mikelowie's Profile
Favorite Hot Sauce?
Austxtinker - do you know how to obtain Maya-Ik? I bought several bottles a few years ago and my supply is now running out! Haven't been able to track it down anywhere.
Thanks!
Wedding Caterer Under $80-100/pp
That's a good idea, but we're doing a relatively late rehearsal dinner the night before, and have sent out invites with a 4 p.m. start time, so we're a little locked in.
Wedding Caterer Under $80-100/pp
Small Potatoes, Left Coast Catering, Melons, Jane Hammond, James Stansfield. A few others, but those are off the top of my head.
Wedding Caterer Under $80-100/pp
My fiancee and I are foodies who love dive restaurants, cheap eats, as well as the occasional high end place. I used to work in restaurants and we both cook alot. We are getting married and are planning a wedding for about 100-120 people. We have talked to a bunch of caterers, and they seem to come in 3 types = high end caterers who charge $125-150pp on up, and you get excellent food but pay through the nose for it; lower end caterers who provide standard, uninteresting wedding fare; and independent caterers who are less established, less organized but might be able to do a good job. the more organized/established caterers on the low and high ends seem to throw in alot of extra expense on a variety of areas - you are still paying $40+/pp for food costs (flank steak with mashed potatoes plus a few apps?) and on the service end as well. We are doing invitations, wine, gifts, etc our selves, but are a little at a loss as to how to find someone who meets our budget for catering.
Does anyone have someone they can recommend who serves interesting, quality food and can do something simple and not outrageously expensive? We are hoping for $80pp +20pp alchohol which we will provide.
Thanks!
Nocino - green walnut liqueur
I'm making Nocino tonight, starting with 1liter (plus) of vodka, about 20 green walnuts (halved) and adding zest of 1.5 Eureka Lemons, 1/2 a star anise, about 10 cloves. I'll add a cinnamon and a vanilla bean tomorrow when my stash is returned.
My question is this - I'm thinking about adding either Black Cardamom (very smoky flavor) or Balinese Long Pepper (sort of a fruity/piney flavor). I thought they might add an interesting twist, but don't want to ruin my efforts. Any thoughts on either of these?
I used a more traditional recipe with some coffee beans added a couple of years ago (2007?) based partially on this thread and it was a little rough/sweet/coffee flavored the first year, but this year its fantastic and has completely blended together. I guess patience, or forgetting it in the back of the pantry, is rewarded.
How to make Truffle Honey
I assume it will break down and denature the flavor and scent compounds, thus destroying the flavor. I have some honey's from Alemany market that have very specific flavor profiles arising from the specific flowers the bees took the pollen from (i.e. oak, avocado, etc.) and I believe if they are heated it was adversely affect them.
How to make Truffle Honey
Thanks - i don't want to heat the honey because it destroys the internal flavor of the honey, but it seems like it might take a long time to infuse the honey. Do you know how long it might take, and what the ratio of honey to truffle is?
How to make Truffle Honey
I just bought 2 black truffles and, and in an unrelated incident, promptly chipped a tooth. So...I can't eat steak and I need to figure out what to do with the truffles and the first thing that came to mind is to make truffle honey.
I had it in an italian restaurant in germany once and it was incredible - i couldn't stop eating it! So...i've looked on the web and the only recipe i could find was not really clear - it said to use a double boiler, but not much more than that. Has anyone made truffle honey and if so could you reply? If not I'll have to resort to truffle risotto and we all know how that goes...
Thanks!
Walkerwoods (or other authentic) Jerk Marinade in SF?
I have been jonesing for some good jerk chicken and while my own homemade is decent, it never comes out quite as good as when I use walkerwoods jerk marinade as a base. I have been looking for it in SF for some time now without success - both Bevmo and Safeway, Cost Plus and Whole Foods were recommended (including in my search of this forum) but no luck at any of these places.
does anyone have any suggestions as to where I might find it? In the alternative, anyone have a good recipe?
Thanks!
How to use Dried Peruvian Potatoes (Papas Secas) Carapulcra
It sounds like chun(y)os are papas secas. I think papas secas just means "dried potatoes". Thanks for the tip.
How to use Dried Peruvian Potatoes (Papas Secas) Carapulcra
Does anyone know how to properly cook papas secas (peruvian dried potatoes) I have been trying to make dish "Carapulcra", which is a stew made with papas secas, chicken/pork, aji panca (chili), peanuts etc. I have found a couple of recipes on the web and made some that turned out well, but i was unclear about how to cook the dried potatoes. They are hard as a rock when you buy them, and one recipe called for "toasting" them in a pan prior to soaking them in broth for 30 minutes and then putting them in the stew. The other recipe called for soaking them for a water for an hour or 2 before cooking - no "toasting" involved. What I actually did was pan fry them in a little oil, but since they have the consistency of rocks, only some of them absorbed the oil, and they fried inconsistently - different shades of darkness, etc. (they start out as a translucent yellow).
Thanks for the advice!
