legant

A bowl of polenta with sauteed chard and shiitakes

Both of you recommend keeping the pods whole during cooking; does okra only get slimy when it's cut? KMango: how do I tell if they're "tender"? The smaller ones have some give; the others are quite firm. For the masala: if I cook them whole, and then slice 'em, will that cut down on the gag me reaction?

I get nauseated just looking at the thing. However, someone just gave me eight pods of the stuff, ranging from 3 - 12 inches. I can toss them but...

What's your favorite/best okra (non-gumbo) recipe?

Granted... I could stuff it and fry the heck out of the stuff: frying makes anything taste good. But... I'm trying to be open to new food experiences... even if it involves okra. Blech.

Stephen J. Cannell. Whoa.

Closed. RIP

Hey Grover... any suggestions for Maryland locations?

The Chilean miners and their families. Dah-um! Christmas?

DMV area Safeways are not included in the recall. However, the store in Chevy Chase -- which had a very small sign stating their products were not affected -- did refund the purchase price.

Wow. It’ll be quite a while before I do this again. And, then… with major modifications in technique.

Saw this recipe and thought it would be a good idea for a dinner party. I researched other marshmallow recipes and had a good list of dos and don’ts. I should have read more.

Lessons learned:

1. Without a candy thermometer I knew, from the Cooking for Engineers site, to boil the sugar mixture to the “hard-ball stage.” Seems to have worked.

2. Having never used gelatin before, this stuff gets really stiff when left to sit too long.

3. I had been warned that this is a sticky mess. That’s an understatement. I knew not to try to lick the bowl lest I wanted sugar strings all over the place. One blogger related how she was stuck to the bowl until her SO arrived to the rescue.

4. Lining the pan with parchment did nothing at all. Next time: line with parchment, spray with vegetable oil, dust with 10x sugar… borrowing from Alton Brown… mixed with cornstarch. Hopefully this will make it easier to separate from the parchment.

5. I used a lot of 10x sugar. Way too much. I used it to separate the marshmallow from the parchment and to cut into squares. Again, mix with cornstarch.

6. It was easier to spread the chocolate with a spatula on the graham crackers than to dip the one side.

7. Made a ganache for dipping. For some reason I thought the cookies would adhere to the marshmallows. They didn’t. Even after dipping in chocolate, it didn’t form an adhesive.

8. Plus… because the cookies didn’t stick to the marshmallows… the marshmallows kept sliding out from between the cookies.

9. Martha Stewart has food stylists on her payroll. I ended up with a strip along two sides of the marshmallow cookie.

I don’t know how well this will transport.

The marshmallows were too sweet for my taste but I think that was because I relied on the 10x sugar to cut and separate. Next time – not anytime soon -- I might try sandwiching the marshmallow on the just-coated cookies, allow to set… and then proceed.

A "Clean the Fridge" project:

I went into a 24-hour cooking frenzy. The vegetables from last week’s farmers market haul didn’t fare so well; it was a “use it or lose it” situation. The cucumbers, sage, cilantro and salad mix had to be tossed.

I started off by roasting about 2 quarts of cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic, basil. Next came the basil: added some steamed spinach and walnuts (that had been hiding in the freezer) to make a pesto.

The rest of the spinach was sautéed with some garlic and shallots and red pepper flakes, to be used… with Cherry Glen ricotta… as a topping for a pizza.

Next I needed to tackle the banana peppers. Seeded a half dozen peppers; stuffed with a mixture of Truck Patch Italian sausage, the roasted cherry tomatoes, Cherry Glen ricotta; wrapped/baked in puff pastry. The mixture was a little too chunky for the peppers so I ran it through the food processor. Not bad. Not bad at all. The aesthetics were another thing; I played around with different shapes to wrap the peppers; the envelope shaped ones looked much more appetizing than the crescent or pig-in-the-blanket or the sui mai -- I had several cherry bomb peppers as well -- shapes.

I baked the remaining puff in a ramekin; filled with mascarpone and Kuhn's peaches.

Finished off this madness this morning with cream biscuits topped with McLeaf’s apple butter.

I do still have some eggplant to use. I might try this eggplant ricotta crostini or roasted eggplant and garlic on polenta squares tonight.

That’s the good thing about cooking for one: you can make stuff like this -- a week's worth of appetizers… add a glass of wine or cocktail… and call it dinner. Last night it was the stuffed banana peppers and an Aperol Sunset.

Whew! Stick a fork in me; I’m done.

Truck Patch (U street, Mt. Pleasant and Bloomingdale markets) for pork. The first time I had their pork chops I thought it was the recipe. The second chop, simply pan-fried, was also quite good. Others have raved about their bacon. Recently served a pork shoulder to some friends; all through the meal I kept muttering: damn, this is good pork. Damn! This is good pork. They thought I was commenting on the recipe. No; it was the pork.

I made chocolate chip cookie dough last night. I rolled it into 4 logs and refrigerated overnight. I understand that it is perfectly fine to freeze cookie dough. My question is how? Each roll is wrapped in aluminum foil. Can I place the rolls in a freezer bag and call it a day? Is aluminum foil the best option?

Thanks in advance...

I usually wrap the log in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. However, if you're interested in conducting a controlled experiment, I can store one log in my freezer and report back on the quality of the baked cookies in two week increments. I'd even be willing... all in the name of science, of course... to compare the quality of the baked goods with and without milk.

If you enjoy dining alfresco in DC, apparently you have Sarah Bassin to thank.

Times haven't changed that much...

On that note, I am going start gathering prices of local farms for free range chicken and beef to see the disparities along with why such disparities exist.

-- snip --

Anyone willing to help?

I'll be willing to survey several DC farmers markets for pork/chicken/beef prices. Keep me in the loop.

~ louise

Get some white vinegar. Put the peppers in a big jar and cover with the vinegar. Refrigerate. They will keep a good long time that way.

Or you could whiz them up in a food processor (wear goggles!) with vinegar. I think the proportion is 3 parts vinegar to 1 part peppers. Put in jars and refrigerate or freeze. Then you can add to chili, salsas, etc.

You could also string them and let them dry in a dry area of your house. Wear gloves!

Questions:

What does the vinegar do to the peppers? Is it an acid that keeps them from spoiling? White vs. rice vs. champagne vinegar... does it make a difference? Why not (a neutral) oil?

If I combine different peppers -- cherry bomb, jalapeno, thai chile -- in the same vinegar solution will the flavors of the individual peppers be affected?

Given the current humidity, can I dry them in the oven... say 250 degrees for a couple of hours?

What do you have left that you need to use?

Cauliflower, chard, squash, zucchini, corn, scallion-type onions. I really didn't get greedy; except for the squash and zucchini and onions, I have only one (bunch) of each; it didn't look like that much until I started placing stuff in the crisper.

The cauliflower and onions will go into an aloo gobi; the corn will accompany ribs. It's the chard and squash that worry me.

One of the downsides of farmers market shopping: using what you buy -- creatively... consistently -- before it goes bad. My dilemma is further complicated by the fact that I have so few nights at home this week.

Last night's late night dinner: eggs, scrambled with swiss chard, purple onions, topped with Cherry Glen chevre, wrapped in a warmed tortilla; cranberry-pistachio nut bread.

Tonight's dinner: sauteed zucchini ribbons tossed with edamame and topped with sauteed garlic shrimp; balsamic strawberries with mascarpone over a crushed Nonni's turtle pecan biscotti; passion fruit bellini

When converting a BBQ sauce recipe to a dry rub -- I'm not a fan of sauces and gravies and such -- is there anything else I need to take into consideration other than removing the liquids? And, substituting garlic powder and minced onion for the fresh stuff?

What do I do with the butter? I'm guessing it's used to add a "richness" to the finished sauce.

If I did use fresh garlic/onions, is there any "harm" in freezing the excess spice mixture for future use?

* 2 cups tomato sauce or ketchup

* 1/2 cup apple juice

* 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

* 5 Tbsp butter

* 3 Tbsp paprika

* 2 Tbsp chili powder

* 1 Tbsp chipotle powder (optional)

* 4 finely chopped garlic cloves

* 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

* Salt to taste

* Cayenne to taste

Brunch for 8:

Blue cheese deviled eggs

Smoked salmon roll-ups w/ cream cheese, radishes and red onion

Spinach and cheese strata

Homemade applesauce, spiced with ginger and thyme

Applewood smoked bacon

Store-bought pastries

Mimosas

Any word on when and where for the Dupont Circle and Union Station locations?

Dinner on the roof deck with friends...

Rose Cava, Red Wine, Cranberry juice

Mini Caprese Bites

Truck Patch roasted pork shoulder with a Memphis Dust dry rub

Savoy cabbage slaw tossed with sliced apples, walnuts, blue cheese and a buttermilk dressing

Edna Lewis’ Southern-Style Macaroni and Cheese*

Brownies topped with HD cherry vanilla ice cream

*H/T to goldenticket

Chardonnay; huge Safeway artichoke, steamed, with a mayonnaise, parsley, chive, thyme dipping sauce; Mrs. T's sour cream and chives pierogies.

...it's just as easy to make two as it is to make a dozen. Generally I figure on 50g of flour for one standard, run-of-the-mill burger-sized bun. So just use 100g for two buns, and then baker's percentages to go from there.

Oh really? Recipe please. Preferably for the "100g for two" buns.

Aperol Sunset; Sauteed Swiss chard and Shiitakes over soft, cheddar cheese polenta topped with bacon and Parmesan.

Tomato and mayonnaise (if my memory doesn't betray me). Oh, I love Harriet the Spy.

Oh! That's what you call it! I just call it "Summer!"

And, if I was getting really fancy, I'll add a slice of American processed cheese. Yup. Summer.