Mottmott

Cake flour is a low protein flour. About 8%, I believe. King Arthur all purpose is about 12-13% for comparison (all per my approximating memory here). I think bread flour is 1-2% higher than a-p. Hathor, I'm with you on the oven for braising. Whatever Hazan may say, 4 hours of stovetop braising in my kitchen of negligence is high hazard.

Mottmott, in which book does she simmer the ragu in the oven? I ask because I always thought she doesn't really use the oven except for baking. So, I made Marcella's ragu today. I ate many spoonfulls over the course of the 4-hours it was simmering, but still had enough for my lasagne and some extra to put in the freezer for another day. Then I made spinach lasagne. I had some problems with this. Used Marcella Haza's recipe, but had to use a LOT more flour and still the dough was really sticky, fragile and hard to work with. And yes, I made sure my spinach was really dry before adding it. Anyway, after boiling the sheets they seemed to firm up, and the final dish was absolutely fantastic. Such an amazing marriage of flavors. So mellow and sweet and comforting and rich. ← OOps, sorry. I shopuld have said I simmer it in the oven. edited to add: I use The Classic Italian Cookbook

ok, a quick question for all of you: 1. are you generally making a ragu bolognese like this one, which is supposedly out of the splendid table? (i don't have the book yet) 2. the reason i'm asking is that it seems like that recipe doesn't make that much, for several hours work. so when you make it, do you usually double/triple the recipe? ← Per ST: the ingredients online are correct and scaled for either 1 lb of Kasper's fresh pasta or dried. I see no reason not to scale the recipe up, particularly for a single meal. Kasper does suggest, however, that it's best to keep the ragu warm and eat within about 30 minutes of finishing. On the other hand she does not specify that it does not freeze well as she does on some other recipes. My suggestion would be to check it out. Make a little bit extra to freeze and see what happens. It might be convenient to have a dinner ready in the freezer, but it won't actually save that much work time for you. Most of the time is passive cooking. I've used Hazan's recipe which stipulates it can be frozen or reheated. Perhaps that would suit you better, though she simmers it in the oven even longer. It uses less meat and more tomato and yields enough for 6 servings.

What’s the big deal about tweaking some spice or other. Recipes are not magic formulas. They’re merely guides to achieving a certain kind of result. When we don’t get the result we want, it may be as much our fault as the recipe. Many variables can get you there - or somewhere else. Some elements of a recipe are what I consider essential: ratios of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, liquid and the order in which you combine them and the technique you use to do so. What and how much of various flavorings are peripheral to the recipe and can often be altered without changing the basic outcome even though the effect may be quite different. For example. I made the All In One Holiday Bundt Cake. Loved it. Everyone loved it. Last night I made the Double Apple Bundt Cake. It was only while I was making it that deja vu struck. When I checked, sure enough: the basic ingredient ratios, technique were the same, all the flavoring ingredients were not. Result? Two different delicious cake. Now, truth to tell, the Apple Cake was not as successful. Both recipes called for 1 or 2 medium apples. No volume or weight measurement. The apple cake was a touch too moist and slightly undercooked in the bottom of the pan. Maybe because my medium apples the second time were actually a bit bigger? Maybe because grating them instead of chopping them made them more juicy? We’ve discussed to death the dearth of weight measurement in US recipes, so in their absence I say suck it up, make a note and correct it next time if all else satisfies you. (Though I confess to grumbling about their absence under my breath.) Don’t like the level of spice in a recipe? Ditto. My taste for spice or sweetness and yours may be quite different. What one person finds bland may strike another as subtle and restrained. My own preference runs to spicy, so I often up the amount of cinnamon or ginger in a recipe, throw in some lemon zest, etc. None of those things will do more than tweak the flavor. All this before we get into the issue of the quality of the ingredients, their source and type. When a particular flavor is the main player, I get a different result when I use Ceylon cinnamon (floral) or Vietnamese (spicy), or when I use a more floral Tahitian vanilla instead of Madagascar. Now that may not show up much in a spice cake, but makes all the difference in a custard. And that’s before we get into the question of how fresh they are, whether I used powdered out of the jar or ground my own, etc. Maybe the store bought apple butter was the culprit, a bit too liquidy? Or perhaps the difference between the two versions of what is essentially the same cake is that the first time I took the trouble to whizz the already granulated sugar into fine sugar. Or maybe it was because one cake used all granulated sugar, the other part brown sugar. Or maybe because, preferring a less sweet cake I slightly reduced the sugar in the apple cake. Or perhaps the more liquidy grated apples really called for an extra 5 minutes in the oven over the chopped apples in the holiday cake. None of these decisions reflect on the person who wrote the recipe unless one feels that every recipe dictate on all these issues.

Thanks for the suggestions. As it happens I have the Supernat'l brownies recipe. As for cookies, I don't like making them much. All that shaping, shifting trays about, timing, timing. They have to be pretty special cookies to warrant all that fiddly stuff. No, I'm not granny of the year.

I'm biased, but might I suggest the recipe published in the book as the Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake? You could make the dough one day (or do that part ahead of time) and then do the filling, assembly, and baking the next. MelissaH ← We often do pies. In the past we've made dough and done a swapout with some of the dough I tend to keep on hand. I usually start the preheat before I go to pick her up. Cakes present more of a problem as so many take an hour just for the baking plus cool down time. I think it's important for her to measure out the ingredients. She's learning to weigh them out as well as measure by volume. We went through an "experiment" where we weighed out a cup of flour dipped, spooned, sifted. Sometimes she stays for dinner which is when we can manage the time for a cake. It would be unthinkable for her not to take some home. I have both apple cakes in my sights. And I often do stage out much cooking and baking. Sometimes, I'll do all the mis late at night and bake the next day. For a bonus this gives the fridgy stuff time to come to room temp. But I'd like to find recipes where my gd and I can go through the entire process as nearly as possible from beginning to end. So many of the cakes take an hour just for baking, then need time to cool before they're ready for her to take (her share) home.

Made the classic brownies with my gd this afternoon; fudgey rather than cakey. They were ok, the chocolate balance of the bittersweet/unsweetened chocolate was good, and they weren't too sweet, though if I make them again I will probably cut the sugar back just a tad. But I fess up that brownies are not my favorite thing. I'd rather eat cake. This is a good recipe to make with a 10 year old, however. She was able to do most of it herself, and it was something we could do in the 2 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours we had between school and going home. If anyone has recommendations for other recipes to fill this bill, I'm listening. We cook together every week or two. Baking (and licking the bowl) is her favorite.

Has anyone used the frozen chestnuts sometimes available at TJ's?

I prebake on a pizza stone. Then I start the filled pie out (on a baking sheet) on the pizza stone, raise it after 10-15 minutes. I've never precooked the pumpkin custard.

I have a little Salton: up to 5 kilos, weighs in either 1/4oz/ 5g increments, with a tare feature. It's only about 2" high and I can conveniently stash it in an otherwise unusable space between my microwave and the cabinet above it. Very handy. Were I buying one today, I'd look for smaller gram increments.

The Splendid Table has a bunch of things suitable for Xmas dinner, some even labelled as a Christmas Capon or holiday cakes, etc. I used the above mentioned onions for a festive dinner as I like at least one dish with a bit of sharpness at an unctuous meal. I've been eying her Tortellini Pie, filled with meatballs that have been cooked in ragu then covered with a cinnamon custard before topping with a decorative crust. It and others are too sumptuous and/or complex to cook for everyday dinner. Some are also "conversation" pieces as they date from the Renaissance, perhaps earlier. The vegetable dishes similarly tend to have a twist that would make them work for special dinners. I'm to bring dessert for a large family Christmas dinner. My plan is to bring 2 or 3, including at least one of her heavily fruited cakes.

I had a friend over for Sunday brunch omelets. She opted for Roquefort. I mixed some of the Roquefort with creme fraiche and studded it with some small chunks. Mine was a duxelles/creme fraich filling. The creme fraiche made a bit of sauce oozing from the center. Both were liberally sprinkled with chives fresh from my garden. I toasted hand cut miche bread (Metropolitan for the local folks) on a griddle so it had a nice mixture of crisp exterior and thin bits and a still soft center where it was cut a bit thicker. (I hate toaster toast, uniform throughout and mostly dry, dry, dry.) We finished with some Breton Far from Dorie Greenspan's Baking. Someday I'll get a diggicam. Sigh.

burrata is available here in philadelphia from either dibruno bros or claudios. i know i've gotten it at dibrunos--the problem i have with the the stuff is that it's big and very perishable, so unless i have several people over to scarf the whole thing it's a waste of money... but since it's puglia month over in the cooking through italy threads, i might have to hook it up. ← I had it once from dB. I'd made a fairly large purchase of cheeses for a party and the counter man threw in a couple of these gratis. Unfortunately, they were past their prime, so I wound up tossing them.

Ok, if this isn't the BEST, which is? Or what would you do to this recipe to make it THE best?

Reading this inspires me. I have some cider hardening in the fridge and will get the chicken tomorrow. The weather's finally turned here; alas, it was pleasant hanging out in the park on Thursday, without even a jacket, as my gkids fed the spoiled rotten Wissahickon ducks who don't even have to dive for dinner much less make it.

I've made the Marinated Baby Onions from The Splendid Table (p 16) some years back. I like this sort of dish that can be keep in the fridge and used with various meals. I made her Country Style Ragu (48), also. My recollection is that both were very intensely flavorful. I'm not sure why I haven't made more things from her book.

Jason, in Philadelphia Whole Foods says their meat is without antibiotics or hormones. At the Reading Terminal, Ochs and Giunta make a similar claim. On weekends, the farm foods stand - practically across from Metropolitan bakery - carries some organic & grass fed meats. But, you're right. Most Americans outside the urban coast areas have limited access.

Yesterday I made the Breton Far. It looked just like the one Patrick posted way back when. It's dead easy to make. Essentially it's just a custard put together in the blender, some flour added at the end to set it up a bit firmer than a custard would be. You refrigerate it awhile, preferably overnight, and before baking throw in some dried fruit that's been steeped to soften it. Next time I make it I may use dried cherries or cranberries in place of the raisins. For me, this would be a perfect brunch dish, everything, even prepping the pan, can be set up the night before so you need only bake it the morning of. If you set the oven controls to start the preheating while you're still in bed, it could be ready about an hour after you wake up.

Mom's dining room table would be the logical place for guests to drop off wrapped gifts. That being said, my white gloved Georgia Grandma would have swooned to see gifts on "display" on anyone's dining room table, much less cards with them identifying the sender. Anyone who would linger around the gifts and checking the cards would be looked at askance, to say the least, and someone would be watching. It would have been considered "trashy" to say the least. I only remember maybe three or four weddings where actual presents were visible at the wedding itself, one in particular - my cousin was marrying a girl from Texas, so we sort of blamed it on cultural differences and politely ignored it. Every once in a while a guest will turn up at the wedding itself with a gift in hand, but it was usually politely received by a relative and given to the bride's mother for safe keeping, locked in the turnk of the car. A real pain in the neck, the last thing a bride needs is to hassle with a gift on her wedding day. But a better alternative than the guest walking around with a wrapped gift in hand all day. Now I do remember helping a bride that was a close relation organize her gifts at her mother's house, and we did so in the dining room, making sure she had a list to work from for thank you notes later. The girfts were then stored in a back bedroom. They certainly were not on display to the general public or guests. I suppose those that walked through the house might have saw us working on them, or we might have left them there when taking a break or something. We do tend to give gifts more often than cash in the South in general, considered more "thoughtful" and "personal", but even that has changed over the last 20 years or so. If brides are registered, and that is so easy to do these days, it makes things much easier, but about 75% of my stepdaugher's presents for her wedding last August were either gift cards or cash. Ironically, most of the non cash gifts came from the Groom's relatives in New Jersey. Most of the Georgia/Florida/Virginia folks sent a check, but since my stepdaugher and her new husband had been living together for two years already and had set up housekeeping, so it made better sense. ← As a northerner, I don't think geography is determinant here. I realize the practicality of cash as a gift, but I will not give it and always hated to receive it (even when I was a poor student). When I receive a gift, I can recall the giver and the occasion years later - and their thoughtfulness.

Did you wash the lid, too?

We all wish you and yours the best for the future. OK, I can't help myself. I will ask what we all want to know. Who pays for the GROOM?

Just out of curiosity and for the complete dish, has the groom's mother been hit to pay for her guests, too? ← mottmott darling, you are talking to the groom's stepmother (LaurieB, not me). The groom's mother agreed to split the bar at the reception with the groom's father and LaurieB, which was quite generous. I would wonder if the groom's mother is inviting any guests, just to keep things stirred up! Better LaurieB than me, at this point. LaurieB, please correct me if I am dishing incorrectly. Stepping back is probably a very good strategy at this point. There may be dynamics unknown and unheard of going on between bride - mom- groom- siblings. As long as there is time, it's cool. When it is all sprung on you at the last minute, then there is a problem. Patience all around, and communication. ← So much confusion. I can't keep track. All this is why both my marriages were completely low key. The bride, groom, JP, and a couple witnesses. Both delightful weddings. Even our divorces were simple and absent the rancor of many weddings I've seen.

Do you sense a disconnect here? Eggs ARE high in cholesterol, but so is alfredo, meat, cheese and most other things being considered here. The difference between eggs and other hi cholesterol items is eggs are CHEAP PROTEIN. Of course, beans are even cheaper and low in cholesterol too. You need to set some sort of goals - health, nutrition, and expense - and find a balance. My guess is that this woman's first problem is less what she's cooking than what boxes and cello bags she's opening. She needs to learn how to cook vegetables, grains, and even tofu, and as someone upthread mentioned, use meat/fish/chicken more like a condiment for flavor than a main food group. This is especially true as she will probably be buying the cheapest meat supermarkets can offer, pumped full of antibiotics and hormones. Save her 10-20/week by weening her family off sodas, snacks that come in cello bags, and breakfast cereals that come in boxes with familiar names such as Nabisco, etc. Start by finding substitutes for these which will be more healthful and cheaper.

Just out of curiosity and for the complete dish, has the groom's mother been hit to pay for her guests, too?

From memory, but I think what Laurie posted: it's the parents of the bride (who have invited over 200 people) asking the parents of the groom who has invited 20 people to pay for that 20. Does the word chintz sping to mind? And to ice the wedding cake, keep in mind the couple has been married 2 years.