Our son is (was) on the mailing list from City Kitchens on 4th Ave in Seattle. He got a message that they had closed - Bang - and indeed they were. Does anyone have some gossip?
Apparently they plan to have a resurrection just long enough to hold the Mother of all Clearance Sales.

For the past several weeks my wife and I have looked for some chervil to buy, and we cannot find it. PCC, Ballard Market, Whole Foods, Met Market... Not packaged, not bulk. Can anyone help with this?

I tried Bob's first thing. Put "gluten powder" in the search box, and got 10 results (9 in attached capture + "soy protein powder". Since posting this, though, I have had other info that Bob's does make and market gluten and will go to our "Puget Consumers' Co-op" for it. Perhaps gluten has become too non-PC to admit to - like foie gras.

Thank you for your replies.

The other day I came across a jar of gluten powder on our shelves. I have no idea where I got it, or why, but after a bit of thought I used it in some bread I was making in our Zojirushi and am pleased with the result: The product is toasting bread and I replaced about 10-15 grams of bread flour with 1 Tbsp of this gluten and got a loaf with a nearly crystalline crumb. It toasts to an evenly porous crunchy consistency which holds plenty of butter and without any chewy center.

I have no idea where I got it, and searches for a source bring up nothing but page after page of "gluten free" products and recipes. I will greatly appreciate some help finding a source.
Gualtier - Seattle, WA

Blade and 7-bone are not synonymous - never said they were. Both are good for pot roasts.

There is sooth in your statement about the parts of a blade chuck. Indeed, when the prices were 50c a pound in the 70's and markets used to sell them on clearance, we would go and find the ones with the thinnest blade - mostly cartilage - and buy them and dissect them into a "chuck eye". which was only a knife-thickness from the last rib-eye, the flatiron which could be cooked on a grill or pan, and the "under blade" meat which was stew or hamburger fodder. We even saved the heavy fat strip for larding and barding.

Those days are gone but it would be nice to have that bone because, correct or not, I believe that there is something to "Nearest the bone...".

Thanks for your reply.

In our houses, down the generations, pot roast was made with a blade chuck roast. It went without saying that there would be an actual "blade" or "7-bone" in place. That does not seem to be the case anywhere we have looked. Are blade-in blade chucks gone?

I'm testing more crisp and easy handling angles: Prepare by cutting off the knobby parts (stem and flower ends) and remove the membranes and such, leaving a rectangle. This I put close to the heat in an overhead broiler. It chars quickly and seems to keep some crispness. Then just slice, chop, Julienne... etc.

Wow - Lots of truth out there. I can't reply to all, no-one would want me to. Thank you all for taking the time.

"Soggy" as I used it did not mean "soft", it meant "waterlogged". I never expected "crisp", and don't think I'd want that in a roasted pepper. Sauteeing julienned bell pepper gets my preference for softened yet a little crisp.

But absorbing the oils and excess aqueous stuff does seem to give a firmer product, and it looked as though paper (bag, towel, etc) has a slight edge, but it's not unanimous. I am going to try other methods - the bowl seems worth investigating - and do some more precise observations.

I have always understood that after one roasts bell peppers they are to be put in a paper bag to cool. Our son, when he does it, wraps the peppers in poly film or puts them in plastic bags. I think that this is heresy because the peppers come out soggy. I have come searching for the truth.

I had been inclined to use a bit more water anyway, so upped the water from 1.5 - 1.75 cup and then used the same weight of Stone Buhr as King Arthur, and the loaf came out fine. The last few KA loaves had been "camel backed" but this one was symmetrical. Crumb just as I like it and a 1/4" slice toasted crisp.

I did notice, for the first time, that the crumb became denser from top to bottom. On one hand that may be logical, but it does seem new and I will have to experiment a bit.

Thank you for your replies and the freshloaf link which I will use - because now I need a soft sandwich loaf and am likely to get started at that site.

gm

I do see where KA bread flour is listed (on their web site) with a protein percentage of 12.7%. Stone Buhr nutritional info on the package has 5 gm of protein in 30 gm flour, which is 17%. On their web site, I see it is listed as you stated. I hadn't looked there but at this package info, and now I am vexed and confused.

Is there something wrong with my math, or with some other parameter ("Protein on the bag doesn't mean gluten..")?

I think that if the protein percentages do turn out as your reply said, that I will just go ahead with my present recipe, but now the question has taken a life of its own

Thanks for your reply.
gm

I have worked for some time to produce a proper toasting bread: crisp, open crumb, in my bread machine, and am close to a good recipe. I have been using KA Bread Flour but our co-op market has switched to Stone Buhr, which is higher in protein. I would like to start off running rather than make a dozen or so trials. I don't expect to have identical results, but would like to be close.

If I am using 565 grams of KA and use 565 grams of SB, assuming that the same weight of protein would result, could I expect something near the product I have been making?

I would be wary of using any model of any immersion blender for crushing ice from cubes. If the cubes were broken up a bit into half-inch pieces, and with some fluid, I might try it with a close eye and ear on the operation for any straining.
If you are making lots of smoothies and things that need crushed ice why not just get an electric crusher? Not awfully expensive. Ours is so noisy (96 dbA) that hearing protection has to be used.

Now that I have gone back and re-read my post I agree with you. I am beginning to think that, after 76 years of age, a type of wide-eyed naivete returns.
Back to the Bamix, though: Long experience with other mechanical equipment has made me a bit wary of lubricating rather than disassembly and cleaning, though if it comes to that i will choose WD-40 over peanut oil which, I think, ultimately would gum up as well and add to the problem, while WD-40 has some cleaning action in my experience.
Thank you for your reply.

I do not recall from 20 years ago whether the owner of a BaMax is supposed to do some preventive maintenance. We do not use the unit much, but last night after making a Caesar dressing the shaft was almost too hot to touch. My instincts would be to lubricate it but I would prefer having instructions on how to proceed.
Appreciate comments.

I'm glad to find another with the terminology. Fact is, I hadn't thought about these for some time and now I'm hoping for the taste again. If I can find some in Seattle I will try to duplicate the cooking process of slicing crosswise and sauteeing in butter. Trouble is I wasn't at all into cooking in my wasted "yout" and don't recall more than the vision of them in a stove-top pan.

Looked around and FWIW it looked as though this one from Epicurious is one of the better ones:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

Thanks to all who replied.

Overruled, and now embarrassed: I do recall the term exactly, but realize it was not applied to plantains, but to small, very green bananas (same skin, linear striations, etc.) which were not sauteed but sliced into thin cross-sections and fried.

But I do recall what I now accept is called platanos maduros and will seek the recipe. Thanks for the assistance.

Many years ago I spent a summer in pre-Castro Cuba. I was served bananas in many ways. There were little green ones which were cut into discs and fried, some were baked, and I believe some were sauteed. I was a kid then, not into cooking, but I do recall that the bananas used for the dish I am after were ripened to the point of being brown and I thought they were called "platanos manzanas" -

The over-ripe bananas were cut lengthwise and either baked or sauteed and I think some sweetness (honey) was added.

Can you help me find the recipe? Thanks
gm

Alton Brown and others frequently stress the importance of oven cycling temperatures, and how they should operate within a certain maximum range and how to use terra-cotta or tiles etc. to compensate for that.

I have just acquired an inexpensive remote thermometer which has a "max-min" function for testing range. I have tested with equivocal results from people opening the door and other travesties. While getting ready for another test, I would like to get some opinions for the point at which I should call a tech for a "real" test.

My wife makes a Christmas twist every year. The recipe makes two twists and we used to give the second one away to various people. As we have become older the number of people who could enjoy this on Christmas has dwindled, but if we can keep the second pastry dough and bake it a week later it will be gratefully received.

Is that a safe thing to do?

Beef it is. Can you clear up a discrepancy in what I have found? One guy talks about using chuck and slicing it:
http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/italian_beef.html

Another site from allrecipes.com wants it cooked in a slow cooker and pulled, and they use Italian dressing with other spices for the cooking:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Coo...

The second one is easiest for us but I want to be authentic, too.

Which do you like? - Thanks again.

Right! That reference went by me so fast in the movie it didn't make an impression. Thanks - Got the recipe. That should lay waste to the afternoon activity schedule. I have a feeling that it is a sneak attack drink. Excellent help.

That's a whole lot, and I have some research to do. Thanks. We will be cooking on the boat, most likely, but it is a 34' trawler and there are a few bigger boats to which I can farm things out. This is a great start.

I have agreed to prepare lunch at a boating rendezvous with a Blues Brothers theme. Have not been to Chicago in decades and cannot recall what I once knew about favorite foods there, like Philly CheeseSteak, Cincinnati Chilli - I remember that there were some but the memory faded.

Please give me some leads. -Thanks

An old Vermont recipe for Sour Milk Doughnuts calls for sour milk. While it is possible to sour un-pasteurized milk it is my understanding that pasteurized milk doesn't sour, it goes bad.

I don't think buttermilk is what is wanted, or was "sour milk" an expression for buttermilk? Anyway I'd like to hear some thoughtful answers on the subject.

Thank you for your reply. I have sent them an email today, but whether or not they have it I am very happy to find this place. My wife and I don't get around a lot but when we do go downtown this is going to be a stop.

Two nights ago at a dinner at Lombardi's I asked about Biscuit (Bisc) Tortoni and they didn't have it. I have asked in a few Italian restaurants without success. In my early years, 1950s, it was available in all Italian restaurants in New York City and northern New Jersey (or at least it seemed so to a kid). It is addictive. The Wikipedia description -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit_... - doesn't describe it as I recalled it: Not a classic biscuit but a custardy ice cream served in a cup of paper like the ones that sometimes came with bottled water dispensers. It was just a bite or two, but OMG!

Does anyone know of any restaurant (or private home - I'm getting desperate) were I can get this?

Thanks jaykayen and scubadoo97. I will give the instant rice a try with Grindz as my fallback. BTW: Do you suppose it is possible to buy instant rice in a plain wrapper so no-one will know? <g>

We have heard that one should put 1/4 to 1/2 cup of rice into a coffee mill from time to time to clean it. We have a DiLonghi and I am thinking of doing that. It is possible to dismantle the mill to show the milling parts, and perhaps that would be a better thing to do.

I'd like to collect some opinions about the matter
Thanks