mktye

And an extra whisk attachment. So one can be used for whipped cream & other fat containing mixtures and one dedicated solely to the whipping of egg whites (so it will stay pristinely free of any trace of fat).

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who buys obscure ingredients and then finds a use for them. (I posted the recipe, as written, up at the top of the thread to try to make this thread have a little more logical flow. ) Obviously, you don't want to bake the cake at 180 degrees F. Converted from C to F, it is 356 degrees, but in baking a test cake yesterday, I'll drop it down to 325 next time. I made yesterday's cake with greek-style yogurt and semolina. I boiled the syrup for 15 minutes (I read that in another Haresa recipe I found online) and poured it on (as directed), but it did not soak the top half of the cake well enough. I plan on spooning it on next time to see if that will help. Overall, it is definitely a cake that I'll make again. It is very subtle in flavor, and while sweet, is not too rich. I'll probably make another cake this weekend with american-style yogurt and cornmeal to see if there is any noticeable difference and then post a final, corrected version of the recipe.

Now I need to decide on american-style yogurt vs. greek-style yogurt and white corn meal vs. semolina (which I also picked up at Grand Mart). Although the recipe says "corn flour" (which was determined at the tasting to be corn meal), I know that semolina is what is traditional so I am leaning toward using that in the initial (and hopefully only) test cake. This is the first year I've been a member and it has been fun.

:( I've simply given up on finding really good bread in restaurants. As long as it is not cottony, it is fine. Butter too cold? Etiquette be damned, I'll shave off little slivers of butter, set them atop the bread and wait the five minutes until they are soft enough to spread. Olive oil yucky? I'll just skip it and have my bread plain (with my plain water). In fact, I prefer dry and bland over badly done fancy-schmancy flavored breads, especially those that so sweet they are closer to a tea cake than a bread. If I want good bread, I certainly don't go looking for it at a restaurant. But other than a total lack of bread service (and you don't want to get me started on that topic... again ), the thing that really drives me crazy with restaurant bread is that insipid raisin nut bread that it seems like all the restaurants in town serve with their cheese course. It looks good -- nice open crumb (although I prefer a more dense bread with cheese), nuts, raisins but then I bite into it and, ugh, it is totally devoid of flavor. Or, as rwtye is found of saying: "it is so lacking in flavor that it actually sucks flavor out of your mouth". Why, oh, why do they serve this stuff? Bread can be so wonderful. Cheese can be so wonderful. Alternating bites of the two can be wonderfully wonderful. Why?

The last time I dealt with fresh coconut, I nearly stuck a paring knife all the way through my hand. Now I want one of those bench-mounted coconut shredder contraptions (of course, rwtye will have to make the bench part out of cherry).But if it makes you feel any better, I do plan on throwing that shredded coconut into the ol' food processor and turning into more of a powder.

Just returned from the Seven Corners Grand Mart. I decided to look in the middle eastern foodstuff aisle first and what did I find? Bags of unsweetened, shredded, dried coconut with english labels plastered on the front that read: Powdered Coconut Thanks again to V.H. for pointing me toward Grand Mart and to Saycheese for making me think twice about what I really wanted to buy.

Too late for Christmas '07 hinting, but my two-cents is to save your money and get a smaller, tilt-head KA mixer if you mainly just bake cakes/cookies and only occasionally use your mixer for bread. I have both a KSM90 (300 watt, 4.5 qt. bowl) and a Pro 600 (575 watt, 6 qt. bowl). I've had the KSM90 for 17 years and figured that I'd get rid of it when I got the Pro 600 a couple of years ago. But I never did and both live happily in my kitchen: Why two mixers? I use the Pro 600 almost exclusively for breads. There is a very notable difference in breads kneaded with that and those kneaded with the KSM90 -- much better gluten development with the Pro 600. In fact, with more delicate breads, I have to make sure not to over-knead with it. But it is a dream to use for my sourdough and french-style breads. The extra capacity of the bowl also makes a huge difference and I no longer have to battle bread doughs climbing the hook and attempting to breach the inner workings of the mixer. But that extra bowl capacity of the Pro 600 is the reason I ended up holding on to the KSM90. I like the smaller bowl for making cakes, cookies and whipping small amounts of cream or egg whites. For mixing jobs where the volume is less and power is not important (esp. when looking not to develop gluten), the KSM90 is the mixer I use. I love them both, but unless you knead a lot of bread dough and/or frequently make very large quantity-recipes of cookies, cakes, buttercream and so such, you probably don't have to spend the extra money on a larger mixer. Also, for those with KA mixers that are acting up, Waters Appliance Service in Gaithersburg (216 E. Diamond Ave., 301-258-7500) fixed my KSM90 (it had lost its first speed) and now it runs better than new!

To drive this further off-topic...While at A&M, there was a drive-thru liquor store right next to my apartment building. However, you could not buy alcohol, not even beer or wine, on Sundays in that county.

Sounds like a great test-plan to put it through its paces and I'm very much looking forward to the results. Thanks for doing this for us!!!

Thanks! I may pick up some of that also because my friend who was with me at the tasting said she thought she detected a piece of coconut in her serving of cake. I'll probably end up trying both. Luckily, rwtye's coworkers are always happy to help us take care of leftover baking tests.

The cakes are for an International Officers' Wives' Club luncheon -- every month a couple of different countries host (this month is Jordan and Norway) and a number of the members help with the cooking (~125 members attend the luncheons). For the people who will be doing the cooking, there is a tasting about a week before where the ladies from the host countries provide the dishes prepared how they like to cook them and explain their recipes. Then the cooks are assigned recipes and quantities and have at it. So the recipe I am making is a little vague because at least a few things have been lost in translation (it also calls for the cakes to be baked at 180 F and corn "flour"). But that is the part I like -- to "make it work" and the challenge of recreating the original dish as closely as possible. The recipe as written: Cake: 3 eggs ½ cup corn oil ½ cup white sugar ¼ cup milk 1 cup plain yogurt ½ cup white flour 1½ cup corn flour 1 cup coconut powder 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 teaspoons baking powder In a mixing bowl, mix corn flour, flour, baking powder, vanilla and coconut powder. In a separate mixing bowl, mix eggs, sugar, milk, oil and yogurt. Then combine the ingredients of the first bowl with the second. Bake in an 11x8 pan in oven set at 180 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-45 minutes or until brown. Cake Topping: 2 cups sugar 2 cups water Mix water and sugar together in a pan on the stove. Bring to a boil and continuously stir until mixture is slightly thick. Pour on top of cooled cake. ------------------------------------------------ Recipe as made: Cake: 3 eggs ½ cup mild-flavored oil ½ cup white sugar ¼ cup milk 1 cup plain yogurt 2 teaspoons vanilla (another option is to flavor with rosewater) ½ cup bleached, all-purpose flour 1½ cup semolina (or white, degerminated, corn meal, such as Quaker brand) 1 cup unsweetened, dried coconut 2 teaspoons baking powder In a mixing bowl, mix semolina, flour, baking powder and coconut. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Bake in an 9"x9" pan in oven set at 325 degrees 25-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cake Topping: 2 cups sugar 2 cups water Mix water and sugar together in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and boil 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture is slightly thick. Pour hot syrup on top of cooled cake.

While I am not really a vegetarian (I don't think I could ever give up bacon), I'm not a big fan of meat and rarely order it when dining out. So for my birthday dinner this year, I opted for the vegetarian tasting menu at CityZen. Mushroom Amuse People have raved about this enough, all I have to add is that it is an incredible amount mushroom-goodness packed into just one small bite! Globe Artichoke Salad and Sweet Onion Salad with Satsuma Tangerine and Nicoise Olive Salad. In the middle of winter. Not two ideas that really seem to go together, but this was a wonderfully refreshing combination. The onions were very mild and very crisp with the olives providing a nicely salty base-note. Spring in December. Braised Tuscorara Farm Beets – Yukon Gold Potato Pierogi, Baby Beets, Frisée Lettuce and Crispy Beet Salad This was an addition from the Prix Fixe menu and was my favorite course of the night. Although one would probably normally envision otherwise, these pierogi where incredibly light and fresh-tasting. And that perfectly complemented the earthiness of the beets. Buckwheat Crêpe Stuffed with Grilled Enoki Mushrooms, Baby Leek, and Swiss Chard Confit Toasted Hazelnut Broth Meat? Who needs it. The smokiness of the grilled mushrooms combined with the textural bite of the leek and the hint of buckwheat from the crepe, made for dish that could rival more protein-laden fare. My only complaint – a sharper knife would have helped one eat this dish a little more gracefully. Sugar Pie Pumpkin Tortellini – Caramelized Salsify, Brussels Sprouts, and Pumpkin Seed Consommé Once again, there was a lot of savoriness to this course. Often pumpkin tortellini (and their kin) can be a smidge too sweet, but the addition of the brussels sprouts prevented that. Path Valley Farms Sunchoke and Braised Kale Tart with Brown Butter Emulsion This tart reminded me of the a gratin of sunchokes I had when CityZen first opened. And I have been craving something similar ever since. No surprise this was the crescendo of the meal. Perfect filling. Perfect crust. All warmth and mellowness. Cheese Course An excellent selection of cheeses in prime condition. Not a hint of ammoniation to any of them – no cheese abuse here! Meyer Lemon Margarita – Frozen Meyer Lemon Soup with Poached Meringue, Grand Marnier Gelée and Salted Lemon Madeleines This dessert was fun. Plain and simple. Maybe because it was getting late (or maybe it was lingering giddiness from having more than my share of the parker house rolls – rwtye let me eat the majority of them since it was my birthday ), but I was quite amused to be fishing around in the "soup" for little quenelles of juniper(?!?)-laced meringue (sublimely soft), squares of grand marnier gelee (jiggly!) and perfect little hump-backed madeleines (the ultimate cookies dipped in milk). Crispy Indian Pudding With Poached Winter Fruits and Patterson Farms Honey Ice Cream It was my birthday – why shouldn't I have two desserts? In reading the menu, I did not think I would like this dish (I even considered asking if I could substitute something else). The words "poached winter fruits" always scare me into imagining musty and/or tasteless. But was I ever wrong. I think it was the addition of the honey, added with restraint so it was not too sweet overall, that added the vibrant note to the fruit. All that said, the crispy Indian pudding that was the star element of this dish. Crispy being the important word. Crispy as in deep fried. Oh, yeah. Little crunchy fritters of goodness. Not the least bit heavy or oily. Since rwtye had the regular tasting menu (pretty much the same one as reviewed by cjsadler), I got to taste both menus. And found the vegetarian menu to be the winner, course after course. Now I'm not sure this would be the case every night (I had a regular tasting menu in November that certainly would have given this vegetarian menu a run for its money), but Chef Ziebold's vegetarian tasting option should always be something to be considered. Even by you meat-lovers. It was a fantastic dinner with the faultless service that I've always found to be the norm for CityZen. Thanks to Chef Ziebold and his staff for the memorable evening.

Yet again, I am in search of coconut. This time I'm looking for powdered coconut to use in Haresa (Jordanian semolina cake). Yes, it can be ordered from King Arthur Flour (and probably other places online), but I don't currently have enough for the cakes I need to bake by next Wednesday. Has anyone seen any for sale around Alexandria/Arlington/Falls Church? (There is a place called Madina Market in Woodbridge that carries it, but I'd rather not drive that far if at all possible.)

I'd like to know how it works on a nice, stiff cookie dough. Especially one containing chunks such as nuts or chocolate chips.

Here is the current tea-buying thread in the Shopping and Cooking forum. But better yet would be for you to start a new thread in Shopping and Cooking regarding your Temple of Heaven tea-quest since it will more likely come to the attention of the dedicated dr.com shoppers.

What about just dusting them with confectioner's sugar?(But wait until pretty close to serving unless you have special non-melting confectioner's sugar.)

#18

Yum! Aebelskivers are one of my favorite breakfast foods. As kids, we always skipped the jam and dipped them in melted butter and then sugar (wish I still had the metabolism I had then!). I also got an Elph (to replace my old first-generation, 2.1 mega-pixel model). Plus, the CIA "Baking and Pastry" book (actually, that one was a b'day present) and Ruth Reichl's " Garlic and Sapphires" and "Comfort Me with Apples". Some Stella Cadente olive oil (my sis's company), a couple of Williams-Sonoma gift cards and a new All-Clad nonstick frying pan (also a b'day present).

We did take-two on turkey for our Christmas Eve feast since my dear friend Mrs. S was visiting us for Christmas and had tragically only eaten yucky smoked turkey, not once, but twice, at Thanksgiving. We grilled another Maple Lawn Farms free-range bird (purchased at MOM's) and it yet again came incredibly savory and moist (yes, I did brine it). Accompaniments were: Mashed Potatoes Dressing (which thankfully came out much better than it did at Thanksgiving!) Gravy! Brioche Rolls Brown Sugar/Mustard Carrots Garlic/Bacon Peas Broccoli w/Hollandaise Sauce (compliments of Mr. & Mrs. G) For dessert we had the very decadent bourbon pecan steamed pudding discussed in this thread here (thanks again for the recipe, Barbara!). ETA: I almost forgot the best part... I'd been bummed all afternoon that we'd not had the time to make it down to The Dairy Godmother for their once-a-year "Gift of the Magi" flavor (saffron, candied cranberries & pistachios), but the very thoughtful Mr. & Mrs. G arrived bearing a quart of it! Bacon and sticky buns (pecan/cinnamon for me, chocolate/walnut for Mrs. S who is very pro-chocolate and anti-cinnamon, and both kinds for rwtye) were for breakfast the next morning. Accompanied by candy from Santa.

Cookies, cookies and more cookies.

From the administrative side of things: Check-in could not have gone more smoothly and that was due to you all being so cooperative and patient. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for showing up on time, cash in hand and ready to eat! Also, more thanks to Chef Cooper & Chef Ziebold and the staff at Vidalia for being so very welcoming and providing all the delicious food and wine. You all took excellent care of us!

Here are a few ideas: Click.

Although I have an electric deep-fryer, I usually end up deep-frying on the stovetop with a Lodge (non-enameled cast iron) dutch oven because it holds the heat so well.

Nothing much new yet again this year (and no acorns!) -- we are definitely traditionalists when it comes to Thanksgiving. The 2007 Menu: Porcini & Arugula Crostini Grilled Turkey Sourdough Dressing Mashed Potatoes Gravy!!! Candied Sweet Potato Slices* Peas with Bacon & Garlic Carrots glazed with Brown Sugar/Mustard/Chives Roasted Brussels Sprouts Scalloped Onions, Shallots & Leeks Apple Chutney Traditional Cranberry Sauce (cranberries, water & sugar) 5-Spice, Ginger & Pinot Noir Cranberry Sauce Brioche Rolls Pumpkin Pie* Pecan Pie French Apple Pie Pumpkin Frozen Custard (from The Dairy Godmother) Shortbread Cookies (which I forgot to serve but were a great midnight snack!) I bought this year's turkey from MOM's and it turned out to be the best turkey EVER! It was a local, free-range bird from Maple Lawn Farms. *Graciously and deliciously supplied by our dinner guests.

A little bird(er) asked me about it yesterday and, after a bit a googling, I knew I had to make it for dessert last night. Lots of recipes out there, but I used the one from this site (scroll down for the English translation) because it contained no eggs (which seemed more authentic for a "poor man's" dish) and did not call for cream (I was out of it). I think next time I'll try one of recipes that does include cream and uses only maples syrup and no brown sugar, but the eggs were not missed in the cakey layer. So no real connection other than I have a love of all things maple. (Including non-edible maples)