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Thanks for the Crepes

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  1. Yes, I love Chicken Cacciatore too. I prefer mine with mushrooms, onions, garlic, (PLEASE AVERT YOUR EYES @rotutsand other haters) but green bell pepper added toward the end of cooking for crisp tender, plus tomatoes with oregano and basil served over spaghetti. I have to say that @JoNorvelleWalker's version always looks fabulous too with the fresh rosemary. It's Hunter's Chicken. You make it with what you want and can scrounge up. πŸ™‚
  2. From your linked article: "Her specialties included a lime cordial that substitutes for the typical Rose’s mixer, which she likened to β€œlime-flavored furniture polish.” Wow! Do I agree with Katie on this one. When I was a kid I used to make margaritas with Rose's because I just didn't know any better. I still love margaritas, but they are so much better now without Rose's. Do they even make that vile concoction anymore? I am so happy that Katie's two cats have been adopted by a friend. Cats live a long time, and it is a horrible irony that when we get older, if we want to be a responsible pet caregiver, we sometimes must do without their companionship for fear that they may not fare well if something happens to us. That is when we need them the most. So I am crying with joy over this happy adoption. Thanks for sharing this.
  3. I remember her vivacious posts on Varmint's Pig Pickin topics. She brought all the limoncello that many of you enjoyed, and I loved reading about that before I actually joined up with eG. The Pig Pickin's happened right here in my backyard, and were one of the things that so engaged me with this site. Apparently Varmint's done with us, and that it too bad. I am sorry Katie's gone. The world is going to be diminished by that. Her memory is certainly enduring with me.
  4. Drool icon over the cinnamon rolls!
  5. Okay, I know you have a tart tooth as I do, and so I will take your word that this product is crap. Too bad that the concept is good but the execution sucks. I am going to quit ruing the fact that I cannot, right now walk to TJ's and be more complacent about that.
  6. Yea! I hope it happens, but still think it is unlikely. As @liuzhou said, this is on a small scale. Do you actually think that the small production of this fungi will be enough to escape the local consumption market? I would love it, but in reality, it ain't gonna happen. In order to have things exported, a country needs to have an excess of stuff that's desirable in other countries. It's a nice dream. That is all.
  7. I think the citric acid component is an effort to balance the sweet component, which I always support. I have citric acid on its own and pomegranate molasses in my arsenal because I adore that acidic component. I have not been able to get to TJ's and try the ruby chocolate, but your comment makes me even more interested.
  8. I need to add to my above post in that phyllo is hard to work with, must be kept under plastic wrap and then damp towels. It's the single ingredient that has caused me to swear most in my kitchen, but I'll still say that the spanakoita, baklava, mushroom triangles that I've enjoyed were worth the effort and frustration. I think I neglected to mention that the sheets of phyllo must be brushed with melted butter and separated one by one. This is where the frustration part comes in. The satisfaction part comes in when you have spanakopita, tiropita and mushroom triangles in your freezer.
  9. @Darienne, This is what I do when I'm feeling energetic. This recipe originates from an old "Joy of Cooking" that does not even reference it in the index, so it it hard to find. I know it's there, and have made it several times, so I still find it on page 152. Melt 2 T butter in a skillet, cook 1/2 c. onion for about 5 minutes. Add one ten ounce package of frozen spinach that has been thawed and drained. They do not stress the drained well point, but I will. You need to squeeze out the moisture with your hands, and it you can't do it, get Ed to do it. It's important so the pastry won't be soggy. They say to cook spinach and onion over medium heat for about five minutes to evaporate remaining juices. This step is important. Then they have you stir in 1 t fresh lemon juice 1/2 t black pepper with 4 oz. feta cheese crumbled up. That is your filling according to JOC, but I like to add a small amount of dried dill, or or course, fresh, if you have it. You really do not need to add salt as the feta is extremely salty. Then they ask you to slice the strips of phyllo into thrids longways. You proceed to wrap these up, placing a T of filling at the end and then wrapping them up in triangles like a flag. These can then be baked immediately or frozen raw to have on hand for great appetizers anytime you have company or just want a tasty snack for yourself.
  10. Yes. The triangle flag folds prevent sogginess. I know you live alone now, as I do, @heidih. Having these delicious little triangles in your freezer to cook up at whim is what you absolutely want to do. I love spanakopita, and the best way for us single folks to enjoy it is frozen in little triangles to enjoy whenever we like. You can also pull them out impress guests on short notice, too.
  11. He he! I used to do this in the nursing home with my broken hip. I was totally used to digital clocks, but my brother loaned me an analog watch that I never wore because I am allergic to cheaper metals like stainless steal. I would read it upside down or backwards or whatever all the time, causing me to distrust and reset it to even more disastrous results! There are no clocks in the nursing home rooms. This lead to a very disorienting experience. Meals, which should be the highlight of such a meager existence weren't, but at least they marked time until I could figure out how to deal with upside down analog time again. πŸ™‚
  12. I got Flageolet as well! No IDEA what to do with them, but I remember in the past reading recipes where I lamented not having access to them. Those ideations have flown from my mind. Does anyone have suggestions as to how to use the Flageolets? Or for that matter, any of the other beans in this Bean Club shipment? I got: Alubia Blanca Flageolets Rio Zape Pintos Eye of the Goat (looks like cranberry beans, but fine by me) Mogette de Vendee (looks like Cannellini, but again, fine by me) California wild rice It would be interesting to compare notes to see if everyone got the same things and also to share ideas about how best to utilize our bounty. I have to say I'm really excited about the wild rice. I have always just loved wild rice! It is always good in a chicken soup with mushrooms, and I know several restaurants who stake their reputation on that dish. I will start with that if Mogette de Vendee beans are indeed like Canellini, then Marcella Hazan has a wonderful recipe for escarole soup with them that's simple and delicious. I would love to hear all further ideas to use our beans and wild rice.
  13. Good advice, and thank you. I did taste them, but being an "unbeliever" I could not cope with the fact they were done in twenty minutes. It's probably where I went wrong. I'm learning, but I'm an old dog trying to do new tricks. Thanks for your kind help with that. And yeah, although I poured off most if the bacon fat from just 2.5 oz of bacon, I found the fat cloying for 1/2 pound of beans. Probably start with less bacon next time. In my defense, that was the original plan, but I froze it in 2.5 oz portions, and it seemed so small. Not really with the BIG flavor and the BIG proportion of fat. And I have been thinking about some kind of hummus or something I can make to make me like this better, so good idea.
  14. I received my first RG bean club shipment recently and put a half pound of Alubia Blanco beans to soak the night before I intended to cook them. I was lucky that I decided to go to the RG website to get information and advice on how to cook these beans. Steve says they are thin skinned but hold their shape well, but that was not my experience. I changed my plan of IP to cooking to on the stove top so I could cook them gently and check progress. First I rendered Broadbent's bacon . Then I drained the bacon on paper towels and poured off most of the rendered fat. I added chopped white onion to the hot bacon fat still left in the pan. Then I added the beans with an inch of water over them. I set a timer for 20 minutes and then added the large carrot, a jalapeno pepper I had chopped into small bits on my new OXO cutting board. I went to the task of snapping the bacon into small pieces and then added that. Total cook time was about forty minutes. Almost every bean burst, and I have seen similar feedback from comments on Steve's website about the Alubia beans. So my advice from one cook of just a half pound is to treat these really gently and perhaps not presoak. I do admit that I'm not usually a fan of white beans, they are my least favorite, and that is why I chose these for my first foray. I only like white beans in baked beans or Campbell's bean and bacon soup. I always hoard best for last, and Steve saying the Rio Zape beans I also received were what started him on the heirloom bean journey has made me have very high hopes for them. These will probably be saved in anticipation for last. I also received some pinto beans. These ones I know for sure I love and are what I eat most often. They are so good the first time in a bean soup with pork, onion and jalapeno. Then use the leftovers for frioles refritos burritos with cheese and onion! I have always liked red beans more than white, so that is just my personal preference. So these little white beans are not my favorite, but I pretty much knew they wouldn't be from the start. I always save what I think will be the best for last. Truth told, I would have appreciated the 99 cents a pound spilt green peas from Food Lion I have in the pantry more, but I knew I did not care too much for white beans, and so here we are. Alubia Blanca are still good nutrition, though, with many good qualities to speak for them, and as I said, I was prejudiced from the start. White beans, aside from large dried limas, are just not my favorite. I have many more delicious and nutritious RG bean varieties to look forward to. I have real faith in the Rio Zape ones.
  15. @kayb, It's been a long time since I heard the term "light bread", as my grandparents (paternal) both passed in the 70's, but that is what I grew up with too, used in exactly the same way. And of course one would distinguish between sweet and other potatoes. I love 'em both, but they are very different. My grandma's pronunciation for the latter was closer to "Irsh" than "arsh" but real close. Remember that Springhill, LA is extreme northern LA and right on the border with AR and not far away from TX.
  16. That is exactly the reason I usually make my own tartar sauce. I love dill pickles in it along with capers, onion, flatleaf parsley, and a hint of Tabasco. I don't like sweet pickles in it either. Sometimes I put minced green olives it it too. I don't make my own mayo, but Dukes serves me well, as it has no sugar in it. Mersea's sounds like my kind of place, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also love garlic fries. I've only had them one time. It was in a very dark bar, and I was picking all the bits off them and when my friend asked me why, I said it seemed like way too much garlic. She said that it was mostly parmesan cheese and I did a face palm and enjoyed them as is after that. πŸ˜„ In my defense, they did not even mention parm on the menu and the lighting was so low it was impossible to distinguish garlic bits from cheese bits. Man, they were good, though. That is very cool about the windows in the floor and it sounds like what @gfron1wants to do with his restaurant. Too bad you weren't there during the day. I still remember my glass-bottomed boat ride in Florida in the late 70's. Yes, I realize it's a touristy thing to do, but back then, I really enjoyed it. It has left a lifelong impression, and we did see manatees and many other cool things like gators and, of course, fish. It's wonderful that you are able to escape the bitter cold of MN and still enjoy the company of your family at Christmas. I always look forward to your travel reports.
  17. I have the CSO instead of the BSO, but I use the top of the oven for warming serving dishes while in use, so that surface is not wasted to me. My biggest concern with the arrangement you suggest, though is that all the stove tops I have used come with backsplashes and exhaust fans for serious cooking. Cooking meats in an open pan creates a hellacious mess that I would not want to do against the sheetrock wall where my CSO is currently placed. I think you need easy to clean areas around a stove top and a means of exhausting grease or smoke for any serious meat cooking. But yeah, might work in a pinch for a dorm or something where you were only boiling stuff. Even then, I wonder whether the electronics of the oven would survive the first stove top boil over. I despise a boil over even on a stove that is engineered to handle it. There's a raised lip all the way around my ancient GE stove top, but the runoff goes underneath the electric elements and heat shields. Another hellacious cleanup. I would not buy it. Just sayin'.
  18. Hi Bonnie, Glad you found us. I'm another Southern gal from North Carolina. I love Italian too, but also many other cuisines. I'll be looking forward to your contributions to our culinary library and getting to know you. πŸ™‚
  19. Wow! I can understand it being too much of a burden along with cooking a big Thanksgiving feast, but your sure pulled it off! That is one beautiful cake.
  20. In my family, corn pone has always been unleavened cornmeal, no dairy, no eggs, just boiling water and salt. You pour the boiling water salt over the cornmeal and salt. Mix up and let sit 10 minutes. We always cooked the pancakes in a skillet on top of the stove in bacon grease about ten minutes a side until deep golden brown. "Joy of Cooking" (copyright dates 1931 - 1975, I guess for various recipes in the book) agrees with formula and cooking method, but cooks them in butter. Vivian Howard, "Deep Run Roots", agrees with the formula and cooking them in bacon grease, but she does hers in a cast iron skillet that is transferred to the oven. You want them fairly thick, about 3/4" so they cook up crispy and golden on the outside and moist and creamy in the center like polenta. Oh Vivian Howard puts a tiny amount of sugar in hers, but that is blasphemy. πŸ™‚
  21. I overpaid for Wright's not so long ago. I'll never waste money that way again. Do you want to know what is the Good Stuff? It's Broadbent's bacon! This stuff will make you remember your childhood when the hickory smoke perfume would actually pull you out of bed. I have to say I'm not much of a fan of Grandma's country sausage because it's too fatty and aged, when I don't think a sausage needs to be aged. Perhaps this a throwback to before refrigeration, but I don't like it. That said, I'll eat the rest of the two pounds that I froze after the initial experience. It cooks up crispy like cracklin's with some pork meat in there. Oh, my God! The BACON, though! If you long for the nostalgic bacon of your childhood, this is where you need to go to get it: Broadbents. I also have some country ham from them that I haven't tried, but when I do, you will hear about it. This is the BEST bacon I have ever eaten in my whole life. I like hickory smoke, though, and that is what this bacon is all about. It is a treat that I love to look forward to and it perfumes the house every time I cook it. I cannot get over how good this bacon is. Treat yourself and try it. I cannot imagine anyone not liking this bacon. It is the stuff of dreams!
  22. I can attest that people in Arkansas raised rabbits, like my late Aunt Helen. We swapped it for chicken and pork that my grandparents raised in return for their help in harvesting and butchering the animals. I remember rabbit being fried for breakfast. There were no pies in my experience. Not saying rabbit pies would be a bad thing. It sounds very good to me. I can say that rabbit is the cheapest meat you can raise. They breed like well, rabbits, and they are very cheap to feed. It rags me out that the ones available at the Farmer's Market, which is the only place they are available here are so extremely expensive. I remember being able to buy this meat in supermarkets when I was a kid, and it is a good meat, a green meat that uses little resources, but I guess, because everyone thinks we are eating the Easter Bunny, it has turned into an expensive specialty item. I grew up on rabbit in Springhill, LA which is right next door to both TX and AR. I would love to see rabbit come back into the mainstream for the dinner table. They are cheap and green to raise. We just have to get past the Easter Bunny thing, and then we can get on with cheap and very good meat.
  23. I meant to find this again for New Years, but it flew right out of my head, so thanks. It takes a bit for my sense of humor to warm up, but by the time the film is drawing to a close, I'm laughing so hard tears are coming out of my eyes.
  24. Ruh roh. Sorry for for mishap, but I would be lying like an orange man if I claimed I had not had my own disastrous screw ups. The most recent was to leave a small pot of lima beans on high on a 1970's electric stove which delivers some pretty serious heat. I got distracted online, even though I was sitting maybe 14 feet away from them in my 20-foot kitchen. Well, by the time I smelled what was going on, the bottom beans were burned. There were maybe a third or half pound of them so I tried to salvage what I could from my inattention. I started picking out the hot, partially cooked limas with a fork, and then as they cooled with my hands. I have a cute little 1 quart saucepan by Revere Ware pot with a stainless cover. The pot itself is stainless with a thin copper bottom and these used to be all the rage before everyone figured out that triple-ply stainless clad was the way to go. I love my big triple plies, but they take up more space in the dishwasher. I boiled over a single serving of grits in the little Revere Ware just today. When will I learn? I still like my teeny pot, though. It works fine for single servings of veggies like frozen corn, spinach, or lima beans as long as you do not zone out while you are supposed to be cooking something to eat. πŸ™‚
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