Comments on: chopped vegetable, watermelon and feta salad

By: Beth P

Beth P — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:24:07 +0000

I have never had any success melting sugar for caramel, it always turns out glue-y. It works for creme caramel because it winds up melting down in the oven, but for anything caramel topped? I’m out of luck

By: Sarah T

Sarah T — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:47:56 +0000

I’m still allowed to tell you my cooking fears, right? I’ll cook almost anything, but I’m afraid of all of those things where you have to add hot dairy to eggs. And yet, I acknowledge frozen custard as possibly the best thing ever to come from a freezer! Save me!

By: Megan

Megan — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:29:04 +0000

Frying. I have memories of my mom frying something (maybe chicken) in the kitchen, the oil splattered up and burnt a quarter size welt on her face. That will never happen to me. Thus, I don’t fry.

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:22:00 +0000

im afraid of getting burnt. fire is like my worst enemy. and burning oil? yyyyyikes!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:53:11 +0000

I’m afraid of not having (while cooking) a glass of red wine or a pot of hot coffee nearby.

By: K

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:59:59 +0000

Made this salad using red pepper instead of green and it has been all my roommate and I have eaten since Saturday! We love it! I just realized that I forgot to put salt and pepper in the dressing, but the feta was salty enough that we never even missed it.

As for food that scares me to prepare, it’s not really about difficulty so much as accidental poisoning: I always fear that I’m going to somehow kill everyone when I prepare mussels. That they’ll be undercooked or have some kooky bacteria lurking in them, but I still make them anyway. I just hold my breath for a day or two after and hope that I don’t get a phone call saying someone’s been throwing up, or worse. :p This has never, ever happened, but the illogical fear remains.

By: VSE

VSE — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:37:41 +0000

For Rlisa, the eggplant person: Don’t even try to fry it. Put the whole eggplant (pierced or not here and there with a fork) on a piece of aluminum foil with edges turned up to catch whatever drips from it in a hot or very hot oven until it collapses, possibly alongside something else you happen to be baking or roasting. (You could do the same thing on a grill over a gas flame or outdoors but it’s trickier and you have to turn it.) Remove from the oven, slice it open, scoop the insides into a bowl and add whatever you want — yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, crushed garlic, a bit of olive oil, soy sauce, sesame oil etc.etc. etc. salt, pepper and whatever seasonings you want. Couldn’t be easier. Deb — thanks again for your columns. Be well.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:59:32 +0000

I used to just lurk, now I speak… Gotta be pastry. Too much work for little return. But, having said that, I made your cherry pie with your pastry recipe and it was great! Usually I buy the pre-made crusts and ignore them, just eating the filling. I can’t say I’ll never do that again, time and life being what they are, but the recipe was painless and we all loved the crust!

By: Brita

Brita — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:30:24 +0000

I know I’m behind the times, but I often search your archives for recipes and this watermelon salad goes down as one of the best. Bravo SK, you’ve done it again!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:45:16 +0000

Chicken Salad. With mayo, not on a bed of lettuce or with “Caesar” added. Whole Foods and every diner in Jersey make amazing chicken salad, and the one time I tried to do it the poached chicken it came out so terrifying that I hid under my bed for 3 days.