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Messages - andiesenji
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1486
« on: December 02, 2009, 05:38:07 am »
Thanks for all the info - it used to be extremely hard to get 95% alcohol here - but I have seen it in Polish Pure Spirit ? But not cheap and not very readily available.
Think your g-gmother's spelling of icewein is possibly how it was written in Paris. I have certainly seen that spelling commonly. Like the old salt on ice to chill the wine and the word gill - which some will remember is a unit of volume ( 4 gills= 1 pint!!!)
Wish my great-grandmother had an interest in food. That is really interesting - the sort of thing that my great-grandchildren may find on CDs/DVDs and scraps of paper in 120 years. Although it may all end up in a big skip !!!
My cousins have always consider me a bit of a nut - some years after the death of my g-gmama a few pieces of her jewelry were discovered and there was a lot of arguing because some of my cousins felt their wives should get it but most had been earmarked for me because I was the only female great grandchild. I offered to trade it for her journals but my aunts wouldn't agree to that. Eventually I did get some of the journals and gave most of the jewelry to the female children of my cousins.
1487
« on: December 01, 2009, 07:48:41 pm »
Let me add my welcome also, Pandateddy! (Cute name)
I am also a newbie - got my "Tuffy" on November 12 and have had a lot of fun playing with it.
I too love this forum. Being an old lady, I have no hesitancy about sticking my oar in and dispensing various bits of knowledge I have absorbed over nearly 60 years of cooking.
1488
« on: December 01, 2009, 07:36:40 pm »
It's been many, many years since I left my last husband but I was never hesitant about buying whatever I wanted for my kitchen. I worked a regular job and was raising his kids so felt entitled to what I felt would make my life easier. He liked to "run up to Vegas" with his pals on some weekends (was on an allowance!) and every time he did, I would buy something for me! The intervals between LV trips became longer and longer...eventually stopped!  One trip resulted in my purchase of a Garland commercial range - 8 burners, two oversized ovens and a large flat grill (griddle). Another coincided with my purchase of my first Cuisinart/Robot chef. Another with a second dishwasher because one was not enough. (He was a building contractor so no problem in reconfiguring the kitchen and installing it.) And one trip, four days prior to our anniversary, resulted in my purchase of the largest consumer side-by-side refrigerator ever manufactured in the U.S. - the Kelvinator 32 cubic foot Food-A-Rama. I think that was the last time he made the trip with his buddies. I never cared for the place - my second husband spent a lot of time working there as he had clients there that required his presence fairly often. In the beginning I traveled with him as I did not work full time then but it all got rather boring after a while. I didn't gamble and there wasn't much else to do there once one had exhausted the sight-seeing in surrounding areas. Such things have to balance out. Big boys with their big toys have to understand that their women should have equal access to fun stuff!
1489
« on: December 01, 2009, 06:29:43 pm »
If anyone is interested, the following is a site with a pdf document that explains the technical aspects of vanilla extraction: http://www.biocatalysts.com/pdf/technical_bulletins/TB110_Vanilla.pdfThere are also notes about using different types of liquor here: http://www.vanillarocks.com/extract.htmlHere is something I found interesting. The following is from one of my great-grandmother's receipt journals. Some interpretation was required because the handwriting is very small, written with a very fine steel pen and faded in spots. For "Flavouring of Vanilla recommended by Lady Bateman" grate about 2 dwt (pennyweight) of sugar into a stone mortar and work with a "broken" finger of vanilla until it appears oily. Pull the cork on a crock of sweet Rhinewine and set into a pan of crack'd ice, well salted, for half an hour then decant the liquid into a jug and add half a gill to the mortar. Muddle the mixture until it is a slurry and pour into a jelly glass and cover with a square of moistened parchment and tie it on well. Set the glass in a warm, dark cupboard until nearly the color of black treacle. Draw off the liquid with a pipe and add more of the icewein (her spelling) to the slurry. My great-grandmother wrote this in 1877 while she was staying at a hotel in Paris during one of her trips to "the continent." For my vanilla extract I use Everclear, which is 95% alcohol (190 proof) and after a couple of weeks add a small amount of distilled water to bring the proof down to about 100. The extraction of flavor is more rapid with the high percentage alcohol but there are some components that are helped along, after the initial soaking, by the water. After a few months I will add a flavor component liquor, either brandy or bourbon, sometimes rum, in the jars (I use canning jars with glass lids, rubber seals and the wire snap locks) and after a couple of weeks sample the flavor. The best way to "test" or sample the extract is by adding 1/4 teaspoon to a teaspoon full of simple syrup and then mixing this into a little milk - perhaps a couple of tablespoons. If the flavor is strong, you can begin using it in cooking and baking. If just so-so, add a couple more vanilla beans and keep it going.
1490
« on: December 01, 2009, 02:04:50 am »
Sound interesting indeed. Great stuff - is your store bought buttermilk thick and sour ( we have cultured) or watery and thin like that left over from making butter?? The Saveur recipe makes it sound like the butter must have been sour ?? Maybe from the cultured butter production as in some European countries.
I use both types - the liquid that remains after churning butter, poured off prior to adding water to the churn. I do "culture" the butter or rather the cream prior to churning. It's just a matter of taking it up to 180° F (82 C) allowing it to cool, adding the culture, (the same Bulgarian culture) and holding it at 85° F. (29 C) for 24 hours. The result is butter with a much more pronounced "buttery" flavor, some people think it has a slight cheese-like flavor. I like it because it was what I grew up with. I also use full-fat cultured buttermilk (Bulgarian culture) that I make on purpose - similar to making yogurt but a totally different flavor - for drinking and to use in cooking, baking, etc. It has a flavor like liquid sour cream. Oddly enough, they have about the same properties in cooking or in baking. Sometimes the volume of liquid has to be adjusted a bit, one way or the other, but I usually hold back part of any liquid in baking and add the last part if it looks like it needs it. This is simply experience. There are a lot of variables because many recipes behave differently because of weather. There are some things that simply cannot be done on a rainy day. Every try to do meringues when it is raining??? An exercise in humility. I'm not really fond of whipped cream - I much prefer sweetened sour cream for fruits etc., and the thick buttermilk is excellent when sweetened. (I now use Splenda or a combination of that and sugar because of diabetes.)
1492
« on: November 30, 2009, 10:43:45 pm »
I didn't think of something when typing my prior post.
I prepare various sambals and I have found that the combination of coconut oil and palm sugar (the wet kind) produces a much better result than other fats and sweeteners. I steam the dried chiles, which both softens them and makes it easier to remove the skins and gently saute them over fairly low heat so as to avoid any bitterness.
I caramelize onions and garlic with the spices, prior to adding to the other ingredients, also using coconut oil.
As I had such great success with the caramelized onions in the TMX, I am going to use it when I am ready to make my next batch of sambal.
1493
« on: November 30, 2009, 10:34:53 pm »
I placed an order at Vic Cherikoff's online store as there seemed to be much less hassle with the shipping.
I don't know how much my friend needs for a regular batch of brew but this should be enough for a small experiment.
1494
« on: November 30, 2009, 05:31:27 pm »
Thanks, Thermomixer! Good sites..
1495
« on: November 30, 2009, 05:27:34 pm »
OMG - reminds me that I am supposed to do a quince paste recipe.
Did you see my post in the other jam topic about my "smoked" quince jam to serve with cheese? During the holidays when I have guests, I put a quince studded with cloves in a small hanging cookpot in the fireplace and it will perfume the entire house.
1496
« on: November 30, 2009, 05:13:31 pm »
Does the eggplant taste nice - even though not like eggplant? I made an eggplant and cheese sauce last night to go with a middle-eastern lamb dish.
I tastes lovely. If you do not tell people they are eating eggplant, they will never have a clue! I grow the white, golden and green varieties and used those in one batch. In another batch I used the Japanese variety and the result was a lovely lavender color.
1497
« on: November 30, 2009, 02:32:34 am »
Don't pay attention to the floaters.
You will get a better result if you shake the container every day or so. Be absolutely sure the lid is sealed on tightly - I speak from experience and have a sweatshirt that still has a faint vanilla aroma after many washings.
In this case it isn't "Persistence of Memory" but Persistence of Scent!
1498
« on: November 29, 2009, 11:05:24 pm »
One of my friends is an amateur beer brewer and has been trying to find a new source for wattleseed (whole, not ground) for a couple of months. He used to order it from a spice supplier but they no longer have it in their catalog and have not responded to his email inquiry.
Does anyone have a listing for a retail company in Australia who will export to an individual - it would be in small amounts, a kilogram or less.
The only item available here is an ale made with wattleseed, and noted as sourced in Australia. (According to my informant, very expensive and only available at a specialty importer in Beverly Hills!)
1499
« on: November 29, 2009, 10:48:35 pm »
I'm in southern California and just got my TMX on November 12. So far I have been experimenting with various categories so I can learn the basics and possibilities.
I have to say that so far, the thing that has impressed me the most is the risotto. I think I have prepared risotto five times since I got the machine because it is so easy. I used to prepare it no more than once a month because all that stirring was very tiring and I have arthritis which is very severe in my right hand.
I never saw a demonstration but there had been a lively discussion on eGullet.org, a food forum on which I am fairly active, so I looked for more information and was given some excellent, and very prompt, contact information.
1500
« on: November 29, 2009, 08:58:59 pm »
I've been using coconut oil for both baking and cooking for several years. I substitute it for butter in many quick breads as I often cook for friends who are vegan and have found that it works better than the oils I had been using prior to the availability of coconut oil. I have never bothered to refrigerate it and it remains solid except during the hottest part of the summer when I forget to turn the A/C on in the pantry and the temp gets over 100° F. (37.7 C.). I have a recipe book somewhere in my office, dedicated to using coconut oil and coconut milk, which I purchased at a local health food store that caters to vegans. It has some interesting suggestions, including one for twice-baked potatoes that I have prepared many times. It also has a recipe for mayonnaise made with coconut oil and I also made garlic mayonnaise using a similar formula (silken(very soft) tofu, liquid soy lecithen, mustard, garlic and the coconut oil.) http://www.coconut-connections.com/recipes.htm is the cookbook I have - I paid $27.95 for it.
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