mightycheesehead's Profile
L'Ami Jean - Lunch over dinner?
I was just there this Wednesday afternoon - we happened to be there by chance, as it is just around the corner from Micheal Chadun (chocolates). We arrived around noon and there were only 2 other tables there at the time, so there was no problem getting a table, By the time that we left about 2pm, every single table was filled.
We did not feel hurried at all during our lunch. However, while we were there, the phone was ringing non-stop and they were taking reservations (I would assume for dinner). After the heavy, filling lunch, the walk along the Seine in the sunshine was perfect.
We had the 32 euro menu, and I think that it was one of the best value meals that we had all week.
Bialetti Dealers in Toronto?
I bought my Bialetti Musa from Consiglio's on St. Clair West. They had a pretty wide selection of Bialetti products. You might want to take a walk in the neighbourhood, I remember that there were a number of other grocery stores that also carried a selection of Bialetti products.
Kneading dough in stand mixer - first timer, please help!
If you are a novice breadmaker, it might be best to stick with recipes that specifically give you instructions on how to make bread in the stand mixer. These recipes should also describe to you what the dough should look/feel like at the end of kneading. I find that kneading times in the stand mixer are a little less than if you were to knead by hand. As well, recipes that give you weight measurements of ingredients are much more accurate than those by volume. I find that in the winter, I use a little less flour than I do in the summer because of the dryness from heating the house.
Stand mixers are especially excellent for wetter doughs (i.e. ciabatta and foccacia) that would normally stick on the counter when hand kneading. If you are kneading firmer doughs in the stand mixer, then I would not wander too far away as the mixer has a tendency to "walk" along the counter.
Rose Berenbaum's Bread Bible is a good resource for beginners. Not all of the recipes in there are worth making, but she does a good explanation of the process of breadmaking (i.e. autolyse, cold fermentation etc...). The one recipe that is in there that I make frequently is the Basic Hearth Bread.
Aside from just making bread, the stand mixer is a wonderfully versatile piece of kitchen equipment. You might want to run a search on kitchen aid mixers. I think that some people have found the quality of new KitchenAid mixers to have declined. I have never had a problem with mine. There are a number of other stand mixers out on the market nowadays.
How do you eat your corn on the cob?
Oh, I feel so much better after reading the responses on this thread. I too, eat my corn, row by row, typewriter style. I use the same technique as chowser. I have endured years of humiliation from my friends and family due to my corn eating technique. That being said, I pretty much hate peaches and cream corn because the kernals are too soft to rip them off the cob neatly, and it just drives me bonkers.
I like yellow sweet corn (the ones with the tough kernals) no salt or butter.
Not drinking alcohol, what will take the place of wine?
When I am at a dinner party and will not be drinking alcohol, my drink of choice is always sparkling mineral water.
My usual is San Pellegrino, because it is readily available. My favorite is Badoit. But there are lots of other choices out there.
You could put out a selection of sparkling water and do a taste comparison! I did this once and it was surprising how differently they tasted.
Kir Royale
There is a little bit of a debate about the order in which to make a kir royale. Some say to put the creme de cassis in the bottom, then top with the bubbly. Others say to pour in the bubbly first, then add the creme de cassis. As the cassis is more dense, it slowly sinks to the bottom and you get a bit more cassis as you sip the kir royale. I personally like the second version better. I have never had it with champagne (costs to much for me to mix), I usually use Crémant de Bourgogne.
As well, you can make a kir, which is cassis with aligote (well chilled). Which is quite delicious, but not quite as festive.
Steak Dinner!!! No Idea what I'm doing!!!!
One more tip to add... before cooking the steaks, make sure that you leave them out on the counter until they come to room temperature. Probably about an hour.
If you go to a reputable butcher - they should dry age their steaks at least 30 days, but even better if it is 40-45 days, grocery store meat will just not do, especially if you are making a special dinner. I usually like the fattier cuts - ribeye (delmonico) or striploin. Lots of other folks like tenderloin, but I find that although the cut is tender, it is not as flavourful. There are lots of other cuts out there, but I am not an expert on this subject, I just stick with the standard cuts.
If cost is an issue, then you can go for a cheaper cut - sirloin, and dress it up with a sauce of shallots, crushed green peppercorn (the ones that are in brine) and heavy cream/creme fraiche.
If you are quite new to cooking, I would keep the dinner simple: steak + green salad + great bread + wine. Simple. Low stress. Guaranteed to please anybody.
Steel cut oats
I much prefer to eat steel cut oats in the morning instead of rolled oats. I think that because it is less processed, it takes longer for the body to digest, and thus keeps the stomach feeling full for longer.
Because steel cuts oats take so long to cook, I typically cook up a batch once a week and get 3 to 4 breakfasts out of 1 cup of oats. I cook them overnight in a crock pot. 1 cup oats: 4 to 4.5 cups of water. On low for 6 to 7 hours. I store leftovers in the fridge and reheat a portion in the microwave in the morning. Once you start eating steel cut oats, it hard to eat the rolled oats again. Total different texture and mouthfeel.
The Silver Palate Cookbook: The Main Course
Osso buco, page 168. I made a couple of changes to the recipe:
1 used only 4 veal shanks (instead of the 16), for a total of 4lbs - I have no concept of how one would braise 16 veal shanks. .
1cup of red wine (instead of the white wine)
1 cup of chicken stock
15g of dried porcini, reconstituted in hot water.
The rest of the ingredients I decreased proportionally to 1/3 of the original amount.
I cooked it in the crock pot for 12 hours on Thursday, stored it in the fridge overnight and reheated it the next day.
Unfortunately, due to the 1/2 bottle of wine prior to dinner, I forgot to add the gremolata of parsley and lemon zest (oops).
This was a delicious and comforting meal at the end of a long week, on a cold evening. The results far exceeded the mimimal work that preparing the dish entailed. I think that the gremolata would have added another dimension to the dish. I will definately remember to add this next time.
Would be a great main dish for entertaining.
BEST SAUCE WITH SAN MARZANO TOMATOS?
My current favorite quickie meal involves making a simple tomato sauce:
Saute 1/2 small onion (diced), 2 garlic cloves (diced) in olive oil. Once the onion is softened, I add in 1 small tin of anchovies and a sprinkling of hot pepper flakes. I saute the mixture until the anchovies break up. I add in 1 whole can of the tomatoes, which I have squished with my hand. I simmer the sauce on low while I boil a package (500g) of spaghetti.
Drain the spaghetti after it is cooked and toss it in the sauce. I serve this with a generous amount of grated romano cheese.
Thanksgiving BREAKFAST
Two of my favorite breakfasts:
1) Strata - I make this every Christmas for a crowd. It tastes good, hot, lukewarm and cold, straight out of the fridge. Cube day old bread, place in baking dish. Pour over mixtures of eggs, milk and herbs. Top with veggies, cheese, meat. It sits in the fridge over night and I bake it the next morning.
2) Plain yoghurt, fresh fruit, granola/muesli
Cheese Recommendations
Some of the Beemster cheeses may fit the bill for nuttiest tasting cheese.
Beemster Classic or XO. The XO is a little bit crumblier and saltier than the classic but the nutty/caramel flavour is more pronounced in the XO.
Mimolette is also very good, I would definately choose one that has a very rough, thick, "holey" rind as those tend to have more intense flavour.
The older sheep's milk cheeses (a la Zamarano) have less nuttiness and a bit of zip in the finish.
For a firmer blue cheese, you might try Bleu de Bresse. It is a very mild blue cheese, but the texture is a bit firmer and less creamy than the requefort.
It's not technically beer but...
Strongbow makes me think of my university days. I used to drink 1/2 Strongbow+1/2 Guinness on Thursday nights at the pub......
Haven't had that in ages, but with the cool fall weather, might be time to have one again.
maple syrup?
Last time I was there, I picked up 2L for $39 at the shop. I think that the 4L was $50.
maple syrup?
I have to say that the best maple syrup that I have ever tasted is McCutcheon's Maple Syrup. They are a producer in Coldwater, Ontario and have won best maple syrup at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair several times. Actually, that is the only maple syrup that enters our household anymore. To buy it is a little bit of a chore. Whenever we are driving up the 400 (this happens a couple times a year), we get off at the Horseshoe Valley Road exit and stop by the little gift shop across the road from the IGA. They sell the Maple Syrup there and I pick it up in 2 or 4L bottles. I decant about 500mL at a time for the fridge and freeze the rest in portions. Sometimes, if I am lucky and have extra time on my hands, I'll actually go to their place to buy directly from Mr. McCutcheon.
I am not sure if they do mail order, but they do have a website. Maybe their stuff is available at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair?
Your week of easy dinner meals please
For a given week, I usually plan 5 dinners. At least one of those dinners use more "pantry" items than fresh items so that if I decide not to cook it during the current week, I can cook it the following week. I can be assured that we will have leftovers at least one night of the week and there is one night left for a splurge meal (i.e. 4-course with wine) that I plan all week long before making it.
This week's meal plan is:
Roast chicken (I bought this pre-roasted from the grocery store) with sweet potatoes and squash (I made lots of extra squash to freeze)
Split pea soup with smoked ham hock (slow cooker meal)
Chili (this can be slow cooker, or not - I made lots extra to freeze as increasing the quantity does not require any more effort)
French onion soup with roast beef sandwich
Clam chowder with salad
I find that going to the grocery store with list in hand has really made a difference to our food bill as there is less impulsive buying.
Pancake Methodology
I think that I will only answer #1, as I agree with the other posters regarding #2&3.
I think that the amount of stirring is dependent on the kind of pancakes you like.
I for one, like fluffy pancakes. So if I were cooking for myself I like to just stir to combine. However, there are others in my household that do not like fluffy pancakes. Usually I make my pancakes pretty thin to appease those "others", so that they are more crepe-like than pancake-like. To do this, I make a fairly thin batter, beat the heck out of it and let it rest overnight before cooking it up.
slow cooker favorites?
Absolutely. I have never gotten sick. In fact, there are some meats that in my regular practice, get an hour out on the counter to come to room temp prior to cook (i.e. steaks, roasts of assorted varieties). Especially in the fall /winter, the house is quite cool. I don't think that I would recommend this if the house is 90F.
slow cooker favorites?
Not really a recipe, but more of a technique....
I usually use a timer (like the ones that used to turn lights on/off when you are away from home) with my slow cooker as I have a really old slow cooker that only has off/low/high settings. Alot of recipes call for 8 to 10 hour cooking times, so you can set the crock pot to start cooking 1 or 2 hours after you leave the house and turn off in 8 to 10 hours (or whatever the the recipe calls for). If you are going to be out a long time, you can set the timer to turn on the crock pot again an hour or so before you get home so that you have a hot meal ready.
Kitchen remodel - appliance recommendations??
The Mr. and I are in the midst of a kitchen reno. We bought a 4 burner Bosch gas stove and DW (this is not yet installed, so I have no feedback). This is our first house, first kitchen reno and my first ever gas stove. The Mr. (he is the "designer" of the family) was very particular about the aesthetics of the piece. I have to say, the Bosch is beautiful to look at. And it functions wonderfully. I love it. I have discovered only 1 small issue which I did not consider. I am short. Knobs for gas stove are on the front of the stove. I (apparently) have a tendency to stand on my tip toes and lean on the front of the stove to see what it going on on the back burners. Therefore: the knobs dig into my abdomen.
So, if given the choice, and space allows, as others have said, I would chose separate gas cooktop and wall ovens. My only concern with more "commercial" equipment is that you will likely need a stronger venting system and may create negative pressure in the house (if you live in a dinky shack, as I do).
Mr. Jfood - your kitchen sounds fantastic. Do you need a house-elf?
ISO greengage plums ?next summer?
Not sure where you are... probably Toronto. Unfortunately, Toronto is not my 'hood. There is a large-ish fruit stand on Hwy #5 across from Flamborough downs that sells the Greengage plum.
Is it my imagination, or is there a plethora of different kinds of plum available this year? Maybe I never noticed in the past.
You might want to try some farmer's markets closer to you.
Coffee roasters in Toronto?
jay - can you give me some details about how you roast your beans in a popcorn device? I would love to roast my own, but I cannot bear the thought of buying more gadgets for the house. However, I do own a popcorn thingy.
My vote is for Moonbean in Kensington. Excellent coffee. Extensive selection for Fair Trade beans. Friendly staff, knowledgeable proprietor - Alan. Plus, it has a bit of that slightly shabby, bohemian vibe going for it.
Starters for bread baking
The theory behind sourdough starters is that over time, as the starter is fed and replenished, it becomes colonized with local yeast. For example, the tangy flavour of San Francisco sourdough comes from the local yeast in that area.
It is actually quite easy to make your own starter, takes about a 5 days to a week to establish it.
I find that if you use only the sourdough starter as the levening agent (or only a small amount of extra yeast), you end up with a much more dense bread. Rising time is a little longer , unless you have a really active, and strong starter.
As well, there are many recipes for sourdough bread. I find the ones that use a bit of rye or other flours have better texture and flavour.
Have fun experimenting!
Forever Summer: First Course
I just tried the Chilled Pea and Mint soup the other night. I found that it was not minty at all. All I could taste was the peas, which were delicious, but the mint flavour was not discernable.
I actually found the recipe rather lacking. The only redeeming quality is the it is extremely easy to make.
Mediterranean Grilled Fish
I was at Chiado a little while ago, there were actually some people in jeans. Nice, non-ripped jeans, but jean nonetheless. I wouldn't consider it "formal" at all. I think that I might have seen 1 suit jacket there. The waiters definately outdress the patrons. There is also a good level of noise due to talking/kitchen/music, so its not like it is quiet. There are a fair number of parties of 4+ people, usually celebrating something, so its actually a nice, celebratory atmosphere. As well, the chairs are really comfortable, so having a long, non-rushed dinner does not result in a sore bottom.
Mediterranean Grilled Fish
Definately Chiado - amazing whole grilled fish. Excellent selection of Portugese wine. Stellar service.
Chicken feet at a Chinese restaurant -- I don't get it
Ahhh, chicken feet. lwong is right, enjoyment of chicken feet is all about the texture, and the fact that it is a delivery system for the sauce. For years, I ate it, mostly because there were always several platters sitting on the dim sum table. But then I grew up, and realized that life is too short to fill up valuable stomach space on chicken feet when there is curried cuttlefish to be had. I think that I used to like it because it was fun to spit out the bones into a pile on my plate.....
Your experience definately sounds like badly prepared chickens feet. But be forewarned, a well prepared dish of chickens feet isn't exactly going to knock your socks off.
Shoot. Need Break Baking Help Quick!
Did you make the dough by hand or with stand mixer? This recipe sounds like one that could only be done in a mixer. I have not yet tried this recipe, but have tried others in the past, and my only memory is that the dough for foccacia was very wet, and slack - couldn't form it into a ball by hand, had to use a bench scraper for everything.
Rose has a website, you could check it out and post your question on it: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/ She also posts corrections to recipes there.
Challah -- what went wrong?
I am reading the recipe, and it is a little confusing to me. I seems as if Maggie Glezer has tried to convert a recipe that requires a sponge starter into a straight dough recipe. My best guess is that it is not you and instead, it is the recipe.
Usually when I make a bread that requires the sponge method, you mix the sponge and it sits overnight at room temperature. Refrigerating the dough really doesn't have an impact on the crust. In fact, a long, slow fermentation is desirable because it allows for more flavour development. Typically, if I refrigerate dough, I let it partially rise at room temp for about 1 hour, then refrigerate it. Depending on the ambient temperature, you may need to leave the dough out from the for more than 1 hour until it is ready to use. I would trust the way that it looks more than the times provided in the recipe. Rising of bread is so dependent on temperature and humidity. If you are working in an air conditioned house, it will take a lot longer for you dough to rise than if you house is warm.
As well, instead of putting the whole amount of flour called for by the recipe, you could hold back about a cup, and slowly knead in the flour until it is the correct texture. Recipes that give you amounts in grams are much more accurate than those in cups, as amount of moisture in your flour is really dependent on moisture in the air. The egg glaze is strange too, I usually beat 1 egg + 1 or 2 tsp of water and sprinkle either sesame seeds or poppyseeds onto the bread.
If you are just looking to make a quick, tasty, low effort challah, I have found that the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens book (eeek! I'm a little embarrassed, but I make it quite often if I am feeling lazy) is quite good. Otherwise, I would recommend the recipe in The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Toasted with cinnamon sugar is a treat that makes me feel like I am 10 years old again.....
ISO Restaurants for Lunch/Dinner in Windsor ON
Ahhhhh, Windsor. Crummy city, but good food.
BEST dim sum anywhere. Not high end like Lai Wah Heen, but good, old fashioned handmade dim sum. I would recommend for Chinese food either Wah Court Restaurant (Wyandotte Street West) or May Wah Inn (University Street West). Dinner is also very good at both the restaurants. Weekend dim sum is the best as they bring it out on trays and you just order by pointing. Make sure that they don't give you the (ahem) gwai lo menu. If you are unsure of what to order, just ask the waitstaff and tell them that you are adventurous.
Pizza - definately experience Windsor style Pizza - my favourites are Armando's and Capri. I've only ever done the take out, I'm not sure what the dine-in is like. The best part about Windsor pizza is the shredded pepperoni. This is also old-fashioned "regular" pizza. No fancy toppings (i.e. spinach, pesto etc....). The crust is also very good. Not too thick, not too thin.
As for Italian food - definately check out Erie Street. Lots of little shops and restaurants. Would recommend Nico's for nice dining, but a little bit more expensive. There are lots of other shops and restaurants as well in the area that might fit the bill better.
Wyandotte Street East is a bit more run down, but there is a large Middle Eastern community there and lots of restaurants to choose from.
Tunnel BBQ is so-so. Not the best, not the worst.
If you are young-ish. Ouelette Ave (near-ish the river) is an area with a large amount of bars/clubs. Used to go when I was young and energetic.
For Indian, I like India Palace on Ottawa Street. Bit of a dive, but very good food and sweets.
Happy eating!
