jackal10

Use butter. I suspect your friend is mis-informed, and any artificial alternative is likely to be less "healthy". There is some evidence that butterfat protects from other nasties that cause cancer... Of course they could use just straight olive oil

Daniel: I'm not sure it will pass. To be sure it won't be the fad of the moment, but I think the way of expecting leading chefs to deeply understand the physical and chemical basis of what they do is here to stay, a well as some of the techniques that result, such as long time low temperature cooking. We may not have anti-griddles blowing liquid nitrogen, but I suspect sous vide, as a technique, will be with us for a while for some preparations. In this its no different to any other culinary fad. Escoffier was a giant of his time, and his influence is still felt today; Nouvelle cuisine lightened sauces, and has left a lasting influence. In just the same way the MG movement will leave its influence.

Frozen shelled will work fine, but its not the same. Why not use something in season, or even better use, say soaked and cooked dried butter beans (which are Fava beans in their winter guise)

In the UK its way too early. Mine are only just showing their noses above ground...its a late cold spring this year. June at least for Fava or Broad Beans

I'm not in Washington and dislike kids, but I would have thought McD maybe at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum food court.

You missed Harvey Nicks, but food halls, at least the likes of Harrods and Fortnums are pretty well only for tourists and people who don't know better. Admittedly they are worth going as a tourist attraction for the sites and smells (and the people), but really you can get better, fresher, more exotic, and certainly cheaper...you don't see restauranters buying there, even for rarities. Also IMO, their hampers, both Harrods and Fortnums leave a lot to be desired. I've been disappointed in both when they have been given to me

Some more traditional Easter foods: Simnel cake (really Mothering Sunday, but often slips to Easter) Hot Cross Buns/ Saffron Bun (of course) Good Friday Fish Pie and Leek Tart (strictly its still Lent) Pease Pottage (to go with the ham) Easter Eggs! (both multicoloured boiled eggs, and the chocolate sort) Then, of course there are the escaped Passsover foods...

Marlene said it

No 5. Wonderful resource

That's unfair, there are lots of yummy flaming deserts: crepes suzette Cherries Jubilee (remember those?) Bananas Foster (strawberries etc ditto) Snapdragon Christmas Pud and not forgetting the various flaming coffees and cocktails. Just make sure you are not under a sprinkler head

You can try mixing the flour and the water component of the dough and leave overnight before mixing with the starter. For some flours this gives more grain taste. I think the really answer is its time to start your sourdough adventure...

Like Milgai says, just leave the electric oven light on, not the heat.

Great looking bread Maria, and welcome to eG! Different flours take up different amounts of water; try adding 50ml at a time until just holds together; it will get wetter as it proves. If your flour was freshly milled it won't have adsorbed moisure from the air. You may also meed additional Vitamin C as an oxidiser. Single rise whole meal ("Graham") loaves have a long tradition. For example from Bartolomeo Sacchi, called Platina, published 1480 in Rome Platina's De Honesta Voluptate: "I recommend to anyone who is a baker that he use flour from wheat meal, well ground, and then passed through a fine sieve to sift it; then put it in a bread pan with warm water, to which has been added salt, after the manner of the people of Ferrari in Italy. After adding the right amount of leaven, keep it in a damp place if you can and let it rise. That is the way bread can be made without much difficulty. let the baker beware not to use more or less leaven than he should; in the former instance, the bread will take on a sour taste, and in the latter, it becomes heavy and unhealthful and is not readily digested, The bread should be well baked in an oven, and not on the same day; bread from fresh flour is most nourishing of all, and should be baked slowly." You may remember of the famous "Grant Loaf" publicized by Doris Grant around the end of the last war http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/quick-a...af,1351,RC.html Most modern supermarket bread is made by a single rise "no-time" or "Chorleywood" process. Both use intensive mixing. The Chorleywood process additionally mixes under pressure then vacuum to establish the crumb texture.

Hi Maria! The 200g is of starter that was refereshed 12 hours before and fermented at 30C. The main dough is fermented for 4 hours.

The problem is that the supermarkets and packers want cosmetically perfect fruit, and so varieties have been developed that are indestructible. Over here its the variety called "Elsanta" Not for nothing are they known as "the bouncing strawberry", You can drop them and thy bounce, unharmed. Naturally they don't taste of much either. My personal favorite variety is derived form the wood strawberry and is a variety called "Mara du Bois"

Fantastic views of Viel. Look forward for more

Fried egg for Schnitzel Holstein (anchovy and capers optional) Fairly plain sides. I like the spaetzle; maybe something with cabbage like saurkraut.

tea bag squeezer

Problem with the draft is that it gets drunk so you have none to add to the cooking. If its in a bottle or can it is less prone to premature degustation...

OTT, but remember the sad story fo Pretty Polynomial and Curly Pi http://www.cutlets.info/node/249

Is anyone doing a spreadsheet with comparisons?

Meat, preferably beef, Hold the vegetables Its not a meal without primal protein. Also BBQ Bacon Vindaloo (after the lager) chip butties Suet dumplings and puddings (with custard) Offal - kidneys, liver (with bacon) Bangers and Mash Full English Breakfast

Here are prices from he UK, from the Tesco web site. Add £5 for home delivery I've chosen mostly organic, since that is what I buy. Maybe 20% cheaper not organic. Lining up tables is a pain! £/kg $/lb beef (chuck) organic 5.00 3.93 bacon organic 9.95 7.82 chicken, whole organic 4.24 3.33 salmon fillet 6.48 5.10 shrimp organic, peeled, jumbo 18.00 14.15 cabbage organic 1.29 1.01 carrots organic 0.90 0.71 chiles 6.40 5.03 corn each 0.29 0.23 garlic each organic 0.22 0.17 mushrooms organic baby 6.54 5.14 olives 4.75 3.74 onions organic cooking 1.04 0.82 potatoes organic baking 1.00 0.79 squash 1.52 1.20 apples organic cox 1.75 1.38 bananas organic 1.29 1.01 coconuts each 0.39 lemons 0.96 0.75 limes each 0.16 mangoes each organic 0.79 oranges 0.75 0.59 tomatoes organic 1.96 1.54 beans (dried) Haricot 1.46 1.15 flour organic 0.65 0.51 pasta organic penne 1.78 1.40 rice organic basmati 2.36 1.86 sugar 0.72 0.57 cooking oil ltr org sunflower 1.66 1.31 olive oil ltr org EVOO 5.40 4.25 sesame oil 5.52 4.34 soy sauce 5.87 4.62 vinegar malt 0.58 0.46 butter organic unsalted 3.28 2.58 cream organic 3.10 2.44 eggs organic large FR each 0.24 yogurt organic greek 1.20 0.94 milk organic SS 0.62 0.49 cinnamon ground 11 8.65 paprika ground 31 24.38 pepper black corns 16 12.58 saffron 436 342.85 vanilla 85.5 67.23 beer Alsace 1.11 0.87 bread basic white 0.40 0.31 coffee Java ground 9.60 7.55 juice OJ litre 0.38 0.30 tea premium teabags 3.20 2.52

I'll play, but can you suggest specific amounts of each Do you mean 2lb or 1Kg as more comparable? Also should we convert to a common weight/currency?

Why unusual? A reduced lamb stock is conventional and delicious Thickened with pureed cracklings is ingenious, but I'm not sure how well it will work. Adding the marrow is also good, but I doubt if you get a significant amount, or if there is much flavour in it after making the stock, if you chopped the bones. Might do better with the marrow from a leg bone, or roast off bones for marrow seperately. I'd also be concerned about bone taint. Finished with butter is conventional, adding some lamb fat to that is a nice idea.