Priscilla

Torakris, is this the sesame dressing sometimes served on green beans? Could you give your recipe when it's convenient?

Stellabella that was wonderful. the food sounds absolutely stupendous, as per your descriptions! (I bought cowboy boots in Denver CO once, on a different but not-entirely-unrelated sort of quest. Mine were no way no Lucchese's but served me well.)

Yes, it's true. Indian food has the wonderful combination of elegance, as Jinmyo said, and economy, as per Simon. We have an incredible resource in Suvir. Simon, was that your dinner menu or just ideas. Last night sauteed chicken breasts with sage and garlic, had some chicken broth kicking around for the sauce (+ a little white vermouth in there), added some Mexican crema at the end. Brussel-sprout risotto (Carnaroli maintaining its primacy). Nice Romaine salad.

Maggie, as I've stated before I'm not a very good gardener, but some things I do try to grow. I'm about to try (again) with Swiss chard, the skinny-stemmed Italian type, as part of my what-passes-for-winter-in-Southern California garden. Bulbs are so gratifying for a bad gardener. In a former garden I grew little white crocuses with success, and believe me, it wasn't because I brought anything special to the situation. And some Priscilla gladiolas, parchment with pink edges, actually grew for me this year. Unbelievable. So we'll see about the saffron crocus. I ordered my saffron crocus online from Brent and Beck's Bulbs, whom I found after arduous online searching, and the transaction was fast and easy. And the bulbs, corms, whatever, were so large and beautiful, unlike the pizen little things one sees in stores. I also have roses (all pink; don't know nothing about roses; first pruning last Jan.-Feb.; certain it was the end; but it wasn't!), and am about to embark on the plantage of a mass of different varieties of pink daffodils. I worry I'm overreaching, but gardening is like cooking in that way, there's always tomorrow to plant something else.

Planted 100 saffron crocus bulbs. Or corms. Whatever. Has anyone grown them? Even though their lavender-colored blooms don't fit in my otherwise pink-flowered garden, I'm hoping they will earn their keep. Got my sterilized tweezers at the ready, and Penzey's Mancha Superiore as backup.

Well, in my own self satisfiying interests of keeping you on this thread , here is another sophie pic. Ben I love Sophie too. What a pretty girl. How about a full-face pic sometime, when she's not expressing her pudding pop ennui.

Yes but "Naked" had David Thewlis.

This was a very enlightening book, but worse than the way the meat is treated is how the workers on the floor are treated. It broke my heart. Too right, Colonel Klink. That's what I took away from FFN, too.

Yes. I edited out a mention of naff off, just sent it over the eGullet psychic transom instead. Now I'm sending something about piss off, and how does the word piss have so many differing applications.

I have not seen this Mike Leigh "Abigail's Party" that you all reference. A fondue touchstone?

Fried chicken thighs, 3 veg salads: green bean with mustard/honey vinaigrette, grated carrot, coleslaw, heart-shaped biscuits (still benefitting from the schooling in the Biscuit discussion) with butter and honey.

Also naff can be used as per "Naff off!" can't it? Poor fondue. It's not a Michelob commercial, or, a Turning Leaf commercial, or some kind of post-ironic retro party in a magazine. It's just fondue, a venerable dish that deserves to be treated with respect. Added: Yes to Jaymes.

Fondue, like all other dishes on God's green earth, can be bad, or can be good, depending on the usual factors, among them ingredients and preparation and care. To eschew it due to its intrinsic cultural meanings not being compatible with one's self-image is another matter. It is analogous to, say, an eater not partaking of foie gras because of so-called animal welfare concerns. "I am not the type of person who eats force-fattened goose liver." Whether the foie or the fondue is good or bad becomes irrelevant. To Simon's admirable yet nascent and wobbly anti-melting argument I submit: Butter, in certain applications, is certainly welcome melted. (Blini, e.g.--plus, doesn't lovely historic buckwheat have less carb content than demon wheat?)

Torakris, the person in question is Japanese, living in the U.S., so I assumed (could be wrong!) she meant expats. My impression was that she preferred her version to bottled, or perhaps, why buy it when it's so easy to make. It certainly is not at all difficult to get Japanese ingredients here in Southern California, so I doubt that's a consideration. It was all bottles--ketchup, applesauce, Worcestershire, other stuff, all the elements of what's in the prepared bottled sauce, only in component parts. I keep thinking I'll get the details and give it a try someday, but Kikkoman is so good! I use no other prepared sauce except Heinz ketchup (oh of course I keep a can of Herdez salsa on the shelf at all times!), but bottled tonkatsu sauces seem just right, certainly because we came to the dish through eating in Japanese restaurants, and that is what is served. But lookit Jinmyo's fabulous sauce: Looks pretty wonderful. I will be applying it when I next make tonkatsu. Thanks again, Jinmyo. (I just know that the nice Japanese woman who has given me cooking hints over the years would think I'm even crazier than she already does if I told her I was making tonkatsu sauce from scratch!)

Charlene I hope you keep on this fondue thing, naff or no. Fondue has come in for some criticism, quite a lot of criticism, around here. And undeservedly. (Leaving out the ill-prepared--ill-prepared anything doesn't count.) It is a great dish, so good to serve friends and sit around the table eating and drinking and talking. The recipe I have used is from one of the Time-Life Foods of the World volumes, with a mix of Emmenthaler and Gruyere. Good cheese is of course essential.

No, Jinmyo, I have never made my own, although a Japanese co-worker of a friend says it's done in the home all the time--applesauce, Worcestershire sauce, etc. We've become stuck on Kikkoman as our bottled fave, it's nice and spicy. Can you tell me how to make it myself? I'd love to try.

Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), sake-simmered Japanese carrots from the Japanese lady at the farmer's market, nice Blue Lake green beans from my amigo at the farmer's market with miso-sesame dressing, cabbage pickle, rice from the cooker.

Priscilla - I was being lazy. It was actually radicchio treviso. Also used in in the risotto. Looked very pretty on the plate. Radicchio! Not lazy. At least, your phrase put the correct picture in my mind--that Treviso is strongly associated with Venezia for me. The couple of times I've been there there've been tons of it, beautifully arranged and of impeccable quality, in veg markets. Who'da thunk there was a radicchio-dot-com?

Adam what does Venetian endive look like. They know from veg, those Venetians.

PJ, and wasn't it SO WORTH IT. I know some consider Lurpak run-of-the-mill supermarket butter; wish it was so here. Be sure to visit Lurpak.com, cited by Shiva earlier on in this discussion. Some people know Lurpak when they see it. Course it's the Danish Dairy Board, who owns the brand, but still.

I wouldn't even put the meat + veg on the same plate, depending. And does there always have to be a little puddle of sauce or can it be conveyed other ways sometimes. What I am picturing is representative tastes, matched to the course, to create a desired flavor profile.

Saw Jaaaymaaay using Lurpak the other week. Silver-wrapper unsalted, just like what's in MY refrigerator!

Not side dishes. In my imagination these four tastes, obviously symbolizing North South East West Air Water Fire Earth, take yer pick of four-ordered symbol systems, would appear IN EACH COURSE!!! Wouldn't that be wild? Course you'd need a different bitter for EACH COURSE, a different fruity sweet for each, and so on, worldwithoutendamen. Mmmm sounds good.

Isn't it trad, trad in just the way that appeals to me, anyways, to have represented with game a fruity sweet, a bitter, a root, and a starchy something? Currant something, braised endive, roasted parsnips (a bitterish two-fer), and puree of chestnuts, off the top of my head? Regionally appropriate, of course. Continuing extemporaneously, e.g., here in California, (for instance if my friend's dad's been hunting pheasants or deer or whatever's on offer up in the foothills AND, crucially, some comes my way) it'd be a pomegranate or prickly pear preparation, wilted dandelions, a small button of superbutterenriched dark orange sweet potato along the lines of Paul Prudhomme's prodigious candied so-called yams, I'm thinking with an element of ginger in there this time.

Mushroom risotto made with very large nice Creminis, which I really like the taste of, all by themselves. Like them less as they achieve Portobellaness, although so-called Portobellas have their charms, in the prep department, and I do like that (Nigel Slater?) sandwich with the snail butter. Carnaroli rice, whose grains are so large and chewy and flavorful, it's amazing. Amazes me, anyways. Yet more so-called London Broil, Certified Angus top sirloin, cooked in a very hot bare 12-inch All-Clad skillet, overhead fan on Warp 6, s & p upon turning, pan deglazed with the red wine on the table and enriched with a bunch of butter. Sliced thinly so as to show off its very red middle. Salad of unexpectedly nice organic Romaine, which for some reason my local regular supermarket is stocking--hope it continues. (Still not sure about that spelling...)