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Chef Andrés, I recently bought some of the excellent chorizo ibérico de bellota from La Tienda and noticed that your name is on the package. Can you share with us the story of your involvement bringing the legendary ibérico pork products into the US?

At a restaurant I worked at a couple decades ago, we served lamb chops with japaleno jelly. And I had a whole bunch of jalapenos from the garden, Biker Billy's, really big and super hot. I decide to remember the recipe and and make some. Well, it looks good and tastes good but its kinda syrup-y. Hopefully someone can help rescue this jelly. Here's what I've done. 4 cups apple juice 4 cups sugar Diced green and red jalapeno Diced ancho Diced pasilla Juice of 1 lemon 5 or 6 fresh mint leaves 1 and then 2 packets of pectin (this was old, within a week of exp date) Brougt all to a boil, added pectin. When it didn't set, heated all again and added the second pouch. Are there any jelly makers out there that, unlike me, actually know what their doing who can rescue my jelly? Thanks, Mike

So, this weekend's project was two-fold: First, make homemade (non-carbonated) ginger beer: Audrey Saunder's recipe Then, make a Jamaican Firely, Pegu Club's version of a Dark & Stormy: Jamaican Firefly recipe I'm including these two together, as I couldn't find them together before. Also, because this was truly an experiment that validated that cocktail obsession that my wife occasionally rolls her eyes at. What an incredible cocktail! I'm not sure I'll ever be able to drink a "regular" Dark & Stormy again. An aside: now that I have this great ginger beer, any other suggestions for it? Regards, Marty P.S. Needless to say, kudos to Audrey Saunders and her incredible staff for another life-changing cocktail...

Yah, yah, I'm sick, it's supposedly end stage cancer, I'm going through total skin electron beam radiation, blahdiblah blah... Here's the important thing. I NEED a decent pickle. I do not want to meet the end (or face the fight against an end) without having savored, at least once more, a delicious-perfectly pickled-puckery-garlicky-yet-not-overpoweringly-so cucumber, even if it isn't of my own manufacture. I have NO energy. I AM fussy about my pickles. The plebian yet enjoyable BaTampte isn't going to cut is this time. Where can I send a well meaning friend in the Freehold area to acquire this lovely for me? I prefer a more than slightly green pickle, a well pickled, but still light and crisp pickle, where the flesh hasn't greened as yet. Garlic is a must. Vinegar is a no no. Brine is the all important base. Can any of you NJ experts assist me? My friend is ready for action at any time.

So has anyone been fooling around with Jamaica Ginger? They didn't happen to sell any where I am, so I made some of my own by infusing a large amount of dried ginger in a small amount of 100 proof alcohol. It's an interesting ingredient. It's spicy like Tabasco, but lends itself to more concoctions because it doesn't taste like salt and vinegar.

Chef Andrés, I'm pleased to report that we have finally received Jamon Iberico in Canada. It strikes me that there is a significant difference between traditional Spanish hams - not purely in the sense of one being superior to the next, but in terms of style. Can you share with us your thoughts on the differences in the various types, and how they can best be used in different applications?

I am having a 'jam weekend' as i call it. I planned to do three jams from my newest cookbook: Mes confitures, Chritine Ferber. I started with the Chesnut and vanilla jam. I first thought it was supposed to be like a spread but after having read the recipe twice, i notice Christine doesn't call for a food mill. She just say 'crush any big bits with a wooden spoon'. I find it quite original - chunky creme de marron. I know i could use a mill if desired, but really want to make sure the jam is supposed to be 'chunky' and not smooth (to tell the truth i haven't a food mill in my tiny student kitchen and like the fact that this jam goes off the path!). I have the french version of the book and wondered if it was different in the english version. And by the way, did any of you tried this recipe? I am also planning to make the potimarron and vanilla jam and the red tomato and vanilla jam. Very vanilla! Will tell you about the results tomorrow when finished. xoxo fanny

My vote goes in for All Gold Ketchup. It is made in South Africa, has no preservatives or colorants and uses cane suger instead of that awful high fructose corn syrup. Has a bit of a white pepper tang to it that I really like.

In scanning the shelves at my market for a light soy sauce, it struck me that soy sauce prices run about $1 to $4 US per bottle for Chinese soy sauces. That is a rather wide range, so what are the differences among soy sauces? Are there differences in how you might use different soy sauces? Is this a product where you pay for quality, or is there more to it than that? To illustrate my puzzlement: today I chose a Kimlan (Light) marked "Kimlan Sang Chau (Grade A) Soy Sauce". There was another bottle of Kimlan (Light) next to it on the shelf, and the only difference was the "Grade A". Same price -- $2.49 US. Are there subtleties, such as there are for wine, coffee and tea? Or is it less complex? Also, are there differences between soy sauces made in China and Japan or other Asian countries? Where else are they made?

So I made "Jamaican Beef Patties" from scratch. ingredients pastry 400 G flour (~1lbs) 1/2 CUP water 1/2 CUP melted butter 1/2 CUP melted shortening 1 TS salt 1 TBSP baking powder 1 TBSP curry powder medium hot 1 TBSP tumeric ingredients filling 400 G ground beef (~1lbs) 3 X minced red onion 3 TBSP spice mix (see below for composition) 4 X minced garlic clove 1 X beer 1 TS salt 1 TS pepper 1 TS nutmeg 1 TBSP pimento (aka all spice) 1 TBSP brown sugar 1 TBSP tomato paste ingredients sidedish 400 G grean beans 3-4 TBSP olive oil 1 TS salt 1 TS pepper spice mix 2 parts onion powder 2 parts garlic powder 2 parts dried oregano leaves 2 parts dried sweet basil 1 parts dried thyme leaves 1 parts black pepper 1 parts white pepper 1 parts cayenne pepper 1 parts ground celery seed 5 parts sweet paprika I love this spice mix. It's a very good base and easily tweakable. The parts can be everything from a teaspoon to a ton. I like to buy the spices in 100 gram packages, mix them and then keep the mix in an airproof jar. Always handy for dry rubs, marinates, etc. first the dough, mix the dry pastery ingredients, then add the melted butter and shortening stir well until all the fat is crumbled ... into crumbles add some water and start to knead it until you got a nice slightly sticky ball of firm dough wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for 60min time to fix the filling, mince the red onions and the garlic minced onions and beef first browning the meat can take a few minutes when the meat is done, deglaze the pan with some beer then add the rest of the filling ingredients, season to taste with salt and pepper let simmer, almost all of the liquid should vaporise the filling is done, when just slightly moist while the filling is cooling off a little, it's time to roll out the dough not too thick, 2-3 mm at most take a small bowl and punch as many holes as possible into it (I bake very little, so apparently I suck at this) remove the left-over dough and spoon the filling into the patties, close and fork-seal 'em place the patties on a non-sticking-papered baking tray (I bake very little, so I was paranoid about trusting the non-sticking-paper) pre-heated oven, then bake the patties for 20-30min at 180C (~350F) in the meantime simmer the green beans in lightly salted water they are done, when there is still a little crunch, discard water, season with olive oil and S&P jamaican beef patties with green beans, enjoyjoy Comments and feedback are most welcome,

http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,1...0-10229,00.html

I made a trip to Koreantown and noticed a lot of pickled/fermented stuff besides kim chi and decided to try some out. The only problem is I didnt manage to finish eating all of it and only noticed recently (a month and half after purchase) that I still had some of it at the back of the fridge (some pollack roe and pickled clam meat). So how long do these things keep? Kinda clueless here...

We are going to Angell Animal Med Ctr. to have our dog operated on. We'll be there from Monday Oct 31 to Thursday Nov. 3. Looking for reasonably priced solid full flavored fare. All cuisines. Also, good spots for coffee. Thanks.

I recently started making my own strawberry jam. The recipe i used, by Christine Ferber, called for the berries to be macerated overnight, and the entire mixture is boiled on the 2nd day, cooled and re-fridged again. Finally, on the 3rd day, the mixture is sieved, the syrup simmered down and the fruit added back in for a final quick boil. I've read several recipes since, including those on eGullet, and they all seem much simpler, with the whole process taking not much longer than an hour plus or so. Is there a difference? WOuld appreciate some help. Thanks. btw - I separated my strawberry jams into 3 batches - 1 original, 1 with a vanilla pod added, and the last with a pinch of lavender (lightly crushed with a pestle). All 3 turned out wonderful

Much like cookbooks, what the world needs now is many fewer restaurant critics. Over the next week, it’s my goal to ensure that you talk me out of my job, while I, meanwhile, try to talk you into it. So to speak. In other words, I want you to ask me lots of questions. My life doesn’t hang in the balance of my next review, something that I’ve been doing professionally for the past 15 years. But from writing about restaurants I’ve also come to know the food service business quite well, I suppose. And behind the swinging doors lie much bigger stories, especially of the collaboration of chef, farmer and fisherman; distribution; cross-cultural influences (Vancouver, where the culinary DNA is still knitting itself together, is a fine laboratory to observe that in); the collusion of wine with food; and more recently, the necessity of sustainability, especially as it relates to the global fishery. This week I’m going to eat my last Russian caviar. Ever. No, restaurant reviewing would be much less interesting if I couldn’t write about these bigger stories. So I hope that I can transmit to you how the research works, how the writing gets done, and ultimately, lend a sense as to how culinary cultures--born from diversity--emerge with a sense of their new locality. We’ll be covering a considerable amount of real estate across this big, raw-boned place: • We’ll begin today In British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley Wine Country and for the next two days and nights look in on some agricultural history (in an attempt to track the area's culinary evolution) and wineries, cook with chef Michael Allemeier of the Mission Hill Family Estate Winery (braised boar cheeks will be featured at a Friday night dinner party with some wine folks) and a revisit to a restaurant to demonstrate our review process and methodology. • On Saturday I’ll return to our home in Vancouver—where we have some friends joining us for a little seasonal cheer, ‘Seven Hour Sacrificial Lamb’ and ‘Cheesier-Than-Mariah Carey Scalloped Potatoes.’ • On Sunday morning we’ll be flying to the wild outside coast of Vancouver Island to the ecotourism town of Tofino, which is about an hour’s flight in a twin engine aircraft. Once there we’ll be looking in at coastal cuisine from the pans of chef Andrew Springett at The Wickaninnish Inn and, in a more casual vein, at the construction of excellent fish tacos at Sobo. • On Monday we’ll be returning to Vancouver to go behind the scenes at pastry chef Thomas Haas’s (he was the opening executive pastry chef at Daniel in Manhattan) lovely production facility, and observe John van der Liek at the Oyama Sausage Factory, which carefully produces more than 150 products. We'll aslo track the history of a new restaurant, from development menu to opening night and review. • Through the balance of the week we’ll look inside many more professional kitchens and markets, hopes and dreams. I’m sure we’ll find a few other things to do too. Once again, I very much encourage your questions. Last night, the Ice Wine harvest was supposed to start. In order to trigger that, Vintners' Quality Alliance reguations demand the temperature must stay at or below -8 degrees Centigrade through the entire pick, which can take a while. Anything else is just Late Harvest fruit. Alas, there was a slight inversion off the lake yesterday afternoon and it was called off. So we stoked the fire and rolled back into bed. But now I’m off to pick up some croissants down the hill at La Boulangerie. We baked some Irish soda bread yesterday as well. I’ll make some strong coffee when I’m back, and begin to tell you a little more about this disturbingly beautiful place . . . Welcome, Jamie Image: On the Beach - Okanagan Lake last afternoon, 1530 hours.

hi just got back from holiday in Hong Kong and had one of my favourite desserts there. I'm back in london and am in seperate need of it. 桂花果凍 桂花 jelly "gwai fa go" ? osmanthus jelly? "Kwai hua" jelly? "Quan fa" jelly? can't find anything google . anyone know how to make it? got a recipe pretty please

A few days ago I posted a topic over in the Special Occasions forum. Next week I need to make Jelly doughnuts / jam-busters on TV. Now - it's been a few years since I've made them - but after tested a couple of recipes, then tweaking, I've come up with my own recipe that I like very much. My question involves the logistics of it all. I need to be at the TV studio at 6:45 in the morning. I figure I'll have a dough ready to go so that we can roll and cut them - but I think I should take some rounds ready to go (proofed again). Does anybody have any suggestions on how to best do this whole thing? I just put a few rounds in the freezer - can I do that the day before and just pull them out in the morning when I leave? Will they rise and fry well? Any thoughts? For filling them, I've tried a couple of things - the best thing that's worked for me is to cut a little x at one end with a pointed knife, then use a pastry bag with a small, plain circle tip to insert the filling. If anybody has any suggestions to make this work smoothly I'd appreciate it. Tip and ideas welcome.

I belive jamaican beef patties are one of the perfect foods. Flaky pastry, tender meat, and a bit of perfect scotch bonnet heat...what more is there in this crazy world. I also love that they freeze beautifully, I can eat many in one sitting and that my boyfriend hates them (zero competition) I've been trying to find the recipe from the nyt to no avail..but obviously family recipes are much better. Anybody have anything tried and true to set me foreward? I hope to be surrounded by the wafting aroma of beef suet by tomorrow evening... thanks live long and patty

I have a question that has been on my mind for the past couple of years that I figured I would come out of lurkdome to ask the "pros." Every year for the months of November and December I bake pumpkin rolls for friends and family. Depending on my work schedule I have made anywhere from 60-120 of these bad boys. It's the jelly-roll style cake with the cream cheese filling. Anyway, my problem is the towels that I use to roll the cakes up in to cool. I find that no matter how long I soak them or what kind of bleach or detergent that I use to try and cut the oil, they still get rancid quickly. I always end up buying new ones every year because they smell so bad and I don't want to ruin my cakes. Does anyone here have any suggestions or any alternatives to the towels? Any special type of detergent that you use? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Val

White Bass Braised with Bean/Soy Sauce (酱烧鱼) Jo-mel: To celebrate your 1000th post, I have created this pictorial for you. Sorry I should have posted this sooner. I learned that you just had tried this recipe. Tepee: Sorry I missed your 1000th. Let me know what Cantonese food you would like to eat. Perhaps I can create one for you to celebrate your 1111st post, or 1268th post, or 1288th post, or 1388th post. Braising with bean sauce and soy sauce is typical of Northern Chinese cooking. It is not a Cantonese style. In Northern Chinese style, one will typically find brown sauce (bean sauce and soy sauce), sweet and sour sauce or "five willow" (five shredded vegetables). Serving suggestion: 2 I have found these beautiful White Basses in a local Asian grocery market. I have decided to cook them with a sauce based on chili bean sauce, brown bean sauce, soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Because they are so small, I needed to purchase 2 of them. Together they weighed only 1.5 pounds. Ask the grocer to cut and clean the fish for you. It is messy to do it at home. Wash the fish thoroughly and pat dry. Make a few slightly diagonal cross cuts on both sides of the fish. Rub a small pinch of salt on the fish body. In a pan/wok, use medium heat, add 2 tblsp cooking oil. Pat on some corn starch on both sides of the fish. Fry the fish over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Gently turn the fish over and fry the other side. Be careful not to let the fish fall apart. Oops! I broke the tail of the small fish! Remove from pan after browning. Lay the fish on a plate. This picture shows what you need for the sauce. Chili, garlic, ginger, green onion, dark soy sauce, chili bean sauce, brown bean sauce, chicken broth, and (not shown) vinegar and sugar. Use 3 green onions, slice diagonally. 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced. 1/2 chili (e..g jalapeno), sliced. 1 inch in length of ginger, shredded. Use the same pan, add 2 tblsp of cooking oil. Set for high heat. Wait until oil starts fuming. Add minced garlic, sliced chili, shredded ginger and green onion. Stir-fry for a few seconds. Add 2-3 tsp of chili bean sauce, 2 tsp brown bean sauce, 4 tsp hoisin sauce and 1 to 2 tsp of dark soy sauce. (No need to add salt because the fish have been salted and these sauces are already salty.) Dash in 2 to 3 tsp of white vinegar. Stir the sauce and cook for about 20 seconds over high heat. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Add 2 tsp of sugar. Wait until the mixture starts to boil. Keep stirring. Add some corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce until it has the right consistency. Scoop and pour on top of the fish on the plate. Finished dish.

Stir-fried Mustard Greens (Gai Choy) with Salted Fish (咸鱼抄芥菜) I bought some very fresh mustard greens (gai choy [Cantonese]). Usually I would simply stir-fry it with some oil and garlic. Inspired by some talks of salted fish (ham yue [Cantonese]) in this forum, I had decided to try using salted fish to jazz up the taste. The result was surprisingly good. The taste of salted fish seems to blend very well with mustard greens. Some fresh mustard greens. Mustard greens chopped into bite-size pieces. Wash well and drain the excess water. Ingredients: use some garlic and salted fish. I took a small piece of salted fish from the jar. (I bought those salted mackerals kept in a jar of oil.) Chop the salted fish into small pieces. The stir-frying method is very simple. Heat up the pan/wok in high heat. Add chopped garlic and salted fish. Add a pinch of salt. Cook for 20-30 seconds until fragrant. Keep stirring. Add mustard greens. Cook with the lid on for about 5-10 minutes. Finished dish.

I love the fresh green chili/cilantro/mint condiment (relish/non-cooked chutney) that is offered at some Indian resto's, one place has a tub of it at the till (sort of a fast-food type of establishment at the mall), and I load up on it before going to my table. I've been searching for a recipe, and am wondering if anyone here might have one available. I know it doesn't have mango in it. I think there is green chili, mint, cilantro, onions?, garlic?, tomato? ....... spices? Would anyone know the amounts of the different ingredients etc., for a reasonable size for one persons use over a few days? Oh, and I could eat lots, with whatever, I love it! TIA ETA - p.s. sorry about the spelling mistake, should be desperately, but I don't know how to correct the topic.

Even cheap yellow mustard has its place in my cooking world. For example, I add it in equal parts to currant jelly as a sauce for cocktail franks. It stinks when it first starts cooking but it winds up to be a wonderfully mellow sauce. I slather decent brown mustard on bread when making carbonnade flammande, and use a mustard-guava jelly combination to enliven plain old chicken cutlets. How do you use mustard in cooking?

I'd like to make a couple apple pies to freeze for later since they are plentiful and cheap now, but I always though it a bit wasteful to throw away all that apple peel. I'd like to make some sort of apple peel jelly, since it is naturally high in pectin and such. Any ideas on how I could do it?

Soy Sauce Chicken Soy sauce chicken is a very common dish: both home-made or bought in restaurants. There are hundreds of recipes. The key to making it is the sauce ingredients and the timing. The sauce ingredients Dark soy sauce, lo shui (Chinese Marinade), 1/2 onion, chicken meat, garlic, and some brown sugar. Ginger and star anise - (not shown in picture) Chinese Marinade I like to use this ready-for-use mix from Lee Kum Kee. In Cantonese, it is called lo shui (master sauce). They translated it as "Chinese Marinade". It is a mix made of soy sauce and five spices and such. It is very flavorful. If you taste it, you will notice that it is very salty. You dilute it with water for use. If you cannot find this ready-for-use mix, you can also use the whole spice: Cinnamon, star anise, funnel, clove and corriander? Dark soy sauce Here is the dark soy sauce I use. I like the Peal River Bridge brand. You may use your favorite brand but I think this brand has the best flavor. Onion, garlic, ginger, pein tong: I like the taste of onion and garlic in my soy sauce chicken so I use them to prepare my braising soy sauce. Some recipes don't call for them and you don't need to use them if you don't care for them. But the ginger and brown sugar is absolutely essential for making soy sauce chicken. I normally use rock sugar (bing tong) but I ran out the other night. So I used pein tong (sugarcane sugar?), which is an acceptable substitute. White sugar is a bit too plain for the flavor. Wedge half an onion, mince the garlic, grate the ginger (I like it grated so the flavor is absorbed by the sauce, you can just slice it if you like.) Boil the sauce with all ingredients If you make the "master soy sauce" for the first time, add "lo shui", dark soy sauce and water in a 1 to 1 ratio on all three. If you re-use the master sauce from previous cooking sessions, you should replenish the "lo shui" and dark soy sauce but have no need to add water because each time you cook, the sauce will be diluted from the water content extracted from the chicken meat. Bring the sauce mix to a boil, add the wedged onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, brown sugar and add about 10 star anises. Boil the mixture for a good 15 minutes with the lid on. Put the chicken in and simmer. Add the chicken in the boiling sauce. I use a whole chicken sometimes, but this time I used boneless chicken breasts. Whole chicken (with bones and skins) is the best in flavor because the chicken skin protects the meat from overcooking (meat turns rough), and dark meat can tolerate overcooking more than white meat. Once the chicken meat is in, turn down the fire immediately to slow/medium. Put the lid on and simmer it. If you use boneless chicken breast like I do, be very careful with your timing. Breast meat can be overcooked easily (if you forget to turn down the fire). Dark meat is more forgiving. Chicken breast can be ready in just 15 minutes. Give or take. Just check the meat. The simple rule to tell is: NO MORE PINK. When chicken meat turns from pink to white, it's done. If you cook with a whole chicken, the sauce should cover at least half a chicken. You just simmer/braise the chicken on one side, then turn it and cook the other side. (The second side doesn't take as long). Maybe 15-20 minute for the first side and 10-15 for second? Finished dish. When the meat is cooked, take it out and slice it (or chop it with a cleaver). Use a strainer to filter out the onion/garlic/ginger/star-anise/etc. Discard them. Scoop some soy sauce and pour on top of your chicken. If you have left-overs, it's best to keep the chicken breast whole and only slice it up when you serve. I usually save the master soy sauce. When it cools down, drain all grease and other pulps. Keep in a plastic container in the freezer. Use it again for your next round.