jackal10

I always take my own. I can put a much nicer cold collation together than the airline. Travelling to UK from the US, a couple of submarine/gyro/hero sandwiches work well. The other way a few deli items: couple of stuffed quail, some nice salads etc

Don't know where you are, or what the climate is. However it is certainly not too late for those seeds, provided you can keep the snails and slugs and other nasties off them. Must look lovely. Do you know what varieties the trees are? Plums are ready from earlies in July to late ones in September. You might see small fruit forming, and even smaller ones that did not get fertilised. Also don't be alarmed when many drop off in June (The "June drop") Its just the tree getting rid of the excess it can't ripen. Apple are ready September/October, depending on variety. In general the early apples don't keep that well. Can you get preservation orders on the trees?

This is becoming a very silly topic. They are measures of beer. Still used today. The brew made by the dept of Brewing Technology of the University of Leicester is called Firkin L. Beer is not silly!

Still seems a bit complex. Do you really need the pea shoots? Wouldn't it be better to feature those, mildly exotic ingredient on their own in something where they are the star: maybe a tartlet of pea puree topped with pea shoots or something. If you need a green garnish can you do something with the lime peel?

Old English commodity measure Much else on the Foot Rule site. Firkin 9 gallons Kilderkin 2 firkin Barrel 2 kilderkins (but see below) Hogshead 2 barrels Pipe/butt 2 hogsheads Tun 2 Pipes (252 gals) The ubiquitous barrel appears to have been the most fluid (pun intended) of measures, exhibiting a multitude of sizes depending upon the the commodity for which it was used. Uses include; Ale - 32 gals. (See table above) Beer - 36 gals. (See table above) Butter - 2 cwt. Cheese (U.K.) - 224 lb. (av.) Cement (U.S.) - 376 lb. (av.) Cranberries - 5,826 cu. in. Dry Goods (U.S.) - 105 quarts @ 268.75 cu. in./gal. Fluids (U.S.) - 31.5 gals @ 231 cu. in. /gal. Flour - 196 lb. (av.) Herrings - 32 gals. (U.K.) Meat - 200 lb. (av.) Oil (U.S.) - 42 gal. @ 231 cu. in./gal. Proof Spirits (U.S.) - 40 gal. @ 231 cu. in./gal. Soap - 30 gals.

Just pulled out of the oven a pot of porky goodness: belly and ribs slow cooked overnight with chinese flavours (soy, mirin, star anise, garlic, ginger, spring onion). They are really for supper tonight, but I just had to try a rib, strictly for quality control, of course...

That's just a stove. Its not a ton a and a half of iron and insulation, warm and purring, always on and ready to cook or snuggle up to. Four oven Aga, plus the new Aga Extension, giving six ovens, two hotplates/griddles, plus two burners, wok burner and stock-pot burner. Four ovens at preset temperatures, including very hot and one at 75, perfect for the new extended cooking, another conventional oven and an oven/broiler. Indestructable. Any fuel you like, including coal. Aga Ranges

I grew up in a kosher home, Bacon deprived....

I've laid out a few kitchens, both restaurant and demestic, so I will weigh in here.You need to think how it will be used, and the number you cook for. Restaurant stuff is often inappropriate if you are cooking for two, not two hundred. Pre-requisite: Enough space. Mine is a former double garage. You wan to be able not only to cook in company, but also to eat and entertain in there. Good layout. The stove/fridge/sink triangle is important, but also think about how it will be used. For example for serious dinners you might want, as restaurant style, a layout with the equivalent of a pass, and a seperate wash-up area. I have seperate sinks in the laundry room joining the kitchen to achieve this. >Appliances: The best range? (FatGuy likes DCS), broiler, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc Ovens: Retaurant stoves are a bad idea, unless you are also going to put in restaurant level ventilation. The give out too much heat, and are overkill for just cooking for two. I *love* my 4 oven AGA, which is the centre of home. Supplement it with a gas wok-burner and two-burner stovetop, one witha low burner for a stock-pot. Also microwave/grill/oven combo. Others I know swear by a steamer. Luxury would be a wood-burning pizza/bread oven in the kitchen as well, but just outside with the smoker and BBQ pit is OK. Refrigerator: Any that is big enough. I miss my restaurant walk-in, but for a normal houshold that would be silly. Two big friges (with icemaker) is OK, prefeably ones with seperate temperature zones. You might want a smaller expense frige under the countertop in the cooking area, then then main storage can be further away, for example in the laundry area, or handy for unloading when you return form the market. Dishwasher: It is a mystery to me why domestic dishwashers are so much slower than restaurant ones. However buy two, then you can load dirty dishs into one, while using clean dishes from the other. A wall plate-rack is also good. Garbage disposal unit: great invention. At least two sinks. Pot-wash spray arm in one. Freezer: small-under counter locally, big freezer(s) elsewhere. >Other fixtures: Style of cabinets, faucets, pantries, closets, lighting, ventilation, countertop material, floor material I'm a great believer in natural materials. Wood (American white Oak) for the cabinets, properly made. Solid wood, not veneer or just doors on a fibreboard carcass. Not built-in kitchens (e.g Smallbone) are a good idea and more flexible, where each piece is a seperate piece of stand-alone furniture, but designed to work together. That way the dresser, for example, can become (or maybe already is) a family heirloom. Similarly tables, cupboards etc. I had a local joiner make up the units to my specification, with doors that fit in the frame, not just plonked on the front. Most commercial kitchen units use standard inserts anyway so you can buy the wire shelves, corner turntables etc that you need. Piano hinges are a good idea, and stop the doors warping. Lots of cupboards and storage space. Pull-out larder shelves, accessible from both sides are good. Glass fronted cupboards so you can see where things are. Avoid stainless steel. It may look good, but its hell to keep clean and shows every fingerprint, especially if matt finished. No contest for countertop material. It must be granite. Use one inch thick material supported by ply, two inches if money no object, but I prefer the look of the thinner top. Round edged. Cheaper then plastic, and more robust. Entirely inert - doesn't scratch, etch or stain. It will keep its good looks forever, and is easy to clean and maintain. You can put hot frying pans down on it without a worry, or cigarette or cigar butts still alight. Marble etches and stains, wood discolours and needs regular maintenance. Only disadvantage is that you might want to use a plastic chopping board to protect your knife edge - the granite will blunt knife edges quickly if you chop on it, but then you would naturally use a chopping board anyways. Why kitchen vendors still persist in selling surfaces that are manifestly not fit for purpose is beyond me. Lighting: Task oriented downlighting. Incandescent strips under the cupboards Ventialtion: Serious cooker-hood externally vented. Air conditioning, again with a vent option, would be good. Floor: Again no contest, natural lino, continous sealed and up the wall to skirting board level. . Easy to clean, you can swill it down, and naturally anti-bacterial. Unlike vinyl, the colour goes all the way through, so wears better. Tile, including quarry tiles, or marble or stone are hard underfoot, can be slipppery and hell to clean. dirt gets into the grouting, that is hard to shift. Keep the tiles on the wall. Wall: Tiled in the working areas. Gloss or other washable paint elsewhere. Avoid brilliant white - off white is easier to live with. Layout: Location of the cabinets/faucets/pantries, island (where and shape?), height of countertop, overall design Layout will depend on use and the shape of the building. Units come standard heights, widths and depths. Here they are 600mm deep, 300 or 600mm wide and 900mm high. Make sure you can either move them or get underneath (removable foot panel) for cleaning. Think where mice or other nasties might nest or get access. I dislike fixed island units - I find them isolating and inflexible. Theyare a solid barrier betwen you and your guests, and the thing you want is always on the other side. However you need a moveable table/butchers block or whatever so you can turn round from the stove and have a surface to put something on. I have a large farmhouse table down the centre of my kitchen (pine, scrubbed every week), and everyone sits round it, and we eat most meals there, read the papers etc. Extras: warmers, extra refrigerators, extra faucets, etc Mixer. Small professional one if you are a serious baker. Food processor (get a small commercial one. DOmestic ones don't stand up to much) Pan-shelves in grabbing distance Hanging for spoons, sieves,strainers etc about the stove Oven themometers/digtal probe thermoters Toaster Radio/TV/Hi-fi system Phone Pinboard Wine storage (probably seperate) Breakfast component area: teapot, tea, coffee etc easy to grab when half awake Bookshelves. Hope this helps. .

The more you trim them the better they will be. Certainly use the flowers and the buds - leave them too long and the stalks get stiff and inedible. You can also divide up the clumps to give yourself more plants. Chives make a great edging for the the herb garden

I'm amazed no one has mentioned Watney's Red Barrel as the worst beer of all time. So weak that if you spat in your pint you could legally serve it as a soft drink. So bad it was eventually withdrawn from UK sale, despite heavy advertising but continued to be sold in the US. Visiting the US friends would proudly take one to a British-style pub that served this poison, and one would explain that at home one went miles to avoid it...

Brussel sprouts? Its the end of the season.

I thought authentic chinese food was a small bowl of rice for most of the south, and maybe some instant noodles for most of the north...perhaps with a pickle or a little meat if times are good, at least for most of the population for most of the time. Yes, there are great feasts and court food, but only for the lucky few.

I understand that breast milk curdles in coffee, because of the high fat content. I believe the following press release is fake. However among the adult breast-feeding community (go to Yahoo groups and search for SNC or Lactation, ) there are many recipes, including smoothies, yogurt, ice cream, butter, cheese, chowders, deserts etc. La Leche League Releases Breast Milk Cookbook LOS ANGELES (DPI) - The La Leche League has released a new cookbook for nursing mothers who want to introduce their babies to new foods while maintaining the benefits of breast milk. Recipes for breast milk ice cream, breast milk cheese, and breast milk onion dip will be featured, along with other specialty dairy products. "People today want to give their children natural foods," said Mary Underhill, League president. "What's more natural than festive desserts and cheeses produced from your own body?"

Use sourdough. Include chopped caramalised onions..and/or dill weed What toppings are you using? I like mixed poppy and sesame

Maybe its only in Mississippi: From How They Cook Hawgs in Mississippi After the hawg is prepared, lay him belly down on the grate. Place a new Mississippi State hat on his head between his ears, shades on his eyes, and an Ole Miss baseball cap on his rear end. If he has a bullet hole between his eyes, he will need a bandaid here. The hawg won't cook without these items. <pic> Figure 3: Bert and Ernie. You must name the hawgs. They refuse to cook without personal identities.

Why is the pig in the photo not wearing a baseball cap? I thought that was essential. I'm pretty good at the spit-roast version, which I prefer to the pit version. You need a small fire at each end, where the meat is, and a quarter turn every 15 mins. Even better if you can build a a surround and a roof from corrugated tin, so its like a large oven. Meat thermometer, a low fire and a lot of patience are essential. A scaffolding pole and a couple of plasterer's trestles make a good improvised spit, and a couple of old wheelbarrow the firebox. UK sides would be Buns (pig-in-a-bun), apple sauce, sage-and onion stuffing made loose so its almost a sauce. Paxo packet stuffing even. Maybe mustard. Cook the stuffing seperately. You can do it in the middle of the pig, sown up, but its hard to seal, and even harder to get it cooked through in time. If you are doing it for large numbers (we did the local county fair for charity each year) cheat some, and have the pig on the spit mostly for show and the smell (irresistable), and cook off boneless loins round the back in a conventional cooker to carve and serve. Mix that with joints from the pig . A pig runs about 90lbs on the bone, and feeds maybe 100 people with sides. Reckon 8 hours to cook. You need a production line serving. One person takes the money ( food servers can't handle cash under UK hygine laws), several servers open the pre-sliced bun in a paper napkin and fill it, and one carving the meat from joints. Another person is cooking the next pigs, and carving off whole joints and and keeping the line filled.. Suckling pig is another matter. Since its smaller, the meat is not so deep, so its easier to cook all the way through before the outsice burns or overcooks.

Sounds like its a large hock. I prefer to go the othre way and braise. Forget crackling, think of all that tender succulant skin and creamy, custardy fat, Blanch the meat first, twice In a covered casserole either a) Put a bed of vegetables (onion, carrot, celery) Put the pork on top Add a glass maderia or red wine, a cup of stock (or water) bay leaf, garlic, a few peppercorns or b) Add 2Tbs light soy, 2 Tbs Mirin, ginger, spring onion, star anise Bring to the boil, cover tightly, cook in a gentle oven for 8 hours, or overnight. Check and turn occaisionally. The meat will make a lot of juice. Good both hot or bone the meat and cool in the defatted liquid as serve cold as a terrine in all that jelly..

I think that much of the difficulty lies in what kids get fed. In Europe, and especially France and Italy, food is fundamental to the culture. Families sit down to eat together, seasonal produce is locally produced, sold and admired. In the US, by contrast, food is simply fuel for many kids. Of course the US is so big that there are many exceptions, but for most a food treat is not a wonderful piece of fresh fruit, or a long anticipated seasonal treat, but a trip to McDonalds. Wal-mart shifts a lowest comon demoninator inoffensive blandness. The ready availability of restaurants also means that fewer people cook at home or appreciate the process - US homes I've seen have wonderful kitchens but practically unused. Even breakfast is eaten at the diner. Combine that with commercial and "health" advertiisng pressures (eat this gloop as its good for you, or "unless you feed this gloop to your kids, you are a bad parent") an you have the road to perdition. Of course there are a few brave souls, like Alice Waters, who re-introduce artinsal foods, and few isolated communities who have never eaten anything else, but they are exceptions, and mostly only cater to the intelligensia...with the current lurch to right-wing red-neck politics their time must be limited.

I agree - its more a batter than a dough. The other thing is *very* gentle handling after first rise so as not to knock out the gas. You might find using softer flour (like ordinary cake flour) helps.

Don't get me started. Whale there are many good things about American eating, there are some truely awful habits: a) Strong liquor before dinner b) Saying grace in a public place c) McDonalds and the like d) Salad as a seperate course before meat e) Using a fork only f) TV dinners and "grazing" g) Six-packs (both senses) h) Tasteless steaks and other food where size matters more than taste i) Genetically modified soy, corn etc

I agree with the pan in the oven, but load it with bricks or quarry tiles or pig iron - something that can hold the heat. Preheat as hot as it will go. Its the burst of superheated steam at the beginning you want. I have an Aga with a cast iron oven. I throw a cup of water in after loading the loaves, and slam the door. The steam stops after about a minute. In the big wood-fired outdoor oven, mopping the floor with a wet mop, or throwing in a cup of water has a similar effect, - the steam is over after a minute, and the surface of the dough shiny and gelatanised.

Even better with a thread of meat glaze run round the egg after taking it out, and some asparagus tips to dip in the yolk

I find starter doesn't freeze well, but keeps almost indefinately in a closed jar in the fridge. I guess freezing can rupture and damage the yeast cells. Adding packet yeast is a waste of time - the environment is so acid and the wild yeast so strong and in such abundance that the package yeast will not compete. It separates into two layers, but they just get stirred back in. The yeast goes dormant (I think there is a technical term). Adding more food (flour) and warming up and it springs back into life, even after a year or so. I should add a reference to Sourdoughs International an enthusiast who sells many and strange varieties. Interesting book as well.

I know I'll regret this, but if anyone wants sourdough starter then pm or email me with their snail mail address and, given time, I'll culture some and send it. I find the easiest way to ship is is as a dryish dough. Crumble it into water, add an equal amout of flour and leave in a warm (85F) place until it bubbles - 8 hours or so, then refresh it a couple of times and you are away.... The history of this particular starter was that it was collected by a friend of ours some years ago in a vinyard near Sonoma, CA. Its fairly vigourous and quite mild.