Cool Stuff You Make

[edenman]

Did you use a candy thermometer when you made the marmalade? Generally small batches work best, because you have to get the whole volume to a pretty high temperature and sustain it to get it to thicken. I think the sugar syrup needs to get to soft ball stage, at least. I generally use pectin when I make preserves, because I think the fruit tastes better when it is cooked less. I've only made marmalade a time or two. Try again with a smaller volume and use pectin. Better luck next time.

On the sauerkraut, it sounds like you may not have used enough salt. And you have to weight it down with a plate, with a brick or two on top. Also, the kitchen may have been too warm a place to make it. It's a cool weather project to do "down cellar" in a cool space, if you can find one. It may not be appropriate for an apartment.

I liked your gouda. I'd love to make aged cheeses, but I don't have appropriate refrigeration to do it, and no space for another fridge at my house.

You seem like my kinda guy... Except you're probably not too much older than my daughter. How about if I just adopt you?

re: marmalade...I had a candy thermometer, and I think the temperature was ok, but who knows. I think scaling it up was the problem...I had a whole case of ~25 seville oranges, and rather than do several smaller batches, I tried to just do the whole lot.

Yea, I'm gonna try crushing up my salt next time...since I'm using kosher salt I theorized that maybe it was too coarse and wasn't leeching up enough water. For containment I have an old celery storage thing that has a wicker-like plastic thing that i weighed down with a couple jars of the marmalade. I keep my apartment at around 70, so I think the temperature is probably ok. Sadly, I live in a basement studio, so there's no basement for my basement.

Yea, I just have a waist-high fridge for the cheese, and I had to get a temperature regulator to keep it at 50F.

And adoption sounds good to me. Adopted kids always had the coolest toys.

[zoramargolis]

Last weekend, I came upon a long-neglected crabapple tree in Battery Kemble. The plastic bag I carry while walking the dog hadn't been used, so I stopped and picked about three or four pounds of crabapples from the low-hanging branches. There was a ton of fruit on this tree, plenty within reach but lots more was up high, well out of reach without a ladder.

I am allergic to apples, but enough of a foraging freak that a food allergy is not going to stop me. I tasted (and spat out) one of the fruits and determined that it was: full of fruit flavor, very tannic, and very sour. Perfect for jelly-making. With the high ratio of peel to pulp in crabapples, there would be plenty of naturally occuring pectin--no need for Sure-Jell.

I washed it all, pulled out the stems, covered the fruit with water and cooked it until the fruit was mushy and started to split. After it cooled, I ran it through the food mill to get rid of skin and seeds. Then I put the watery pulp into a muslin towel, hung it up and let it drain. I admit that I was a bit impatient and because the towel had a tight weave, I squeezed it occasionally to facilitate the process--a no-no in jelly-making when you are using layers of cheesecloth as a jelly bag, since you don't want any pulp in the liquid. After a few hours, I put the drained liquid (about three cups) into the fridge.

The next morning, there was a small amount of pulp that had settled down to the bottom of the liquid. I poured it into a pot, leaving the pulp behind, then added an equal amount of sugar and heated it until the sugar dissolved. I added about a cup of fresh mint leaves from my herb garden wrapped in cheesecloth, muddled the mint pack a bit and let it steep for a couple of hours.

After removing the mint package, I boiled the syrup until it reached 220 degrees on a candy thermometer, skimmed it and ladled it into sterilized jars. I ended up with 2 half-pints, after all that. It is perfectly clear, a pretty pink color, tightly jelled and has a faint mint aroma and flavor. The unfortunate part of making a fully natural mint jelly, is that some of the more volatile aspects of the mint leaf essence is driven off by the violent boiling needed to make jelly. I didn't have or want to use mint extract, though. So, when I serve it with lamb, I will probably add some fresh chopped mint.

[zoramargolis]

I found fresh green olives for sale at Magruders in Chevy Chase. There was a recipe posted above the bin: Pour boiling water over olives, let sit for 24 hours. Drain and repeat. On day three, drain and cover with a 10% salt brine.

I followed that method (and read a few other recipes online). The olives are now in brine, where they will sit for a week. Then I'll change the brine and leave them for another week. If they need a third week, I'll make an herb-bine. Then, assuming they are no longer bitter, I'll marinate them with vinegar, olive oil, garlic, preserved lemon and fresh herbs.

Oh, and I cut a slit in each olive before putting them in the brine.

I'll keep you posted on how they turn out. I've done olives in a salt cure before, but this is my first experience doing a brine cure. It was fascinating how when I bought them, they were bright green, but after boiling water was poured on them, they turned "olive green" and the water turned brownish.

[edenman]

had a ridiculously good food weekend, and since at least some of it was "cool stuff i make" related, i'll recap here:

wednesday:

• dinner at the circle bistro bar. hamburger and duck confit: quite good, although the burger wasn't as good as i'd anticipated from reading the CB thread.
  

thursday:

• spent all afternoon making bratwurst (11 pounds, all told)
  
• burger at rustico. awesome. fantastic beer selection = very happy.
  
• late night at brickskeller
  

friday:

• road trip to dogfish head brewery in delaware, bought a couple backup kegs for the party
  
• hosted oktoberfest party. made everything: festbier, bratwurst, mustard, cheese, buns, big pretzels. the sauerkraut was terrible so i didn't serve it. that's one thing i'm going to give up on for a while, at least until i have a shed or something where i can put it. my kitchen is very happy now that it doesn't stink of fermenting cabbage.
  

saturday:

• brunch at belga. broodje ei (eggs in a basket, essentially). la chouffe.
  
• dinner at bistro du coin. hanger steak and mussels. everything was good, but the lemon custard dessert was the standout. simple, but very good.
  
• beers at pharmacy bar and dan's cafe
  

sunday:

• grill some leftover sausage
  
• post on dr.com
  
• realize i'm broke and it's a week til payday
  

[zoramargolis]

I'm not nearly as energetic as ferment everything is...

I dehydrated the last of the figs on my tree and used them to make fig salami--recipe fom a Joyce Goldstein book called _Enoteca_ that I found on the sale shelf at Politics and Prose.

This week, I'm going to make my annual batch of membrillo with the quinces I bought at the Dupont Market this morning.

[JPW]

1st batch of chicken stock for the fall cooking season yesterday.

[Ilaine]

Pre-made dark roux that you store in the refrigerator or the freezer. well sealed, indefinitely.

Oil (I like peanut oil for this) and flour (unbleached white) in a pyrex container (I use a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup).

Nuke for 15-20-30 seconds at a time, stir, nuke again. Let it get dark, darker than peanut butter but don't scorch it. If you scorch it, throw it away, it can't be saved.

Almost impossible to burn and you don't have to watch it like a hawk.

Don't let it get on your skin. Hot! Cajun napalm.

[mdt]

6 duck legs, purchased at Cheesetique, are now curing in salt and will be made into confit on Sunday.

[edenman]

6 duck legs, purchased at Cheesetique, are now curing in salt and will be made into confit on Sunday.

Where'd you get your rendered duck fat (or did you render it yourself)?

Either way, I salute you, sir.

[mdt]

Where'd you get your rendered duck fat (or did you render it yourself)?

Either way, I salute you, sir.

Bought (ordered ahead of time) a 7.5# bucket from Jill.

[Poivrot Farci]

Although one needn’t be dependant on hard liquor to have a good time, it sure helps.

Consider this year’s “Grand Marnier et cidre chaud aux épices en potiron.”

Note to the kids: If your going to skim a bit off mom & dad’s chilled Zubrowka and top it off with water and it freezes, you’ve taken too much. Pinch your nose and move on to the Drambuie.

[TSE]

Note to the kids: If your going to skim a bit off mom & dad’s chilled Zubrowka and top it off with water and it freezes, you’ve taken too much. Pinch your nose and move on to the Drambuie.

Or: leave the cap partially undone so that your father thinks that it evaporated. Still doesn't know.

[jparrott]

Smoked caramelized onions. I sliced 7lbs of onions, coated with ~1/4 cup of oil and a bit of salt, put in a metal pan (i used a broiler pan) and smoked (with applewood) in my side-firebox smoker (at temps ranging from 225-300F) for about 6 hours, stirring every so often. Tried it just on a whim. Will do again .

[paula]

I made fresh pasta this weekend and just had to find a topic to share the news. This one seems appropriate. I received a pasta roller/cutter set for my kitchenaid for Christmas and figured I better use it. I made corn/mascarpone cheese/goat cheese stuffed tortelli with a tarragon butter sauce (Everyday Italian recipe) and fettuccine with marinara (homemade by Pete my SO). Both were fantastic and impressed my superbowl guests. (We had decided on an Italian theme due to a canceled Italy trip) I never knew how fantastic homemade pasta could be. I need to play with the dough recipe, the first time it was dry and my pasta kept ripping in the roller. The second batch I added some water and it seemed better but didn’t want to go through the roller at first.

Other items I've made:

Marshmallows - It's hard to even think about eating store bought ever again. I haven't perfected the shaping yet but I'll get there. I may experiment with a different recipe.

Stock - chicken, turkey, beef, veggie - so far my veggie stock has been the best.

In my non-foodie circle making cupcakes from scratch is crazy. I can’t seem to convince them that it’s no harder than using a cake mix…all the mix gives you is the dry ingredients…you still have to add eggs, water, etc and mix everything together.

When we moved to our new house this summer we found that we have black walnut trees in the back. I decided to go through the trouble of collecting the black walnuts that fell and constantly hit our house since I’ve heard they are prized by bakers. I husked and cleaned and dried and just recently opened one to see what the fuss is about. It tasted fine (I'm not a huge walnut fan). I haven't decided if it was worth the hassle. I did learn some lessons....

1) Don't leave them outside piled in a box in their husks...the bugs will get to them if the rain doesn't rot them first.

2) The squirrels aren't afraid to take them out of the box on the patio...and leave the remnants on the railing.

3) Wear gloves! The orange stain does not come off! (I did wear gloves but took them off too soon).

4) Put something protective on the work surface…they will stain EVERYTHING!

5) Very few of the nuts will be good even once they fall off the tree. My research revealed that if they float they are no good. I believe half wound up floating so I trashed them.

6) Use a sharp knife – I used a box cutter but the blade was pretty dull.

All in all, it was an okay way to spend a nice fall day outside enjoying the view. Plus 2 deer came to visit and see what I was doing (actually the deer enjoy many meals in my backyard…thank goodness it’s mostly weeds).

Things on my list:

Yeast dough – I have no idea why I’m so apprehensive. I know I just need to try once and then I’ll be fine.

Pastries – anything and everything I can think of…I know if I perfect the main yeast doughs I can make anything.

Chocolates – We’ve made a few truffles (ganache centers) and dipped many foods in chocolates but Pete and I are ready for the big leagues with different flavorings and fillings.

Baby Food – Call me crazy but I figure it’s healthier. Of course now that I’m carrying my first and have no energy this sounds insane. I’m sure I was raised on the jar and turned out ok so my kid(s) will be fine.

[edenman]

I picked up a pork belly at the Dupont farmer's market yesterday, and I plan on making bacon from it for the spring picnic. I haven't figured out exactly what my cure is going to be, but it will probably involve honey.

Anybody got a cold-smoker I can use on Saturday, June 2? My sources tell me it's a 6-8 hour process.

ETA: bonus if your cold-smoker is in DC proper, but I'll travel in the name of pork if necessary.

[brettashley01]

I make soy-free soy sauce. Yes, you read that correctly (I'm allergic to soy).

I take some Vegemite or Marmite- which is very salty to begin with- disolve in boiling water. Add some chicken broth or mushroom broth- I prefer water that's been used to re-hydrate shitake mushrooms. It gives the sauce the umami factor otherwise supplied by the soy. Then a splash of red wine and some salt. Voila- sashimi time!

[edenman]

Pictures from my failed cold-smoking experiment. The basic setup:

Two foil-lined cardboard boxes

about 6 feet of ductwork to connect the two and carry the smoke over

lots of duct tape

I cut doors in both boxes so I could open them to check on things, then re-taped the foil to the doors. The play-by-play:

1:45PM- turn on the fan pointed at the belly, to form a pellicle

2PM- turn on hot plate with pan having a small layer of chips on the bottom

3PM- satisfied that the smoker is working correctly, insert belly into cold box

4PM- notice that the hot plate control dial is melted. hope that the hot plate will continue to function regardless

4:30PM- the hot plate has stopped putting out heat. realize that it's best to cut my losses and just go with what I've got

My current theory as to why the hot plate melted is that 1) my hot box was too small, and thus it acted like an oven, cooking not just the chips, but also the hot plate, and 2) I needed a fan inside the cold box to pull smoke (and possibly some heat) from the hot box. Oh well, there's always next time.

[zoramargolis]

Pictures from my failed cold-smoking experiment. The basic setup:

Two foil-lined cardboard boxes

about 6 feet of ductwork to connect the two and carry the smoke over

lots of duct tape

I cut doors in both boxes so I could open them to check on things, then re-taped the foil to the doors. The play-by-play:

1:45PM- turn on the fan pointed at the belly, to form a pellicle

2PM- turn on hot plate with pan having a small layer of chips on the bottom

3PM- satisfied that the smoker is working correctly, insert belly into cold box

4PM- notice that the hot plate control dial is melted. hope that the hot plate will continue to function regardless

4:30PM- the hot plate has stopped putting out heat. realize that it's best to cut my losses and just go with what I've got

My current theory as to why the hot plate melted is that 1) my hot box was too small, and thus it acted like an oven, cooking not just the chips, but also the hot plate, and 2) I needed a fan inside the cold box to pull smoke (and possibly some heat) from the hot box. Oh well, there's always next time.

I'd like to renew my offer to adopt you. My daughter will be going off to college in another year, and her bedroom will be available. Your adoptive "dad" will have a great time helping to design and build these gizmos of yours and making beer with you, and you and I can do some serious cooking together. Whaddaya say?

[Poivrot Farci]

Armistice Day 2007.

RMS Lusitania Beef Wellington and German Potato Salad U-20 boat

(gassy mustard and Kaiser-roll bread pudding not pictured)

[Al Dente]

Armistice Day 2007.

RMS Lusitania Beef Wellington and German Potato Salad U-20 boat

(gassy mustard and Kaiser-roll bread pudding not pictured)

I'd be interested in seeing what you make for Good Friday.

[zoramargolis]

My first attempt at making mozzarella earns mixed reviews. I used a recipe that called for heating the curds in the microwave, and I think I didn't quite get it to the right stretchy point. As a consequence, my mozzarella balls are more like compressed farmer cheese. They taste great, and melted nicely on some refried beans, but I need to use the hot water method next time.

My most recent attempt at curing my own olives, on the other hand, is a great success. Last year, I soaked the olives in three daily boiling water baths and then weekly changes of salt brine for six weeks, and they were still bitter. This time, I used an entirely different method: the olives were cracked with a mallet, soaked in cold water changed daily for ten days, and then put in a crock with a salt brine that had vinegar, dried oregano and thyme, fresh garlic, lots of chunks of cut-up lemons and olive oil floated on top. This sat in a cool place for two weeks. I tasted one today, at the end of the two week cure, and they are delicious!

The pot of confited duck legs is in the refrigerator. I bought a whole d'Artagnan duck and used the skin to render out duck fat, but didn't end up with enough to completely submerge the legs that I'd gotten at the Maxim Asian market, so I mixed the duck fat with lard from the pork people who come to the Dupont Market. I have about 1/2 gallon of duck stock in the freezer, made from the duck bones, and I cured the breast filets along with all of the legs, and then smoked them in my stovetop smoker. I'm thinking about making cassoulet next week. Hmm. Haven't made sausage in many years, but I recently bought a meat grinder at the school second-hand sale.

Christmas-time is tamale season. I might use some of the duck confit in tamales. I'm thinking that the salty duck meat might need to be balanced with something a bit fruity--maybe Fuyu persimmon, which isn't super sweet. I'll have to think about that.

[shogun]

My first attempt at making mozzarella earns mixed reviews. I used a recipe that called for heating the curds in the microwave, and I think I didn't quite get it to the right stretchy point. As a consequence, my mozzarella balls are more like compressed farmer cheese. They taste great, and melted nicely on some refried beans, but I need to use the hot water method next time.

Hey neat, I just did my first mozzerella too. Used the hot water method. Think the water was a little TOO hot, because it went a lot quicker than I expected. The range is apparently 135 to 180, which seems like a pretty big range, and I was told slower is better. Might have gone too fast, because when I went to stretch it into a sheet, I noticed the lumps were actually unmelted curds so I had to go back into the water once or twice. Pictures of the resulting roulade tomorrow (Day Three, Garde Manger reception).

Where do you get cheese curds, other than a cheese shop or Minnesota...Trader Joe's?

[Sam]

I was trying the olive curing this year too and did the exact same thing. Cracked the olives (and proceeded to ruin a shirt with olive juice on it!), soaked and changed water everyday for 10 days, and now is in a brine. When I taste them, however, I still get that bitterness. Do you think I could resoak in cold water for a few more days to try to get the bitterness down?

By the way, did yours turn from green to black due to exposure to oxygen during the soaking process? Some of mine are polka dotted!

[agm]

I'm thinking about making cassoulet next week.

I'm also planning to try a cassoulet sometime this month. Any suggestions on where I might find Tarbais beans locally? Or do I have to shop online?

[Heather]

I'm also planning to try a cassoulet sometime this month. Any suggestions on where I might find Tarbais beans locally? Or do I have to shop online?

D'artagnan has them sometimes. I use Rancho Gordo's flageolet, and they make a good substitute.

[zoramargolis]

Where do you get cheese curds, other than a cheese shop or Minnesota...Trader Joe's?

I made it from scratch, using some local farm milk, citric acid and rennet.

I was trying the olive curing this year too and did the exact same thing. Cracked the olives (and proceeded to ruin a shirt with olive juice on it!), soaked and changed water everyday for 10 days, and now is in a brine. When I taste them, however, I still get that bitterness. Do you think I could resoak in cold water for a few more days to try to get the bitterness down?

By the way, did yours turn from green to black due to exposure to oxygen during the soaking process? Some of mine are polka dotted!

Have you done the full two weeks in brine? I would think you ought to leave them in the brine, longer. Maybe make ups a new batch of brine and let them sit for an extra week or more.

As far as color goes, mine are also sort of variegated. I used a zip-lock bag full of water to keep them submerged during the water cure, so it wasn't that they got oxidized. I can't explain the color--as long as they taste good, that's my biggest issue.

[Sam]

Have you done the full two weeks in brine? I would think you ought to leave them in the brine, longer. Maybe make ups a new batch of brine and let them sit for an extra week or more.

As far as color goes, mine are also sort of variegated. I used a zip-lock bag full of water to keep them submerged during the water cure, so it wasn't that they got oxidized. I can't explain the color--as long as they taste good, that's my biggest issue.

They have been in the brine for about 1.5 months now. Maybe I will try a soaking a smaller batch and see if that works. I only have a sacrifice a few at the start to do the experiment

[zoramargolis]

Today, mozzarella made with the hot water method. Last week, I used a microwave method and realize now that I never got the curd hot enough. I was at the Takoma Park Co-op on Thursday and bought a gallon of organic, un-homogenized milk with a pull date that indicated it was still very fresh. The recipe I have calls for citric acid and rennet to clabber the milk, but it seemed like the amount did not make the milk quite acidic enough to separate the curds and whey cleanly--the whey never got as clear as the recipe indicated it would. So after I made the mozzarella, I had a big pot of milky-looking whey, and I decided to make ricotta with it--that's the traditional use of whey as a by-product of mozzarella making. I added some fresh milk and heavy cream, brought it to a boil and added white vinegar. That's still draining. It looks like a lasagna is called for this week.

Tomorrow--pork sausage. I bought a very thick, fatty boneless chop from Eco-Friendly today to add to the Boston butt I bought at Union Meats yesterday, and the sausage casings are soaking. I have a meat grinder but don't have a real sausage stuffer--I am going to be improvising-- so they probably won't look terribly professional, but I'm thinking rustic. Once I make the sausage, I'll have everything I need for cassoulet (duck confit, smoked duck breast), except the right kind of beans. Dean and Deluca is going to be the next place I look for those.

[edenman]

Bump. Made duck confit and chicken stock just before the holidays. Today is jowls->cure day, and also day one of pate-making: cooking a pork tongue for interior garnish and prepping the meat. Tomorrow will be grinding/mixing day.

Been reading alot of sous vide stuff lately, so I'm going to experiment with Sous Vide Eggs (Click) but I don't have a circulator or temp regulator so I'm just gonna see how steady a temp I can get on the gas stove with a big pot of water. Also picked up some Sodium Alginate and Sodium Citrate to start trying spherification (I already have the Calcium Chloride) when I get a spare afternoon.

Anybody else got any good projects going?

[Andelman]

Made a Torchon of Foie Gras this morning. I poached it in some homemade chicken stock and then made chicken soup with the poaching liquid. The soup has the faint flavor of foie gras. Quite good.

Gonna try the Torchon tomorrow.

[edenman]

Made a Torchon of Foie Gras this morning.

Was the de-veining as much of a pita as I've heard?

[Andelman]

Was the de-veining as much of a pita as I've heard?

It wasn't too bad, though I probably didn't do that good of a job at it. I have yet to slice into the finished product, so we will have to wait and see.

I am probably going to eat it plain, with some toast points. Although, i did see this interesting recipe from Ramon Morato (a Spanish Chocolatier/Pastry Wiz) which paired it with some chocolate ganache, fleur de sel, and some sort of candied fruit/nut mixture. I am for one am curious.

[edenman]

It wasn't too bad, though I probably didn't do that good of a job at it. I have yet to slice into the finished product, so we will have to wait and see.

cool. how long til we get foie chocolates?

ETA: foie bons? new potbelly menu item: foiecolate shake!

[Andelman]

cool. how long til we get foie chocolates?

Ha! I was actually just googling about that very subject. It would nice if you had just a faint flavor of the foie, with some fruit and bitter chocolate. I think the layer of foie would have to be pretty thin. Also, the final bon-bon would need to stay refrigerated to prevent spoilage. Probably not some thing you would see in our regular box of chocolates, but could be a specialty item. (a very expensive specialty item )

It looks like Monday at work will be a day of experimentation....

[zoramargolis]

My holiday food gift project this year was panforte with candied quince. It was more of a hassle than I anticipated from reading the recipe, but turned out deliciously. The recipe left room for improvisation, with entries like "and any other dried fruit you like." I made the candied quince, but I also had some candied orange peel and citron that I'd bought at Economy Candy on the Lower East Side, so I added those. And instead of using only dates, raisins and dried currants, I added dried bing and sour cherries and dried mission figs. Finding bulk hazelnuts wasn't easy, and removing the skins turned out to be more work than it was supposed to be. Nuts (hazelnuts, pistachios and almonds), dried fruit, candied fruit, fresh orange and lemon zest, large amounts of sweet spices, honey, cocoa--I used Valrhona--and flour. The recipe recommended mixing by hand versus a machine. It was the densest, stickiest, heaviest sludge imaginable. I started out with oiled gloves on, gave up on those and oiled my hands, which didn't make it any easier. But I managed to get it mixed eventually and then into small spring-form pans and into the oven. I dusted them with powdered sugar and wrapped them in waxed paper. Some folks got spiced plum jam instead.

I'm still thinking about making paté or terrine with the caul fat that's in my freezer, and sausage for a cassoulet with the duck leg confit I've already made. I'll probably wait until Veggie-teen and her Veggie-bf go back to school--I can't bring myself to do all that work that they won't eat.

My next project is going to be preserved meyer lemons. I just bought 16 of them at Trader Joe's.

[V.H.]

cool. how long til we get foie chocolates?

ETA: foie bons? new potbelly menu item: foiecolate shake!

foie macarons

[Merry Mary]

My next project is going to be preserved meyer lemons. I just bought 16 of them at Trader Joe's.

I started a small batch of preserved Meyers a few days ago. Have preserved regular lemons and was happy with the results, but I am a lemon freak and might just be happy with any result.

I noticed that the salt in the Meyers has not all dissolved, so maybe too much? Will it matter? Will see...

[edenman]

I started a small batch of preserved Meyers a few days ago. Have preserved regular lemons and was happy with the results, but I am a lemon freak and might just be happy with any result.

I noticed that the salt in the Meyers has not all dissolved, so maybe too much? Will it matter? Will see...

I just started a batch of quadruple-spacing and it should be done....right....about.....now.

But seriously, the pate-making went pretty smoothly today, looking forward to trying it. I followed the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe for Pâté de Campagne pretty closely, except for a few spice substitutions and that I used all pistachios for mixture garnish and used the tongue for interior garnish.

[lperry]

There's limoncello in the freezer, an entire cabinet full of other liqueurs, preserves, chutneys, pickles and syrups (chestnut/pear/vanilla being my favorite right now), preserved Meyer lemons in the fridge, a gallon jar of dried fruit macerating in rum for next year's cakes (this year's cake is nearly gone), and books on winemaking that were bought with the intention of opening them once I got settled somewhere for a while. So now that I am, I think pineapple wine will be the next project.

It's so much more fun to make things that are complicated than to buy them, and they always taste so much better. The last candied ginger I made was from a recipe by andiesenji on eGullet, and it was fantastic. I just bought some the other day and now wish I had taken the time to make more.

[cjsadler]

The Saveur 100 issue (out now) has a lot of interesting projects, like making your own worcestershire sauce.

[edenman]

Green walnuts are out there. I started a batch of nocino and a batch of vin de noix last night. Anybody else got some going?

[Anna Blume]

Green walnuts are out there. I started a batch of nocino and a batch of vin de noix last night. Anybody else got some going?

So jealous! You know, I think someone from West Virginia told me they collect green walnuts just to keep the ants away from food. But can't say I've ever seen a walnut tree around here despite the occasional sale at the farmers market.

[zoramargolis]

I didn't get out to Poolesville this year to pick sour cherries at Homestead Farm, and the ones I saw at the Dupont market were awfully expensive--I bought just enough from Mark Toigo to make one cherry pie, but I figured I still had enough jars of last year's sour cherry preserves to make it through the next year. I was disabused of that fantasy last week when I went through my supply, but I just made ten half-pints of wild blueberry preserves after my trip to the Catskills, so I figured they would do for gift-giving and spooning onto Sunday morning croissants. Then, I stopped at Trader Joe's Foggy Bottom store on Sunday, and they were selling New York State sour cherries for only $3.99 a quart. And they were good-looking, too. Sour cherries are very perishable, but these weren't at all soft or bruised. So I bought three quarts--the prospect of pitting more than that was too daunting for some reason.

I tried something a little different this year, and I am not quite sure yet how it turned out. Yesterday, I pitted the cherries and chopped them, macerated them with some sugar for an hour, put them in a colander over a bowl and drained the considerable amount of juice. I added more sugar to the juice and reduced it by more than half. Then, using Christine Ferber's method, I put the cherries into the reduced (cooled) cherry syrup, brought the pot to a quick boil and then let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Ferber's sour cherry preserve recipe calls for "a jar of apple jelly" to be added the next day, instead of pectin. But I didn't want to use apple jelly, and anyway, I have a jar of powdered apple pectin from France that I got at Surfa's in L.A. last year, so I added a couple of T's of pectin plus a little bit of citric acid (I'd added some lemon juice to the cherries yesterday). I brought it to a boil, added another cup of sugar and boiled it hard for a minute, added a small amount of almond extract, then put it in the jars. I really like the ratio of cherry solids to liquid portion in these jars. It will be interesting to see how thick the jam is. After sitting and cooling overnight, the reduced juice/sugar syrup was really thick. So I'm hopeful that this batch will not be at all watery, which is a real fault in preserves. I don't like to open a jar of what is supposed to be jam, and find pancake syrup inside.

I ended up with four half-pints and one 6 ounce jar, and only a tablespoon left over to be cook's treat--it tasted really good. And as I type, I'm hearing the wonderful sound of pinging as the last of the jar lids succumb to their vacuum seal. Very satisfying, indeed.

[Pool Boy]

Some Finnish Cardamom Raisin Challah that my wife and I made this weekend. A new recipe of extra fudgy brownies and tomatillo salsa were tried as well (to great success).

We also made harissa potato salad and pistachio and fig truffles for a company party we attended. For dinner last night, I made a wax bean salad with truffle oil vinaigrette (meh - not even close to a version of the salad I had at Palena last month!), braised pork cheeks with polenta & jus (holy crap, so, so good) paired with a seared boneless pork chop (for pork two ways!) on a bed of the mashed braised veggies that gave the sauce body, imam biyaldi (good, but a little too mushy -- must do better next time!) and peach melba sorbet.

All of this after a great meal at Obelisk in DC (just off of Dupont Circle) on Friday night.

A good food weekend!

[lperry]

I just started a batch of cranberry liqueur for the holidays. Subbed in for the Cointreau, it makes a really great fall margarita.

[zoramargolis]

completed: four jars of plum chutney

in process: plum preserves, figs from the tree in my yard, both currently macerating in sugar. haven't decided whether the figs will be preserves or membrillo. maybe a hybrid. tomorrow.

also in process: pork shoulder in the smoker, shredded red cabbage in salt waiting to be turned into slaw.

intended but not yet begun: bar-b-q sauce.

[zoramargolis]

haven't decided whether the figs will be preserves or membrillo. maybe a hybrid. tomorrow.

What's thicker than preserves, but not thick enough to slice, like Spanish fruit paste? Fig Jambrillo!

[zoramargolis]

Those big, beautiful Moulard duck legs I got at Organic Butcher of McLean last week? I confited them today after a 48 hour cure in salt, thyme, bay leaf, pepper and clove. I didn't have the wherewithal this year to make duck fat in advance of doing this, but I did make oven-rendered pork lard last week. The duck legs were very fatty, and I knew that their fat would render into the surrounding liquid lard as they cooked, but at the beginning, there wasn't quite enough liquid lard to completely submerge the legs. The whole concept of confiting is that the protein is completely submerged in fat and I didn't want parts of the legs to be uncovered for any part of the cooking time, so I topped up the pot with about a pint of olive oil, just covering them. They were in the oven for 6 hours at 180f. By the end, the legs had shrunk considerably and were at the bottom of the pot covered by a good 3 inches of liquid fat. Everything went swimmingly, as I transferred the legs and enough of the liquid olive oil/duck fat/pork lard to cover into a plastic storage container. A second container was needed for the rest of the fat, and not wanting to waste or spill a drop as I transferred it via a ladle and through a sieve...I foolishly had balanced the container on the burner control handles so it would be close to the pot. And it tipped, sloshing a good cup of liquid fat onto the stovetop ...good times...

[cjsadler]

The snow allowed me to finally get around to making Worcestershire sauce, which I wanted to do ever since I saw the recipe in Saveur (it never occured to me before that this was something you could make). Needs to age for three weeks, though... we'll see if this is worth doing.

[Poivrot Farci]

Budget Sea Bream "Belle Vue".

Deboned through the back then stuffed with a forcemeat of shrimp, my lardo, citrus and dried chili.

Covered in shingled carrots under aspic made from beef bones. All purchased at a neighborhood Latino grocer for a pittance.

Not particularly delicious without mayonnaise, but worth the effort.