EmilyE's Profile
Cooking Task You Detest the Most?
If you have a working and modestly powerful stove hood (that actually sucks air up and outside as opposed to just sending it back into the room as some do), put your cutting board as close as possible to the vent. I just learned this recently and it's fantastic. They hardly affect me at all. And I'm the kind of onion chopper who has to stop half way through because I can't even see out of my scrunched up, teary eyes.
How to get crispy chicken skin?
jfood...can you expound upon your third paragraph above (understanding how to treat different sizes of birds)? This is exactly what I've been trying to perfect as well. I've got crispy skin down, but the part that continually stumps me is how long it actually takes to cook, what temp is should be when bringing it out of the oven and how much that temp will rise upon resting.
I typically use Thomas Keller's method, at 450. But his recipe calls for 50 or so minutes, for a three pound bird. My birds are usually anywhere from 3.5 to 5 pounds. And often, I'll take the temp, pull it out, let it rest and then go to cut into it, and juices are still running pink. I hesitate to ever make this dish for guests, because I never quite know when it'll be making an appearance. So any tipsp you've learned over your many, many roasted chickens would be greatly appreciated.
European Butter with Sea Salt
Not all, in fact, I agree. I definitely took off some of the butter on the radishes I ate, and I still didn't love it.
Westvleteren 12
Funny story about Westvletern 12...my husband (then fiance) had a bottle (procured through a trade) of this in the fridge amongst his homebrews (none of which, of course, had labels or marked bottles, etc). Normally I don't open or serve anything unless it has been specified for "anytime" drinkability. But a friend of his stopped by, and as he wasn't yet home from work, I served a beer, and unwittingly served the Westyletern 12. Now, the friend, who is also into beer, complimented it as a good home brew, but didn't rave and jump up and down about how amazing it was and how my husband was sure to go onto fame and glory for his mad brewing skills.
Suffice to say, hubby was devastated and upset, and shocked and amazed that his friend really thought he could brew something that good. He was pretty angry at me, and pointed out that the bottle had a cap with writing on it (which it did) and it was an embossed bottle, which he doesn't put homebrew in. Tiny details I very easily overlooked, obviously. But, he admitted to me, of course, that something that special and rare should have been clearly marked not
-for-drinking or have been placed elsewhere. He was so upset he went on the beeradvocate boards and told the story, hoping for some sympathy...and many offered it, but there were also comments like"Man, my wife knows better than to serve yadda yadda"...or, "So have you called off the wedding yet?" and I believe even some references to physical violence. I was pretty appalled. It's just beer, people! And I was super sorry, as it was.
Someone on the boards who had ready access to it felt sorry for him and sent him two bottles, so he still got his bottle. And we have much clearer communication now about what is available for drinking and what isn't. We can laugh about it now. The best beer in the world? Humph. Personally, I prefer some of his homebrew because I see what goes into it!
European Butter with Sea Salt
I bought a small block of European butter (with fleur de sel) to dip radishes in, for a dinner party (something I'd read about and thought looked elegant and delicious...but, was kind of blah). I didn't use that much of the butter and now would like to use it in some other form for another dinner party. Any ideas? Obviously, it'd be great with a good baguette on it's own, but was just wondering about other applications.
(I attached a picture of my buttered radishes...they were beautiful, just, not what I'd hoped for. Maybe it was because the radishes were too cold and the contrast between the chilly radishes and the room temp butter wasn't right?)
Best Lentil Recipe?
Just made this recipe for the second time. Easy, and gorgeous presentation.
Salmon over French lentils with an Herbed Mustard Sauce.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salmon-with-Lentils-and-Mustard-Herb-Butter-em-Saumon-aux-Lentilles-em-241768
I cooked my lentils in chicken broth. I also just use whatever herbs I have on hand...this time, I skipped the tarragon and chives and used the parsley I already had. I didn't have leeks, so I used green onion instead, and it was still fantastic.
Fresh Lasagna Noodles
Thanks for the feedback! I think I will make the noodles today and let them dry and then store flat, and mix up all my fillings (sauce is already made), prep the cheese, etc, and just assemble tomorrow and I think I will take the majority advice and boil for a couple of minutes before cooking. I had never thought about the boiling being a way to "firm up" the pasta, but that makes a lot of sense.
And heylids...you have just rocked my world with the criss-crossing advice. I've made lots of lasagnas, and never have I thought to do that (now revealing my all-consuming ignorance to the interwebs), but it makes so much sense, and lasagna with noodles all going the same way IS difficult to cut. And also, I will definitely bake the lasagna on a cookie sheet. I am notoriously for having things run over just when guests are arriving and then we all have to run around opening windows and positioning fans to get the smoke out of my tiny apartment with poor ventilation.
Thank you!
Fresh Lasagna Noodles
I'm throwing a big winter feast on Saturday night and since it is multi-course, I'm trying to prep as much beforehand as possible. I'm making fresh lasagna noodles, and would prefer to assemble the lasagna the day before, as I do when I'm using dried noodles (no boil or otherwise), but I'm worried that the fresh noodles won't hold up to sitting around in sauce for 24 hours. Are they too tender and perhaps might they just fall apart upon cooking? Or will they do okay?
Also, I'm using Mario Batali's pasta recipe (one batch of regular, and one batch of green, with spinach in the dough), and his recipes call for boiling the noodles prior to assembling the lasagna, but I would have thought fresh pasta wouldn't need to be boiled...I've seen other threads on this board about whether to boil or not and there are mixed opinions. I'd just hate to go to the trouble of making fresh pasta to have the finished dish not turn out right....any feedback or advice would be fantastic.
Reservoir in Silverlake?
Husband and I went to Resevoir last night to celebrate his birthday.
A couple of points:
--They now serve a Rose, as I had a glass.
--They also now take reservations.
I liked the atmosphere and found it very warm and inviting. We had a corner seat at the front, so we could look out on Silverlake Blvd and also the rest of the restaurant. They weren't too busy when we got there (it was a Tuesday evening), but soon picked up. Overall we enjoyed the experience, but they were sorely understaffed (one server, one bus boy, and one bartender or manager, hard to tell what role he was filling). Everyone was friendly, if a bit delayed in everything, empty water glasses, rushing off with my husband's wine order, but not mine, etc.
We started with the squash blossom stuffed with an herbed ricotta mixture, tempura fried, and drizzled with pesto. Very good. It was the squash blossom where the squash had started to grow. Perfectly fried, not greasy, not too crispy. But, the stuffing was sorely in need of some salt, but still tasty.
I had the heirloom tomato, mache, and burrata salad with a shallot-fig dressing. Wonderful. The burrata was divine. Hubby had the grilled watermelon, arugula salad with a jalapeno dressing, with some avocado and marcona almonds. It was a weird mish-mash, but when all components were in one bite, was surprisingly nice.
For entrees, we had the slow roasted pork, roasted tomato, and artichoke open faced lasagna, and the cowboy ribeye with faro and asparagus. Steak was cooked perfectly rare as requested. The lasagna serving was very large, and let me tell you, absolutely fantastic. I ate about 1/4 of it and brought the rest home. It was so savory and unctuous and delicious. The pork was so tender, the artichoke flavor subtle but a nice background and of course you can't go wrong with roasted tomatoes. It almost had a lemony flavor. The lasagna noodles were housemade and tender.
Normally wouldn't have gotten dessert, but since it was a special occasion, my partner got the chocolate dessert, that had little samples on it--chocolate pot de creme, hot chocolate (though it was served cold), molten chocolate cake with a warm creamy peanut butter center (so awesome...like a grown-up gourmet version of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup), a nutella gelato (watery/milky, not gelato-like at all), a peanut brittle and accompanying chocolate bark, and a random blop of strawberry vanilla compote. All of that for $12. I wouldn't get it again, but it was interesting.
I like the way they have their menu set-up, and I thought they had some interesting wines (tried the prosecco, rose, and a pinot). So maybe it's improved since it first opened.
We'd probably go back for salads and a burger or a pizza, and leave off the more expensive dishes.
Help with brainstorming wedding menu
I just thought I would come back and tell everyone what we ended up going with. The chef and the owner were more than willing to work with us on creating our own menu, but they wanted us to provide recipes. So we did. All things we'd made before (short ribs...great suggestion!, lemon-thyme roasted chicken breasts (brined, bone-in), and a veggie napoleon), and a crostini bar with roasted garlic, white bean puree, roasted tomato bruschetta, olive tapenade, array of cheeses and fresh fruit for starters). So they agreed to a tasting, which they never do. We also provided a recipe for fried chicken, as we though, well, we might as well try it and see if it's good. They did a bang up job re-creating our recipes and everything was awesome, at the tasting. The short ribs were moist, the chicken was well seasoned, etc. Then we tasted the chicken, and just knew, people coming from LA and Boston would care more about having something authentically "Iowa," like my now-husband and I do, and care less about a really "nice" meal. The fried chicken (we offered the roasted vegetable napoleon for vegetarians and didn't bother to offer any other choices besides chicken) was amazing, and so was the peppery gravy they made to go with it, a recipe of the owner's grandmother. Everyone loved the meal! We kept the crostini bar, even though it didn't necessarily go with the fried chicken it was awesome and well liked too. Our wedding was so awesome, and the food was a good highlight of the whole experience. Thank you all for your feedback, I truly appreciate it.
Thank you for encouraging me to be assertive, as well. It did really help us get what we wanted and we had a great relationship with the owner and chef all the way through planning.
Non-crisp Almond Tuiles....quick fix?
I made some almond tuiles last night to go with some homemade ice cream for my dinner party tonight. I (stupidly) covered them loosely in plastic, and while they taste all right, they're a bit "bendy" instead of being nice and crisp. Is there a way to fix this? Will the oven cause them to melt? Or will it crisp them up? Any advice would be welcome.
Lots of leftover peach puree
I second the recommendation for cupcakes. I recently had some spiced peach filling leftover from turnovers. I cooked it down a little more and pureed (you're already at that step, it sounds like). Then I made vanilla bean cupcakes, cut a little cone out, filled with the puree, replaced the top, and frosted with a cream cheese frosting. They were amazing. I recommend adding some spices (cinnamon, nutmeg?) to the puree.
Can I substitute black truffle oil for white in a vinaigrette?
I've made Orangette's version of Balthazar's truffle vinaigrette over and over and over again. 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp truffle oil, 6 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. It's a more manageable amount.
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-year-new-york.html
I think it's amazing with just a tiny bit drizzled on sliced tomatoes, or tossed with arugula. I think it has a great flavor.
Leftover cheese sauce...ideas on what to do with it?
Last weekend I made truffled mac and cheese. Because I had doubled the recipe, the white sauce didn't thicken up as much as I wanted it to, so I didn't use all of the sauce on the mac n' cheese. And now I have about 2 pints of white cheese sauce (consists of butter, flour, milk, and a mixture of fontina, gruyere, and a little bit of truffled cheese). It's relatively thin. Any ideas on how to use it?
I was thinking about adding more milk and making a cheesy-potato soup, but not sure. It might be too cheesy for that.
Beer and cupcake pairing--please help.
He does love the Stone 12....maybe I should just bring in some really great vanilla ice cream and do floats with it. For a while the Stone World Bistro was serving floats made out of a stout (this was pre-Stone 12), but I'm sure it would be good with the 12!
I haven't had the Aventinus, but I assume since your'e suggesting banana nut it has banana and clove notes? That's what I'd want for my birthday, hands down.
Beer and cupcake pairing--please help.
I know. This is probably a wickedly strange request. We'll celebrating my fiance's birthday this weekend at a beer bar with some friends, and I'd like to take some cake in to celebrate. After realizing that of course cupcakes will make serving and distributing much easier, I decided to go that route. However, instead of just bringing random cupcakes, I'd really like to make something that would pair nicely with something the bar has available--so I can serve a small taster and a cupcake to our friends and other regulars. Their beer menu is here:
http://www.bluepalmsbrewhouse.com/Site_2/Beer_Menu.html
I thought perhaps something with caramel and a bit of salt on top might be interesting. I think something chocolate would pair with a stout, but that's kind of predictable, no? Or, I could also try to incorporate some beer into the batter?
Sorry if this post should be more appropriate for the Home Cooking Board, but thought I'd start here for some inspiration from the beer drinkers.
What to do with a 5 pound bag of limes?
Make your own frozen limeade concentrate. Make your own simple syrup, add lime juice, and freeze, and then you can just add that to water on a hot summer day and it will be super refreshing.
Help with brainstorming wedding menu
I promise, I'm NOT a bridezilla and even weeks in advance I'm feeling a lot of anxiety over coming off as snobbish. And if after my meeting I feel like I'm not going to get what I'm hoping for, I'll certainly change game plans and go for more down-home fare. It's a small-ish wedding, 50-75 people, and we're skimping on things like dress, music, and photographer in order to have a great meal with great wine and beer, because those things are a large part of our lives and we want the event to reflect that.
The owner of the venue specifically asked me to brainstorm sample menus. I like the idea of calling it beef in wine sauce, and I also think ravioli is a great suggestion for a veggie dish.
I had wondered about soup because I thought it would be super easy, especially one that is pureed...but you think would be a stretch?
Help with brainstorming wedding menu
I'm getting married next year and have found a lovely venue. Score, right? Except that I'm getting married in very rural Iowa, and even if the venue didn't require that I use their in-house "chef," I would still be hard pressed to serve the kind of meal I want to serve.
The venue regularly does meals, but they range toward buffet-style, and include such things as pickle wraps (what are those, you ask? Take a few slices of dried beef, spread with cream cheese, wrap a dill pickle up in it and slice...these are delicious, but not exactly what I had in mind) and plain ol' roast beef. I expressed this hesitation to the owner and she has agreed to work with us on a menu to get to more where we want. I'm sitting down with her in a couple of weeks, and I'd like to provide some sample menus, so that she can quote them out for me.
As we'll be hosting a lot of friends and families from Boston and Los Angeles, who will be coming a plane ride or two away, plus renting a car and driving for three hours, we really want a nice meal. But I fear that their "chef" is not actually a professionally trained chef. I have no problem coming up with great suggestions for a meal, but I need to make it something that they can't screw up (visions of soggy vegetables and overcooked fish come to mind, and not just because they may not be professionally trained, because that is what I've come to expect from large catered affairs) and something that can easily be made (and well prepared) in large quantities
I'd like to go with 3-4 courses. My first thought had been to do a French menu, butter lettuce salad with radishes and shallots and an herby vinaigrette, some kind of soup, perhaps a potato-leek soup, or an asparagus bisque (it'll be a late spring wedding), entree selections of perhaps beef bourguignon (reasoning being that slow cooked beef would be harder to screw up and easier to prepare in a large batch than individual steaks), a vegetable ragout or ratoutuille, and a chicken or fish dish, but not sure what. Dessert or a cheese course, and then cake (which a pastry-chef friend in LA has agreed to make!!).
What do you think of that? Where could things go wrong? What chicken and fish dishes would you suggest?
The night before the wedding we'll be hosting a pre-wedding bash featuring a hog roast, so I'll get the regional flavor in that way, but I wanted something a bit more elegant for the actual reception.
Any suggestions for dishes or samples menus would be welcomed! What kinds of meals are easiest to make in large amounts?
Broken Wine Glass
I think this is all good advice.
I just thought I would share my strategy...luckily, I live pretty close to the Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez wineries and go to tastings pretty regularly. I always take home the winery glasses and use those when entertaining. They're free/cheap and provide nice conversation point, "oh, what wines were good at that winery?" And sometimes, if I'm stocked up, I can serve their wines in their glasses.
Favorite baked potato toppings?
One of my favorites ways to serve a baked potato as a main course is to sautee onions, garlic, and peppers (a mix of colors if possible), then add diced, good quality ham, throw the topping on top of the potato, sprinkle with cheese and serve a dollop of sour cream on the side. Delicious!
As a substitute to sour cream, I also love to place cottage cheese (the kind with chives already in it) on top. It's a little heartier and tastier than just sour cream. Nice light onion flavor.
Trader Joe's Pre made pizza dough trouble
I too often have this problem with the TJs crust. I find that pre-baking almost all the way done is the way to go, then adding the toppings.
What would you serve with barbecued shrimp?
New Orleans-style Barbecue Shrimp
(I've had this a long time, but I believe it is adapted from a Paul Prudhomme recipe)
Ingredients
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushes
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 dozen large shrimp
1 stick plus 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter (note: I often stop at 1 stick)
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic (usually more in my case)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 C. seafood or chicken stock or clam juice
1/4 c. beer at room temperature
Directions
Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl or ziploc bag and mix well. In a large, deep-sided skillet, combine 1 stick of butter, garlic, Worcestershire and seasoning. When the butter is melted, add the shrimp, cooking for 2 minutes. If desired, add the additional butter at this point, otherwise just add the stock and cook anotheer 2 minutes or so. Add the beer and cook another minute or until shrimp are cooked through.
Obviously, the cooking times vary on how large the shrimp are. It is a very rich sauce, but wonderful with the bread!
Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I like the idea of some chard and/or corn side dishes.
What would you serve with barbecued shrimp?
I have a great recipe for New Orlean's-style barbecued shrimp (not actually barbecued, but cooked in lots of butter, that makes a great sauce for big hunks of crusty bread), and am planning on serving it for a dinner party tomorrow night, but I'm stumped as to what to serve as a side dish. Any suggestions?
Over-filled Glasses
No advice other than what has been offered, but I thought I'd share a funny experience. I was once eating at a family-run Mexican restaurant in the Midwest, and our busboy was very attentive (I was young and in college and my very nice looking aunt was eating with me). He came by to fill up my water, and was looking at me instead of the glass he was filling, and just in time he caught himself, but the water was all the ways to the top, one tiny drop more and it would have overflowed. He looked at the glass, looked at me, looked at my aunt, looked back at the water, and very carefully picked it up, with the steadiest hands I've ever seen, and brought it up to my lips so I could sip from it, to it was no longer almost-overflowing. My aunt cracked up and he grinned like he'd won the lottery. We still laugh about his self-satisfaction at the quick solution he came up with.
Food prank -- pulled on you or by you
At a family gathering, my mother once filled a deviled egg with yellow butter cream frosting leftover for one of the young cousin's birthday cakes and served it to my uncle.
Tipping the owner?
I worked at a tiny bistro restaurant where the chef owner would wait on tables three nights a week because business wasn't steady enough to justify having a server on, and I know she depended upon that tip income. But I also know that some of the regulars felt awkward about tipping the owner. If you feel comfortable enough asking, then do so, however, I know that if I were the owner, and even if I needed that money, I would probably tell my friend, the patron, that it wasn't necessary.
I'm sure you already do this, but thought I'd throw it out there anyway, if a regular server or waiter or bartender is waiting on you, tip on the total bill, including the approximate cost of the comped items, not on your actual bill. Even if a round of drinks or desserts (or whatever) are comped, that waitstaff still does as much work as if you're paying for all of it.
Being a proper guest?
I don't know about the regional thing, but my most recent frustration has been with guests who actively ask/offer to bring something, and then have them show up without said item. I always agree, because let's admit, it's so nice to not have to worry about one course or dish.
On 4th of July, one guest offered to bring his barbecued ribs. I happily agreed, and then decided since he was bringing ribs, I could buy less steak and also get shrimp, which I did. He arrived...no ribs. I was terrified there wouldn't be enough steak and shrimp, but we scraped by.
It was an appetizer with another couple, they just didn't bring it, with no excuse as to why.
The most recent version, the guest INSISTED upon bringing dessert, and I spoke to her earlier that day, and she mentioned what she was making, and she was going to the store for ingredients, showed up for dinner, with no dessert. She just "hadn't gotten around to it." We had plenty of food, and dessert is certainly not a requirement for a nice meal, but it's the principle of it.
If you're going to ASK to bring something, bring it, for crying out loud! And I would be totally understanding if any of these guests had called me earlier that day to say "hey, I just don't have the time to make this, is that okay?" I would be completely understanding--heck I've found myself throwing things together very stressed out and mad at myself for agreeing to do something when I didn't really have the time or money--but I always brought something, it never occurred to me to do otherwise. But man, just not bringing anything?
And then of course, there are the guests who want to bring something specific that doesn't go with your meal. At my sister's Thanksgiving feast, one guest brought chips and homemade salsa, and another insisted upon bring this new chocolate cake from a recipe he'd just discovered. Both were delicious and my sister accepted them graciously, but they didn't fit the meal, and no one touched the chocolate cake...because there was pecan and pumpkin pie, which is what everyone wants. And this put my sister in an awkward position at the end of the evening, when the bearer of the cake realized that NO ONE had eaten it!
My new rule is not to allow people to bring things, or to steer them toward wine. It'll save me resentment and shock, and will also let me be prepared with adequate portions/courses.
Help! Professional chefs coming to dinner.
Ah! Spaetzle! That's perfect. I've been wanting to make it myself for a couple of years but haven't gotten around to it. I don't have the spaetzle making device, and was always convinced that trying to do it without one would be disastrous. Think I can use a colander?
I hate to admit this, but the best spaetzle I've ever had was at Rock Bottom Brewing company last fall...it had poppy seeds and some kind of delicious buttery-mustard type sauce on it, a side dish to a roasted chicken. It was wonderful.
For the carbaonnade, would you recommend adding herbs or anything to the dough? Or leave it plain?
Help! Professional chefs coming to dinner.
Yes, I was planning on using her version! I'm glad to hear from someone that it works!
