Mottmott

Suck it up, and let it suck it up, eh?

First question. When you get a wooden cutting board, aren't you supposed to season it with (edible) mineral oil? Second question. When you season it, how many applications should it take? I finally got one of the Ikea end grain cutting boards (my local store was out of them for months). I applied some mineral oil to it, and it just sucks it up. I've done it 2, 3 times now, and it keeps absorbing it. Method of application: I pour a little pool on, mush it around with my hand and it disappears, so it's not like its caught on a rag or sponge. I have a thin Dansk endgrain carvinbg board which seems to be finished that I use only for serving and haven't seasoned, but this one from Ikea looked and felt dry. Wonder what sort of wood it is.

You are soooo right. As long as the stems are properly peeled, properly cooked. Sweet, succulent, ready to revel in a sauce/vinaigrette or simply pop into your mouth! Tis the season now to accompany them with some great tomatoes. Is this the place to reveal part of my dark past? When my kids were young I sometimes used frozen veggies. Until this happened. Our trip to the Yucatan was set, their nursery school teacher engaged to babysit our 4 & 5 year olds while we would be there. We had it together. Until, that is, a piece of once frozen broccoli, stem intact, stuck in a small throat. I still have fond memories of that trip, my children's delight at the iguanas, and a not to be told here episode with a Mexico City policeman. Would you believe I've never used frozen broccoli since, and I am a fanatic stem peeler. Broccoli peeling technique: cut off the dried reveal at the bottom, then with small knife pry up a bit of the peel, the wider the bit the better, then pull it upwards as far as it can go. Repeat all the way round. It's optional about the peel in the flower head itself. But, oh, never, never! use a vegetable peeler. Then chunk, dice, julienne, then steam.

Thanks everyone. I found everything I needed at Rice and Spice.

Wow, that's fast. I'll check them out. Thanks.

Can anyone suggest a grocery where I can find in one place: curry leaves, sambhar powder, and asafoetida. I want to make a batch of Suvir's tomato chutney while the tomatoes are at their peak. But I'd rather not run all over town. Thanks

All the uses above, plus I think no one mentioned slicing onions for caramelized onions. And meat for pates when I don't feel like getting out the grinder. Edited to add: it lives on the counter as does my KA.

I wasn't thinking about this solely in terms of social responsibility and not supporting businesses that act this way. I'm frankly selfish enough to wonder that if the by-product leftovers of the production are that lethal, how safe can the product itself be.

I'm with DaleJ and Pandorphus. I have better uses for storage space than a machine to press/toast sandwiches. I prefer the cast iron pan which is more multipurpose than the brick. For those with families, a dedicated appliance might be worth its space, though. edited to reference DaleJ's post as I had erroneously quoted the one below his.

This article in the NYTimes is about pollution in China in general, but the part about the Lianhua Gourmet Powder company which manufactures msg raises still more questions about msg and gives new dimensions to any consideration about it. I've avoided msg before, I certainly won't touch it now! This link to the page that begins the discussion of Lianhua: here

Ditto on the eggs, ditto on expiration dates. Mostly I try to buy things that aren't prepackaged. Fruits I check by scent, never squeezing. Produce generally by appearance and trying to shop at places like farmers' markets where it will be really fresh.

Katie, what's MOT? Apart from sharing your cake, consider getting small pans and breaking a batch down into 2-3 cakes. And, I find many cakes can be frozen and sliced while still frozen. Of course, you still need self control to keep from eating them all at once, but at least it'll be fresh to the last drop. edited to add: I'm trying to eat all the white peaches at North Star. Bought a humongous big bag of 'em. Also got some apples for our first apple tarts. And for those of you as rabid about white peaches as I am, try them with a drop of Amaretto.

It's good when making soups or purees. The processor/blender will puree fruits and vegetables, but you will not get as fine, as refined a product as you will get in a food mill.

Thank you all. In fact I have made opal basil vinegar before. It was very pretty, but I didn't think the basil flavor strong enough to hold up against the vinegar. Maybe I'll try some again this year as I have a ton in the garden. It self weeds itself each year. I may get some sure gel and make some herb jellies. Today I bought a local farmer's lemon verbena jelly to check out how much I like it before turning some of my lemon verbena which also runs rampant. Never made jellies before, might be fun.

Much more than I have immediate need of! But even though some are present in my garden in large amounts I still prefer not to waste them and need to use them before they deteriorate. Ideas that would make good gifts would be nice. I've been gifted with 15 1-oz bags of fresh herbs: 2 bay, 2 spearmint, 2 peppermint, 2 opal basil, 2 lemon basil, 5 rosemary. To these I could add herbs from my garden (rosemary, lemon thyme, oregan, peppermint, spearmint, opal basil, lemon verbena, chive), I also have a bunch of dill I just bought today to dry for winter use. So my questions are: --can I freeze the bay leaves? the rosemary? --thought I'd make a lemon basil pesto for dinner, so don't worry about that (unless you have a more interesting suggestion) --if I make mint syrops, how long will they keep refrigerated? And should I blanch the mint before infusing the syrup? And am I right in assuming that I ask for trouble if I don't strain out all the vegetal matter? --any good suggestions for the opal basil other than adding to salad greens? Opal basil pesto?

Generally I use specialty salts only at the end of the cooking process, more or less as a condiment. I especially like the crunch that Maldon gives. Re Diamond and Morton's kosher salt. One of them is half again as "salty" as the other. It's a function of degree of coarse grind. If you weigh out your ingredients there should be no difference.

I've given up using plastic containers in favor of ziplocks. This has cut waaay back on freezer burn and all but eliminates contact with air. I find this way I can do it in 1,2,4, etc. cups quantity. It allows me to break off a few Tbs worth of stock if needed (whack it against the edge of the counter and it breaks inside the pastic into smaller bits) or to defrost larger amounts very quickly by immersing in warm water. I freeze them very flat on sheet pans, then when frozen I collect them in larger baggies so they don't get lost so easily (chicken collected in one, beef in another, etc). They stack horizontally or upright much like file folders. It works really well for me. edited for typos

Welcome Jujubee. And be sure that's not what was intended. Like others who know lots, Sam is very generous with his extensive knowledge. Check out his ecGI lesson on stovetop cookware. While you're at it, be sure to check out all of the ecGI classes if you haven't yet. Stovetop cookware class

I use many of the strategies mentioned above. I think for those who live alone it is especially important to consider our "leftovers" as our mise en place for future dishes. And as so many stores package foods in family sized amounts, It helps us avoid either eating the same thing three days straight orr falling to the temptation of overeating. For us especially, it's useful to incorporate "leftovers" as elements of our solo lifestyle pantry. Too many people who live alone find cooking "just" for themselves a chore, but having elements on hand for a more interesting meal makes it more attractive. Much of good cooking takes advantage of foodstuff many people throw out. Not just remnants of a cooked meal, but seafood shells, fish, chicken, beef bones, vegetable trimmings are the basis of fine stocks and sauces. Families and anyone on a tight budget may do this as a matter of economy and necessity. For those of us who live solo, it is an opportunity to use our more commodious fridges as part of our pantry to expand our kitchen beyond steaks, chops, a fish fillet, an omelet, a sandwich/wrap, or quick pasta and do take out less often. Soups and stews are examples of things to be made in larger batches, even incorporating leftover Parmesan rinds, etc., though personally I prefer making them mostly from fresh ingredients. When immediately frozen in single serving baggies, these become quick meals over the next month, no more to be called “leftovers” than a frozen dinner or something from the Whole Foods dinner in a plastic box. But beyond this, the freezer and fridge becomes my mise en place with such things as freshly made, individually bagged 1-2-or-4 cupfuls in nice flat baggies (quickly defrosted), of stocks and some sauces, or elements of them. Open a can of tomato paste? The part I don’t use can be put in a small baggie, squeezed flat, and frozen to later break off a small piece to enrich this sauce or that. Roux can be made ahead in large batches and stored. The stews (and leftover roasts) can be, in addition to suggestions above by others, minced and used as the base for fillings (or sometimes sauces) for empanadas, ravioli, crepes, stuffed vegetables, cannellonis, etc. And I make a several serving batch of such things as these ravioli, empanadas, etc., and freeze them for the future (of course I sometimes make fillings designated just for these end uses, too). The important thing is to freeze these as soon as possible after having made the initial element that will be the filling, not after it’s sat in the fridge several days and as an afterthought. Vegetables? Too many come packaged in family sized packages for those of us who live alone. For us, a bunch of turnips, radishes Swiss chard, beets, and other produce can be cycled into two meals with the greens used in one meal (sauteed, tossed into a soup, tart, etc.) while the chard stalks can become a small gratin, and the turnips, beets, radishes, etc. used in endless recipes and keep longer than greens. Many leftover cooked vegetables, if not overcooked, can be used in gratins, salads, stratta, or lasagna. Many can also be pickled and kept for a few weeks in the fridge (roots work especially well for longer shelf life). You live alone but like to make fresh pasta? Freeze up the extra dough as single servings of fettucini or of ravioli filled with a little ricotta/herb/egg binder (or even minced leftovers as filling). Then, instead of stopping at Whole Foods to pick up a plastic package of ravioli, it’s waiting for you at home. You like to bake? Leftovers can be dangerous, a temptation to eating more than you should because who wants to see that (fill in the blank) go stale after you’ve made it? And even things that will keep longer and still taste good (some cookies, tea or fruit cakes, etc) can be dangerous for your health. One of my strategies is to bake something when visiting others, have a piece while there, and leave the rest. But to have something sweet on hand without serious to my health, I take a leaf from the book of some professional bakers: bake, freeze, and assemble later. When you make a recipe, make 2 or more smaller cakes, breads, etc. at one time from your recipe for a 9-10" cake, keep one for immediate use, and freeze the rest for later use. I find this works especially well with pound cakes, some tea breads, and cheese cakes that don’t require icing. In fact, you can slice these while still frozen and return the rest to the freezer. Alas, custard based foods seem beyond this technique. For pastries, however, I prefer those baked as close to consumption as possible, so I will make them, freeze them (other than what I plan to eat immediately), and bake them off just before eating them. For example, I make a full scone recipe, bake off today’s coffee break, freeze the leftovers on a sheet pan, then put them in a baggie whence they can be extracted one by one and baked in 20-25 minutes. When you make a pie, do a large batch of pate brisee. To facilitate freezing, form it close to flat as you can or even roll it out in small flat rounds, and freeze it. Living alone, for individual tarts, I make small flat rounds ready to form into tartlets, separate them with parchment, and freeze them like a pack of tortillas, and pull out one (or more for unexpected guests) to fill and bake. If you have a larger freezer than I, you can even preform them. I know some people will make fruit pies up to the point of baking and freeze them, but I don't have enough space. If you bake bread, you can make larger batches and freeze, some work better before baking, others after. This, of course applies to pizza and foccaccio doughs which will help you use up your other leftovers. For boughten breads, like Behemoth, I buy good breads, but living alone can seldom finish a loaf before it goes bad unless I use some of his strategies. And I'd hate to throw out something I'd baked myself even more! In addition to his suggestions, a baguette can be cut and toasted for future appetizers, or turned, like other kinds of bread, into either sweet or savory bread puddings or stratta (in which you can use other leftovers, too). And, of course, almost anything can wind up in a salad or a quiche. From soup to nuts - well, er, I suppose you might use a few spoonsful of some soup in your salad dressing.... And lastly, let me say, that it's been a big help to buy some smaller casseroles to avoid an endless loop of leftovers becoming leftovers that become yet more leftovers.

In The French Laundry, Keller insists that wine be cooked before using it in a marinade, and that, in fact, using it in a marinade without cooking off the alcohol prevents the flavors from penetrating the meat as much as it would if not used raw. I do not recollect ever seeing that before with respect to marinades. What has your experience been?

Ah, that satisfies my curiosity, but as a home cook I guess I'll stick with making an apricot or red current glaze. I don't make that many fruit tarts. As for my local baker, I guess she lied when she said she made it in house and then looked inscrutable.

Thanks to all of you. I'm presently "sharing" my kitchen and have done practically no baking of late, but plan to go on a spree when I get it all to myself again. A local bakery uses a very thin colorless, tasteless, soft "glaze" on some fruit tarts. I've been wondering what it is and thought it just might be a very light gelatin. Or is it some special product only for bakeries?

I'm in if the date is convenient.

I thought I might check out using sheet gelatin in place of the packets, so did some googling and became more confused. Perhaps you could amplify a bit on how to choose what kinds of sheet gelatin one uses. For example, there seems to be various grades/types (?) of gelatins. The Uster site implies that all these types of sheets have different gelling power and that the number of sheets you need to use would vary depending upon which type is used. here (To add to that mix, the site you linked to has "silver" sheets.) Another site, however, says, categorically: Leaf or sheet gelatin is the same substance as granulated gelatin, just packaged and sold in a different form. It is more widely used in Europe (and shows up in more European recipes) than in the States. The gel-making ability of sheet gelatin is constant no matter what its size, so four leaves equal the amount of gelatin in the standard 1/4-ounce packet sold here. Leaf gelatin dissolves a little less readily than granulated gelatin, which is surely another reason that it is not as popular in our speed-obsessed kitchens. here One last issue is storage: one site suggests only 10 months, but I know that the packets last way longer than that.

I make grilled cheese in many of the wonderful ways mentioned above, but the one that's special to me reminds me of an adult friend from my childhood. Wonderful friend, terrible cook. When I'd have lunch with her, she'd slather some mayo on a piece of white bread, peel off the plastic on the slice of American cheese, lay it on the bread, then broil it open faced in a toaster over til the cheese had puffed up in a dome and browned on the top. Every now and then I'll make one that way for memory's sake.