JennyUptown

Just one month ago, I would have been like "huh? whazzat?" but now I am shopping for a Dutch oven. It seems like 50% of the recipes that appeal to me in this cold weather call for one. I've visited one store (Linens & Things where I get a great discount), but was in a hurry and could only find the object of my desire in huge sets containing stuff I don't need. Most of my other cookware is inexpensive...stainless...Farberware. It's served me well thus far. It's important to me that I can stick my new prize in the dishwasher so [if I have learned anything here] I *think* I need to stick with stainless, however I know you will correct me if I'm wrong Steer me! Coach me! What should I buy and where?

Time to revive this thread. I'm contemplating making spaghetti carbonara or fettucine alfredo tonight. What are some of your favorite winter pasta sauces. Think rich...think zesty...think creamy...think caloric!

If you have a recipe you like, by all means share it or send it.

I'm printing this topic for my binder of recipes, for sure. Thanks for all of your suggestions. In the end, I stuck with the sweet & sour chicken recipe from Marlene and it was great! Based on ingredients on-hand and a desire to whip is up quickly, I cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, then sauteed them in EVOO. Baked it all up for about 30 minutes and voila! I liked the recipe a lot and think it would be great with pork as well. For dessert (much, much easier for me!), I made Banana Upside Down cake from a recipe I found on Epicurious. It's very, very rich, but it went over well with PLM (I like it too, but think I prefer the flavor of pineapple to banana with this type of cake). Confession: it was my first time cooking with shortening and I had a doozy of a time measuring it out. In the end, I completely estimated and was lucky, but... is there a trick I'm missing here?

That's what I was thinking. Also, is there an accepted substitution for fish sauce?

One of my NYC-era roommates took off with my blender when she moved out, two weeks before my other roommate and I left. She was a sublettor who had only moved in two or three months prior (I doubt she left her bedroom more than ten times during that period), yet somehow she "forgot" that she did not possess a blender when she moved in.

G2 - lovely photos of your home, animals and food! I'm really looking forward to reading more.

In typical single girl who can't cook (but who is trying, or trying to try), I am short an ingredient for most of the delicious-sounding preparations noted. But you've helped me build a post-snow shopping list and for that, I am most grateful. PLM is on his way over soon so I'll be logging off momentarily.

Too late! I'm not braving the cold again.

Is your larb receipe somewhere in that massive thread? I have tried (and failed) to get through it. So many posts!!

As we here in DC wait for the snow to start falling, I am contemplating dinner. I have a little more than a pound of chicken breasts in the fridge, dying to be cooked. I'm thinking of making Sweet & Sour Chicken as shared by Marlene, but I kind of feel like something richer...more savory...heck, more caloric. Blame the cold weather! Thoughts? Suggestions?

Where did you and Mrs. JPW end up?

So, wait... You're both blindfolded, and cramming food toward each other? That's not erotic, that's a food fight! Not to mention chilly!

We can't and we don't want to:smile: DC in the winter is a riot. No one can handle the cold. We freak out at the threat of snow. They literally close school with an inch of snow on the ground. The government is better about staying open, but not much. Sometimes a forecast of snow is enough for closings here in DC. It doesn't even have to snow. Coming from PA, I view this with derision (15%), amusement (20%) and glee (65%) that I don't have to leave the house even though I don't drive to work (I take public transportation). But damn, I will admit that it's cold today. I wore a hat, ski jacket (looks great with business attire), gloves and a scarf to cover anything that stuck out.

What are your NYC dining plans?

Braising is more of a weekend hobby-- helps to have plenty of time. It's a good method for a dinner party, since you can get started early on it, and you'll have some flexibility in timing-- you pretty much can't cook it too long. Did you use tomato paste? Anchovy paste? What kinda tomatoes? You're also going to get more flavor with the short ribs with the bone and marrow and all. Yes to tomato paste, no to anchovy paste.

Braising is a beautiful thing. I followed Al_Dente's suggestion (with a plan to try out the porter/mustard suggestion soon!) and it was delicious. Impatient as I am, I tasted the beef after one hour - it was not yet that tender and the sauce was undistinguised (listen to me!!). But after two, the meat was tender and the sauce was much richer. If only I had the patience of yet one more hour...

Belatedly...yes! Thanks. I forgot to check this topic for awhile.

Are there any Southern-focused cookbooks you'd recommend? How about Soul Food?

Same here. When I have a big or rich meal with friends, I remind them that a booty this great requires special maintenance. "Gotta feed the booty..."

None of 'em as I was the photographer. The avatar I used to use showed me (perhaps too much!).

Belatedly...now that I have recovered from the night of drinking (Sunday), I wanted to post some photos from Monday night's dinner at Indique. My visiting friend Jen's last night in Washington was frigid one (DC is starting to get used to this). Some warm, Indian food with a little spice was the perfect antidote. We started our meal with drinks - pink martini for Jen, cosmo for Joanne, Kingfishers for Anda and me. I'm not a fan of the deconstructed samosa and steer my friends in the direction of the aloo tikki (potato and green pea patties served with chickpeas) and a paneer brochette with peppers, onions and a small amount of rice. Everything was delicious as you can see from the smiling faces in the photos I've posted. Feeling lazy, we ordered four plates of chicken tikka makhani. Adventurous? Not at all. Delicious? Absolutely. We dove into the entrees so quickly that there are no photos, which is a shame because their plating is really attractive. Without getting too sentimental, it's fitting that the dinner to send my friend back to New York also wraps up my blog. Fun week of writing, excellent time with friends.

You know, I always wondered how my Nana made those... I did some improvising in the kitchen and I'm not sure if I should post the story here or in the thread about "mistakes I won't make again." I scrambled two eggs with a fork, added some heavy cream, salt & pepper. Then I added in a tsp each of baking powder and all-purpose flour, plus a dash of salt. Finally I poured in a can of corn (not creamed, in the end). But I forgot to add some butter!! Such a shame. It was as I was taking the golden brown pudding-minus-butter out of the over that it hit me. The corn concoction tasted ok (better than most of my improv work) with some butter melted on top, but would have been great with butter mixed in pre-baking.

I like it too. Sounds like Al_Dente does not approve!

Pretty please?