59-year-old woman who has always loved to cook and eat (the diary I kept as a child detailed each meal of each day). Editing is my day job. Fairly opinionated, but I try to be civil and value explicit communication and good manners.
You must be young. Cafeteria/institutional food is seldom stellar, so bad pho should be no surprise; what's surprising is that you expect better. As to the pronunciation, I notice that many people sneer but do not provide an accurate or authentic (whatever that may mean) way to pronounce it that is phonetic (say that last word out loud and you will understand why people get exasperated with words that don't sound anything like the way they are spelled). Personally, I just order the soup because for some reason I can't bring myself to ask for fuh - the word just doesn't sound complete to me. Yet, I don't think I am a bad person. Steer clear of the cafeteria if it continues to bother you. Can you cook in your room?
I'd eat it after I cut off all the mold I could see. I've done so before. Haven't died yet. But many would tell you not to. When you cut off the mold, don't slice more than once per side with the same knife; clean it between slices, or use several knives. I've noticed that if I slice more than once without cleaning the knife, it spreads the mold to the cheese beneath.
Nothing useful for me here. I would expect sommeliers to suggest consulting the sommelier. And it is pretty elementary that a good value is not always the cheapest; I didn't need to be told that.
For a planned dinner: Spaghetti with big, spicy meatballs, Ina Garten's recipe (from Mario Batali, I think), with my own sauce (can't bring myself to spend $8 each on three jars of something I can make just as well myself). The great advantage is that I can make the meatballs early and cook them in the oven early - then just put them in the sauce, maybe roast some asparagus or steam some zucchini while the pasta cooks, and I have lots of time to spend with my guests.
Yup - scads of it. Inherited (uh-huh, only child). A set for eight of Minton china (my aunt's wedding china), and another set for eight of Wedgwood (Whitehall, with the difficult gold vines on the border, along with 22 cups and saucers [!?!]). And then I have yet another full set of cups and saucers that my grandmother, or somebody, hand painted (the china is not fabulous quality, but it's pretty). I do use them - since we sometimes have 16 for dinner at holidays, it works out fine, and I am determined to have a Serious Tea Party someday and use all those cups and saucers. We won't even talk about all the glassware. I love the feel of china, and I love the feel of silver (a good thing, since I have three full sets, all of which need occasional polishing, even the stuff we use every day). I don't much like the feel of either crockery or stainless steel, so I actually like to wash the good stuff. But since I really, really hate to break things, I use Dansk crockery for every day, and save the china for guests (and for tea-time - tea tastes better in a china cup).
I was surprised recently when we ordered two (expensive) margaritas, which were great (the server/bartender made them himself), so we ordered two more, which were quite awful (somebody else made them), and instead of replacing our drinks after inquiring how they were and hearing that we didn't like them (I asked him to taste mine when we wanted to know what was wrong with them, but he couldn't), he brought us a shot of tequila to add to our icky drinks. I think he meant well, but we won't be back.
Chicken, wine, pasta/noodles/any stuffed dough. I think these are the ones I would fight hardest against losing.
I like being able to do something specific and useful for someone whose work I admire. Adam, thanks for bringing the opportunity to my attention.
Small children need to be out of the kitchen when someone is cooking in it, unless they are being instructed to cook, one-on-one. A kitchen is a dangerous place - sharp knives, hot oil, fast-moving cooks who don't need to trip over toddlers between the stove and the sink.
Is there any danger in tasting the stuff first (if it hasn't hardened, that is - not the old Bailey's)?
Because I can't bring myself to use oven cleaner or the self-clean cycle of my oven, for various reasons, I take the lazy, less-efficient way of dealing with problem cast iron. Basically, I wash it well in detergent and very hot water, dry it over heat, and when it is dry (still over heat, in my case my gas burner), I rub it repeatedly with a paper towel dipped in some bacon fat, not letting it get so hot that it smokes. Then I let it cool down, rub it out with a clean paper towel, and heat it up and rub with more bacon fat. Then I repeat the last sentence, over and over, until it seems that any bare iron has some seasoning.
If there is a serious and awful build-up of crud inside on the bottom of the pan, I use a steel spatula to scrub it off while I am heating the pan, and wipe the crud out with a paper towel and some bacon grease. I may have to repeat this process a couple of times if somebody really messed up my pan, and it's true that this process never leads to that beautiful, smooth lustre that shows in CJ's link, but I find that the pan regains its stick-resistance and works fine. Best of luck to you!
Ooops - cancel the water part. I just used vinegar, sugar, and fruit - equal parts. Sorry to mislead anyone.
I also want to know more about the rice - see above and let us know so we can try the recipe, please..
Chard: Just fry a strip or two of bacon (diced or just cut in half-inch slices) in the pan, then add the washed chard (minus ribs if they are really tough) with the water clinging to it, cover, and steam until done. Kale: I overdosed on kale chips once, and the thing that brought me back was adding a whole bunch of it, sliced in half-inch slices, to a risotto along with parsnip and butternut squash after sauteeing the rice and onion.
This used to be my strategy at restaurants, but with age comes experience. Now I get the cheapest unless I have a specific favorite (which I almost never do, and when I do I am usually aghast at the markup). This is a brilliant video.
I'm not sure an hour is "plenty of time" for a full meal for four - did you let them know your schedule? And it is possible to pour wine all by yourself (I usually ask the server to let me do just that because I know who does and doesn't want more). Three hours is ridiculous with such poor service, and I don't know why the waitress would check on food that had already been removed, but if there was a problem with the food, it would have been possible to point it out while you still had it. I wouldn't return to the restaurant, but I would also perhaps choose to be less passive the next time I encounter service that bodes to spoil the rest of my evening.
I'm with Sourdough - the whole site still looks like the large-print books from the library.
Farmers market or roadside stand (next to the field) - but for some reason our local suppliers were absent last year, and we went strawberryless! Been trying to grow our own (inside breeze-block holes filled with potting soil), with mixed results (they probably need fertilizer and a bit of shadecloth). Good luck - I would hate to believe that Queen Victoria was right, and we lose our ability to taste them as we age!
Ravioli, saurkraut, kim chee, polenta, suckling pig (I've wanted to do this since childhood, but now maybe not), jook. Just off the top of my head.
Um, I meant to say 1 cup rice and ONE and 3/4 cups water. And use a thick-bottom pot, not too narrow and not too wide. With a well-fitting top. Sorry.
Dunno if this will help, but I finally settled on 1 cup rice (long-grain white) and 3/4 cup water - add water to rice, stir, turn on heat, when it comes to a boil reduce heat to simmer, cover, and let cook 20 minutes. When I reduce the heat below a simmer, it takes longer. The rice comes out cooked through, but not mushy - it does stick together, but I am guessing that's just the brand that I buy. I have never achieved rice that doesn't stick together, like I get in some Mexican restaurants.
So, I figure I'd have to make about 64 tiki drinks to use this up, which could be done if it lasted two months (more than one tiki drink a day might lead to problems, I'm afraid). Of course, I don't like to drink alone, so . . . this recipe is quite reasonable - thanks.
Lorenzo, I'd add just one thing: "Thank you, God, for putting us at the top of the food chain for this meal. Amen." With luck, we will always find ourselves at the top of the chain, but it's not a certainty.
I made shrub, the slow way, with a cup of strawberries, a cup of sugar, a cup of water, and a cup of vinegar, as (I think, if I understood the recipe) directed here for cold-process shrub. Turned out great. But now, I find what looks like a mother of vinegar floating around in the bottom. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it a problem? A blessing? Should I remove it, or just leave it to its ghostly little routine?
I just bumped into a new (to me) ingredient: passata. I gather that it is some sort of tomato-base sauce, but my brief internet search brought up such a wide variety of things that I can't say I know what it is. I'm sure many, if not most (all?) of you are familiar with it, so please enlighten me (and let me know what to avoid if that's relevant). Thanks.
I have an unexpected bumper crop of parsley that must be harvested within a day or two (I need the space for something else). What can I do with it? I'm willing to make something freezable if that's what it takes, but I'd like to use up a lot of it while it's fresh. Thank you.
My digital kitchen timer seemed like such a good idea, but now I hate it. It requires me to punch in the minutes and seconds I want to measure, and then to punch it again to get it to count down. The first part works fine, but so often I forget to do the second bit and I wonder why I haven't heard the timer go off just about the time I smell smoke. I have reverted to my wind-up one that measures only minutes but dings when I want it to without me having to tell it that that is what it is FOR (take that, digital timer), but I sometimes miss the single ding (if it happens when the doorbell rings, for instance). Does anyone have a timer that is truly lovable?
I have lost my rice mojo - I used to be able to buy just about any old rice, cook it 2:1 water-to-rice by bringing the water to a boil, stirring in the rice, covering it, and letting it simmer on lowest heat for 20 minutes. Now, my rice comes out icky - fuzzy at the ends and sometimes with a crunchy center, while still sort of wettish at the bottom of the pot. For a while, I had luck with Trader Joe's white basmati, following the directions to wash it first and use less than twice the water. That stopped working. Then I tried my regular way, and that didn't really work either. Besides getting a rice cooker, can someone guide me?
I would like to be able to cook long grain rice so that the grains are separate and don't bloom at the ends (that is, split), and have the rice be tender throughout and no water left at the end of the cooking period. I just had some wonderful rice in a South American-style restaurant dish that reminded me of my painful inability in this area. Help, please!
I'm actually feeding 16, but three are vegetarians. How much prime rib should I buy to feed the rest (one child)? Do I need more than one roast? I'm cooking it in the oven.
A friend who is celebrating TG with us has a gluten problem, but I'd like her to have some gravy to put on her turkey (I will not compromise my bread dressing). I will be making the gravy from scratch, so I'd like to make some gluten free for her. Any decent recipes?
Also, another friend is bringing chestnut soup; I don't know her recipe, but it would be nice to see if it could be gluten free as well. Any ideas from anyone who has experience here?
When I scroll down on your main page (using the scroll bar), I very often get an annoying little splat of (probably) music that vanishes as quickly as it came. What is it, and how can I not experience it (I'd prefer not to have to shut off my sound just for this web site)?
Having recently stumbled on an Assyrian myth regarding the gods drinking sesame wine the night before creating the world (and doesn't that explain a lot?), I am unable to stop thinking about what sesame wine would be like. Does anyone know? Has anyone out there ever had it or heard of it? Google didn't help me much, but perhaps I didn't ask correctly.
I found a recipe (Moroccan) that I would like to try, and it calls for a size 10 or 12 chicken. Does anybody know what that means?
I am confounded again by curry paste that somehow creeps up the side of the jar, slides through the seal created by the screwed-on lid, and slithers down the side of the jar to form a bright-orange ring of oil at the outside bottom of the jar.
My soy sauce does the same sort of thing; it slides up the inside of the bottle, through the plastic shaker, through the screwed-on lid, and down the outside of the container.
I have never been a kitchen neatnik, but I do make some effort, and these two ingredients seem bound and determined to undermine me. I do not think I am being paranoid about this. What gives?
Okay, the time is approaching when I will once again probably try and fail to toast pumpkin seeds and achieve something edible. I can't list how many recipes I've tried, and somehow they all turn out dreadfully tough and woody. Is it really possible to make good roasted/toasted pumpkin or squash seeds at home? If so, how? Or is this just something that people say they eat and like, but nobody really does?
I find that I am increasingly confused when I find a recipe that specifies something like "marinate 4 - 6 hours or overnight." The only way that I can marinate something overnight is if I put it in the marinade the evening before cooking it (at the latest, at bedtime). Then, unless I am choosing to have my main meal for breakfast, it will continue to marinate until late afternoon the next day, when I prepare dinner: total marination time, approximately 18-20 hours. That's a far cry from the minimum 4-6 hours alternatively specified.
Has anyone encountered a more realistic convention, perhaps recommending that things be put into the marinade in the morning for late afternoon prep? I would like to suggest this to recipe writers, if there is no objection.
I know that this is not of earth-shattering importance, but it concerns me when the marinade I am using is strong, and might overwhelm the flavor of the marinadee (?) if left too long. For most things, the amount of time spent marinating above the minimum might not make much difference, but when I'm using a strong soy sauce or a lot of pepper, I can't help but wish for more specific guidelines.
Named after the two little peepholes that resemble reading glasses, La Boulange: Cafe Cooking at Home presents these lunettes, with two kinds of jam sandwiched between buttery cookie squares. More
Roasted wild mushrooms, parmesan, and truffle oil all get whisked into eggs and baked into puffed, fluffy individual omelettes in muffin tins. More
As tough as chicken breasts can be to cook—there's no fat or bone to help mitigate dryness—a pounded chicken "paillard" is as easy. It's a technique that becomes a no-brainer once you learn it, whenever sauteeing the old boneless, skinless standby. By pounding the breast into uniform thickness and watching carefully, you can turn out a surprisingly moist cutlet with plenty of caramelized surface area. Add a delicious pan sauce—this time, by one Thomas Keller—and it's a solid dinner, indeed. More
This recipe from the New York Times Sunday magazine argues for thinking of herbs not just as a garnish, but as the center of a great dish. We've all had pesto, but that's just one way to do it. An absolutely epic amount of chopped herbs (three cups by the end) are mixed into juicy meatballs and pureed with garlic and olive oil into a simple sauce. It's rich and meaty, fragrant from the herbs, and honestly one of the better recipes I've cooked in months. More
Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing up until Prohibition, bar owners and commercial producers began to tinker with the basic recipe of cherries in maraschino. Other boozes were substituted; easier-to-find (and cheaper) cherries were swapped in. The process of eliminating the liqueur from the recipe began well before Prohibition, probably as a cost-saving measure, but once the Great Experiment started, the use of liqueur was doomed, and the DayGlo orbs took over. But cocktail cherries are easy to make at home, and you might find that it's fun to tinker with the recipe, adjusting it to your tastes and needs. More
So I have a typical pregnancy problem: I have an unquenchable craving for smoked salmon, but smoked salmon is dangerous for pregnant people unless we cook it right before eating. The only way I've ever eaten smoked salmon is with... More
These skewers come via Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and as you'd expect with his recipes, the flavors are complex but expertly blended. The bright sweetness of lemongrass leads, followed by all kinds of complex pungency from the fish and oyster sauces, rounded out with a little sugar, shallot, and toasted sesame seeds. More
By separating the corn kernels from the ear (check out our Knife Skills video for more on that) and cooking them over crazy high heat in a skillet with a bit of oil, the kernels get deeply charred while still retaining a sweet bite. It's my go-to method to cook corn indoors because it allows you to capture some of that smoky, complex, sweet flavor of grilled corn. More
Carnitas can be prepared through step 3 up to three days in advance. Pork can be crisped up straight from the refrigerator. You can lower the heat in your salsa verde by removing the seeds from the jalapeños, or omitting... More
Prime-grade? Grain finished? Marbled? "What do all these terms mean?" you cry. And more importantly, "Why should I care?" Everything you've ever wanted to know about prime rib, right here. Here are the answers to every question you've ever had or might ever have about prime rib. More
Meltaways were one of the first cookies I made when I began my professional baking career. They're incredibly easy and their delicate, crumbly texture makes them terribly addictive. In this version, I made them with lime zest. But if you'd prefer another flavor—like lemon, vanilla bean or even black pepper—go for it. More
[Photograph: Nick Kindelsperger] These pancakes were supposed to be small little guys, about the size of CDs (that's stands for a compact disc, for you young folk). They'd be perfect as banchan, those tiny appetizers set out for a full... More
[Photograph: Blake Royer] Sometimes at fancy restaurants the waiter will begin the meal with a flourish, quietly intoning words to the effect of "compliments of the chef," making you feel as if you're a special guest of the restaurant. The... More
I want to get some ideas to make some gifts for Christmas. Liqueurs or cordials. I have a Kahlua that I make that turns out great. Any others would be fun to try. thanks... More
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by their book, Almost Meatless. Photograph: Tara Mataraza Desmond I love this kind... More
Limoncello is a southern Italian lemon liqueur that is made primarily in Sicily and Sardinia and traditionally served at the end of the meal as a digestivo. Limoncello works equally well before the meal as an apertivo, which is how we're presenting it this week as part of the menu for a full Italian meal. More
What's in a name? According to Shakespeare, not a whole lot. But does Shakespeare really know everything? To me, there are two kinds of names that are of the utmost fascination in the culinary world: the dishes a nation names... More
There are two rather different dishes known as migas—there's a version from Spain, the original, which is made with leftover bread, garlic, and sometimes a little meat such as chorizo or bacon. But there's also the Tex-Mex style which replaces... More
I need some ideas for an Easter side dish. Hubby is dieting and I'd like to make one carb but can't decide what! We don't normally eat that many carbs anymore and I really want it to count if I'm... More
Every now and then the intrepid eater will encounter a dish that can only be described as mind-blowing. My first bite of this spaghetti, served at a bustling osteria not far from Florence's Piazza Santa Croce, almost made my head spin right off. More
Out of all the Greek establishments in my neighborhood, my absolute favorite gyro and souvlaki joint is BZ Grill in Astoria, only two short blocks away. The proximity has left me little reason to cook the staples at home, but... More
I'm not much of a baked potato guy, but for some reason I have a soft spot for jacket potatoes. Both are just potatoes baked in an oven and topped with an ingredient, so what's the difference, you ask? Jacket... More
Cornmeal crêpes are a little heartier than French crêpes, much yellower, and taste distinctly tortilla-like even while retaining the pliant texture of the classic crêpe. More
Chocolate on Valentine's Day seems like too obvious a choice. Can we give some love to the almond instead? The nut's flavor profile teases, going from subtle and sweet when raw to deep, warm and toasty when baked. More
I tend to do most of my shopping on Sunday, so by the end of the week I'm usually staring at a fridge that's seen better days. Usually all I can find is empty containers of olives, gnarly sprigs of... More
I tip normally and never go there again, because the ridiculous tipping custom involves me having to do a performance evaluation (which normally I get paid to do) on one person, reward him or her according not only to the service I receive but to the cost of my meal (which requires me to do percentage-related math after a couple of glasses of wine - not a good idea if you're on the receiving end, folks). The server then takes whatever I leave as a tip and divides it among other, equally involved people whose performance I have not evaluated, but who must receive compensation based on the server's perceived competence (uh, this is fair?). The whole scam is a bloody waste of time. It's the restaurant's job to pay a decent wage, perform employee evaluations, and provide me with food and service - and the cost of a meal with tip would be the same as the cost of a meal without tip if the staff were paid decently (please, folks, don't bring out that old saw about how service would deteriorate and costs would skyrocket if we eliminated tipping and paid properly - I've been to Europe and seen that this is not true). Rant over, and remind me never to work in HR again.