[Sca-cooks] Couple of quick questions for the list....

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Oct 4, 2008, at 12:02 AM, S CLEMENGER wrote:

> The thing with the soup and the hippocras, is that the reference/ 
> page number
> given for the hippocras in the soup recipe takes you to a page in  
> which the
> item is clearly the blended spices, and it's not referred to as  
> "Duke's
> Powder," but as "hippocras." (no powder)

Well, I suppose it could be the powder without the sugar which,  
technically makes it Duke's Powder (and which may in fact make it  
Powder Douce). Still, a half-cup of powdered spices seems like a lot,  
unless this is rather a bulk recipe.

> You must have an amazing freezer--kinda like going treasure-hunting in
> there? Mine isn't large enough to hold an entire bag of ice, alas!  
> So I
> mostly keep the occasional bag of organic blueberries in there, or  
> frozen
> waffles or something.

Yeah, we have a medium-sized upright freezer near the front door, in  
addition to the fridge in the kitchen, which we use all the time, and  
go to the big freezer on the average once a day. Generally it contains  
oddments of meat, things like pork shoulders, legs of lamb, flank  
steaks precut into inch-wide strips and wrapped separately for quick  
semi-thawing and slicing for stir-frying, a whole chicken or two,  
ground pork in half-pound packets (again, so they can thaw quickly),  
usually a box of frozen shrimp, assorted dumpling and spring roll  
wrappers, various sausages, and things that keep better in the  
freezer, like coffee beans and ground almonds. Conspicuous items at  
the moment include a whole smoked duck (one of the items I could toss  
into a cassoulet in lieu of confit, although I also may have some salt- 
cured chicken in there), and about five pounds of fine "book" lamb  
tripe.

Of course, all this is in consideration of the fact that we don't own  
a car; I have the words "Road Rage" tatooed in large red letters  
across my forehead, and my beloved has a special talent for smashing  
little red sports cars, apparently. We're just not cut out for that  
sort of thing, I guess. As a result, major grocery runs are infrequent  
but large.

It's been a little chilly here the past couple of days, so those long- 
cooking, moist items are looking pretty attractive right now...

> You must have gotten accustomed to the fuel needs of She Who Must Be  
> Obeyed
> by now, yes?

Yes, but the real issue right now is that the Evil Spawn is currently  
in a relatively stable non-growth spurt at the moment, and I've had  
some health issues which have had me eating considerably less than I  
had been. Much of the culinary scope lately has involved people in  
SWMBO's office attempting to make off with her lunch...

> Does she need all that so she can keep you and Evil Spawn in
> line?  I've met a few short, powerful women, and they are lovely and  
> fierce
> and deadly, every last one of them.....
> --Maire

Until they put all the critical target areas way up high, short people  
won't be at a special disadvantage, apparently. But as they say in the  
comic books, "Only the guilty fear the Bat Man." Or in this case, more  
like Modesty Blaise channelling The Monkey King.

> p.s.  Cassoulet.  oh gawd, that sounds so good! what time is dinner?

Well, that's the beauty of a cassoulet. Start it in the morning, leave  
it in a low oven, add liquid occasionally, and it scarcely matters: it  
can be eaten any time from about 4PM to 11PM...

Adamantius




"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter