Comments on: Cooking week

By: laura

laura — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 22:26:57 +0000

It turns out the peanut butter bars work just fine gluten-free. They rely little enough on flour that almost any replacement flour works fine. Although I use a mixture of brown rice, white rice, potato, potato starch, and tapioca. I’m considering making sweet potatoes this year. Not sure whether to top them with nuts and brown sugar, or marshmellows.

By: Chris Marcil

Chris Marcil — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 21:19:09 +0000

Thank you. I’ll try the potatoes/yams dish. In the interest of bibliousness allow me to add a cocktail, the Saratoga: 1 1/2 oz. rye whiskey 1 1/2 oz. brandy 1 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth dash bitters Shake ‘n’ serve. The color is an beautiful autumnal brown. The bitters should be orange bitters, which are hard to find (mine are made by the wonderful Fee Bros. of Rochester, NY); Angostura works almost as well. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

By: eszter

eszter — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 19:52:16 +0000

Doug, that really made me laugh. I wonder if anyone else will if I try a mini language lesson. Tök in Hungarian means squash, jó means good. Tök jó means very good/great. Of course, that doesn't really follow. I'm no etymologist, but I figure tök in this context comes from the word tökéletes, which means perfect. So tökéletes got shortened to tök, which people do not tend to equate with squash when used with words such as good, bad or stupid. However, in this context of cooking it was a somewhat confusing and really funny use of the word. To the others, thanks for sharing those yummy-sounding recipes!

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 16:21:43 +0000

Thanks for the recipe tips, Eszter! Fourth of July and Thanksgiving are the two US holidays that I unfailingly observe overseas – tomorrow night we’ll have about a dozen over for the full treatment. Hungarian squash with dill (a la June Meyer) will be one of the sides. Hope that it will be tök jó!

By: Theophylact

Theophylact — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 15:13:14 +0000

Here’s one we really like: Cranberry Red-Pepper Relish adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, Nov/Dec 1994 2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and finely diced 2 cups cranberries, picked through and coarsely chopped [1 medium onion, finely chopped: optional, and we haven’t used it so far] 1/3 cup wine vinegar 3/4 cup sugar 1 habanero pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon juice from grated fresh ginger Mix all ingredients except half of one of the red bell peppers and the chopped habanero, bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes thick and jam-like (15-30 minutes). Add reserved bell pepper and chopped habanero to taste. Cool and serve. Can be refrigerated for at least two weeks.

By: Maria

Maria — Wed, 26 Nov 2003 14:28:34 +0000

Well, seeing as it’s clearly girly week for me, I have a recipe to pitch in. This is the best comfort food I have ever, ever made. It’s from the fabulous Nigella Lawson’s ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’. Bread and Butter Pudding made with Pain au Chocolat pint of cream pint of milk combined and heated to near boiling. 1 whole egg and 5 egg yolks, beaten with tablespoon of sugar and a good squirt of vanilla essence. Whisk in the hot milk/cream, and whisk some more. Pour it over sliced up, two day old pain au chocolat in a baking dish and leave to soak in for a few minutes. (arrange the whirly end bits on top – very pretty) Bake at 180 celsius for about half an hour. Serve and reassume thrown of Domestic Goddess. It’s fabulous. Crispy and sweet on top, and moist and custardy underneath. Just what is needed on grim November evenings. I’m thinking of trying this with sliced up croissants layered with some currants, and with nutmeg. The chocolate is well and good, but I think bread and butter pud misses something without the currants. The Victorians really knew a few things.