Taste several to find the one best for your purposes. Remember that the same tea from different blenders or distributors may taste different. Here is a quick sample of two types. Master these first.
Nice little conversion chart I found online. Enjoy!
Although snails (more politely known by their French name, escargots) are univalve land animals, they share many characteristics with their marine cousins.
They can be poached in court bouillon or removed from their shells and boiled or baked briefly with a seasoned butter or sauce. They should be firm but tender; over cooking makes snails tough and chewy. The most popular varieties are the large white Burgundy snail and the small garden variety called petit gris.
Fresh snails are available from snail ranches through specialty suppliers. The great majority of snails, however, are purchased canned; most canned snails are produced in France or Taiwan.
You’re going to talk about something you’ve never cooked?!
-My wife
Earlier today I drafted a post about snails. Something we men need to know about, cause knowing about chicken and pasta and beef if all good and we’ll go over that - to be sure. But I want to give you something else. I want to give you a set of knowledge-based skills that you can use to talk about food, cooking and ultimately - gain that trust to be left alone in the kitchen.
I will tell you about the time me and my wife went out for snail dinner. It was yummy. I never forgot it and look forward to cooking it for her one day soon.
It’s Washington’s Birthday and we’re paying tribute in the best way we know how. By making (and eating) ice cream.
Did you know that George Washington also had a penchant for ice cream? In fact, he spent over $200 on ice cream during the summer of 1790. That’s like $5,080 today. (That’s based on the increase in CPI from 1790 to today, just so you know).
He also was an ice cream maker himself. Inventory records show he had two pewter ice cream pots, and his journal from 1786 documents his “ice operation”:
“Renewed my Ice operation to day, employing as many hands as I conveniently could in getting it from the Maryland shore, carting and pounding it.” (via NPR)
He’d get ice from the Maryland shore in winter, store it until the spring when cows were producing dairy, and then, using fruit, cream and sugar (nope - no vanilla or chocolates, ice creams were all fruit flavors back then), he’d prepare a slushy, creamy version of ice cream. It was served as a delicacy, in portions of one or two ounces in tiny porcelain teacup-like dishes.
So here’s to him - our lemon ice cream served in tiny teacups. Happy Birthday GW.
To safely produce even cuts, its important to control the knife with one hand and hold the item being cut with the other. Be sure to allow the blade’s sharp edge to do the cutting. Never force the blade through the item being cut. Use smooth, even strokes. Using a dull knife or excessive force with any knife produces, at best, poor results and, at worst, a significant safety risk. Cutting without using your hand as a guide may also be dangerous.
Cookbook in development. Pre-order your copy now at a reduced price. $24.95 regular price. You pay $12.50. Send check or money order to: ATTN: Publication Department. Post Office Box 9009, St. Augustine, Florida 32085
