clamscasino's Profile
Best Recipes you have ever found on Chowhound Home Cooking board
Two that come to mind (aside from those gleaned from COTM) would be Chicken Adobo from "Obsessed with Chicken Adobo" and those potatoes that were, I think called "Crash Hot Potatoes."
Favorite Mollie Katzen recipes?
+1 on the Hungarian Mushroom Soup. It's simple luxury in a bowl. One MUST use hungarian paprika though - no subbing for that!
I also really like the Lentil Soup in the original Moosewood, although I do tend to up the seasonings. In general the soup section in this book is pretty solid. And the tabouleh (sp?) is spot on in a traditional sort of way.
February 2012 Cookbook of the Month Nominations
Stir Fried Scallops with Chinese Vegetables or Tsao Gahn Bei Ding on page 206.
I don't have any dried Chinese mushrooms so I used three shitakes about 3 1/2 inches across, cut into strips. I removed the stems and nuked them in some water to make up for the soaking liquid. Worked like a charm. And instead of "dicing" the scallops, I just halved them across the waist.
Ah yes, it's a book forgotten on the shelves....but I really want to play with my nice new wok...
February 2012 Cookbook of the Month Nominations
Although I seem to have resorted to lurker status (having gone from under-employed to over-employed in 2011) I too like the idea of Asian. I've noticed a lot of "revisiting" of threads such as the Breath of a Wok, Complete Asian, etc. Even the "Big Old Yellow Chinese Cookbook" has gotten some attention lately. (I made a wonderful scallop dish from it a few nights ago!) So I'm gathering that there might be an interest in flocking back to the wok? I know I am, especially since I just got a "real" wok for Christmas. Yippee! I've been tempted ever since we did the BOAW book. That was so much fun!
Okay, so I'm not actually going to go out on a limb and nominate it, but I will just throw out the idea of The Encyclopedia of Chinese Food and Cooking by Wang and Kutscher (aka The Big Old Chinese Cookbook). I know there are lots of hounds who already own this under-used treasure so it might be fun to tackle it together.
And I echo those thanking LLM for her excellent coordination. Thanks!
October 2011 COTM: Splendid Table: Second Courses
Herbed Seafood Grill or Pesce ai Ferri pg 254
Here's another "oh so simple, oh soooo good" recipe. Kasper says "Do not let the lack of outdoor facilities stop you from making this simple dish." So, I used her "Grilling in a Saute Pan" method.
The recipe calls for firm-fleshed fish fillets and she suggests several that would work. I used swordfish fillets that were about 3/4 of an inch thick. These are thinly slashed in 4 places and then a mixture/paste made from garlic, parsley and basil is rubbed on. This is supposed to marinate for 2 to 6 hours, but due to my last-minute nature, they got one hour.
I was slightly skeptical of the basil/swordfish combo but heck, there was still basil and parsley out in the garden.....it was really quite delicious. I will most definately copy the recipe before this book goes back to the library.
Winner of the November Cookbook of the Month is The Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl, et al.
Yes, it quite exceeded my expectations for "oven-fried." Brilliant technique - you have to wonder how many kitchen testers and 'developers" twiddled with it for it to come off so perfectly. Now I'm wondering about the provenance of the recipe.....will find out tomorrow when I pick up the actual book from the library.
Winner of the November Cookbook of the Month is The Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl, et al.
Thanks to you LulusMom I (jumping the gun) made the oven-fried cod last night and it was delicious and easy to make. Ten minutes to prep and another ten to cook. Crispy and golden on the outside and sweet and tender on the inside. A definite keeper.
October 2011 COTM: Splendid Table: Second Courses
Lemon Roast Veal with Rosemary pg. 294
Soooo, nobody's sprung for a three pound bonelss loin of veal, huh? Well neither did I. I used this recipe, ( but not quite all of it) to roast a pork tenderloin the other night. And it was mighty good. So let me tell you about it.....
One starts by making a paste of herbs (like so many othe recipes in the "Second Courses" section to "marinate" the protein). This one uses garlic, parsley and rosemary and also some pancetta. Alas, no pancetta was around so I used bacon. Then some lemon juice is added to the paste and you stuff it into deep slits cut into the meat. And like other recipes in this book, that is supposed to rest for several hours. So, a scant 45 minutes later, lovingly rubbed with olive oil, into the oven it went. (I'm not good about planning ahead.)
Since my pork tenderloin was only about 3/4 of a pound, I knew I had to adjust the cooking time down significantly. During the roasting one is supposed to do such things as add wine, lemon juice and such things. Then after, you are supposed to make some kind of a pan sauce with added stock....Well oops, there was no wine around, so I simply drizzled the remaining lemon juice over the meat half way through and forgot about the rest of the recipe. But it was delicious....loved the herbs falling out of the slices...and oh so tender and flavorful. Into the rotation it goes!
October 2011 COTM: Splendid Table: Second Courses
I'm late to the party, but we tried this out a couple of nights ago too and quite thoroughly enjoyed it. We actually grew the type of red peppers specifed here this year in the garden - and I seem to have a plethora of them on hand so was excited to use some up. It was kind of cool too because I NEVER have the right peppers for COTM recipes!
I haven't been anywhere near Planning ahead" lately and so my chicken only "marinated" for about 45 minutes. I don't think this hurt the finished dish but I think if you are short on time you may want to double the amounts of garlic and rosemary. The chicken was still perfectly moist and tender.
Sour cherries outside my window. Any good recipe ideas?
You can find that recipe on epicurious. It's called "Old Fashioned Cherry Vanilla Pie." It was in the July 1997 Gourmet magazine and actually calls for 2 tablespoons of vanilla. I only use one though and it's delicious! Hint hint: it can be elevated to devine by subbing half the cherries with peaches.
History of microwave-cooking?
I'll add some to the history too - I have an old Radarange in the closet (Grandma's) and in it a cook book entitled: " Introduction to Cooking With The Amana Radarange Cookbook." (Copywright 1977, 1980.) Anyway, there's a chaptercalled "Are you curious???" and in it they say the first microwave oven was produced in Raytheon Company laboratories in 1945. It goes on to say:
"In 1945, the late Dr. Percy L. Spencer of Raytheon, while testing a radar vacuum tube, realized that the microwave energy it generated produced heat. He thought it might cook food. He sent out for a chocolate bar, it was said, and put it in front of the radar tube. The chocolate immediately melted.
"So Raytheon developed and patented a microwave oven which it trademarked 'Radarange." The microwave oven was designed for hospitals and other mass-feeding situations. These first microwave ovens were large and expensive to build."
Later on it says Amana (a subsidiary of Raytheon) "Working with Raytheon engineers, Amana introduced the world's first 115 volt countertop domestic model in 1967, the Amana Radarange Microwave Oven."
Soooo, this book is just over 300 pages and is replete with recipes for such things as Stuffed Duckling L'Orange and Chicken Liver Stroganoff, Cherry Crumb Coffee Cake, Rye Bread, and Hawaiian Ham Balls (just to mention a few LOL).
Seductions of Rice: Pilaf, Paella, Risotto: The Mediterranean Way
Strange. I saw that %3 at the end of at least 3 different posts the other day.
June 2009 COTM Elizabeth David Classics: Vegetables
I totally forgot about that recipe! It looks so much prettier made with red cabbage. I bet it would make a terrific side dish for a barbeque or pot luck. Like Gio, I'm going to revisit that book, if only to finally finish reading it. I still have all the scraps of paper marking my "to try" recipes in it.
Baking with Pre-World War II Recipes
Okay, so double acting baking powder was invented in 1889, therefore probably not the problem. However, you indicated that the directions were rather sketchy....so perhaps the baking powder has reacted too quickly with the liquids. I have a very good cake recipe that solved this problem by not combining the baking powder with all the flour, but instead just the last third of flour added.
Baking with Pre-World War II Recipes
Lucky you to have such a treasure. My favorite cookbook is one of my grandmother's, but it's from 1945. Baking from it always makes me nervous because of the baking powder. Now we have "Double-acting baking powder." Back in 1937, the baking powder may have been different. So far it's not been a problem (I don't bake that often) but the question as to whether adjustments need to be made is always niggling at me.
You have made me curious though. Off to google the history of baking powder.....
APRIL 2011 AMFT/Greenspan: Chicken and duck; beef, veal, pork, and lamb; fish and shellfish
According to my morning google search, you are correct Herby. Cognac must be made in Cognac, France. However, the type of grape also comes into play, with the result that Cognac is somewhat drier than other brandies. Of course a lot also has to do with how long the Cognac is aged.....Gotta love google. Learn somthing new every day. :)
APRIL 2011 AMFT/Greenspan: Chicken and duck; beef, veal, pork, and lamb; fish and shellfish
Funny you should ask.....I just put my second attempt at this recipe in the oven! Turned out I didn't have quite enough brandy left, so I pulled out the rest of that nip bottle of Cognac to make 1/2 cup. Sooooo, to answer your question, I just tasted the little itty bit left in the bottle. I think I don't really like it because it reminds me of bourbon, and I just don't like bourbon. Don't ask me why. It could get all Freudian.....Really looking forward to dinner though.
APRIL 2011 AMFT/Greenspan: Chicken and duck; beef, veal, pork, and lamb; fish and shellfish
chicken tagine with sweet potatoes and prunes pg. 212
I wish someone else would weigh in on this dish, 'cause I'm ambivalent. Anyway, one starts by cooking 2 sliced onions in a tagine or dutch oven. (In case you don't read the recipe too carefully, this takes 30 minutes.) Meanwhile, you brown your chicken parts in another pan. Then you add to the onions some saffron, cinnamon, a point of star anise, honey, a bit of cayenne and a bay leaf. In go the prunes, a cup of chicken stock and some water. The chicken gets added and then its topped with cubed sweet potatoes. Your vessel gets covered and simmers away for 45 minutes.
Now I thought this would be almost fool-proof. Silly me. I knew I didn't have saffron so subbed a bit of turmeric. No big deal. Skipped the star anise. Then mother Hubbard went to her cupboard to get her poor dish some prunes. When she got there the cupboard wasn't bare......but the dang prunes I thought I had leftover from Christmas (perfect, I can use them up!) were alas, apricots. Still, not too big a deal, Dorie uses those in a tagine with lamb. Then, after the 45 minutes of cooking time, the sweet potatoes were decidedly not done. Ugh oh, the timing of dinner, so carefully mapped out on the back of an envelope was shot to h--l. After 15 more minutes in which I had turned up the heat, the potatoes still weren't done and the chicken was a bit over-cooked. So that got removed and the potatoes went on for another 15 minutes.
This dish seemed so promising, but it was just too sweet and rich for my taste. Mr. Clam likes neither couscous nor rice, so I served it with Dorie's Onion Biscuits, sans the onions. I really should have made rice....this dish needed it to counteract the richnes. I'm sure this would be delicious in a multi-dish setting with off-setting flavors, but as a one-dish meal: Fail.
APRIL COTM AMFT/Greenspan: Nibbles and hors d'oeuvres; soups; salads, starters, and small plates
awwwww, loves labor lost.....:{
APRIL 2011 AMFT/Greenspan: Chicken and duck; beef, veal, pork, and lamb; fish and shellfish
Why thank you BC! I hope you enjoy this as much as we did, because, as they say: "your mileage may vary." That being said, if you are a big fan of rosemary, you might want to up the amount called for. There really was just a hint of it with one sprig, but we, especially M. Clam, liked it that way.
re: May COTM, I've been lurking, but usally make it a policy not to vote, since I'm never sure of how much time I'll have, or then I get the book and have no access to ingredients, or M. Clam decides...whatever. I'm rooting for one of them though. :)
APRIL 2011 AMFT/Greenspan: Chicken and duck; beef, veal, pork, and lamb; fish and shellfish
Adding before and after pictures of m. jaques armagnac chicken...
APRIL 2011 AMFT/Greenspan: Chicken and duck; beef, veal, pork, and lamb; fish and shellfish
m. jacques' armagnac chicken pg. 204
I'm surprised this dish hasn't gotten more attention here, because boy does it deserve some! Quite simply, cut up potatoes, carrots and thinly sliced onions are tosses in warmed oil until they "glisten." They are pushed to the sides of the pan and in goes a seasoned whole chicken. (It's supposed to be trussed, but you can see mine is just hanging out in all it's glory, due to not having any butcher string.) A bay leaf, and a sprig each of rosemary and thyme are added. Then one half cup of armagnac, cognac, or brandy is poured over. On goes the lid and into a 450 degree oven it goes for one hour.
DG says she once made this and after it went into the over she went out for a long walk. I was expecting, or should I say suspicious there might be a lot of smoke, so I stuck around. All the better to enjoy the aroma emanating from the oven....and no smoke!
I chose to use brandy for this recipe after pricing cagnac at the store. (Besides, I kind of think it's vile stuff.) It gave it a lovely, slightly sweet flavor.
The last step after removing the chicken from the pan is to add in one cup of water to make a sauce. I skipped this after reading a review of this on the original AMFT thread. Instead I tossed the veggies around in what little was left of the brandied chicken juices to glaze them. They were quite wonderful and overall this was a terrific dish in which the most humble of ingredients were transformed into a special occassion worthy meal. (Good thing, 'cause it was the chowpup's birthday.)
Will add pictures later. Gotta go for now....
APRIL COTM AMFT/Greenspan: Nibbles and hors d'oeuvres; soups; salads, starters, and small plates
Aww, shucks, thanks Gio. The RI library system took over 3 weeks to deliver the book, and I just got it on Friday. Looking forward to jumping in!
APRIL COTM AMFT/Greenspan: Nibbles and hors d'oeuvres; soups; salads, starters, and small plates
I'm on Block Island. It's usually a wonderful place to be, but yesterday was just nasty! And run to that biscuit recipe. I think I've avoided making biscuits because the last time I tried them they were awful....but since then i've learned that baking powder has a shelf life....
BTW, DG says these freeze well before baking, and can subsequently just be popped onto a baking sheet, still frozen, when needed.
APRIL COTM AMFT/Greenspan: Nibbles and hors d'oeuvres; soups; salads, starters, and small plates
Garbure from the supermarket...page 86
Yesterday was dark, blustery and stormy out here on the island, so it was a perfect day to make this hearty soup of winter vegetables and ham. One duck leg and one garlic sausage are also called for, but listed as optional. Well every time I tried to get the ducks in the yard, they ran away, so they're safe....for now.
The recipe calls for either pork shoulder or a a ham bone. No ham bones around, so I got some thick slices of deli ham to dice up and add to the soup. Lo and behold, the deli had Pancetta for the first time in 9 months, so I picked up a half-inch slice of that too. I diced that up and started the recipe by browning those smoky bits. They are removed and then onions, shallots, leeks and garlic are added to the pot. When they have cooked for 10 minutes, carrots, celery, potatoes, turnips and cabbage are all added along with broth or water. Cannelini beans go in here too. If using the ham bone, it goes in here also. So back in went the pancetta along with the diced ham.
This is simmered, partially covered for a long time. The recipe calls for 3 hours. With 2 hours to go, one adds salt, pepper, or red pepper flakes. This needed very little salt and just a few dashes of Tabasco. With one hour to go, one is supposed to add the duck leg and the sliced up garlic sausage. My soup was plenty done after 2 hours of simmering.
This recipe met my greatest expectations for a warm bowl of reeeaaallly delicious soup. Of course how could one go wrong with Pancetta in there....
Served with: Saint-germain-des-prés onion biscuits page 8.
I guess this is pretty much a regular biscuit recipe with the addition of [small] diced and cooked onion. I don't know....it's been years and years since I made biscuits. Don't know why. These were very easy to execute, and one gets to rub the butter into the flour with one's fingers - so fun to make too.
I will never again use the mental excuse that one can only make good biscuits in the South. They were excellent up here in the Northeast. A keeper recipe!
Here's my not-so-well-staged picture:
Cookbooks you shouldn't have purchased...which books just didn't work for you?
Well I guess I haven't opened this thread for a while...What a wonderful thing for you to pass on the Vivilore tradition. It's so revealing of how far we women have come. One of my favorite things in there is "how to take a sun bath."
MAY 2011 COTM NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN
Yes, yes, yes, many congratulations! My pup's tummy hurt too sometimes. Then I figured out that it was only when mommy (you must learn to speak in third person) ate peanut butter.
APRIL 2011 AMFT/ Greenspan: Vegetables and Grains; Desserts; Fundamentals and Flourishes
Thank you Goblin for all the detail in your post. With it I was able to make the Cauliflower Bacon Gratin without the book - which grrrr, hasn't yet come from the library.
I followed the some of the "variations" suggested and used diced ham instead of bacon. Also, since I only had 1/2 head of cauliflower, I added in a half dozed sliced and sauteed leeks from the garden.
This was delicious, but I think rather more well suited as a side dish than "as a simple 'comfort -food' supper." For the latter purpose, and that was mine, I felt the ratio of cauliflower (even halved) was too high for the amount of "soufflé." And it could have used more cheese....I love cheesey things.....
What were your last three cookbook purchases? - [Old]
smiling gal, I see the linkage problem - should have used http:// not www.... duh!
Anyway, I tried the recipe on page 409 for Chao Su Mein (Canton) aka Stir Fried Noodles with Smoking Peanut Oil. It's nothing exotic by any means. I did however stir-fry up some veggies and stirred in my pre-cooked noodles before proceeding with stirring in a mixture of heavy and light soy sauce, garlic powder and minced ginger. Then Peanut oil (5 tbsp for 1 lb noodles) which is heated in a small skillet until smoking is poured on top. The whole is mixed together and then just heated through.
I know some feel the A.B.C. recipe format of this book is daunting. I actually really like it. What I find daunting is just CHOOSING something to make. I have a new appreciation for the power of pictures!
Another thing I really like about this book is that if, perhaps one has the inclination, it does have recipes for making your actual noodles, dumpling wrappers, etc. Where I live, that's a definate plus.
What were your last three cookbook purchases? - [Old]
Dang it! Not very good at linking.....but if you look at my profile, you can scroll down and find those threads - cause I'm not that prolific a poster. (Second one was started by you, I think and the first on has something in the title about "The old yellow Chines cookbook.)
Will look up the noodle recipe later...
