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Showing posts from February, 2006

Now Serving Hot Links

An American Baking in Paris : David Leibovitz tells about the hardships of trying to do traditional American baking and where to get hard to find ingredients like baking soda (which you have to get at the pharmacy). A Georgian Feast : No, not the Georgia you're thinking of ... but the Republic of Georgia next to Russia. An interesting cuisine and check out the recipe for Georgian Cheese Bread which was a favorite at Christmas time in our home after my parents got the Russian book of the Time Life Foods of the World series. Pancake Tuesday : Alicia serves up her pancake recipe for this traditional pancake day. The Hurricane : Mmmm, one of the most delicious drinks ever. Warning, this also is one of the strongest so imbibe with caution. However, a very traditional choice for anyone who loves New Orleans and Mardi Gras.

Topolo Margarita

Tom doesn't cook, other than grilling every so often. When I say "grilling" I mean the actual cooking of the food. Not choosing what will be grilled or the marinade or anything else to do with it. Let's face it, he is disinterested in cooking. I'm totally fine with that. I'm equally disinterested in the ins and outs of computer stuff. Which Tom is a whiz at. He maintains, upgrades, and knows everything (and I do mean everything ) about computers. To each his own. There is one exception to Tom's disinterest in all things culinary though. At one point, he was in quest of the perfect margarita. This meant buying different orange liqueurs, different tequilas, reading articles, buying heavy duty juicers and ice crushers. Heck, one of the main reasons for choosing our refrigerator was that we could get crushed ice from the door ... although I admit I love crushed ice and use it in everything so the margaritas weren't the sole reason for that choice, though p

Red Beans and Ricely Yours

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“I showed up with pancake mix, a ham, syrup and a bottle of bourbon, and slept on a recliner.” Penzey's Spices , my "go to" spice retailers, also has a new food publication called Penzey's One. It is set up around an interesting theme. Since their spices are used by home cooks, the publication features home cooks. I have not really been grabbed by the features or recipes so far. However, I may be influenced by the fact that in over a year there have been three issues. Count 'em. Three. I know that it is difficult to get a new publication up and running on a regular basis. Chow , a real favorite of mine, is a case in point. However, the folks at Penzey's have a tendency to natter away in the magazine as if there is nothing odd going on. A redeeming factor is that the third issue, which I received last weekend,focuses solely on Gulf Coast cooks who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The Penzey's retail locations suddenly found themselves with lots of Katri

My Favorite Poem About Butter

Since we've been talking about dairy products 'round here ... The King's Breakfast The King asked The Queen, and The Queen asked The Dairymaid: "Could we have some butter for The Royal slice of bread?" The Queen asked the Dairymaid, The Dairymaid Said, "Certainly, I'll go and tell the cow Now Before she goes to bed." The Dairymaid She curtsied, And went and told the Alderney: "Don't forget the butter for The Royal slice of bread." The Alderney said sleepily: "You'd better tell His Majesty That many people nowadays Like marmalade Instead." The Dairymaid Said "Fancy!" And went to Her Majesty. She curtsied to the Queen, and She turned a little red: "Excuse me, Your Majesty, For taking of The liberty, But marmalade is tasty, if It's very Thickly Spread." The Queen said "Oh!" And went to his Majesty: "Talking of the butter for The royal slice of bread, Many people Think that Marmalade Is n

Now That's Interesting: Cream

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Food Words: Cream, Creme, Panna The English name for the fat-rich portion of milk, like the French word from which it derives, has associations that are startling but appropriate to its status as a textural ideal. Before the Norman Conquest,and to this day in some northern dialects, the English word for cream was ream, a simple offshoot of the Indo-European root that also gave the modern German Rahm. But the French connection introduced a remarkable hybrid term. In 6th-century Gaul, fatty milk was called crama, from the Latin cremor lactis, or "heat-thickened substance of milk." Then in the next few centuries it somehow became crossed with a religious term: chreme, or "consecrated oil," which stems from the Greek word chriein, "to annoint," that gave us Christ, "the annointed one." [And, also, I'm thinking ... chrism, which is the holy oil used for annointing in the Catholic Church.] Why this confusion of ancient ritual with rich

A Few Hot Links

Edna Lewis , RIP. All About MSG Barb, like my Rose, deals with stress by baking her way through it .

That's Entertainment

DESPERATION ENTERTAINING! This book by the duo that wrote Desperate Dinners is more interesting because they are not relying nearly as much on packaged sauces and such to provide the foundations for the meal. It has plenty of good tips for time management, their phased and flexible recipes give good pointers on prepping meals in steps to make it all manageable, and their style is much more casual overall than Perfect Party Food . No elaborate set ups here for a party of 20. However, there are plenty of ideas for when 20 people burst in on you unannounced, which has been my lot for the last few Friday nights when Hannah and her friends have been nearby and set up base camp here. Perhaps this could be looked at as the everyday entertaining guide, which is just what I need.

Everything Old is New Again: Powdered Milk

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Photo source Powdered Milk in 13th-Century Asia [The Tartar armies] make provisions also of milk, thickened or dried to the state of a hard paste, which they prepare in the following manner. They boil the milk, and skimming off the rich or creamy part as it rises to the top, put it into a separate vessel as butter; for so long as that remains in the milk, it will not become hard. The milk is then exposed to the sun as it dries. [When it is to be used] some is put into a bottle with as much water as is thought necessary. By their motion in riding, the contents are violently shaken, and a thin porridge is produced, upon which they make their dinner. — Marco Polo, Travels On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Here I thought that powdered milk was one of those inventions from the 1950s or 1960s, like instant mashed potatoes. I don't keep powdered milk around but powdered buttermilk is very handy for those times when all your buttermilk has turned bad and you'

Low Fat Does NOT Equal Good Health

Now this is an interesting story. Notice the story is not giving carte blanche to be obese, not exercise, etc. But it is saying that low fat products do not bring any added health benefits in and of themselves. I foresee additional printings of The Fat Fallacy : The French Diet Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss . Here's the entire story from the Dallas Morning News . Low-fat diet may be low in benefit Study of women shows no change in cancer, heart disease risks 11:55 PM CST on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 By GINA KOLATA / The New York Times The largest study ever to ask whether a low-fat diet reduces the risk of getting cancer or heart disease has found that the diet has no effect. The $415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women ages 50 to 79 who were followed for eight years. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks and strokes as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today. &q

Now That's Interesting: Milk

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Photo source Food Words: Milk and Dairy In their roots, both milk and dairy recall the physical effort it once took to obtain milk and transform it by hand. Milk comes from an Indo-European root that meant both "milk" and "to rub off," the connection perhaps being the stroking necessary to squeeze milk from the teat. In medieval times, dairy was original dey-ery, meaning the room in which the dey, or woman servant, made milk into butter and cheese. Dey in turn came from a root meaning "to knead bread" ( lady shares this root) — perhaps a reflection not only of the servant's several duties, but also of the kneading required to squeeze buttermilk out of butter and sometimes the whey out of cheese. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen One of my favorite desserts made with milk is Chocolate Pudding (and I so do not mean the kind out of the box). Give this a try and see if it doesn't take you back to your childhood.

Caramelized Onions and Carrots

I was extremely dubious of this recipe from Cooking for the Week : Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy Weekday Meals . None of us are fond of cooked carrots and I like my onions well browned (and I couldn't tell if this recipe was going to give me those results ... it didn't) . However, I tried it anyway and we all really liked it. It seems like a lot of sugar but the quantity is such that there is just a delicate sweetness and, as Rose said, a really wonderful aftertaste. Do give it a try. 1-1/2 tablespoons butter 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil 12 medium carrots (about 1-1/2 pounds) peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds 3 large yellow onions (about 2-1/2 pounds), cut into thin wedges 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper to taste 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley (I didn't have any) In a large saute pan or skilled, melt the butter with the oive oil over high heat. Swirl to coat the pan, add the carrots and onions, and saute, stirring constantly,

Spicy Dan Dan Noodles

I made these last night and, as happens every time, wondered why I don't make them more. Probably because I don't often have the ground pork on hand. They are so easy ... from Cook's Illustrated. For a wonder, I don't think I adjusted a single thing. Step 1: 8 ounces ground pork 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 tablespoons dry sherry Pinch white pepper Combine all, stir well with fork and set aside. Step 2: 2 tablespoons oyster sauce 2 tablespoons soy sauce 4 tablespoons peanut butter 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 3/4 cups chicken stock Whisk together to make sauce base and set aside. Step 3: 12 ounces linguine, 6 cups cooked Boil and drain. Step 4: 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, minced (about 1 tablespoon) 6 medium garlic cloves, minced 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes While noodles cook, heat 12-inch skillet over high heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add pork and cook, breaking in small bits. Stir in all ingredients from above;

Hot Links Comin' Up

COME FRY WITH ME A fantastic essay on what deep frying does for food. HOW CAN YOU TELL IF SOMEONE'S PARISIAN? You catch them eating le quignon on the way home from the boulangerie. FRENCH WOMEN DO GET FAT The French are finally falling prey to McDonald's and more sedentary jobs. GOING RETRO Slashfood has been having fun with old cookbooks and retro comfort food. My favorites are Twelve (or more) ways to tuna casserole, 1950's food ads, and the I Hate to Cook Cookbook.