Gifted Gourmet

Sorry to say things don't seem to look any too rosy for the coming week either .... here in Atlanta, we are expected to see more power outages again which means no cooking nor opening our refrigerators either ...

And I would, if I had the option, choose the foods of Charleston .. they have some fantastic 'takes' on southeastern regional cuisine that energize me and make my tastebuds sing with pleasure .. what an image that is! I have been to New Orleans enough over the years to admit your food there is exceptional as well ... it is all part of the evolution of food over time in all of these cities and we are the fortunate recipients of years of learning about all of the variations in our regions on the originals....

Thank you for your input, Patti and/or Eric! You have an exceptionally enticing website which I am more than certain I will explore in greater detail momentarily!

Reminds me of the clever, yet very true, quote by someone:

Always check eggs in their cartons, looking for broken shells, leakage, etc. With produce, always touch the item and feel for soft, bruised parts. If in a clear plastic containers: look at the bottoms for wetness indicating items are bruised or rotten. Fish? by smell whenever possible ... Milk? check dates on expiration for selling. Still, even with this care and caution, I do wind up with some duds ...

This is a website with a reasonably simple, straightforward explanation of the different aspects of the day of Yom Kippur. The piece even mentions the way foods are involved both before and after the lengthy fast. See if this introduction is what you are seeking: here Back momentarily with the recipe collections for you to look over! Thanks for asking about this and the traditions, CarrotTop!as promised here are some recipes for both holidays

Pleasure is all mine, to be sure! Delighted to be of some tiny help in your NYT reading!

Not only is there much thought given to what foods to serve after the fast but there is yet another issue to consider: the pre-fast meal! There is an interesting article by a doctor who is observant of Jewish practice and he has written an exceptionally well conceived pre-fast list of considerations here in which he advises not to begin the fast on a full stomach, eating foods, instead, that are digested slowly, and how to handle the issue of thirst since Yom Kippur is a 24 hour fast without water as well as food. The Break-the-Fast meal which I make is invariably a dairy one, since meat is usually too heavy on an empty stomach ....fish of some sort and/or lox, cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, thin sliced red onions, bagels or challah, orange juice, cheesecakes, blintz souffle, fruits, etc.

Same holiday but yet another area of food interest: tsimmes ....the article is here New article in the Forward caught my eye, based upon the history of the dish and some other observations by Matthew Goodman (no relation), their food writer. and, of course, there are two marvelous recipes to round out the article. Enjoy!

very cool article from MSNBC In an article titled Cuisine invented by slaves is fueling some of the hottest restaurants in the nation there was something highly relevant to the topic of this particular thread which I wanted to share with you: Have you tried any of the type of restaurant mentioned in this article? If so, what was your impression of the food? Authentic? Pale imitation of the original?

Here you will find the collection of digests for a number of media which are located in the Southeastern states. This week's Southeast Forum Digest includes, in alphabetical order, by city .. Atlanta Journal-Constitution has some recipes for challah for Rosh Hashonah, the upcoming Jewish New Year as well as for pomegranate chicken and honeycake, all of which are classic fare for this holiday: The author captures the spirit of the holiday as she exlains how to shape the unique spiral that makes a lovely mahogany, gleaming "snail" challah: shaping photographs for the baker Enjoy her explanations and her writing! Atlanta Creative Loafing looks back at the local award-winner, Pano and Paul's, which has been here with its successful run for some 25 years. It is a classic, both elegant and stylish, in its continental cuisine and its patrons. For me, this was the place to celebrate significant life events: anniversaries, graduations, engagements. It is nice watching as it has become a local favorite and still draws excellent crowds on both weekends and weeknights. Charleston Post and Courier celebrates the sixteenth of September, Mexican Independence Day, by offering some marvelous recipes and ideas for people who enjoy celebrating this special holiday. The entire article has a variety of interesting ideas as well as recipes and is well worth the time you will spend reading it! Charlotte Observer is a little different this week in an article, by Kathleen Purvis, about the designing of Johnson and Wales seventeen dream kitchens: What follows is a marvelously insightful article on how they designed and created their finished kitchens ... a must read!Charlotte Creative Loafing has a number of fine food related articles, one of which caught my eye on foods of the Yucatan peninsula served locally at the 220-seat Cantina 1511 on East Boulevard ... if this sounds like your type of cuisine, do check out this article, or if you happen to find yourself in Charlotte, try this place and enjoy!Memphis Commercial Appeal also has their own article on Rosh Hashonah foods ... and a lovely one it is by Faye Levy, the author of "Feast from the Mideast," HarperCollins, 2003. She describes some of the dishes prepared by Sephardic Jews as well as Ashkenazic Jews:Rosh Hashonah recipes here for a number of side dishes and here for the roast chicken here for the sea bass ... Nashville Tennessean has a highly timely article on the showdown between baked beans from Massachusetts and from Texas which is a food reflection of the current election: You'll definitely want to read the article to see which bean was the best .. but, from even this brief excerpt, you may surmise that quite easily ... Another article in this edition of the Tennessean is about Loretta Lynn, the country western music star and her preparation of chicken and dumplings, among other things, in her cookbook You're Cookin' it Country: Raleigh News and Observer has a number of articles which I found quite interesting with the imminent approach of fall .... French Butter Pears, is just one such article which comes with a recipe for Five-Spice French Pear Butter: Yet another article this week focusses on Westphalian ham: positively made my mouth water ....St. Petersburg Times has a superbly interesting article on Paula Deen from Food Network and a new television show Deen will be starting shortly: She has recently remarried and is working on a new oyster restaurant with her brother as well ... quite a lady!Have a great week and if you are celebrating a holiday or simply getting yourself psyched up for fall foods, enjoy your reading!

I don't actually have a photo of the gravlax that I make but it is very pretty .. and sometimes I slice it very thinly and roll it around some Alouette with scallions in the center, pinwheels, actually .. that is a hit for a dairy meal ... and the refrigerator was an older one, I slammed the door too hard, and the shelves in the door broke off ... the plastic was too brittle, I think ... offered to duct-tape them but the hubby said that we needed to buy a new one ... sooooo that is what I did ... we had no electricity for some 18 hours yesterday but I was able to make it to the local Lowe's Home Store to buy the new one ...

Today I decided to "get serious" about the upcoming holiday and went to Costco for my huge slabs of skinless, boneless salmon .. will be making my infamous vodka gravlax wrapped around hearts of palm, with kalamata olives, and grape tomatoes ...... acting as the appetizer... the rest of the meal? I am still working on but at least I have begun somewhere! and my new refrigerator will be delivered this Friday morning so at least then I can concentrate properly!

that's an awful lot of meat for an all-apple dinner, Bloviatrix! Sounds great actually!

article from the Cincinnati Post related article on the conceptSo are you a flexitarian? Know one or more? Think the entire terminology thing is completely bizarre? Do we actually have to have "labels" for everyone now?

I knew there was a "hidden punchline" just waiting to escape! Thanks for the followup details because now I will not have to spend any more anxiety-filled, sleepless nights!

Newsom's Country Hams ... might this be one of them? but I am betting that this really is awaiting the punchline of a joke ....

I really enjoyed reading that article! It is hysterical, yet insightful, on British food critics! Thank you for offering it up here!

This is truly the time of year to contemplate making those warming, indoor, cherished comfort foods .. as the heat of summer retreats ... Personal favorites? thick soups (lentil with sausage, potato watercress, etc.), fruit-stuffed acorn squash halves, casseroles & cassoulets (see cholent!), creamy risottos, dumplings and stuffings, overstuffed deep-dish apple cinnamon pies, cranberry anything! I prefer fall foods to almost any other season .. once we had a thread on which season was everyone's favorite for cooking and autumn won by a significant margin!

Okay, so I skipped the gym, Bloviatrix, but my newfound free time away from the lure of my serious addiction to eGullet allowed me to make the following: this along with garlicky roasted potatoes, a lovely romaine salad, a chunky tomato-orange-ginger broth, some fresh zucchini and olives, and a peach pie ...

That is precisely what I eat if I am here alone .. and for pretty much the same reasons ... rarer is better, but I am the only one who thinks this ... and, yes as well, to Varmint's huge baked potato!

One of the best put-downs of a chef's cooking I read sometime ago but thought it hysterically devastating: Couldn't have said it better myself!

Now that I do remember .. but would expect nothing less of Chez Panisse.

No, that sounds too much like a buxom Hollywood starlet ...

Why does this make me think of the Boy Meets Grill of Bobby Flay??