willownt's Profile
Electric Pressure Cooker with Stainless Insert?
Tatung also makes one.
http://www.tatungusa.com/app/pageproduct.aspx?pid=280&cid=264
Not sure how high the pressure gets.
Instant Pot is promising a new model in Jan or Feb with a browning function.
Best Pie Cookbooks (for college credit!)
Whoa! I bought this years ago, thanks to your glowing recommendation (which it deserves), and I looked it up -- I got it for $1 + shipping.
I love old cookbooks, but most baked goods from older times are a bit light on flavor -- chcolate cakes with two tsp of cocoa, for example, but old pie recipes seem very lively and flavorful.
Another fun old book with commentary is Edna Staebler's Food that Really Schmecks; all the pie recipes from it and its sequel (More Food...) are pulled out in Pies and Tarts with Schmecks Appeal (ISBN 0771082835), which is still affordable used online. Not as comprehensive as the Farm Journal, but worth reading.
Dumbed Down Cookbooks
The prunes I buy are generally pitted. I've never yet bought any that have pits in, frankly. Nor do I dry my own.
Some really old cookbooks call for the cook to remove seeds from the raisins. Do you buy seedless raisins?
Personally I am not averse to some shortcuts. And there can be a difference between "dumbing down" a procedure and simplifying it.
Dumb question - lemon curd and canning jars
!
This is brilliant! I love the idea of freezing lemon curd! I'd never heard of that. Thank you so much for the idea.
(So glad you are not using bottled lemon juice.)
ready to give up on baked custard...could really use some help!
Personally I think the mix should not be beaten too much, unless you like lots of air bubbles. If you want a smooth, dense custard, you sort of need to know when to say "when," and stop mixing.
I've started straining my batter to get rid of egg gloop from the whites. Or if you blend it, it will get pulverized, but you don't want to whip too much air in.
What "other" uses for pasta water?
I used to see Martha Stewart doing this on her TV show and it always struck me as a bit over the top, but then my pipes are hardly sturdy, so I think she's on to something.
I sometimes cook vegetables at the same time or soon after, but I've never actually saved it for later use. I always mean to use potato water for bread but haven't yet.
Thanksgiving Pie Help
Following a suggestion made by Dorie Greenspan on The Splendid Table for home cooks to use their freezers more, I made an apple pie a week or so before a holiday brunch, froze it (unbaked), and then baked it the morning of. It was easy and delicious.
Great use for a can of Dulce de leche?
That's what I've decided to make -- I posted earlier, but it is sort of hidden up there. I can't imagine that they wouldn't be delicious, but I'll let you know. Thanks!
Great use for a can of Dulce de leche?
Thanks -- one of these days maybe I'll try the boiling procedure.
In the meanwhile, I think I'll try this recipe for Dulce de Leche Brownies from David Lebovitz (I found it through Simply Recipes). That sounds pretty hard to beat.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/06/dulce_de_leche.html
Thanks again for all the ideas.
Thanksgiving Pie Help
I actually like very cold pumpkin pie, so cold is good in my book.
As to the crust, the *real* secret is to change the crust -- don't use a flaky one. Use a short type crust. As an example, Cook's Country's easy pie crust (the pat in pan one with cream cheese), but any "tart" type crust will work great. It works wonders on cream type pies and fresh fruit pies to dramatically reduce the mush factor.
Great use for a can of Dulce de leche?
Some time back I bought a can of dulce de leche because I planned to make a quick dessert -- namely banoffee pie [the can was the quick alternative to boiling milk for hours on the stove]. But I never did make it after all. And I just looked in the cupboard and it is best used by Oct 09, so the time is now!
I *love* the flavor and I still would like to make banoffee pie, but I'd like something else for this round, as I am afraid the banoffee pie won't get eaten in one setting, and...well, brown, left-over bananas are not beloved in my family.
If you could suggest your favorite dulce de leche thing, using one can, I'd appreciate it. Pies, cakes, bars/cookies, and whatever else are all welcome.
Thanks!
White Lily Self-Rising Flour
I am not sure what your question is (or if it's more of a warning?), but White Lily has a guarantee. You should write or call them and complain.
LAUSD Coffee Cake [split from LA]
How cute that someone (actually multiple someones) liked the coffee cake enough to not only remember it and then go out of their way to recreate it!
As for oil vs. butter -- I find it hard to believe that LAUSD would have sprung for butter. Rumor was at my school that the meat of choice was horse. Of course, I was a student when there was no money for pencils or tissues, just for metal detectors.
I did like the chocolate chip cookies (which went from 25c to 35c to 50c each, in successive years) but what hot chocolate chip cookie isn't good. I also suspect it was all pre-made and just reheated. My school was mostly about some outsourced pizza on Wednesdays and a bunch of vending machines with soda and candies, not to mention the candy we were required to sell. Suffice it to say that I always brought my own food.
Am I the only one who hates Harry & David?
I decided long ago that if I wanted to have a high profit margin, I would sell gift baskets. It's all about tiny packages of jam and crackers (and the occasional preserved meat product) in a basket full of plastic grass, wrapped up in celophane. Very impressive to look at, but unimpressive once removed from the packaging.
H&D has very cute boxes; I put the ones I received to work organizing my stuff. That moose munch or whatever it's called isn't bad -- but the price is outrageous!
I think Consumer Reports rated them one of the best outlet shops. Hmm.
Thanksgiving Pies
Here is the Martha Caramel Nut Tart:
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Caramel-nut%20tart
From Nov 98 MSL mag.
What are your favorite edible gifts to make?
I've made lemon curd and various other jams, biscotti and other cookies, peanut brittle, and that almond toffee with chocolate stuff. I think peanut brittle would probably have been the easiest if I hadn't shelled my own peanuts. Ugh.
your twist on Krispie Treats, please
I saw an episode of Martha where she made all sorts of treats with various cereals (fruit loops etc).
Baker help pls-leftover cransauce-muffins?
I saw one in the King Arthur flour cookbook, I think it's for a coffee cake.
Replacing butternut squash
If you really don't want it or any of its flavor cousins (such as sweet potatoes), how about another watery vegetable like zucchini?
I'm going to brave my first pie crust
Yeah, I finally decided to try this -- I froze the flour/fat mixture and refrigerated the food processor dough and blade (no more space in the freezer!), both overnight, and I had great chunks of fat in the dough. It worked really well, dramatically better than just using butter from the frig.
Can I just omit flaked coconut from cake recipe?
Funny, when I saw the title, I thought -- do an oatmeal substitution!
Coconut doesn't interact at all. It just sort of sits there, like a nut or something. You can often pick out the shreds from the cake.
Beautiful Costco pomegranates -- Now what?
My grandma juices them before they become pomegranate jelly. I am not sure how she juices them, though. Pomegranate jelly is really *amazingly* delicious! I don't know if you have enough fruit to make much jelly, though.
I find them fabulous on their own, and they seem to last a while on the countertop.
Lavender Honey in Metro Detroit?
These are not in Detroit but if you're desperate, try looking at ....
http://www.qtm.net/lavenderhillfarm/
http://stores.allthingslavender.com/StoreFront.bok
http://www.jodibeehoneyfarm.com/ (participated in a lavender festival in the summer, but lavender honey is not listed on this website)
Is this cooking?
So, if you, a self-professed chowhound, "very much enjoyed" the chowder -- enough to ask for the recipe, then didn't it pass the tasty test?
Why does something have to be "difficult" to count as "cooking"? Doesn't it count as fine fare to have strawberries drizzled with balsamic? How about tomatoes, basil, and mozarella stacked on storebought bread?
New owner of Stand Mixer
Being able to make stuff with no hands! Has made bread-making much easier, but a lot of mixing in general has become faster. Not having to tend it as actively while I use it. I burnt out the motor on a food processor making bread dough, once, and I find standing there holding a hand-held electric beaters to be a bit tedious.
I don't have any attachments. I don't want the mixer to die and take all the attachments with it. I am a bit of a cynic.
Thanksgiving Pies
Well, the name is exactly right, but it didn't have almonds or creme fraiche in it, so I'm not sure what's going on here. Hmm. It seems this recipe is from Bon Appetit from 2002? Not sure why it is attributed to Martha.
The one I've made is double-crusted and has just walnuts, no other nuts, and no cream. Somewhat like this one without the ganache (MS's has just a dribble on top):
http://pghtasted.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
Grocery Stores - Detroit Metro area
I have to also recommend that you just buy regular food (as opposed to baby food in jars) and mash it up for your baby. Whether it's a plain fruit, vegetable, grain, or whatever, it's pretty easy, and as your baby ages a little, just mash up whatever you're eating a bit. It is so much easier and helps them get used to eating regular food.
I've resorted to canned stuff only for emergencies like air travel, but, aside from the pureed pears that my non-baby son ate with great enthusiasm, I've never managed to get either of my kids to eat more than 2 bites of that stuff. It just is not as good as real food. I've tasted it. It's pretty blah.
So I say, take the plunge and mash up some stuff of your own. Have fun!
Trader Joe's simmer sauces--any good?
I don't have a problem with it. I just don't spend a lot of time contemplating it, but yes, I know there's a lot of fat in there.
Are animal products used in refried beans/pinto beans by El Pollo Loco or Taco Bell?
I just saw an ad in a french magazine that McDonald's is now offering vegetable ball things in its Happy Meals instead of fries in France. Made with carrots, corn, and something else (I forgot now). Think a croquette of mashed veges, not tempura.
