Jump to content

Gifted Gourmet

eGullet Society staff emeritus
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    9,607

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Gifted Gourmet

    Verrines ... show over substance?

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Is this presentation all for show? Is it possibly for substance?

    When I read this article, it made me stop to consider what elements make it so "trendy" and why now?

    LA Times

    But what are they? They're called verrines. You haven't heard of them? Well, most American chefs haven't, either. A verrine is an appetizer or dessert that consists of a number of components layered artfully in a small glass. (The word verrine refers to the glass itself; literally it means "protective glass.")

    Intriguingly composed, they're a study in textures, flavors, colors and temperatures. A beautiful glass might be filled with a layer of mushroom flan, sautéed wild mushrooms, a julienne of prosciutto, parsley gelée, wild mushroom emulsion and topped with a potato and prosciutto galette. Another will have clementine and mint syrup, fresh clementines and a gingerbread "crumble."

    Which, if any, verrine have you tasted recently?

    What was it about that particular verrine that made it most appealing to you?

    McDonald's looks to sell quality: the makeover

    in Ready to Eat

    Posted

    While I have not tried the McDonald's Angus Burger, I have had the Angus one at Burger King .. big and very meaty but the barbecue sauce slathered over it killed any possible taste of the meat :hmmm: .. that, and all the other stuff they put on a burger ... I am, for what it's worth, a burger purist who enjoys my hamburgers thick and rare with few embellishments ... :wink:

    Bloody Mary Cocktails

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by Gifted Gourmet (log)

    Hold the Horseradish! from the Wall Street Journal .. link works for 7 days to nonsubscribers ...

    I have never been particularly fond of Bloodies, because the drink, as practiced today, is rarely in balance. Sometimes you get a veritable salad of crudités stuffed into the glass. And almost always the drink is ruined by a heavy hand with the spice jars. The standard Bloody Mary seems to be a glass of Tabasco sauce tempered with horseradish.

    Not only did the first full-blown Bloody Marys lack horseradish and celery, but they were served without ice. Since then, the drink has morphed into a pint-glass affair, usually with some six or eight ounces of tomato juice on the rocks, spiced within an inch of its life. Even the St. Regis now serves its Bloodies over ice, but it's worth trying the drink according to Petiot's specifications.

    Cold cereal as a night time snack

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I understand that cereal is comfort food ... a nostalgic reminder of Saturday mornings watching cartoons on TV... long before text messaging, poor spellers could blame it on the cereal boxes read while eating breakfast ... words like "Trix," "Froot" and "Krispies" :hmmm: ... but perhaps people long for a bit of a carb boost before facing their dreams ...

    Hamantashen

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    A seasonally interesting article ...hamentashen in the Forward :wink:

    The ones I sampled set the standard by which all hamantaschen should be measured. Slightly crunchy but not dry, salty and savory with the perfect amount of zesty filling, these are earthy, old-world hamantaschen, made with love. As far as I know, my bubbe never baked hamantaschen. But if she did, they must have been exactly like Moishe’s.
    much more ...

    Hamantashen

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    Speaking of fillings for hamantashen, my friend Rachel Rappaport has a wonderful article on NPR today that is both informative and engaging:

    Purim: Carnivals, Cookies and Candy

    “Recently, there has been wave of 'nouveau' hamantaschen stuffed with apples, cranberries, chocolate and even mango. For my 21st-century hamantaschen, I created a recipe that uses a cream cheese-based dough, similar to rugelach, another Jewish pastry.”

    She also has a recipe she makes for Fig and Ginger Hamantaschen using a cream cheese dough ...

    Salt and pepper at the restaurant table

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    Hoping that this link is still functional ...

    NYT diners' blog article:

    Thieves Like Us

    By Frank Bruni

    “Over the course of a year, restaurants around the country lose as much as 3 percent of their earnings to theft by customers who seem to be getting more brazen by the minute,” the article continued. “Demitasse spoons, Peugeot pepper mills, imported wineglasses, Frette linens, framed artwork, serving platters, Champagne buckets. The list of stolen goods boggles the imagination.”

    It boggles this imagination, that’s for certain. I can’t fathom feeling entitled to swipe something from a restaurant, and even if I could, I’d be petrified of getting caught.

    and there is considerably more input from NYT readers on this topic .. some hilarious .. some not ... but all worth reading!

    Salt and pepper at the restaurant table

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    perhaps a bit more light on what restauranteurs face ...

    Consider the would-be thief at Tavern on the Green in New York's Central Park who attempted to steal an original 19th century painting titled "Satisfaction" --also the cover art on the restaurant's dessert menu -- which was bolted to a brick wall. Allan Kurtz, general manager of the special-occasion restaurant, said the thief had loosened some of the bolts holding the painting before fleeing when a hostess chanced upon the short-circuited larceny. The painting now is double-bolted.

    Danny Meyer, owner of popular Gramercy Tavern in New York, was not so Lucky. A patron disconnected and stole a designer wall sconce from a rest room a few years ago.

    and then there is the rest of the story ... :hmmm:

    Oscars Party

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Babel: Chicken Tagine on couscous

    The Departed: Boston Baked beans

    Letters from Iwo Jima: MREs & sushi

    The Queen: Baked beans on toast

    Little Miss Sunshine: Grilled cheese sandwiches

    Peter Pan Peanut Butter

    in Ready to Eat

    Posted

    I just read this article which gives a much clearer picture of what is happening with the peanut butter and salmonella: article from Slate online

    Who put bacteria in my PB&J?

    Peanut butter happens to be a pretty safe food when it comes to microorganisms. That's because the nuts are blanched, roasted, and ground up at temperatures high enough to kill any salmonella bacteria that might have gotten into the raw ingredients. But the germs can still contaminate the product in the "post-processing" phase of production—when the finished product is loaded into jars and labeled for sale. Post-processing contamination with fecal matter was the likely culprit.  Both the Australian and the recent American peanut butter outbreaks involved unusual strains of the bacteria

    :huh:

    Potlatch seasoning: anyone know about this?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I just got a canister of potlatch seasoning, which was a spice rub named after the ceremonial feast of the Indians of the Northwest coast. ..

    gallery_10011_1589_82897.jpg

    My husband found it at W-S and I am trying to decide how best to use it .. some say that it is best for plank cooking of salmon, some say it is nice to make a compound butter to spread on cooking salmon.

    How else might it be used properly? Perhaps chicken?

    It contains: salt, ground cumin, dried oregano, crushed, garlic powder; chili powder, and white pepper.

    Ideas?

    Have you ever bought this or made your own? :rolleyes:

    Hamantashen

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    Or if I was nice, I could post it! (Which I meant to do last year!  :blink: ) Clickety.

    Thanks for this, Pam, and you are very nice!

    I honestly think that chocolate hamentashen sound marvelous but that the hysteria of not finding their old "tried and true" again (year after year..)would send my family into a PPP: "Premature Purim Panic" ... :laugh:

×
×
  • Create New...