scubadoo97

Why do you roast your own coffee - is it cheaper, better or both? Both What technique or machine is the best or most convenient? I use a heatgun/bowl method, thanks to MGLloyd and other heatgun mavericks Where do I get the green coffee beans? There are many green bean sources around. I get my beans from the greencoffeecoop. Good coffee, good selection and good people! What about smoke and mess - can I do this indoors? unless you have a commercial grade high CFM hood I would do it out doors. Does it take lots of skill and also time to gain enough experience to produce good results? Anyone can do it. I roast a cup of green beans in about 10 min. and may spend 30-40 min a week on my coffee roasting. My time is valuable (because I'm soooo important ) - is it really worth doing? Only if drinking awesome fresh roasted coffee is important to you. Just do it!

I use a fair amount of chipotles have been eating them long before they became trendy since my father lived in Mexico for many years. I have for years, dumped a can of chipotles in a jar and stored in the fridge. They seem to last for ever without developing mold or off tastes. I make my own from dried chipotles as well. My new thing is to puree them in a jar with a stick blender and store in the fridge and add to soups, meats or anything. I have been making a blend of chipotes and guava paste. Wonderful stuff. The guava paste adds a nice sweetness.

I like good fries with just salt and pepper most often. I also like BBQ sauce and learned to like mayo on fries while in Rotterdam. Heinz Ketchup is okay if you don't over do it. A good flavored mayo is heaven.

We do breakfast at our house and it is always a dairy meal. Lox and bagels with blintzes, vegetable salads and the show stopper is my wife's oven french toast recipe topped with a pecan crust.

Wow, my family (from Aleppo Syria) also makes the stuffed intestines with the same mixture we use for grape or mulberry leaves, yellow and zuchini squash. Your dinning description sounds familiar.

I like the Matusalem GR for sipping neat. I didn't like the Clasico straight up but over ice is okay or for mixing is fine. To me the Gran Reserva is the best of the Matusalem line (non Cuban) that I have tried

I use Jasmine rice a lot and I second the rinsing as well as using a little less water than most recipes call for. I do salt my water. Can't imagine unsalted rice and trying to stir salt into the dish after would break up the grains and cause it to get mushy.

Before reading these post the tahini was my first thought to why it didn't taste right. I have had tahini from many origins and they all taste different. I agree try to get it from a Middle East market and try to get the lebanese one. Age of tahini is also important since it goes rancid quickly. If the market has good turn over you should be getting something pretty fresh. All ingredients need to be fresh and the eggplant charred.

I have a Bron and a Benriner. I use the Benriner most but it is a bit narrow so I will pull out the Bron for larger vegies. The cheaper Benriner is sharper but the Bron when set up is more stable and of course you can do waffle cuts with the Bron.

My father spent a few years in Mexico City as a young man and has other family members who live there. Chipotles were a common item in our house growing up. I buy the cans since they are so easy to come by but I also pick up a bag of dried chipotles when I can find them and hydrate them, add carrots and onions lightly cook with a touch of vinager, brown sugar, thyme and water. Put them in jars and they are great. I take the cans and dump them in a jar, blend them with a stick blender and use in many dishes this way. I have also blended a can of chipotles with some guava paste. The little sweet kick works so well.

No Cuban rum in Miami, but lots of rum available from everywhere else.

Chuck, shoulder and brisket are what I buy to grind (I never buy preground meat) but this was really good not chewy or tough at all.

While shopping for steaks this evening I happened to be next to a guy who was raving about find a pack of chuck eye steaks (I had never heard of these). I talked with the butcher who confirmed that they are good steaks and it is one of the only steaks he eats. He proceded to cut me 3 large 1+ inch steaks and told be to give them a try. I got home and gave them a rub while lighting the grill. I cooked them medium and let them rest. I was suprised to find these very tender. Not as tender as tenderloin but more tender than sirloin and strip steaks with little waste. These had better flavor than tenderloin and were a great bargin as well. The butcher told me that when ever they have sholder/california roast on sale that he will cut me chuck eyes for the same price. What a deal and a nice unexpected find.

Sounds great MGLloyd. I just regestered. Got the heat gun on stand by.

Maybe they are just use to over roasted coffee. I would increase the coffee to water ratio first. If you have not done a french press brew with your home roasted I would highly advice you try it. It yields a very full bodied cup. Also you may want to record some stats of your roast. How long to tanning stage, first crack, 2nd and how long into second before cooling. I have a FR+ which roasts very aggresively if unmodified and done by the book. I use a variac and thermometer to better control the roast. I have done some profiles that resulted in a flat taste. With most air roasters there is a narrow sweet spot. Roast too slow and you bake the beans, too fast and it's too acidic. Keep at it and you will see your coffee continue to improve.

The Syrian cooks I know make rice with "hata" . They use quite a bit of oil or clarified butter when cooking rice. After the water has been absorbed they continue to cook on low to med heat until the bottom has browned. Invert the pot for a beautiful crunchy brown layer of toasted rice. Yumm.

Cigars and Rum a perfect match. I was smoking a Ramon Allones Small Club Corona with some Barbancourt 8 yr old today. Yummm.

The grinder in question is the Solis 166 and not the Maestro. The Maestro is a newer model and can be bought for about the same price. I would go for the Maestro. It is better designed, has a better motor, and is quieter . The Maestro Plus is the newest model with the same design as the original Maestro but has a heaver base and a few more grind settings

You could also drop in boiling water for 1-2 min then in cold water. That should loosen the skin. This works for tomatos as well. I would go for charring to get the smokey flavor.

Different techniques can be use to mute the acidity with an air roaster which will yield excellent beans for espresso. Blending is the key to a good espresso coffee. You can get good espresso from a single variety. Espresso is a method of extraction that really gives you the heart of the bean if done correctly. Often people think espresso is a bean or a type of roast which it is not.

Sorry for the repetition. I keep getting an error message after hitting the add post

As a Jew of Mizrahi (middle east) origin, we ate typical arab foods. No pork of course and lots of rice. Now things we didn't eat, Ashkenazic cuisine My brother was at Katz deli in NYC and is telling the guy behind the counter that he wants his pastrami extra extra lean. The comes back with do you want that on white bread. Too funny

I swear I am absolutely addicted to this. We have been having it about every other night. My wife and I will eat one head with no problem it is soooo good. I have done broccoli and brussel sprouts and although good don't compare to the cauliflower.

Here's a recipe. Pound breast, roll up with swiss cheese in the middle then roll in hazelnuts. Brown in butter and sherry and bake till done. My favorite way to do boneless skinless breast is to salt and pepper and brown both sides in EVOO using a hot cast iron skillet and finish in a hot, 450F oven for 10 min. Remove and slice. This yields a very moist breast with a nice crust. Simple and sooo good.

I don't think this is a dish you can cook ahead and nuke. The best part is the crispy edges which would go to mush in the microwave doing a reheat. You may be able to cook ahead and then recrip in the oven. I was thinking of doing this dish for 14 people but thought I would not be able to manage it. The wife and I ate one head tonight. What do you think, can you cook a bunch of this and then throw in a big 9X13 dish and put it back in the oven later to reheat? I may have to try a small batch to see if it can be cook ahead.