Search the Community

Pickled Shallots 4 lb Shallots, preferably home-grown 6 oz salt 3 pt water 2 tsp Black peppercorns 10 cloves 4 bay leaves 2-1/2 pt Malt vinegar 4 oz caster sugar 16 Fresh Ginger slices (optional) dried Birds Eye Chilis Peel the shllots and trim the root end (and stalk if any) This is the biggest hassle. Doing it in a bowl or water keeps the smell down Soak the shallots in a brine made from the salt and the water for 24 hours. Meantime put the spices and sugar in the vinegar and bring just to the boil, then remove from the heat. Let cool to room temperature, and strain out the spices.You can use white or brown vinegar depending how you want them to look. Pour off the brine and rinse well. Dry on a tea towel. Pack the shallots into glass jars, Add ginger and chilis if liked, and a decorative Bay leaf. Seal with a vinegar proof lid (I use french clip-on preserving jars). Store for at least a month before eating. The will keep, if allowed to do so, for at year in a cool dark place Keywords: Side ( RG522 )

I find myself wondering what people think of the onion relish you often are served in many Indian restaurants in the US. Do people enjoy this relish? Where does it come from? What version of it does your local Indian restaurant serve? Have you ever asked for a recipe?

Any good tips on popping mustard seeds? It's crucial to strike a balance between not too long (they taste burnt) and not too short (most won't pop). If the heat is too high or too low you get poorly popped seeds. Does anyone have any advice?

South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce 2/3 c yellow prepared mustard 1/2 c white sugar 1/4 c light brown sugar 1 c cider vinegar 2 T chili powder (I use guajullo molido and ancho instead) 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp white pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I add crushed red pepper and if I want it even hotter I use fresh ground pequins) 4 drops Tabasco (I use Louisiana style hot sauce and lots of it instead) 1/2 tsp soy sauce 2 T butter Combine all ingredients except the soy sauce and butter in a saucepan and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in soy sauce and butter. May be used as a basting sauce for barbecue meat or as a condiment. I also added the juice of 1 lime and spiced it up quite a bit. Experiment and enjoy! Keywords: Sauce, Barbeque ( RG509 )

Cabbage with Black mustard seeds (Muttakos Poriyal) Recipe from Monica Bhide's upcoming book, Everything Indian, copyright © 2003 Adams Media 2 T vegetable oil 1 tsp black mustard seeds 2 small dried red chilies, roughly pounded 8 curry leaves 1 lb cabbage, finely shredded Salt to taste 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp red chili powder 2 T dried coconut flakes In a large skillet heat the oil on medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, red chilies and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds being to crackle add the cabbage. Saute the cabbage for about 2 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric and red chili powder. Mix well and sauté for another minute. Cover the cabbage and cook on low heat till the cabbage is tender. During the cooking process, stir occasionally. If the cabbage appears too dry or to be sticking to the pan, add a few tablespoons of water. Add the coconut and cook for another 2 minutes on medium heat. Serve hot. Keywords: Side, Vegetables, Lunch, Indian, The Daily Gullet ( RG502 )

Grilled Duck Breast With Black Currant Jelly And Herbs De Provence Marinade Serves 6 as Main Dish. Duck Breasts 2 1 lb. Muscovy duck, breasts, or other variety of duck Marinade 2 T soy sauce 1 T herbs, de Provence or mixed dried herbs 1 tsp freshly grated ginger 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 T black jelly, current 1 lime, grated, zest, and, juice of freshly cracked black pepper Duck Breasts Add duck breasts to pan and distribute the marinade evenly over all sides of duck. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Preheat grill to high. Cutting only through the skin and fat, score the duck breasts with five diagonal lines. Grill duck, skin side down, for 1 to 2 minutes just to caramelize skin side. Use a water sprayer to reduce flare up from the duck fat. Duck will colour very quickly. Remove promptly from grill and transfer duck, skin side down to a small roasting pan. Place on upper rack of BBQ. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until breast is still very rare. Drain off duck fat and turn breasts over. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes until duck breast is medium rare. Cover with foil and let rest for five minutes before slicing. Reserve pan drippings as sauce. Marinade Combine ingredients for marinade in a medium shallow pan until blended. See the duck for further cooking instructions. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Duck, Dinner, French ( RG441 )

What sorts of mustards do you like? The type of mustard I like is pungent without a hint of sweetness (fie upon honey mustards), but not too vinegary. Inglehoffer's Stone Ground tends to be rather good, but it's got a little too much vinegar (overpowers the taste of the mustard). What sorts of mustards do you like? Any brands? Or do you make your own?

These folks were at my local Costco last week offering samples of their coffees. I had never heard of them, even though their facility is two miles from my house. Has anyone else sampled their coffee? I was impressed enough by the flavor and freshness to buy three pounds, and may call and arrange a tour of the roasting facility. Mayorga Coffee Roasters

I had lunch at Jamin about 10 days ago. Here is a report: This 2 star is located on Rue Longchamp not far from the Trocadero. I made my reservation over the internet about 2 weeks in advance with no problem. The Guide Rouge lists email or websites for several of the starred restaurants. I have found that to be a convenient means for reserving. The dining room is beautiful with light green walls, upholstery in rose, lots of polished wood accents and fresh flowers. The service was wonderful, attentive without being overbearing. Two amuse were served, one a small leek and ham tart, another was described as chicken in the style of Thailand which was a small spring roll filled with chicken served with a pepper sauce. For lunch they had an offering called the Menu du Marche, 48 euros. This consisted of 3 plats en demi plus dessert from the chariot. First plat was a poached egg over a bed of lightly cooked spinach. The egg was covered by an elegant sauce that resembled bernaise. There were some asparagus spears on the plate along with a crispily cooked piece of jambon de Bayonne. Sauce Bordelaise was around the perimeter of the plate. I enjoyed this very much. The next plat was a piece of St Pierre over artichokes with a spicy pepper sauce. This was well executed but my least favorite of the three. The third plat was a fricassee of Bresse chicken sauced with its cooking juices along with legumes du printemp. This was outstanding. The chariot de desserts was a cart stocked with a selection of pristine tarts and freshly made ice creams. The waiter offered me a degustation, putting a small piece of each tart on my plate. These tarts were made from simple ingredients, chocolat, citron, etc but far superior to the products you get at even the best pastry shops in Paris. After the degustation, I accepted an offer of more of the chocolat tart with pistacio ice cream. This dessert was simple but fabulous. Very tasty chocolate truffles and orangettes came with coffee. For wine I had a demi of Madiran. Total price, 93 euros. This was a fabulous lunch, well priced, great service. I highly recommend Jamin to those who visit Paris. They also had an 80 euro tasting menu but I did not ask what it included.

Pickled Onions I use red onions with a light vinegar because the result turns a lovely pink color. 2 large red onions 1 c vinegar (distilled, cider, or white wine) 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar Finely slice the onions. Place in a colander and run under hot water for 1 to 2 minutes. Place the onions in a non-reactive bowl and add vinegar, salt, and sugar. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Keywords: Vegetables, Condiment ( RG267 )

What's your favorite spice/herb/salsa/sauce/dressing/oil/prepared bottled sauce/flavoring agent that you automatically reach for, if you're in a pinch? Is it homemade or jarred or bottled? Fresh and natural or artificial and full of fake flavors (but good)? Mrs. Dash or Emeril's Essence? Newman's Own or Wishbone dressing? Sesame, peanut, grapeseed or EVOO? Mirin or balsamic vinegar? What are your spending habits when it comes to condiments? Do you make your own in preference to commercially made or store produced ones? Would you consider a giftbasket of sauces and oils for a Christmas gift to someone? Discuss. Soba

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."

I purchased this soy sauce, along with a liter of the standard Japanese-origin Kikkoman from a local Japanese supermarket (mitsuwa, in edgewater NJ). This stuff was pretty expensive, six bucks a bottle if I remember. So far, I've used it only as a condiment for making a dipping sauce for chinese dumplings (this shoyu + black rice wine vinegar + scallion/garlic). Very powerful stuff. Anyone know more about what to do with it? The store also has "whole bean" organic soys that are wheatless, but that stuff was pretty pricey.

I've recently started making pickles and am interested in trying my hand at fermented pickles. The trouble is, I've never lived in an area with good delis or other shops with pickle barrels, and so I have no first hand experience with them. I don't even (gasp) really know the difference between sours and half-sours. Can someone give me a crash course, or point me in the direction of a good site?

I seem to have an excess of garlic at the moment (8 heads) which means that a lot of it will sprout before I get a chance to cook with it. So I was thinking of pickling it for another day. Anyone do this before? Oh yes, I will be roasting some of it too.

Recently I had my first sampling of Rosie's lime marmalade, which goes surprisingly well with peanut butter in a PB&J sandwich. And now I have an orange and ginger marmalade, and a peach and pineapple jam to look forward to. And there is the remains of a jar of pumpkin and pecan butter from earlier last year -- I had picked it up from a Food Emporium and used it quite a bit for a while, but eventually forgot about it, so now it sits all forlorn in the middle of the first shelf of my refrigerator. What are your favorite jams/jellies/preserves/conserves/fruit butters and pastes, and what uses do you use them for besides sandwiches, ice cream sauce and glazes for ham? Has anyone ever had a lemon marmalade? A tomato and jalapeno jam? Plum preserves? Anything out of the ordinary beyond the usual? SA

Always look forward to a bi-monthly trek into the lower east side in NYC to stock up on old fashioned barrel pickles, tomatoes, and sauerkraut. I just discovered while driving in Bergen County a real NY pickle store, called "Picklelicious" in Teaneck, NJ!! That wonderful smell makes you feel dreamy as you enter the store, and then, ohhh-- the pickles!! I prefer the new, but they have half sour and sour as well. I got the sour tomatoes and sauerkraut as well, and they were wonderful. At $5/Quart, the price was a little less than in New York, and well worth it. They have lots of samples on the side, so that you can taste what you like and what you don't. They have a small selection of Eli's Bread from New York, but they didn't have the square raisin-pecan rolls that we love. They also have a small selection of olives and olive pastes, even some exotics like pickled celery and red peppers. The address is Picklelicious, 763 River Road, Teaneck, just off the Southeast corner of Cedar Lane, in a small house/converted to a store. They are closed Mondays in the winter, but she said the hours will change in the warmer weather. Now we can get our pickle fix every week!!

Green chutney (Haree chutney) Almost every north Indian home makes a version of this recipe that is unique to that family. In many homes, it's served with every meal. The last time I was in India I was ecstatic for the simple reason that every single day I was able to eat fresh green chutney made with mint, cilantro and green mango. This recipe is easy to vary. You can omit the mint and use cilantro alone. Or you can use chopped green mango, if you can find it -- the mango gives the chutney a delicious sour taste. Increase the number of chilies (I have been known to add up to 10) to make a hot pepper chutney. Or you can make a mint chutney by increasing the mint and using less cilantro (but do include some cilantro or the chutney will be bitter). Suvir Saran 1-1/2 c firmly packed, chopped fresh cilantro 1/2 c firmly packed mint leaves 2 to 3 fresh, hot green chilies, stemmed 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks 1/2 red onion, quartered Juice of 2 lemons 1 T sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 c water Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and process to a puree. (This won’t blend easily; you’ll need to stop and start the blending and scrape and stir the ingredients often to get the mixture to catch. You can add a bit more water to facilitate the process but the flavor of the chutney will be milder.) Makes 1 1/2 cups. Keywords: Easy, Blender, Condiment, Indian, The Daily Gullet ( RG182 )

Tamarind chutney (Imlee kee chutney) Tamarind makes a sweet and sour chutney with the consistency of hot fudge sauce. It's an important element in the street- and snack-foods of northern India. Suvir Saran 1 T canola oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 1/2 tsp asafetida 1/2 tsp garam masala 2 c water 1-1/4 c sugar 3 T tamarind concentrate Combine the oil and the spices in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, 1 minute Add the water, the sugar and the tamarind concentrate. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer until it turns a chocolaty brown color and is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 20 to 30 minutes. (While still warm, it will look like a thin chocolate sauce and it will thicken a bit as it cools.) Makes about 1 1/4 cups. Keywords: Easy, Condiment, Indian, The Daily Gullet ( RG181 )

Spicy Mustard Spread Spice up your hot dogs and hamburgers with this zesty spread 1/4 c butter, softened 2 T ground mustard 2 T white vinegar 1/4 tsp garlic salt 4 drops hot pepper sauce Combine all ingredients. Beat until smooth. Chill. Serve with hotdogs, hamburgers, steaks or pork chops. Keywords: Easy, Condiment ( RG174 )

Mustard Sauce for Pork 1 T flour 3/4 c milk 1/2 tsp dried mint 3 T dijon mustard 2 T chicken broth 1/4 c sour cream 1/8 tsp pepper Combine flour, milk and mint in small saucepan until blended, over low heat. Bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in mustard and broth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sour cream and pepper. Serve warm. Keywords: Easy, Condiment ( RG173 )

Suvir's Apple-Cranberry Chutney Serves 8 as Side. Here's a link to the Apple Chutney thread. This makes a delicious condiment for Lamb or Pork Chops, I used it as an alternative to traditional Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving. * Suvir said to leave the Chile whole, which I suppose would add less heat and could be removed before serving. 1 T Vegetable Oil 1 T minced Ginger 1 tsp minced Red Chile (seeded & deveined)* 1/2 tsp Fennel Seed 1 pinch Asafoetida 4 c Granny Smith Apple, peeled and diced (~3 apples) 1/2 c dried Cranberries 1/4 c Water 1/8 tsp Salt 1 T Sugar 1/2 T Balsamic Vinegar 1 Pinch dried ground Cayenne Pepper Heat a 2 quart saucepan, add oil and fry the ginger, chile, fennel and asafoetida. When some of the fennel seeds look toasty (1-2 minutes), add apple, stir to coat with spices. Add cranberries, water, salt, sugar and vinegar, stir, cover for about three minutes, then remove cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pan is dry and the apples are about ready to fall apart. Check for seasoning and add cayenne pepper to taste. Yields: about 2 cups Keywords: Side, Condiment, Kosher, Vegan, Vegetarian, Intermediate, Fruit, Indian ( RG165 )

TOMATO CHUTNEY I have missed this chutney for the longest of time. Growing up in Delhi, my sisters best friend in school was from the South. (Andhra Pradesh to be precise. Andhra is most famous for their pickles and chutneys). Her mother would make the best tomato chutney. A couple of years ago, experimenting with some really ripe tomatoes and relying on my memory, I came up with the recipe. It really tastes like Durgas mothers recipe. I now make it all the time. And in fact, when tomatoes are in season and ripe and bursting with flavor and juice, I make a lot of this chutney, can it and give it out as gifts to friends when visiting them. It is a fiery chutney for most palates. But those that are familiar with Andhra pickles and chutneys will find it just average. I love the chutney with fenugreek seeds, they add a slight bitterness to the chutney that I love. If you are not a fan of bitter tastes, avoid using it. Suvir Saran 8 lb very ripe beefsteak tomatoes, chopped finely 1-1/2 c canola oil 40 fresh curry leaves 16 whole dried chiles 2 T mustard seeds 1 T cumin seeds 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, optional 1/3 c sugar 2 T cayenne (half if you want a milder chutney) 2 T corriander seed powder 1 T paprika 1 T sambhaar powder 2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp asafetida 1 6 oz can tomato paste 3 T salt (or more to taste) 1. Pour the oil in a large sauce pot, enough to hold the tomatoes and then some. It is important that the pot be deep, as the chutney will simmer a long while and will splatter otherwise all over your stove and counter. 2. Measure out all the dried spices other than the asafetida into a bowl and set aside. 3. In the oil add the curry leaves, whole red chiles, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds if using. Fry over a medium high flame for 3 minutes or until the chiles are a nice dark color and the cumin are a nice golden brown. 4. Now add the asafetida and fry for half a minute. Add the dried spices and fry for barely half a minute and add the chopped tomatoes. Add the salt and sugar. Stir well and cook on this medium high flame for an hour and a half or until the oil has separated and the chutney begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. 5. Fill the chutney into 10 sterilized half-pint jars and process as per manufacturers instructions for 20 minutes. 6. Cool, check for seal, label and store. Keywords: Indian, Intermediate, Condiment, Vegetables ( RG139 )

Rather than turning the timing cooking thread into a boiled egg free-for-all. Anybody got any recipes for pickled eggs?

I received a pound of the beans as a present and have made several pots of coffee with it. It disappoints me. I expected a much more aromatic, winey flavor than I am getting. Could it be the beans are stale? What are the flavor characteristics of well made coffe with these beans?