AreBe's Profile
Straining broth through a coffee filter
I put a Bounty brand white paper napkin in a colander and strain my stock while it is still hot.
Simple Recipes that are Incredibly Delicious!
Made this chicken marsala Thursday night and will make again. Thanks for sharing. And we upped the sauce by half the first time - it's delicious.
Favorite Pioneer Woman Recipes
Watched her make Caesar Salad on her TV Saturday and used her recipe & techniques today.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/caesar-salad-recipe/index.html
None of the 3 of us liked the flavor of the dressing - too much Dijon and Worcestershire - we'll stick with Ina's recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/caesar-club-sandwich-recipe/index.html
The croutons did not cook evenly in the skillet even though I frequently stirred & tossed - so much easier for me to toast them in the oven.
In Praise of the Fish Sandwich
Chargrilled amberjack at the Seafood festival in Destin, Florida
NC Wineries for 21st birthday in March
Liked the best? Our son's clear favorite was McRitchie with Westbend a close second for their wines and the smaller more personal tasting experience. We really like the wines at Raffaldini, the views from the tasting room and patio are stunning, and we walked under a beautiful collection of blooming dogwoods to enter the building. The grounds of Shelton are absolutely beautiful and so is their Reisling that we brought home. We like the wines at Childress, but the building is over-the-top. We like the wines at Grove and may attend a concert or two there this summer. I can't say which I like the best as they all have good points.
NC Wineries for 21st birthday in March
We started at Grove Winery in Gibsonville. Father Gerry Waterman arranged a guided tasting of fourteen "Quaffy Whites and Bold Reds," but he was out of the country on a mission trip and the class was led by Grove staff. We left with a bottle of the Traminette.
Friday we drove south to Salisbury and Yoder's Amish Market. We bought snacks, spices and awesome sandwiches from their deli.
Tour and tasting at Childress Vineyards in Lexington.
Tasting at Westbend Vineyards in Lewisville, first their wines then our son tasted each of their four beers, I had a small glass of IPA, and my wife got ready to drive. Their meritage wine is delicious.
We drove north to Dobson, checked into the nicer-than-most Hampton Inn, and had the $10 prime rib special at Surry Diner - friendly people, nothing fancy, good piece of beef, but it was cooked well past the medium rare we each requested.
Saturday we started at Shelton Vineyards for tasting and tour.
Drove south a bit to Raffaldini Vineyards in Ronda for a tasting and some time on their gorgeous patio. We left with several bottles, we all especially enjoy the Bella Misto. The young man who served our wine there encouraged us to drive northwest to McRitchie.
MicRitchie Winery and Ciderworks in Thurmond was the smallest, most intimate place we visited. We especially enjoyed the chardonnay and cider here.
Dobson NC weekend
Blessed Union to you! Thanks so much for reporting back! We are headed that direction this weekend. Our son turns 21 this week and has asked us to take him on a wine tour. Your original post, others' help, and your feedback will help us too.
Chicken stock - purine content and gout
oh monkeyerotica, can we limp together from the kitchen to the table and back?
I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast between Biloxi and Mobile, my red beans are from Camellia, and the last batch had a pound of sausage, at least a pound of ham, about a quart of that Jell-O thick chicken stock, and plenty of sauteed onion and garlic. T'weren't just beans in my bowl.
Shrimp? Don't break my heart! My parents still buy brown gulf shrimp on the docks for the whole family, and nobody can eat just one or two!
Thanks monkey, "Keep in mind, one person can eat a particular purine rich food and have no reaction, while another can eat the same stuff and their foot blows up. Caveat emptor." YES, it's very much individualized, and I very much appreciate everyone's help.
Potato salad secrets?
Babs mentioned sour cream. I know one family that uses it as the secret ingredient in potato salad.
The bacon and green onions that my wife adds to hers really transform the dish, but they're so obvious to sight, feel and taste they could never be secret.
Chicken stock - purine content and gout
Just as I feared.
Thanks much for sending that link. I've been googling around and hadn't found a clear explanation like this one.
Chicken stock - purine content and gout
I'm very proud of my chicken stock. I mostly follow the instructions from Edna Lewis in The Gift of Southern Cooking. I hack the birds with a cleaver until my work area looks like a crime scene, add plenty of carrots and onion, but I cook it much longer than Miss Lewis does, and my stock is rich and flavorful and sets up like Jell-O in the fridge.
But I'm getting over a gout attack stupidly brought on by a week of cooking and eating (1) red kidney beans cooked in that stock with ham & sausage, (2) lentil & sweet potato dal, and (3) shrimp creole. I'm studying up on gout and purine content of foods and see what bad choices I bundled together.
I don't know whether my chicken stock rates as medium or high concentration of purine. I'm afraid that the richness of it caused by chopping the meat & bone into smaller pieces with larger surface area and long extraction times means a higher purine content. What do you think?
Rotisserie Chicken - want to make it at home - don't have rotisserie
Trussing the bird that way is actually quite easy. Just keep the video at hand.
Vertical roasting in your indoor oven MAKES A MESS. Yes it's tasty, but the splattering fat must be cleaned up.
Help with menu for casual dinner this weekend? Sorta Southern themed
Happy it turned out so well. If you're looking for the next use for those pickled okra and green beans they are great in bloody marys.
favorite cafeteria food? morrison's fish almondine
Picadilly Carrot Soufflé
2 pounds peeled carrots, chopped up
2/3 c sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp flour
3 eggs, beaten with an electric mixer
6 T butter at room temperature
powdered sugar
Steam or boil carrots. Drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl. While carrots are still warm, add sugar, baking powder and vanilla. Beat with mixer until smooth. Add flour and beat well. Add beaten eggs and beat well. Add butter and beat well. Pour mixture into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until top is a light golden brown. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar over top before serving.
Made with this much sugar the dish makes a fine dessert so we put in no more than half to make a good side dish. We use a potato masher on the boiled carrots because we like some carrot bits left for taste & texture. Mom used an electric hand mixer one time on some not quite soft cooked carrots and spewed hot orange bits around the room - be careful.
NC Wineries for 21st birthday in March
Thanks. Here's a link to cellartracker tasting notes grouped by producer.
http://www.cellartracker.com/list.asp?szSearch=carolina&Table=NotesProducer&Page=0
NC Wineries for 21st birthday in March
We'll be in Lexington and the Yadkin Valley and would like to stay within about 150 miles.
NC Wineries for 21st birthday in March
My first born son turns 21 during his college spring break in March 2012. He has asked us to take him to several wineries for a birthday trip.
We're most interested in the wine, of course. He enjoys the reds we serve at home from California, Rhone, Bordeaux, and Chile. But I'd like for him to be able to sample the full spectrum of what's available to help him learn what he likes.
We're also interested in the 'tasting experience' - a pretty room; a knowledgeable host; viticulture & viniculture tours, a picnic area or restaurant, etc.
We have previously visited only a few North Carolina wineries. Of these, Raffaldini is one that we will return to. http://www.raffaldini.com/visitus.php
We have not been to Childress, but plan to visit. http://www.childressvineyards.com/winery/
Which additional wineries or tasting rooms do you suggest? We may drive up into Virginia.
Thanks much! We'll also need help with restaurants, delis & bakeries once we know the winery itinerary.
Paula Deen’s Warm Turnip Green Dip
I've seen the ads for it but not yet watched the show. Searching - Bobby Lighter - in the recipe search box at http://www.pauladeen.com/ gave 86 hits. I couldn't figure out how to store a link here to the search results there.
Paula Deen’s Warm Turnip Green Dip
Interesting that my thread submarined for two months and then emerged with five replies. I never did try this recipe myself.
Why bourbon for ham glaze?
From 27CFR: "Bourbon whisky", "rye whisky", "wheat whisky", "malt whisky", or "rye
malt whisky" is whisky produced at not exceeding 160° proof from a
fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn, rye, wheat, malted barley,
or malted rye grain, respectively, and stored at not more than 125° proof in
charred new oak containers; and also includes mixtures of such whiskies of
the same type.
Seems most all of us agree that bourbon is best for this glaze, but one of the other whiskies aged in the "charred new oak containers" probably would also be good.
Butternut squash soup
I made this one a few days ago and will definitely make it again.
http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/puree-of-pumpkin-soup/print
Cheap but decent knives for single, irresponsible guy
I own this one and am buying another for my son for Christmas.
http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-40520-Fibrox-8-Inch-Chefs/dp/B000638D32/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1MCQ2WIH2E20F&colid=KVDISLWEH4E7
Does the Chef or do the Kitchen Staff at Restaurants Drink "On Duty"?
"Oyster knives and cans of Stroh's beer in hand, four chefs sneak out the back door of Poole's Diner, the funky, acclaimed 75-seat restaurant on Raleigh's McDowell Street. It's 6:50 p.m. on a Sunday night in January, almost showtime. In the dark parking lot, the chefs glow in their white jackets and aprons. They stab holes in the bottom of the cans, tilt their heads back and down the beers in one long swig.
"Wow! That is ice cold," says Ashley Christensen, Poole's executive chef and owner.
"Brain freeze!" cries chef Tandy Wilson.
"Smooth!" adds chef Tyler Brown.
"Once the ritual, borrowed from Wilson's Nashville restaurant kitchen, is complete, the chefs are ready to crank out dinner for almost 50 people who have paid $150 each for the privilege. On this weekend, Christensen and friends will raise $8,000 for the Southern Foodways Alliance, one of the handful of causes she supports."
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/20/999174/a-force-of-nature.html
Your plans for New Year's Eve?
Our family of four stays in and enjoys a Réveillon Dinner each New Year's Eve. We each prepare a course or two, use the good china and crystal, and open better wines.
Soup for a Group; I'm looking for soups that can be made ahead and held for 4-6 hours before serving
I made butternut squash soup yesterday using Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock's recipe Puree of Pumpkin Soup in The Gift of Southern Cooking. I let it simmer for a couple hours because the introduction states "If possible, prepare this pumpkin soup 1 or 2 days ahead of serving, and allow the flavors to deepen." You can add a little cream and sherry just before serving. I'll definitely cook this again.
http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/puree-of-pumpkin-soup/print
Cookbook recommendation for a REAL beginner. I mean, a REAL beginner.
We keep the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook with the plaid cover on our shelf. I can't tell you the last time we used a recipe from it, but it has so much useful information and so many pictures.
http://www.amazon.com/Better-Homes-Gardens-Cook-Plaid/dp/0470556862/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322687271&sr=1-1
Chicken thighs
This video shows how easy it is to remove skin & bone from the chicken thigh. I especially enjoy them grilled teriyaki style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJkz8Cpccps
But when I cook thighs as-is I brown in the skillet, cooking most of the fat out of the skin, then simmer in a canned tomato mixture to make Cacciatore or Veracruz style.
I think I am done with French wine
I think you need a better retailer. Here up & down the east coast Total Wine is kinda like Bev Mo that I have visited in northern California - huge selection, good prices, and little to zero help to the consumer. There are three shops I can go to near home (Raleigh NC area) and say I like wines A, B and C because of X Y Z reasons, and they can tell me what else they are reasonably SURE that I will like.
One of the three has two guys who know a lot about the Rhone and lower priced Bordeaux and they have Great Prices! They get my business most of the time. A second specializes in Austria and Germany which I buy only in very small amounts, but I see them. The third, well their prices are just too high.
And yes I've visited enough places in Napa Sonoma & Paso Robles to know what I like and I can pick them up from whomever has the best price, and it usually ain't the winery.
So please, visit the wineries, buy what you like. But also find a knowledgeable, helpful retailer who sells at a reasonable cost.
what is your family's coolest thanksgiving tradition?
If the mirliton (chayote squash) are plentiful then my sister-in-law will fix a big Mirliton Casserole. She always hosts near Covington, LA. Here's Emeril's recipe
http://www.emerils.com/recipe/6878/shrimp-and-mirliton-casserole
It's better than dessert! But some Fridays after Thanksgiving I cross Lake Pontchartrain and have a birthday lunch at Commander's Palace. With dessert.
