teapot

Per the discussion of apple peelers, I can't resist posting this brilliant idea for using a power drill to zip through the apple peeling process. I have tried this and it works amazingly well. It's super fast and you're not stuck with some unipurpose item cluttering up you kitchen. Here's a link to a video demonstration: http://www.wimp.com/peelingapples/

Several people have mentioned that they don't use their handcrank pasta makers. I strongly recommend purchasing a motor attachment that makes pasta making a breeze (it's tricky cranking and feeding pasta by yourself). It also eliminates the need for having to bolt the pasta maker onto the counter. Norpro makes one that costs 59 bucks...well worth it. The item I never use use is my Zoku quick popsicle maker. What was I thinking?

A diamond in the rough!

Behold my new Hobart KitchenAid! 1960s era with all the extras including glass bowl, splash guard and original box! $15 at a rummage sale.

Last night I made braised endives with apples and grapes - from Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table. A delicious dish -- especially made with tart/sweet Pink Lady apples which Dave Ross highlighted in his initial post. The dish actually served as my entire dinner but I can see it partnering exceptionally well with pork.

Made this one up: Roasted Rhubarb tart with Ginger Pastry Cream. It was delicious! I roasted a mix of red and green stalks from the garden (per Dorie Greenspan only I used less sugar). Steeped milk with a lot of fresh chopped ginger, then used in pastry cream.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think it probably was the combination of butter plus overchurning that created the problem. What is the best way to determine if optimal churning has been reached? Is there an ideal temperature?

Thanks for your reply Darienne. Your notes on the nuts are consistent with mine. If you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd be interested in knowing your basic formula for ice cream using half-half and cornstarch. Can I assume you don't use eggs when you're using cornstarch? I have little experience with cornstarch based ice creams but I did convert a chocolate pudding I'd made into gelato recently and loved it -- tasted just like a fudgsicle and had a creamy texture.

Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream -- What went wrong? I followed David's recipe and the flavor was lovely -- but the texture was crazy bad. The butter congealed into little frozen globules that stuck to the back of the spoon. The 1.5 cups of chopped buttered pecans (an excessive amount I thought) didn't really incorporate with the ice cream -- which was unscoopable. I have a refrigerated gelato machine and have never had problems with texture before. I should note that I processed this batch about 5 minutes longer than I typically do (based on a Lebovitz suggestion to maximize the churning). Would that have made the difference? Anyone have experience with this recipe?

Halibut season has arrived along with chives in the garden. This served on a puree of broccoli, arugula and basil.

I tried the "reverse sear" for the first time tonight. I dry-aged a ribeye for 4 days. Brought it to an internal temp of 95 in a 275 oven. Then I salt and peppered it and seared it in a superhot cast iron pan. Did not rest it (this methods negates the need for a rest period. This was the best steak I've had in years. I've tried the Ducasse method and far preferred this. I didn't need butter, or shallots or anything but a fork and knife.

One of the advantages of being old is I have old stuff. And what I didn't get from my mom, I get from auctions, estate sales, and former boyfriends. The latter category includes a gelato machine and Hobart Kitchenaid -- both from the 70s and both have proven to be far more reliable than the original owners .

Things I make instead of buy: Bread and all other baked goods Yogurt Butter Crème Fraiche Ricotta Ice Cream Tomato sauce fresh sausage/ground beef Salad dressing Things I buy instead of make: Tortillas Puff pastry Condiments Tomato paste Mozzarella Dried sausage What should I be shifting? Should I make my own mozzarella?

Yes, I think it was this lovely pizza that pointed me in the direction of Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast. It's a beautiful pizza! I wonder if you are using cooked or raw sausage? In my old way of cooking pizza, I used uncooked because it would cook in the 12 minutes needed for baking the pie. But with just 5 minutes in the oven, I wonder if I'll need to precook the sausage.

Is it? I don't have the book but Modernist's online "How to make perfect pizza" article doesn't utilize the broiler. By the way, I didn't think their "perfect pizza" looked very appealing (this coming from the lady with the burnt crust:)). Like every other source I've read, they add the cheese at the beginning of the break. I find that cheese "breaks" into an oily indistinct mass if added too early.

Has anyone tried the Forkish technique for pizza? It involves using the broiler to blast the preheated stone with radiant heat from the broiler, and using the broiler to finish the baking. My broiler is an 18,000 BTU infrared broiler so it got a little too hot as you can see in the photo. But in subsequent bakes, I dialed back the time in the oven (5 minutes total bake time was all that it took). Unfortunately, the good-looking pizza got gobbled up before I could take photos

Anyone ever baked with Einkorn? It's a heritage grain (pre-dates wheat) that is being grown here in Washington. I'd never had it before but ground some berries in my spice grinder and used them in a Forkish-like levain bread (I followed technique but not formula). Crusted the loaf with bran. I also made his pain de campagne and some cultured Jersey cream butter. It was really really good.

We are building a cabin this summer and I'm searching for a sink. I heard about the Kohler 'smart divide' sink and am hoping there are those on this site familiar with it -- or are, at least, willing to think through this decision with me. Smart divide sinks are deep double sinks that are separated by a 4-5 in divider. The idea of the low divider is that it won't interfere with pot handles and can more readily accommodate large pans. It's marketed as a "best of both worlds." At home I have a Franke Orca sink -- it's a single sink but has a ledge midway up on which you can rest a removable s/s grid. I use that grid constantly - I like to wash as I go and even though I have a dishwasher, I like being able to set my washed knives, etc onto that rack for drying. Anyway -- my experience with the Orca confirms that I'm a double-sink gal at heart. I think it especially makes sense for a cabin (where I'm not likely to use big stock pots, etc). The smart divide sink intrigues -- is it worth the extra money? And a related question -- we are considering an apron-front sink. While I like the look, it seems needlessly expensive for our cabin. But then my husband noted that since the sink is closer to you (by 4" or so) you aren't leaning forward, which makes it easier on your back. Is this true? Would love to hear from others who have experience with this.

My most-used is a flat whisk -- in addition to the typical use for sauces, I used mine as a dough whisk. Mine is a Miele and has held up beautifully after probably 20 years of regular bread baking/sourdough feeding. I suppose I could get a Danish dough whisk but I like the versatility of my flat whisk.

I've made injera a couple of times. It's really pretty simple...if you can make a crepe you can make injera. I always have sourdough starter so simply mix a lively starter with water and teff (or a teff/ap mix) until it has a consistency of crepe-batter. Have fun with it!

That's a clever idea! I've been using mortar and pestle, which is a snap for small amts. BTW, I enjoyed your blog. I love vintage kitchenalia as well -- though I don't have space to collect much. Do you ever go to auctions? They are a super source for inexpensive treasures.

You might try sprinkling some cornmeal on the bottom of the pot -- it seems to act as a buffer against burning.

I got the book from the library recently and have made the pain de campagne and the overnight country blonde. I forgot to add the yeast to the pain de campagne but the bread turned out beautifully. It was a much wetter dough than the blonde -- have others noticed significant variation in hydration between formulas? I found the blonde was a firmer dough than what I usually make -- I kept double checking to see if I'd maybe misread the formula. My only gripe about the book is that all the breads are boules cooking in a DO. I prefer a higher crust to crumb ratio than boules deliver -- that's why I generally make batards or baguettes. With the overnight blonde I shaped the loaves into batards and used a large aluminum roaster pan as a cloche. The result was good. It had a deeply caramelized crust, but the crumb was not as open as the campagne...but I attribute that to hydration. Next time I bake, I'll try to take photos.

I just picked up some long pepper...never had it before. It's quite nice -- a more complex flavor profile than black pepper.

Sour? Sounds like it was off. Did you return it? The sour taste seems to be a characteristic of the brand...not a bad package. I tasted some sour bacon at someone's house recently and sure enough...it was Hemplers.