miiki

About 4 x a yr my fab husband and now 3 yr old daughter gives me a long weekend alone. [i am the "cook", he the sous chef!] Single nights- When they are away I don't cook- I love that the kitchen is sparkling*clean* [sort of] for three straight days. I have baguette, french cheese and marmalade with a wonderful cup of capp or a latte made with Deadman's Reach from Raven's Brew. at 11 am. Check out their web site/coffee. Totally the best- I was addicted to Peet's but this is far superior. Addicted as in ONE perfect cup a day! Late lunch Sashimi homemade or elsewhere w/ a daikon radish salad. 4 pm Boiled Egg for a snack as needed Uhm, no dinner. As much as I LOVE to cook, it is a pleasure to not be in the kitchen. Lots of Hornitos Margaritas, Micheladas- Bloody Maria with cuke in the morning- Total decadence, I know. Well- married with a 3 yr old decadence! ;-) Late night movie and if I DO want to eat- around midnight to our fave cocktail place which makes lovely food- Bed at sunrise... Then we begin again. I don't experiment with new dishes/menus at home alone. Only with friends at dinner parties. I'm bad aren't I? Success mingles with so-so. I adore my family but these kitchen respites work for me! My husband likes all the above- we have similar tastes. Even turned him onto those [hateful] beets. I just don't think his mum knew how to cook them! That's my single cooking for one! Guess it is more about the time alone & eating alone--- uninterrupted. Miiki

"...leave the cover off of my Weber grill, then have it rain, and have the ash turn to gray brown mush and pour down my landlord's deck..." Oh shit. Esp if you have a good deal! "Assume the liquid boiling on the stove was blanching water and use it to cook gnocchi, then hear the pastry cook ask, "What happened to my simple syrup?" My husband made me sushi [ i lived in Japan and we married there so he was trying to surprise me for a lunch at home - i was a teacher for awhile] with MIRIN not vinegar et al b/c he couldn't read the labels. Yuck! mirin-simple syrup : non-negotiable in what they can do. the flour in the kitchenaid alcohol in the freezer- not labelling things I put in the freezer b/c too lazy after a few drinks. Or just lazy. Okay- after a few drinks. I am not a prof cook btw- just at home. Egg white? Lime juice? hmmm no no it's fish stock...maybe? Some of these kitchen snafus are a bit dangerous- Stay safe y'all. Miiki

uhm- so 6 mos later found this thread. Desert Island Cookbook: Lulu's Provencal Table. Soups are magnifique and request only water!!! not broth which I am not opposed to making but wow! her soups rule! That's pure cookin'! Amanda Hesser's superb books- recipes pass without fail. Don't need to test pre-party. Unusual for a cookbook. Plus- she delights with narrative. Steingarten of course- wit, excellent research and truly valuable recipes- [THE gratin...] John Thorne's books- all of them. He and Matt have contributed immensely to my cooking repetoire. Love them! Finally- but absolutely and certainly not least: Laurie Colwin's books. It is true- I am a sentimental soul with a fab mate and darling 3 year old so everytime I consult her Home Cooking books- well, it is hard for me not to think of her kids and mate still here without their mum's [and wife's] presence (and wonderful cooking...). Reading her in Gourmet years ago did much to spark my interest in home cookin'! And nurturing others through some relaxing time spent in the kitchen! Her Damp Gingerbread is truly divine. I personally don't care for sweets so much but whenever I make this for family and friends- it IS a hit. There are many other wonderful books, cooks and writers but these are the five I consult most. For consistency and excellence- they really work for me. Funny too- I do a lot of Latino cuisine but none stand out as these do. I must add though- Raichlen and Wells are pretty darn tops too. Just not as consistent as those above. Finally- as quiet1 posted above- Nigel, Nigella and ALton are great fun to read and give one helpful insight. Fergus Henderson.... Oh yeah. We are writing about books we actually cook from. Sorry! [Where is the cookbook book club?] ---Miiki

Hi all- my 2 cents re: pressure cookers- Used to work for WS pt time and got a Kuhn Rikon. Promptly returned. Not a good machine- can't do small beans, grains. Overpriced. Eventually got a Magefesa and then a few more- been really please with quality, customer service and price. Of course, overseas you have a much better selection... I wrongly or not, consider Fagor a bit like Revere Ware. My mum had that line but really- not a long lasting quality cookware. The Demeyere has always intrigued me but since I have my 3 pressure cookers from Magefesa already- who really needs another? Lorna Sass books are helpful to give you times etc and then you can adapt from there Her 2nd book not as good as the Vegetarian one and The Pressured Cook. ANd yes- of course, I tried to get the de Groot book- many times but have not been able to land one. Pity. Lastly- I was big into the pressure thing about 4 years ago, 5? Since my 2.5 year old I either cook cook with her helping depending on mood and season AND time or use my Westbend Slowcooker which you can use to first brown on stove and then put container on warmer/heater. I found a few books, both quite different in their approach - Pye and Rodgers- but I don't love either. Now here is a new topic! How to adapt recipes to the slow cooker. They give tips but sometimes I just don't quite get it right. Well- here's to better Guinness Beef Shanks- I know it could work. The slow cooker also might be ideal. Oh- one last thing. I used to often use my PC for broths- talk about saving time. I did an taste test using Amanda Hesser's Autumn Stock from the Cook and the Gardner comparing the stove top and the PC. kind of a crazy late night thing. Call me naive but I had no comparison how different the taste would be. Pretty radical. Of course there is a lot of depth to this broth. I think making your everyday chix broth/stock in it works fine but for the more high falutin' special stocks defn go stove top. And therein lies the diff betwn quick and not. Miiki

Cuban Margarita A refreshing change from Mojitos when eating Cuban- Not complicated, nothing no one has never heard of --- BUT the sour oranges are key and this drink is not the same with anything else. Seek them out at your local Latino/even West Indian grocery. [Navels, Tangerines, Clementines- all wrong. Blood can be nice but is better in a Martini.] And the tequila MUST be Hornitos Reposado. I think you will find this drink quite - something. Sorry- I don't really get the ingredient list table. Can't seem to add my 3rd ing. Serves one 1/2 jigger Sour Orange 1/2 jigger Cointreau 1 jigger Hornitos Reposado Shake in cocktail shaker with ice, pour all or pour over ice. Garnish with lime wedge [which should be squeezed in bev] Rim with salt and serve in a "short" or old-fashioned glass. This is defn not a "fancy glass" margarita. If you wanted to use an old fashioned style Margarita glass [true cocktail style] for a special occasion, then by all means do- BUT it's gotta be on the rocks. Keywords: Cocktail, Easy, Latin American ( RG913 )

Cuban Margarita A refreshing change from Mojitos when eating Cuban- Not complicated, nothing no one has never heard of --- BUT the sour oranges are key and this drink is not the same with anything else. Seek them out at your local Latino/even West Indian grocery. [Navels, Tangerines, Clementines- all wrong. Blood can be nice but is better in a Martini.] And the tequila MUST be Hornitos Reposado. I think you will find this drink quite - something. Sorry- I don't really get the ingredient list table. Can't seem to add my 3rd ing. Serves one 1/2 jigger Sour Orange 1/2 jigger Cointreau 1 jigger Hornitos Reposado Shake in cocktail shaker with ice, pour all or pour over ice. Garnish with lime wedge [which should be squeezed in bev] Rim with salt and serve in a "short" or old-fashioned glass. This is defn not a "fancy glass" margarita. If you wanted to use an old fashioned style Margarita glass [true cocktail style] for a special occasion, then by all means do- BUT it's gotta be on the rocks. Keywords: Cocktail, Easy, Latin American ( RG913 )

HI- I bought a 9 inch Scanpan w/ lid for making my [flat] French Omelettes and Spanish Frittatas. The lid has a metal lip which makes it useless for flipping- which is how i make these flat egg meals! I used another lid from an old W-S pasta pot instead. I say save your $ and use another pot's lid for this baby! The first Titanium SP I bought didn't fare so well. Perhaps I used it at too high of a heat- also they said it was dishwasher safe so I cleaned it there. Also I used nonstick spray which may have messed things up a bit. Food began to stick so I called them and they were very helpful- I sent it back and this time upgraded to an Ergonomic 9 inch-. I don't remember having to pay anything to do this. It has worked like a charm for a year now. I DO NOT put it in the dishwasher though- AND I never use that spray stuff on it- I either use nothing or butter or oil. I think the nonstick spray can cause problems as well. Hope this helps. I am happy with it. Use it solely for making egg dishes though. It doesn't serve any other purpose for me. I have different pans I use for different reasons. Oh- I do have two other non stick pans though- the Calaphalon you mentioned in your initial query. I bought an 10 inch Crepe pan and a 12 inch Omelette pan when I found them on sale CHEAP from Amazon.com- Such an incredible savings I didn't pass it up. But- what was I thinking??? I pretty much use the Scanpan for eggs and rarely use the Calphalon. Maybe I just like 9 inch egg pans? Otherwise I use my non-nonstick pans for everything else- Scanpan customer service is great so give them a try. Good price too! Guess this echos other sentiments but I always appreciate another yea! Miiki

I hope you all wiill pardon me- It is late and I skimmed this thread after reading the M.Bittman Q & A. Mostly b/c I have some duck legs in the freezer awaiting emancipation (and a recipe!):-) Re: the greasiness factor: Try parboiling the legs- then brown and cook.--- Or grill! We cooked two duck breasts- used the same type and same recipe. Parboiled one for 20 minutes! and did nothing to the other. Same marinade. Same grilling technique. The parboiled one was amazing! Crispy. Juicy. Almost lean and very very flavorful. The latter- Heavy, downtrodden, ducky, oily, just plain unpalatable! The parboil eliminated the unsavory elements while retaining the essence of the duck. I kept thinking that our 20min parboil was too much but the duck was perfect! It eliminated all the oils without us having to strip the skin. The leaner skin added to the flavor, crispiness and "look" while maintaining the integrity of this particular dish.'' I am going to try it with the duck legs at some point but maybe some of you will try it sooner? M

Annie's Homegrown [Totally Natural & Made w/ Organic Pasta] Microwavable (the most offensive part of this) Single Servings Mac & Cheese Meals. Mix it with frozen peas, a little plain kefir and it is a quick fix meal for my two year old. And her finicky gal pals. And since it is a single serving, I don't have those horrid leftovers! This is good for two meals per kid. Maybe 3.