hortscribe's Profile
Best Thai in Andersonville?
Some Thai beef, Thai iced tea and fragrant rice? Just learning Thai, nothing too 'advanced' please. Thank you.
"fresh fruit"
My jar of Fruit Fresh says it contains dextrose, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and an anti-caking agent. Since the dextrose is listed first, it makes up the bulk of the mix. The directions call for a half teaspoon of Fruit Fresh per cup of fruit.
Please help -- need tasty appetizer to bring to holiday party
This is different, but not so 'out there' that people are shy about trying them. Get some nice Medjool dates from Costco and pull the pits out. Mix some cream cheese with lemon zest (lots) and stuff a half spoonful in each date. You can enlarge the center of the date with your finger to receive the cheese. Then put a whole seedless grape inside that. It will push enough cream cheese out on the edge to nicely pick up the finely chopped pistachios that garnish the whole affair. These can be made a day ahead and they hold up very well at room temp. Nothing to turn color, bleed or do anything else untoward as they sit.
Can I freeze a pureed soup?
Two tips: Make sure you pre-chill anything you are going to freeze because putting warm or room temp food directly in the freezer causes larger ice crystals to form and that is what damages texture. Next, don't freeze for long periods of time. Freezing is not meant to be a yearlong option. And don't panic if the product looks seperated when it thaws, It may reheat nicely. Most soups I have frozen do just fine.
What is your newest favorite ingredient??
My new crush is lemongrass. I had never used and didn't really know what to do with it so I made a simple syrup and put the lemongrass in it overnight. It thickens the syrup and the flavor was really pronounced. It is excellent drizzled over watermelon chunks with thai basil and red onion. The longer the syrup sits in the fridge, the thicker it gets. Then it clings nicely.
Your Best Soup Recipe
This is involved, but it is so worth the trouble.
My Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup
lots of heirloom tomatoes, any kind
salt
sugar
EVOO
Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out seeds with your fingers. Generously oil rimmed cookie sheets and fill with one layer of tomato halves. Sprinkle with salt and roast for a couple of hours at 350, until the edges are caramelized. Scrape tomatoes and juices into a sieve and run it until only skin is left. Simmer the resulting sauce until it is thick enough to suit you. Add a teaspoon or two of sugar and salt to taste. Serve with fresh basil and parmesan cheese. It takes a lot of tomatoes to make a quart. I got such good response to this soup that I actually went through 2 bushels of tomatoes making it this late summer. It was also a lot of sieving!
Why does my roast chicken always do this?
I don't think your chicken was completely thawed. Even when the meat feels soft and thawed, the bones can still have ice crystals inside. What if you were to place a couple of slices of bread in the cavity to soak up excess juices? At least the juice wouldn't spill out when you move the finsihed bird.
Garlic Bread recipes?
I find this method to be the least time consuming and messy. Preheat oven to 400. Place a rimmed cookie sheet over your stovetop burners. Turn them on to low and melt a stick of butter and a 1/4 cup of EVOO. Crush two garlic cloves and stir into the mix. Turn off burners and tilt pan to evenly spread mix. Place sliced bread into butter mix and then flip them over and scoot them around to soak in all of the butter. Tranfer to oven and bake until golden. You may use as much garlic as you like and add cheese if you wish. My favorite addition is dill.
