Priscilla

Korn the band, or Korn the superhip Japanese musician/sometime Iron Chef judge, Tommy? Priscilla

Yvonne, I already knew you had good taste on account of what you said elsewhere about the Beatles. Priscilla

Wow CK Tillamook whey butter sounds great. (Makes me think of those Italian pigs with the proscuitto-intended legs being fed Parmigiano Reggiano whey.) Is it salted? I can find Tillamook here in Southern California, but never unsalted. I do rely on Tillamook cheese, so dependably good, and, I think, highly underrated, outside the Western U.S. Priscilla

B Edulis thank you for providing those photos. Beautiful work! Very inspiring. Any particular dishware you utilized? (Other than the commemoratives.) I'll be redoing my stove's backsplash soon, and while I am grout-averse in cooking areas, tiling is of course an option. And I ask myself, is broken-plate tiling an option? Hmmmm. That offset-hardware sink is very cool, too. Priscilla

Malawry, Keller's. Thank you. Wonder why they use the two names? Hope you try Lurpak sometime. Of course, there's the unpredictable freshness thing. But one hopes for the best. And I too am intrigued by these Italian butter references. Priscilla

I've been using a Danish butter, Lurpak, for a short while now, which is blessedly cultured and, crucially, fresh. Found it at my local Persian market. (A good place to shop for butter, and other good things.) It is delicious--has become the one to beat. Just about exactly twice what my default good-quality (but not cultured) unsalted costs, from Alta-Dena, a Southern California dairy. But Lurpak's low-moisture density and rich cultured flavor is worth far more than twice the price, to me. I have bought Plugra in the past, at Trader Joe's, but freshness was a problem, or rather lack of freshness. One never knows on the consumer end exactly where the breakdown in handling occurred, does one. Would be willing to give it another try, if my Lurpak connection begins to fail. Isn't Plugra is sold under another name as well? Some regions may know it under another label. Priscilla

Wow that was great! Worthy information combined with good writing. Looking forward to the next installment. Priscilla

Jinmyo, your method is obviously perfection, and, instanteous-like, was adopted by me as my method, too. By your leave, that is. But please everybody don't hate me if I sometimes use Emmenthal. Priscilla

Well, now this is the thing: Croque Monsieurs I have had in France have, to a sandwich, NOT had bechamel! (Made 'em last night here at home, avec, however--so see sometimes the Southern California ones DO, turns out. Had the dread roast chicken on, rather than ham, too.) No less French an authority than Monsieur Jacques Pepin indicates chicken for his Madame. I recently saw a recipe from Nancy Silverton of Campanile and La Brea Bakery where she makes a full-on Mornay sauce which is then broiled, which sounds good, doesn't it? And I think I remember some Patricia Wells citation somewheres in one of her books about a variation with a slice of tomato, which had its own name, too. Will research. Priscilla

Does anyone else make these at home? They're a staple in my house, and the deconstructed ingredients would form the basis of any Essentials list I might assemble. But ah, what ARE the ingredients. Bread, yes. Cheese, yes. Butter, yes. Ham or chicken, yes. But after that, the deluge. Bechamel? Mustard? And WHAT ABOUT Madame, is it chicken (instead of ham) or an egg (in addition to ham) that makes it Madame not Monsieur? And then, technique. Broiled, open-faced? Oven-toasted, closed? Dip the sandwich, as is occasionally suggested, in egg batter, getting close to what I know as a Monte Cristo (which has ham AND chicken, as well as cheese, inside). I don't always make them the same way, certainly partly because Croque Monsieur is a late-night lifesaver and often subject to stock on hand. Your thoughts, Hobson? Priscilla

I like large-scale flatware with decent table knives. My set is Christofle stainless steel, which I acquired modularly over time, after using a typical cheap disgusting pressed eight-thousand-piece service. It occurs to me I don't know if it is still being made--I've had it for something over 10 years--when looking to replace the odd wayward tablespoon I have patronized this company, Replacements, Ltd., and been very satisfied. I was interested to see the other silverware replacement houses; I do like to survey the available, if possible. I also look for silverplate dessert spoons in thrift stores, no particular pattern, but must appeal and meet size-quality-heft criteria. Priscilla

Wow B Edulis, (difficult to keep myself from typing Bedulis), that is a brilliant concept, tiling with plates. I have seen broken dishware incorporated into broken-tile mosaic construction, and wondered if plates so used broke of natural causes. But I guess even if they were broken apurpose they are better off than they would be languishing in a thrift store. In use I never fret much when something breaks. There are so many beautiful dishes in the world I think of it as making room for something else. Priscilla

I know most people prefer white, and that it's the choice too of most restaurants, and I don't hate it, either. But I will put in that quality and design are what's important to me, and there are white dishes and white dishes. But my own very disparate collection, American, mostly, but I do not reject English or French, assembled over years and indeed, assembling as we speak, is typified by pink. Just recently added a couple of pieces of Harkerware with the most beautiful speckled pink interior and semi-matte grey outside. (No Fiesta, Stellabella--HLC's pink is too rose for me.) Course then, there's the Villeroy and Boch green and black marble chargers, big as a steering wheel, and the green French stoneware, and a bit of Heathware, waiting to be pressed into service. Never EVER paper napkins, worldwithoutendamen. Priscilla

Elizabeth David, Madeleine Kamman, Craig Claiborne--books at hand and frequently surveyed. Priscilla

Liza, I was thinking the same thing about you, and not solely due to your ongoing Derek Smallsian Trout Odyssey, although I am fully in support of that and behave similarly. When a high-quality ingredient (that we like) is available, I will work with it over and over. I am used to cooking with what is in season, (as much as possible; I'm not militaristically doctrinaire), and it just seems natural to fully exploit what is fresh and available. This is also applicable to regular markets. Surrounding Easter and Passover there is lamb in supermarkets (here in Southern California) that isn't there the rest of the year. (Of course there are places I can go and and get a rack of lamb when I need one.) But the pleasure of running into the local supermarket and finding a nice Frenched rack of lamb (on SALE) is immense, and I availed myself (and consequently the Consort and the child and sundry guests) of this pleasure multiple times this spring. It's funny, too, in a laugh-to-keep-from-crying kinda way, how the "meat cutters," and I use that term loosely, don't know WHAT to do with it. (The type I like the best is comes from CO pre-Frenched fresh in Cry-O-Vac, lucky for us all.) Priscilla

Last night panko-crusted scallops on way-done, very soft cabbage braised with onion and a little garlic, the scallops brown and crispy, barely done in the middle, plenty of salt and pepper. Beautiful giant head of cabbage from one of the organic guys at the farmer's market, big as a Replogle globe, the cabbage, not the guy, couldn't resist it. I'll make good use of what I didn't braise. The Magic of Panko. (Similar to, but much paler in power than, The Magic of Bacon.) Priscilla

Col Klink, short ribs seem ideally suited to smoking. Course I am thinking this just now because you introduced the concept. But I already think about short ribs in general, don't I? Wilfrid, you've mentioned Nero Wolfe, but I can't remember if you investigated his (well, Fritz's) shad roe preparations or not. Also, I know he's unfashionable, but Craig Claiborne, RIP, wrote quite a bit about shad roe. His series Craig Claiborne's Favorites, collections of his NYT columns, is interesting historically, and just, how you say, chockablock, with useful information. I like all his books. Stellabella, that is just what I do, run the sponge thingy and the drain stopper through the dishwasher when they appear to need it. I think Martha Bitch Genius would support us in this, although in so saying perhaps I am just projecting a craving for validation from an Unattainable Celebrity. Jinmyo, the flavor profiles of your meals are absolutely mind-blowing--and make perfect sense. I can think about them all day long. Priscilla

Cooked, from Richard Olney, braised lamb with unpeeled cloves of garlic. I added mint and sage I found outside, sauce later forced through a sieve and returned to severely deglazed pan. He Richard Olney was adamant about not ending up with too much sauce, no more than to coat each piece of lamb, and I followed him all the way there and concluded that he was correct in this. Simple and good. Quite homely. The lamb was shoulder, cut into thick chops by the clueless but pleasant meat guy, good form for the long braise. Broccoli, cooked (through), at room temp, dressed with olive oil and vinegar and salt and pepper, large croutons with Lurpak butter and cheese melted over. Priscilla

Hey, Wilfrid, the Consort follows the one-shaker-per-person rule, too! (I suppose it's kind of a civilized-sized shaker, but still.) Sometimes I do take a little one hopes ladylike hit off his hands, Negroni is truly a beautiful and delicious drink, but yowsa, there IS that knocking-sideways thingy, helped along by that magical alchemic easy-drinking quality that belies its 100% alcohol content. Not that I have anything against alcohol content, mind. What do you eat with Negronis? We always seem to require strong-tasting somethings, like canned smoked oysters, even. Priscilla

Usually it's Campari & soda for me, when Campari is indicated. But the other evening when my Consort was having a Negroni I tried the grapefruit juice/Campari recommended and vetted previously here, and it was great! Fresh-squeezed juice from local dark-pink grapefruit. Convenient to get one's Vitamin C and bioflavinoids during cocktail hour. And someone here might well know the answer to this: Is that other Italian liqueur, Cynar, with the beautiful artichoke label, basically the same as Campari? (Allowing for proprietary formulas, of course.) I seem to remember it being even more bitter, in a good way, but I haven't had it for a long time. Must investigate. Priscilla

Last night I roasted a chicken, priming the pump with Lurpak butter, a cultured butter from Denmark that is sold at my local Persian market. Chary about imported butter in general on account of the rancidity thing, but this was fresh and fragrant. Also roasted asparagus, beautiful organic asparagus from the guy at the farmer's market, among the best-tasting asparagus ever, we thought. This seems to be a good year for asparagus. During basting sessions I also basted the asparagus with the butter and rendering chicken fat. Sourdough bread and apricot preserves and more of what remained in the chicken roasting pan. Carved chicken served on a few leaves of lettuce sprinkled with tarragon vinegar. Plenty of salt and pepper, from beginning to end. I would dearly love to see this compendium get large and unwieldy! Gives a person hope, doesn't it, in addition to making a person hungry, imagining all this cooking going on all around the world. Priscilla

Thank you, Wilfrid. I thought it was intelligent too, and hope it adds something to the growing body of thought on the subject. Growing here on eGullet, I mean. It's made fascinating reading. So many facets (and according to the article, so many ingredients!) to examine, and dovetailing with Fast Food Nation, a connection already cited here by others. I learned a while ago from vegetarian teeny neighbors that the In-n-Out Burger Secret Menu has an item for them: Grilled cheese, so-called, cheese and all the toppings except meat. I've been thinking since that this goes on at other fast food joints, too, but maybe not. In-n-Out is a particularly nice company. Priscilla

Sunday's Opinion section of my local Newspaper of Record included an article about the hapless BK Veggie. In this attempt to 1., be a good eGullet citizen, and, 2., participate in this what I think computerheads call "imbedding a hot link," I also ask forgiveness in advance for posting failure and/or incorrect terminology. So OK. Here's hoping. Priscilla

Last evening I served pasta with Bolognese sauce, sauce made hewing pretty closely to Marcella Hazan’s instructions in her first book, and also a very nice salad of BEAUTIFUL greenleaf from an organic grower at the farmer’s market. A few fresh favas with sea salt and olive oil so that my Consort (OK, as Tommy said hilariously elsewhere, now I've offended mySELF) would have something to look at and eat beforehand--a partial appeasement. He doesn't consider pasta a proper meal, all by itself. (Per consort, I think for me it’s going to have to be My Old Man, or something, you know, like the Hippies used to say. Hey, isn’t there an applicable Cockney rhyming slang? I know Trouble and Strife….) Tonight, (at this point in the a.m., anyways) my plan is to sorta riff on Wilfrid’s leftover-lamb thing from the other night and mustard and panko and sauté nice slices of already-roasted still-pink lamb. On more of the greenleaf. If including prep music would not go amiss: Zombies Greatest Hits last evening…you know, it’s good to remind oneself every now and then that Rod Argent WROTE those fantastic songs. Most times it is pleasant and so very easy to just lose oneself in the cloud of Colin Blunstone’s ethereal vocals and the aforementioned R. Argent’s keyboard, oh, let’s call ‘em stylings. Priscilla

I used to rely on Maille for all my Dijon needs. But for a long time now the only Maille available to me (here in California) is dosed with citric acid. A big detriment to flavor, in my opinion. There may well be different formulas shipped to different places, one imagines, if one also is imagining that one is being short-changed whilst the rest of the world fairly drowns in citric-acid-free Maille Dijon mustard. So I peruse mustard labels everywhere, and manage somehow. German markets, I can offer from experience, perhaps to no one's surprise, are good places to shop for mustards. Pizen short on the Dijons, though. Priscilla