artisan02
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Posts posted by artisan02
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So, how was the trip?
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I think it's a cool list. Nice distribution.
My #1 addition would be maple syrup. Blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. The genuine stuff, of course. (Maple syrup always seems to be what people want you to bring them from the US.)
My additions would be the varieties of cornbreads that come from the South, and biscuits.
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That looks good. A Saturday is possible. Does anybody know about security laws/rules pertaining to carrying fresh produce on a flight out of LA? Is there something about a med fly that might be an issue?
I may be wrong, and someone can correct me if I am, but I think the main inssue is bringing produce into California, not out of it. I think carrying produce on a flight out will not be a problem.
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The tentative itinerary is: From LAX (not wanting to spend too much time in the horrible LA traffic I've heard so much about), go to the beach, perhaps Venice Beach/Santa Monica;
You mentioned farmers markets as one of the things in which you are interested. If you are in Santa Monica on a Wednesday, or Saturday (Wednesday is the best day,though) there is the incredibly wonderful Santa Monica farmers's market. One of the largest in California, I think.
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I would add Delights and Prejudices, by James Beard. Not sure if it is still in print or not, but it is a fascinating account of his culinary upbringing. And a wonderful account of food in the Northwest.
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And if you can get across the bay to Berkeley, there is always the quintessential experince of Chez Pannise. You could dine in the Cafe.
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Has anyone seen apricots in the markets yet? I am yearning for them, and hoping to get at least some of them before I leave California in a few weeks.
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3. I want to experience more of Oakland and Berkeley. Where should I go and what's hot?
I don't know what is hot at the moment, as I haven't been living in the east bay for some time. But two of my favorite restaurants are Bay Wolf, which is in Oakland, and Lalimes, which is in Albany/Berkeley. Bay Wolf is a classic and does wonderful duck dishes.
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So, the dough is in the fridge (Neopolitan from American Pie). It has been there for about 5 hours, and has doubled in size. I'm thinking I should punch it down. Correct? I know next to nothing about baking bread or pizza.
I am waiting to hear about this, cause I am thinking of making that dough as well..
Are you making your toppings from that book as well?
I was lucky last summer and ate at Pizzeria Bianco...what a treat! I am dying to be able to recreate at least a part of that experience, if I can... I don't have my pizza stone with me (in storage) so I might have to use the upside down pan trick to bake my pizza...
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Me, I want to try your l'ancienne recipe next time. I've been using PR's neopolitan pizza dough recipe so far.
I have Reinharts American Pie..is that the dough you are using? I have thought about making that one.
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I got my dozen little glass bowls from Sur La Table (I think) and they are perfect for a tablespoon or two of whatever. They were cheap, and a little smaller than the Pyrex ramekins. I bring out the 4 and 6 oz. ramekins for larger amounts.
I get mine from the Dollar Tree. Oftentimes they have them for about 4/$1 for the small ones, and 3/$1 for slightly bigger ones. I must have about 20 of them now, of all sizes. Maybe more than that.
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That doesn't mean that such places can't happen anywhere else, by any means. In fact, given that SoCal wouldn't be such a long haul from interesting suppliers of quality produce, it could probably happen down here too if someone ran with the idea as did the Yasudas of Berkeley Bowl or the Fujimotos of Monterey Market.
Yes, that is what is comes to mind, at least for me. I am sort of surprised that no one down here in southern California hasn't run with this idea before. Maybe they have, and maybe it was a complete flop. I am not that conversant with all that has gone on, down in this region.
That being said, and even with all the great farmers markets here, and there are quite a few, I wish I had the money to do something like this myself. Maybe I am just imagining things, but it seems like there could be a niche for it down here as well. I know people schlep long distances at time to go to the markets in Berkeley, so why not here? Of course with gas prices these days, that might be changing.
Maybe some enterprising eGulleteer, with passion and money (and knowledge of this type of business) can start something like this down in this region.
Thanks for the info about the Coop in San Diego. I might just schelp down there myself to check this out.
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None of these come near replacing the one-top stopping ease of Northern California ... I don't think there's another place on Earth where it's as simple to come by good ingredients.
That's what I am saying. What would it take to have something of this caliber here in the Southland? Or as Andie said, is this area just not conducive to this type of thing?
I know when I moved from the San Francisco area to Sacramento, I used to still drive over to Berkeley once a week or so. These markets are that good.
Maybe I will write the owners of these markets, and tell them that we need something like this down here.
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There are no places here like those in the Bay area that I have found in the 17 years I am here. If you want that you have 2 choices. Go to a farmers market ( preferably a large one) or go to San Gabriel valley large asian grocers. You will find great fresh interesting things although little or no organics in asian markets. At FM you are limited to whats in season in California. Berkely has some of the best food shopping on the West Coast IMHO. Several excellent cheese shops, wonderful bread, great produce, amzing wine shops and a city that supports those business'. Try to find really good sourdough bread here. Ha! You may need to adjust your cooking and your palate to what is fresh and in season at FM for your own good.
David
Yes this is the point I am trying to make, and I am thinking it is not getting across very well. I know I am not going to find it here..and I while I wish I could, I am not desperately trying. I go to the farmers markets and make do with everything from what you have suggested.
My point is this. We could do it down here too. Why aren't we? Why don't you think the greater LA area doesn't have a market such as this? And what would it take to have one? That's why I asked if it were a northern California thing, or a Berkeley thing... Is there something different in the attitudes toward food down here, that makes such a market impossible?
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I believe the version of Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market in SoCal is Bristol Farms.
No, I have been to Bristol Farms. It doesn't even compare to Berkeley Bowl. It is much more hoity-toity than Berkeley Bowl and doesn't even begin to carry the wide variety of produce and other items that Berkeley Bowl does. Plus the prices are just out of sight compared to both Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market.
If I compared Bristol Farms to anything up in northern California, it would be Andronicos, or Draegers.
I don't know if you have ever been to Monterey Market or Berkeley Bowl, but if you ever get a chance, do so. The difference will really stand out. And it is this difference that makes me wonder if it is a northern California thing, or something else. If it is something else, why can't it be repeated down here in southern California?
This is not just a chance observation, but one borne out by years of shopping at these two places, sometimes more than a few times a week. And this was not for just high end stuff, although I was totally amazed when I first moved to the east bay area, and started shopping there. I found all the stuff I had read about in my cookbooks, but had never been able to find anywhere else.
I am trying to think of examples of how these markets are different, for those of you who have never been to either Berkeley Bowl or Monterey Market. Maybe after I have enough caffeine and wake up I can do so.
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Hello all,
I have been wondering about this for some time, and especially since I am in southern California for a bit.
To start off, I have been very, very spoiled by living in the San Francisco bay area for many years. I was fortunate enough to live relatively close to Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market in Berkeley, and I shopped those places often. There are other places in Berkeley that the likes of are not found in southern CA, but maybe those for another time.
I have gone to several produce markets that have been touted as being good, down here in the greater LA area. Sorry folks, they just don't even begin to compare. Most of them are about the size of Monterey Market, but they seem just run of the mill to me. They could be so much more, even in such a small space.
My pondering leads me to wonder why there are not good produce markets like Berkeley Bowl and Montery Market down here in the southland... The fact that Berkeley Bowl has other great products as well, is not something that can be done just in Berkeley.
Or is it?
Is it just a "Berkeley" thing? I think we have the same resources and availability of great produce and great products down here. Has no one ever tried to start up something like this down here? Is there a market for this type of market down here? I cannot see that there is NOT such a niche for these type markets.
If I had the money and know-how, I would almost be tempted to do one myself, just to have the same type of thing down here. But that will never happen... But there must be others who would love these types of markets down here, and could do something about it...
What do all think?
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Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook . Everytime I look in it for what to cook for dinner I realize that something as straightforward as a chicken dish requires some sort of exotic spice rub/marinade/infused oil that I'm supposed to have made 2 days ago. I just can't find a way to plan that far ahead.
Not to be contrary, but you really ought to give Schneider a second look. There's a lot of great stuff in there that requires no advance planning. The celery root puree with apples is a great all purpose starch side that I make all the time. There are also really good base recipes with good suggestions for variations in saucing or flavoring. There's a lot of good focus on method-- take the papillote section, for example. The leeks in papillote are great.
I totally agree about the French Laundry. I checked it out from the library and returned it unused. I'm just not that into straining.
I have Schneider's book, and I agree that it has some great stuff in it. I am trying to weed out some of my cookbooks even now, as I am currently lugging around 5-6 heavy boxes of cookbooks, from contract to contract. I am still lugging hers around.
And I agree about books like the French Laundry Cookbook. I have heard some great things about it, but my taste these days tends to turn to the more rustic foods and preparations. In theory, I would love to cook like that, but I just can't see doing it day after day, and even for special occasions.
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Chez Panisse Cookbook - darn pretty. Never cooked a thing out of it.
Apparantly, my sister never did either. She's been on her own for about 15 years now and that book has been sitting on her old shelf since then. Just this past weekend I was at my parents' house for Easter Sunday and finally decided to take it. Hopefully I can make more use of it, we'll see. But it sure is darn pretty!
When I started traveling as a traveling nurse about 2 years ago, I went through all my cookbooks (over 1000) and tried to decide which ones I really couldn't live without.
I ended up bringing along most of the Chez Panisse cookbooks, except for Chez Panisse Cooking, and the Pasta one. The others are with me. Oh and the original one: while that one fueled my interest for some time, it isn't really a practical cookbook from which to cook.
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Not to add *fuel* to the fire, but her book, Local Flavors also looks very good. I've taken it out of the library a few times...
I already have that one. It is very good.
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One more: Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen
Ohhhhhhh.....
I wish you hadn't mentioned this. Now I have to go out to find this book: I am a real fan of Deborah Madison's books.
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Hmmmm... I'll have to whip up some fried chicken this week. My recipe is something like this:
Marinade the chicken in Red Devil hot sauce in the morning, pour in buttermilk in the evening, fry the next afternoon.
Remove the chicken pieces (usually mostly thighs) from the buttermilk and dredge in a simple mixture of flour, pepper and Old Bay seasoning. The Red Devil has plenty of salt, so additional is usually not needed. Let the dredged pieces sit for at least 30 minutes to adhere the coating to the chicken.
Shallow fry at 350F in bacon fat and lard. Drain on cooling racks. Eat warm but not hot.
Ohhhhhh..this sounds soooo good! I might have to change mine...
I won't be able to do mine til later in the week, and maybe not even til next week. And I probably won't have pictures. But I will know if I have succeeded in mastering this...
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However, I have only attempted pan fried chicken twice before, both times as a teenager, early twenties a number of years ago. Both experiences were horiffic....trust me.
The last few times I tried to recreate the fried chicken of my youth, it wasn't the same. It was bland, among other things and didn't have that elusive 'something" that I remember.
I don't remember if my mother used bacon grease or not, but since we usually had a can of it for cooking purposes, I wouldn't be surprised. The last times I made fried chicken, I didn't use that and used regular vegetable oil. The taste wasn't the same as that fried chicken from my youth.
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There's no better inspiration for cleaning up a cast-iron frying pan than fried chicken! Scour that pan. Have it sand-blasted if necessary! Season it well and enjoy it for years to come. I believe that it was Andiesenji who told us about inheriting a cast-iron pan from her grandmother, who in turn inherited it from her grandmother. A rusty old pan turns into an heirloom when treated with respect.
I am kicking myself right now, cause when I put a lot of my kitchen stuff into storage to become a traveling nurse, I packed up my wonderful cast iron skillet. It had a wonderful patina on it, but it wasn't something I was going to use that much in traveling and I had to only bring the things I would be using a lot. Most pans have to do double duty, even triple duty.
So since I don't have a cast iron skillet with me, I have to figure out which pan will work best for this. I do have a Le Crueset buffet pan and All-Clad saute pans with me, so guess one of those will have to do.
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So get our your cast iron skillets or deep fryers, digital cameras, grease splatter screens, a bird or two, flour, buttermilk, and way, way more fat, grease, and/or oil than you should consume in a month -- and start fryin'!
I will more than likely be joining this one, as I need to relearn how to make the fried chicken I grew up eating in Richmond, VA.
I made it so many times under my mother's tutelage, and now, that I am 40 or more years past that time, I have lost the way to making good fried chicken.
She always pan fried it, and only did the dredging in flour with salt and pepper added. I seem to remember her using a lid on the pan at some point.
So, my method will more than likely be pan frying, and I will do it til I get it right again.
Ice Cream, Gelato, Sherbet--Cook-Off 11
in Cooking
Posted
This was always my favorite ice cream of all. when I was growing up. Anyone have a recipe for it?