patrickamory

Beautiful eggs. Please report back on how they taste!

... on the bread tip, however, I will say that I miss real Jewish "cornbread," now usually called corn rye to distinguish it from its Southern homonym. It's an incredibly chewy, heavy dark round rye loaf - the crust feels like it will tear your teeth out. In the '70s and '80s you could still get good versions from bakeries around New York such as Cakemasters. The version being produced today by places like Moishe's and Orwasher's is a pale imitation. I'm certain that there are other great American breads dating from before the recent revival of artisanal baking methods. I wonder if they made them using volume measuring?

Wow. Great responses all. I was actually using "centuries" hyperbolically. I wasn't thinking about the 18th and 19th centuries, before the advent of the home oven, etc. - as interesting as all that information is. I was referring to all the great baked goods I ate growing up. I have baked in the US and the UK, and worked with recipes based on volume and on weight. I suppose my actual question should have been - how did our parents and grandparents consistently achieve such amazing results? And they certainly were amazing - I don't think of the US as having an incredible history of breadmaking compared to Europe, but pies, cakes and cookies were and are wonderful in this country. Sylvia and Martin make the key points, I think. Baking every day - practice makes perfect. And attention to detail (and recipes that are very detailed).

Haha, it's actually my partner who makes it. He repurposes an upside-down khadai, over high heat. With just a bit of flour. He's the Persian cook around here, and there will definitely be more coming!

How did American bake lovely desserts for centuries using volume-only measurements?

More Persian cooking - ground lamb kebabs served in lavash with fresh basil and lime juice.

Mind-boggling. I have a pair of hostas flanking the doorway to my 11th floor terrace in Manhattan. They have come up in their original plastic nursery pots for over 10 years now (I've been too lazy to repot them). The shoots do indeed look like asparagus, but it never crossed my mind that they were edible. Mine have variegated leaves. I don't think I'll harvest any for eating since I only get about 5 shoots per pot.

Tart garlic chicken from Naomi Duguid's new Burmese book. This is rapidly becoming a regular dish around here.

Kim mimolette = wonderful cheese. De Gaulle's favorite, if I remember correctly. Prawncrackers beautiful steak, really only £6.50?!

Cheese board. Then piri-piri chicken, succumbing to the mania around here!

Wow. Tina. That fish dish is on the menu next time I cook.

Oh my, everyone, incredible food all the way around. Prawncrackers, I think that catch-up post may win the most mouthwatering prize - lots of great ideas in there. And Wapi, I'm googline piri-piri chicken right now.

On the old-school tip (i.e., lunch), try: Husmann's Vinstue Ida Davidsen

Guys! Marcella Hazan to the rescue... First, store your parmigiano wrapped in one layer of wax paper, then in another tight layer of aluminum foil, in the fridge. It will last almost forever this way. Then, if it does get too hard and dry, wrap the dried-out cheese in a layer of dampened cheesecloth, then in wax paper, then in foil. Leave it in the fridge for two days. Remove. It will be like new. Store as above. (Of course the rind can always be used for stews and soups and such, but you don't need to waste the cheese.) All from "The Essentials..."

I love 3 cups chicken! My sister-in-law is from Taiwan. That looks absolutely delicious again, Tina.

Steve, It was storebought paneer. I cut it into cubes and deep-fried it which gives it the golden color. Then it gets cooked with the spinach.

Goa fish curry. I used halibut. The recipe calls for frying a curry paste as if for a Thai curry - the Ultra Pride+ came in handy for this. I served it with sag paneer.

Another khoresh... this one based on sliced ribeye and butternut squash with barberries, verjus, saffron rosewater and grape molasses. And lots of ghee. Served atop fragments of tahdig.

Welcome to eGullet, Tina! The medicine soup looks delicious.

Today I bought two more containers of Siggi's 2% skyr. Plus a large full-fat Turkish yogurt called Yörük. Have yet to try it. Has anyone tried the goat's milk yogurt from Coach Farms?

Re-reading what I wrote above, I should have said that the late opening hours at the Wolseley are a bonus, not a bummer!

Re: plantains. The local Fairway has both green and yellow ones. Apparently they start out green, turn yellow, and eventually ripen to black. I guess we need to buy the yellow ones and wait until they turn back. You plantain fryers: what do you fry them in? Butter?

I love sweet fried plantains Bruce - how do you prepare them? And which of the two types of plantains normally available do you use?

mm84321, the texture is buttery, and yes, you eat the green shells. In fact, you can also nibble on the raw almonds, shells and all - they're chewy and tart.

I don't go for flavored yogurts either, and I don't buy nonfat or lowfat yogurt. With one, new exception, a type of yogurt that has been made with skim milk for centuries - Icelandic skyr. It's a strained cow's milk yogurt, not quite as thick as Fage. I was introduced to this by the Siggi's brand which is made in New York. It's not as sour as I usually like (the fullfat Karoun Dairies or Byblos brands for instance) - but it's unbelievably creamy and full flavored. No additives or stabilizers or anything like that. - Actually, the skyr I had was rjóma-skyr, which is skyr with some of the cream thrown back in, so it ends up being about 2% fat. Fine by me!