Ask the A2K cooks!

I just came around a marvellous photo of a shop in NYC's Chinatown.

If you go to the article - there's a decoder for all the intriguing products - worth taking a look if you're a fan of Chinese grocery stores but don't exactly know what's what.

from the Everything Guide to Chinatown ... click

Thanks, ehBeth. Nifty!
I enjoyed that!



OK, so I've given up on the clams idea.
I don't quite know why, but the thought of buying & cooking my own (or any shellfish, for that matter) makes me nervous! I worry about those seafood-related stomach upsets one often hears about. Besides, they're alive when I buy them & I do the deed? Gulp. Call me cowardly, silly & squeamish (I am, I know), but I think I'll stick to marinara concoctions at my favourite cafes.

Baked risotto?

A question to any of you who may have made both the usual, plus baked versions of risotto: How does the baked variety compare with the real thing? I'm curious because I've never made one & on really hot days like today the idea of avoiding hovering over a hot stove stirring, stirring, stirring, is very appealing indeed. What do you say?

Now THAT'S a link I'll save..


apparently this place came in fourth in the US recently in the Chinese restaurant rankings by some association. Hard for me to believe, given the incredible restaurants in the LA area's San Gabriel valley.. as well as NYC and SF restaurants -
but I'm certainly going to try it.
http://www.mychows.com/cottonwood.html

a mad meal is **** on toast!!!

Well, I'm not gonna eat at your house any time soon.

It certainly is.

Oy, I show up with a question, and what do I find? **** on toast.

I'm gonna ask it anyway. What's the difference between tomato sauce and marinara sauce?

You already know, you sausage!

I'm more familiar with S.O.S. It gets discussed on the food forum I hang out at every now and again.

In Italy (that's the origin of mariara sauce) none - only that marinara is the name for tomatoe sauce in and around Naples (origianally a sauce for homecoming sailors).

Since, however, everyone makes his/her "own" original sauces and since it is belived (uncorrectly) that marinara must have sea-related incredients, there might be a lot of differences depending on where and from whon you get it/the recipe.

Walter. Always the perfect gentleman. And helpful, too!

"marinara sauce" - oh , just so much more mysterious sounding .

RESTAURANT MEMU
-----------------------
spagetti with tomatoe sauce $ 10
spagetti with marinara sauce$ 15 :wink:
(with piped-in "o sole mio" please add another $ 5 )
hbg

That'll work. What about Margreta sauce -- at least I think it's spelled that way. It also seems to be just basic tomato and basil sauce.

I don't know about margherita sauce as such, haven't heard of it. I remember that the first so called pizza was said to be made for a princess Margherita in Naples and that the recipe is very simple - tomato, cheese, and basil.

In one recipe I just checked, it calls for, besides the dough, olive oil, fresh or canned tomatoes cut into strips after peeling and seeding, fresh mozzarella or italian fontina, grated parmigiano or pecorino cheese, a bunch of fresh basil leaves, and salt.

Using mozzarella is more usual than fontina, I think.

So the answer to my question about the difference between tomato sauce and marinara sauce is 5 bucks?

That's it?

This confirms what Walter said -
http://www.italianchef.com/marinara.html

What I don't really remember is if tomato sauce is called marinara in a lot of places other than the Naples area. Marcella Hazan, who is from Venice, just calls it 'sugo di pomodoro'.

It seems true that a lot of tomato sauce recipes that involve fish are called marinara - if one looks up marinara sauces on google.

A question about Cannellini beans with tough skins:

After soaking dried Cannellini beans for a day (& changing the water a few times), yesterday I attempted to cook them. Problem: despite the flesh of the beans being well & truly cooked, the skins remained quite tough. (I wanted to use them in a soup.)

Any suggestions for how to remedy this next time? (I prefer not to use the tinned variety.)

Or was that an unfortunate batch of beans, perhaps?

Try soaking them in a vinegar/water solution for 30 minutes... if that doesn't work, try a salt/water solution. That usually works.

I just read a recipe by John Thorne, a total food-cooking connisseur, and I remember that the cannelini took longer than other dried beans. I'll see if I can find it. (I usually do dried pintos, or cranberry beans, and those not in a while.)



OK, here it is, it's in his recipe for Tavche Gravche...

[serves 4 as a main course]
1 pound gigantes or cannelini beans, picked over, washed, and soaked overnight
1/4 c. olive oil
2 or 3 medium onions, chopped
1 to 2 teaspoons hot red powdered chile
1 sprig of mint or basil leaves, torn to bits
1 teasoon salt, black pepper to taste
1 large tomato, cut into thin slices
1/2 cup chopped pickled red peppers (or roasted red peppers)
2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
minced parsley to garnish
(serve with a bowl of gherkins and bread for dunking)

-- Drain the beans, empty them into a saucepan, and cover them with fresh water. Boil hem rapidly for 10 to 15 minutes, skimming away any scum. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook he beans until they are soft but still intact. For gigantes, this will take about an hour or so, depending on their age; for cannellini beans, from two to three times lnger. Turn the beans into a casserole, about ten inches in diameter, reserving their cooking liquid.

-- Preheat oven to 325 F. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small skillet. Mix the bread crumbs into the hot oi, stirring them until they have absorbed it. Then, continuing to stir occasionally, saute the bread crums until golden over low heat. Turn into a small bowl.

-- While the bread crumbs toast, heat another tablespoon of the olive oil in a larger skillet. Add the chopped onions and garlic and saute until the onions are wilted and have begun to brown. Add the powdered chile, bits of torn herb, salt, black pepper, and the bean cooking liquid. Stir this up, cook for another minute, then pour it over the beans.

-- Top the casserole with the slices of tomato and scatter around the bits of pickled pepper. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour, or a little longer if needed for the tomatoes to lightly brown. Bring the casserole to the table after sprinkling minced parsley over the top. Serve with gherkins and bread.




This John Thorne has a website worth looking into.. I've turned into a fan. He studies at length about the best way to cook this or that.

I'm attracted to this recipe myself as I've long considered baking beans in a savory manner, as opposed to the Boston sweet cooked beans..., just never tried it.

He has other delicious sounding variations on this, but I don't want to give away all his secrets (he charges for his newsletter).