I recently found out you really can't substitute european basil for thai basil in a green curry. The same weekend I also found you can't substitute cumin seeds for caraway seeds in a czech goulas.
Which ingredients are vital for you? have you had any disasters where you tried to substitute something else?
Since we're talking of fall and autumn approaching, anyone have any good soup recipes they always make?
I love to make lentil soup with red wine and bacon (along with various veggies) yum!
As soon as I find some tiny cucumbers in London, I'm making myself a big batch of close to kosher as I can get dill pickles.
can anyone recommend me a fantastic recipe?
especially if anyone knows the recipe for those cloudy brine dill pickles served in jewish delis?? they are to die for good.
What is your ultimate comfort food? It can be for a bad day, a broken heart, stress - what do you need in those times of trouble?
I just had a terrible day and made myself a crappy version of poutine - although a chocolate vanilla mini-cheesecake can also do the trick.
Inspired by the topic below about what we would like to eat - I want to know - what are the craziest things you have eaten? How were they?
I've eaten dog soup in Korea, frogs' legs in paris, raw seal in Northern Canada (along with various other wild meats like moose, bison, caribou, buffalo, muskox and muskrat) but thats about it.
What have you eaten thats off the beaten track?
B
Hand to Mouth
A blog for the penniless gourmet
I love artichokes, but I can only prepare both canned and fresh in one way. The fresh ones I steam whole, and then dip the leaves in a vinagrette, while the canned ones I saute with serrano ham and a touch of olive oil and eat it spanish tapas style. can anyone else give me some inspiration?
B
Hand to Mouth
Making Stock of the Situation
A blog for penniless gourmets
I was just taken to a Colombian restaurant for the first time this past week, and I really enjoyed the food! While I've tried generic latin american dishes before (empanadas, plaintains, arepas) I was wondering if anyone wanted to share mini-recipes for authentic latin american home cooking?? I live to learn!
B
Hand to Mouth
Making Stock of the Situation
A blog for penniless gourmets
I loved watching ddeok-making demonstrations [ddeok is mochi's Korean twin] when I lived in Seoul. They were just this quickâbut, since most of the ddeok-makers were elderly men and women, their speed was even more impressive.
I just started using mine to make salsas. It's such a revelation.
Perhaps its because I have been spared that joy so far in my young life. Believe me, they were delicious and fun! I love to whiz things.
mushrooms, onions, green peppers, cubes of beef. Marinate them in soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and a touch of balsamic vinegar.
I loved chicken cordon bleu day - served with random steam veggies, baked potatoes and beet root salad. Good old fashioned fare!
wow! I didn't think so many other people would love butternut squash the way I do! I love to roast it with garlic and coriander and cumin seeds.
Things I have mastered:
thickening with roux (its not SOO hard!)
butchering a chicken
making thai green curry (paste and coconut cream must be friend together until you sneeze, THEN add coconut milk, meat and veggies)
poaching eggs
making omelettes
Things I fail at:
pastry
most authentic indian food.
I didn't love olives very much until I went to Spain and ate their 'everyday' anchovy stuffed olives which are like heaven in a tin. My love has extended to all olives after that
Why can't sandwhiches be posh? I kind of like the novelty. However, I would never buy it. nuh-uh.
Winter has already come to London, and we have no labour day. There is little hope.
I didnt even know the ladies liked sushi.... a lot are squeamish about it. Can I really get laid from this obsession?
i love lorna sass's vegetarian cookbooks, and if the tassajara recipe book is still in print, everything i have ever made from it has been delicious.
Here's another interesting article on Percy Crosby and the lawsuit:
I think that the painted fence was a reference to the comic strip Skippy, with whose creator and estate the peanut butter people had a long and litigious history.
http://www.skippy.com/nytimes1933.html
Text: This ad appeared two weeks before Skippy, Inc. sued Rosefield, then a bankrupt, small company, in the U.S. Patent Office, to prevent Rosefield (Unilever's predecessor) from registering Skippy's trade name as a trademark for peanut butter. Skippy prevailed on Jan. 9, 1934, which decision cited the leading Supreme Court decision, prohibiting Rosefield from registering Skippy's entire corporate name and identity as a matter of statutory law. (Skippy, Inc. v. Rosefield Packing Co., Ltd., Opposition 13134, citing American Steel Foundries v. Robertson, 269 U.S. 372, (1926)). Rosefield did not appeal, and the decision became binding, prohibiting any future attempt to register the mark without permission from Skippy and its president, Percy Crosby. Rosefield, aided and abetted by its corrupt Chicago lawyer, and its allies in the peanut butter industry, schemed to ignore the decision and conspired to take over Skippy's licensing business, and to destroy Crosby's reputation as a famous American artist.
Despite Crosby's protests, Rosefield registered SKIPPY in the Patent Office in 1948 (U.S. Reg. 504,940) at same time as Crosby's suicide attempt. He was railroaded to a New York mental hospital by Rosefield's associates, and held hostage until his death in 1964, unable to enjoin the Skippy peanut butter racket (click here to see the forgery) Rosefield sold the stolen name to Best Foods, Inc. in 1954, which was advised to cover up its knowledge of the binding 1934 Skippy decision if the heirs later sued. The Patent Office public record of Rosefield's defeat was deliberately destroyed when Crosby died, which enabled Rosefield et al. to obstruct justice while destroying other key evidence. Despite years of litigation (1965-68, 1980-87, 1999-2005), and Bestfoods' merger with Unilever in 2000, their website version of the Skippy history shows conscious avoidance of any Skippy lawsuit, or the adverse 1934 decision.
Yet, to this day, Unilever claims its bona fide date of first use is Feb. 1, 1933, the same date of Rosefield's 1933 denied SKIPPY application. Unilever Bestfoods, very concerned about adverse publicity, tried to shut down Skippy's website, but lost on appeal, the court upholding Skippy's and Crosby heirs' First Amendment rights (214 F.3d 456, 4th Cir. 2000). Unilever blindly heeds the unspoken public relations formula: "Never admit a wrong, just do what is necessary to kill the story before it kills you." They even got a later court to sanction Skippy and its lawyer, but then backed down when Skippy again appealed.
So, this New York Times " Skippy" ad in 1933 has a strong message to Unilever about fair, honest advertising as opposed to playing fast and loose with our government of laws: "What your business needs, Mister, is a boy like Skippy!" --the true character created by Percy Crosby that Unilever Bestfoods sought to censor and dilute-- not the funky 21st century interpretation of a blond-haired boy Unilever's ad agencies created to confuse and destroy Skippy's famous identity.
"Yummy" - it should be prohibited for use by anyone older than 12. When grown men and women say "it's so yummy!" (especially about something they just made themselves) - ewwwwww!
Also, "reduce down" as in "we'll add some wine and reduce this sauce DOWN for 5 minutes". As opposed to what, reducing it UP?
It used to drive me insane to see "x" at the end of the word until I started to work at a hospital 10 years ago. Everything ends in x to abbreviate -- history = hx, diagnosis = dx, etc. I still hate seeing "u" for "you" and "ur" for "your/you're," which propagates the erroneous use of your and you're. ARGH! I've gotten better about "tho" and "thru."
Back to food.
- "special blend" -- yay for vagueness
- use of the word "sushi" for anything raw. FFS, sushi doesn't even mean raw!
- innards
"Gets" for "understands," especially with the adverb "really." For instance, "so and so really gets the New York restaurant scene," or "really gets food," or "really gets service." It's a lazy, imprecise and charmlessly colloquial locution, and I hope it heads to the blogosphere tar pit as quickly as possible. Even worse when reduced "so and so gets it."
I can't explain it, but I really hate the word "unctuous."
As for "foodie," it would be nice to come up with another simple word we could use to describe ourselves. I don't love it, don't hate it. When someone says, "she's a real foodie," about me, it has a very specific meaning. Sometimes I say "food is my hobby," but it may not be clear that I mean I like thinking about food, shopping for it, preparing it, eating it, serving it to friends and family, etc. I'd love a simple word that could convey all that.
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Favorite foods: lobster, mussels, clams, hearty pasta, korean, sushi, shabu-shabu, fried/roast chicken, coq au vin, spaghetti & meatballs, paneer tikka, dal makhani, jamon serrano, chevre, salami, rasam, shiro miso, corn tortillas, banh mi, lebneh, brown butter
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