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chezcherie

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Posts posted by chezcherie

  1. Don't be sorry about over-saturation of the Northwest, I'd love to see Top Chef go South. I'm not that familiar with the South, but I'd like to see them go somewhere other than New Orleans, maybe to a Southern city with an up and coming culinary scene.

    charleston?

  2. that is one of my must-do stops every visit to sf. the family of sons who runs the place is friendly and the seafood is so freshly sweet--love swan oyster depot! thanks for the post/reminder.

    usually a line out the door, but it moves acceptably fast.

    used to be cash only--not sure that's still the case. i struck up a nice friendship with a french couple who didn't know it was cash only, and were a few dollars short. (including a tip, which i liked, because i think a fair number of europeans, in the same situation, would have just skipped the tip, as it's not customary there.) i fronted them a few bucks and we kept in contact for a few years after that.

  3. I guess at this point I'm underwhelmed by most of the dishes. I think at this point Sheldon is the Chef who is presenting himself as worthy. I'm not looking for trendy little dishes with a daintily placed micro dandelion petal. I'm looking for something so creative and unique we haven't thought of it or tasted it before--and of course I'm looking for perfect technique. I'm tired of thinking "that looks nice."

    scrambled scallops seem to fit the creative and unique bill. even though i wonder if it's a smart move to confess at judge's table that "i meant to do one thing, but that didn't work out so i turned it into this other thing."

  4. In my experience it's only ultra-pasteurized creams that have additives, the reason being that the heat changes the texture of the cream, and its whippability, so the additives are there to approximate the properties of the original. It's gotten nearly impossible to find non-ultra-pasteurized cream in my area.

    trader joe's sells pasteurized, not ultrapasteurized heavy cream with carrageenan added. i like the cream (and its dairy taste) but would prefer it without the carrageen. just sayin'.

  5. i wonder why so few recipes are rocking us in 2012? this has been one of my fav eG threads for several years, but it seems underposted upon in '12. here's one that has recently rocked my kitchen. http://www.food52.co..._caper_dressing. it's april bloomfield's lemon-caper dressing from "a girl and her pig". (emphasis on the LEMON, as it employs whole supremes). used it on grilled pork chops, on sauted fennel, red onion and green beans, and on fish. it's just so tasty! will def be a summer staple at our house.

  6. Re: Cookie Butter. I think Biscoff is better. Smoother. Cookie Butter has a slightly gritty texture.

    haha--this may be the ol' creamy vs crunchy peanut butter preference thing--i love the little crunchy bits in the tj cookie butter. (and i used to carry biscoff home in my suitcase, before tj copied it!) so, one vote for crunchy here.

  7. i've been making blackberry curd recently, to use as a tart filling, or spread on toast. i believe the original recipe was from cooking light?

    3 cups blackberries

    3/4 c sugar

    1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

    2 egg yolks

    2 tablespoons cornstarch

    pinch of salt, several grinds fresh black pepper

    1 tablespoon butter

    place the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. cool slightly, then puree in a blender. strain and return to pan. stir the cornstarch into the yolks, incorporating well. over medium heat, whisk the yolk mixture into the puree. simmer 1 minutes. add the salt and pepper, and stir in the butter. when butter is incorporated, transfer to a storage container, pressing plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd and refrigerate.

    made a batch yeterday, which i used on a puff pastry/turbinado sugar base, with glorious nectarines, plums, black and blue berries. used the left over whites from the eggs to pipe a meringue border around the edges. purty and tasty.

  8. best foods. the best best foods, in my opinion, is a variety found at latin markets, with an orange top. made with lime juice. (i know--the orange top is confusing. but they chose green for the olive oil variety.) i buy the biggest canisters they have, and i buy 3 at a time. i don't use a lot of mayonnaise, but it's always that slightly tangy, bright-flavored lime best foods when i do.

    http://www.bestfoods.com/product/detail/96415/mayonnaise-with-lime

  9. Right on top of lump charcoal is how i stir fry.. I just get the charcoal going almost white hot using a hairdryer , then nestle the wok down into the bed of coals. I remember Martin Yan had a show where he went to china and toured around. He showed people using woks over beds of coals from a fire , and talked about how the designed of a wok is actually meant for that kind of cooking. small contact area at the bottom is hotter than the sides that curve up out of contact from the coals.

    i'm trying to understand this--if the wok is nestled into the coals, aren't the coals in contact with the sides as well as the bottom? not seeing how this makes for a hotter bottom than sides? please help me understand, as i'm interested in trying this over the weekend. tia.

  10. Chicken with fennel, lemon and thyme from "Good Things to Eat" by Lucas Hollweg. This book is a recent acquisition for me and I'm both charmed by his relaxed approach to food and his writing style. This simple recipe is a dream come true for a mid-week no-fuss meal that tastes like you fussed a lot.

    Lots of sliced fennel tossed with sliced lemon,garlic and some olive oil in a roasting pan. Add skin-on chicken thighs (skin up) with lots of sprigs of fresh thyme. Roast in 400F oven for 40 minutes, baste & add a splash of white wine. Increase heat to 450-475 and give it another 10 minutes.

    The chicken is golden and crispy and the thyme-flavoured fennel/lemon mix a delicious accompaniment. Although the recipe called for 8 chicken thighs, I halved the amount and regretted it as soon as I tasted it. Serve in wide bowls with a couple of pieces of chicken atop the fennel/lemon mixture. Lucas suggests serving after it cools slightly for 5 minutes and he was right.

    That recipe sounds very similar to one posted on The Kitchen last year. Maybe their inspiration came from that book- Difference was that they used skinless, boneless chicken thighs, Meyer lemons and no thyme. I've been making it using thighs with skin and bone and sometimes even substituting preserved lemons.

    You're right- love the ease of this and the results-so tasty.... Thanks for mentioning this book. Now I have to go find it- not that I need another cookbook :wink: but, if the recipes are as good as this one it would be a keeper.

    i make a very similar dish, but stovetop (braised)--i toss in a handful of black and/or green olives, which looks festive, and complements the other flavors really well.

  11. i just use bocconcini on individual leaves. the bite-sized pieces sit atop the lemon leaves, and i dont grill them long enough for drippy mess-age.only takes a few minutes. i think i may have gotten the idea from sunset magazine.

  12. there are so many reasons i won't buy pre-ground meat. E .Coli (i like my occasional burger rare in the center), and now pink slime.

    sorry--it may be perfectly safe, but i don't want ammonia-washed beef by-product in my beef. when i want ground beef for something, i either buy it someplace where they will sell me a hunk of chuck and grind it for me right then, or i will either use the kitchen-aid grinder or just pulse it in the food processor, depending on its intended use. just my solution.

  13. consensus seems to be that you don' need one.

    if, on the other hand, you are looking for permission, permission granted! :biggrin:

    i can't imagine my happy kitchen life without a stand mixer and a food processor. yeah, i'm good with a knife and a mortar and pestle, but the tools make things so streamlined. i enjoy the process more with the tools, and don't mind washing the pieces and parts one bit. i find that theraputic!

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