SC - A redacting experience - LONG

[david friedman]

At 12:44 PM -0700 10/2/98, kat wrote:
>Hi folks!  Did some cooking last night & wanted to share my results with you!
>
>A couple of times previously, I have made Hais, that wonderful date-nut
>confection
>rolled in sugar.  They tasted terrific, but I was always mystified at the
>statement that >they were"excellent for travelers."  Ugh!  Sticky and
>gooey, I thought.

Ours never do come out sticky and gooey--if anything, they are sometimes
dry enough that it takes a whole lot of squeezing each little hais ball in
the hand to make the stuff stick together.  Maybe either your dates or your
breadcrumbs are less dry than I am used to?

>Well, last night I was mixing up a batch, and I decided to redact the
>recipe instead of
>just following it.  So, substituting the amounts Cariadoc translated in
>*his* redaction  >into the text of the original in place of the unfamiliar
>uqiya and ratl, I set up the recipe >as though I was an English housewife
>reading it for the first time:

[original recipe and most of kat's procedure omitted]

>Little Oster then began grinding batches of dates combined with small
>amounts of the >dry mixture and oil/butter mixture.  I didn't grind it to
>a smooth paste, just an evenly >combined mixture.  I then kneaded that
>into the remainder of the dry mixture and >worked it with my hands for a
>while.

We also normally use a food processor, although I've done it the hard way
(by hand).  I first use the food processor to chop the almonds, then the
pistachios: the two nuts are sufficiently different in hardness so that I
don't chop them together.  I then put breadcrumbs (bought as boxes of
breadcrumbs), chopped nuts, and pitted dates in a bowl and mix with a
wooden spoon. I then run this mixture through the machine in batches and
end up with, as you say, not "a smooth paste, just an evenly combined
mixture".  I put this back in the bowl and mix in the oil or melted butter.
I then pick up a small handfull of the mixture and squeeze it in my hand,
with the chopped nuts trying to poke holes in my palm, until I have a solid
ball. Repeat many times: this is the labor intensive part of the process.

>I was still puzzled about the traveling food concept and, thinking "finely
>ground sugar" >might be the clue, I had intended to buy superfine
>sugar--but my store was out of it.  >So I went home, threw a cup and a
>half of white sugar into a tall, narrow pitcher, and >sent my other trusty
>kitchen servant, Braun Hand Blender, to work on it.  ;-)
>
>Lo and behold, that was the answer!  I rolled the balls into the sugar,
>set them aside, >and then rolled them a second time after getting the date
>goo off my hands.  And >darned if you couldn't just pick them up!  No goo,
>no stick, nothing!

I always use ordinary white sugar to roll them in, once; but then mine
aren't particularly sticky before the sugar, just enough so that the sugar
stays on.

>[2]  I didn't think they would roast pistachios, so I tried to remove as
>much of the "toasted" husks as possible; and I needed to wash off the salt
>anyway.
>
>[3]   One, these are rich enough and the extra fat didn't make a
>noticeable difference >any of the times I had made them before; and two,
>toasted sesame oil is probably a >LOT stronger than the stuff they had
>then, so mixing it with the butter toned it down a >lot.  Unsalted butter
>was all they had left of the sale brand.

As I may have said at Crown, you need to find a good health/whole food food
store in your area, where you can buy untoasted sesame oil and shelled
unroasted unsalted pistachios.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


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