Mottmott

After clearing out my cupboards of all the moth infested flours, etc., I followed up on a hint I read somewhere and began storing these things with a couple bay leaves in each container. So far it seems to help. But like you, I keep some things in the freezer both against moths and rancidity (some flours, cornmeal, etc.)

Could the gumminess reflect the bread needing a little more time in the oven? Mine has sometimes been on the verge of gummy when the internal temperature was below 212f. (aT 200)

I used King Arthur bread flour. (I think it's 12.7%)

I can't answer as to whether your lemons are safe, but I can give you a tip about keeping them in the brine when you make them. Just weight them down with a glass or ceramic plate, ramekin, etc. just small enough to get through the opening of the jar you are preserving them in. I use the same trick when cooking artichokes to keep them from bobbing up.

Fifi, thanks again. I've read through the very informative lard threads. I keep wondering why some things I used to eat as a child don't taste as good. Lard's the likely answer. I made my lard in the oven in a large LC casserole, so had no opportunity to triple bottle the lard as was suggested there. I'll try it next time. I did save the little brown bits that I so carefully strained away from the liquid in its own little jar, though.

Because I'm doing lard the hard way? Because there were all these little itsy bits of solid stuff at the bottom, and I'm going to use some of it for baking as well as for the cassoulet. Thanks for the lard leads, I'll read them through after dinner. Anyway, I'm in interesting company, this is my favorite bit from Zuni Cafe (which I haven't cooked from yet): "..but in the spirit of 'stop, think, there must be a harder way, 'I figured starting from scratch might be more gratifying.'''

My yardstick for judging TV chefs: less personality and production values, more food pleeease.

I'm glad that badthings has given such a glowing report. Just last night I began rendering the pork fat which is the first stage of the Toulouse cassoulet I plan to serve over the holidays. The rendered pork fat is dripping through a coffee filter as I write. This is the first time I've done this and I'm surprised at how little fat is rendered from over 4 lbs of raw fat. I resisted temptation and discarded the bits that were left from it. Whenever I render a little chicken fat, I eat them. But there were so many from the pork I could visualize the tummy tuck surgeon ripping them from my hips and belly. What are they called? Cracklings? They should be called thighs. I'm going to make the confits in the next week or two so they can develop. I think it will be a perfect New Years' day family dinner. Although a meal like this can be a lot of work, it isn't overwhelming as it can be staged out over time. My only doubt is whether it will be as good as the Catalan Stew I made from Wolfert's world of food. Interestingly, my DIL has just today brought home Fran McCullough's "The Good Fat" which I am reading as the pork fat drips, slow ladleful by ladleful. (only 35 pages so far, so no book report here) No book report, but I see a pattern: Fran McCullough has edited and published the work of cookbook authors including Paula Wolfert. So? Paula writes these recipes where, instead of cutting the fat off the meat we buy as so many suggest, we run all over town to buy EXTRA fat to line the pot and confit the duck and sausage while her old editor writes a book to make us feel better about eating these foods. It's perfect because the food is so good and now guiltless. Maybe when I finish reading Good Fat, I'll post a recipe I have for Chinese Almond cookies that can only be made with lard.

Everyone is coming up with wonderful suggestions that put the lie to the old whine, "who has time to cook?" I suggested confining this thread to relatively inexpensive meals so that everyone could afford most of them. A nice thick porterhouse, steamed lobster, etc., can be quick but not necessarily suit everyone's pocketbook.

Many of the topics discussed on eG contain hidden within them serious political, social, economic, environmental, and health issues. I believe that some people may shy away from exploring these, as suggested above, because many of us come to eG for info, infotainment, or just entertainment: escape into food, escape into a witty conversation about food and peripheral issues. But that's only one side of it. I think that many people, like Pan (who eloquently raised this question), are aware of these hidden and often unexplored topics and are very interested in them. We find them completely relevant to discissions of food. And I think that in many cases we self-censor, leaving them unexplored, not raising issues likely to become contentious, even rancorous. It's a little like imposing upon ourselves the old injunction against discussing religion or politics at a dinner party. We avoid arguments about the half empty vs half filled glass when we can agree to raise it in toast to the joys of good food and good wine. Personally I'd like to see more of such discussions, perhaps in its own category. the food periphery. Many of the eG participants are well informed in areas beyond culinary issues and could bring their knowledge to these discussions.

A good tip. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere, but as he omitted it, I might have done so, too. That's a problem with recipes. Some drive you crazy by omitting a step the writer thinks "speaks for itself" and some drive you crazy by telling you how to boil water.

turkey sausage? turkey burgers? turkey fritters?

It's pretty much finished. Still got to do window casings, baseboards, etc. But that will have to wait until next year. Got to dig out some pine boards we cut and milled over in NH back around '51. Wow, you started in '51! You beat me on "long-term" projects! I started my kitchen only 20 years ago. I'm in the midst of the 2nd stage which I began last fall and stopped in April when my son and his family came to stay with me. I'll finish it off when they are finally in their new house. I'm even considering replacing the countertop.

Is your kitchen finished? Did you post pics? Did I miss it?

Perhaps for some, anything that glorifies and satisfies the senses is to be suppressed? Prefab food is the modern version of the hair shirt?

That step really gilds the lily. I often bake squash with brown sugar or maple syrup, but your stuffing sounds scrumptious. I'm going to give it a try. Do you prefer any particular squash for this?

It may not be fancy enough, but unpeeled winter squash cut into pieces and roasted with oil, garlic, and herbs is wonderful. I do it alongside various other vegetables (roots, eggplant, zucchini, etc, always including onions). For Thanksgiving I'd try to get the imported cippollini. It's good at room temperature as well as hot.

I just saw an episode of Ming Tsai this afternoon on black bean and garlic sauce. He gave a master recipe for the sauce which will keep for about 3 weeks and several individual recipes that use it (clams, beef & eggplant - or just eggplant or some other vegetable, pork and tofu, and fried perch (though it was fried on the show). Any one of them could be made quickly once the sauce was on hand. And, in the spirit of compromise, one could buy the sauce, too, I suppose. That eggplant and beef was sooo tempting I'm going to make some tomorrow. http://www.ming.com/simplyming/

During the lively discussion in "Amanda Slaps Sandra Lee" the issue arose of harried and overworked people not having the time or, perhaps, money to cook from scratch. My belief is that is simply untrue. Even if you overlook the many dishes that can be prepared ahead such as soups, stews, casseroles that can be frozen, etc. which we might take up in a companion thread. Note: This is not to be taken as an attack on those who don't cook from scratch because they don't like to do it. I just don't believe that lack of time or money need disqualify people from eating well as is so often claimed. What are some foods that can be whipped together within, say 30 minutes (approximately). The goal is to provide ourselves with tasty nutritious food. This can be either individual dishes or an entire menu. For the purposes of this discussion some elements can come in packages such as flash frozen vegetables, a can of of beans, stock, dried pasta, tomato or anchovy paste in a tube, etc. It might also be useful to mention it if the item is inexpensive as well as quick. My favorite example of a quick inexpensive food is mussels which are less than a dollar a pound and can be steamed with any number of sauces way faster than heating up something in a box.

I've recently been told (MD) to control cholesterol and salt and NOT to use Atkins. As suggested, explore cuisines and recipes that do not depend on saturated fats to the extent that Anglo-American and French food does. (Italian and Asian spring to mind) My suggestions for low cholesterol: 1. Try to eat only what you cook yourself. No processed foods, few restaurant meals. There's no requirement for mfgrs to indicate trans fats at present, though anything that says “hydrogenated” will include trans fat, the absence of that word does not guarantee the absence of trans fat. 2. Read up on fat. Yes, I know it's annoying that the info keeps changing as the research continues, but it gives you something to make your choices on. 3. Get a scale. Get a book that gives you a good breakdown of the fat content of different foods, including a breakdown of the different kinds of fat. 4. Use the scale. Use the book (or website - if you can find a good one, let me know). The best way to control what happens in your body is to know what goes into your body. Do you know how many grams of fat is in a Tbs oil, butter, etc? Do you know which ones are the better, worse choices for those times you eat fat? Some, such as olive oil are said to improve the hdl/ldl ratio (the hdl’s are the “good” cholesterol). Even among cheeses, some have more fat than others. One oz Parmesan, alas, has 30g total fat (19.1g sat fat), compared to 1 oz of Roquefort (8.69g total fat & 5.46g sat fat. 5. Ask your doctor to give you a target of so many grams (or less) of fat per day. I HATE that vague stuff, “reduce your fats,” etc. 6. Perhaps get a consult with a nutritionist who will tailor a program for you. (edited by my 1 1/2 yr granddaughter who decided to interrupt the post )

A hanging pot rack over the stove would be a big help. Enclume makes good sturdy ones. Just be sure to screw the hooks into a joist. When you leave, spackle in the holes and take it with you. For shelves the metal wire ones will give you space but not close in the the kitchen as much as wooden ones. Or melamine cabinets from Home Depot, etc. I can't tell what you have as wall cabinets. If there's none over the fridge, you can pile a cabinet on top of the fridge. Just throw an anchor into the wall so it doesn't come tumbling down on you. Ditto on the cart on wheels.

That's an interesting question. I usually make rice in a straight gauge Le Creuset "Windsor" because it's just the right size for two people and because I like the way the cast iron retains heat. . Ditto, except that I use a 2 qt casserole. Love the way it cooks rice.

This cassoulet will be my next venture into Wolfert's world. Let's see. To do it, I must go through the confit first - this weekend's project. Then I'll make the Toulouse sausage, the sausage confit, and by about Christmas time we'll have a cassoulet. I love a project! Last weekend we initiated the autumn with the Gascony Daube of Beef. Not a drop left. (I must admit to a shortcut that didn't seem to hurt it. I placed a round of parchment on the surface of the meat, then instead of sealing the casserole with the flour I "sealed" the top with foil before putting on the heavy lid. I also used more wine than the recipe called for because I knew we'd want the extra sauce to mop up with homemade sourdough bread.) I admit I seldom venture into recipes that take days of shopping, marinating, cooking, etc. for fear of disappointment. But whenever I've done this with something from a Wolfert recipe, the result is spectacular. Paula, thank you for such wonderful food, such wonderfully written recipes.

OK, it tastes good, and it looks good, but NO spring. My loaves spread out more than up. Perhaps because my slashes on the top are too vertical? It happens whether I bake directly from the fridge or I rest it at room temp for an hour or so. Or is it something about my starter perhaps? Also, even at 475, the bottoms are still too black, so next time I will raise the stone from the bottom of the oven to a low shelf. It's odd, because I do free form tarts directly on the bottom of the oven and I haven't this problem. Maybe it's all the butter in the tart dough.

Thanks. I can still shake it, but my flipping days are gone unless my wrist repairs itself. My 8.5 (20cm) copper/ss evasee weighs 4 lb 3 oz; my 10" (28 cm) LC skillet weighs 5 lb 6 oz (interestingly plain cast iron is lighter) I use these all the time, so I should be able to move up a bit.