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The Ten Most Recent Posts By BakingAndBooks
Gorgonzola Equivalent?
I'm making an Italian sauce that calls for Gorgonzola but I can't find it .... what kind of cheese could I use as a substitute?
Thanks for your help!!
Tempting Vegan Baking Recipes?
A friend asked me for vegan baking recommendations because her daughter is starting a baking enterprise at her school.... but not being a vegan myself, I've been hard pressed to come up with a list of great ideas.
I tried my hand at vegan baking with Pumpkin Currant Cookies (which were mighty tasty) but I'm hoping you Serious Eaters know of other scumptious vegan recipes?
What to do with morel mushrooms?
I have about 3 oz of morel mushrooms just waiting to be turned into something delicious, but the question is - what? I'm looking for a few good vegetarian dishes (eggs, dairy are ok) that feature morels.
Any suggestions?
Question of the Day: What do you serve at Summer BBQ parties?
I'm organizing a BBQ party and am looking for delicious, fun and relatively easy food ideas. This is for a youth group so most of the party goers will be teens in 8th - 12th grade.
I'd also love to hear about food-related activities, like making smores etc. :-D
Thank you for your help!
Where to learn latte art in NYC?
I'm interested in learning how to create latte art - do you know of classes in the NYC metro area?
I'd also like to find awesome baristas in the area whose brains I could pick or who I could hire for a one time demo. Many thanks for your help!
How do you make a kitchen kosher?
A friend asked me to find out how a kitchen is made kosher but I haven't been able to find much detail on the Internet. (And have no idea myself!)
Does anyone know how a kitchen is made kosher according to Orthodox standards? Or, do you know of a helpful website I could forward to my friend? Thanks for your help. :)
Have you ever tried absinthe?
Now that the green fairy is back in the US I'm curious: have you ever tried it? What does it taste like?
What is your go-to midnight snack?
Or, perhaps the better question would be: What is your go-to 3 o'clock AM snack? With finals period in full swing at school I've found that the wee hours of the morning and I are becoming fast friends. Ack!
So far waffles are my favorite. There's nothing like a crisp waffle and a bowl of warm syrup to make the ungodly hours of the day just a bit more holy.
You?
The Ten Most Recent Comments By BakingAndBooks
Spaghetti Squash - 'Tis the Season
I didn't like spaghetti squash until I went on a food cleanse where we ate all manner of delicious squash varieties. Now I'm hooked. I posted a recipe for "Spaghetti Squash with Pumpkin Seed Pesto" a while back if you're feeling adventurous. :)
http://www.bakingandbooks.com/2007/07/02/spaghetti-squash-with-pumpkin-seed-pesto/
What to do with morel mushrooms?
I bought them at Whole Foods in Westchester, NY. They have a ton of morels there, but at $60/lb I thought 3 oz was enough! Chaoss, that's very cool that you used to hunt morels with your dad.
Banana Overload!
What about banana bundt cake?
http://www.bakingandbooks.com/2007/03/16/secret-agent-banana-bundt-cake/
Someday, I would like to have a _____ growing in my backyard
Mango tree! Oh that would be heaven indeed.
Homemade bagel recipe....
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I made poppy seed bagels last week and the results were mighty tasty. The recipe is here: http://www.bakingandbooks.com/2007/08/23/homemade-poppy-seed-bagels/
How do you make a kitchen kosher?
Thank you very much Lou and Jerzee! It's not a new kitchen but an established kitchen the needs to be made 100% kosher. So I guess she'll have to empty all her cabinents, scrub the kitchen down and restock all the food.
How are pots, pans, utensils and dishes made kosher? Will she have to buy new sets, one for dairy and one for meat? I read online that if you heat these items in a self cleaning oven (to where a piece of straw singes when touching them) they are then considered kosher, but I doubt most kitchen items will be able to handle this sort of treatment.
Cook the Book: 'Happy in the Kitchen' Giveaway
I second the smell of baking bread!
Have you ever noticed how many times Alton Brown says, "Uh"?
I've never noticed that! I'm going to look for it next time I watch "Good Eats."
But even if he says it a lot, I still... uh, love him. Yay AB!
What is your go-to midnight snack?
Ha! Good to see I'm not the only one who's awake in the wee hours. :)
Have site feedback? We want to hear it!
Honestly, I think this site is fantastic! The only feature I would like to see added is the ability for readers to edit their posts in the "Talk" section. :)
Responses to Comments by BakingAndBooks
Spaghetti Squash - 'Tis the Season
I've never tried spaghetti squash but I did make some delicata squash last night. Maybe someone could convince me to like that. They were awful. We cut it in rings and sauteed in olive oil then served with salt and pepper and some parmesan. We also took some and baked it with butter and brown sugar. I couldn't eat more than a bite of each. Yuck! Any suggestions? I've got two more. Right now, I'm leaning towards the garbage can!
Spaghetti Squash - 'Tis the Season
You guys are swaying me slightly towards maybe accepting the stuff, though it does still remind me of the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors.
There's a pumpkin/butternut squash soup heightened with amaretto and amaretti that it might actually be good in as substitute for the other squashes, I'm thinking.
Banana Overload!
Yeah, I would love to put them in the fridge, but it's FULL with bread and other, more fragile fruits and vegetables that ripen more quickly than bananas. I also have a pretty good stash of bananas and berries in the freezer.
Thanks for all the great recipes and suggestions!
What to do with morel mushrooms?
If you only have 3 oz, I think they'll be best savored as a rich sauce on top of poached eggs. I do this in the spring when I can find morels in the market, and it's perfect for those cool fall days too.
Brown a good chunk of butter and saute the mushrooms in it with a bit of salt. When the moisture has evaporated, deglaze the pan with some cognac or madiera., say 1Tbsp. It's best to do this with the flame off, as the alcoholic vapor will ignite, but only for a few seconds. Once you've done that, enrich the mixture with some heavy cream or whole milk to make a thick sauce. I tend to add a bit of fresh thyme at this point, stir it in and reheat my poached eggs. Toast up some crusty baguette and it's the perfect meal - Escoffier would be proud!
I also think Chasgoose's suggestion of adding asparagus is a good idea, though I usually just go with eggs and morels by themselves.
What to do with morel mushrooms?
Ok I have an amazing vegetarian recipe for morels (although you need an ounce of dried morels in addition to the fresh ones for the sauce). It's Pasta with Morels and Asparagus in a Carrot Butter Sauce (its not nearly as heavy as that sounds). The sauce is slightly sweet and so savory and the dried morels in the sauce brings the whole dish together. Like Chaoss said, you should do anything more to the fresh morels when cooking them than saute them in butter/olive oil, but serving them with this dish is totally worth it. Oh and serve it with a slightly chilled earthy Oregon/New Zealand pinot noir, when I did that it may have been the best food and wine pairing I have ever had outside of a restaurant.
Pasta with Morels and Asparagus with Carrot Butter:
Ingredients:
1 oz. Dried Morels
1 12 oz. can carrot juice
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp. fresh sage, finely chopped, or 1/4 tsp. dried
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
8 oz. asparagus
1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 oz. morels, sliced length wise
8 oz. penne or gemelli, cooked
Directions:
For Carrot Butter
1. In a food processor or blender process dried morels until they're a fine powder.
2. In a medium saucepan heat juice, shallots, sage, allspice, and ground morels to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer rapidly, uncovered, until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup.
3. Whisk in butter, a tablespoon at a time; remove from heat.
4. Whisk in vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper.
For Pasta
1. First cut asparagus into 3-inch lengths. In a medium skillet sauté asparagus in oil until just softened, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add morels; sauté until tender, 5 minutes
3. Toss pasta with carrot butter; spoon onto serving plates. Top each with morels and asparagus; toss slightly.
Makes 4 servings.
What to do with morel mushrooms?
Yeah, it brings back great and very sensory-filled images. Funny thing? Of all the times we went, we only found them once. But every time I walk through or near anywhere even remotely woodsy, I look for them. Every time.
Banana Overload!
The other thing to know about putting bananas in the fridge is that it keeps them at whatever stage of ripeness they are at that point, even though the skin goes dark.
Someday, I would like to have a _____ growing in my backyard
Oooh...so tough. Do we have to pick just one? Heh, I would go with tomato and basil plants so I could have endless supplies of Capresi salad ingredients...Mmmm...
Oh. And for the non-existent impossible kind: a sushi tree.....I would like endless amounts of sushi too.
Hillary
Chew on That
Someday, I would like to have a _____ growing in my backyard
I would love an avocado tree, a mango tree and a cherry tree. And a gorgeous man servant tree.
Website: http://www.bakingandbooks.com
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Favorite foods: Chocolate, coffee, waffles, sandwiches, soups.... this is a very hard question to answer.
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