mymymichl's Profile
mexican crema vs. salvadorean crema
I discovered Mexican Crema in a local Latino market, fell in love with it, and would eat it right out of the container, that is until I checked the fat content. It's got thickeners in it, but here in Mexico where I vacation, it doesn't. It's all milk product thickened by action of some bacteria. But there are variations. I find that I can interchange crema with CF, but prefer the taste of the slightly more fermented and assertive crema.
Bubble and Squeak
I don't remember spinach, but I can see it as a nice color to have in it. Always cabbage, and the cabbage we used was the leftover from when we made corned beef. It's best to use a heavy cast iron griddle to get some nice crispy brown on the bottom. I never saw it done with red cabbage. Leeks sound like they're going into my next one instead of onions. Any scraps of corned beef just have to be in the B&S too.
Oranges with olive oil and garlic
Our nona used to slice the garlic very thin; she used a razor blade. Something tells me there was some rosemary in the oil.
Baking Fish Tonight for Dinnerq
Please, if you really love fish, forget about watching the clock, and test each piece since ovens vary. I think your simple recipe is great, but I recommend poaching it in a skillet. Gives you more control. I add a splash of white wine to the poaching liquid, S&P. When almost firm, remove the fish to a warm not hot plate, and reduce the liquid, adding a small pat of butter at the end. Halibut is a terriffic fish, please never over-cook it. .
Aerogarden reviews?
About them bugs: You can sterilize your soil in the oven at 250f, which will kill bug eggs. Please don't over cook the soil.
Chives grow in outdoor opts or windowsills. You need a gangster to kill chives. They are the most hardy, well worth keeping.
Reservoir in Silverlake?
One of the most critical things a restaurateur must do is price his menu properly. That means taking into account his market, their economics, and being able to stimulate their curiosity. Given the location, I imagine the restaurant signed on before the real estate bubble burst, causing low receipts combined with cash poor customers.
It's a recipe for disaster unless the restaurant grabs hold of his food costs, and rethinks his menu.
Cuisinarts Grand Griddle - any good?
I have had one for years, and never had good result with that overpriced disk. It always sticks, never heats evenly, and the round shape is not convenient. Does anyone have a good use for this pretty but useless thing?
The ideal flat grill??
As a chef for most of my life, my answer is to do whatever it is that works for you. Just get the old food off. That blocks the cooking heat.
Michael
Why/when is cast-iron better than non-stick? [moved from Home Cooking]
Black steel has a coating on it. Go for the carbon steel and treat them with the respect they deserve.
Why/when is cast-iron better than non-stick? [moved from Home Cooking]
I pour some water in and let the pan soak for a few minutes. Then with a non scratching plastic scrubber like a Dobie, I clean it up - no soap, rinse and wipe dry. Just remember if you leave too much in the skillet, it means youve cheated your dish out of some of the essential flavors that stick to the bottom of the pan. Deglaze as often as you can.
Chicken and Dumplings - Need Your Recipes
You need to roll them with a feather light touch. Barely manipulate them or they won't rise. Keep the cover on, no matter how much you want to look at them, and check that your baking powder or soda is adequate.
Too many tomatoes!
Can them; it's easy.
Get some Ball canning jars, peel and seed the tomatoes, jam them tightly into the jar along with salt, fresh basil and garlic. If you love good olive oil you can add that too. Make sure there are no air bubbles. Process for an hour and seal. You won't ever regret it.
what sweet potato dish should I make to go w/ham?
Most cooks would make a strongly flavored sweet potato dish, but I prefer to let the sweets take a back seat to the star. Do a Lyonnaise by thin slicing (mandoline) potatoes and sweet potatoes and thinner slices of onions. Add cream or milk, chicken stock, fresh grated nutmeg, some parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Oil a baking dish, then make layers until the dish is filled. Bake 350f, under a loose foil tent, and if you need to, keep adding liquid. You want the dish to be soft, wet, and have a smooth sauce-like gravy. That's what makes it soul, or mood food. Remove foil for the last few minutes to let the top color.
Fresh ginkgo nuts [moved from Boston board]
I never was able to take a bite of Durian on a recent trip to Chinatown. The smell drove me away, even though some people nearby said it was delicious. I won't eat fugu either. I consider both of them 'courage food'.
Fresh ginkgo nuts [moved from Boston board]
Durians really stink. Bad. The ginko nuts need to have their outer shells removed, wash them, and store in the fridge. Try to use latex gloves as the smell stays on your hands for days.
Are they really safe to eat?
Peter Luger's steak sauce (moved from Manhattan)
Clearly, you know how to eat a good steak, Bad steaks need some sort of a disguise.
My fave for a good club steak is to make cuts in the fat surrounding the meat, and massage it well by hand with crushed garlic, olive oil and soy sauce. The steak rests at room temperature for half an hour, gets a few grinds of pepper, and goes on the oiled grill. I always remove the meat before it reaches my degree of doneness--rare to med rare, because meat continues to cook, even after it leaves the heat, same as a car rolls after you take your foot off the gas.
Allowing it to rest for a few minutes on a warm plate is essential.
Fried Clams (moved from Site Talk)
I have been experimenting with fried clams, the way we got them at the many roadside stands on Cape Cod where I was raised. I'm unable to get the fresh Ipswich big belly clams, but our local Long Island top necks and little necks are good enough. I saw many recipes for soaking them--but nothing seemed to get that particular flavor or texture. The list included flour, flour and corn meal, and even semolina. Southern style recipes told me to soak 'em in buttermilk, plain milk, even evaporated milk. Almost, but not quite.
I used peanut oil, kept the heat high and steady, added the clams slowly enough so as to not lower the oil temperature, but when they attained that perfect color, they were also overcooked, tough. I need help, if anyone can offer any.
Why is Cheese Forbidden in Authentic Italian Fish Cookery?
I love Marcella, but she can be something of a dilettante. Like the rest of her ilk, she is only a guide, and ought to encourage her readers to taste and decide for themselves.
Fry Bake from Trinidad recipe? [moved from General Chowhounding Topics]
Andrew Zimmern, Travel Channel, Bizzarre foods.
Sheesh, the guy loves to eat shocking foods, raw bugs, worms, hearts of kingfish, you get the idea.
Sorry, not for me. Monday night 10PM he's on with Anthony Bourdain for two hours, going through New York to dine on every conceivable yukky food they can find. I'll probably TIVO it.
Refrigerate peanut butter?
Sue me, I gave up on Smucker's natural, which my green friends told me to refrigerate. It was too much trouble to stir it, hack out some of it, and have it destroy my sandwich bread. I tried using my microwave on low to soften it, but who needs all that trouble. I'll probably rot to death, but I use Skippy now, and enjoy it immensely.
I still use the Smucker's for cooking.
Why is Cheese Forbidden in Authentic Italian Fish Cookery?
Rule one is if you like it then eat it and don't give a damn what anyone else thinks.
That said, the italians (me too) feel their perfectly fresh fish is so excellent that its flavor deserves to NOT be masked by the strong cheesy taste. Still, if you must use cheese, try it just once sparingly to see how you like it. You mught decide you enjoy fish.
Fry Bake from Trinidad recipe? [moved from General Chowhounding Topics]
I saw one of the more aggressive "I'll eat anying dead or alive" guys on TV enjoying (pigging out actually) on something in Trinidad, called a "Fry Bake: with shark meat. Does anyone know how to make these?
Peter Luger's steak sauce (moved from Manhattan)
I concur. The sauce is great even straight from the bottle, but it does muck up the flavor of their incredible aged steaks, and their marvelous tomatoes, which they get even in the dead of winter, no one knows how.
Does anyone know how to make the stuff at home?
Gelatin: leaf converted to packet
Can anyone tell me how to convert measurements for leaf gelatin to powder in Knox packets?
Credit Card to Secure a Reservation
About chargeback: we gave that a lot of thought, and decided what did we have to lose, especially if the table was going to be empty, and that was a major loss.
Credit Card to Secure a Reservation
I owned a New York City restaurant for twenty years, and we had our share of no shows, It hhhurts like hell when your people have knocked themselves out to make a holiday like Valentins'e Day special for our guests only to see empty tables when hundreds of others were turned away. The only time we charged a credit card was for the holidays when people would book reservations at several places, giving them the option of deciding late, and keeping several restaurants from using their tables. So we asked for card numbers, but as it always turned out, people showed up, and the ones who didn't, well I figured they had a good reason for not coming, and I never charged a single credit card.
It's a way of keeping people honest. It only bugs the would be bad guys.
How I beat Cuisinart
For years I've admired everything about my DLC, but the two part feed tube that just won't separate for cleaning always irked me. What kind of designer would create a part that gathers eons of accumulated gunk, and makes no provision for getting it cleared out? An arrogant, shortsighted one, that's what kind.
Tonight I won the battle with the help of a hacksaw blade, some determination, and a healthy dose of being ticked off at any object in my kitchen not being under my control. By cutting off one of the tabs that rides in the groove of the pusher, I was able to separate the assembly, and get an old toothbrush into the heretofore inaccessible parts.
I know why they did what they did: to prevent some Darwinian throwback moron from sticking his hand into the bowl while the blade was spinning. So they save a few fingers and let the rest of the intelligent customers be exposed to bacteria and contamination.
Maybe it's no important point, but to me it heralded a victory of becoming the master of my kitchen domain. I urge you to try it; you'll feel better, believe me.
discolored stainless pot?
I agree it's annoying. I caused it to happen when I let it overheat while I was distracted. I decided it's a pretty "patina", and use the pot regularly with no ill effects to me or the food.
Goo residue
Never use any petroleum products on your wood rolling pin. No nail polish remover either. Just a dry pot scrubber, or a dull knife blade ought to do the job well enough. Also, you can run water on the pin, pushing away the gunk. Also, I'd phone the dealer who stuck the sticky stuff on your pin and give him hell.
With some use, the bad stuff will go away.
