Profile

pepperhead212

I love to cook, and especially, eat what I cook. Besides being obsessed with cooking, I also grow much of the food I eat, esp. things I can't get.

  • Location: pepperhead212
  • Favorite foods: Garlic, hot peppers, tomatoes, and chocolate. I cook more SE Asian food than any other.
  • Last bite on earth: A delicious mole, since it is one of the best foods, and combines all of my favorite ingredients.

Favorite Kitchen/Food Smell...

Despite my love for chocolate, and that incredible smell of bacon cooking, garlic, in its many forms - raw, roasting, slowly cooking in oil, or caramelizing for Thai crunchy garlic - wins hands down. Why else would I have 130 garlic plants in my garden?

Storing Knives

Something I forgot to mention about magnetic strips: if you get them, be sure not to get cheap ones. There are some out there that a heavy knife, like a large chef's knife or a cleaver, will slide right off of. A friend got some like that. I think Norpro was the brand I had that was good, but they were wood backing, so would not be allowed in a commercial setting, more than likely.

Storing Knives

@ boobird - Kapoosh is one of the brands I remember that had those black plastic rods in them, so they could hold knives however you put them in. There are similar blocks with bamboo rods - like skewers - serving the same purpose. Some swear by them, others say their knives slice the rods up...I guess it depends on how careful you are inserting the knives.

Probably the same with magnetic strips messing up the edges of knives - depends on how you put them on and remove them. And most knife blocks are the horizontal kind these days, to keep the edges of the knives in better shape, so that's a good thing.

Many years ago I had my knives on magnetic strips, too, but after I realized I needed another strip, after having 2 feet of them totally filled up, I decided that that space on my wall (I have things hanging on decorative pegboard) could hold a lot more other things in easy reach, and the amount of space a knife block would take on my counter would be a better waste of space. So one of the things I did was to go through my knives and remove anything I did not use very much at all. We all have things like that - "have I used this in the last year?" I weeded it down to 12 knives, and a bunch of paring knives (can't have too many of these!), and made a knife block that holds 12 knives, including 2 cleavers (a heavy, and a thin one), 2 steels, and 8 paring knives in the support section under the main block. All this is in a block that is just 10 1/2" wide, by about 13" deep (though the handles stick out farther, the counter is still available underneath). All this would have taken up a lot of space on that wall, which serves a much better purpose now. However, it all depends on your situation - counterspace may be at more of a premium in another kitchen.

Pork Blood Popsicles?

I am willing to try almost anything, and many of the most unusual things I get from the Asian market. One year I made a chorizo sausage with 50% normal ground pork, but the remaining part was was ground pork brain, pork spleen, and pork uterus - all found in the Asian market. I used it to make a dish to take to work, to prove that those guys will eat anything, if it's free. They all knew what was in it, and it was all gone by 9:00 AM.

I was surprised how mild pork blood was - I was expecting an even stronger flavor than liver, but even chicken livers are stronger.

Anchovy Help

Though this was many years ago, a friend of mine used to buy Progresso anchovies, which he would find in the dairy refrigerator sections in supermarkets. He figured he would never use a 1 lb can of them, and thought they may be better quality, knowing what I had told him about refrigrating them. He said they were much better - better flavor, and not shrunken up in the cans, like the rest of the 2 oz cans he had gotten before. Not sure if they are still out there, but something to look for.

Recommendations for Garlic Noodle Recipes

The first thing that comes to mind when noodles and garlic are mentioned together is drunken noodles - a Thai dish, which I have made countless times, and my favorite recipe has 24 cloves of garlic to a lb of pasta. It is made with seafood, meat, poultry, or vegetarian; my favorites were beef and shrimp.

Anchovy Help

Definitely refrigerate them. I learned many years ago, from a fellow in the original Balducci's (in Greenwich Village), that even unopened anchovies are better when kept refrigerated. I was looking for them in the store, and couldn't find them, and they were ALL in the refrigerator unit! He also told me the better ones were in the larger containers - the 16 and 24 oz cans - and the 2 oz cans had the lower grade ones in them. I had never been a fan of anchovies up to that time, and all I had access to were those 2 oz cans, and the anchovies were often mush when I opened them, and not really good at all. This is why I was looking for them there - I knew they had to have good ones. I bought a 16 oz can, and it was like night and day! And I always transfer them to widemouth mason jars, and refrigerate, and never have had any even get the slightest bit mushy or any off flavors. I just keep them in the oil, and add a little more olive oil, if they aren't totally covered. Claudio's in Philly is where I get them now, and they always keep their big cans refrigerated, though smaller glass jars of them (which seem better quality than the 2 oz tins, so you should get some better ones in your jar) are not in the fridge there. Years later I thought of the analogy of the bad fish sauces and the good ones that I would get when trying all those brands. And fish sauce is also best when refrigerated.

What greens are you growing this year?

Hydra, I just put "cardboard mulch" down on all of my tomatoes yesterday - took longer than planing them! And preventing the soil splash is the main reason for doing it on them.

Lemonfair, I am located in S Jersey - zone 6B. That's now in my profile.
Johnny's is where I got the lamb's quarters, but I remember the species name as album (yet I can't remember people names! LOL). This was back in the 90's sometime - whenever Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen came out. Maybe they have come up with something better since then? I'll have to check into this...

Pho vs. Ramen-Which would you choose?

Pho, hands down. Never have been a ramen fan, but then, I also have never been a fan of Japanese food in general, despite my love for other Asian cuisines.

What greens are you growing this year?

@ blizcheetah - I can't stand the grit in a lot of the spinach and other greens I get in the stores. But these stay almost immaculate, due to the smooth leaves. The deeply savoyed leaves of some spinach, kale, and Swiss chard, as well as heading greens, trap a lot of dirt, which is why I don't grow them.

@ag3208 - I grew that Tuscan kale one year, and was not impressed - little production, and it took a long time for that! Also, it had a somewhat savoyed leaf, so it's not one of the really smooth varieties.

@lemonfair - I tried growing lamb's quarters, since Bayless recommends it for Mexican, but it did not grow well here. I even tossed the seeds into an area behind my shed, where epazote grows as a weed, hoping it would become a weed there, but nothing ever came of it.

@hydra - I tried malabar spinach once, but I did not like it. It was not very productive in my garden, and the flavor was ho-hum. Amaranth was a green that I tried that was heat resistant, and had more production, though there are countless varieties, and some are more for seed production.

What Tomato varieties are you growing?

Lemonfair, The best organic treatment I have found for some of those blights is Actinovate. It works well on most tomato varieties, though not all blights are fungal in nature. Another thing that seemed to work well was some orange oil with some potassium bicarbonate (baking soda also works, but this is better) - 1/4 c + 1 tb/gallon of water. Problem with any oil sprays is that they really can't be used in weather over 90º.

I got my 36 tomato plants in today! I hardened them off all week, and when I got home today, got moving on it. I also uncovered my greens today, but that's another topic.

Interesting about the yellow bell. I haven't had any yellow tomatoes that were very flavorful. Maybe it's that "blush" that gives it the flavor. I have gotten some good seeds from southern exposure seeds.

What Tomato varieties are you growing?

Lemonfair, I really don't have any favorite heirlooms. I keep trying to find some perfect tomato, but there is no such thing, partly because conditions change yearly, as well as within the seasons. The main problems with heirlooms are diseases, but I have also had a couple that became aphid magnets, and would become covered with them, while all other varieties didn't get any.

Correction: Prudens Purple was not one of the black varieties I had trouble with. It is actually a pink tomato - great flavor, got up to 23 oz for me, and was not very juicy, which is unusual for a flavorful tomato.

I grew sungold and sunsugar side by side and found them to be about the same in sweetness, and both the most flavorful cherries I have grown. However, the gold was less disease resistant (got that blight the year it swept the NE), less heat resistant, and less productive, so sunsugar is what I grow now, to compare all others to.

What Mexican Food Should I Order Next?

Well put, Lorenzo. While I don't speak a LOT of Spanish, it's enough to get the people I meet at a few Mexican groceries in my area comfortable to talk with me, and give me ideas on how to make things, and what to do with unusual ingredients. They like it when they hear that I sort of know the regions and the foods from the areas, but that I want to find out more. They like sharing.

Maybe you can find a friend that speaks Spanish as a translator? You have a potentially good source for info there, and it would be a shame to waste it.

What Tomato varieties are you growing?

@lemonfair - all of the new ones I got from seed trades this year. Any in particular you were wondering about? A lot of those seeds I have grown before I got from http://www.glecklerseedmen.com/Gary_O_Sena/p80687_495488.aspx I didn't get any EP or pepper seeds there, but they have a lot of good tomato seeds. The Gary O'Sena (Cherokee Purple x Brandywine cross) I got there, and that is the most disease resistant black tomato I have grown. Cherokee purple, Black Krimm, Prudens purple, and a few others I tried would die before the end of the season, while other tomatoes did fine next to them.

@klseiverd - I'd have to build an electric fence around my garden if I had that here! I won't tell you what I do with squirrels, and rabbits I keep out with some VERY hot pepper powder in their areas they like to hang out. In fact, I just made over a quart of powder of old peppers from my pantry (3 years old, or older), almost all habs and bhut jolokias, and I have seen NONE of them, after placing some in spots they could easily get it in their fur! I also use Rabbit Scram, which seems to work well - I put that around when putting new things in, but once they are well grown, I just use the pepper.

What Tomato varieties are you growing?

My tomatoes are going in the ground this weekend. I started them all on 4-1.

Here are the varieties. * Indicates a new variety to me.

670 variety 2013*
American Original Beefsteak F1 2011
Aussie 2012
Black Cherry 2011
Burgundy Traveler 2012*
Dixie Wine 2012*
Gary O'Sena 2011
Green Doctor Cherry 2012
Green Doctor's Frosted 2012*
Isis Candy 2012
Italian Goliath 2011
KBX 2011
Porter Cherry 2005*
Rebel Yell - pink cross 2012*
Sunsugar 2013
Super Snow White Cherry 2012*

What Gross Food Stuff Did You Do as a Kid?

When I was very young I would eat anything that I thought would totally gross out my sister, which wasn't difficult! And being in Spain, and traveling around Europe age 7-10 got me exposed to a lot of foods that REALLY served this purpose well - escargot, organ meat of all types, and one of the funniest, those tiny eels they would bring around in a barrel alive, and cook right there on the spot(they now cost more than my dad made in a week, back then!). And I used to suck the eyeballs out of the whole fish I would often order. She was sorry she dared me to do that, as I did it every time after that!

Has anyone cooked goat?

I have made a few Oaxacan recipes with goat, which also gave lamb as an optional meat. I liked the lamb better, as the flavor was better with those intense flavors. Maybe the goat would be better with milder flavors, to let its flavor come through better.

EW! I HATE that!!

I have hated mayonaise since I was a little kid, and Mom would keep out things like potato and macaroni salad for me and mix with a vinagrette, long before this was the norm. Funny thing was, when I went away to school and started cooking a lot, I made it myself, with lemon juice and just a bit of rice wine vinegar, and it was delicious! I still won't touch store bought mayo, however.

Welcome Spring!

I have a bunch of stuff already in my garden, but that's all cool weather stuff - garlic (comes up before spring is officially here), scallions, chives and garlic chives (these things are weeds, all over! But I won't complain:) ), komatsuna, bok choy, lettuce, and many other greens. But next weekend, tomatoes go in! THAT'S when spring is here.

What dish best represents the food of your region?

@klseiverd - I have lived in SJ since '66, and my first thoughts when I saw this thread, before reading your post, was Philly cheesesteaks, pizzas, and hoagies! Even though I rarely eat them, occasionally I get a craving, and I don't have to twist my friend's arm to get him to take a trip to Philly and pig out. Plus, I go to the Italian market and stock up on things for my kitchen, as well as the Asian markets, where I really stock up! The SE Asian community came around well after the Italian, of course, but more and more restaurants are popping up, so more people are beginning to like it. I used to have to take a trip to Avalon, PA to get Mexican food, but now some local grocers are appearing, due to the Mexican communities popping up here and there. One of the grocers I bartered with, bringing them a huge amount of epazote, which they were thrilled to get.

Most underrated and overrated ingredients

The talk of celery made me remember (though not immediately! LOL) another ingredient that is not so much an underrated ingredient, but unknown, at least in this country: Chinese celery a.k.a. "cutting celery". It grows like flat leaf parsley, and has an intense celery flavor. Easy to grow, and, like parsley, it keeps growing as it is harvested. I grow this every winter, to have on hand for soups.

Most underrated and overrated ingredients

I got to like celery as a vegetable on its own from recipes in Marcella Hazan's first two Classic Italian Cookbooks. There is a recipe for a rice and celery soup; braised celery with tomatoes, onions and pancetta; braised, then gratinéed celery; and some others - that's just what I remember because I've made them so many times! She recommended peeling, to remove most of the strings, which I have done since then, unless it is chopped up small in something.

growing veggies without a garden

As others have noted, you will need some major artificial light to grow fruiting plants indoors. Most greens and herbs will get by on much less, and only need one type of light, while to get the optimum flowering, then growth of the fruits on vegetables such as tomatoes, then ripening, involves different lighting, though it can be done under just one light, with less production.

Here is my experience with peppers - a fruiting plant, that needs more light than the herbs I normally grow. A S facing window is definitely not enough light. I have tried bringing them indoors to this window, and had all of the leaves fall off most varieties, and the few that lived just barely survived - no flowering until put outside in the spring. A 250w Metal Halide light on for 16 hrs a day would barely get any growth - 400w is the minimum recommended amount, though I have never had this much. So, as you can see, a LOT of light is needed. To induce flowering, a "red" light helps - a high pressure sodium, FI. I did this by accident one time when I had a 150w HPS given to me, and I had a large early pepper plant at the end of March I needed light for, and in a week it had a hundred or more blossoms! Not good for growing them, however.

Herbs and greens grow well under "blue" light - 5,000k or 6,200k, now available in T-8 bulbs in Home Depot and Lowe's. I have my herbs growing all winter under two T-8 (32w ea.) and one T-5 (55w) 5,000k bulbs, and they do very well. The herbs grow so fast and large in the hydroponics system that all I need is one plant of most things; though greens don't do quite that well, they still do better than any soil system I have used indoors.

One thing you will have to be ready for indoors is fungus gnats! They are little fruit fly like bugs you will see flying around the surface of the soil (or water, in my case!), where they lay eggs, and the larvae grow in the soil, eating up organic matter, including the roots of the plants. The best way to fight these is with a mosquito control used in ponds - Microbe Lift. It is organic, and the bacteria also kill the gnat larvae. I start every pot by wetting the soil with that, and every few weeks to keep them out. The best source I have found is a fish place: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5163+13740+12263&pcatid=12263

Most underrated and overrated ingredients

@bobcatsteph3 - fire roasted tomatoes are great with Mexican, as the stronger flavor is appropriate there, but I think they have spilled out into other cuisines, where, as you said, they are overpowering. Surprisingly, fire roasted tomatoes and toasted chilis - two essentials in Mexican cooking - overpowered the flavors in Thai cooking, when I experimented with them there. I guess the locals would have found those methods a long time ago, if they turned out better!

Tomato paste is something I always have a tube of, for when I want to add that umami to a dish. I just used some tonight in a lentil dish that had a tomato in it, but I knew would need something, as it was a store-bought tomato!

Most underrated and overrated ingredients

You two will love this flat leaf parsley! I grow it hydroponically, and this year I grew the "normal", because the "gigante" got too big. Imagine that! I have to trim this stuff way more often that I can use it, and people love getting gifts from me. http://s24.photobucket.com/user/pepperhead212/media/DSCF0503_zps2c095255.jpg.html?sort=3&o=123

As much as I love hot food, I think hot sauce is the most over-rated food item out there. You know the type I am talking about - that vinegar based stuff that has little flavor, just heat and sour. There are way better ways to add heat to food, along with flavor.

What greens are you growing this year?

And what kinds do you like to cook with the most?

I know a lot of you are past the greens, due to your heat, but I just uncovered mine, and will be harvesting some of them soon - leaf lettuce, bok choy, tatsoi, komatsuna, and senposai (a cross of cabbage and komatsuna). All these are cut and come again, and will keep coming, until they bolt. Kohlrabi isn't far behind, and the rest are flowering brassicas, so they will be about another month or more - cauliflowers, hon-tsai tai, and yu choy. Here is a slideshow of the uncovered greens: http://s24.photobucket.com/user/pepperhead212/slideshow/Greens%202013

Anyone have any favorites they grow in the spring? I have really gotten to like the komatsuna and senposai, since they are incredibly productive, mild in flavor, and last well into the summer here. I had senposai last into August, with many 90+ days, before bolting, and even after bolting, they are still good, unlike lettuce, and some other greens.

Science question for Kenji, regarding thickening with starches.

I've wondered about this for many years, and you're just the person that can answer this...I hope.

Why do all starches thin out, after thickening a liquid? They all vary, with potato starch being the worst, in my experience, thinning within minutes, while still hot, while wheat starch (not flour) seems to stay thick longer, and even re-heat some, though it will still be thinner. Arrowroot also thins out, and I've seen conflicting statements in CBs, one saying it reheats well, another saying it will have to be added again if reheated. Tapioca starch, which I use the most, is in between, as far as keeping its thickness. I made a soup in a friend's kitchen recently than brought this to mind again - CI's mushroom/wild rice soup, with corn starch (which I never use because of this), which had thinned out considerably by the time it had cooled, and after chilling overnight, it looked like it was made without thickener at all.

Is there a chemical(s) in mushrooms, meats, or other foods, that causes this thinning out? And why doesn't it do it with flour, which gets thicker as it cools, and you almost always have to add some liquid when reheating, or it is too thick! Is it more the non-starch compounds in flour that thicken things, and keep it that way? I realize that the actual starches from one plant to another vary, thus they behave differently, but they all do thin out, at least some, and it seems that mushrooms thin them out more than any other ingredient, in my experience (or maybe I just make more mushroom soup than the others).

Anybody know what this "special" offal is, in the Asian market?

I was in the Asian market the other day, and I saw the usual things in the meat aisle, including "pork uteri". Next to them, however, were "special pork uteri", a little larger, and priced a little more. First time I have seen this, in all the years I have been going there. The only thing I could think of is that these things are fertilized! I googled them, out of curiosity, but got nothing. Anybody know what these are?