Friday Cephalopod

I'm an expat American living in the UK and have become woefully British this summer. One word; strawberries. Okay, okay, so it might not be completely and utterly synonymous with Britishness (unless you're a big fan of Wimbledon), but you may just have to take my word for it. And I've discovered this summer, that I'll never understand people that eat strawberries out of season. What the hell is that about? There's no point and you'll just hate yourself afterwards! Its cheating on the summer strawberry and you should feel shame. I'll be mourning the passing of strawberry season, but remaining steadfast til I can gourge myself again next summer!

A culinary Friday Cephalopod - Well done.

and people here in New England have no idea what good corn is like

Um, dude, when I was growing up we got fresh, delicious corn-on-the-cob from roadside farmers' markets. In fact, I don't think I even knew they sold it in the supermarket. Not exactly a fair comparison. :/

You do realize there will be grad students answering this, don't you?

Frozen pizza, the cheapest ("Now with 20% more crust!") variety.

Nah, really, my signature dish is something simple: a pot full of pasta, hamburger meat (I guess that's the word for a minced mess of cow and pig) and tomato sauce: looks like a hospital accident, but is easy to do. You boils the pasta, you fries the hamburger, you mixes all together; then you downs it and tries to keep it down.

Oh, and strawberries. I think I'll wander off to find some fine Finnish summer strawberries right now...

SACRILEGE !!!!!

I'll see if I can get someone to bring some up from our local pick-your-own next time they visit. I can prove your claim doesn't contain a kernel of truth. :)

P.S. Don't any of the Boston farmers' markets sell it?

P.P.S. I'll also find you a good New England Corn Chowder recipe. I've never made it, but it often involves bacon, so 'nuff said.

Strangely, although I grew up in the midwest I never had a lot of fresh-picked produce until I moved to the northeast, probably because my parents never sought out farmers' markets. Anyway, where I live now I can pick my own strawberries, blueberries, and apples, and have my choice of peaches from several parts of the state, and lots of other fresh produce from five different farmers' markets all within a 20 minute drive. Definitely agree with you on the corn, though. I've never had a really good ear of corn out here.
I grow tomatoes and basil and lettuce on the porch (too many deer and woodchucks for a garden), and I live on tomato/basil salad with fresh mozzarella from one of the markets in late summer. Yum. Tried a variety of cherry tomatoes this year called Sun Gold - so sweet you wouldn't believe it.

I made a classic English custard tart the other day. You boil
1 pint of double cream and whisk it together with three eggs, two extra yolks, 50g sugar and enough nutmeg for potential psychedelia, then bake it in a pastry case until it sets.
Tongue says YAY! Arteries say Aaargh.

MAJeff...first, let me say I'm glad you are one of the guest posters. I have always loved your comments and if I ever get up to Boston again (and you haven't fled to Canada), I'd love to meet you.

Second...NO FAIR posting such yummy cephalopod porn when I'm starving and don't have a chance to get really good fried calamari when I'm at work. (Pout).

It would have been nice if I had been offered a guest spot on the blog to provide some semblance of balance to this commentary - although as of yet it hasn't been to partisan.

______________________________________________________________
Dies Irae, Ben Stein, Dawkins

I'm hungry.

You do realize there will be grad students answering this, don't you?

It's a graduate student writing, as well.

I mentioned only having three jars left. I can my soup. Part of the reason is that I love having the jars--they look cool. Part of it is because I'm more likely to eat it if I see it on the shelf than if I have to open the freezer and go looking for it. And part of it is that I live in the smallest studio apt you've ever seen and only have a half-fridge. I can't even fit any soup into the "freezer" to have to go looking for it. It usually comes out to about $2.50 per meal this way.

I make my own bread as well. I like that because I can play more (I use a bread machine for the kneading--I took it from my parents' basement when I moved out here--and bake it in the oven), but also because it's cheaper.

Hey Pete, begone. Go fantasize about rape and torture some more.

Well I don"t mean to rub it in but since I'm here in the middle of the corn fields and ther's not much else around, I have been suckin down some great BLT's and there is always someone bringing in fresh sweet corn (by the truck load)to give away. Alotta good people here in the midwest.

As far as strawberries out of season go--- they look great but they really really REALLY SUCK. outa be a law ha ha

My signature dish would have to be chicken tandoori masala.

I use Greek yoghurt, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, ground dried chilli, mild paprika for the colour, garam masala, cumin and coriander seeds. Marinate for 24 hours or so, and cook on the barbecue for best effect, basting with the remaining marinade. Use chicken thighs on the bone, but remove the skin and make two or three slashed to the bone.

Once you have cooked the chicken allowed to cool, remove the meat from the bone if you want.

Now make the sauce. Put onions, garlic and ginger in a blender and blend until smooth. Heat some ghee (or oil) in a pan, and fry the onion mix for five minutes. Add chilli, paprika (again for colour), ground coriander and cumin and cook for another 5 minutes. Add some coconut milk, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken to the pan, along with some garam masala and fresh coriander. Cook until the chicken is heated through.

Serve with rice or naan.

Looks good Jeff. Might give the soup a swing this weekend. I've got some homemade chicken stock in the freezer that needs to be used.

My Hungarian-immigrant dad taught me how to make authentic goulash (hint: it does NOT involve ground meat and macaroni). I make a really awesome Indonesian-style curry based on coconut milk, good as the down-the-block Thai restaurant's considered the best in the city. I love to play with vegan "mock" foods made out of weird ingredients like wheat protein and soy (yes, I make my own tofu). I whip up a batch of kimchee that's ecstatically hot and addictive.

But my fiance, who loves my cooking but appreciates a simpler dish just as much, loves the following super-easy convenience minestrone:

In a three- or four-quart soup pot, fry half a finely diced onion in a little oil until it starts to turn golden brown. Add "enough" water (not stock) for two, three, four servings or so, say a quart. To the water, add seasonings or a concentrated stock cube (I make a vegan "chicken" seasoning that is really quite convincing) or a dash of mushroom soy sauce (for a "beefy" flavor). Open a can of crushed or stewed tomatoes and mix that in too, crushing the tomatoes with your spoon if they are whole. Add some garlic (fresh or powder, doesn't matter) and some Italian seasoning. Bring this to a boil and let it boil at a medium rate for five minutes.

Then add two to three cups of a mixture of vegetables, frozen or chopped fresh, but NOT canned. Be sure to include carrots. Try to get some greens in there: kale, kohlrabi tops, turnip greens, beet greens... spinach is too insipid. Bring this back to a boil, then add a couple handfuls of soup macaroni... elbows, small shells... and a drained can of white kidney beans (cannellini) or the ordinary red ones. If you are feeding four people, also add a can of drained chickpeas.

Simmer until the veggies and pasta are done. Adjust salt and pepper. Pass the pepper grinder and serve with decent bread.

Still too fancy? Want meat? Want something a kid can make? This was the original kid recipe my brother and I cooked up when I was 12 and he was 10:

Cook a half pound of ground beef in a pot with a half a chopped onion until it is nicely browned. Drain the fat. Add water, a can of diced tomatoes (undrained), garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil then throw in some frozen mixed veggies and a handful of macaroni. Stand over it stirring it and yelling at your sibling to let you have a turn and not to taste it out of the spoon. Ladle into coffee mugs to serve.

With the addition of hot sauce, it is also excellent and restorative when you have the flu and hardly any energy to cook.

I don't have a signature dish per say. I was a chef at a posh resort in Jackson Wyoming for about 8 years in the 90's and learned a number of different styles and techniques. I love slow roasted and braised meats or smoked meats but I can make a mean Salmon and kafir lime coconut soup as well. I make my own bacon, sausage and tasso ham when the need arises. I'm big on what some call "Slow Food". I would rather take the time to make any ingredient than to get it out of a bottle or a box so typically if I'm going to make a complex meal, it will take all day. Which I love. I'll pick one that isn't necessarily my signature but it's damn good too and easy to make. I mean everyone loves cheeseburgers and fresh cut fries, right? (ok not you strange veggies sorry) More on my food blog Pork and Whiskey.

The recipe is too long to repost here so here's the direct link.

Sorry PZ, the only recipe for perfect sweetcorn involves growing it yourself. Tkae a camping stove to the vegetable patch and set a pot of water to boil. When it boils, pick the corn, run back to the pot, rip off the outside leaves and throw the corn into the pot. Boil for 5 minutes then eat with melted butter. My corn should be ready this weekend.

For a great soup, fry an onion, add a grated carrot and as many tomatoes as you have to hand (or in winter a tin of Italian tomatoes which are surprisingly good) and add enough water to cover(or stock if you have it). Simmer until everything is soft then add a big handfull of basil. After a couple of minutes whizz the whole lot in a liquidiser, season to taste and serve with some soured cream and freshly chopped basil. It freezes well too.

Sorry PZ, the only recipe for perfect sweetcorn involves growing it yourself.

PZ's not here.

Hows your transportation there?
Arlington has a Farmers Market on Wed afternoons, Medford has one on Thursdays.

Good corn and other produce at both.

Have you tried the market between North Station and Faniel Hall? When I commuted that way I would bring home fabulous stuff. You would get great bargains just as the market was getting ready to shut down.

I can get my email to Skatje if you need more info.

There seem to be a bunch of us in Boston, we should have a pub party or something some time!

Make sure and invite me if you plan one.

Thank you kindly

Hows your transportation there?
Arlington has a Farmers Market on Wed afternoons, Medford has one on Thursdays.

The Davis Square one isn't bad. I'm not too impressed with the on in Coolidge Corner.

I've been meaning to start doing the Saturday market between Fanueil and the North End. I just never make it over there in the morning.

There seem to be a bunch of us in Boston, we should have a pub party or something some time!

I'm (still) in!

My all-around any time of year signature dish is red quinoa with roasted carrots and onions and bell peppers.
For summer seasonal, I make an imam bayildi of sorts.
Take eggplant, halve, hollow out, cut into chunks leaving the hull as a boat. Sautee an onion in olive oil until nicely browned, add eggplant chunks and a tomato, also chunked. Cook a few minutes until eggplant is soft. Toss a tablespoon of sugar into the mix, mound into eggplant boats, put breadcrumbs on top, and oven cook at 350 for about 20 minutes. Good eatin'.

Reverend Chimp, I wasn't always a vegetarian, and I'm not a fanatic even about that. If you're making cheeseburgers, I'm eating cheeseburgers... well, a cheeseburger, and thereafter hold the cheese. :) Life is too short to be a bad guest and a dour, withered, little food miser.

Oh, a recipe!
I shoulda read the whole post before I replied!

Pumpkin soup that doesn't taste like liquid pumpkin pie.

Chop one small onion and a carrot or two and sweat them in a teaspoon of olive oil. You want the onion soft and transparent, but not overcooked. Add a can of pumpkin and a can of chicken broth, a teaspoon of thyme fresh if you can, or half teaspoon dried, same of savory and a bit of rosemary. Parsley if you like it, what ever. You want a bit of herb flavor and some green. I don't care for fresh parsley and the dried stuff doesn't often have flavor so I skip it but the woman who taught me this one loved fresh parsley and used to use that by the tablespoon.

Heat thru to a boil, carefully so it doesn't scorch. Serve with a swirl of sour cream and a good grind of real pepper on top. Or plain yogurt if you want the healthier version.

Easy, filling, and very good. Relies mostly on whats in my cupboard all the time.

Hey Claudia My Grandpa was a strawberry farmer for 50 years, I would come out of his fields with a BIG red smile, I do miss those days...Strawberry fields forever! *sniff*

Reverend Chimp, I wasn't always a vegetarian, and I'm not a fanatic even about that. If you're making cheeseburgers, I'm eating cheeseburgers... well, a cheeseburger, and thereafter hold the cheese. :) Life is too short to be a bad guest and a dour, withered, little food miser.

:)

When I lived in WY my two roommates were vegetarians so i cooked Veg at home most of the time. MOST of the time. I have no problemo eating vegetarian and Mrs. BDC and I do so pretty frequently. Mainly to keep me from eating Brasato al Barolo every meal.

BRATWURST Yum! I hear tell that some of the best brats in the US are to be found in Green Bay at Lambeau Field. One day I will make a pilgrimage to the holiest of stadiums and sample their ample wares.

BRATWURST Yum!

I actually make my parents ship me brats from their local meat market once or twice a year (and some friends have taken to asking if they can get some as well).

I'm thinking that when I finally finish the diss, I'm going to do a "Minnesota Party": bratwurst, German potato salad, good beer, cholesterol medicine.

Living in an urban setting, the "picked that day" option is rarely available to me.

This is one of the best things about Cleveland. Lots of excellent veggies and fruits are grown in the surrounding areas and can be had very fresh at several farmer's markets and a plethora of smaller stands. (The big, permanent market, the West Side Market- for you east coasters, comparable to Philly's Reading Market- is actually not so interesting for produce but you can get amazing meat and pretty good fish there.) The best restaurants in town make a special point of using fresh, top quality local ingredients, meat as well as veggies.

So there is indeed something to be said for the Midwest! (Although for seafood, you're of course much better off in Boston. Life is full of tradeoffs.)

Not that it's any consolation, but up here in NH there are a lot of farmer's markets. You could probably also join a CSA (surely there's one near Boston) for the next harvest and get a nice share of fresh veggies every week.

I have a little garden out back where I keep a supply of chives and golden tomatoes. I have so many fresh veggies from the local farm that I don't know what to do with them! So far I've made leftover veggie stirfry, ratatouille, parmesan potato leek soup, pesto (using garlic scapes instead of basil, which makes it taste more garlicky and buttery) and any other recipes I can find in the Joy of Cooking. Plus I've been doing a lot of canning (mostly just bread and butter pickles and blueberry lavender fruitbutter).

There seem to be a bunch of us in Boston, we should have a pub party or something some time!
Have you been attending the Boston Skeptics pub gatherings? (http://bostonskeptics.wordpress.com/)

Another Boston Pharyngulite here.
I missed out on the Boston gathering back in late winter/early spring, organized by MAJeff. I'd love another shot at meeting up with some calimari eating freethinkers.

And speaking of fresh produce from the back yard garden, I can't wait for my habeneros to be ripe for some chili.
I'd share the recipe but I have never measured out the spices I put in. I use cinnamon, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin, fresh garlic, onions, 1 lb. ground beef, 4 oz can of tomato paste, 16 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, 16 oz. of kidney beans, bell peppers and some hot peppers and one malty beer. Depending on hot hot I want it I add either habeneros or jalepenos, or both.

I think it's a pretty standard chili recipe, but maybe someone will see an ingredient they never tried before.

p.s. Pete, since when are we looking for a balance between sanity and lunacy here? ha!

For those talking about a Boston get-together, check out Skepchick. Rebecca has been organizing a Skeptics-in-the-Pub for several months. I've had to miss the past few (dissertation and conference), but it's a pretty good time.

MAJeff, when your tomatoes will be ripe, you could make a very good bruschetta with toasted slices of your home made bred lightly scrubbed with garlic, sprinkled with olive oil, and topped with chopped raw tomatoes, salt, ground pepper, and basil or parsley.

Also impossible to find in Boston:
good cole slaw
a cab ride home from the bar
public transportation that runs past 12:30

Mmmm, fresh basil pesto.

I'd say one of my favourite dishes is cranberry glazed porkshops with a side of sweet potatoes. I promise I will post my recipe for that later! Right now, I'm off to host a BBQ... and I'm praying, er... hoping, that it won't rain.

Ah, summer in the midwest. I'm in Dubuque and were I so inclined I could be buttering the cobs of some of the finest damn sweetcorn in the world within half an hour. Hmm...now I AM so inclined. Shit.

mmmm... fresh-picked produce. My garden has been producing this year, although not as much as I'd like. Damn leaf-footed bugs in my tomatoes! Anyway, my signature dish so far is fried okra. Down here in the south (well, FL, which some don't consider to be part of the south), fried okra is a given. Surprisingly, okra has been my best producer. And they have really pretty flowers, too. After a little bout with aphids, they've been going strong. Pick the pods when they're only a couple of inches tall for really tender, flavorful pods. I used to think I didn't like okra, but I figured I'd give it a go. As I discovered, really fresh okra tastes MUCH better than anything else.

Anyway, the recipe. The measurements are approximate; change them depending on how many pods you've got.

Pick a few okra pods from the plants in your garden. Go directly to the kitchen and cut the pods into 1/4" pieces. Soak the pieces in egg for about 15 minutes. While they're soaking, combine 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup cornmeal in a bowl with 1/2 tbs black pepper and 1/2 tbs salt. Get a big baggie. Throw some of the flour/cornmeal mixture in the bag and toss in a handful of now egg-soaked pods (if you thought okra was slimy by itself, wait till you soak it in egg!). I inflate the bag and seal it and start shaking, till all the pieces are good and coated.

Now you need to fry them. I use just a regular pot with enough canola oil to submerge the okra pieces. I try to heat it to about 375 degrees (I got a cheap digital thermometer for a few bucks at the grocery). Toss in the pieces and let them sit for a minute or so, until they start to turn golden. Then I stir them up so they brown all over.

Take the pieces out and strain them when they are a beautiful golden-brown. Put the pieces on a papertowel-covered plate and sprinkle a little salt on them when they're still hot.

Now you can eat them! A friend recommended that you dip them in ranch dressing, which is really good, or you can just eat them plain.

As a side-note, my garden may soon be a thing of the past. Ever hear of a little thing called a home owners' association? Apparently, mine has a problem with vegetable gardens. Here's my response. Hopefully they will respond positively to logic and reason.

the ultimate summer supper

6 ears fresh supersweet corn, freshly picked
4 ripe red tomatoes
butter
salt

shuck corn and boil just long enough to heat up - 5 min.

meanwhile, slice tomatoes thickly.

serve corn with butter and salt, with sliced tomatoes on the side.

if necessary, finish with blueberry tarts.

I've had freshly picked corn in Ontario, and I've had freshly picked corn in Vancouver BC. Ontario corn SUCKS in comparison. The corn I buy was grown a couple of clicks from where I live (in a vancouver suburb) and is, at most, a few hours old when I buy it. It is so sweet and crisp it's hard to believe.

Off to get my blueberry tarts out of the oven - made with local cultured blueberries the size of your thumbnail, and oh so sweet...

Yay CyberLizard!

Being a good southern boy I LOVE fried okra. Mrs. BDC and I have a number of okra plants in the garden. Good thing about okra is it is hard to kill and it is constantly producing pods.

Now that I'm retired, I make most things from scratch. It tastes better, is cheaper and I like to do it! Big garden, contract farmer, fresh stuff most seasons of the year.

For excess zucchini (who doesn't have these?) I make easy refrigerator pickles. This recipe is loosely adapted from Cooks.com

Easy refrigerator pickles

2 lbs zucchini (cukes also work)
2 onions

3 c. sugar
3 c. cider vinegar
1/3 c. canning salt (I use Kosher salt)
1 tbsp. mustard seed
1 tbsp. celery seed
1 tbsp. turmeric
(you can also use 3T pickling spices)

Slice vegetables thinly, layer in a jar with onions. (I use my crockpot).
Combine pickling ingredients and heat slightly until sugar is dissolved.
Let cool, then pour over zucchini slices, stirring gently to mix.
Cover and keep in the refrigerator one day before using.

Even my husband eats them!

SG

Nicely done, MAJeff. Agreed on the corn front. Any fresh produce grown in some other part of the world, gassed, boxed, and shipped hundreds or thousands of miles is going to lack that key food component that we look for- flavor. Tomatoes are a summer food that I so look forward to, being that other times of the year they have less flavor than the box they come in. Grab a few large, ripe tomatoes, maybe some heirlooms, and try this:

1- Score the bottoms with a small X; blanch them in a large pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds then shock them in an ice water bath; peel, half width-wise and remove the seeds.

2- Arrange them center-up on a parchment- or foil-lined sheet tray, drizzle with olive oil and spike with thyme sprigs; roast at 225F for about 3 hours; allow to cool.

3- Remove thyme sprigs, season, top with toasted pine nuts, breadcrumbs, and gruyere cheese (and maybe some of that fresh basil); roast again until golden brown.

Sounds like a lot of work, but well worth it. Makes an excellent side dish or meal served over some orzo with sauteed summer squash and roasted garlic.

I wish I had a garden to grow things for myself. And I wish hubby were more interested in eating veggies. I've got a wicked recipe from my little Mexican madre for Caldo de Pollo! Lots and lots of chunky veg (carrots, corgette/zucchini, potato, corn on the cob, potatoes, onion...) slow cooked with tender chicken...yum! Its one of the best winter warmers...

well PZ, as a native German I have to tell you that you cannot get a decent Bratwurst ANYWHERE west of the Rhine... Nor meet anyone who can pronounce it properly. Uh, the hardships one endures.....

oh my god, those roasted tomatoes sound amazing. I'll be making some!!!

With my own breadcrumbs, of course (which I also used to make some amazing saltinboca last week)

I make most things from scratch. It tastes better, is cheaper and I like to do it!

Check. Check. Check.

Part of me would love to just toss the whole academia thing aside and spend my time cooking.

Part of me would love to just toss the whole academia thing aside and spend my time cooking.

Count me in on that idea. If I never had to update another server in my life and instead spent my time cooking, life would be great.

well PZ, as a native German I have to tell you that you cannot get a decent Bratwurst ANYWHERE west of the Rhine...

PZ's not here.

Who is this PZ fellow people keep referring to?

Favorite recipe? Seasonal? Okay then!

Get two pounds of fresh strawberries and toss them in the freezer.

Go beg, borrow, or steel twenty pounds of honey.

Sanitize your kitchen.

Sanitize your kitchen again.

Make sure the woman in your life is out of the house for the next few hours as you are about to make a horrible mess of the kitchen.

Mix honey and water half and half and bring to a boil, skimming the froth from the top until it froths no more.

Pour into a six gallon fermenter.

Add frozen strawberries.

Add water to make up the rest of the six gallons.

Let cool to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a good time to clean up the kitchen before the woman gets home and kills you.

Add two packets of champaigne or other highly alcohol tolerant brewer's yeast.

Cut a lemon in half, juice it into the bucket, toss the rest in after the juice.

Seal the fermenter....and wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

This is like a two week wait.

After the bubbling stops, skim the strawberries off the top and serve over ice cream. (*YUM*!) Rack the rest of the contents of the bucket into a glass carboy, minus the yeastly sludge at the bottom (that goes on your compost heap -- your garden'll love it!). Seal the carboy...and wait.

No, I mean _really_ wait.

Six months wait.

Rack into bottles, seal, and wait some more. If you can.

It'll be tasty now, but it'll be better in two or three years. :D

And 'lo, a strawberry melomel is born!

-- Pheathers

Oh man, I'm getting really hungry now... I'm going to have to bookmark this thread and copy some of the recipes over when I get back home.

Anyway, my signature dish is cheesy beans. You can also make this in a crock-pot. To serve 4 (or fewer people with more leftovers):

Drain and rinse well four cans of beans (I use a mix of dark and light kidney beans, and one can of chili beans not drained). Transfer to a pot on the stove. Mix in one can of diced tomatoes, including the juice. Add two cups of grated or shredded cheddar cheese, roughly a quarter cup of parmesan cheese, and a splash of lemon juice (if desired). Season to taste with herbs and spices (I use basil, oregano, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, lots of chili powder, and just a smidge of sage). Stir all together well and heat on medium until hot and cheese is melted.

I love serving this with cornbread. Cold, it's also a great dip for tortilla chips.

"Grocery store corn is WORTHLESS, and people here in New England the Midwest, and most particularly the South, have no idea what good corn is like..."

There, Fixed it for you.

At our house, late summer means gazpacho. Ask for tomato seconds at a farmer's market; cheaper and just as tasty.

Take 4-6 peeled tomatoes, a medium size peeled cucumber, a medium size red or green pepper, 2 or more cloves of garlic and 1/2 slice of bread (to thicken). Blend, chill and enjoy.

This recipe is very flexible. Modify to suit your tastes.

Pete said:

It would have been nice if I had been offered a guest spot on the blog to provide some semblance of balance to this commentary - although as of yet it hasn't been to partisan.

Pete, delusion does not provide balance.

Oh, and I forgot something -- take a moment to give a lesson in evolution to the guy down the hall, talking about how yeast (yay!) developed the ability to ferment sugars into alcohol in order to compete with bacteria (boo! hiss!)for the long term use of the sugar. Eat a little sugar now, rapidly convert as much as you can to a form your vile bacteria enemies (boooooooo!) cannot tolerate, then sit pretty and metabolize the results for ages to come....until some silly hominid figures out your game and starts concentrating the sugars so you overproduce your storage medium and poison yourself to death, allowing the clever bald monkeys to drink the efforts of your labor and get happily verschnookered. :D

Science Goddess, another good easy no cook recipe for pickles is southern freezer pickles

Homemade Freezer Sweet & Sour Pickles

4 cups of close to paper-thin sliced cucumbers (I use a mandolin to knock this out quick. I find that too thin is bad so don't get crazy. You want thin but not insane )

water

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

Optionoal- Some seasoning of choice (I've used cumin seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns etc.. you can get creative but because this is no cook don't expect too much out of it)

* Slice your cucumbers thin. Don't peel them or remove the seeds.
* Put sliced cucumbers in a glass bowl or crock (not metal or plastic) and cover with just enough salted water to cover them.
* Soak at room temperature for 2 hours.
* Drain, but don't rinse reserving the water.
* Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar.
* Pour over the cucumbers and add enough brine to cover.
* Put in a freezer container (plastic okay) and liquid.
* If dividing into two containers divide liquid in equal portions.
* Freeze overnight, this is how they get crisp.
* Take out of freezer the next day, they will thaw in a few hours.
* Store in refrigerator, they keep for about 6 weeks if they last this long.

Good stuff and really easy.

When my twins were very small, still in diapers, we would turn them loose in our backyard 'farm' and they would graze on the produce straight off the vine, so to speak. Many times I would come home to find them sitting together in the middle of the strawberry patch feeding each other the best strawberries I've ever had. They would also eat the beans right out of the pod, still soft and sweet. It set them on a course of actually preferring vegetables. We've never had to fight with them to finish their veggies at dinner unlike my first set of children. My fecundity was rather good I must say, in more ways than one. I miss that garden. *sob* We never had to go to the farmers market. We were the farmers.

I like making favoured vodka.

My favourites are cranberry and raspberry.

For the cranberry get a 250g punnet, and put in a deep bowl. Get a fork, and repeatedly stab the cranberries until they have been given a good going go. If it helps, imagine that you are stabbing the face of Peter Rooke or Fr J. Divide the cranberries between two 70Cl bottles, and add 2 tablespoons of sugar to each. Top the bottles up with vodka, 1 litre is normally enough. Place caps on bottles and shake well. Store in a dark place, and shake every day. Leave for at least two weeks. if you can resist, leave for a month.

Serve the vodka over ice, topped with soda water, lemonade or tonic. Juice the cranberries with apples, making sure you do not have to do anything else that day, as it has a punch!

For the raspberry just divide a 250g punnet between two bottles, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and top up with vodka. Then treat as with the cranberry vodka.

Let cool to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a good time to clean up the kitchen before the woman gets home and kills you.

OK, can't resist

MAJeff -- you've never seen your significant other's head explode when she realizes you've had a boilover of honey all over their brand new stove and haven't yet finished chiseling the residue off yet, have you? ;)

-- Pheathers

Significant other? Trying to avoid that.

s/she realizes/they realize/

I shouldn't assume gender of someone's mate. ;) Though chances are whatever chromosome set they inherited, they'll get miffed at boiled honey all over the stove.

-- Pheathers

MAJeff, still waiting for that fresh bread you promised several, many threads ago. But seeing as I'm halfway across the country I guess there's no hope. *sigh*

Congrats on being picked.

Let cool to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a good time to clean up the kitchen before the woman gets home and kills you.

OK, can't resist

Mrs. BDC has me trained well. Since I do most of the cooking I end up on the cleaning end too. I know, that's contrary to how it goes most places, but she does work a lot.

no those aren't whip marks on my ass

Mmm, kaffir lime leaves. I love thai food. I could eat thai pretty much every day (if it's not the Merkinized thai - where "thai hot" means "sorta medium" instead of scorchingly spicy hot)

Mmm, bratwurst. Nuff said.

Mmm German Potato Salad - my aunt's recipe, which I haven't made in a while, used about a whole pound of bacon, AND the grease. So tasty, but you can feel your blood becoming more viscous.

Boiled corn? Heathen swine. It's soo much better grilled. Either shuck it and wrap it in foil, or pull the leaves back enough to get rid of the cornfloss, return the leaves, and tie them closed with another leaf and soak in water. Takes maybe 10 - 15 minutes cook time depending on how hot your grill is, etc, and keep turning them. And buy your corn from a local farmer's market, nice and fresh.

When I was but a lad in Floriday, we used to go to the pick-your-own farm and get maters and strawberries. I think we'd have more berries in our bellies than in our baskets.

When we'd visit my mom's parents (Stone Harbor NJ) my grandpa would go to a local farm and get fresh bluberries, and we'd have blueberries and cream for breakfast.

The best memories are of food. Smells from the past are such great mind triggers.

Seasonal eh? Okay I'll save the curry soup recipe for winter.

Greek Salad: equal parts super ripe feild tomato sliced or diced, thinly sliced onion, klamata olives (pitted, you don't want to distract yourself while eatting, but pit them yourself for the best flavour), and crumbled feta. Garnish with fresh basil if available, notice, no lettuce!

Lemon-Rosemary chicken marinade (perfect for BBQing, large parts or for skewers):
--enough oil to coat the bits of chicken,
--enough lemon juice that you can smell it after being mixed in with the oil and chicken,
--as much fresh garlic as you have the patience to peel and coarsely chop,
--at least as much rosemary as will mound in the palm of your hand, if it's fresh chop it to get the flavour out and onto the food, if it's dried attack it with a morter and pestle,
--about a 5th the amount of rosemary used will now be measuring guideline for the unusual bit, carraway seeds, morter and pestle them too they really fill out the bottom of the rosemary flavour.
--toss it all together in a big bowl (with the chicken, remember the chicken?), wash your hands and walk out of the room, get some fresh air saunter back in and give it a sniff, top up the lemon juice so you can just smell it over the garlic.
--Leave for 15-20 minutes, or a glass and a half of wine with friends if you don't have a watch handy, BBQ.
A little bit or tarragon can be nice too, if it's fresh and feeling pungent I preffer lime juice to lemon. Eh, play around with it you can tell by the measuring process it's not hard and fast.

Mmm German Potato Salad - my aunt's recipe, which I haven't made in a while, used about a whole pound of bacon, AND the grease. So tasty, but you can feel your blood becoming more viscous.

Mine too.

Pheathers, have you ever boiled wort* over? I expect that would be worse than honey. It's very sticky, very aromatic, and very persistent.

*early step in beer brewing - well, not the over part.

err... I ment hard and fast as in 'hard and fast rules' which must be followed.... the marinade recipe is in fact fast and easy, but pretty flexible.

Rev. BDC

Being a good southern boy I LOVE fried okra. Mrs. BDC and I have a number of okra plants in the garden. Good thing about okra is it is hard to kill and it is constantly producing pods.

I second that! Easiest thing to grow around here, in this heat, and they are gooood! One of my favorite is pickled okra, or breaded & fried, or okra salad or....

Zucchini - loads of zucchini. Here's a favorite recipe that's a little different.

Zucchini Appetizer
From Karen

3 cups grated zucchini, squeeze out excess moisture
1 cup of Bisquick
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 finely chopped hot pepper (to taste)
1 clove finely chopped garlic
2 TBS parsley flakes
½ cup grated mozzarella
¼ cup of parmesan or romano grated cheese
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp oregano
4 eggs, slightly beaten

Mix ingredients well. Spread in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 - 35 minutes until golden. Let cool, then cut into small squares.

Not exactly "heart healthy" so it should feed lots of people.

Enjoy!

This talk is making me hungry - but since it's my daughter's birthday today, she chose Old Country Buffet for lunch. Eesh. Dinner at Carraba's. ~sigh~

True Bob -- fortunately, I've avoided that sad fate. I've also avoided honey boilovers after that first experience. I wasn't ready for exactly how closely you have to watch the brew-pot once heat is applied. :D

-- Pheathers

My dear departed German-Swiss grandma used to make us a breakfast hotcake called (phonetically) eyerdatch. It was crinkly-edged, and she topped it with powdered sugar. Does anyone here know how to make it? She took the recipe to the grave (looking at sky - "Nooooooooooooooo!!").

Wort boilover. Yikes. It's like being stuck in the La Brea tar pit.

Rev, it took me one time to learn - like Pheathers and the honey. It happens so fast...

OT, Rev, where'd you find the wakin' bacon? I was sent that link in a BMW E3 email list about a week ago (I asked this question on your blog as well, but you're here now, so...)

Someone sent me the link as well. Sorry I'm a bad blog daddy these days.

You could try this, if you're looking for something quick & easy.

Vegetarians (but not vegans or cardiologists) can try this instead.

MAJeff, I agree that grocery store corn is usually mediocre at best, but it is possible to get fresh-picked corn here in the Bay State. We've even grown some in our own back yard. One year we even grew enough to have corn on the cob for... oh... two or three dinners! (It's a small yard.)

I recognize the fresh-picked here may still be far inferior to fresh-picked Midwestern corn. I wouldn't know - but you would. :-)

Here's a nice recipe that makes use of a bunch of garden produce.

Pesto pasta with grilled veggies

Ingredients:

3 eggplants (of the long and slender variety)
3-4 small to medium sized zucchini and/or summer squash
3-5 bannana peppers
2-3 bell peppers
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Ground red pepper
Powdered garlic

Pesto*
1 lb Spaghetti or pasta of choice

1-2 Fresh tomatoes (coarsely diced)
Good olives, pitted and halved

Instructions
Bring water to a boil, add pasta and cook to desired doneness.

As the water comes to a boil, seed and coarsely chop the peppers. Then coarsely chop the eggplant and zucchini/summer squash but try to keep the eggplant. Put the vegitables in a bowl, then season to taste with salt, pepper, powdered garlic, and ground red pepper. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat.

Cook on a grill or under a broiler until they begin to brown and are soft but not mushy, about 20 minutes depending on temperature.

To plate, toss the pasta with the pesto, then serve over vegetables. Sprinkle diced tomatoes and olive halves on top.

* I make my pesto using basil, olive oil, garlic, romano cheese, salted pistachio nuts, orange juice, and a dash of fish sauce.

clinteas wrote:
SACRILEGE !!!!!

I agree. Deep fried? That's a waste of calamari.

But maybe it would be OK with some soy sauce.

Here here for calamari, farmer's markets and home-grown veggies. Sadly, my porch garden has not been very productive this year (i guess its just been too wet). Though I've had some nice lettuces, and of course basil and parsely. The tomato vines are enormous and healthy looking, so if they ever start producing fruit, I'll be set.

My signature dish as of late has been some Ethiopian style lentils. Masks of Eris @#3: yes, I'm a grad student, too, but trust me, these are cheaper and healthier than frozen pizza (though there is an initial bit of investment in the spices...). Boil two cups of water. Add 1 cup lentils (I like the red ones, but any kind will do--so would split peas). Also add a chopped onion, a clove of garlic (minced), and a chopped roasted pepper (for milder lentils, you can use a bell pepper. If you like it a little spicier, use a chili pepper like an anaheim). Also add a tablespoon of berbere spices (see below). Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Serve with some plain yogurt, and fresh tomatoes if ya got em.

Berbere spices:
2 t. cumin
1 t. cardamom
1/2 t. allspice
1 t. fenugreek (if you can't find this, just leave it out)
1 t. coriander
1/2 t. cloves
1 t. black pepper
5 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. ginger
1 t. turmeric
1 t. salt
3 Tablespoons sweet Paprika
1/2 t. cinnamon.
Mix these all together, then store in an airtight container or ziploc bag.

The best thing to do with zucchini is to grate it up and hide it in chocolate cake.

Pff, recipes? Who needs recipes! Much more fun (and often just as tasty, in my experience) to add whatever you feel like and see if it tastes good.
But, since we're sharing recipes, here's the only good one I've made recently (not seasonal; I have no access to fresh vegetables or anything, and too lazy to plant a garden, since it would just get torn up by my dogs and cats). I'm not going to bother giving actual values, because I don't know them; I generally make my own recipes by ratios more than anything else.

Make a 2:2:2:2:2:1:1 mix of honey, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, Thai peanut sauce, szchewan sauce (I think that's how you spell it, its some kind of spicy Asian sauce), pineapple juice, and orange juice. Marinade some ribs in them "overnight" (because I go to sleep at 8 in the morning and wake up at dinnertime, yay screwy schedules), or about 9 hours. Cook at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Then eat.

The people on this thread talking about corn all want to peel it and then boil it. The problem with that approach is that half the flavor is left in the water. Leave the husk on. Trim the loose part of the tassel then arrange the ears on a cookie sheet. Place in the center of an oven preheated to 350 degrees and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Retrieve the now scrumptious ears, peel the husk, apply salt, pepper, and a compound butter and enjoy.

I will buy a pound of unsalted butter and make each of the four sticks into a different compound butter. To the softened stick, I might add finely minced shallot, finely minced garlic, some finely chopped chives, and some thyme leaves. Or maybe some tequila, lime zest and juice, and some finely chopped parsley. Or maybe some jalapeño, lime, garlic, and cilantro. Use your imagination. Once you have made your compound butter, you can roll it back into a log and store in the freezer and cut off pieces as needed. Another approach is too put the soft compound butter in a pastry bag, and using different tips, squeeze out small florets onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet in the freezer. When the florets are frozen, place them in a zip top bag and store in the freezer. Take out what you need.

The compound butters also work well on other vegetables and also on grilled meats. A couple of florets of Tequila-lime butter on a grilled New York strip just before serving and some jalapeño-lime butter on a roasted ear of corn--sometimes life is really, really good.

True Bob @74,

"Eyerdatch" would be Eierdatsch, which is simply a dialect word for "pancake". Eier are eggs, Datsch is a word for cake in some southern German dialects. (Frex, what northerners call Pflaumenkuchen -- plumcake -- my mother in law would call Zwetschgadatschi; their Kartoffelpuffer -- potato pancake -- is her Raibadatschi.) The "normal" German word for pancake is Pfannkuchen*, though some people call them Eierkuchen.

I've just checked an online collection of Swiss recipes (in German only, I'm afraid), but no joy. However, if you can find a book of Swiss, or Swabian, or just generally-southern-Germanic recipes, any recipe for pancakes it gave would probably be reasonably close to your grandmother's Eyerdatch.

* Except in Berlin. What the Berliner call "Pfannkuchen" is what many other Germans call "Berliner": jelly doughnuts.

With this dish I've won many people over to the joys of brussel sprouts. Generaly, I'll make about 3 pounds for a party and they'll be gone by the end of the evening.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1 lbs frozen brussel sprouts
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Cheyenne pepper (ground)
Garlic powder
Olive oil.

Preheat oven and metal roasting dish to 450-500F
Dump frozen brussel sprouts into a bowl, season to taste with salt, black pepper, Cheyenne pepper, and garlic powder. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.

When oven comes to temperature pour the brussel sprouts into the hot pan then roast for 20-30 minutes.
When done the sprouts should be browning on the outside, heated through but still somewhat firm in the center.

A large shallow cast iron pan work best for this recipe.

...until some silly hominid figures out your game and starts concentrating the sugars so you overproduce your storage medium and poison yourself to death, allowing the clever bald monkeys to drink the efforts of your labor and get happily verschnookered. :D

Actually didn't take hominids to do that. I hear there are berries that regularly ferment and bears get quite drunk on them. And if evolution wasn't incredible enough, have you heard about the flowers that essentially brew beer that these tiny shrews drink copiously of and do not get drunk.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93001529

Re the German Pancake

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/GermanPancake.htm

You don't mean a Dutch Baby, do you ?

Fill with fruit, or make with out the sugar and cinnamon and fill with roasted zucchini and a bit of cheese, or chicken livers with a bit of onion for lunch.

I'm in the South (Memphis), so I must offer something fried ~

- Take a long yellow squash & cut it into disks about three quarters of an inch thick

- Set them in a bowl of buttermilk til you're all finished

- (You've hopefully got some course-ground Mississippi cornmeal lying around) Dump some cornmeal in a shallow dish and mix in some salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, whatever

- Coat the moist squash slices in the cornmeal and pan fry in vegetable oil til golden-brown

- They're good with beer

If you have basil, a food processor and a bread machine:

Put several leaves of fresh basil (as much as you want) and one cup of flour into the food processor. Run it until the basil is finely chopped into the flour.

Follow this recipe ... it really improves the bread quality

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/100335/make_better_bread_in_yo…

You can put sauteed garlic in too. Makes great sandwich bread.

Sage, rosemary ... whatever you want to throw in the processor

Rev BDC,@ 49:

//Who is this PZ fellow people keep referring to?//

I have absolutely no idea mate ! Was he a commenter here or something?

Mrs Tilton,
Im growing curious of your ethnic origins LOL,since I am the true master of german cuisine in the southern hemisphere ! And especially swabian ! And yes,I know where to find Spaetzle in Melbourne !

Mrs Tilton, I can make Aelblermagronen in a vegan version. I perfected vegan macaroni and "cheese" last night... not the regrettable box type, but the old fashioned creamy buttery deli casserole type. Aelblermagronen does not, at first reading, seem very unlike gnocchi alfredo with the potatoes outside instead of inside the pasta. It also reminds me in a lefthanded way of the Hungarian recipe called "grenadier", made with potatoes, broken wide flat egg pasta, fat (traditionally lard), onions, and paprika.

I MUST make it this weekend. And damn the torpedoes.

On a sidenote....

PZ hasnt seen his first Galapagos finch yet,and his blog has turned into a site for swapping cooking recipes !! YAY !
Use plenty garlic everyone,it will drive the religionists away !

clinteas @93,

Im growing curious of your ethnic origins

Is íltíreach fánach mé.

where to find Spaetzle in Melbourne

Find? Find???!!! I believe the verb you are looking for is "make". (Though I really have no right to come over all sanctimonious; after all, I don't shave my Spätzle.)

How are you set for Maultaschen down there?

Hi MAJeff. I used to live in Boston (moved to central MA a few years a go), and loved The Daily Catch. You've inspired me to set a date to head back for a visit this summer...

It's not my recipe, and it's not something I'm known for. However, I've been on a grilling kick lately; my commute is 3 hours a day, and I usually work more than 8 hours, so hanging around the stove for long periods of time during the week isn't fun.

So, with corn and tomatoes being the topic du jour, here's a quick dinner recipe. Works just as well with pork

(Thanks for the recipies, Pharyngulites)

----

A fast corn and tomato salad pairs well with quick-cooking chicken breasts, but a few tricks--like jumpstarting the corn in the microwave first--streamline this recipe even further. For this dish, buy chicken breasts that are about 1/2-inch thick.

Serves 4

2 ears of corn, husks and silk removed
2 teaspoons olive oil plus 1/4 cup additional
Table salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
4 boneless chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each), trimmed
1 ripe beef steak tomato, diced
Table salt and ground black pepper
1. Wrap corn in microwave-safe plastic wrap and microwave on high power until slightly softened, about 3 minutes, turning corn over halfway through cooking. Cool slightly and remove plastic wrap. Brush with 2 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Whisk lemon juice, garlic, basil, and remaining 1/4 cup oil together in small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Transfer 2 tablespoons dressing to medium bowl and whisk in mustard and honey. Pat chicken dry, season with salt and pepper, and toss in honey-mustard mixture to coat.

3. Grill corn and chicken over hot fire. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side, transfer to platter, and cover with foil. Grill corn until soft and lightly charred, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from grill, cool slightly, and cut kernels from cob. Combine corn, tomato, and remaining dressing (without honey and mustard) in medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Serve corn salad with chicken.

Here's an interesting one. ChocoCake in 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug

Instructions:

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa [into a mug]

Spoon in 1 egg

Pour in milk and oil, and mix well

Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt)

Wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug

Tip contents out of mug onto saucer and enjoy!

For food just about anything cooked over a campfire is wonderful. I like huge shrimp marinated in a vinaigrette dressing cooked on a refrigerator shelf laid over the slightly glowing coals of a beach campfire in a bay about 30 miles south of San Felipe, Baja California. But then I'll eat street tacos.

At home I make Bif a la Lindstrom. Ground Beef mixed with eggs, minced pickled beets (including the juice), minced onion, garlic, capers, paprika, bread crumbs, salt and pepper, formed into patties 1/2 the size of your palm, fried in a little butter in a skillet.

I'm off to Carpinintos Market on Central to pick up some fresh Washington Corn, Strawberries, and Iceberg lettuce. The fresh cherries from Johnson's Orchard in Yakima are long gone.

Ken from Kent

Mrs Tilton,

I get my Maultaschen supply from my dad back home sadly,havent managed to find any here,and Spaetzle I make myself or buy from a Deli when I cant be bothered....
My onion cake is of course unbeaten in taste in the southern hemisphere....

Hey looks like Ray Comfort is lying about his and PZ's appearence on the radio.

Comfort;
"REv...you mean the guy who was a no-show at the last moment. He was supposed to debate me. I wonder why he didn't show up? Do I smell chicken? Afraid of banana man :)".

What's next?

I heard PZ was so scared to debate me that he went outta the hemisphere. He claims it's an atheistic pilgrimage to the Galapagos, but is it a coincidence that South America exports much of the world's bananas?

Jersey does corn too; but now and days you have to go down to SW corner of the state to get the good stuff, Silverqueen. It's been phased out in the middle of the state but some farms in Delaware valley still grow it. the important thing is to cook it (Roast it) the day its picked, the kernels start converting the sugar into starch once its picked, so after a day the corn tastes like stale Cherrios.

@ 101 :

//Hey looks like Ray Comfort is lying about his and PZ's appearence on the radio.//

I am shocked !! Ray lying?? Say it isnt true !!

What's wrong with field corn? I prefer field corn over sweet corn 'cause most sweet corn is TOO sweet. It's like eating pure sugar! Also, I live on a farm, and really enjoy just stepping out my back door and picking some corn and eating as much as I want.

This tarte a la tomate may be too much effort, but it's damn tasty.
1. Acquire pie crust. Place in shallow pie pan. Blind bake.
2. Spread nice thick coat of mustard on the now-mostly-cooked bottom crust.
3. Cover with a *single* layer of tomatoes thickly cut into rounds.
4. Bake approx. 10 minutes, or until tomatoes are cooked. Inhale heavenly scent, slice, and devour.

For those of you who live in areas that squash loves, and are facing a backyard that's quickly turning into a squash jungle, try eating squash blossoms. Pick nice fresh ones, rinse (be sure to rinse well inside the blossom--bugs hide there), dunk in a light batter (I mixed up maybe 80%/20% flour/cornmeal, salt, pepper, and enough milk to thin it to the consistency of cream) and fry in hot oil.

Hi TrueBob: Eier is German for eggs, so I think your pancake is like a German pancake.

Look here:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/GermanPancake.htm

My German grandmother made them too.

SG

In the southeastern French city in which I live, I amble down to the biggest open air market (there are about 10 such markets here), get some Kalamata olives, mozzarella cheese, some tomatoes a la grappe (still clinging to the vine), and a belle botte of basil.

Amble on back home, slice the mozzarella and tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick, alternate them on a platter or individual plates, tucking in here and there, whole washed and dried basil leaves, pile the Kalamatas wherever there is room, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and a bit of fresh lemon juice, grind some black pepper and sprinkle salt over the lot.

This tres simple repas is accompanied with a small glass of moderately priced Cabernet Sauvignon and taken out onto our sunny balcony with a view of the Alps. When eaten, I then mix up whatever summer fruit the market had, blend honey with some yogurt with a bit of creme fraiche, and pour it over the fruit.

Um... Logicel I'm coming to visit.

I recently discovered that, to my horror, corn is probably my biggest Crohn's trigger. I ended up in the emergency room, all because I ate two ears of corn (my darn kids wouldn't finish theirs, so I decided to "help out") from our local farmer's market.

It was delicious, and it was extremely painful.

I was very close to being admitted.

Which leads me to a question.

I bought a book Breaking the Vicious Cycle in an effort to find something that will work for me. It doesn't take long to read this book, and I concluded that it's bogus. Basically, they recommend that you not consume any grains; that includes corn, wheat, oats, rye, rice... No grains at all. Instead, you should eat nut flours (almond flour, etc).

Also, no white sugar, but honey is okay.

Ironically, while I think this diet is bogus, it can also work. Why? Because elimination diets do work, and in this diet, you eliminate common causes for Crohn's (i.e., grains). If you only needed to eliminate oats, then eliminating all grains (including oats) will work.

Where the author really lost me was in drawing a connection between autism and digestive problems. Has anyone done research about that?

By the way, personal note for MAJeff: NO ON EIGHT.

Just had to get that in there.

I hope you've been following Jerry Brown's order to rename Prop 8...

@horse-pheathers

I use a VERY similar recipe for melomel but I have never been able to wait that long. I actually like it pretty young, sometimes with bubbles and some residual sweetness still in it. Chilled with bubbles and strawberry/honey sweetness, very refreshing!

Dad taught me to shave spaetzle, but he didn't use water... only eggs with as much flour as you could beat into them without risking shoulder injury, and a pinch of salt. I remember him standing over the pot of boiling water, and the "clock-Sshh" sound of the knife hitting the board (it had to be one of those paddle shape boards with the handle) and scraping off the next bite of dough, and how you're supposed to dip the knife in the boiling water to keep it from getting sticky. He only called them "paprikash noodles" though, because that's all we ever used them for.

Ok, I haven't read all the posts, so forgive me if I am repeating something someone else said, but if you want good fresh corn there are lots of farmers markets around Boston, MAJeff. There is a weekly one in Porter Square (I think its Porter)in Cambridge and one in Arlington near St James school on Wednesdays. Last time I went I got fresh corn that had been picked that day. It's certainly not as easy to get as it is in the midwest (gasp) but it's there.

clinteas @100,

aha, just as I suspected, you have a connection to the Swabian Homeland.

I've never yet tried to make my own Maultaschen, but someday I shall. I'll just have to try to avoid being caught up in Swabia's bitterest, longest-running religious feud, i.e., whether or not the filling should include spinach.

As for your Zwiebelkuchen, do you make the rectangular flat kind that's a bit like a Flammeküche, or the deeper round sort that's a bit like a quiche? I like them both equally.

Oz being a winegrowing land, are you able to get the neuer Wein that is the best accompaniment?

Calling Logicel's post "food porn" is like calling your first honeymoon night with your childhood sweetheart a sordid affair.

Mrs Tilton,

//Swabia's bitterest, longest-running religious feud, i.e., whether or not the filling should include spinach.//

One word : Spinach !

As to Zwiebelkuchen,I make my own dough from water,oil,salt and flour with yeast,it ends up flat and rectangular for sure !Anything else is like a pizza !

As far as wine goes,I make do with a Semillon Blanc or so,since the heathens here have never heard of young wine !

*Pictures PZ in Ecuador ripping his hair out seeing his blog has turned into a cooking recipe platform within 12 hours of his departure*

MAJeff, OM

Did you have a blog where you featured your canning recipes, and all was done in a kitchen the size of a closet?

Did you have a blog where you featured your canning recipes, and all was done in a kitchen the size of a closet?

I did. I deleted it because it was taking too much of my time--and taking time away from the dissertation.

Still in the same kitchen. Still canning. But now I have drafts of 5 1/2 dissertation chapters, whereas before I had zero.

I've not had a chance to read all of the nice foodie type posts here... but I did notice a couple of spots where people mentioned boiling corn. Heathens. Would you boil a dry-aged rib-eye? How about a fresh caught Salmon? No??? Of course not! Boiling would kill the flavor and leave you with something barely edible. Same goes for corn. Steam it or roast it people! Boiling is for eggs, not produce!

Typically I'll take my fresh corn (usually white corn), peel back the husks just far enough to de silk the cobb, seal it back up and give it a salt ice-water soak for 15 minutes. Then, onto a hot grill for 10-15 minutes, turn them every couple of minutes. The husk should begin to char by the time you turn them. Pull 'em off the grill, let em cool for a just minute or two, husk and serve with butter - even better is honey butter. Like heaven in your mouth.

Boiled...{shakes head} waste of good corn I tells ya.

I'm a good cook, as my Texan wife can attest, and my best recipe is Risotto alla Milanese.

Risotto alla Milanese
(Risotto Milan-Style)

Tthe real origin of this recipe is in Lomellina (the part of the Pavia province between the Po and Ticino rivers, my land), even if the name is Milano (big city 60 km north of Lomellina) Style.
Lomellina, with the provinces of Novara and Vercelli in Piedmont, produce the 55% of the European rice, and the 90% of the Italian mosquitos
It's a traditional sunday dish.

Serves 4:
6 cups broth (beef, capon, or vegetables*)
1/4 teaspoon saffron
7 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 ounces minced beef meat or pig sausage, optional
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 clove of garlic (optional, I use 2 cloves)
1/2 cup of white wine or Marsala wine** (both are optional)
1 1/2 cups Arborio or Vialone Nano rice
salt
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or Grana Padano or Pecorino) cheese

Heat the broth in a saucepan; set aside 1/4 cup and dissolve the saffron in it.
Melt half of the butter in a deep, wide pan, add the meat/sausage (if you use it), onion, carrot, garlic and the wine, and cook over low heat 15 minutes. Raise the heat, stir in the rice and salt, and cook 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed; continue adding broth and stirring until the rice is nearly cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in the saffron broth, and cook until the rice is al dente. Stir in the remaining butter and the Parmigiano, and serve.

With risotto you can drink white or red wine, I usually drink Riesling (white) or Bonarda (red).

* for the vegetables broth I use a potato, a carrot, a stalk of celery, an onion. When the broth is ready, with the vegetables you can make a salad: cut roughly the vegetables, add salt, pepper, vinegar (I prefer the aromatic one), extra-virgin olive oil. I like to eat this salad while it's still warm.
**The traditional recipe use white wine but my grandma always used the Marsala wine and I think it give to the risotto a richer flavour.

As for the Italian sausage, I use only the "Luganega", one of the traditional Lombard sausages, but any kind of sausage (without strong flavourings added) can be used. I often mix the sausage with minced beef meat.
This recipe is the "popular" one, as I learned it from my grandma and mom, you can find online and on recipe books more refined versions of it.
To have a mushrooms risotto I usually use dried mushrooms, I place some of them in a bowl with some water in the morning to use them in the evening. Then I will use the water (now very mushroom tasting) in the risotto, with the broth.

If you prefre a more seasonal recipe, Pasta Salad is very good.

Pasta all'Avocado
(Pasta with Avocado)

Ok, I know avocado isn't an Italian vegetable, but this Italian recipe use it.
It's a dishes best served in springtime/summer, almost a pasta salad.

Serves 4
400/500 gr of pasta (I prefer penne, maccheroni or pipe), a mature avocado, 400/500 gr of minced tomatoes, 1/2 garlic cloves (minced), a couple of tablespoon of minced basil, pepper, salt, extra virgin olive oil.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil, meanwhile cut the avocado in cubes, throw it in a large bowl with the tomatoes, garlic, pepper, salt, basil, and mix. When the pasta is "al dente", drain it and then throw in in the bowl, mix again and ... voilà! The pasta all'avocado is ready!

It's a swift and easy recipe, and you can experiment with other ingredients, I like to add some chili.
If you don't like garlic very much, a little trick is to use the whole clove(s) and then take it away before to add the pasta. Another trick with garlic is, when you mince it, to take away the internal sprout.

As a drinking choice I counseil a white whine or a red one but not too strong flavoured.

If someone try one of these recipes let me know what you think.

Ciao
Luciano

For MikeM (109)

There is some evidence that some autism is helped by a gluten free diet. I am not sure how the biology/biochemistry would work for that but there is quite a bit of literature on the link.

I am celiac - gluten intolerant - but have no first hand experience of autism. However, I not only get digestive problems when I encounter unexpected gluten, I get some emotional component, mostly depression. It's a nuisance to avoid wheat, but even more of a nuisance if I don't.

Logicel's description of a caprese salad reminds me of when I worked for some wealthy Americans outside a little Tuscan village not far from Arezzo. The Americans who owned the property didn't harvest the olives from their olive trees. The neighbors claimed the right to do so since the Americans were derelict in their duty. Olives were collected and taken to the presses and soon a huge drum of fresh sweet virgin olive oil arrived on the premises. The neighbors only kept half of the entire harvest and gave the other half back to the tree owners who were overwhelmed with gallons (litres) of liquid green-gold.
Toward the end of April that year, a ex pat Brit took me to a small winery as a surprise. His car was loaded down with old water containers. We arrived at a centuries old stone farmhouse with some huge barrels with petrol syphons perched sideways on metal towers much like the 200 gallon diesel tower my dad used to fill up his construction equipment. There were dozens of people filling up containers of the spring wine as if they had run out of fuel somewhere along the motorway. The wine was to be bottled and corked once everyone returned home. I wondered why the Italians saved empty wine bottles and now I knew. This was the best example of recycling ever and the wine was decent and ridiculously inexpensive.
Italy was as close to paradise as I've ever been.

There is only one way I like Cephalopod served, that is raw, live and wriggling on the reef. I muck rather watch the critters and take their pictures (it a bitch getting to to sign the release forms though).

Now cows are a different story, anything that dumb, ugly and tasty is just begging to placed on the BBQ.

speedwell @111,

Dad taught me to shave spaetzle, but he didn't use water... only eggs with as much flour as you could beat into them without risking shoulder injury, and a pinch of salt.

Ah, yes. Only tried that myself once; bit of an upper-body workout. In Swabia, people mostly make Spätzle like that only for very special meals. (Des isch sosch z'deier, gell!!) Swabians have a reputation for, ääääh, thrift. And that reputation is not altogether unwarranted. The rule of thumb is one egg per 100g flour, but some people will try to get away with only one egg per 200g. Or per 500g. Or with whispering the word "egg" in the direction of the mixing bowl.

All this food talk is making me drool.

I have a recommendation for anyone who wants to spice up their life with something they haven't tried.

Make apple ketchup. My brother-in-law's mother use to make it and I have made it. Don't have a recipe but a quick Google and you can find plenty of them on the net.

It tastes good with roasted pork. It's kind of like a spicy applesauce.

Here's a fantastic recipe for Peach Ketchup:

http://www.recipezaar.com/98050

A touch of teh fruity habanero makes this recipe legendary...

SNUFF! Ewwww

I'm a terrible cook - I don't have the patience or the palate. Feels wrong to spend hours cooking something I'll devour in less than 17 minutes.

I used to like tending the vegetable garden back home, but lately I haven't even found the energy to plant some pots on my small terrace. Next year, perhaps.

Signature dish? I guess that would be my plain, white loaves ...

Or cauliflower gratin. But that's hardly "mine" - I just follow the recipe in the book.

MikeM | August 8, 2008 12:28 PM

I recently discovered that, to my horror, corn is probably my biggest Crohn's trigger. I ended up in the emergency room, all because I ate two ears of corn (my darn kids wouldn't finish theirs, so I decided to "help out") from our local farmer's market.

Mike, my second daughter has Crohn's and we're finding it hard to feed her the right stuff. Do you have any suggestions or can point to any lit. that might help? She is trying to avoid another bowel resection.

Thanks everyone for the comments wrt Eierdatsch. Unfortunately, what you've posted links to is still not it.

Thanks for trying. My family would love to find it.

What she made used thin batter, and made thin cakes, thicker than a crepe, thinner than a buttermilk-style pancake. A lovely golden brown, with slightly darker, very krinkly edges. She pan fried them in a little oil, more than enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

And BTW, I meant German-Swiss as opposed to French-Swiss or Italian-Swiss. She was from Lenpian, Berne Canton, Switzerland. She immigrated to US at 2. What a great character - I've seen pics of her looking all flapperlicious, from back in the day. When her dad was bootlegging...

uh.... I think I'll be making a grilled pork tenderloin dry chile rubbed this weekend to eat with that Whateverman. Damn that looks like a good condiment.

That peach ketchup does look good. Would go well with some vindaloo rubbed pork chops (Penzey's makes a vindaloo spice mix that I will often use as a rub on pork or chicken--would like to try it on salmon or tuna some time too.)

Rev BDC, Im envious, having the time to make bacon. There are so many culinary projects like that I would love to try, but, well dont have the time between job and family. (For the past six months Ive been trying to find time to try to make small beer.) Anyway, thought Id share a traditional recipe that I grew up with, its been a favorite of all that Ive taught it to:

Armenian Rice Pilaf
2 tbs Butter
1/4 c orzo
1/2 c rice
1 c chicken broth
Melt the butter in a saucepan over med-high heat, when beginning to foam, add orzo, stir till browned, add rice and stock. Once the stock starts to simmer, reduce heat to very low (just enough to maintain a slight simmer) and cover. Cook 20 minutes.

When making larger amounts you can reduce the butter somewhat. (I usually make twice this amount and use only 3 tbs of butter. I know thats heresy, dont worry, I make up for it with my bread-and-butter dressing at Thanksgiving.)

Can also be made with thin egg noodles in place of the orzo and/or bulgur in place of the rice. The bulgur tends to cook faster, perhaps 15 min.

TB @127,

OK, one last shot. If they're almost but not quite as thin as a crepe, they might be similar to Palatschinken. These are thin Austrian (originally Hungarian) pancakes that are often rolled round some sort of filling. Did your grandmother's Eyerdatch look anything like the picture at upper left on this page (of bilingual English/Hungarian recipes)?

I'm late to the party here but my summer recipe is for cucumber-onion salad. I live in Virginia but often drive to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and stop by a vegetable stand. I cut "cukes", tomatoes and onion fairly thin and add a dressing of some sort, usually a fat-free vinaigrette. I let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. It's very simply but when used with locally grown produce, it's wonderful. And the stuff we buy from the farmers is better tasting and less expensive then the stuff at the grocery store.

Rev BDC, Im envious, having the time to make bacon.

Honestly other than the smoking part of it, the rest takes about 15 mins all together (and way less time that making beer). It's just procuring the pork belly which any good butch should be able to get if they don't stock them and then mixing up the cure. Shove it in a couple plastic bags and put in the fridge for a week. Turning it every other day.

The smoking takes a couple of hours, but those aren't constant attention hours. This goes through it. It's really worth giving it a shot. Oh and leave the pink salt out, it is 100% not needed.

@RevBDC, #41

The okra pods keep coming and coming. If I don't keep up with picking them I end up with a bunch of HUGE, rock-hard spears. Any ideas for using them?

This thread is officially bookmarked. There are some fantastic recipes here. I can't wait to try them.

Pickling works for the tough ones.

I end up with a bunch of HUGE, rock-hard spears. Any ideas for using them?

Hmmmmm....

Mrs T, thanks again. I'd say not quite, but very close for the pic. Googling palatschinken got me this wiki pic, which is very very close, or this pic which is about right (although the top one looks overdone). Closest pic I found has no recipe - it's from a stock picture seller.

I think after looking at these and others, that her technique is probably uncommon, in that she made smaller cakes, maybe 6" across, and maybe used a higher heat and deeper oil to get the krinkly edges.

MAJeff -

This is worthy of a post

Ray Comfort, when asked by several posters why he has yet to respond to PZ's discussion on WDAY, offered this gem-

You mean the guy who was a no-show at the last moment. He was supposed to debate me. I wonder why he didn't show up? Do I smell chicken? Afraid of banana man :).

I am too busy (working on the thrid seaon of our TV program).

When another poster wrote that separating the debate into 2 shows was the station's idea, Comforts response was-

Sure

Now Ray has written a post responding to PZ's statements on the Jim & Ben show-

I took the time to listen to most of PZ Myers' response to my interview on WDAY Radio. The highlight came when the host asked THE big question. It was the same question I would have asked him: "Now do you have any observed examples of evolution? I would like to get some actual science that would explain this. Something we could sink our teeth into. The common man..." He wanted some (any) observable scientific evidence for the theory of evolution.

This was a wonderful opportunity to silence the critics. Professor PZ Meyers gave it his best shot. Here is his word-for-word answer:

"One that was really spectacular just recently is the observation of divergence of species of lizards in the Mediterranean. There were a set of islands there that were kind of abandoned by a war on the Slavic's on the Balkan Peninsula. What happened was that while they were abandoned there were these introduced species of lizards that were rapidly evolving to take advantage of new situations. So they were switching from a mostly insect lifestyle, where they were eating lots of insects, to one where they were also taking advantage of plant material. Not only have they observed changes (they can document them they can see the species shift), but they have also discovered that these lizards have evolved a new structure, a new little enfolding of the gut, to allow them to digest more food; plant material in particular. So you know it's a combination of things. It's actually observing a change in populations and it's the observing the appearance of novel structures in the gut."

You could detect that the host was extremely under-whelmed by this observable scientific proof for the theory. He said, "Okay. Alright . . . " Then he quickly changed the subject.

So there you have it. The best observable scientific evidence for the theory tale of evolution is the really spectacular evidence of "a new little enfolding of the gut." Wow.

You can listen to the original interview on:

www.areavoices.com/benandjim/?blog=31157

And the professor's response on:

www.heathenz.com/2008/08/06/pz-myers-on-a-christian-radio-show/

How about if we post some other observable scientific evidence for the theory of evolution at "banana man"'s blog? Maybe one or two hundred might convince him, but probably not.

Just think of it as an essay poll!

I'd say pickling them like Barklikeadog said. We tend to keep up with the output and haven't had an issue so far. Plus my father in law tends to come by an ninja poach off the plants.

@MAJeff - rofl!

I can't believe that slipped through the juvenile-humor filter that I try run my comments through when posting to such high-brow sites as this ;-) And it was completely unintentional, too. I must be slipping.

MAJeff -

This is worthy of a post

Ray Comfort, when asked by several posters why he has yet to respond to PZ's discussion on WDAY, offered this gem-

You mean the guy who was a no-show at the last moment. He was supposed to debate me. I wonder why he didn't show up? Do I smell chicken? Afraid of banana man :).

I am too busy (working on the thrid seaon of our TV program).

When another poster wrote that separating the debate into 2 shows was the station's idea, Comforts response was-

Sure

Now Ray has written a post responding to PZ's statements on the Jim & Ben show-

I took the time to listen to most of PZ Myers' response to my interview on WDAY Radio. The highlight came when the host asked THE big question. It was the same question I would have asked him: "Now do you have any observed examples of evolution? I would like to get some actual science that would explain this. Something we could sink our teeth into. The common man..." He wanted some (any) observable scientific evidence for the theory of evolution.

This was a wonderful opportunity to silence the critics. Professor PZ Meyers gave it his best shot. Here is his word-for-word answer:

"One that was really spectacular just recently is the observation of divergence of species of lizards in the Mediterranean. There were a set of islands there that were kind of abandoned by a war on the Slavic's on the Balkan Peninsula. What happened was that while they were abandoned there were these introduced species of lizards that were rapidly evolving to take advantage of new situations. So they were switching from a mostly insect lifestyle, where they were eating lots of insects, to one where they were also taking advantage of plant material. Not only have they observed changes (they can document them they can see the species shift), but they have also discovered that these lizards have evolved a new structure, a new little enfolding of the gut, to allow them to digest more food; plant material in particular. So you know it's a combination of things. It's actually observing a change in populations and it's the observing the appearance of novel structures in the gut."

You could detect that the host was extremely under-whelmed by this observable scientific proof for the theory. He said, "Okay. Alright . . . " Then he quickly changed the subject.

So there you have it. The best observable scientific evidence for the theory tale of evolution is the really spectacular evidence of "a new little enfolding of the gut." Wow.

You can listen to the original interview on:

www.areavoices.com/benandjim/?blog=31157

And the professor's response on:

www.heathenz.com/2008/08/06/pz-myers-on-a-christian-radio-show/

How about if we post some other observable scientific evidence for the theory of evolution at "banana man"'s blog? Maybe one or two hundred might convince him, but probably not.

Just think of it as an essay poll!

Until you have had the Venetian speciality of squid cooked in its own ink, served with a wedge of bright yellow pollenta (to bring in a corn reference) then you haven't had squid. It looks unwordly, black and yellow on your plate but it tastes just divine.

Then there is what the Greeks do with fried baby octopus...

Vegans and vegetarians stop now.

Have your cousin bring over a backhoe and dig a 1Mx1M pit 1.5M deep with one side as ramp so you can walk down in it. Start a fire in the pit at 6AM. Supply it with generous amounts of hard wood. Other than the kindling, do not use conifers like hemlock or pine. Let it crank along for 5 or 6 hours. Stop putting wood on after about 4-5 hours once you've got a nice bed of coals.

As soon as the fire is going, start drinking cheap domestic light beer at 4 bottles/hour except for the backhoe operator who can only drink 2 per hour. Enforce this, if you can have a spare operator handy it is a good idea.

Acquire a 20-25Kg pig. Shoot it between the eyes with a small caliber rifle, this should kill it. Say a few words if you want to, but it is pointless. Boys older than 8 should watch in order to give them a sense of what it is really like to kill a living creature. It isn't like the video games if you get my drift and they should know that pork chops don't grow in a Styrofoam and Saran Wrap container in the cooler at Shaws. You guys already know that, right?

Take the guts out. Don't use a chainsaw for this because they use oil to lubricate the chain. Clean the pig up all nice.

Stuff the hollowed out pig with apples, oranges, grapes, VT maple syrup, salt and pepper. You can get creative here with where exactly you put the stuff, I won't go into it. Ray Comfort said bananas work too but that guy is full of shit.

Wrap the pig up in wet corn husks held on with a straight-jacket of chicken wire. Cover the whole thing with several layers of wet grain bags.
Take the tassels off of 5 or 6 dozen ears of sweet corn. Wrap them in tin foil.

Throw everything in the hole on the bed of coals. The fire should be just coals by this time and not red hot on the surface. Put a couple of pieces of tin roof over the food and then bury it.

Continue to drink beer for 7 or 8 hours while trying to dance. Pace yourself.

Dig it up with the backhoe (now the backhoe operator can drink 4 beers per hour) carefully.

Meat should fall off the bone. Put butter and pepper on the corn. Trust me, by now it will taste AWESOME! Serve with a fruity Grenache or Burgundy.

Feeds 30-40 intoxicated woodchucks and probably 70 city folk.

Bon Appetit!

Ompompanoosuc we do the same sort of thing here in the south, but we smoke ours. Above ground. And if were going whole hog, about 12-18 hours. I typically stick to just shoulders.

Same fall off the bone goodness.

OK, I'm in.

Since I've been living in Southern Italy for the last few years, I've learned to make a mean Limoncello. In Italy, limoncello is a digestivo - intended to be sipped and enjoyed after a meal.

By the time you finish the recipe, you'll have about twice as much Limoncello as the amount of alcohol you started with. You'll want to find the highest proof vodka you can find (Everclear is probably best, if it's legal where you live.) You also need to look for lemons with the thickest peels you can find.

You need: 10 lemons (give or take a few)
1 (750ml) bottle of vodka
3 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar

Scrub the lemons with a good brush under cold running water, then use a vegetable peeler to get nice, long strips off of them. Try to avoid the bitter pith. If you accidentally get any on your peels, just scrape it off with a sharp paring knife. Reserve the lemons for another use.

Put the peels in a 2-quart jar with a lid. If the peels come at least a third of the way up the sides of the jar, then you have enough. Pour the alcohol over the peels and let steep for 1 to 2 weeks at room temperature. Every so often, swish it around a bit.

Stir the water and sugar in a soup pot over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool completely.

Add the vodka mixture to the sugar syrup. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.

The next day, strain the limoncello through a good strainer. If you're willing to take the time, use coffee filters. Transfer into sealable bottles. I keep the bulk of the limoncello in mason jars in the deep freeze, and keep one bottle in the 'fridge top freezer for easy access.

Serve very cold in shot-size (vodka) glasses.

Glad people have picked up on the "how to cook corn" bit, I was starting to grit my teeth there. Though, I neither bother with trimming or de-silking before tossing them on the grill -- it all comes off when husked. If they're fresh enough they just go on, if the husk is a little dry then soak them in water for a while. The idea is to steam the corn. Here in the Chicago suburbs I find the corn in the regular supermarket can indeed be pretty good (both sweet and field). When I first came out here 20+yrs ago it was a 10 minute drive to the farmstands. Alas, now one has to drive 30+ or more. Head west on one of the state highways, when you're surrounded by corn fields look for a handmade sign by the side of the road. The local farmers market is never convenient for me so I usually make do with what's in the store.

Okay, to go with that corn: Flank Steak. Marinade in 1/3 cup soy sauce, a few dashes of worcestershire sauce, two heaping spoonfuls of minced garlic, a tablespoon of italian spices, 1/8 cup of toasted sesame oil -- okay, don't take any of those measurements seriously. Grill. Cut across the grain. Eat. Yum.

@Katrina

Now I am hungry and thirsty... and 2+ hours to go before I am done with "work".

I'm not much of a cook, and my "signature" dish isn't really my dish; just a favorite cook-book recipe I tend to make whenever I need to bring something to a party. I don't have the recipe at hand, but experienced cooks can probably make it up themselves from a conceptual description:

Margarita Pie: Make a graham-cracker-style crust, but use crushed salted pretzels instead of grahams. Press the crust into a pie pan and freeze for at least an hour. Make a typical frozen pie filling with whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk, flavored with the ingredients of a margarita (fresh lime juice, sugar, tequila, and Triple Sec... or adjust according to your own favorite recipe). Fill crust and freeze. Garnish with thin slices of lime.

I also enjoy making jalapeno jelly using my homegrown peppers. Because my jalapenos don't grow as naturally hot in the cool, wet climate of New England as ones grown in the hot, dry climate of the Southwest, I kick it up a bit by adding some habanero (also homegrown).

BTW, I always have more peppers (jalapenos, habaneros, and cayennes) than I can use. I don't have any experience trying to mail them anywhere, but if any of you is interested...

KoT I'm not sure on the time/mass ratio, it was a bit of a joke. I was putting the feelers out....

Pompy

@Cardinal Shrew:

You'd get really thirsty waiting for my recipe to finish. ;o)

Who was that mysterious octopus guy... food porn, yeah!
So far I've written down the recipes of Britomart,Cyber Lizard, Science Goddess, dead santa, cactusren, James, ScottD. (add some lemon juice, olive oil, and either dried cherries or cranberries), Amanda H., Mrs. Tilton (holy shite, I've been making 'noodles' for years and didn't know they were german), Stark (you know your corn cookin'), Rev. BigDumbChimp (bookmarked the bacon page), and Ompompanoosue. Our red cajun okra crop got killed by the wind and rain this year, damn!
This is a great thread MAJeff, well done.

Ompompanoosuc, I've only been to one pig roast. I was probably around 8. Maybe a little less. I will admit to running into the house and covering my ears to avoid hearing the pig squeal when the time came.

That being said, I loves me some good pulled pork. West Tennessee BBQ is my favorite. Man, I wish we had a Corky's here. Sonny's just doesn't cut it.

Man, I wish we had a Corky's here

You can order Corky's online.

KoT I'm not sure on the time/mass ratio, it was a bit of a joke. I was putting the feelers out....

Pompy

Oh yeah I wasn't calling you on timing, just making a comparison to similar practices here.

Ompompanoosuc, you tempt me to temporarily declare roast pork an honorary vegetable.

This is occasionally necessary. Earlier this year, on a business trip to Lafayette, Louisiana, the locals had boudin and a bag of cracklins [sic] brought in for lunch, with big smiles on their faces for the opportunity to treat the first-time Cajun country visitor. Or whenever I visit my grandmother, who does not understand the eating of vegetables by themselves, makes me the world's most perfect pot roast to restore me after the flight.

It would take a truly hardened sociopath, or an actual bona fide meat allergy, to stick to vegetarianism under the circumstances.

KoT I understand, just don't want anyone to come looking for me after getting diagnosed with Trichinosis.

I'm working on my Camaro Turtle recipe. It starts like this:
Drive your Camaro down by the lake in summer after it has rained.

Pompy

hahaha - the image made me laugh

um, yes, I did maekt you a Friday Cephalopod but, due to technical reasons, I had to eated it, om nyom nyom :D

So many great ideas. Who knew we were all foodies too?

Now the question is, what to make for dinner? (At least in my this zone)

Ah, limoncello!

Tried it (and 'orangello') ... half a decade ago at the 'reception' after an acquaintance defended his master's. His inlaws were Italian.

Perhaps I should try it. The market has cheap lemons at the moment. Idly, am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with the pith, was it?, of citrus fruits? Doesn't seem to bother me at all.

The only vodka (or Schnapps) flavouring I've dappled in is sloe. Still have about 2 kg fruits in the freezer - which is good since there are none to be had this year.

I tried making some elderflower schnapps in June, but it turned out a bit sour. I guess I should retaste it one of these days. My elderflower cordial was nice, though.

So I was reading this thread, wondering if I had any single "signature recipe", and then I remembered this one: Roman-style baby artichokes (carciofini alla Romana, I guess, but I'm not so sure about that diminutive suffix and I don't speak Italian). My folks always have me make it when I'm at their house, for some reason. It's pretty good, so here it is.

Get about 2 pounds of baby artichokes. These are not actually baby artichokes, they're the side buds that grow around the big central bud. They don't have chokes (the gross fuzzy bit at the centre), so they're much easier to deal with.

Peel off the outer leaves until only about the top 1/4 of the inner cone is dark green. Then cut off that 1/4. The stems of these are soft and tasty, so just peel them with a vegetable peeler and cut off the funky part at the end. (All this, like most things involving artichokes, generates massive quantities of green waste; be warned.) Slice them in half, top to bottom. Get a big frying pan with a lid, put a decent 1/4 cup or so of olive oil in it, then put in the artichoke halves, cut side down.

Add to this the following: a scant 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar; half-a-dozen biggish garlic cloves, crushed; three or so sprigs of rosemary; a fair amount of salt, maybe a teaspoon or two; and enough water to cover them about halfway. Then heat it up and put on the lid.

Simmer them until you can put a fork through the leaves with some difficulty, then take off the lid and let all the water boil off. Once the water's gone, fry them until they're a little bit crusty on the bottom, then serve with some good bread and whatever wine you want to improve. (This is one of the Really Cool Things about artichokes that has historically made them very popular: they make whatever you drink with them taste sweeter.) Don't forget to fish out the garlic cloves and put them in the serving dish too, they're tasty.

Hey guys, some fabulous recipes on here today - all appropriately copied/pasted (I'll be on that limoncello recipe as soon as the Supermarket is open tomorrow!)

Here's one from me - and no cooking involved at all.... I should just point out that due to raw egg, this should not be consumed by the very young, the very old and the pregnant ladies amongst you... other than that enjoy! I'm made it this evening for friends - and it went down a bomb.

Steak Tartare Serves 4-6, depending how hungry you folks are...

First, put 4-6 (depending on how many you are feeding) plates in the fridge.

* 2 egg yolks - best quality eggs you can afford
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 4 anchovy filets, very finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons of ketchup
* 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
* Tabasco sauce, to taste - Some like it hot!
* Freshly ground black pepper, a few good turns
* 1/4 cup of corn oil (ground nut or grape works fine)
* 1 shot of cognac (25ml)
* 1 small onion, very finely chopped
* 2 oz capers, rinsed, chopped roughly
* 2 oz cornichons/gherkins, finely chopped
* 4 sprigs of flat parsley, very finely chopped
* 1 & 1/4 lb. fresh sirloin, finely chopped
* French fries, to serve - sweet potatoes cut chunky and roasted are also great with this.
* 4 slices fine quality white bread, toasted & quartered

Place the egg yolks in a large bowl (not wooden - absorbs the fluid) and add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well, then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and pepper and mix very well again. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the Cognac and mix again. Fold in the onion, capers, cornichons/gherkins, and the parsley.

Add the chopped meat to the bowl and mix well using a metal/plastic spoon . Divide the meat evenly among the six chilled dinner plates and, using a ring mold or spatula, form it into disks on the plates (if using a spatula, create balls with your hands (make them cold by running under the cold tap) and then flatten them).

Serve immediately with French fries/Sweet potatoes and the toasted bread points.

Lighter bodied (pinot noir for example) red wines are great with this dish. Even better if chilled or served over ice.

Bon appétit

I'd love to take credit for this one, but it's a Anthony Bourdain original, with a few amendments by me for taste.

BTW can I nominate Ompompanoosuc @ #143 for a epicurean Molly!

BTW can I nominate Ompompanoosuc @ #143 for a epicurean Molly!

I second that emotion! I was thinking the same thing.

I second that emotion! I was thinking the same thing

Great minds Bill, great minds!

Speedwell @#154:

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/shirts/#baconveg

Here's a tiny bit of consciousness raising for all you crazy underside-of-the-earth dwellers talking about summer recipes: Its not summer, its winter.

Following up on the corn theme -

Ass-kickin' 4 ingredient Roasted Corn Soup

Get a half dozen or so great ears of corn and put them on a cookie sheet (with husks still on) and roast them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or so.

Remove corn from cob and blend/food process much of it (reserve some whole corn niblets).

To the corn mixture, Add a few chipotle peppers in adobo, diced finely (more if you like it hotter).

Heat.

Add fresh cilantro (or basil, etc. if you prefer)

Add feta or goat cheese to taste.

You don't even need to add salt if there's plenty of cheese, though sometimes I add it too (while heating the soup).

Its easy, and its good.

My mother's ratatouille.

It's not only the ratatouille, but all the things you can do with it.

So make a lot. And you are guaranteed to want to eat a lot in the summer. Very easy to freeze also.
You should make enough so that you can also eat it cold, the next day, and at least make a quiche ratatouille.

So for 4 pax
3 or 4 big aubergines
4 or 5 courgettes
2 large red peppers
6 big fresh tomatoes, peeled (or two cans if you don't want to peel, the easiest and if you can find good canned tomatoes, noone will tell the difference)
2 large fresh withe onions
laurel, thyme, garlic salt black pepper: to taste
you can spice it up a bit by adding a bit of red chili, it's especially nice in the cold version

Just cut everything in the small dices and rondelles, put everything in a large enough slow cooking container, starting with the oinions and the spices, 5 minutes later when the oinions are blond, the red pepper, 5 minutes later the courgettes, 5 minutes later the aubergines and the tomatoes. Then let simmer until all ingredients are softened but not mashed, just taste each one, usually 30 minutes at least.

Then eat hot as a side serve for a nice meat and sausage barbecue.

Do not make the misstake to put the rest in the fridge, it's so delicious cold.

The nest day you can prepare a quiche with pate brisée, just put enough rataouille to fill half of the quiche in a bowl, add 6 eggs, cheese (depending on how cheesy you like it, I'm quite generous, at least a cup of grated emmental)
Mix well, pour in the tarte, bake 200C for 35 min. (just check I always check tming as it varies a lot depending on oven and atmospheric conditions).

Serve hot, or cold.

That's it.

Sorry, I should have written:

Do not make the misstake not to put the rest in the fridge, it's so delicious cold.

MaJeff : good looking calamari.
For the culinary section:
here's my omlette recipe:
separate 3 eggs. whisk the yolks for 2 minutes to smooth and aerate. clean your whisk or get a different one.
whisk the whites for about 2 minutes or until they start to turn milky. not fluffy, just a bit milky.
fold the whites into the yolks.
cube about 3oz of ham.
chop 1/2 of a medium size onion or 3 scallions
chop a couple of pinches of parsley
grate or cube about 2oz of cheese -- try the pepper jack, it's zingy!
pour the egg mixture into a skillet over medium heat.
add in the other ingredients as soon as the eggs start to harden, but while the top is still soft.
fold the omlette carefully.
add pepper and salt to taste.

Note: I'm more of a 'pinch of this and dash of that' cook, so some quantities may be off.

boiling local corn:

that's yummy stuff, which I grew up appreciating, but then learned to steam in a 2-buck steamer-basket: so much crisper & tastier

Katrina @145,

yes, limoncello is lovely, especially after a good meal on the Amalfi coast.*

One word of advice to those who want to try your recipe, though: make sure you are using untreated lemons. Many citrus fruits, esp. those bought in big shops, are treated with... eh, the name escapes me, but it's an ugly chemicalish-sounding thing, and the signs in markets here warn one not to consume the zest. And lots of lemons not treated with the stuff are given a cosmetic goosing with wax, but that can be washed off.

* If you're in Amalfi itself, walk uphill along the high street. About half way up there's a micropiazza, really just a sort of temporary slight widening of the street. To your right, facing uphill, there's a small fountain. Just to the right of that is the door of a small simple restaurant. The man who runs the kitchen is a burly bearded gent, sort of a younger (and for that matter still living) Pavarotti in a toque. Pop in, and order whatever he tells you would be a good idea to order. When you're done, have him break out the limoncello.

Who knew we were all foodies too?

I had an idea. :-)

Made chili for a friend who came over for dinner. The ground chipotle (from Penzeys) added such a nice smokey sweet heat...lots of beer, too, so this may be my only comment of the evening.

Now, off to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics!

The best corn I've ever had was New England corn, bought at a roadside stand between Madison and Anson in the heart of Maine.

One of my favorite side dishes is broccoli rabe, escarole, or chicory blanched quickly, then sauteed in olive oil with dried currants, pine nuts, and minced fresh (is their any other kind?) garlic. Belissimo!

WRT corn, I believe boiling or steaming is an inferior cooking method. Grill them, as mentioned by several, and make sure you get a touch of browning. The taste is so much better than water-treated corn.

Just a note for anybody in Los Angeles where to find the best Pulpo Ceviche. Its actually from a mobile truck vendor at the corner of Indiana and Olympic, SW corner...East LA baby. The Ceviche truck is there only during the day, but there is a Taco truck there that stays late into the night. Best tacos in East LA. I knew about this company about two years before they relocated to their current spot. Its about a block from my in-laws house, which is very cool. The atmosphere is still totally street vendor, but the quality and safety is top notch.

You must have fresh mozzarella with those tomatoes and basil.

If you can't find it there, I'll send you some from our Fresh Market here in Florida.

MMM... ceviche... UHHH... I tend to go for the ceviche mixto, and I always ask the proprietor for extra maiz cancha to eat on the side.

Octopus is my favorite cephalopod to devour, not meaning any disrespect to squid or cuttlefish. I am trying to convince the owners of the local Sushi/Taco mutant place to combine their two menus and actually make sushi tacos, specifically a (drumroll please!) tako taco.

So all this talk of Spätzle has added fuel to a fire under my desire to eat it again which has been kindling for about a week and a half for no apparent reason.

So with the recipies handy here I tried to make it by myself for the first time (I have witnessed my parents make it and I remembered the pinch of nutmeg that they usually add)... and I made an error. An odd error and an understandable one I think.

I grabbed the self raising flour instead the all purpose. So I have salty Spätzle flavoured air. I don't think I did anything else odd, the raw texture behaved right, I might I suppose have over beaten something.....

And what I did instead of the special impliment was use a large holed colander and a wooden spoon, it works but it leaves you wishing a third hand and a bit of a mess.

How about this for some Comfort Food?

First, take a Ham, for the purposes of this recipe, a Ham originally from Australia that has been aged in Kentucky, stuff it full of tripe and plenty of bananas (you'll find them a nightmare to work with), liberally sprinkle flaked coconut (the easiest way to crack these is to enlist the aid of a tyrannosaur) on the top and let it age for six days (an optional seventh day can be added, to let the meat "rest").

To cook the Ham, construct an anthropomorhic figure out of straw. Ignite the "straw man" and use it to stew the Ham in its own juices.

Pure Comfort food!

As an Australian, I resent the implication that Comfort is from Australia. He comes from New Zealand. We only claim the good things that come from NZ.

Dearest Pony... I would never wish Comfort on anyone, but Ham is from Queensland. He's our problem now, though.

Maybe a set of "Creationist Wackaloon" trading cards is in order.

We only claim the good things that come from NZ.

Split Enz?

@ Mrs. Tilton (170):

Thank you for that warning. I've been in Italy too long, I guess to think of that. I'll have to stop by that place next time I'm down that way. August is a bad time, though, because the entire Italian peninsula is on vacation.

@ Sili (158):

The pith will add bitter undertones to the final product. You want your limoncello very sweet and lemony - to cover up its more "jet fuel-like" qualities.

I've tried several different 'cellos here. My favorite is Mandarino made with - obviously - mandarin oranges. I've also had one done with cantaloupe (Meloncello) and strawberries (Fragolino, I think). There was one done with walnuts and one with hazelnuts, but I haven't tried them, yet.

The last time my neighbor saved me some authentic Southern Italian lemons from her tree I was careful to set aside some seeds. I don't know if I'll ever be somewhere where I can try to start them, of if they will even start, but I can hope.

@ Sondra (175):

You're right about the fresh mozzarella. Of course, it still won't taste right unless it comes from water buffaloes.

We've been having a rough time here with the mozzarella. The military is advising us not to buy the local stuff because it isn't pasteurized. There have been several "cheese scares" over the last few months. In March, local authorities found some farms' cheese tested for high levels of dioxin. And last winter, we found out that some of the farms were covering up a Brucellosis outbreak.

Longtime Lurker: Really? I could have sworn he said he was from NZ on that Ben and Jim podcast. I have to admit I haven't run in to him before, and I didn't research very heavily before I made my throwaway comment.

Also, Crowded House and Dragon. We gave Russel Crowe back...

XD

Re: #19
"... the only recipe for perfect sweetcorn involves growing it yourself. Tkae a camping stove to the vegetable patch..."

Alternate suggestion, and much more delicious, in my humble opinion. Go to the vegetable patch, select ripened ear of sweet corn, shuck it on the spot and eat. Perfection. No cooking needed.

MAJeff, if you really believe "...people in New England don't know what good corn is like", perhaps you need to get out of Boston, head northeast, and visit Maine. Too many farm stands to count and the best corn you'll find anywhere.
My old Yankee Dad would just snort at your statement, but might give you one ear of his nirvana-on-the-cobb, just to prove you wrong (though, it would frost his ass to do it).

Good thread though, despite the delusionary and incorrect corn statement.

Rebecca

I think my signature dish would be Stouffer's frozen mac and cheese heated according to the instructions on the box. The Redhead has a pile of cookbooks, and loves to look through a dozen cookbooks for a given recipe, then combine them in her unique way. Here's one I typed up for her friends:

Soupe à l'Oignon

(French onion soup--Les Halles, Parisian version)

3-4Large white onions [3(4") or 4(3")]
4Tablespoons unsalted butter (or 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter)
1-2Tablespoons flour
71/2Cups beef stock, preferably homemade
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Slices of French bread or croutons
Butter for frying bread or croutons
Grated Gruyere (or Swiss Idiazabal cheese)

Slice the onions thinly and gently fry them in butter or butter/oil. Don't brown them--they should be golden and transparent. Stir in the flour and let cook for a few minutes*. Add salt, pepper, and stock. Stir well and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Fry bread in butter. Put in bottom of bowl(s), add soup, sprinkle cheese and melt in hot oven broiler or with kitchen torch or a heated salamander.

*In Lyons, a small dash of brandy is added to the onions, just prior to the stock.

Enjoy!

Damn, I skipped breakfast and now I've gone and digested my own stomach lining.

#74, eyerdatch, My Swiss great grandmother Rosa who passed away in the 70s left her recipe of Eierdatsch. I was born after she passed away, but I grew up eating Eierdatch.

Her recipe is quite simple:

"2 heaping tablespoon flour to each egg, a pinch of salt. Add enough milk to make consistency of cream. Fry in small amount of shortening. Brown one side then flip over and brown the other side. Sprinkle with sugar and roll up"

I never seem to be able to make it as well as my dad does, but it's usually still edible. Hope this helps!

Kelvin

Are you people, like, unaware of teh Thread?