fifi

Thanks, Jaymes... Your notes are helpful. I used my really big Le Creuset (that I normally use for a double batch of gumbo, can't remember how big but it is at the limits of what I am willing to lift) and I had a single layer of meat and it was just covered with the liquid. I was trying to simmer slow... possibly too slow. I think I am beginning to understand this technique and will try again in a couple of weeks. (I am also questioning the quality of the pork I got.)

In general, houses in the Houston area will sell faster with a kitchen re-do. I don't know what the return on investment is, though. That can be regional. I do remember seeing some statistics for this area that told you what you could expect. (Surprisingly, pools don't pay out.) You might want to ask your agent if she has that information for your area. That might help guide some of your decisions. A contractor's association is also a source of information but I would expect their statistics could be biased.

uh oh

Welcome, milo. Please continue your coleslaw crusade.

oooo... It occurs to me that cinnamon basil (or any others for that matter) would work wonderfully in this recipe for eggplant. I am currently working off a gratin pan of this ambrosia as a sandwich. A bunch of cinnamon basil leaves in that dish would be wonderful.

I hate to break up a good regional brawl... but... What does a Yank buy? Or, given that that is hopeless, how do we make it?

This whole thing to me is one of the great historical mysteries of the human race and I find it endlessly fascinating. We seem to be relearning basic food principles from our ancestors, e.g. the whole wheat versus white flour thing. Wheat in the field to a loaf of bread? That is a really big leap. Then, if you get into the nutritional advantages of refining the wheat flour to remove as much of the bran as possible, well, reason fails me and today's "wisdom" (whole grain all bran) makes no sense. A big mystery: How did the early americans figure out that processing corn with wood ashes or burned sea shells make the corn more nutritious? That combination is not instinctual.

Good Grief Charlie Brown! That sounds like a happy dance in the mouth. I need to see if my sister is growing cinnamon basil. I am just getting into the use of cinnamon in savory dishes and like it quite a lot. I had just never thought of using cinnamon basil. I grew it several years ago and now think that I did not take full advantage of its flavor.

The macaroni salad here looks like a good option for using up excess basil. (Is there such a thing?)

Yep... I am afraid that is a universal problem in the vegetable as well as the animal kingdom.

OMG that sounds good. I got a basil growth report from my sister last night. It is... ummm... burdgeoning. This sounds like a winner.

AH HA! I found my sister's recipe. It is here about halfway down.

Potato salad: My all time favorite is my mother's recipe. (no surprise there) It is a traditional Southern type with celery, onion, sometimes pimento, parsley, pickle relish, sometimes not. It has boiled eggs. the dressing is Hellman's with a bit of yellow mustard and the yolks from the boiled eggs and a splash of cider vinegar to taste. The kicker is celery seed, quite a lot. She always took great pains to be sure that the red or white potatoes (NOT russets) were perfectly cooked and allowed to "dry out" in a colander for a while before mixing. She said that they absorbed the flavor of the dressing better. Wise woman. Macaroni salad: I always thought that this would be an abomination. Then, on our trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago, my sister bought a cookbook compiled by some local group. She makes this "traditional" Hawaiian salad and everyone raves over it. It is in much demand for cookouts. I think it has tuna in it. She messed with the recipe so it can be posted. I will look in the Hawaii forum and see if it is there. I think I remember posting it there. No, it isn't in RecipeGullet. (Hmmm... I may have to fix that.) Coleslaw: I HATE HATE HATE sweet coleslaw. Many years ago a college roommate's mother used to make one for get togethers at the family cabin on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain. It was the usual cabbage with some carrot and very thinly sliced sweet onion. The dressing was one half Hellman's and one half Wishbone Italian Dressing. Don't knock it until you try it. I saw one in the local paper some time ago that has the usual suspects including onion and the dressing was Hellman's and yogurt seasoned with Thai chili/garlic paste. Right tasty. Those with Cajun seasoning and shrimp also rank high on my list.

ACK! How deeply disturbing.

Good question. I wonder the same thing. I hope some of our friends can clear up this issue. Another question would be what brands that we might be able to get in the US are considered the best.

I forgot to mention the galangal. Yeah... tom kha gai carnitas about sums up where I am heading with that coconut glaze that I get on the chicken. Actually, I am more concerned about the basil than I am the lemon grass. Doing Mayhaw Man's chicken pot pie called for adding basil, taragon and parsley to the stew pot when cooking the chicken. There was some flavor there but not as much as I had hoped so I ended up adding some fresh chopped to the pie before baking. So, that experience leads me to being more thoughtful about when to add those kinds of aromatic things to long simmered recipes. Damn... this is developing into an interesting project, fraught with technique and trying to figure out how to use the ingredients to best advantage. And, hell, "Coconut Glazed Tom Kha Gai Carnitas" may be a culinary impossibility but that won't keep us from trying, will it, Mabelline?

What do these taste like? Are they oniony?

OK... I will share some of my mistakes. I did some last weekend. It came out good and I am having some rolled in a tortilla with avocado and lime juice/red onion "pickle" as we type. But... certainly not the luscious things I have seen here. I went with the lime juice and tequila and just barely covered with chicken broth. The local HEB had cryovaced packages of "pork butt for carnitas". The chunks were about 4x6 inches. I cut them up into about one inch cubes. They seemed to have enough fat. (I had asked the butcher if he had additional pork fat and he didn't.) The same thing happened to me. When they were cooked to the point that I thought they should be ready to fry, I still had a LOT of liquid. I suspect that the additional liquid load came out of the pork. I finally got there and finished in the oven. That worked ok but the ratio of shreds to chunks was too high and the chunks were too small to have a big luscious portion. I am beginning to appreciate the stew-then-fry-in-deep-fat on the top of the stove technique. But, being the stubborn soul that I am, I am determined to make the Jaymes method work. I think I have to use a bigger pot to keep the surface area to volume ratio high and cut the cubes bigger. Besides, in order to produce those coconut glazed Thai carnitas, I will have to use the Jaymes method. Here is the chicken technique we are talking about. I see two challenges in adapting the chicken technique to carnitas. Typical Thai seasonings might suffer from the flavor cooking away if stewed too long. We are talking about the lime leaves, lemon grass and basil. Maybe add that toward the end of the stewing phase? Yes, put some coconut milk in the liquid. But I will bet you have to baste with some coconut cream during the frying to get the glaze. Coconut milk cooked all the way down gives you coconut oil. I am just thinking aloud here. Anybody got any other ideas? edit to add: nessa, I was writing this reply when you posted about using the lasagna pans. I take it that you do the whole thing in the oven. That makes a lot of sense to me. What was your oven temperature? (You may have said but I am too lazy to look. )

That looks like a gumbo pot to me. I don't recall if you ever tackled a dark gumbo in your past adventures. You have in your Le Creuset possibly the most perfect tool to pull it off. The recipe includes the details of technique for making the really dark roux. We discussed it in the Louisiana Forum here. Making gumbo may not be a hot weather thing to do but I have to do it anyway from time to time or face a mutiny. Note: I have done a blog. That was really early on. I am amazed at how the quality has improved and how much the pictures add. Isn't ImageGullet a wonderful thing? It seems like the bloggers build on the good things their predecessors bring to the table. That calls for a happy dance.

The need to cook fiddleheads came up on this thread. It seems that they can cause some kind of food poisoning if not cooked properly. This thread on fiddlehead ferns has a warning from CDC that indicates that you should cook them for 10 minutes! You have to wonder how they know that when they don't really know what the problem is.

When I did a two or three month cooking diary before designing this kitchen, I considered what you propose. I found that in my style of cooking, I was more comfortable with the heat sources being in one place, ergo a range. Also, I would have had to sacrifice a window to put in wall ovens. Since those windows would look out on Galveston Bay, there was no contest. But that is just me. Anyone that does a cooking diary to see what they need could come to a completely different conclusion.

Oh... Do hash browns in that fat. Saute just about anything in that fat. Fry eggs in that fat. Fresh pork fat is a wonderful thing.

Oh... My... God... I never thought of that! I wonder if the coconut milk will glaze the carnitas like it does the chicken? That is inspired! In fact, now I am wondering about a "fusion" technique. Add some kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass to the simmering liquid, sort of like bay leaves. I would also just use the cream at the top of the can of coconut milk. I have to think about this some more. Thai carnitas. Who knew?

Soaking in the milk makes some sense. Milk being an emulsion it can dissolve and "capture" a large range of larger molecules. When you cut an onion, contents from the interior of the split cells combine and form the sulfur compounds that cause the sharp taste and burning eyes. That is why just a rinse in cold water works, but milk would likely work better.

Uh, no. Now that I think about it. Chad and dls have the right idea. I just wasn't thinking. I think it is easier to pull right after you take it off. Well, when it gets just cool enough to handle. I have done it the next day after it warmed up and it worked ok but it wasn't as easy. I have also done it after thawing a frozen one and heating. That was even harder. I guess some of the gelatin "glues" it all back together. Using a crockpot for serving is a good idea.