucky Peach The Art of Eating Simple Cooking (I don't care how rarely it comes)

Had another go at chicken adobo à la Soba, served with steamed jasmine rice, green apple samba and Filipino cucumber salad.

What is better than a roast chicken sandwich… !

Thanks huiray. Reading up online I'm finding that Northern Indian sites recommend cassia in recipes. Ceylonese seems to be reserved for dishes from Sri Lanka (as you would expect), and possibly in Southern India, though I'm having trouble confirming the latter. I wonder whether there is a cassia/ceylonese border running across India at some point, like the butter/olive oil border in Europe?

For deep frying though… maybe most of you don't do any? Grapeseed would get pretty expensive.

Thanks, I googled, and this page is very clear on the distinction between the two main types, and where they come from: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscinnamon.html CASSIA is the hard sticks native to China, Vietnam and Indonesia, and most familiar in the US CEYLONESE is the soft quills used in North Africa, Mexico and parts of Europe So here's my question: which type of cinnamon is appropriate to use in North Indian, Thai, Malay, and Burmese dishes that call for "cinnamon"? Few of my cookbooks are clear on this.

Beautifully seared green beans and peppers liuzhou! Is that your preparation? It looks just about perfect. And I love preserved eggs… especially in congee.

Incredible work basquecook - both the eating and the reportage. Keep it up, please! Dumplings will henceforth always be "chaos" in my world… nice one.

Rice bran oil looks intriguing.