Search the Community

Vietnamese Pickled Vegetable Salad If you've ever been to a Vietnamese restaurant, you'll recognize this salad as the garnish on almost every plate of food served. It is also an ingredient in fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls. Adapted from a recipe in Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. 1 Carrot 1 Daikon radish, a piece about the same size as the carrot Kosher Salt 1 Red Bell Pepper 1/4 c Rice Vinegar Water 1 T Sugar Peel the carrot and daikon. Cut into julienne strips or batons. Or, use a garnish tool to make crinkle cuts. Place the carrot and daikon into a stainer in the sink or over a bowl. Sprinkle liberally with Salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes. Cut red bell pepper into the same cut you did for the carrots & daikon. Set aside. Heat the vinegar with about half a cup of water and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool naturally or add a couple ice cubes. Rinse the salted vegetables, which should now be slightly wilted. Combine the carrots, daikon and red bell pepper with the dressing and place in an airtight storage container. Add just enough water so that the vegetables are submerged (up to another half cup or so). Allow to marinate at least 1 hour before serving, but better the next day. Keywords: Side, Salad, Easy, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Vegan, Condiment, Southeast Asian, Healthy Choices ( RG1149 )

Broccoli Salad with Tomato-Onion Mayonnaise Serves 12 as Salad. This is one of my favorite salad recipes, which is saying a lot since I usually don't like broccoli at all. Very unusual and good on a buffet of other salads. Rated intermediate for the length of time required, not the skills. 2 lb broccoli heads, trimmed and cut into florets Mayonnaise: 2 medium onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 T butter 2 T oil 4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped OR 1 cans tomatoes, petite cut, drained 2 tsp sugar 3 T basil chiffonade 3 T oregano leaves 1 c mayonnaise Garnish (optional) Black olives Cherry tomatoes Cook broccoli in heavily salted boiling water until it is on the verge of becoming tender. Drain and shock in cold water. Drain well. Sauté onions and garlic in butter and oil until onions are transparent. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, basil and oregano. Simmer uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is evaporated. Cool slightly and stir in mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Combine broccoli and tomato mixture. Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and/or olives and/or more basil chiffonade, if desired. Note: for making the day before, refrigerate broccoli and tomato mixture separately. To cut calories, reduce butter and oil and use only one-half cup of mayonnaise. In that case, leave a bit of liquid in the onion-tomato mixture. Keywords: Salad, Intermediate, Vegetarian ( RG1115 )

Young ginger shoots pickled in sweet vinegar A pickle made around May-June, before rhizomes have fattened up, and served with sushi. Traditional method 5 T rice vinegar 2 T sugar 1/3 tsp coarse natural salt My method 5 T umesu (plum vinegar) 2 T mirin (sweet rice wine) to taste - umesu varies in salt levels In June, the young ginger shoots come onto the market. The immature rhizomes are sold together with about 1 foot of green shoot. These shoots are trimmed to say 6", and the rhizomes divided so that there is one knob of root for each green shoot. Peel rhizomes if necessary, or simply rub papery skin off if young. Hold the stems bunched in your hand, and immerse the ginger roots in boiling water for a few seconds. Have ready the seasoned vinegar mix - zap in the microwave to dissolve sugar, otherwise simply mix in a tall glass,　and immerse ginger. Stand the container in the fridge if you intend to keep the pickle for a few days. The pink color will continue to develop for about 12 hours. Eat within a few days. Keywords: Japanese ( RG1091 )

I started going to Assi Plaza Asian Mkt in Lansdale, Pa specifically cause they carried Hana Brand Pickled Ginger. Hana brand did not have Aspartame. I had 8 jars in my fridge for years and finally finished it and needed to buy some more so imagine my shock when I went to buy more recently and it now contains Aspartame! UGH! What to do, what to do! I was able to find Roland Brand on Amazon that was made with SUGAR, and bought the 8 pack. Im kind of annoyed at all these companies because its not mentioned on the jar front and there are people with PKU who can get very ill if they consume aspartame. I had a school mate who died after someone tricked him into eating something with it in it! Can we start a petition or something? Are there any brands besides Rolands that are pink and dont contain Aspartame? TY

Lisa’s Mustard Cheese Crackers cream butter and cheese in processor til almost smooth. add remaining ingredients and pulse til just combined. divide dough between 2 sheets waxed paper and roll each into 8 inch logs. freeze, wrapped in wax paper and then foil til firm (1 1/2 – 2 hrs) preheat oven to 350* cut logs into 1/4 in slices and put on buttered baking sheet 1 in apart. bake til edges are golden brown, about 15 mins. 1/2 c butter (1 stick) 1/2 lb grated swiss or emmenthaler or gruyere 1 c ap flour 3 T dijon mustard or i sometimes use wild thymes peccorino peppercorn mustard and omit the mustard seeds 2 tsp dry mustard 1-1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp salt Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre ( RG1017 )

Tataki Kyuuri no Shouga-zuke ( Cucumber pickles with Ginger) Serves 4 as Side. These are a simple cucumber pickle that only need a couple minutes to marinate. Tataki is from the verb to hit or strike and they are called this because the cucumbers (kyuuri) are slightly smashed before marinating in the ginger (shouga) dressing. Try to use Japanese cucumbers if possible, if they are not available then use seedless ones. 3 Japanese cucmbers 1 T grated ginger 1/2 T rice vinegar 3 T soy sauce large pinch of sugar 1. Cut the cucumbers lengthwise into quarters, then cut them in 2 to 3 inch lengths. 2. Place them into a ziploc bag and slightly crush them with the bottom of a pan, you don't want to smash them to a pulp rather you want to just open them up a little so they can marinate faster. Some will be broken. 3 Add the rest of the ingredients to the bag and masssage it gently to mix the ingredients. 4. Let it sit for about 5 minutes then serve. Keywords: Appetizer, Japanese, Side, Vegan, Easy ( RG1041 )

Brooksie's Dill Pickles Brooksie's Dill Pickles Brine 1 Quart White Vinegar 3 Quart DISTILLED Water 1 scant cup salt Cucumbers Fresh Dill Tabasco Peppers Garlic Many times the dill will be ready in your garden before the cucumbers. In that case you may preserve the dill by breaking into 2 inch pieces and putting into large jar and pouring mixed brine solution on it until covered. Keep this jar in a dark place and when the cucumbers are ready use the dill AND the brine, but remove the dill from the brine before boiling. There you go simple and easy. You will notice that the cucumbers are never blanched or par boiled, etc. The beans should not be either, although I have noticed that they really take 4 to 6 weeks, just a little longer than the cukes. Incidentally, the dill will keep until after the nuclear war (when there will be a great shortage of dill pickles and Mama's to make them) as long as it is kept in the dark 1 qt White Vinegar 3 qt DISTILLED Water 1 scant cup salt Cucumbers Fresh Dill Tabasco Peppers Garlic 1)Sterilize jars and pack into each jar beans or cucumbers (standing end on end) along with one large clove garlic, one tabasco or other small hot pepper, 1 dill stalk top 2)Heat brine to boiling and pour over cucumbers in jars. 3)Seal and Invert Jars until cool 4)Ready to eat in three or 4 weeks Keywords: Side, Kosher, Easy, Vegetables ( RG961 )

Banana Jam This recipe is adapted from Catherine Plagemann's book Fine Preserving. She says it is of Indian origin. Other appropriate spices (cardamom, cinnamon, etc.) can be added. Plagemann says 8 bananas will yield 7 8-oz glasses, but I've always ended up with less. 8 ripe, mashed bananas 3 medium lemons 3 c sugar 3 c water 1 inch square piece of ginger, peeled cloves to taste (3 is a good number) 1. Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water for ten minutes in a 4 quart saucepan, or larger pan. 2. Zest the lemons and juice them while the syrup is boiling. 3. Mix lemon zest, juice, bananas, ginger and cloves in a medium bowl. 4. Stir banana mixture into simple syrup, and simmer 30-45 minutes. The jam will be a pale yellow mush, no need to test for jelling. Keywords: Condiment, Fruit ( RG868 )

Using Frozen Yolks to Make Mayonnaise The emulsifying power in a single egg yolk in its raw state is substantial. But it can be further enhanced by freezing the yolk first. A cup of mayonnaise can be made easily with as little as 1/4 of a frozen yolk, though it will be on the thin side; this is not because you use less yolk, but because, regardless of the amount of yolk used, the quantities of water (or water-based liquid, such as lemon juice or vinegar) and oil do not change. The repercussions from this are quite interesting, but perhaps better left for another thread, so I'll just put the basic quantities and technique here. If there's interest, I'll start another thread or find one to add it on to. I'm going to use whole yolks here, because the mayo base for the recipes above needs to be thick to accomodate an added 1/4 to 1/3 cup liquid. This should result in a good body for the finished sauce. And the addded liquid, if it's thoroughly whisked in, will stabilize the sauce. 1. For each cup of mayonnaise, freeze one of the following combinations: 1 whole yolk for four hours 1 whole yolk whisked with 1T lemon juice (not vinegar) for eight hours 1 whole yolk whisked with 1T water for 24 hours 2. Have ready: pinch salt 7/8 c oil, not more than 30% unrefined (e.g., EVOO) oil 1 T water or other water-based liquid, or a combination 3. Allow the yolk to thaw 4. Put the yolk in a bowl and add salt. Beat lightly. 5. Add oil 1/4 t at a time. Once the emulsion thickens, you can add larger quantities. If the mayo gets really thick and looks like it's sweating oil, whisk in a few drops of water. 6. If, by the time you've incorporated all the oil, you still have more than a tablespoon of water left, whisk in enough additional water to make about 1-1/2 T total. Note: use of more than 30% unrefined oil will result in an unstable mayo -- you'll have just a few hours before it breaks. The second mayo recipe, calls for two cups of oil. A single frozen yolk will easily accomodate this, and make a good medium-weight mayonnaise Keywords: Sauce ( RG576 )

Sour Tomatillo Achar Made this one up from a recipe for lemons. It really works for tomatilloes. A unique spice mix, and really sour for a 'different' type of pickle, or achar. It is based on a Marwari recipe - from the arid north-western part of India. Tomatilloes are not used in India (or at least not much) but are quite productive plants in my garden while lemons or other sour fruits are not possible to grow here. No vinegar or lemon juice is used, because tomatilloes are very acidic and don't need any extra. Ingredients 3 lbs tomatilloes husks removed and quartered 1/4 cup salt 1 Tbs black mustard seeds 2 star anise buds 10 dried chilies (I used very hot yellow peppers) 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 2 inch ginger (ground to a paste) 2 TBL dark brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1. In a large bowl, put the tomatilloes and sprinkle salt over them. Cover it and leave for a day, mixing occasionally. 2. Next day drain the tomatilloes. 3. Dry roast the star anise (put in first as these take longer, the black mustard, and the chilie pods (add last and barely brown in places). Cool. 4. Grind the roasted spices with the fenugreek and put aside. 5. Add tomatilloes, ginger, sugars, and everything else to a large pan and heat to boiling. 6. Cook till fully hot and boiling. 7. Fill half-pint jars and seal.

I'm making bamee noodles with barbecued pork tonight for dinner, and it called for pickled Chinese cabbage. I found pickled everything - except cabbage - at the market this afternoon. I bought kimchee - would this be a good substitute? Or even what the recipe was calling for? I also have fresh Chinese cabbage - if the kimchee isn't ideal, can I make my own pickled cabbage in a few hours? If so, how would I go about doing it?

Rhubarb Jam 5kg Rhubarb 6kg Preserving sugar (high in pectin) 75g Fresh ginger, coarsely chopped 10 Lemons 780g Water * Cut the Rhubarb and place in to a bowl big enough to include the sugar. * Cover with the sugar and allow to stand overnight. * Place into a suitable sized thick bottomed pan & add the water. * Squeeze the lemons and add the juice to the pan. * Reserve the pips & place into a muslin bag along with the chopped up ginger. * Bring to the boil quickly and skim, continue to boil until 110°C (or Jam). * Place in sterilised jars and steam for 25 minutes & then chill.

Here are the winners for this year. Any thoughts? Cookbook of the Year Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy by Diana Kennedy (University of Texas Press) American Cooking Pig: King of the Southern Table by James Villas (John Wiley & Sons) Baking and Dessert Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours by Kim Boyce (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) Beverage Secrets of the Sommeliers: How to Think and Drink Like the World’s Top Wine Professionals by Jordan Mackay and Rajat Parr (Ten Speed Press) Cooking from a Professional Point of View Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine by René Redzepi (Phaidon Press) General Cooking The Essential New York Times Cook Book: Classic Recipes for a New Century by Amanda Hesser (W.W. Norton & Company) Healthy Focus The Simple Art of EatingWell Cookbook by Jessie Price & the EatingWell Test Kitchen (The Countryman Press) International Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories by Grace Young (Simon & Schuster) Photography Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine Photographer: Ditte Isager (Phaidon Press) Reference and Scholarship Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes by Mark Bitterman (Ten Speed Press) Single Subj ect Meat: A Kitchen Education by James Peterson (Ten Speed Press) Writing and Literature Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg (The Penguin Press)

So, I've got two - and photographic evidence. Obviously, photos are not necessary; what are the strangest/funniest/weirdest hot sauce names you've ever seen? BTW, both were seen recently at Kalustyan's.

The 2011 James Beard Award Nominess for Chefs, Restaurants and Restaurant categories have been announced. The 2011 Journalism Aware nominees will be announced in Portland, Oregon, on March 21. Your thoughts on the nominees? Read the list here.

End of the Summer Pickles One of my favorite pickles. Good with everything! It's especially good with roasted chicken, a hearty cheese, and chopped fine and made into a tartar sauce (a little mayo, some Worcestershire) with beer-battered fish. Original recipe called for pre-cooking carrots and beans, but I could not really understand why as ten minutes is just fine. Ingredients 2 cup cucumbers, sliced 2 cup sweet peppers, chopped 2 cup cabbage, chopped 2 cup sliced onions 2 cup green tomatoes, chopped 2 cup carrots, peeled & chopped 2 cup green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces 1/4 cup mustard seed 2 Tbs celery seed 4 cup apple cider vinegar 4 cup sugar 2 cups water 1/4 cup turmeric 4 cloves Garlic chopped 1 gallon water 1 cup pickling salt 1. Soak all the vegetables (not the garlic) in the brine over night. 2. Drain the brined vegetables and put in pan, add all other ingredients, except garlic and boil for 10 minutes. Add garlic and mix well (it has more flavor if processed less). 3. Pack into sterilized jars and seal. Servings: 100 Yield: 8-10 pints Cooking Times Preparation Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Tips You can nearly use any vegetable combinations here. Cauliflower, celery, zucchini, eggplant, peas (with pods too), turnips, radishes, etc.

I used to buy the most delicious apricot jam from Agrimontana through the same distributor who I buy my chocolate from (Sparrow in Boston). They stopped carrying Agrimontana and now I want to make my Apricot Linzer again for the holidays - and I'd like to use this brand because it was so good. I don't want to buy this retail; I could never sell the tart if I were to buy a small jar through Salumeria Italiana..... Anyone buying Agrimontana? From who? Or where...?

So, I've been making quick-pickled red onions for immediate use, sliced into strips and marinated in a vinegar brine just until they change color. Can I keep these for longer than a couple of days? Is there another, similar red onion pickle recipe that lasts a little longer? It'd be nice to have a jar of crunchy, tart, pungent onions to put on sandwiches or what-have-you.

For Chinese cooking, what are people's thoughts on the Pearl Bridge brand of soy sauce? All the Asian grocers in 100 km radius from where I live stalk only Pearl Bridge (light, dark, mushroom flavoured, and shrimp flavoured), and a HUGE variety of Kikkoman (which I use for Japanese cooking). (I thought something like this may have been brought up already but I did a site search and didn't find an answer.)

James MacGuire Bio James MacGuire was born into an Irish-American family in Manhattan in 1951. At the age of sixteen, he landed his first summer job as a dishwasher at Porky Manero’s Steakhouse in Westport, Connecticut. He was quickly promoted to salad boy -- preparing iceberg lettuce with bottled dressing – and soon got hooked on the pressure-cooker high of the professional kitchen. He continued to work in restaurants while attending McGill University in Montreal but quit after two years to wield a knife full time. MacGuire’s culinary career then brought him back to the States. He worked in San Francisco (Ernie’s), Los Angeles (The Biltmore Hotel, Le Chambord), Dallas, Ketchum, Baltimore, and finally back to New York where he worked at The River Café under Larry Forgione. Next came a sojourn to France where he toiled in the kitchens of L’Auberge de L’Ill in Alsace, Orsi and Bernachon in Lyon, Auberge Henri IV in Chartres, and Jean Delaveyne in Bougival. At his final stop in Tours, he worked for the man he still describes as his mentor, Charles Barrier. “Barrier remains a great friend and huge influence,” says MacGuire. “He made everything in-house, and was totally unafraid to delve into charcuterie and other specialties. He did things right, including a professional bread-making operation to make bread for sixty customers at lunch and another sixty at dinner. When he wasn’t satisfied with the results, he called on his friend, bread expert, Raymond Calvel, who has since become a friend of mine and my biggest influence on the baking side.” MacGuire then returned to Montreal, where he opened Le Passe-Partout in 1981. The thirty-seat restaurant featured a small changing menu of cuisine du marché. Almost everything was made in-house. He later added a bakery, where his bread and viennoiseries were considered the best in the city. In April 2004, after 23 years in business, he closed both operations. MacGuire now works as a consultant and teacher, and has held bread seminars for The American Institute of Baking, The Culinary Institute of America, and The American Breadbakers’ Guild. He also contributes articles and cookbook reviews to Ed Behr’s The Art of Eating. With Dr. Ronald Wirtz, MacGuire translated Professor Calvel’s last book, The Taste Of Bread (Aspen Publishing, 2001) into English.

and, presumably, have more than just a pretty face and a lot of pep? maybe even some idea about wines? asking too much? A bubbly Rachel Ray of wines?? (not the best choice of adjectives, I suppose...) scroll down to read the second story on this ...

Article and recipes here. Cheers!

I recently acquired some fig preserves from Italy. Besides the obvious-spread it on some toasted bread- does anyone have some suggestions for its use? The first thing I did with it was spread it on some crostini with some chevre and topped it with some toasted chopped walnuts-a drizzle of Italian acacia honey. Yum. Any other ideas?

What has anyone heard about this place? Its supposed to be opening shortly. Apparently its in the former location of Irving on Irving. Andy Nusser from Babbo is the new Chef De Cuisine. Its at 17th and Irving, 52 Irving Place.

The James Beard Journalism award nominations for 2003 Steve Shaw (aka Fat Guy) published a piece on the Redneck Riviera and Sandor Zombori here on eGullet. This was nominated in the Internet category, making this eGullet's first Beard Award nomination (Steve won in the category last year). The two competing pieces in that category are: Natalie Maclean's "Lady Sings the Booze" and Michael Steinberger's "Cold Shower."