jmnewel's Profile
Fourteen ounces is the new pound
I bought the TJ product once. Never again. It isn't even half as good as Dufour. If you care about the quality of your finished product, it is worth the money for Dufour. PF is in the middle in terms of quality, in my opinion. I have no connection to any of these companies.
First time making potato salad, question about the potatos
Personally, I think all cold potato salads are better on the second, even third day.
Which rice for asparagus risotto
Which rice did you use? I find that carnaroli takes less liquid than arborio and is my preferred risotto rice. It gets mushy with too much liquid, however. Can't get vialone nano here, so have no experience with that. I also find that risotto does not do well with my homemade broth/stock unless I really water it down, so i prefer to use the low salt box version of broth/stock, rather than waste my own.
Straining broth through a coffee filter
After skimming the fat layer, heat the stock until boiling or almost boiling before you filter it. I use a single layer of dampened and squeezed Bounty paper towel that sits inside a strainer which sits on a bowl. It takes several towels, used one at a time, to filter a whole batch of stock. I ladle the stock into the paper-lined strainer a scant cup at a time. When the liquid doesn't pass through easily, I change to a new dampened and squeezed paper towel. The resulting liquid is quite clear.
Dishes for a winery picnic?
Mushroom pate goes well with most wines and travels well in a cooler. Latindancer's list is excellent.
Memories of Mom's Cake
My Joy of Cooking, 1953 edition, has two recipes. One is "a marble cake effect of Angel Food Cake and Orange Sponge Cake that is delicious." The recipe divides the angel food batter. One half is left plain and the other has more flour added and egg yolks. The batters are then layered into the baking pan. The other recipe is the same cake, cut into two layers after baking, and filled with an orange filling and topped with orange icing.
tips on making citrus or water based sorbet
I find that adding about 1 tablespoon of the highest proof vodka I can find ( amount will vary with proof of vodka) to the basic mix of sugar, water, and fruit (usually close to 4 cups total) takes care of the icing up problem. You can make the sorbet in the morning, serve it for dinner, and it will be fine. Otherwise, I can only make the sorbet 2 or 3 hours ahead for the right texture.
Ketchup - try "gourmet," make at home, or just skip?
I don't like Heinz, either, but I do like Del Monte in small amounts (but isn't that the only way one eats ketchup?). Even if you try all the brands and still don't like ketchup, that's perfectly okay. You don't like it, so you are not missing out on anything!
Grape Seed Oil Question
I can't speak to the method of production, but I have used this as my saute oil for quite a while. I am very happy with it.
boiling potatoes
Are you using the right potato? I like little red new potatoes for this and prefer to steam them rather than boil. Large red potatoes can be used, as well, either boiled or steamed. Russets are great for mashing after being boiled, but are not right for "boiled" potatoes, in my opinion. Others may say they like Yukon Golds for this, but I think red potatoes have the texture you are looking for.
Does anyone actually put stuffing inside the turkey anymore?
Wrong! I always use a lot of turkey stock on the portion of stuffing that has to be dressing. It is still never as good as that which is cooked inside the bird.
Freezing pie crust in dish?
A week ago I made my pie crust and froze it in the shape of a patty. Yesterday the patty went into the fridge. Today I rolled it out, pricked the bottom, put the buttered foil on it, and put it back in the freezer. Wednesday I will bake it with pie weights. The filling can't be made until Thursday morning, but my daughter will do that part.
Your Mom's Cooking
Lace cookies. Hers were wonderful. I have her recipe, but mine don't come close.
Gluten and corn free thickeners? Help!
Potato starch flour is a very versatile thickener.
Thawing frozen turkey in refrigerator
I, too, only buy fresh, never frozen birds and pay a premium for that. However, the bird is as hard as a rock when I pick it up because the laws about "frozen" are pretty wacky in California. I have learned to pick it up on Sunday, prepare (it may have to sit in a sink of water for a while to be pliable) it to put into the brine on Monday afternoon, out of the brine on Tuesday afternoon, and about 48 hours bare naked on the refrigerator shelf before cooking on Thursday afternoon. This is for a 20 plus pound bird.
Need a tgiving "greens" dish that isn't the traditional creamed whatever...
I will have 16 at the table and my two ovens in use, so the greens have to be done on the range top. I have blanched a package of Costco spinach, chopped it coarsely and froze it. On Tday, or the day before, I will coarsely grate about 8 zucchini, salt them, let them drain for about 30 min. , and squeeze them dry. Then it is just a matter of sauteeing the two vegetables with whatever additions I want, such as shallots or green onions, and/or garlic. When all is hot and combined, toss in a goodly amount of previously roasted pine nuts. All can be done the day before and reheated. Delicious!
Storing citrus zest: freeze or dry? (and for how long?)
How do you package your zest for freezing? I have not had good luck with the process myself and would like to know how to do it successfully.
Storing Strawberries
I, too, use the glass jar method after reading about it on Chowhound. I get condensation in the jar, too, but that doesn't seem to cause a problem. In the jar they last a good week or so. Not in the jar they last just a couple of days, 3 max. As I type this, it occurs to me that perhaps there would not be so much condensation if the berries were refrigerator cold before they went into the jar. Just a thought.
What to drink while eating raw oysters
I second your motion. I much prefer Muscadet to Champagne with oysters. The Champagne bubbles get in the way of tasting the oysters. I suppose beer would do the same for me, but I've never tried the beer /oyster combo as it just doesn't appeal to me. A Chablis would be my second choice.
How do you freeze your stock?
Am I the only one who uses Kerr Mason jars for freezing stock? I use a range of sizes from 1 qt. to 1/2 pint. Too often I want to thaw some stock quickly, so I gave up on plastic because it is not good to heat plastic in the micro. The glass is no problem. Of course, this is tempered glass made for freezing and pressure canning.
Cornmeal and Cream?
Yellow corn meal mush (as we called it) was a staple of my childhood, lo these many decades ago, in central California. I still like it. We always used dark brown sugar, though, not white. It was an alternative to oatmeal, wheatena (on which we used white sugar), and the dreaded Roman meal mush. Dry cereal was not allowed in our house when I was a child.
Bakers: I need help with recipe adjustment. Cake falls.
The recipe calls for baking soda, not baking powder. Because of the sour cream, I guess. But I could increase that to 1.5 or 2 tsp.
Bakers: I need help with recipe adjustment. Cake falls.
No, he just says tube pan. I have an angel food cake pan. I'll use it next time. As it is, the cake looks quite done, pulling way from the edges nicely, but I have never stuck it with a thermometer because I don't know what the internal temperature should be.
Thank you to all who have responded to my question.
Bakers: I need help with recipe adjustment. Cake falls.
I am at sea level. I will try reducing the sugar and adding baking powder next time.
Bakers: I need help with recipe adjustment. Cake falls.
This recipe appeared in the newspaper magazine Parade more than 10 years ago. I have made it at least a dozen or more times. It has the most wonderful flavor, but I have never been able to keep the cake from falling in on itself. Please help me make a better looking cake!
Leon Knowles' Madeira Pound Cake
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons mace
1 cup butter or margarine
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Madeira
1 teaspoon vanilla
Resift flour with sugar, salt, soda, and mace. In large mixer bowl beat butter until softened. Add eggs, sour cream, Madeira, and vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix t low speed until blended. Beat at medium speed 3 minutes. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 325° F. for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.
I use butter and extra large eggs. The pan is a dark Bundt pan that is quite thick. I have tried lowering the baking temperature to 300° and baking for 1 1/2 hours. I have used 2 loaf pans. All give the same result. The cake looks beautiful coming out of the oven. I set it on a wire rack for the required time, but when I go to turn it out of the pan, the cake has settled about an inch. This makes the cut slices look pasty inside, almost as though the cake weren't cooked enough, though it tastes fully cooked. I serve it with a caramel sauce and a dab of creme fraiche to cover up the unattractive interior of the slice. Please tell me what I am doing wrong. A cake this good should look good, too!
Freezing eggplants/eggplant mush?
When I have had too many Japanese eggplants, I "roasted" them in the microwave until soft, scooped out the insides, and froze the pulp in small containers for use as a dip ingredient. Oven roasting is fine, too, but it is too hot here for that. There is a bit of moisture on the top after thawing, but this is easily blotted off. Good for any recipe using fully cooked, mushy (as opposed to cubed) eggplant.
Who makes the best Demi Glace?
I can't speak to the demi glace part of your message, but, to finish the sauce you need a dry wine. Madeira is fine if it is a dry type— sercial. In a pinch you could use rainwater, but it is too bland for this use, in my opinion. Dry sherries also work well.
Decline in Nabisco Quality?
I used to love wheat thins. Then, some ten years ago they started adding sugar, probably corn syrup. The crackers have never been the same. To me they are practically inedible for the savory purposes I intend them. But I find this to be true of very many once upon a time savory items. Sweetening is added to so many items inappropriately, in my opinion. I have to stop buying the item, but evidently I am in the minority on this.
Unreasonable fear of Shitakes I bought
FWIW, the fresh shiitake I buy look like the picture on the left. The picture on the right looks like the fresh shimeiji that I also buy.
Question re Picawicca's pie crust
Don't know the recipe you are talking about, but in general, the rest of the dough will be just fine to use today or to freeze for later use. You may find that the dough has darkened or has dark specks. Julia Child explained this in one of her books (can't remember which) and says it is a property of the flour and doesn't man anything is wrong with your dough.
