hannahcooks

I had a long chat with the guy at the butcher counter and, actually, all their lamb is pre-frozen- the stuff out in the counter has just been already defrosted. I forgot to ask about the pork or the beef- but MAN did they have a lot of both. Frozen, however, was fine with me (especially at something like $2.50 a pound-). I had him snag me the still frozen shanks and I defrosted them at home since I shopped a day early. The shanks were delicious.

I added a little oil to the egg wash the last time I made chicken fingers (per Cook's Illustrated- flour, egg+oil+s+p wash, followed by panko) and I was amazed at how well the breading adhered- it formed a perfect coating.

Oh, that's right around the corner from me! I'll check it out (and I'll bet it's much less expensive than Whole Foods, too). Thanks so much-

Any idea where (in West LA or Hollywood) I could find lamb shanks? I looked at my local Whole Foods, but they didn't carry them-

It's not quite as thick as mashed potatoes but not soupy either- I've served it with roast chicken and with lamb chops.

It's taken me a couple of years of steady cooking and more or less slavish recipe following, but by now I do feel free to take liberties with recipes on occasion. I think the more I cook and the more I know how ingredients interact and react to different types of cooking, the more liberties I'll take- but at the same time, I'll probably always use recipes as starting off points, because I'm not that imaginative.

Not to ruin a good excuse to buy a food processor, but I've made that watercress and pea puree successfully with a blender. However, I much prefer a version from the French Chef cookbook, which is more or less the same, but with chicken stock instead of water.

I can also recommend the lemon risotto with cream. I pulled out this book again this weekend after reading this thread and tried the risotto with pork chops, and it was incredible (though next time I think I'll use more lemon zest). My husband had three servings...

I think my current Cookbook of the Year has got to be Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen (and I am not at all vegetarian). I haven't used a cookbook so immediately and so often with such consistently stunning results since I got A New Way To Cook.

Heh. I still can't believe it. I thought the MSE was a steal, for $1- and then as I was leaving, they said, "Oh, we're giving all this away free." I walk over and there is the Time-Life series, all in a crate. I tried to pay them $20 for it but they wouldn't take it.

This weekend I purchase the latest America's Test Kitchen book. Also, at a yard sale, I got Martha Stewart's Entertaining and what appears to be the entire Time Life Foods of the World series. For $1.

Skooby's. Infinitely superior to Pink's or Oki Dog and just as cheap.

Y'all, thanks for all your help. I dutifully wrote down all your suggestions for next weekend- except we found the perfect cake Saturday. Not at Sweet Lady Jane, which, for all the hype, looked much prettier than it tasted. And definitely not at Hansen's- we should have taken the advice to skip that! We're getting five beautiful, delicious St. Honore cakes from Susina, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Their cakes were all far and away the best we had that day, and the best we could remember having, ever- and the owner is so amazing and helpful.

I'm getting married and we've set up our wedding cake tastings at Sweet Lady Jane, Susina (formerly Sugarplum, and one of our favorite lunch spots already), and Hansen's Bakery. Anywhere we're missing? We're looking for more of a really, really great chocolate cake for 110 people than a traditional wedding cake.

For those of y'all with biscuit problems, I highly recommend Alton Brown's biscuit episode. My nemeses are: -ricotta gnocchi (and I think it's my own fault. I always forget to drain the ricotta first- plus, I suspect this is something I'm not going to be too inspired to master when I always pop over to Angeli Caffe for theirs) -lemon curd, for use in a pie. It never, ever, ever firms up enough. Or at all.

I usually use the method from A New Way To Cook to make lemongrass essence- slice the lemongrass, dry the lemongrass in the oven, and then grind in a spice grinder. It's handy to have on hand since none of my walking distance groceries carry it, and is wonderful in iced tea.

Roast chicken. It was also my first roast chicken!

Through half.com, I snagged Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Vol II and JC's The Way To Cook.

Well, when I got home, some of it was charred. I stirred it all up and let it cook some more on Keep Warm (there was still a bit of liquid in there) until I was ready to use. I was surpised by how much darker (not including the charred parts) the onions became in the last 8 hours of cooking. And how rich-tasting they were. (In the morning, after 12 hours or so, I was worried- they didn't have that much flavor.) I think the confit was even better than caramelized onions on the pizza. This weekend, we'll have onion confit omelets. And next week, pissaladiere.

I've got a batch in my crockpot right now. I put the onions in overnight on "Auto". This morning, they had reduced by half and were tender, but not as sweet as I'd hoped. I let them cook some more this morning with the lid off, and then turned it on to Keep Warm (which I think is close to Low on a regular crock pot). They're still cooking now, lid on. Hopefully, when I get home, I'll have confit to put on pizza with lemon pepper cream sauce and prosciutto.

I can also say that, apart from my home kitchen, John O'Groats has the best eggs benedict I've had in all of LA. I can't think of a better breakfast place.

Any tips on this? I have a million recipes for whole fish I'm dying to try, but am terrified of the subsequent carving and serving.

A lot of the KitchenAid ones are now $9.99 at Amazon- I just ordered a mini loaf (with sled) and a tube pan.

I've been away from eGullet for a bit. Since I last posted, I've acquired: -The Minimalist Cooks at Home -Crazy for Casseroles -San Francisco Encore -River Road Recipes -The Cook's Canon -The Texas Cookbook: From Barbeque to Banquet-- An Informal View of Dining and Entertaining the Texas Way (which still hasn't actually arrived- darned Amazon) and I rejoined The Good Cook, so I'm also expecting -The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen -Bistro Cooking At Home -Glorious French Food -America's Best Chefs Cook With Jeremiah Tower. Phew!

I actually just made the chicken pot pie from Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home and can't recommend it enough. It is amazing.