fifi

Now I am curious... As a long time beach comber, these are what I have always called sea beans. But we have a plant here at the edge of salt water marshes and at beach margins called glasswort locally and samphire more commonly in the UK. Is this what you are calling sea beans? Whenever we find this stuff, we just have a munch out right there. I have never cooked it because I like the crisp and juicy texture raw.

Hello Dr. Phil. I have to admit that I haven't done diddly to advance my knowledge of Indian cuisine. Funny that this just came up yeaterday in a conversation with a friend of mine. I will now really do a search for that book. edit to add: I will also visit the eGCI course.

You are raising a good point. Actually, I can't taste a whole lot of the demi glace in the confit as I think that the onion overpowers everything. That comes from comparing the chicken and beef demi glace. But I do see a difference in texture. I think that is one of the things that the bacon screwed up. So now the question is... could you just add some sheets of gelatin to the mix and get the same effect?

I will second the woodburner vote for chuck. That is my favorite thing to do to get some shredded beef for tacos or whatever. I am usually in the market and spy a particularly nicely marbeled chuck roast and it is calling my name. Then it fulfills its destiny in my crock pot or in a dutch oven in the oven. Seasoning is whatever I have around or what tickles my fancy. I have fed hoards of young folk on beef tortilla roll ups thusly made.

Oh my, franktex. That does sound good. Could you put that into RecipeGullet. Pretty please? I have a recipe that was originally from the Treebeards cookbook called "Aggie Brisket". It calls for seasoning the brisket pretty heavily but then using strong coffee for the braising liquid. (They use a double wrap of foil but I went to the Reynolds cooking bags pretty quickly.) I think the coffee component is a real plus with the beef.

Aren't seeds fascinating? I am a third generation (and probably more than that) seed starter. My sister and I were just discussing the subject yesterday. She always had a really nifty growlight set up. I never got that complicated but I will say that her success rate was higher than mine. We need to revive that. I tend toward the "dump seeds out there and see what happens". And I love anything that self seeds. It is so much fun to poke around and see what is coming up. One year I scattered some parsley seed in a corner of one of my beds. The theory was (according to mother) that parsley was damn difficult to start from seed. HAH! I had a sea of parsley. It was gorgeous. Some of my volunteer basils were really interesting. The main mirliton vine in my sister's yard may have survived the winter so the supply may be assured. It was sprouting up from the base a couple of weeks ago and we really haven't had any hard freezes this winter. We even started eating raw mirliton sticks as snacks last year. We also revived the tradition of fighting over the seed when preparing a batch of stuffed ones.

I had a pair of Haflinger clogs with cork soles and hemp tops that I wore down to a nubbin. They were the only things I could wear for long kitchen stints that kept me from getting a sore lower back. I attributed that (correctly or not) to the fact that there was really no heel and so my heels were postioned lower than in other shoes when standing. And, of course, the cork soles provided ample cushion from the tile floor. (God I loved those things.) That is the only thing that makes me wonder about the Danskos. They all seem to have a heel. Maybe I will just have to give them a try.

I just started a batch of paprika chicken in the second new crockpot, the saga of which is here. I decided to do this recipe since it was the one I started with in the previous crock pot from hell. The one change I did make was I was able to snag some Pride of Szeged both sweet and hot. I used mostly the sweet but did give a hearty shake of the hot before I put the lid on and committed the chicken thighs to their fate. I have to agree with ronnie. The Penzey's and such may be really good but I would have a hard time giving up on the cool cans. I will now be on the hunt to add to my collection.

I agree that chipotle has been run into the ground. Our Fiesta stores here have a wonderful selection of dried peppers and the powders. I don't really make up blends but I will add different ones and taste as I go along. Currently (well, actually for a few years now) I am still hung up on anchos. I use pure ancho powder or rehydrated ancho paste on or in a lot of things. I will typically start with ancho as a base and then add others for heat or flavor. But I do need to venture out more.

Brooks... What is your source for lady peas and cream peas? Also, it has been damn difficult to find a pea that we used to grow when I was a kid called a cream crowders. Also... The "saved seed" peppers could get interesting, especially if you were growing a lot of varieties and they may have cross pollinated. We will be expecting pictures. What about mirlitons? My sister has some in a bowl on the bar in her kitchen that have sprouted and are attacking a rack where she hangs stuff. We had been wondering how to get them started early in the season (like how do you get mirlitons before mirlitons make mirlitons ) but it looks like these held over just fine.

This may have been mentioned up-thread or maybe on another thread but I think it bears bringing up again. I am referring to Jaymes' absolute stroke of genius. She was raising tomatoes on her balconey and they would always quit setting fruit when it got hot. It seems that the roots were getting hot and that was the problem. "Ah Ha!" says Jaymes. "Just plant the suckers in styrofoam coolers!" And it worked. Like I said, sheer genius. Then it occurs to me that if you are inclined to want a container that is a bit more decorative, there are a lot of pots available that look a lot like clay but are actually made of light weight urethane foam. They wouldn't be quite as good an insulator as the styrofoam cooler but would probably do a pretty good job of keeping down the heat on the roots.

Ah me dear... I disagree. What more noble use of a good demi glace than to add that silky texture to a good onion confit? Hoard not! While I do enjoy making stock on a nasty winter day, I really don't mind doing it any time of the year. I try to pick a day when I have to be hanging out at home anyway. If I do have to be out and about, I resort to the "shove it in the oven" routine and let it perk.

This one has the totally useless electro-cool-snazzy thingy but my buddies swear that it doesn't go thermonuclear. The extra divided crock is what got me. I can live with the stupid controls if it performs ok because the divided crock has real appeal for a one person household. BTW, it is really cool in that the divider is like a molded in part of the crock with a wave to it. It reminds me of the yin-yang symbol. We shall see. Sam's price is $48.54.

That is interesting. I am wondering if we have the whole spice Old Bay available here. I don't remember seeing it but I haven't really looked since I just usually grab the Zatarain's and go. It would be nice to try something different. I may be forced to do this again for St. Paddy's day.

Just an update. I returned the offending crockpot just today. I had used my ATM card when I made the purchase. The lady at the customer service desk could not have been nicer. She apologized for the inconvenience, swiped my card and acknowledged that I had indeed guessed correctly as to which card I used and promptly gave me cash. I was in shock. Then I went to Sam's Club to get a similar pot but one that a couple of my cooking buddies have and don't seem to have a problem. It is the stainless model but comes with an extra crock that has a divider in it so you can put meat on one side and veggies on the other! I had never seen that before. It also has this carry bag thing which is neat since I am known to transport said pot for various gatherings. My buddies say they have never seen the extra divided crock anywhere but Sam's. What a cool deal when cooking for one. I will give the paprika chicken another trial tomorrow and see how this one goes.

Isn't Old Bay ground spices? I would say that if you like the flavor profile of Old Bay, go for it. I will say that if it is ground spices be aware that it may be stronger than the whole spices in the seafood boil mixes so take that into account.

Reducing the stock prior to adding is the right way to go. You are actually making the demi glace. Having just done it with both beef and ckicken, I am more convinced that the main thing that either adds is texture.

Welcome cuisy. You are among friends here. I too, have been through periods where nothing seems to work. It will pass. I think it is just some sort of bad vibrations in the etrix. Fritattas were often one of the vehicles for "clean out the fridge" when my son lived with me. They were also the solution when I had a house full of young folk sleeping all over my floors. When they woke up they needed feeding, by golly. My technique was alway saute the goodies, cook for a while on the stove top on low and shove in the oven.

gingerly... That is an interesting site. Regarding the article that comes up with your link, amazingly, I heard last week about cinnamon controlling blood sugar. I had Fox News on and it was the segment with the old-guy doctor. He was saying that it does seem to work and needs further study and that at least it can't hurt. But the article does state that you have to use the leaves. I don't think the old doc got that part. Has anyone looked for a source here? Is there a potential market for the Sri Lankans lurking out there?

It occurs to me that I have never made spaetzle. It also occurs to me that the chicken paprika thing needs spaetzle to spoon the onion gravy over. It sounds like a better fit than rice. AND... There is a new toy involved! Woo hoo!

Hmmm... I must have missed the cottage cheese with olives and pineapple. That is certainly strange but not incredibly strange if it is eaten all the time or at least frequently. I go through phases where I can't wait to get home and fix my next batch of jalapenos stuffed with tuna and sharp cheddar. That is not an incredibly strange craving. (Now that I think about it, that may be a bad example. the stuffed jalapenos actually taste good. ) For instance, the braunschweiger attack qualifies, simply because the attackee never eats it. The very fact that there is a National Corndog Day is truly frightening. And if the National Frozen Foods Month even mentions fishsticks, I am going to run screaming into the night.

I dunno. Look at the ban on Szechuan pepper. I am not sure where we are on live plants versus dried products. I do know that dried peppers come in with a load of critters. That is why mine go into the freezer to kill off the buggers.

I think it was about four hours the last time I did it but this was the "new" crock pot that runs hot. Then there is that pesky problem of how much water is in the onions. I would just allow about five or more hours if planning for dinner time. If it gets done sooner it holds over well. If there is too much water, just remove the onions and liquid to a pan and reduce.

That is why I use more paprika than seems sane. It is not a strong note in modest quantities. In most rubs and stews, I find that paprika provides a "civilized" grounding note to the other seasonings. In the chicken recipe that ronnie and I have done, it IS the flavor. I think that is why I migrated to taking off the skin in the braised type recipe. The skin really only added a flabby unappetizing component and blocked the flavor of the paprika from permeating the meat. I do recall one time making the chicken thighs with a paprika that I had bought in some high toned boutique store. It was bitter and awful. I wish I could come up with the brand so I could warn you off. Anyway, good paprika, chicken and onions is one of those marriages made in heaven.

I was also wondering how you got them in past the beagles. I also have to confess that I have never heard of using cinnamon leaves in cooking. (But then, I am a mere toddler in these cuisines.) Do they really taste of cinnamon bark or are there some nuances that differentiate? All I know at this point is that I want some.