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Showing posts from April, 2007

Cold Noodles with Sesame or Peanut Sauce

From How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Noodles with peanut sauce are much more commonly found these days than when I first discovered them right after college. It is hard to deny their versatility since you can use them for an appetizer, for a main dish (whether vegetarian or with something like shredded chicken added). Have chopped garnishes such as cucumber, romaine, or radishes to toss with the noodles and add textural contrast. I also serve these hot much of the time. And they are much simpler than many people would credit. 12 ounces fresh egg noodles, or any dried noodles, such as spaghetti 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil 1/2 cup sesame paste (tahini) or natural peanut butter (I use Jiff, the variation with less sugar) 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tablespoon rice or wine vinegar Hot sesame oil, chili-garlic sauce, Tabasco, or other hot sauce to taste Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste At least 1/2 cup minced scallions for garnish Cook the noodles in boiling salt

Noodles with Bean-Paste Meat Sauce

From "The Key to Chinese Cooking" by Irene Kuo As with most Asian recipes, the ingredients list can be intimidatingly long but this does not mean the recipe is complicated. It is simply a matter of preparing a meat sauce, cooking noodles and cutting vegetables, all of which can be done ahead of time. "The Key to Chinese Cooking" is the cookbook I used to learn Chinese cooking. Despite the plethora of Chinese cookbooks that followed this one remains my favorite both for technique and recipes. If you are at all interested in Chinese cooking I strongly urge you to seek it out at used bookstores. 1 pound noodles, boiled Garnish: 1 large firm, slender cucumber 2 cups fresh bean sprouts 2 cups shredded* romaine lettuce 1-1/2 cups shredded* celery 4 large cloves garlic, minced or mashed 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 pound ground pork (I often use ground beef instead) 4 tablespoons oil (I often omit this and just cook the meat alone) 1 large scallion, finely chopped 1 tablespo

When Kosher Kitchens are Updated

In kosher Jewish homes, milk and meat products are never eaten, served or prepared together. That edict requires two sets of dishes and utensils – one for food that includes milk as an ingredient, one for meat – and separate cabinet storage. There's more than one way to keep that separation. The simplest: Install a double sink and dedicate one side for milk, the other for meat. Countertops can be covered with a sheet of foil when preparing food, replacing the foil when the cook switches from dairy to meat. When space and budget allow, however, there are a number of products and strategies that add a great look and save time. The whole story is at the Dallas Morning News (free registration required). I never would have thought of all the little things that must be taken into account or all the modern conveniences available to make it possible. I mean, not being able to let the refrigerator light go on when you open it up?

Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?

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Source I love New Orleans and nothing is more evocative of it to me than wandering down on in the morning to Cafe du Monde for some beignets and chicory coffee.

Thought for Food

Thanks to Tim. I love this quote! Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good. Alice May Brock, author

Potato Chowder

It isn't cold enough here in Texas for this delicious looking chowder from my friend Marcia, but I bet there are some cold spells going through further north. If so, give this a try Here is the recipe....I should say list of ingredients. Everything is according to how much you make and how much seasoning you prefer. I had forgotten it was this way. Potato Chowder (approximate measurements) potatoes - peeled and diced, 5 lbs. onion diced, 2 medium celery chopped, 4 stalks w/chopped leaves carrots sliced in small pieces, 1 lb. butter, 1 stick parsley chopped as a condiment w/serving grated cheese, 1-1/2 cups cream style corn, 1 can milk, 16 ozs.or more w/ some cream bacon, 1/2 to 1lb., fried crisp and crumbled Cover potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper with water and cook until tender(really falling apart) add butter, milk, cheese and simmer until cheese and butter melt

Travel and Food ... the Perfect Match

Justin sent me this heads up about Food Tours which makes it all too easy to eat your way through some great destinations. At least they're walking tours ... so you have a way to work it off at the same time. We do all too little traveling but if Rose winds up in Chicago for college, I can see a walking tour in my future... I realized that you - and your readers - might appreciate our Food Tours page, which profiles five terrific culinary walking tours from around the country. From the page, you can click to read thousands of unedited reviews written by people who have been on the tours. Every tour is owned and operated by an individual who shares your passion for great food. Kelly, Michele, Shane, Shirley, and Todd are experts on the culinary specialties of their respective cities, and each is dedicated to sharing that knowledge with others. These tours and individuals also represent what we at Zerve are all about: connecting customers searching for great ways to spend their t

Guess What Happens ...

... when you make a special folder for your "blogging" emails to go into? First, you put all sorts of interesting things in there "for later" and then you forget it existed. I found all sorts of good things there when I rediscovered it today ... which I am going to share ASAP!

Coconut Crunchies

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This cookie recipe from Janet Sheppard in Plano, Texas, won second place in the bar cookies category last December in the Dallas Morning News annual cookie contest . I had been waiting for a good excuse to try them out so I made them for our book club meeting last night. They were greeted with cries of delight and second ... and third ... helpings. They are really easy. Give them a try. Coconut Crunchies 1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar (divided use) 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons flour (divided use) 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1-1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut 1 cup chopped blanched almonds 2 large eggs, beaten lightly 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl with a fork, stir together 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, 1 cup of the flour and the butter until the mixture is combined well. Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan, and bake in the middle of the oven to 10 minutes. In the same bowl, with a

April is Grilled Cheese Month

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Or so says Monkey . Take a look at the detailed instructions to get the perfect grilled cheese sandwich (though being a traditionalist, I go with American cheese).

Take a Ride on the Lardwagon

... Despite their very different appearances at room temperature, some of them are not all that different, chemically, from liquid oils. Lard, for example, contains less than 50 percent saturated fat and has nearly as much monounsaturated fat as canola oil. And it tastes infinitely better than canola oil. As I've been saying for some time. Culinate gives us the skinny (pardon the expression) on solid fats. (Liquid oils were discussed previously here .)

Deep in the Heart of Texas: Homesick Texan

When I moved to Texas, oh so long ago, and began exploring the traditional cooking I discovered that I really had my work cut out for me. The state is so large that there are numerous microcosms for food styles. Traditional Southern cooking, coastal specialties, cowboy cooking, barbecue, Tex-Mex, German and Czech (yes, you read that right ... where do you think that chicken fried steak probably came from? Not to mention Elgin sausages.). Therefore, it is a real pleasure to find cookbooks that understand the various facets of all the things that make Texas cooking unique. I'm going to be sharing a few of my favorite resources with y'all, beginning with Homesick Texan . She's living in New York but dreams of finding the perfect refried beans and flour tortillas. As she perfects her recipes she shares them along with a generous heaping of food history and Texiana. If you want to know more about the myriad foodways of Texas, her most recent visit home will give you a sampling.

I Need to Make Fruit Salad More Often

I did a lot of cooking for Easter. I baked a Kuby's double smoked ham (butt end) on the bone. With this I also served: Jalapeno Creamed Spinach Double Baked Potatoes Fruit Salad Potato Rolls Greek Green Beans Lemon Icebox Cake And then I set out various mustards and some sweet-hot pickles. Everything disappeared at a good rate, except the fruit salad. I was surprised at that. I thought it looked pretty and tempting. Ah well. Their loss. I brought some for lunch and I almost couldn't quit eating in time to save Tom's share. My method for fruit salad is always the same. Choose your fruit. (I picked a fresh pineapple and some tart but sweet purple seedless grapes.) Cut it up. I cut the pineapple in chunks and halved the grapes (thinking that some grape juice would make a nice flavoring). Mix in the juice of half a tart orange, some sugar to taste and a little orange liqueur (we had Cointreau on hand). This is probably the most off-the-cuff thing that I make and based on my lun

Great Spaghetti Harvest

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"The spaghetti harvest here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry," Dimbleby informed the audience. "Many of you, I'm sure," he continued, "will have seen pictures of the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family affair." "Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil, the tiny creature whose depredations have caused much concern in the past." Probably the best April Fool's joke ever pulled, courtesy of a BBC "documentary" in 1957 which showed a Swiss family harvesting their spaghetti from trees. This joke was so successful that callers were eager to learn how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC reportedly replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."Read mo