flowergarden129's Profile
Just Moved to Sunset Park
Where should I be sure to check out locally? Suggestions for restaurants, shopping for food ingredients, great places to go are all welcome.
more Brooklyn Fairway disappointment
I just moved to Sunset Park. Where is the fresh tofu store? I'm very excited to hear of it's existence.
To buy or not to buy... a bread machine.
For what it's worth, King Arthur Flour feels that a bread machine does a better job of kneading and proofing the bread than can be done with any other appliance or by hand. I make challah every Friday, and always make the dough in the bread machine. I have a lot to do, and it lets me walk away. I like the bread machine because it lets me make a very wet dough, which I find makes better bread, without the difficulties of kneading it. I watch it start to mix, so that I can add flour or water to get the right texture, then let it do its thing (whether making challah or any other bread). I always do the last punch down, brief knead, shaping, and baking in the oven (on a stone). The problem I find with Bittman's bread and its variants is that I have to plan ahead and start the bread the day before, and be around at the right intervals. That turns that kind of bread making (which I also do) into a weekend project for a lazy day. During the week, if I want bread, I use the bread machine. It's critical to find recipes that are not only good, but good for your brand of machine. Different recipes work in different machines, and you have to try them to find out. I make a great pumpernickel in my machine (baked in the oven), which does its thing while I make a bean soup or something to go with it for a weeknight dinner.
Small Ikea roasting pan
There have been a couple of threads recently about Ikea enameled cast iron. Ironically, I was on the board to post about my little $9 roasting pan I got there a couple of weeks ago. It's stainless steel, with a surprisingly thick bottom for the price. Not tinny at all. I was dubious if it would be big enough, but I needed a roaster that was smaller than my huge turkey sized one. In fact, I love it and use it many times/week. It's about 6 x 9", and fits a roasting chicken (normal sized, not one of those enormous Perdue Oven Stuffers) perfectly. I've used it on the stovetop for making gravy and braising. I now make baked desserts in it all the time. It's the perfect size, and incredibly versatile. I've been very impressed by it.
Warm Fruit Recipes?
I just posted a recipe in the member recipes section that my family loves. It's called Apple Cranberry Bake. It's basically apple pie without the crust, with cranberries and optional chopped walnuts added, baked, served warm, with melted chocolate drizzled on top. Very seasonal. I serve it with pumpkin or vanilla ice cream.
Food for 9m. baby, no teeth, wants to feed himself
Nope, no eggs no where. My kids at their worst had lists of 20-30 items apiece they couldn't eat. Meal planning was a challenge for a while, then you figure it out and it's not a big deal. And, of course, their lists weren't necessarily the same so you kind of learned to make multiple choice meals.
Favorite Fall Dishes...
I snack on them. Or, dice them as a side dish with an appropriate main course that needs a little tang.
Have you ever given yourself food poisoning?
You may be right, but the dressing was the only thing I'd eaten that the rest of my family hadn't had over the last couple of days. But, who knows.
Impulse buy- salt cod- now what?! Help!
My all time favorite salt cod recipe involves first soaking it. I like to leave it a little salty--usually soak in water overnight, then drain (i.e. no water changes). Put it in a saucepan with clean water and boil for a couple of minutes, then drain well. Meanwhile fry onions (cut into long slivers) in a very hot pan until they soften, carmelize, and get bits of dark brown. Add diced, deseeded hot pepper (habaneros are traditional) to taste. Fry them a minute, then add bacalao broken into chunks. Fry it, stirring constantly, until it too gets a bit crusty here and there. Add a large diced tomato (or two medium ones, diced) and fry until it softens. Traditionally eaten with roti bread (flat bread), also very good with rice. Yum.
Favorite Fall Dishes...
Pickled green tomatoes are fabulous! I grew up on them. You make them like dill pickles, usually.
Best way to enjoy Persimmons...
The other kind can be eaten out of hand, at any degree of ripeness, even crunchy if that's what you like. They're not astringent like the kind referenced above. They are one of my favorite fruits.
Have you ever given yourself food poisoning?
I, on the other hand, tend to be fairly cautious about food safety. It all started when I was a teenager, and made myself a salad using some Ranch Dressing that had been sitting out on the table for a couple of hours from somebody else's salad. A few hours later, I was driving somewhere and had to pull off the road as I suddenly started vomiting. I vomited continuously for 36 hrs., around the clock. I will never, never, knowingly risk that experience again. And, that salad dressing didn't smell bad, look funny, or anything else.
Sealed vs non-sealed burners
Another thought--my friend bought a sealed burner stove, thinking it would be easier to clean. She actually hates it, and finds it very much harder to clean. If something overflows and gets all over the burner, she can't just remove the drip pan and rinse it or stick it in her dishwasher. Instead she has to wipe it out, getting up all the bits of food and liquid. it can be quite laborious.
Turkey for Just Two
Don't brine a kosher turkey. In effect, it's already brined because it's been soaked in salt water as part of the kashering process. That's why lots of non-Jews like kosher turkeys and chickens, because of the "brining."
Food for 9m. baby, no teeth, wants to feed himself
My kids were both allergic to eggs, along with about a thousand other ingredients. That's why I know. Luckily, they were both allergic to the yolk and not the whites, so I used to hard boil them and wash the whites to be sure there was no yolk clinging to them. It doesn't work the other way round as well.
Great Toaster Oven??
Mine doesn't have convection. Personally, I never quite figured convection out. I tend to burn stuff, especially stuff near the walls of the oven. I guess I'm never in that big a hurry, although I know it's the "professional" choice.
Stretching a buck?
I have a new addiction--Mark Bittman's recipe for Braised Turkey Legs with Cranberries, published in the New York Times in 2002. 3 turkey legs will feed an army. It's incredibly rich tasting. I don't like it cooked on the stovetop as he does. I cook it in the crockpot for 8 hours on low, then shred the meat into the broth, discarding all the disgusting little bones and tendons that make me hate turkey legs in most forms. If the sauce is too thin, remove the meat and reduce it in a pan for a bit before you add the shredded meat. It tastes almost winey--kind of like coq au vin but with no vin. It's close in flavor to a good pot roast, too, but way cheaper. It's good with noodles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/dining/191MREX.html?ex=1223784000&en=42ab0952d84b1707&ei=5070
Food for 9m. baby, no teeth, wants to feed himself
My daughter did really well with rice cakes. They kind of crumble and melt in their mouth, but they're easy to hold onto. And, of course, there are the standard Cheerios. Both my kids refused all baby food or mush--went straight to adult foods. It was a challenge for my younger daughter who tended to choke, and teethed late. Cucumber sticks were very popular for a while, cut into very narrow strips so that if she bit a piece off it wasn't chokable. Also, squished blueberries (so that they weren't so chokable--just smash each one with your finger). Unsalted whole wheat or spelt pretzel sticks (the skinny ones, not the fat ones which are chokable).
Incidentally, to the poster who said egg yolks are OK because it is the white that is allergenic... It's true, but the problem is that it's impossible to get an egg yolk without some white clinging to it. So, kids that react to egg white can't have egg yolks either.
Problem with noodle kugel (pudding)
I use the same ingredients you do, without a problem. The kugel should be very "wet" before you bake it. Perhaps you aren't using enough eggs? Then cook it up until it is solid, and nicely browned on top.
Dixie Chicken Cooker (for beer can chicken)
I've never used one of these, but I roast a lot of chickens. In an ordinary roasting pan there is no direct exposure to heat either, and the chicken browns well. So, I'm guessing that the problem is that in the vertical position the fat is running off so fast that it's not "basting" the skin. You need fat on the skin for it to get brown. Have you tried rubbing the skin with olive oil or butter before you put it in the oven? As for the drippings not being flavorful enough, do you mean in the center cylinder, or do you mean in the drip pan?
Also, I find that different brands of chicken vary widely in how fatty they are. What about trying a different brand of chicken?
Great Toaster Oven??
I got mine at Target, and I like it a lot. It is bigger than most--I can roast a chicken in it. It has a bowed back, and so will hold a 12" pizza. My old one was smaller, and I like the size of this one. It's by Black and Decker. It's not cool or gadgety, just functional. Looks vaguely retro. I like the size so that in the summer if I want to roast in it I don't have to heat up the big oven--keeps my kitchen significantly cooler.
Slow cooker--whether and which?
I've never used a rice cooker, so I'm not sure about that part of your question. But, I don't think they stay turned on for very long, and the whole point of slow cookers is just that--low and slow. I have always had a crock pot, and use it regularly. The trick is to use it only for what it's designed for--basically stocks, stews, braises. It's also excellent for making beans. I've never liked the recipes for things like roasting a chicken in one. Mine is a Rival, simple and basic. Not programmable. It works fine. My old one, which eventually wore out (after 15 years) had a couple of features I slightly miss. It had a stovetop proof crock, so you could brown ingredients in the crock, then insert it into the heater, and it had a setting for doing two hrs. on high, then switching over to low. My new one lacks both of these features, and it's not a tragedy. Do be sure you get one that has a removable crock (they almost all do these days) and that you get one of a suitable size for your family (too big doesn't work well, and too small is, well, too small). I do beans overnight, stick them in the fridge in the morning (dried beans)--very efficient. Soups, braises are perfect because stuff doesn't burn and you can leave it unattended safely.
Le creuset stock pot? reviews?
What a great idea! it's so simple and obvious, and I'd never thought of doing that. I'm always ladling stuff into the colander to strain it.
I need good deli
Russ and Daughters way beats Zabar's in my opinion for smoked fish. One of the most interesting things at Russ's is to get tiny bits of all their kinds of salmon--the range is amazing. They also make a fabulous sable sandwich on a very good, chewy bagel. Barney Greengrass's lox is very good, but lacks the variety of Russ's. It's a really wonderful breakfast, though as a sit-down meal. Beware the crowds on the weekends. Be prepared to wait on line, but it's worth it.
Eating without the din near Columbia University?
There's a lot to dislike at Symposium, but my daughter is absolutely addicted to their chicken kebob. I find it uninspired but innocuous. But, I love their cold dandelion greens, their taramasolata, and their eggplant appetizer (basically baba ghanooj--I can't remember what they call it). So, I order these three dishes. The dips are served with tasty warm flatbread. It's a simple but satisfying meal.
Eating without the din near Columbia University?
I've actually never eaten there. I've heard mixed reviews of it. It's on my list to check out.
Eating without the din near Columbia University?
It's Broadway Presbyterian Church, on the west side of Broadway. I think it's actually at W 114 St.
