jackal10

14 Sept 2004 8am Cambridge UK I've been tipped again to do the foodblog. Last time was Christmas and New Year. This time is Rosh Hashonah, which seems fair, so you will have to suffer my awful typos for this week. "L’Shona Tova Tikosaiv v’Saichosaim". "May you be written down for a sweet and good year in the Book of Life! " to all First of all coffee, mail and eG's overnight messages. The coffee is dark roast Java Sumatra, made in a press pot, and is breakfast unless otherwise noted. The mug is a Microsoft give-away. My desk, unusally tidy, and the view from the window in front of me. Sunny but windy. While I am not religious myself, I did have an othodox Jewish upbringing, and still like the food, so I guess some will figure this week. This week is fairly busy, and today is the calm before the storm. Main highlight is our annual apple pressing party on Sunday, weather permitting. We have open house, and expect about 100 people to come and pick apples and help press them into apple juice. We fire up the wood burning bread oven and bake pizza and things. . What we eat and talk about on the rest of the week is to some extent up to you, an I hope for a lot of interaction. If I get time I'll try and rig a webcam, as an experiment. Current fixed points: Today is fairly quite. Probably Bangers and Mash for supper Wednesday we are going to friends for supper to celebrate another friends birthday. Thursday a freind of Jill's (my partner) is coming to stay. Being Rosh Hashonah I plan a Brisket Tzimmes, with a pototo kugel. Friday start prep for the party, and start the bread doughs Saturday Fire the oven and bake breads etc Sunday Apple pressing Monday I'm hosting dinner in College The house is built in an old orchard, with about 20 of the original trees still standing. There is a newer orchard, maybe 30 years old, with 30 trees. Here are some pictures taken this morning of apples. The identification is noit certain, but were done by The Brogdale Trust. . Joan Morgan's The New Book of Apples (ISBN0-091-88398-9 is definitive. Regular eGulleteers may remember that many of apple trees were severely ringed by the rabbits last winter, and I feared for their survival. I'm happy to report that they seem to have pulled through. Some, like the NewtonWonder, are biennial bearing and are off this year with only a few apples, but most have a large crop. However since we have not pruned or reduced the fruit numbers the apples are mostly small. They are mostly cookers or eating apples, rather than cider. I've tried making cider from the juice, but it is thin and weedy stuff, but more of that anon. The apple juice is lovely, an we freeze it in plastic bottles, straight from the press. Allington Pippin (my favourite, good general purpose apple) and Newton Wonder (cooker, said to be derived from the apple tree that dropped and apple on Newton's head) Lord Derby (cooker) and Tydman's Early Worcester Orelans Reinette (russet); Queen Cox and Ellison's Orange Other apples are Charles Ross, Laxton's Fortune, Cox (poor trees), Grandier (cooking) and John Standish (late red, not yet ripe), Also pears and Quinces, again a bit early. Late purple plums (Marjorie's seedling?) and Damsons Dog rose hip and Brambles (wild blackberries) in the hedges

My baguettes aren't that good either, so I'd be interested in the replies. rgural makes most of my points, as do the other contributors Some observations: French Baguette flour is comparatively soft - more like pastry flour. The dough is quite slack - more like 70% hydration - 1400g water. The dough is so wet it needs support during proof from the curved baguette pans or from floured linen folds. I use silpat baguette forms, but purists insist on floured linen so as not to get the the little bumps in the lower crust. How much old dough are you adding? Bear in mind that it will not contribute much to the rise, and should not be more than say 10% or 200g. Autolyze before adding the salt; no need to mix too much, it is time that hydrates the gluten, not mechanical work. Less yeast and ferment for longer. The folding technique (sides to side and top ro bottom, like a turn when making puff pastry) really works. Bulk ferment and prove for longer times as noted by rgural. I like to retard overnight in the fridge before baking, but you get small blisters in the crust. Bake hotter for shorter: more like 250C

Char su steamed buns

Family tradition is to start with Anchovy Toast, befoe the main meal. How or why this tradion arose I have no idea. I like something simple but nutritous like scrambled eggs Not that I fast since I left my parents house long ago, but scrambled eggs on anchovy toast is a good supper

Hot or cold sauce? Cold start with a mayonnaise (bought jar will do), and whizz the watercress/herbs/lemon/seasoning into it. Hot start with a hollandaise and do the same. You might be thinking of a Sauce Gribiche style - basically a vinagrette with lots of herbs chopped into it. Some shallot or spring onion as well. Easy on the chilli. If the evening is going well you might feel moved to lick the sauce off each other and too much chilli burns the wrong places...

You can use many things for the base of creme brulee (or burnt cream) is you use a propane torch/ Don't make the sugar layer too thick. Plain flavoured whipped cream works well. Syllabub, or even cheesecake work. White chocolate mousse for a really rich version. Apparently it was an old Scottish dish. An undergraduate asked the kitchens at Trinity College Cambridge to make it and was sent away. WHen he became a fellow of the college he asked again, and it rapidly became a favourite, so it is also known (at least locally) as Trinity Cream.

Mnay restaurants in France have a "tronc" system operated by the head waiter. The notion is to compensate the runners, and the kitchen staff involved in service, but without firect or only incidental customer contact. How else can you tip the sous-chefs, who actually prepared your meal?

Personally I dislike babies and children, and would rather they were kept out of the serious business of food, except incidentally, or as Dean Swift's modest proposal.. I realise that its hard for parents to keep the little monsters fed, but it is an unskilled process, universally solved. My palate is not juvenile. Bring on the foie gras, and leave out the Mickey D's, or whatever they eat, I say.

Put up some jars in alcohol (Rum, brandy or Vodka). Put the raspberries in canning jars, cover with the spirit, add sugar if you like, and that is it. You get the both the fruit and the drink... Raspberry vinegar, same but with vinegar Freeze: spead out on baking paper on a tray and freeze individually, then bag.

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They do sound good! The rubber ring and lid act as a one way valve, letting air out, but not in. Indeed, the jars should expel some air during processing, as this then forms the tight vacuum seal, and if you undo the clip the jar is still sealed. In fact to open the jar (when you want to use the contents) you may need to push the point of a knife (care) under the rubber ring to break the seal. I've just made some elderberry jelly. Since I did not have quite enough elderberries, or trust it to set and did not want to use pectin I made up the weight with windfall apples. Ended up with roughly 1 elderberries: 1 apple : 1 sugar, plus juice of a lemon. Boiled to 221F, and set well.

If the seal is Ok it should be fine, but may dry a little.

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You need things that combine embarrassment and idiocy with a small amount of education. Fortunately the public and minor celebs love to be embarrsed on TV, for free, and restaurants love to be on TV for the publicity... Newbie minor celeb (doing it for free) trying to make it as a line chef in a restaurant kitchen. Restaurant doing it for free for the publicity... GR did this here very sucessfully The real Naked Chef...as above, but nude Worst home meals Worst restaurant kitchens

I go to my brothers, but since I'm not religious, but cook traditional foods for nostalgia... Honey cake recipes please... Strudel and teiglach too I guess... As ashkenazi, we don't have the custom of some communities of cooking a sheeps head...

The cucumber recipe was a different source...5 mins is moire than adequate Fennel is different - sort of stronger and more aniseed flavoured than dill. I'm sure they will be delicouse, just different

HMSO Bulletin 21 Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables gives three methods: US and more modern government advise may differ a) Slow water bath Cold filling. Raise from cold to simmer in 90 min, maintain for 15min b) Quick water bath Hot fill (140F), raise from warm (100F) to simmering in 30 min, maintain for 2 min c) Pressure pan Hot fill; Raise from hot to 5lb pressure in 5-10 min; maintain 1 min; cool 10 min before opening. I do like the idea of a pickle jar. Essentially it is a lactic acid ferment, and the acidity keeps the bad bugs at bay. Hoever I've never had that much success with mine - the pickles come out too sour, and after a couple of months the top molds and the pickles turn slimy... In a recent food blog (Helenjp I think) there were wonderful illustrations of making Japanese pickles.

How can you have grilled cheese without WORCESTER SAUCE? Also much better than a sandwich is a Welsh Rarebit, or even just cheese grilled on one side of bread, under the grill. That way you get the crusty bits. A real Welsh rarebit is with cheese sauce, preferably made with ale. Add a poached egg on top and its a Buck Rarebit, and very good too. I suppose you could put an egg inside your sandwich, but don't forget the Lea and Perrins...

I think peanut butter needs something to with it to cut the clagginess (if there is such a word) - and provide lubricaton. Mayo, or something sharp like pickle. Sweet doesn't do it for me. Also something to bring out the meaty notes - marmite, or worcester or soy..

Good; surprisingly filling. However its not soul food for me... We just had pita bread with it, stewed plums to follow.

Maybe this should be in the "Dinner" thread, since I made Molokheya for dinner, having grown the stuff. The recipe (Claudia Roden) called for 1Kg/2lb of fresh molokheya to 4 pts/2lt of stock. That is a lot. I picked most of what I had grown, pictured here, and it was 8oz/250gm, so I used half quantities, and the soup was still pretty thick. The texture was interesting - slighly mucus, but more a gentle thickening. The taste (and smell) was fresh and green, like crushed spring tree leaves or maybe parsley, with a faintly bitter edge

Not sure about any of those books - very mixed. Depends on the sort of bread you wnat to make... I think you need more serious semi-professional books. Reinhart "The Bread Bake's Apprentice" is often reccomended Dan Lepard's "Baking with Passion", and he is publishing a new book "Hand made bread" this autumn Joe Ortiz "Village Baker" Massari/Zoia "The art of Levened Dough for Pannetone and other italian sweet bread Then the is the eGCI sourdough course http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=27634 There is only so much you can learn from books, The best way is to jesy keep practicing - bake every week for a year, and you will be getting there, or go and work a stage or two at a bake shop...

Not sure that the hip clientele is in the the city centre anymore with the demographic shift. It used to be the centre of cities has high affluent population and good transport, so supported a rich infrastructure. Nowdays they are mainly offices, but dead and lonely at night; in some places aare dangerous even, except in a few entertainment districts.There are brief periods where previously poor districts are rejuvenated with lofts etc for urban living, but these tend not to last. The wealth is in the suburbs or even in country areas with good transport, and that is where you are likely to find the cutting edge restaurants, for example in converted country houses.

Isn't this part of a much older dichotomy between "court food" - sophisticated dishes orginally served at royal courts or other high-status occaisions, and hence by people aspiring to them, and "peasant food", home cooking often based on local produce, and making the most of available cheap (but usually fresh) ingredients. Thus elbaorately plated dishes, designed to appeal to jaded appetities are urban and edgy, while down-home food, such as BBQ, or fish and chips, or even a plain boiled egg, are suburban...

I give here a treacle tart recipe without breadcrumbs: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=692256 Use as a substitute for corn syrup; good with stewed fruits instead of sugar. The tin, with green and gold art deco artwork, a sleeping lion and the motto "Out of the strong came forth sweetness" is a classic.