response 1 of 494:

Sep 28 23:35 UTC 1992

The recipe for the crust I made is very simple.

1/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening
        or
2/3 cup shortening
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cold water (more or less)

Add the butter and shortening to the flour and salt.  Cut with a
pastry blender or work it with your fingers until you get pea-sized
pieces.  Add the cold water a little at a time and toss mixture with a
fork to mix evenly.  Don't add too much water; you only want enough to
get it to stick together.  If it's too soft to roll right away, stick
it in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.

response 3 of 494:

Sep 30 17:03 UTC 1992

one frozen toaster waffle
    (my favorite brand is "Downeyflake Buttermilk Waffles")
one toaster

place waffle in toaster.  push down button.  wait until waffle pops up.
if the waffle isn't browned fully, push back down.  stop the toaster half
way through, or the waffle will burn.  burnt waffles don't taste very good.
place waffle on plate.  smear with favorite waffle flavorings.
my favorite is covered in peanut butter, and drenched in fake maple syrup.

response 5 of 494:

Oct 1 10:53 UTC 1992

hey, I'm a man of our times!

B-)

response 7 of 494:

Dec 5 20:14 UTC 1992

This if for you, Valerie, and anyone else who wants to cook an absolutely
delicious and healthy meal in a pot.  Don't be put off by the length of
the ingredients, once you get them all together and chop them up (similar
to cooking chinese food), the dish is practically made.

                 2 teaspoons olive oil
                 1 medium onion, finely chopped
                 1 clove garlic (I use two or three)
                 4 cups chicken stock or 2 cubes with 4 cups water
                 1 large can Italian plum tomatoes, chopped in chunks
                 2 cups garbanzo beans (drained)
                 1 large celery stalk, diced
                 1-3 medium carrots, chopped or sliced
                 1 medium zucchini, chopped
                 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
                 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
                 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
                 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
                 Dash cayenne pepper
                 black papper to taste
                 salt to taste
                 1/2 cup small pasta seashells or macaroni, uncooked
                 I also included a parsnip in chunks but you can use a
      potato in chunks if you'd like

You can vary the vegtables abit, include a can of drained navy beans, and you
can vary the spices, adding or omitting spices like oregano, etc.

In a very large pot, heat the olive oil, fry until light yellow, the onion,
celery, throw in the carrots and garlic.  Add the stock, tomatoes and all
of the vegtables.  Bring to a boil, add the spices, lower to a simmer for 
15 minutes.  Then throw in the pasta, bring to a renewed boil.  Add more
chicken stock, if the spirit moves you.  Stir occasionally.  Boil for 30
minutes.  Meanwhile, bake a great french bread in the oven.  What a meal!!!

response 9 of 494:

Dec 7 14:40 UTC 1992

(except for the chicken stock, I assume?)

response 11 of 494:

Dec 12 18:14 UTC 1992

Are you a vegetarian, Valerie?  No meat or chicken or fish?  What about
dairy products?  

response 13 of 494:

Dec 14 04:11 UTC 1992

actually, i get the impression that the word "vegetarian" means something
different to each person who calls themself vegetarian.

i'm technically an ovo-lacto-vegetarian because i eat eggs, milk, and
vegetables/grain/beans/nuts/fruit/bread/pasta/etc/etc/etc.  i aspire to
one day become a vegan: someone who uses no animal products, but that's
difficult to manage.

i try to lay kinda low on telling people i'm a vegetarian (says valerie in
a conference that's open to the whole world) because i've met people who
seem to think that there's no overlap between the two groups "vegetarian"
and "people worth listening to".  i'd rather be thought a "person worth
listening to" than a "vegetarian".

there are some awfully preachy vegetarians out there.

response 15 of 494:

Dec 14 15:00 UTC 1992

....but anyway, last night I made risotto.  I didn't have white wine,
but I did have some fresh oranges, so I made a sort of orange-onion
risotto.
  
1/4 cup onion
1 clove garlic
Olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)
Juice of 3 oranges (I guess about 1/2 cup or so)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Basil and pepper to taste
 
Combine the broth and orange juice.  Heat until very warm but not boiling.
Pour in a lot of olive oil, at least enough to cover the bottom of a
medium saucepan.  Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft.
Add the rice and stir to coat.  Turn the heat to medium-low and
add 1/2 cup of the broth.  Stir and allow the rice to almost completely
absorb the liquid.  Continue adding the broth mixture about 1/2 cup at
a time, adding more only when the liquid has been almost completely
absorbed by the rice.  When you are out of liquid, cook until the
rice looks creamy and has absorbed almost all of the remaining broth.
Turn off the heat and add the spices.  Add the cheese and stir well
to let it melt.

response 17 of 494:

Dec 15 03:47 UTC 1992

Indeed!!

What's arborio rice?
Lately i've been using basmati rice.  Is arborio rice similar?

response 19 of 494:

Dec 24 20:01 UTC 1992

 In response to at least one request, here is....
 
My Sister's Recipe for Nutroll (makes four rolls)
 
To 1-1/3 cups of milk add 4 teaspoons dry yeast and 4 egg yolks
(save the egg whites for the nut filling).  Beat together.
 
Mix like pie dough: 1-2/3 pounds (about 5 cups) flour, 1/3 cup
sugar, 2-1/2 tsp salt, and 2/3 cups butter or margarine. Add milk
mixture to flour at a steady pace.  Add more flour if dough is
too soft.  Cover with a damp cloth and set aside for an hour.
 
To tell you the truth, I use a food processor for the above.  My
sisters recipe actually calls for scalding the milk and proofing
the yeast, but I don't bother with that.
 
To make the filling, combine 1-1/3 pounds of chopped walnuts, 1/4
cup soft butter or margarine, 2 egg whites and 1 cup sugar. Add a
little milk, if it looks too dry.
 
If the dough's been sitting for an hour, punch it down and divide
into four hunks.  Roll out on an 11" x 14" non-floured surface.
Spread about a half pound of the filling on the dough, leaving a
half inch on the short edge to seal.  Roll lengthwise, rubbing
water along the sealing edge.  Lay rolls on sealed edge on a
greased cooking sheet.  Let rise for a half hour.
 
Before baking, brush the tops of the rolls with a mixture of 1
egg, 1 tsp sugar, and 1-1/2 tsp milk.  Pierce tops with a fork to
allow steam to escape. Bake at 340 degrees for a half hour,
turning the pan in the oven after 15 minutes. Cool on rack.
 
You can also use a poppyseed filling for these rolls.  in this
case, obviously, they become poppyseed rolls.  The trick with
poppyseed rolls is to use ground poppyseed.  I've tried using
regular poppyseed and they don't come out very good.  You can get
ground poppyseed in Hamtramck, or I found a can of ground
poppyseed filling at Meijer near the canned pie filling.

response 21 of 494:

May 31 01:49 UTC 1993

Here's the recipe for the last thing I cooked.  My notes are in [square
brackets].  This took an hour or two to cook, including making ghee.  It
turned out wonderfully delicious -- one of the yummiest and most unique
things I've tasted in months.


From Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, page 432:

Sweet Buttery Bean and Rice Pudding with Raisins and Nuts (Shakkara Pongal)

for 6 persons

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice [I used brown basmati]
3/4 cup split yellow mung beans (moong dal)
2 tablespoons yellow split peas [I didn't have yellow, so I used green]
1 cup usli ghee [recipe below]
about 2 1/2 cups boiling water
3 cups milk [I used Edensoy Extra original flavor soymilk instead]
1 1/2 cups packed jaggery [Indian sugar] or light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom [buy this whole and grind it when
      you are ready to use it -- this may make or break the recipe!]
1/4 cup seedless dark raisins
1/4 - 1/2 cup unsalted roasted cashew nuts, coarsley chopped [I used
      walnuts instead]

1. Rinse and drain the rice.  Pick clean the beans and peas.  Set aside.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the ghee in a large saucepan.  Add the mung beans
and split peas and fry, over medium heat, stirring, for 3 minutes or until
very lightly colored.

3. Add 2 cups of the boiling water, stir, and lower heat and cook at a
simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.  Add the rice and the additional
1/2 cup water, and stir.  Cook covered, at a low simmer, until the liquid
is absorbed and the rice is almost tender (15 to 20 minutes).

4. Add the milk, bring the mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring often to
prevent sticking but being careful to keep the rice grains whole, until it
is thickened and the rice is cooked (about 15 minutes).  [I added the
raisins along with the milk, to give the raisins extra time to soften.]

5. Add the sugar, cardamom, and raisins, and continue cooking for 3 more
minutes.  Stir in the remaining ghee 2 tablespoons at a time, and most of
the cashew nuts (save some for a garnish).

Let the pudding rest, covered, for 15 minutes before you serve it.  Serve
warm, at room temperature, or chilled, either as a dessert or as a snack
all by itself.



Clarified Butter (Usli Ghee)
To make 3/4 cup clarified butter (usli ghee), place 1/2 pound (2 sticks)
sweet, unsalted butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and put on a burner.
Keep the heat low until the butter melts completely, stirring often during
the process.  Increase the heat to medium-low and let the butter simmer
until it stops crackling, thus indicating that all the moisture has
evaporated and the milk residue is beginning to fry.  [STIR **CONSTANTLY**
while the butter is simmering and crackling, or it will *not* cook and will
splash little geysers of grease out of the pan.]  As soon as the solids
turn brown (10-12 minutes), turn off the heat and take the pan off the
stove.  Let the residue settle to the bottom of the pan, then strain the
clear butterfat (usli ghee) into another container.

response 23 of 494:

Jun 5 03:27 UTC 1993

darn. I wouldn't include the nuts, but the rest sounds tasty ... got
any leftovers to give away??????