cbrunelle's Profile
What do you HATE about your kitchen?
I've lived abroad a couple times in North Africa, and each time I go I buy proper pots and kitchen utensils, knowing I'll be able to find an incoming expat in need of some. Are there any message boards for foreigners living in your city in Spain? I always find the message boards an excellent place to sell off kitchen utensils (as well as Egyptian appliances, etc) to recoup at least half of my costs.
grocery delivery + misc questions
You actually can still join Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA at a prorated cost for the rest of the season (ends Nov 29 with the option of a 3 week extension). See http://www.lancasterfarmfresh.com/static/controls/ . I have a half share and I've been very pleased with it.
foil candy wrappers?
Does anyone know where I can buy foil or cellophane candy wrappers in Center City or West Philly?
Thanks!
New Trader Joe's yea/nay thread 2nd quarter 2010
I was about to post Nay to the pimento cheese. But then I'm new to pimento cheese, so maybe I don't know what to be looking for. You can have the rest of mine!
Yea to the sweetened dried hibiscus flowers. They're pleasantly inexpensive, and I always serve them at cocktail parties, because I enjoy watching my guests try to figure out what they are. Most people end up deciding they are fruit roll ups for adults.
Choosing an apartment based on food
I'd like to put in another recommendation for West Philly. It's inexpensive and has a huge range of places to eat and buy ethnic foods. There's also a lot of energy for local and sustainable eating in the West Philly community. For fancier eating, Center City is a 15 min trolley ride away.
need suggestions for failed sesame candy
I used the cold water method, and did indeed get a soft ball. The recipe didn't say whether it was a soft or a hard candy, but I assumed it must at least have meant to be harder than it turned out, since this won't even hold its shape...
need suggestions for failed sesame candy
In preparation for teaching a Middle Eastern cooking class this summer, I tried out a recipe for sesame candy- the recipe looked like this:
1 c sugar
1 c water
1 t lemon juice
1.5 c sesame seeds, toasted
1 t orange blossom water
The recipe said to boil the sugar and water to the soft ball stage, which I thought I did successfully (though I don't have a candy thermometer), then to add the sesame seeds and orange blossom water and spread in a pan.
The candy is just too soft. I can roll it into balls, but they don't hold their shape. My original hope was to make a crisp candy- something like a brittle.
My questions are these:
1) If I want a hard candy, should I be cooking to the hard crack stage? That seems obvious, but the recipe didn't call for it.
2) what would you do with too-soft sesame seeds in sugar syrup? I'm trying to think of some use for it, since I can't really serve it as individual pieces. Might there be some recipe that it could be added to?
Thanks!
giving a recipe and recipient can't make it right
Though in fact stuffed veggies in the Middle East are often made without cooking the rice first, so I might have assumed that I wasn't supposed to cook the rice unless you said so. Ignorance is dangerous, but so is a little knowledge.
Chow Ingredients Link
Thanks! I was looking for this earlier today, and couldn't find it. Now I can find out what herbs go with asparagus.
Quick vs Old Fashioned Oats
Thanks- that's very helpful. And I was talking about quick cooking oats, with no additives. Thanks all!
Quick vs Old Fashioned Oats
The recent "calories in oats" thread got me thinking- why is it that people say that old fashioned oats and steel cut oats are better for you than quick oats? According to Quaker, old-fashioned and quick oats both have 4 g of fiber in a 1/2 c serving. Is there some other indicator I'm missing? Much as I know I'll be scorned for saying this, I prefer the texture of quick oats- it seems comforting to me. But I wonder- am I missing out on the health benefits of steel cut or old fashioned oats without realizing it?
Where can you buy canned pumpkin in Philly?
The Fu Wah at 47th and Baltimore has canned pumpkin. I bought some last week.
Landisdale Farm CSA
Has anyone been a member of the Landisdale CSA? I'm considering both them and my current winter CSA, Keystone Farms. I'd appreciate comments on the quality of the produce, the variety, and the quantity. Also, if anyone knows of other CSAs with pickup sites in West Philly, I'd like to hear about those, too.
How can I adapt this recipe for the stovetop?
I'd like to make braised green cabbage similar to this recipe: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/food/0305/greencabbage031005.html , but it's expensive for me to have my oven on for that long. Can I do the same thing on the stovetop on low heat? Thanks!
Learning to Eat Meat
I have been a vegetarian (cheese/eggs ok) for the last 14 years, but I've recently decided to add small amounts of meat to my diet, for a number of reasons. I plan to be able to eat normal meat dishes when I'm traveling in non-vegetarian friendly places or eating in the home of people serving meat, but at my home I would like to keep a vegetable centered diet, using small amounts of meat to enhance what I'm cooking, and leaving meat-centered dishes for special occasions.
I'm looking for your favorite recipes which are vegetable heavy, but in which meat plays some role. I'm thinking more of main dishes than of side dishes. All kinds of foods/regional cuisines are welcome- although I've never cooked meat, I'm very comfortable in the kitchen and like just about everything. I'm also looking for recommendations of cookbooks featuring this kind of cooking, just to get me started on ideas.
Thanks!
soft spots on apples?
Thanks, all! That was what I was hoping to hear. If I were eating an apple plain, I would probably take the time to cut out the soft spots, but I know I"ll never notice them in oatmeal. This will make the morning apple chopping quicker.
soft spots on apples?
Does anyone know if slightly soft spots on apples are unsafe to eat? I cook an apple into my oatmeal, and it occurs to me that it really wouldn't be noticeable in the final product if I didn't cut off the soft spots. We're talking just slightly soft, slightly darker spots here- nothing rotting.
what is the thing(s) you always splurge on
Cheese and local produce. Especially the cheese. Mmmmm.
Attitudes toward restricted diets - your experiences?
I've been vegetarian for 14 years, and I can tell you that the vast majority of times I ask a non-vegetarian for food/restaurant recommendations, I get a "it's really too bad you don't eat meat." So I don't think it's limited to medically necessary diets. In fact, it makes more sense to me that people say that to vegetarians, since most of us have a choice about it, while a medically necessary diet is, well, necessary. In any case, I agree with you- it can be frustrating.
Idiotic things you do in the kitchen
I've done the same thing with the pyrex pan... twice.
Brussels sprouts in a risotto... how?
I haven't tried it myself, but yesterday's Recipes For Health in the NYT had this recipe for Lemon Risotto with Brussel Sprouts: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/health/nutrition/18recipehealth.html.
canned potatoes - anyone cook with them?
Just out of curiosity.. where are you from? I grew up in New England, and didn't realize til college that brown bread in a can might be weird to anyone. I now think of it as a kindof New England institution, and when people ask me about New England foods they probably haven't tried, I bring them a can of brown bread. They tend to share your reaction. I have brown bread very very rarely, but it is very comforting served warm with baked beans and franks. (the fact that I've been vegetarian for 14 years and this is my main way to think about brown bread may show just how rarely I eat it).
ISO: A great spinach and leek pie
I'm looking for a great recipe for a spinach and leek pie. Preferably nothing too fussy (ie- it's january and I don't have access to an unlimited variety of fresh herbs), but I'm comfortable working with phyllo. I found this thread for spinach pies in general: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/385899. Any advice on incorporating leeks? Also, a spinach pie that is flavorful enough without cheese might be a good thing, as my dinner menu is currently cheese-heavy. Thanks!
Amusing menu gaffes - what's yours? [moved from Boston board]
A very late response- they actually mean the viagra sandwiches. They're shrimp something sandwiches, and it has been explained to me that shrimp is considered an aphrodisiac by Egyptians. I find it absolutely hilarious to hear an extremely modest, veiled woman order a viagra sandwich.
Another funny Egypt one: there's a fast food chain called Gad, but half the items on their menu are spelled 'God.' So you can order God's Favorite Dishes, God's French Fries, and, the absolute best, God's Viagra Sandwiches.
turnip v. rutabaga - what do you call it?
1) Massachusetts
2) In my house we ate more rutabagas than turnips.
3) We call a rutabaga a rutabaga, and turnip a turnip. I've never heard of anyone in NE calling a rutabaga a turnip, but maybe when people said turnip they meant rutabaga, and I just didn't know it? I've never been in a position to look at the actual vegetable when they said it to make a positive identification.
We are so spoiled!
I am in total agreement that there is no good pizza in Cairo, judging by American standards of what a pizza should taste like. I just gave up on trying after a while.
However, Cairo has a lot of amazing culinary things that make the lack of pizza well worth it. Just yesterday, as I was eating my $2.50 pomegranate, I was thinking of just how many pomegranates I could have bought for that price at a local market in Cairo- perhaps 8 or so. I think you're still in pomegranate season. It's amazing. And then there's mango season. Wonderful mangoes like I've never had them here in the U.S. for a tiny fraction of the price. And Egyptian grape season. And peach season. And pretty decent tomatoes year round. And carrots that taste like no supermarket carrot in the U.S. ever did. Then there are the fresh dates, the dried dates, the fresh figs, the dried figs. Oh- you're getting pretty close to chestnut season in Egypt. Don't miss it. It's wonderful. For much of the year you can get wonderful red peppers for 50 cents/pound. The spices at spice stores are fresh and many are extremely cheap. You can chose from about 10 varieties of eggs at your neighborhood egg store. I know well how extremely annoying it can be to try to find things for a recipe from home, but don't lose sight of how great it can be to be close to local markets which have fantastic, inexpensive produce and other products that would only be sold at expensive high end places here. Don't limit yourself to places that cater to westerners- they make cairo seem like a culinary wasteland, and you pay much higher prices for bad produce.
Happy Cairo eating!
I fed a vegetarian lard by mistake. Do I tell her?
I have once or twice had someone tell me that they accidentally fed me a meat product, and it actually did have a beneficial effect. I felt that they took my choice to be vegetarian seriously, and was reassured that when they cook for me, they do their best to respect my vegetarian diet. It made me trust them more rather than less. I recognize that this wouldn't always be the outcome, but I thought it was worth mentioning that sometimes being honest about it does have good effects.
I fed a vegetarian lard by mistake. Do I tell her?
As a vegetarian for about 12 years, I think it would be fine either way. As long as someone did not intentionally feed me meat, and would do their best to not do so in the future, I wouldn't be upset either to know or not know. If I were in the middle of eating something when you realized, though (which I know wasn't the case here), I'd rather you come clean about it rather than letting me continue to eat meat. It's only when people sneak meat into my food intentionally (and you'd be amazed how often that has happened) that I would be upset.
Birthday Cake without a mixer
No problem-
The asl iswad is definitely molasses- I'm not sure why they call it black honey. Taxi meters in Cairo? What is the world coming to?
And also- the market I was talking about isn't metro- it's a few doors down from Metro supermarket in Maadi by the Maadi metro station, so try them both. Massoud's carries almost entirely imported foods (and entirely imported prices)
