LJS's Profile
But you'll love it the way I cook it!
Parsnips-not everyone's cup of tea, but they are my Dad's fave so we had them a lot when I was a kid...always plain boiled, maybe with a smear of margarine (it was the '50's and we didn't go in for 'the high-priced spread'), how could a veg be bitter and bland at the same time?...sigh...
Then I roasted them under a chicken (I was driven to it-no carrots or celery root, my usual go-to roasting pals)....drenched in chicken fat and browned to a sweet goodness...I have never looked back and now do parsnips creamed and sauteed and raw, like carrots,with apples in a slaw...it was me that was boring, not the veg!!!
Help with menu from garden
My feelings exactly...I was just about to suggest a curry of the potatoes, squash, onions and toms...then perhaps a slaw of cabbage and yoghurt to balance?
Charcuterie Ratinaud
Thanks for reminding me this place exists. We heard of it, but as 'seeing in believing' (or maybe 'location, location, location') just never got around to visiting. My question: in your opinion, is the retail staff knowledgable enough about their wares to answer allergy questions? I have a Celiac to cater for and, though charcuteries and pates SEEM to be okay, they can fool the unwary.
What's for Dinner #144 [old]
OOPS, totally missed the National Salad Month, but will make amends. Tonight is as follows: Asparagus Stilton Tart (recipe from London Times Magazine), Tomato Salad- both the asparagus and the mache lettuce that will dress the heirloom tomatoes are from our own garden-life is sweet...
Dip Challenge
One of our gang's (office crowd) faves is the Ultimate Mushroom Bacon Dip (hey, you didn't demand healthy!)
1. In large skillet on medium-high heat, cook 1/2 lb cut up bacon to crispy bite-sized bits
2. Remove bacon bits and set aside.
3. Drain all but 2 TBSP bacon fat and to same skillet add 1 lb sliced mushrooms (any variety works).
4. When mushrooms are nicely browned, lower heat and add 1 (small) pckg. cream cheese cut up into manageable chunks (Philly is best).
5. When cheese is fully melted, add 1 cup sour cream and remove from heat, re-add bacon bits, a dash of tobasco, S & P to taste and blend.
In attempting to justify this caloric splurge, I have served with carrot and celery sticks, and green pepper 'pipes' but lets face it, If you are eating this, you have already decided to plunge right in to gustatory depths...you might as well enjoy it. So serve this with small pita triangles or mini-pitas...frankly I would get it into my mouth on bits if cardboard if I had to and judging by how little is EVER left, I am not alone...once watched my boss (very dignified senior Editor of national publication) surreptitiously go after the last bits in the bowl, with a finger, like a 5-year-old, very endearing!
What cookbooks have you bought lately? Springtime edition! [old]
Beat This! Cookbook, Ann Hodgman-- re-released, updated, with a foreward by Elizabeth Berg (2011).
Not sure if she has already been mentioned in this thread, but always worthwhile picking up anything by Ann Hodgman.
I am making her Perfect Roast Chicken from the original Beat This! CB yet again tonight. And I am determined to try her recipe for Croissants someday soon, about which she says "This recipe is longer than Gone with the Wind and extremely bossy"- thats how she rolls! Love her sassy attitude, and her imaginative ideas.
Please help a new mom who's new to cooking too
Yes, I know this is an OLD thread, but the topic is forever. While I am all for learning how to cook while learning how to be a parent, there will be days when even the slow-cooker or a roast chicken is one thing too much to manage (trust me-been there...).
So right after all the above advice and recipes, and purchasing the Slow Cooker, do this. Call everyone you know and tell them when they visit (and they will!) do not bring a 'onesie', a receiving blanket or a stuffed dog, BRING FOOD! Food for the freezer, preferably.
If you ask nicely, they won't mind.
I am a brand new Nana and hope to repeat this experience as it is so much fun. I just spent the day with my daughter and new grandson...we took turns cooking up a big batch of the Joy of Cooking Cauliflower and Potato Curry (with green peas) for her pal who is due home from hospital with her newborn.
My daughter is a 'pro' now as her son is 6 months old and she maintains her best baby gifts were all edible.
Every time I visit (weekly-lucky me!) I bring frozen chili,beef stews, Morrocan Chicken and Prunes, marinara sauce, pea and any other hearty soup (small containers-new Mom's need to eat lunch, too!)
Again, congratulations and enjoy-babies are the gift that keeps on giving!
fiddlehead question
Just what I was about to say: not all fiddleheads created equal and, if found in nature, you MUST be certain that they are growing in a 'pure' environment as they tend to concentrate toxins.
Brick Lane (London) Indian Restaurants
Thanks for telling the whole story...Brick Lane is back on the list to visit...not a lot of Indian food to be found in our town (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada). The closest we get (unless we make it ourselves) is a small pinch of curry powder in a lobster roll-very exotic!
Brick Lane (London) Indian Restaurants
Thanks to all who have responded: we are doing a rethink after reading this cautionary tale. I should say that the folks who recco'd Brick Lane are not really into Indian food themselves and admitted it was 'the vibe" of the area they had found intriguing.
Brick Lane (London) Indian Restaurants
We were advised to check out Brick Lane if we wanted Indian food choice in London. OK! Now I have got choice coming out the samosa...any favourites for ChowHounds?
What are you baking these days? March 2012, part 2! [OLD]
Yesterday was a big baking day at my house and an equally BIG disaster.
The plan was production of 6 large and 1/2 dozen small meat pies for the freezer. The fillings were prepped and ready to go: traditional pork pies, deep-dish double crust turkey pies and a new Morrocan pork/turnip/prune/cumin style pie that had the most delicious filling.
As a 35-year baker of pies, I have tended to get a little cavelier about pastry/pie-crust. Added to that, I have been suffering (whining between the sneezes and the coughs) from what is known locally as the 100-day-cold. My husband, who knew his fave meat pies awaited the end of the effort, offered to help with the pastry-making which was motivating!
We made a giant batch of pastry (regular Crisco, AP flour, salt and ice-water) in the usual, by-hand method and formed the results into the correct number of proportionate-sized balls, slightly flattened.
Then,my husband prepped them for their rest in the fridge while I went to change for our hike.
I think this is where things went wrong, though I hasten to add that I do NOT blame Himself for this, as I didn't see the problem coming.
I usually wrap each individual slightly-flattened pastry disc tightly in plastic wrap. Hubby simply placed them all on dinner-plates and covered the plates in plastic bags. (He is very environmentally careful and will re-use the washed bags again and again: I confess I would bin the plastic wrap!).
We then went for a much longer walk and then napped before I got back on track with the pie-prep. When I woke up and grogged my way to the surface, I realized that I had no time left before dinner and had to get those pies formed and in the oven/freezer fast so I got the plates out, prepped my rolling area and went for it.
That is when the disaster revealed itself. Every single disc fell apart as soon as I tried to roll out the pastry. Leaving out the cursing and the tears, I then ended up piecing together enough bits to do 1/2 dozen single (top) crusted pies, turning the Morrocan dish into a pastryless casserole, and serving some of the turkey mixture on rice for dinner. More than 1/2 the pastry went in the bin. We ate very late.
Post-game analysis?
-my cold impaired my experienced judgement and the pastry was too short to begin with
-you MUST wrap pastry INDIVIDUALLY to retain moisture while it rests in the fridge
-you MUST obey rules of timing for pastry-rest 1/2 an hour in the fridge and no more or take out from fridge and rest for an hour before attempting to roll if you have left it there for more than 3 hours
Alternatively, maybe there are some days you simply shouldn't try to do major kitchen projects!
In any case, no permanent harm done and I am getting re-inspired reading this thread: I think muffins sound like a good safe place to go next!
Have fun in TO, my old home town, Buttertart!
Which type of flour for gumbo roux?
I have always used all-purpose white, unbleached flour....mostly because, other than specialty bread flours, that is what I have on hand. It makes a nice, mahogany-brown roux.
Fozen Uncooked Extra Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp-Dinner Thoughts?
Thanks...sounds doable and less lethargy inducing than my idea but won't need a lot of time or effort!
Fozen Uncooked Extra Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp-Dinner Thoughts?
You'd thaw first right? would they then need some sort of marinade prior to battering?
Fozen Uncooked Extra Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp-Dinner Thoughts?
What can I say? they were on sale and I gave in to temptation. But I hadn't realized these are without shells and deveined-which I have never dealt with before.
I was planning on quick-thawing in colander and quick-sauteeing in garlicky-butter-EVOO and serving over rice. But that sounds boring to me. Anybody out there have additional ideas?
Your most prized recipe book and why.
The Farm Journal series includes everything from specialty books like Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook (Buttermilk Pie in Cornmeal Pastry-page 118) to an all purpose recipe sources- Farm Journal's Country Cookbook (Homemade Pork Sausage-page 41).
I bought one new in 1971 and then got the rest of my collection (8 titles in total) in second-hand book shops over the years. Mostly in small towns in New England, though the magazine itself was big with farmers and farmer's spouses in towns throughout the mid-West and in the South until the very early 80's, I believe.
Admittedly, there is a tendency to drape things in jello or add a can of mushrooms, but there are also introductions to the lost art of rendering your own lard, and cooking a Brunswick Stew (real squirrels!).
I never spend 10 minutes with this set of books without smiling!
Your most prized recipe book and why.
It is Jean Anderson's The Food of Portugal that I am delving into right now! Published in 1986 and purchased second-hand in the early 90's by me, it languished on my book shelf until about a week ago. Now I am SO into it-her description of the country using food, her discussion of wines and some very fine step-by-step descriptions for this under-valued cuisine. I am going to check out more of her writing.
Canadians--tell me your favourite recipe from Mom or Grandma
Can't help with a personal experience of making raspberry-wine (it's all rhubarb wine out here on the East Coast,long process but dead simple and good product). However, here is a link to a Raspberry Wine recipe or two to get your juices flowing..pardon the pun!
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/redrasp.asp
Your most prized recipe book and why.
New 'favourites' all the time as I experiment with sushi, Portuguese cuisine and 'fun with foam', but my constant culinary companions?
-Joy of Cooking for 'how to'
-Julia for anytime I need to fall in love with technique again.
But my quirky favourite is a series from Farm Journal Magazine: the Farm Journal Cookbooks held my hand through the first meal I ever cooked for my husband, the wedding cake recipe we later baked together, my 'famous' homemade sausage, crabapple jelly and apple pie recipes, the first recipes I taught my daughter and the inspiration for a thousand other meals that celebrated engagements, homecomings, graduations, sustained pals through illness and divorce, and, yes, graced funeral receptions, too...all using home-grown local products...though they are American and I am Canadian, the timeless wisdom (and the smiles from out-moded ingredients) crosses borders and decades.
Gingersnaps as breakfast cereal
You could treat your Gingersnap recipe like a shortbread cookie and add oatmeal...while it would add some distracting nutritional value, it might also serve to 'bind' them for a milky bath, and then help them break up a bit when they soak it in..
Canola, peanut or grapeseed oil for stir-fry and other frying
Grapeseed oil, seconded...in fact, after a decade long love affair with EVOO, I have rather backed off it for general purposes.
I am buying better quality olive oil and using it more sparingly, salads and recipes that are genuinely Mediterranean in origin (eggplant parmigiano, pastitsio). Other than those specifically olivey-demanding sorts of recipes, I really like the all round neutrality and high-smoking point and health benefits of grapeseed oil.
What are you baking these days? March, 2012 [old]
QUICK is absolutely correct: I buy mine at a bulk store as we go through a lot and therefore had no packaging to consult when I wrote up the recipe.
BTW, I think I know that wiseass-he is related to the one who pretends to be unable to read my list on those few times I send him out to shop, despite the fact he has been reading my scrawl for 33 years...comes home wondering where I usually purchase "fnesh fnuit" and why I need 'bittermilk'-HA HA HA-sigh....
What are you baking these days? March, 2012 [old]
Happy to oblige!
Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies
-3/4 cup AP flour
-2/3 cup oatmeal (Minute, I think they call it,NOT instant-microwave or large flake)
-1/2 cup cornstarch
-1/2 cup icing sugar
-3/4 cup softened butter (if you use unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt to recipe)
Blend all ingredients with "light" hands or pastry blender. When all is blended to pea-sized crumbs, add 1-3 tsps water, as if for pie dough-just enough to bind.
Work dough into soft smooth ball and shape on a floured surface, into a log, about 8 inches long (or two 4-5 inch logs if that becomes unwieldy). Don't fret about overworking, you don't mind a bit of gluten formation here, it is not flakey pie crust you are going for!
Rest log(s) in fridge for 30 mins.
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
Slice log into 1/8-1/4 inch rounds and place on unbaked cookie sheet. (They don't spread much). You should get about 3 dozen, but recipe is forgving of variations in size.
Bake for 15-20 mins (just very slightly browned on bottom-peek at 15. mins....mine needed nearly 25 as I sliced rather thickly).
Cool completely before packing in tins-they keep well for a week and freeze well for a couple of months.
What are you baking these days? March, 2012 [old]
So inpsired by this thread...I was boring myself let alone all you charming Chowhounds with a recitation of my fhouse-bopund-with-flu-baking: white bread and oatmeal shortbreads (not exaclty food-erotica). I was mildly inspired by the March issue of Saveur, those cakes are fabulous and the feature story is so bitter-sweet that I was tempted by ALL of them.
But then I read Cailtin McGrath's inspirational message about a much more intriguing cake a few posts ago and decided that is where I am going to put MY recovering effort!
What are you baking these days? March, 2012 [old]
Oh, Cailtin, that sounds SO good! I may give that a try-I was going to chime in here with the Saveur March issue cover story on cake as my inspiration to bake something, but you have stopped me DEAD in my tracks. I might even check out that cookbook, which admittedly I had avoided as I loathe both olives and capers!
Roast chicken had pool of bloody liquid inside
This unslightly liquid happens in my best chicken recipe quite frequently- Roast Chicken (lemon, salt and garlic) from Hodgeman's 'Beat This!' Cookbook.
I just upend the whole bird and tip out the liquid into the already collected lemony/garlicky pan juices before my husband or other squeamish guests (related to my husband) see it.
The juices are boiled and reduced slightly, sometimes with the additional sanitizing effect of alcohol (aka a slug of white wine).Those juices are heaven over mashed potatoes.
Haven'ty killed any of the family yet!
Have many skinny asparagus stems (only). Can I use them in a veggie juice cocktail???
I have never tried that kind of veggie cocktail...should be okay, but keep in mind that even 'skinny' asparagus will make a BIG fat flavour addition, maybe a little too powerful. Perhaps you shouldn't bother trying to blend it in with something else, but let it star in its own Cream of Asparagus soup?
What's for Dinner #131 [old]
Lentil and sausage casserole perked up with lots of bell pepper and a nice crust of cheddar, fresh homemade bread, green salad and hot chocolate pudding. Can you tell there is not a sniff of spring here in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia????
