We had a pepper steak stir fry for supper. It was a bit dull because I was out of water chestnuts and Chinese bead molasses. (I think the regional suppliers have stopped carrying the latter, I'm going to try the Asian groceries next week, then maybe try to order it online.)
Parsnips are fairly sweet, they add a very distinct flavor to chicken stock. Just peel them, dice them up a bit and throw them in the pot.
Other than using them in chicken stock, I've not made parsnips, and I'm not sure if I've had them at restaurants, though some chefs use parsnip mash as a substitute for mashed potatoes.
I find a birds-beak paring knife works very well for hulling strawberries.
I make my own chicken stock all the time, and parsnips are a must for it!
You could try substituting currants for the raisins, they're smaller.
Burgers on the outdoor grill tonight.
Interesting article, and the pictures of the Challah tied in a Winston Knot look interesting, too.
I think the cabinets were the most expensive part of our kitchen, and that's considering we had 3 Subzero appliances and a 48" dual fuel range.
I made 9 hot dog and 3 burger buns today using the 'Chicago Hot Dog bun' recipe on the KAF site. I left the salt out of the dough but sprinkled a little salt on the top along with the seeds. (There's so much salt in a hot dog and most toppings that I didn't figure the bun needed a lot of salt.)
I glued the seeds down with a combination of egg white, water and honey. Seemed to work pretty good.
I am planning to some burger/brat buns on Wednesday if I don't get sucked into an IT project.
Warm weather has finally arrived in Nebraska, but since most lunch meats have way too much salt in them, I'm still working on a summertime menu plan.
I've looked at a number of recipes for vegetable stock. Onions, carrots, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and garlic are common ingredients. (Personally, I'd leave out the garlic, of course.)
There seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether or not a vegetable stock should include tomatoes. When I was researching recipes for Minestrone, some of which called for vegetable stock and others for chicken stock, if the stock didn't have tomatoes in it, the recipe often called for adding them.
The CIA's textbook for cooks says to use NON-STARCHY vegetables for stock. Mushrooms, leeks, parsnips, parsley and turnips can all be added to the list given earlier.
Older editions of the Joy of Cooking recommended using the tops and peels from non-starchy vegetables to make stock, and also suggested saving the water from boiling vegetables as well as cereals.
Escoffier doesn't give a recipe for vegetable stock, he does give one for court bouillon, which is used for poaching fish. His recipe for court bouillon includes vinegar or wine that has been boiled.
Potato water is sometimes used as a thickening agent.
My favorite whisk is a Zyllis Easy Clean, but ATK absolutely hated it when they tested whisks some years back.
There are several online sources for the miracle berry, you can even buy a plant from fast-growing-trees.com. (While it is a zone 9-11 plant, they claim it can be grown indoors.) I recently bought a new Meyer Lemon tree from them.
We had macaroni and cheese for supper.
