chezcherie

dont know if this is the proper place to post this, but i feel compelled to document my experience. while making the sunday morning coffee, i mindlessly snapped on the kitchen tv, only to see sandra lee, dressed in a nightmare-inducing elvira-ish get up, scooping the guts out of both a pre-made pumpkin pie and a cheesecake, slapped the innards around in a bowl with heavy cream, and filled tartlet shells with the goo. some lucky tartlets got a mishmash of both . sandra chirped that you could moosh up the eviserated pie crust and plop it on top of ice cream. i'm going back to bed.

re: the aebelskivers (and the caramel). i was a little disappointed that the aebelskivers didn't have a filling. all the ones i've ever had have been filled with apples (aebels??) or jam or lemon curd. so, i decided to "fix that" for a trader joe's cooking class this week. we baked the aebelskivers so that they had a great crunch on the outside, but were still tender inside. then we split them 3/4 of the way through the center (so they looked like little pac-men!) and piped a lovely bloop of pumpkin cream cheese (also a new tj product, but one that's easily duplicated at home) in the middle. drizzled them with the aforementioned deadly fleur de sel caramel. not one bit terrible. at all.

i have it on good authority that the fab puff pastry is only going to be stocked seasonally. i have cleared out my commercial freezer in order to ensure a year-long supply. for real. that stuff is good, and i question which season is "puff pastry season", as to me, that's a year-round staple! also, the new fleur de sel caramel sauce is scary-good. i've been wedging honeycrisp apples and dragging them through a puddle of the luscious stuff, nearly convincing myself that the apple makes the caramel a health food...

i picked up a novel the other day called good enough to eat by stacy ballis. ok, it's chick lit. generally speaking, i am generally not a fan. but it was well-written for that genre, and full of delicious food descriptors, which i thoroughly enjoyed. i bought it for reading on an upcoming international flight, but ended up breezing through it in one day. so that's saying something. i went to the author's website, and found more lovely food musings, including a recipe for bacon jam. hello, lover. BACON JAM. http://thepolymathchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/10/feasting-friday-welcome-to-my-bacon.html just made a batch. smelled like heaven while it simmered. cant wait to serve it on a cheese plate.(or a sandwich. or a spoon.) my tweaks---used no olive oil (why would i need that when there is so much delicious BACON grease??) used red onions. used sherry vinegar. might consider some dried cherries or cranberries, or possibly chopped nuts next time. good stuff.

thanks for this, dick! it's close, but not the one. this one was glass (the one you referenced is polymer), and the crease, rather than running horizontally, was vertical and at a slight slant. but that's the general idea. (i'm sure you are utterly correct about its doubtful efficacy. that being said, i have a few friends who would just love these silly, pretty baubles!) the quest continues...

last night i had the pleasure of dining at the home of friends of a friend. they have planted 100 vines in their back yard, and he has quite the garagist set-up for making his own wine. a really interesting couple, clearly enjoying the good life. we got talking about wine glasses, and he brought out a couple glasses i'd never seen before. they appeared to be mouth-blown, with a "crease" or divot pressed into one side of the glass. it looked as though while the glass was formed, but still molten, the blower had pressed one side onto a table edge, creating an area that indented into the interior of the glass. (oh, i fear i am not explaining this well.) the idea, true or not, is that when one swirls the wine, the indentation causes disruption in the swirl, which aeriates the wine more. i dunno if all that's true, but it was a lovely glass, and would make a great gift for several oeniphiles on my list. he did not recall either where he picked them up, or who made them, and i was unable to find a mark anywhere on the glass. anybody? really wish i had taken a photo, but thought it might be rude. maybe if i send a realllly nice hostess gift, i'll be invited back...?

i also made this last night--or a quick and dirty version, anyway. i had a small pie pumpkin, maybe 2 1/4 lb before scooping. used parmigiano-rosemary rolls for the bread, and a mixture of gruyere and a smoky cheese blend for the cheese. no egg, some cream. rubbed the skin of the pumpkin-baby with some olive oil. at 60 minutes, the skin was easily pierceable with a knife-tip. i cut it into wedges, which worked well. my husband initially commented that i'd given him too big a piece. he's not a pumpkin-fan. yeah...he ate it all. next time i will put some cooked sausage in there. and next time will be soon!

i think your oven technique may do the trick. next time, you might try placing the lid askew on the slowcooker for the last hour or so, to help evaporate some of the liquid. when i have a lot of onions to do (after i've taught a knife skills class, for example, and have the byproduct of 18 students' onion practice!), i load the slowcooker up--about 6 lbs seems to be the capacity of my current model--along with a big pinch of salt and a stick of butter. i let it go about 8 hours on low, then slide the lid aside a bit, turn the cooker up to high for about an hourr and we're in business. sometimes i finish them in a large sautepan, if they still have too much moisture for my application. slow-cooked onions---mmmm.

thought i posted yesterday, but it disappeared... muhummara or romesco are two great dip/spreads that feature red peppers. i like to dip cubed firm cheeses (like a basque shepherd's cheese i get at trader joe's), but you could use crudites, or gf crackers or bread.

if i sit on the porch, does the ups man get here faster?

see why andiesenji rocks? has every piece of equipment, knows how to track anything down, identify any arcane gadget, and has excellent taste in cookbooks! (at least i hopethat tj cookbook in her purse is mine!) esteemed, indeed. if anyone can find this knifejack, it's her. (and my interest is piqued at this point,too!)

(ridiculously pleased that I have the same knife case as the esteemed andiesenji!)

yep, will do that, but was hoping to actually lay hands on some this weekend. i may be placing a big order for the cooking school if these are terrific. just got antsy and impatient!

grrr...can't locate these on the macy's website. want to get my hands on some to try them this weekend.

verrrrry interesting. i'm going to see if macy's has them in stock, as my husband is a macy's coupon hoarder. will try them out, and would be most interested in industry purchasing info. one of the first tangible benefits we reaped as egulleteers was the screaming deal on spiegelau glasses to be had via amazon, back in the day. we have gifted, chipped, cracked and smashed our way through an impressive backstock of those, and i'd love to replace them with these, as well as supply our cooking school with nicer glassware. excited to learn more. cheers!

instead of cooking, i will stick my toes in the same surf i was standing near when i heard of her passing. this is a beach house we rent each year the week of my birthday (and julia's). then we will motor up the coast a little ways to santa barbara, where she died, and have lunch at la super rica, one of her fav local haunts, in her memory! sante, julia, always!

i think that was red herring puree, not pea puree. little has been mentioned in subsequent episodes--i'm suspicious that they edited it into something it wasn't. so little of interest in this season, they had to stir up a tempest in a peapot, if you ask me.

Just meant whatever spices are indispensable in your world! (love your sig line, btw)

most of the things i can't live without at the beach house have been suggested (tongs, knives, oven mitt/side towels). i need a good veg peeler to be happy in the kitchen. i also need some of my favorite spices from penzeys and sarah's salts, so i take those, too.

flat sheets of parchment, as opposed to the crappy rolls which never stay flat.

gfweb Posted Today, 12:04 PM Probably this could be a new thread...but I'll start it here anyway. What are Padma's credentials that she gets to be a judge on TC? As far as I can see she is this show's equivalent of Vanna White, yet she's given the role of Judge with apparently an equal vote with Ripert et al. What's that all about? Padma, please pack your weird clothes and go.

perhaps this is what sparked your interest. (if so, you already have this info.) if not, there is a sidebar in the current (aug/sept 2010) issue of saveur magazine--the greece issue-- (pg 70) describing mastiha.

lucky you! since i originally posted this topic, costco has come through for me every year. i love chanterelles! i use a damp mushroom brush on them (actually, mine is a baby hairbrush, but the effect is the same). they can be muddy, although the costco ones are usually pretty clean. stripping is my preferred portioning method, and it involves tearing them as you describe. i find it a very relaxing exercise, and it gets me in full chanterelle mode. the reason i prefer it to knife work is that the tearing results in grooved surfaces, which will hold the sauce better than a smooth knife cut. so jealous as i type this...enjoy!

the (meyer?) lemon ones taste exactly like froot loops to me. i haven't touched a froot loop to my lips in probably 30 years, but the second i nibbled the edge, that distinct flavor hit me in the face. so, so weird!

Checking receipts at this late date is clearly impossible. I would think they most definitely would have the receipts. For many reasons, just this sort of thing being one.