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FYI. The official "Call for Entries" has opened. [Edited to add: I had asked this question on a similar posting I made in the New York thread, but was encouraged to do so here as well: Are there any chefs under 30 in the Midwest Region, of note, who might qualify for the Rising Star Award? The only one who comes to mind is G.E. Bowles in Chicago.]

Stuffed with Walnuts, garlic and Pomegranates. 18 small 2"-3" Eggplants 1 1/2 C diced Walnuts 1 C tart Pomegranates 1 small Jalapeño finely diced 2 clove Garlic finely diced salt* olive oil After peeling the green tops off the Eggplants, they were blanched in simmering water for 10 minutes until tender, and placed in an ice bath to cool. Slits were made and salt was applied to the inside of all eggplant. The eggplants were placed in a strainer and pressed with a heavy weight for a few hours to dry them. Mixed the nuts, garlic, Jalapenos, pomegranates and 1 tsp* salt. Placed about 1 T of the mixture in each eggplant. Placed the eggplants in jars cut side up, and filled with olive oil to cover. * We could not get a definitive answer on the amount of salt to use in the filling and did it to taste. We'll find out in 2 weeks and report back.

So I just picked up about 7-8 pounds of grapes at the local farm and I want to make some jelly as gifts for everyone at Christmas. Does anyone have any interesting recipes? Thanks, Marc

Ingredients : brown sugar, butter, chocolate, flour, honey, mustard, olive oil, other, etc. This is one of a series of compendia that seeks to provide information available in prior topics on eGullet forums. Please feel free to add links to additional topics or posts or to add suggestions. Brown sugar/Cassonade Butter Chocolate Flour, baking powder, baking soda, etc Honey Mustard Olive oil Other cooking/baking ingredients

Inner Beauty Hot Sauce Knock-Off This is a knock-off version of Chris Schlesinger's legendary Inner Beauty Hot Sauce, the last bottle of which is the subject of a topic here. This version is based on perusal of the ingredients list and on the recipe in Big Flavors Of The Hot Sun by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. However, that recipe is uncooked, whereas this one is cooked. I've fiddled around with this pretty extensively and like the balance, which resembles closely, to my tongue, that of the original. You can do the same. For example, some of the ingredients that were on-hand in my house (the palm vinegar, say) might not be in yours, and those could easily be substituted. You also might want to add other ingredients -- pineapple juice, say, or ground cloves -- to tweak it. Make it yours. Inner Beauty is fantastic with fried chicken or fish, dashed into collards, and as a jerk-like marinade base with citrus (orange and lime work well) for just about anything. 15 habanero chiles 1 mango 1 c yellow mustard 1/2 c brown sugar 1/2 c white vinegar 1/2 c palm vinegar 1 T curry powder 1 T cumin 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 1 T ancho chile powder 3 T salt (or to taste) 1 T black pepper 1/4 c molasses Seed and devein the chiles with gloves on, and tear them into smallish bits. Peel the mango and slice it into chunks -- size and shape don't matter, since you'll be blending it. Add the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to simmer over medium heat, turn it down to low, and simmer it for an hour or two, stirring now and then. Add water to keep it from scorching. The sauce is done cooking when the mango and chile flesh easily disintegrate under light pressure from your spoon or spatula. Blend with an immersion blender (or, when cool, in a blender) until the sauce is smooth. Keywords: Easy, Condiment, Hot and Spicy, Sauce ( RG2025 )

Okay, here is what we had: Moutarde Violette (recette Charentaise) Nice mellow mustard that would be tasty with crackers and cheese. The sweetness of the wine mellows out the mustard seed really well. Moutard de Truffe (Tubissime) OMG, that is not okay! Two tastes that came together as something you would shoot at a fancy fraternity party, as a dare. Moutard au Miel (Champ's) Yummy, a discernible amount of honey created a delicious classic pairing. (While I didn't have time to bring it, the honey mustard from Les Abilles is amazing. It features a spike of horseradish that gives it another dimension). Moutard de Picard (Champ's) I felt the cider didn't add anything to the taste. The flavor was as if plain whole grain had cider vinegar dumped into the batch. Moutard au Vin Charentais Nice whole grain look, but tasted of dust and cider. Verjus et Miel (Maille) Nothing special, tasted of your basic brown mustard. Horshradish (Maille) I LOVE horseradish and assumed I would love this mustard. Unfortunately this mustard tasted nothing of the bite or tang of horseradish and instead offered only little pickled nuggets of the root. Forte de Dijon (Monoprix) The strongest of the Dijons. A bit too powerful for most applications. Unless of course you want to clear your sinuses instantly. French's ballpark Oh French's, this instantly takes me back to pulling those nasty encrusted udders at Fenway. How can I say anything bad about something so charged with good memories. French's Dijon So either this one had gone bad, or just IS really bad. Tastes of flour and flowers, with hints of cardboard thrown in. The texture was pasty to boot. Moutarde de Dijon (Champ's) Classic Dijon taste without being overwhelming like the one from Monoprix. Moutarde de Meaux (Pommery) Big bits of whole grain but with a smooth taste that develops in the mouth. Hints of Champagne left a nice finish that felt as though it would cut through a fatty steak really well. For me the best of the lot were the Champ's au Miel and Dijon, both of which represented the best of their respective genres. My other favorite was the moutarde de Meaux which was both original and delicious. The French's Dijon and the moutarde de Truffe should be labeled as "not meant for consumption". The French's ballpark gets high scores for nostalgia. Here is a link to the labels and the pretzels: Mustard Gallery

In a Ruth Reichl's weekly newsletter I received via email today, she discussed a technique for a no-cook freezer jam, which lasts up to a year in the freezer. Specifically, it uses a Ball pectin product and Ball plastic freezer jars. The information can be found here. It seems so easy and makes me wonder if anyone has had the opportunity to try any jam or preserve using these products, or any other method for frozen jams or preserves, and if so, how were the results?

My friend just returned from Brasil & Argentina. She brought me a jar of Mermelada de Rosella. The ever helpful free translator gives back the obvious "Rosella jam". The picture on the front looks like some kind of flower bud possibly. What is mermelada de rosella made of ? Thank you, no, there is no ingredient list on the jar . What other jams/jellies/preserves ardo you think are worth searching out on a visit south?

I mashed 10 cups of whole blackberries with two cups of sugar and added three packages of certo. I didn't cook this as I plan to freeze it. After refrigeration I checked the viscosity and it did not thicken any more. It's fine for toast and pancakes but it would be nicer to have a thicker jam without adding extra sugar and certo. Any suggestions from the experts?

I've been buying Smucker's and used to use Polaner's fruit-sweetened strawberry jam. These, of course, are not overly sweet, since there's no processed sugar or corn syrup, but the strawberry taste is too muted. Any recommendations? Thanks.

In Christine Ferber's book she gives a recipe for "Old Batchelor's Jam", which is a two tone jam of a layer of wild blueberry jam topped with raspberry jam flavoured with kirsch. She says "It used to be that every household would make Old Batchelor's Jam with a fruit and alcohol base", and then describes what to me is a rumtopf except with kirsch; a crock to which fruit, sugar and alcohol were added during the season. I'm puzzled by the origin of the name. Can anyone help with the term "Old Batchelor"? Is this the name in Alsace for their version of a rumtopf? Is it a mistake in translation? Is the jam specifically raspberry and blueberry, or any surplus berries plus kirsch?

The sequence of posts that began at No. 71 in johnnyd's foodblog got me to thinking: Condiments are the culinary equivalent of kudzu. Or maybe they breed like rabbits. In any case, give 'em enough room and time, and eventually, they take over all the available shelf space in your pantry. I figure the process works something like this: You're about to make a dish that requires a certain type of condiment sauce, oil, or vinegar. You go out to the store to buy a bottle. Of course, the recipe doesn't require the entire bottle, so what's left goes on your shelf. Some time later, you're out shopping when something new or unusual catches your eye on a shelf somewhere. You think to yourself, "Hmmm, I'd like to try this and see what it tastes like." Into your cart and onto your shelf it goes, there to await its star turn. On your birthday, or on Christmahaunkwanzaakah, someone--a friend, relative, or co-worker--buys you a bottle of an exotic __________, knowing that you are particularly fond of sauces of this type. You thank the giver profusely and sock it away, making a mental note to be sure (never) to invite him over for dinner (sometime in the future). Before you know it, you're like me (and H.J. Heinz)--you have 57 varieties of oils and sauces of varying kinds, including multiple varieties of vinegars, mustards, salsas, marinades, oils and hot sauces, and maybe even more than one variety of ketchup (in addition to Heinz, I have a bottle of La Niña Spicy Ketchup I bought three weeks ago), scattered throughout your pantry and fridge. I'm only presenting my census data in the aggregate: 14 hot sauces, including 5 habanero sauces, one Louisiana-type, one cayenne sauce, two Huy Fong sauces (sriracha and chili garlic) and two varieties of Tabasco (but not the original--I need to restock it) 7 oils, including the basic cooking oils (canola, soybean) and the buttery-flavored canola oil for popping popcorn 6 vinegars, including 3 rice vinegars 5 types of mustard, one mixed with mayo 3 soy sauces, counting teriyaki as a soy sauce 3 marinades 2 sweet chili sauces -- one American, one Asian 2 bottled salad dressings, one left by a guest who brought a tossed salad to a dinner 2 pancake syrups, one "lite" 2 barbecue sauces 2 steak sauces (Heinz 57 and A1) 2 varieties of ketchup 1 jar of salsa 1 jar of mayonnaise (Hellman's, natch) 1 jar of hoisin sauce 1 bottle of fish sauce 1 bottle of Worcestershire sauce 1 chutney Angostura bitters Top this, why don'tcha? I'm sure some of you can.

Reductive Reasoning Reductive Reasoning Getting to the bottom of 'reduction' problems in screwcap wines By Jamie Goode From Wines & Vines, 08/01/2007 Click On Me This is a great read...take your time and think about it real hard...Jamie does a great job explaining the problem...enjoy!!!

Does someone know when the James Beard awards started? I thought it was 1989. On the James Beard foundation website, though, they have awards going back as far as the 1960s. It looks like the earlier awards were for cookbooks only. The foundation wasn't started until 1986, so I'm unclear on who was giving the awards. Just James himself?

Sorta Secret Aardvark Sauce (Habenero Hot Sauce) I thought I'd submit my recipe which is a clone of a locally available sauce here in Portland OR called Secret Aardvark Sauce. Sorta Secret Aardvark Sauce 1 – 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes or roasted tomatoes chopped - include the juice 1 – 14.5 oz of rice wine vinegar. Use the now empty tomato can to measure 1-1/2 cups of peeled and grated carrots (packed into the measuring cup) 1 cup of finely diced white onion 1/4 cup of yellow mustard 1/3 cup of sugar 2 teaspoons of Morton’s Kosher Salt 1 teaspoon of black pepper 13 small Habaneros – seeded and membranes removed. (This was 2 oz. of Habaneros before cutting off the tops and removing the seeds and membranes) 2 teaspoons curry powder 1 cup of water when cooking 5 or 6 cloves of garlic - roasted if you've got it Put it all in the crockpot on high until everything is tender. About 3 hours Note: I used the crockpot so I don't have to worry about scorching it while it cooks. Whirl in food processor – Don’t puree until smooth – make it lightly/finely chunky. Makes 3 pints - To can process pint jars in a water bath canner for 15 minutes I've thought about making this with peaches or mangoes too, but haven't tried it yet. Edited for clarity on 11/9/2020 Keywords: Hot and Spicy, Carribean, Condiment, Sauce, Easy, Food Processor ( RG2003 )

I'd be grateful for a restaurant recommendation, please, somewhere within an easy walk of the St James's/Mayfair area in London. I'm asking on behalf of someone else who had Mirabelle in mind for a celebratory lunch. I have lost track of how Mirabelle is doing these days. Does anyone have any recent experience or any alternatives to suggest? Thanks. Rachel

Guss's pickles in the Lower East Side (the place with the barrels on the sidewalk) is fighting United Pickle for the rights to the Guss's name. New York Times

i was reading michael ruhlman's blog, and sometimes he has his friend, anthony bourdain, write some guest pieces. well, in one of those pieces, bourdain calls james beard a 'much disliked crank'. i understand why the beard awrds themselves might be viewed in a unfavorable light, but what did the man do to engender such feelings? this is the first time i've ever read or heard something so nasty about a man who did so much for the culinary arts in this country. http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2007/03/index.html

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. This time, we're focusing on pickles. Pickling is a preservation method that uses vinegar or a brine and versions of pickled vegetables, fruit, fish and meat can be found throughout the world. Whether you've wanted to try your hand at tsukemono (Japanese pickles), kimchi (Korean), Moroccan preserved lemons, pickled watermelon, good old kosher dills, or any other pickle, now is the time to do it! There are no restrictions here - let's talk about refrigerator versus 'canning' in a hot water bath. Let's argue the merits of vinegar versus salt. Whatever we do, let's help me figure out how to make my grandmother's dill pickles! There are a few topics on pickles/pickling, including a topic about half and full sours, one on pickle terminology, this topic looked for perfect pickle preparations, and this one introduced a new, quick pickling technique, and most recently, we've had some pickle chat in the Cradle of Flavor cooking topic. If that's not enough inspiration for you, reading Fruit of the Brine, a Tangy Memoir may be just the trick. And don't forget to check the 13 recipes in RecipeGullet! One last thing. If, like me, you haven't pickled anything since you were five, I've asked for and received a few book recommendations: Quick Pickles by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby Ball Blue Book of Preserving The New Preserves : Pickles, Jams, and Jellies by Anne V. Nelson Pickled: Vegetables, Fruits, Roots, More--Preserving a World of Tastes and Traditions by Lucy Norris and Elizabeth Watt Who's in?

Retirement can do strange things to people I have an uncle who has always been a bit of DIY freak. As he and my aunt get older - they are becoming more and more careful of what kind of food they eat. Now that that they don't have growing kids to feed - they try to eat as much organic food as possible and grow alot it themselves. News reports out of HK last year detailed alot of the lack of quality controls in foods produced in China - so they decided to start making their own soy sauce. I wanted to provide a little update as to how this is done - and I was surprised that it was not as hard as you might think - just a little time and care. My uncle remembers growing up in post war Hong Kong when food was scarce and making ends meet was not easy. The war had left my grandmother virtually broke (from bribing officials to keep her kids safe), widowed, and still having to find a way to feed 8 kids. One easy source of protein was to make miso at home - fermented soy beans that was cooked with a little pickled plum and rock sugar. My uncle said it seemd like the most delicous food at the time. Making soy sauce is simply removing the liquid that the soy beans are fermented in. They still end up with miso that they use as a condiment for cooking things like fish and pork - it gives a plumlike sourness . Now in Vancouver - we don't get as much sun as we would like - so the fermeted soy mash does not cook in the sun for as long as it should - so there is more acidity in it then you would find in industrial soy. Still - its pretty good. Dried organic soy beans are cooked till they are soft and fall apart into a meal when squeezed between your fingers. The soy beans are mixed with flour - ratio that my uncle uses is 16 oz of soy beans (dry weight) is mixed with 12 oz of flour. The beans and flour is kneaded together to make a loaf. My uncle says that from what he's seen, alot of industrial producers skip this step. The loaf is then cut up into disks - and the whole basket is wrapped in layers of towels to promote mold growth. The mold growth part takes about a week - I will take some pictures then if the mold takes hold like it should. The saltiness for the soy sauce will come later when the fremented disks are soaked in a brine that contains 8 oz of salt. It's funny - the salt water has been prepared for a few weeks now. Large containers sitting out in the sun (under plexiglass). I actually don't understand why this needs to be done - but my uncle says that my grandmother would always let the sun cook out the water - sometimes for a whole month. Perhaps this was a way to remove impurities - when tap water was not so safe - and nowadays, it may be good to let some of the chemicals used to treat water, evaporate off. Vancouver is notorious for its use of cholrine. Hopefully the mold will take hold and I will have new pictures soon. BTW - I have no idea what kind of mold takes hold and how my uncle ensures that it is not some killer strain. So - that's my attempt at a legal disclaimer.

After Friday night's dinner guests ravaged my last jar of black cherry preserves lovingly brought home from Pays Basques, I bought several pounds of ripe Bing cherries, our local variety, at an orchard stand yesterday. I plan to put up several jars, following normal preserving methods. Are there any trucs I should mind? (FWIW, this preserve is heavenly with ewe and goat cheeses such as Manchego or Petit Basque, also cow's milk cheeses, like comte.)

I'm curious if anyone has been to Greg Couillard's Spice Room & Chutney Bar inside Hazelton Lanes. I've passed by the last couple weeks on my runs to Whole Foods and have seen activity at the Manyata Courtyard Café but haven't been around the area late enough to see how the Spice Room is when it's open (for evening service). Has anyone dined at the Spice Room? If so, what did you think of it? I'd also be happy to know of any previous experiences you might have had of Couillard's work if you haven't eaten at this establishment. Thanks!

As many of you here already know, Japanese cuisine very often employs seemingly monotonous combinations of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin (and sake and sugar). I'd like to summarize the ratios that I actually used to make Japanese dishes here. Niku jaga (right) Dashi:soy sauce:mirin = 8:1:1 The other day, I wanted to have something light for supper, but I knew that my children wouldn't care for niku jaga, so I decided to make both niku jaga and curry. I simmered carrots, onions, potatoes, and pork for 10 minutes, and transferred one half to another pot to make both of them at the same time. Simmered daikon (right) Same as above (8:1:1) An 8:1:1 mixture of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin is called happou (versatile) dashi because it can be used for variety of dishes. I checked various recipes for happou dashi, and found it must be made with light (not dark) soy sauce. I'm a Kanto man, so I will stick to dark soy sauce. Nizakana (left) Water (not dashi):soy sauce:mirin:sake:sugar = 5:1:1:1:0.5 One recipe calls for the 5:1:1:1:1 ratio, but I wanted to make mine less sweet, so I settled on 0.5 instead of 1. Later I found another recipe that does not call for sugar, thus the 5:1:1:1 ratio. Takikomi gohan (lower left) Water (not dashi):soy sauce:sake:mirin = 12:1:0.75:0.5 One recipe calls for a dashi (not water), soy sauce, and mirin ratio of 12:1:1, and another recipe calls for 14:1:1, but I prefer the ratio above (without dashi and with sake). Dipping sauce for noodles Dashi:soy sauce:mirin = 4:1:1 I also use this ratio to make dipping sauce for tempura. Soup for hot noodles Dashi:soy sauce:mirin = 12:1:1 My special furikake Soy sauce:mirin = 1:1 45 ml each per mackerel can. Tendon sauce Dashi:soy sauce:mirin:sugar = 2:1:1:0.5 Tendon sauce should be sweet. Gyudon Dashi:soy sauce:mirin:sake = 10-12:1:1:1 May gyudon recipe can be found here. Japanese sauce for hamburgers Soy sauce:mirin:sake = 1:1:1 Chicken and negi "kuwa yaki" (chicken coated with wheat flour and pan-fried) Same as above. Made some corrections.

Yesterday I had the always renewed pleasure of waiting in line for nearly half an hour at my local Poste to ship a package to a friend in Atlanta, GA. Inside: 3 jars of mustard. Weight of package: a hair over 2kg. The post office woman asked me what I was sending in my package and when I said, "De la moutarde," she looked at me and shook her head. Oh, no, that won't do. You can't send alimentary products to the U.S. People get their packages opened and pulled apart. She took out a book of rules in different countries and flipped through it until she found the U.S. Yes, indeed, I needed to declare my package to the FDA and get a waiver to send it on, which would then be affixed to my package and everything could go smoothly. This seemed utterly absurd to me! We're not talking about produce or meat or anything remotely dangerous, but jars (sterilized obviously by their maker - these are purchased jars of mustard available in stores) of ground mustard seed, vinegar, etc. So now I have my carefully packed package on the counter in my hallway. I don't want to let down my mustard-loving friend, but the idea of going through all the hoops seems silly. Does anyone else have experience sending food items through the Poste (or via some other means; because as a side remark, she told me that as my package was over 2kg it had to be send by Colissimo blablabla, some higher-up level of shipping, and would cost 37.50 € - which also kind of stinks...).

spicy pineapple/rhubarb chutney i love chutneys with all kinds of meat, fish and even simple chutney sandwiches, as Monica Bhide suggests in Everything Indian. thanks, snowangel, for suggesting this one i concocted would be good with a sharp cheddar grilled cheese sandwich; it is. this is especially good also with pork, chicken and salmon. makes one pint chutney. 2-1/2 c rhubarb, diced 1/2 inch 1 c unsweetened pineapple, sliced and chopped 1/4 c golden raisins 1/4 c cider vinegar 3/4 c sugar 2 T ginger, minced 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp curry powder 1/4 tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp hot thai chile flakes 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 T grapeseed oil 1/2 tsp kosher salt mix fruits with sugar and vinegar. allow to set for about an hour to extract juices and soften raisins. stir in spices, oil and salt. i wanted to try out the jam setting on my kneadful thing and did so. that was great, no muss, no stirring. otherwise i would have cooked this on medium low heat for about 30 to 45 minutes (depending on preference), stirring as needed to keep it from sticking. store in jar in fridge up to two months. Keywords: Condiment, Fruit, Easy, Hot and Spicy ( RG1975 )