eG Foodblog: Marlena - Life is Delicious Wherever I am

[marlena spieler]

Irish Cream! So you're one of the purchasers of From Pantry to Table!

I loved writing that book, love the fact that you love it. Thank you!

I always say to myself that i'd like to do a revamp. the idea is still good, and so many products we have on our shelves weren't available then. i love looking at an item and thinking: i can do this, and i can do that. its one of the funnest aspects of cooking. for instance, i see that there is a bowl of limes and oranges in my fruit bowl that are starting to go a little limp. i'm thinking is tonight the night for sopa de lima? or is it tomorrow. one of these nights thats for sure.

x marlena

[marlena spieler]

Mac and cheese for dinner, sticky toffee pudding for dessert.  Now there's unmitigated comfort food!

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yes, if you can still move.

x m

[jackal10]

Sticky toffee pudding is brown, has dates in it and is baked

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r444.html

Treacle pudding is a light sponge (or heavy suet) boiled pudding with golden syrup

Incidentally you can make an instant treacle pudding in the microwave -

equal weight of eggs, melted butter, flour and sugar and a little milk to make a dropping consistency cake batter. Put some golden syrup (or equivalent or jam or marmalade or ginger plus syrup) in the bottom of a microwave proof bowl. Put the batter on top and nuke for 4 mins. Serve with Birds Custard or creme Anglais if you can't get Birds (or Ambrosia)

[marlena spieler]

Swisskaese, thank you for the chicken and lemon recipes; they sound wonderful. i always think that any cavity in a poultry for roasting should be filled with a lemon. in fact, thinking about all this lemon and chicken has me drooling. do you ever add potatoes?

x m

Sheep! Sheep's milk, sheep's cheese... ok, I'm a bit one-track minded when it comes to your blog.   By the way, do your sheep have the same problem as the ones here in Hilo?  It rains all the time here, so the "white" sheep's wool start turning green from alga/moss growing on them.

What's the difference between toffee pudding and treacle pudding? I'm starting to get confused with all of the different puddings, and am wondering if I'm going to have a pudding fest in the next week with all the different recipes!

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oh no, GREEN SHEEP!!!!! those poor little poppets, getting covered with moss. Perhaps they do have that problem here, but as I mostly admire sheep from a distance, I haven't noticed any green-crusted sheep. they are still nice and creamy white. in fact, once i was on the phone with hubby and he was here in britain, i was in california and we actually had an argument about whose sheep were creamiest, california sheep or british sheep. man, what married people argue about, i ask you!

meanwhile, back in pudding land: treacle pudding actually doesn't have treacle in it; treacle is a dark molasses substance. treacle pudding actually has golden syrup which is a sweet dreamy honey-like thing. divine. toffee pudding is stick toffee pudding, and its based on dates and brown sugar. treacle pudding is steamed, and sticky toffee pudding is usually baked like a bread pudding, at least the ones i've had.

another pudding we've missed out mentioning is banoffee pie, which is a piecrust filled with a layer of toffee-ish stuff, more like a dulce de leche, and a layer of sliced bananas, then a layer of whipped cream. is it good? omigod is it!

after i finish some work, i may post the steamed treacle pudding recipe. as for the sticky toffee pudding, i don't have one i regularly use, but can ferret one out. or perhaps someone else out there has a good one?

x marlena who never thought she'd be a pudding-guru, but right now would KILL for some treacle sponge (it must be the cold weather)

[helenjp]

This pudding talk is starting to get to me...temps expected to get below zero here overnight!

I believe there's some regulation about sausages with fresh meat in them here, which is why the British Banger is unknown. ...speaking of which, I was just cleaning out my kitchen drawers...anybody know if collagen sausage casing might still be usable after 10 years?!

I so envy your haul of sage - who was it said, "How can a man die who has sage in his garden"?. I've not been successful growing it in Japan .

[Adam Balic]

Pudding has captured egullet's imagination!

pudding in fact comes from the french, boudin, which these days refers mostly to a savoury sausage such as blood sausage or a white boudin. (black pudding in the UK refers to blood sausage).

The OED thinks that the derivation of "Pudding" from "Boudin" is unlikely, as both words first appear at the same time (13th century) and had the same meaning. So they most likely share a common root word, but what this is and where it comes from is unknown.

while i always maintain that i don't like steamed puddings, and i don't think there is anyone, including pudding lovers,  who doesn't admit  that they are heavy,.....

It could be a question of terminology, but I don't find steamed puddings to be heavy at all. Most steamed puddings now have a cake mix as a base and to me at least they are light and cakey in texture. Sure there are examples of heavy types, especially the 'self saucing' types, but I wouldn't say that this was characteristic.

Even (traditional) Christmas pudding largely derives its 'heavy' quality from the amount of booze soaked into the fruit and the propotion of fruit in the pudding. "Cloutie Dumpling" from Scotland is similar in appearance to a Christmas pudding, but is actually very light (or should be), do the proportions and lack of booze.

Not that it matters, but everybosy has there hobby-horse.

[anzu]

This is complicated by the fact that i don't know anyplace else, other than countries that were once british, that has a whole category of steamed puddings.

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Marlena,

traditional German cuisine has quite a lot of these (though not as many as the UK, I think). I get the impression that they have gradually been declining in popularity and used to be far more widespread in the past than they are now. Older cookbooks, for example, tend to assume that everyone has a pudding basin with fitted cover.

Recipes include steamed puddings raised with yeast, and puddings based on leftover bread that has first been soaked in milk to soften, or has been grated into breadcrumbs. Out of curiosity I've tried out a couple of these bread steamed puddings where the ingredients tended towards more stereotypically German breads: one used rye bread, and the other pumpernickel. (Both tasted a but too strongly of rye bread for to want to make them again).

Many incorporate the fruits that tend to be most plentiful here in spring and summer, such as cherries, apples, and plums (Zwetschgen), though there are others with chocolate, dried fruits, etc.

One book I looked at briefly in a bookstore about traditional food in Hamburg claimed that steamed puddings were introduced via British sailors going ashore in Hamburg.

I'm far from expert, but there was no source given for the claim, and it sounded somewhat unlikely to me. It doesn't seem to jibe with the fact that in the past transport was difficult and relatively uncommon for common folk, and yet steamed puddings were apparently enjoying wide popularity over the length and breadth of German-speaking areas. Nor does it account for the huge popularity of both sweet and savoury boiled dumplings particularly in the southern part of Germany and across the Austro-Hungarian empire.

[Adam Balic]

Things like Knodel (eh, the bread one from Austria I had recently) are not that far removed from these types of puddings, so I think the sailor story apocryphal. Regarding cake type steamed puddings, most of these used baking powder which seems to be only popular after the mid-19th century, so I guess that many of these recipes are relatively recent.

[Swisskaese]

Swisskaese, thank you for the chicken and lemon recipes; they sound wonderful. i always think that any cavity in a poultry for roasting should be filled with a lemon. in fact, thinking about all this lemon and chicken has me drooling. do you ever add potatoes?

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I used to add the potatoes to the same pan, but I think they roast better by themselves. I cut white potatoes in quarters, sprinkle some salt, olive oil and sometimes I add rosemary and garlic, but I usually don't add it if I have serving it with rosemary lemon chicken because I think that would be overkill.

[marlena spieler]

Sticky toffee pudding is brown, has dates in it and is baked

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r444.html

Treacle pudding is a light sponge (or heavy suet) boiled pudding with golden syrup

Incidentally you can make an instant treacle pudding in the microwave -

equal weight of eggs, melted butter, flour and sugar and a little milk to make a dropping consistency cake batter. Put some golden syrup (or equivalent or jam or marmalade or ginger plus syrup) in the bottom of a microwave proof bowl. Put the batter on top and nuke for 4 mins. Serve with Birds Custard or creme Anglais if you can't get Birds (or Ambrosia)

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What is it with Brits and Birds Custard and Ambrosia in tins? I mean, i go away to california for a month, i come back and there are two packages of birds custard, and three tins of ambrosia waiting for me. I think that despite having lived here for 18 years, this is where I draw the line between me and my adopted fellow country-people. I make my own custard thank you. with real egg yolks and cream.

(of course, i'm not adverse to a few of my own culinary icons, too. for instance, fire roasted marshmallows, iced tea.......these are but two things that make my British husband feel sick).

Anyhow, thanks mucho, Jackal10, for posting the sticky toffee pudding recipe! i was actually meaning to make one in the near future. Sticky toffee pudding is the stuff that convinced me to love dates. until that time i didn't see the point; after sticky toffee pudding entered my life, i appreciated the rich, earthy-sweet, mealy texture of dates. now, i'm a bit of a date afficionado, especially when there are fresh ones around!

Will post my recipe for treacle pudding: no suet! I use butter, for its rich buttery taste which i like far better than suet. ditto for the Christmas pudding too! if if its heavier than that made with suet, butter just has the nicer taste.

now, just for the record: i don't have a microwave. i know this separates me from the rest of the world, and especially from readers of the publications that i write for who do have microwaves, but everything i hear about microwaves dismays me. for instance, the recent studies that show they destroy the vitamins in vegetables. oh i don't know, i've had one before, and they are good for warming the cat's milk and for defrosting, and for reheating leftovers, but at this moment in time, i don't want one in my home. my parents, aunt and uncle, cook everything in their microwave and i think that it is a soul-less way of cooking. and not easier when you start with all the opening and closing of door, punching of buttons etc. no stirring required and no delicious aromas wafting.

x marlena, on a slightly manic rant against microwaves. perhaps i need more coffee?

[marlena spieler]

Dear Anzu and Adam Balic,

well the mysteries of pudding grow more complicated with each posting.

Anzu, i was thinking about the whole dumpling thing (my family comes from eastern europe), and yes, Adam, the cloutie dumpling (husband is a Scot). So who knows, who knows.

But I've never eaten a light steamed pudding. you're right about it being a cake batter, but the truth is that there are heavy cakes, too. And i think that the process of steaming gives the cake batter a certain density which baking doesn't necessarily do. Also, most steamed puddings are quite sweet, or come with a sweet sauce. I'm not a fan of sweets that combine both lots of sweet and also lots of heft--for instance, i'd probably never eat a piece of cake for dessert.

thats probably because i am very greedy for the rest of the meal and don't care much for dessert unless its very light.

but again, as i have said, no matter how i might joke about the whole steamed pudding thing, there are a few that i love very very much. and i mean LOVE. almost unaturally.

treacle sponge is one of those. gotta run my recipe.

x m

Edited January 5, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[marlena spieler]

I so envy your haul of sage - who was it said, "How can a man die who has sage in his garden"?. I've not been successful growing it in Japan .

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You gotta go to Greece and pick it wild from the hillsides! it makes the best tea! I also have it growing my my herb garden, and agree with your quote completely. I mean, with fresh sage i can make saltimbocca in any of a zillion guises. And I can also make fried sage leaves, or my all time, and time-consuming fave, fried stuffed sage leaves like that make at craftbar restaurant! (two sage leaves sandwiching a savoury sausage mixture, then deep fried and serve with a bit of chopped preserved lemon).

I would so send you a bouquet of dried sage if i could. i don't think it would make it through customs. if it will, i'll send it!

x x m

[Swisskaese]

now,  just for the record: i don't have a microwave. i know this separates me from the rest of the world, and especially from readers of the publications that i write for who  do have microwaves, but everything i hear about microwaves dismays me. for instance, the recent studies that show they destroy the vitamins in vegetables. oh i don't know, i've had one before, and they are good for warming the cat's milk and for defrosting, and for reheating leftovers, but at this moment in time, i don't want one  in my home. my parents, aunt and uncle, cook everything in their microwave and i think that it is a soul-less way of cooking. and not easier when you start with all the opening and closing of door, punching of buttons etc. no stirring required and no delicious aromas wafting.

x marlena, on a slightly manic rant against microwaves. perhaps i need more coffee?

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I don't have a microwave! I was very happy when David's 100-year-old microwave died.

[marlena spieler]

Breakfast! I don't want to forget to log this in, what kind of a foodblogger would I be? In fact, I ate breakfast hours ago but have been answering the blog and my other emails, and doing, well not really doing, some work on this project whose deadline is nearing every moment.

I made the usual French press, very very strong, i kinda like my bones to rattle when i sip it. but alas, i was out of Union Roasters, my very favourite British coffee of which I've already written. But husband went to a malagasy (from Madagascar) dinner with lots of exotic goodies, and he bought a box of malagasy coffee (they were doing a fund raising thing). So I made the Malagasy coffee.

Then i toasted two hand-cut slices of Tassia's wonderful wholegrain sourdough bread from Greece. I thought: do i want jam? do I want butter? no, i am sticking with the whole greek theme until it just evaporates. on top of the bread i had: thin slices of feta, tufts of fresh dill, a couple of green onions, whole, to munch on in bites inbetween the cheese and herbs, and a few slices of cucumber. I LOVE breakfast.

My husband refuses to eat breakfast. He loves to start the morning with caffeine in all its forms: hot chocolate, coffee, tea. But i just can't get him to eat that fibre, those oats, or wholegrain bread, yogurt, or any of those things that are good to start the day with. he doesn't eat breakfast but then gets hungry like a wolf......around this time of day (its just after noon). (we both work from home)

x m

Edited January 5, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[marlena spieler]

I don't have a microwave! I was very happy when David's 100-year-old microwave died.

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Yay, sister!

x marlena

ps: perhaps i'll bore you all with the torture i went through recently cooking for my parents and how i was forced to cook everything in the microwave, and how they stood over me and lectured me on the right way to cook. (for instance, one of the only things they allowed me to do without the microwave was grilled cheese and i had to follow the lecture exactly: first you spread the bread with margarine (!), then lay a slice of american cheese, then another piece of margarine spread bread, can you do that, repeat after me so you understand!). it broke my heart to be feeding them such stuff, also i wondered: do you folks know that i wrote a book on grilled cheese sandwiches?????

anyhow, back to the microwaves, they were having me cook everything in it, cover with the paper towel, do vegetables one at a time and then they would cool off while the other stuff cooked, and then frozen stuff would be hot in spots and frozen in other spots and anyhow it was awful stuff to begin with. and while they loved the awful stuff, they didnt like my holishkes? i made them with such love, the meat filling just like i remembered my grandmother making them, the cabbage blanched just so for wrapping, the tomato sauce with enough sweet sour flavour to taste just like my grandmothers.

but oy, they didn't like them. they left them in the fridge. i had to eat them myself. whats wrong with my holishkes? i gave some to my other friends and family and they all loved them, but my parents didn't like my holishkes. i'm still trying to figure out where i went wrong? at least they loved my vegetables.

is there a psychiatrist in the house?

now where were we, oh yes, i'm so glad Swisskaese, that you don't have a microwave either!

[mochihead]

All microwave cooking?!!! We have one that was given to us, and the only thing I've used it for in the last umpteen years was to melt chocolate. It somehow takes all the bad aspects of cooking and puts it into one radioactive box.

Puddings, cheese, grilled cheese, breads.... I'm gaining so much virtual weight! And then once I get to try out the puddings, it will be real weight. UGH!

[bleudauvergne]

I decided to read your blog today from the beginning - I love the rhythm you take - and the ground you cover - It is just the juice I need today as I get myself ready to get my requisite words on the hermit computer (it doesn't have a connection). Thank you for everything you give us, Marlena. You are so beautiful in your ways and the food sounds just right, so many things reverberate just exactly with what's been on my mind. How do you do it? I can't wait for your new book.

[marlena spieler]

All microwave cooking?!!!  We have one that was given to us, and the only thing I've used it for in the last umpteen years was to melt chocolate.  It somehow takes all the bad aspects of cooking and puts it into one radioactive box.

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Mochihead: I couldn't have said it better myself! Add that line to the list of lines I wish I HAD said!

[marlena spieler]

I decided to read your blog today from the beginning  - I love the rhythm you take - and the ground you cover -  It is just the juice I need today as I get myself ready to get my requisite words on the hermit computer (it doesn't have a connection).  Thank you for everything you give us, Marlena.  You are so beautiful in your ways and the food sounds just right, so many things reverberate just exactly with what's been on my mind.  How do you do it?  I can't wait for your new book. 

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Thank you so much, Lucy. It means a lot to me, as you know that I hold your taste and writing in very high esteem!

x Marlena

[marlena spieler]

Lunch, oh lunch, lunch, lunch! my favourite midday meal!

Well, I have alluded to a project that i'm working on, which is basically the front matter for a book on mexican food. i've written most of the recipes and there will be recipes from another food writer as well.

So, to get us in the mood for Mexico, I've made some sort of cross between a torta and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. i had: French bread which I hollowed out, brushed with olive oil and toasted. I filled them open-faced with simmered-mashed-spiced with cumin and fresh oregano beans (and cooked with onion and garlic). I used Rancho Gordo beans, the best beans I know. well the best New World beans, he only grows New World beans. These were Red Nightfall, little round pinto-like beans with a round pinto-like flavour. mmmmmmm. i still have a nice batch left, several portions, so not sure what i'll do with it. anyone has any ideas? I have about a cup of beans in their liquid.

So I added the leftover sausage cut into small bits, and heaped it into the toasted rolls then covered it with slabs of white Cheddar (its all white here) and gave it a melt under the broiler.

I served it with: handfuls of cilantro, a handful of lettucey salad mix, and a few gluggs of chipotle salsa, buffalo brand from a bottle.

mmmmm. the frost on the window is melting. i think its the heat that we're giving off from our bodies after eating all the chile, beans and cheese.

oh oh mochihead: newsflash about sheep: it seems as if there is a problem in the moors of north yorkshire and the sheep numbers are dwindling. there is a worry that by the year 2023 there may be no sheep left there! if anyone else has details out there, pass it along. Should we be worried? it does seem as if there are enough sheep to go around, and i could share some of the ones we have here with our friends to the north.....still, i always want to know when to start worrying. If worrying were an olympic sport, i might be in for silver. not the gold--the gold goes to my husband!

x m

Edited January 5, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[daniellewiley]

Danielle (and Dylan), and Calipoutine,

Wonderful to meet fellow lochshen/luckshin and cheese mavens, it is my favourite without a doubt comfort food. whenver i land in san francisco and arrive all jet-lagged and bedraggled at my step daughters house, she says,before i even take off  my coat: should i put the water on to boil?

tell me about the brand that is better than friendship. in new york, lets see, it wasn't friendship but the other one, i forget its name, that i think i liked the cottage cheese.

x your sister in luckshin/lockshen,

Marlena

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Yes, it is my favorite comfort food - I especially like eating it in bed!!

I grew up with Friendship in NY. I think we also had Breakstone (is that the one you liked?), but my mother always bought Friendship, and I assumed that it was the best.

When I moved to the midwest, I was introduced to Sterling brand. It is only sold in the Toledo area, and it is only sold in Sterling stores, which are like a 7-11. This stuff is outrageous. I tried to find you more information on their website, but alas, all I found was this disturbing page: click!

[marlena spieler]

Yes, it is my favorite comfort food - I especially like eating it in bed!!

I grew up with Friendship in NY. I think we also had Breakstone (is that the one you liked?), but my mother always bought Friendship, and I assumed that it was the best.

When I moved to the midwest, I was introduced to Sterling brand. It is only sold in the Toledo area, and it is only sold in Sterling stores, which are like a 7-11. This stuff is outrageous. I tried to find you more information on their website, but alas, all I found was this disturbing page: click!

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Yes, Breakstone was the one I was thinking of. I always forget which one I like best, then when i go to new york i figure it out and then forget again. always too distracted in ny to keep the two dairies clear in my mind.

but i'm kinda scared: clicked onto the sterling site and: Danielle, I'm one sick puppy! i thought the hot dog looked kinda appealing. i think it was the abundance of pickle relish and the squiggle of mustard (i'm a slut for mustard) but I mean i know that its probably vile. still, here i am in the english countryside thinking: that hot dog looks fine, mighty f i n e !!!!!!

x m

[daniellewiley]

Yes, it is my favorite comfort food - I I tried to find you more information on their website, but alas, all I found was this disturbing page: click!

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but i'm kinda scared: clicked onto the sterling site and: Danielle, I'm one sick puppy! i thought the hot dog looked kinda appealing. i think it was the abundance of pickle relish and the squiggle of mustard (i'm a slut for mustard) but I mean i know that its probably vile. still, here i am in the english countryside thinking: that hot dog looks fine, mighty f i n e !!!!!!

x m

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Yeah, the hot dog looks passable, but I was disturbed by the large photo of a gas pump juxtaposed next to it (and also by the strange white Michael Jackson hand holding the bottle of milk).

[Rebecca263]

Gee, I love my microwave! It's NOT a microwave to me, but a tea kettle! I must 'boil' water for tea in the lovely radio-kettle about 5 times each day!

[Pam R]

Wonderful to meet fellow lochshen/luckshin and cheese mavens, it is my favourite without a doubt comfort food.

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Add another lochshen fan. Though I always call it 'lazyman kugle'. I also like some sour cream.... but then there isn't much that isn't improved with sour cream.

also i wondered: do you folks know that i wrote a book on grilled cheese sandwiches?????

This happens to me all the time. I work in the food business with my parents - and my mother often questions what I'm doing. I may have even shouted across the kitchen "I've had a cookbook published! Let me cook!" It's a mother-daughter thing.