jackal10

Have confidence in Summer Pudding. Easily the nicest of the summer deserts. (See my article in PPC or in the compendium " Wilder shores of Gastronomy") If you keep the fruit fairly dry it won't collapse. Equal quantities of Raspberries and Redcurrants. Those who add blackcurrants are heathens. Cherries (stoned) add a nice stickyness, but avoid strawberries Sweat the fruit with losts of sugar until the juice just runs. Line a pudding basin with plain white bread with the crists cut off ("Wonderloaf" is great). Fill with the fruit, cover with more bread. Weight and put in the fridg overnight. Here is the secret: Make a coulis with some of the fruit liquidised. Pour over the turned out pud to hide any white bits. Decorate with whole fruit, mint leaves etc. Yumm! An alternative BBQ desert is fruit kebabs, String strawberries, pinapple chunks etc on kebab sticks. Smother with rum or brandy butter. Chuck briefly onto grill. Maybe not for 25, tho.

Buy second-hand. There is not much to go wrong in a gas stove (unlike an electric stove, where the elements wear out), and the older ones were more solidly built. Mostly all they need is a good clean, and they are a fraction of the price. For example on e-bay there is Like New!! 1999 Amana ARG7800 Self-Cleaning Gas Range for $71.

Nowdays the measure is fairly notional. Wines made entirely form botrysed grapes are "Essencia", and renowned for their allegedly aphrodisiac properties. A sort of 18th century Viagra, but probably just sweet and strong. and which might account for their popularity. Expect to pay around $250/bottle

Too late for this year, but pick them green, before the shells form (June 24th is the traditional date) and pickle them. You won't defeat the squirrels - they get up earlier than you do. They are ruthless and cunning. You could try netting, but they chew through it. An old pair of tights over a branch sometimes works. Shotgun?

Summer lunch, in the garden, under the apple trees, Nearly alll home grown or made 12 hour oven cooked BBQ style brisket Coleslaw Cucumber salad (dill, chives) New Potatoes w mint Homemade dill pickles Pepper salad Bread and cheese (Montgomery CHedder, Munster) Raspberries aand cream For supper we had a mushroom omlette, mi-cuit tomatos, and the leftover potatos pan fried.

I adore lovage - but why is it so hard to find? Any place in NY where I can get it? Grows like a weed in my UK garden - 6ft tall. Can't get rid of it fast enough

Treat them like big prawns or langoustines

Deep fried: sage leaves, parsley, tempura of any eatable herb Foams: mint, parsley etc. Make a tisane, add some gelatin or cream and foam. Lovage, especially in soups Sorbets (Woodruff is my current favourite. Grows like a weed as well)

Problem with a fridge is that it is very low humidity, so leaving wine in there for a long time (months) (unless it is a special wine fridge with humidity control) is that the corks are liable to dry out...

Better tailor for new suits.

This is surely contrary to the principles and spirit of EG. The prize should be for the least painful diet. We need to figure a system that still results in effective weight loss, but allows us to eat foie gras, BBQ ribs, full-fat cheese, chocolate, bread, new potatoes, pasta and all the delicious things we love, as well as dine out without hassle. Drugs?

Many thanks for all the fantastic advice. I can see I've a lot to learn. The menus above are amazing...I'm salivating already. Part of it will be governed by what fresh ingredients we can get easily, locally. It seems to me we can either do the full works above, or maybe something more informal, like a shabu-shabu, possibly preceded by some appitisers, and followed by a sweet. I'll consult with the hostess and let you know how we get on.

You will have to seal the jars. The concentration of sugar will not be enough to stop spoilage. Commercial offerings are often thickened with a starch, like cornflour or tapioca. You will get a better gell, and balance the flavours with some acid, like lemon juice. You could make a rumtopf: put the berries in a large stone crock or big jar with sugar and enough rum to cover. As you get more fruit add it to the jar - cherries, currants, grapes etc. Make sure its is always covered with the rum. Stir occaisionally. Spoon over icecream. Improves with time if allowed to do so. You can make rote grutze recipe, but can be simplified: Red and black fruits, lemon, cinnamon, thickened with corn starch

Nope its the heat capacity, not the insulating properties you need. You need weight. Tiles or stone or bricks. And yes, you need the pizza in contact with the stone (or the foil over the stone) to give you that crisp base.

The fancy way to bone a chicken is to start at the wing (neck) end,and sort of roll the flesh and skin back, like turning a sock inside out, easing it away from the carcass with a small knife, Cut through the wing joints, and carry on the trning inside out process, then cut through the hip joints. The only tricky bit is not to tear the skin too much easing it from the keel cartilage. Then bone out the thighs seperately. I think it looks better if you leave the wings and leg bones. Any bits you accidently cut off can be just put back in the middle. Alternatively you can cut all the way along the bottom of the chicken, and then just go down the sides. You may need to sew it back if you roast it, but if you tie it in a cloth to cook, it will keep its shape. Brining is good. Steingarten has a good discussion on how to get a turkey (or chicken) evenly cooked. Personally I prefer the low temperature/long time method, then browning the outside.

Lots of ways: a) Ballotine: Bone out the chicken, leaving wings and legs. Stuff with sausagemeat or a good forcemeat. Tie up in a cloth boil with stock vegetables and some leeks for an hour or so. Take out, unwrap, reduce stock (add some gelatine maybe), put into a nice dish, and allow to set surrounded by its jelly. b) You can boil the chicken this without boning the chicken, and then you won't need to tie it in a cloth, but carving and presentation is different. You might want to coat it with chaud-froid sauce, for example (add cream to the jelly). c) Tea smoked. Brine, then smoke outdoors over the BBQ. Take a wok, line with double foil. Put in 1 cup rice, 1 cup sugar, 2 Tbs tea, any other herbs or spices you fancy. Brine chicken for an hour. Put the wok with the smoking mixture over the hot BBQ. When it begins to smoke put the chicken on arack over it. Cover with more foil (or the wok lid lined with foil). Leavefor an hour or so, maybe turn halfway. Shake the wok occaisionally or add more smoking mixture if the smoke starts to fade. Remove golden brown chicken to serving platter, and throw away the foil etc. Edit: for "boil" read (in the modern way of thought) Hold at 65C until the internal temperature is 55C.

Lemon Hart Rum, only because Lemon Hart was a distant relative of mine.

Naturally Yours, who are primarily organic and rare breed growers and butchers, but who have branched out into vegetable boxes and groceries. Tesco and Waitrose have a surprisingly good range, and deliver with out of office hours slots as well

A remote reading themometer.

I like the Pinney's (Butley Orford Oysterage), especially their smoked salmon. Also in that part of the world are Flora Tea Rooms at Dunwich. Fish straight out of the sea - Dover Sole and chips, eaten on th beach. Dunwich has a fascinating history. The village disappeared under the sea, but still elected an MP as a rotten borough.

Just picked some new (or at least new for me) tomatos: Oregon Spring: Bush, Large, dissapointing, same size but a bit dull compared to Fireworks. Rose de Berne: Cordon. Pretty pink colour, very sweet, but not the balancing acidity

No, its a Clafoutis. But maybe the original audience wold not be familiar with the french term, so called it by their closest equivalent. You can make them with cherries, apples or almost any fruit. Eggy batter works even better. I believe cobbler was originally biscuit dough in lumps on the top to resemble a cobbled street, but by extension means any fruit (or indeed savoury) pie where the topping is not in a continuous sheet. Good saoury cobblers are with the filling topped wih lumps of dumpling dough

Yes! Usual problem is not enough sugar or acid. Normal ratio is 4lbs fruit pulp to 6lbs sugar, plus the juice of a couple of lemons. Reboil with another 1lb of sugar and the juice of 2 lemons. Final temperature should be 220F-222F. If desperate also add packet pectin or Certo liquid pectin. Tesco sell both, (near the sugar) follow the directions on the packet.

Wet dough handling is easy: flour, and minimal handling - get it into a banneton for support, and keep it cool.

Thanks Probably about 10 people Can be indoors or out. Weekend supper Semi-formal Traditional UK, so fruit coming into season would be plums