Rachel Perlow

We'll bring a camera. Does this place have an actual address? I hate following vague directions.

It was clearly not just the flavor components which made this turkey dish great, it was the cooking technique. It was obviously watched carefully to be taken off heat at exactly the right moment, then rested properly before slicing. The timing difference between undercooked (pink, gagh!) and overcooked (dry) turkey is so brief, and the turkey Jason was served was not pink, but it was tender and juicy, like it was taken off heat the second it was no longer pink. Jay - was the pancetta under the meat, mixed with the veg, or larded through with the herbs? I don't recall.

Jason and I decided to take in an early dinner at Verbena on Saturday night (we arrived actually before they opened, around 5:15, we had seen a Broadway matinee, so were the first patrons in the house). We had never been there before and wanted to go and thank them for doing such a great job on their eGullet Q&A. First off, it is a lovely cozy little restaurant. The seating is a mix of tables and very comfortable banquettes, and there are candles all over the place, except at the tables themselves. Not in the mood for alcohol, I started with a Yuzu Lemonade ($3.50), which has an interesting herbal note from the lemon verbena, it reminded me of the lemon soda I've had at Vietnamese restaurants. Jason had a Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout (6.00), which was a very dark beer. I could taste the chocolate in it, but it mostly tasted like beer to me (I don't like beer). Michael Otsuka came out to say hello shortly after we were seated and we had a nice chat about their restaurant and that evening's menu, eGullet and all our dogs (they link to the Greenwich Village French Bulldog Association on the Verbena website). For appetizers, I ordered the Country Duck and Shiitake Mushroom Pate (9.50), while Jason ordered the special of Pan Roasted Prince Edward Island Mussels with Chorizo (10.00). However, before our appetizers arrived we were offered tastings of several items. I don't know which would normally come as an amuse and which Michael sent out just to us. I just wanted to disclose this part, because he was very generous and we were not charged for these items -- I'll mark them with a star, but include the menu price, if available -- but I want to be able to comment on them and give my opinion. The first amuse was *South African Pickled Cherry Peppers filled with goat cheese mousse and drizzled with thyme oil. The peppers were quite sweet tasting, at first. The heat of them hit you after you had swallowed them down. The filling of goat cheese was incredibly sweet and buttery, making a nice contrast with the tartness of the peppers. A review of the "Demi Bites" menu (mini appetizers from Bar Demi, their wine bar around the corner) shows that the goat cheese mouse usually fills endive leaves. This was followed by espresso cups filled with the soup of the day, *Saffron Scented Fish Soup (9.50 - for a normal portion, I'm sure). This was simply delicious. I had been tempted to order is as my appetizer so was very happy to be able to have a little taste of it. It was exactly the soup de poisson I searched for when we visited St. Martin, and I highly recommend you try it if it is on the menu when you go to Verbena. Next came a Chinese soup spoon full of *Pear-Ginger "Chutney" (it was raw) topped with Duck Prosciutto. Jason liked this more than I did -- I'm not a prosciutto person, but the pear relish was very nice. Finally, our actual appetizers arrived. The PEI mussels in Jason's appetizer were exceptional. According to the description by Chef Otsuka, they were thrown into a hot dry pan to begin cooking. As soon as they opened and released some of their juices, the dish was finished with Spanish chorizo, lemon (yuzu?) juice and herbs. I could hardly get a taste of his dish, he was being very possessive , but the mussel I had was very sweet and fresh, although we both thought the finished sauce was a bit too tart. My duck pate came with new twist on the traditional accompaniments of cornichon. The pickles were minced and mixed with whole mustard seeds creating a sour and sweet relish. The Parker House toast arrived at the table hot. However, the white bread seemed ordinary compared the bread plate with the roasted(?) garlic and red lentil dipping oil. Anyway, back to the pate, it was a delicious rendition of a meat pate. The mushrooms must have been ground up with the meat, as they weren't independently noticeable. I had also considered ordering the *Chilled Hudson Valley Foie Gras Torchon (14.00), and Michael must have been reading my mind, because a tasting of that is what came out next. The plate was composed of a ½ inch thick round slice of foie served on top of toasted brioche with cranberry-cherry chutney in between. The menu says it is to be accompanied by mache, but instead we had slivers of Belgian endive. This was a very rich foie, tasting more of butter than liver. I tried valiantly not to finish the foie, so I could leave some room for my main dish and pre-ordered dessert. Oy. Sage and Lemon Studded Turkey Steak (22.50) and a special of Lamb Beggar's Purse (27.00) were our mains. We both felt the turkey was exceptional. You hardly ever see turkey on menus except in November, this was an attempt to make a real, new-American cuisine dish out of a seldom used ingredient. The turkey breast was larded with sage and lemon peel and came out thickly sliced and very tender. This was served atop spinach and mushrooms with pancetta lending additional flavor. Really, a lovely dish. My lamb, on the other hand, was rather a disappointment. It was lamb shoulder cut into small pieces, inside a braised napa cabbage leaf served over a stew of white beans, black trumpet mushrooms and roasted beets. The lamb was from a local producer (the farm was listed on the menu, but I don't have that page) and I suppose the meat was either roasted or braised, regardless it was well-done, but not soft like braised meat I've had before, which is why I lean towards thinking it was roasted. But I don't think it was cooked within the cabbage leaf in which it was presented. Actually, the meat was rather sinewy -- which was the disappointing part -- I felt it should have been better trimmed. The accompaniments, on the other hand, were delicious. I really enjoyed the beets and the mushrooms, and the white beans were perfectly cooked, tender to the bite, but still maintaining their shape. You can really tell that vegetable preparations are the restaurant's forte. Although there is only one vegetarian main course on the menu, a Braised Vegetable Strudel, there are also several side dishes which can be ordered as a tasting for a main course, or as family style sides. And, in addition to the 3 course prix fixe and four course tasting menu, there is also a vegetarian tasting menu. For dessert, we ordered the Pear Upside Down Cake (8.00) and the Seasonal Tart of Huckleberries (8.00). Both of these have to be ordered when you order the rest of your meal. I'm sure if we waited until dessert time we wouldn't have ordered both, because with all the tastings we were offered, we were rather full. The service had been efficient and friendly throughout the evening, so we just requested a little break before they brought out dessert. I preferred the huckleberry tart with verbena sorbet to the much sweeter cake with accompanying roasted pear, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. They also had a nice selection of teas, prepared before being brought to the table, the way I prefer. They do offer a cheese plate, but there was just no way, not after all that fois gras! I think next time we go I would like to try their fish preparations. As the mussels and fish soup were superb, I'm sure the trout, bass or monkfish would have been more to my taste as a main course the other night. PS - Diane arrived towards the end of our meal and we got to say hello to her and Olivia too. What a cute baby, I can't blame her for taking some time away from the kitchen in order to spend as much time with her as possible. Verbena Restaurant 54 Irving Place New York, NY 10003 (212) 260-5454

I just posted about this in the Mango Sorbet thread, but it seems equally appropriate here. For those wanting a high-end ice cream machine for the home (or for small catering operations, as an Amazon reviewer said she was), there's one similar to the one we own on Amazon now. It is the Simac #4050 Il Gelataio Magnum. They have it listed for $400, but it is currently in with the Gold Box offers for $372, with free shipping. So, if you are interested, click the link to see it listed on Amazon. Of course, I can't guarantee that it will come up if you look at your Gold Box offers (click the treasure chest in the upper right hand corner of the Amazon screen), but $400 with free shipping seems like a decent price for this machine (I'm still glad ours was a hand-me-down). The only difference between this and the model we own seems to be a timer.

Here's a link to the recipe for Coconut Rice (without Coconut Milk).

Reminder: Purim is March 18th this year. Sandra - about how many cookies do you think that amount of dough will make?

Coconut Rice (without Coconut Milk) Serves 4 as Sideor 2 as Side. This recipe was mentioned on March 2 on the Dinner! thread (page 65 with a 40 posts per page view). Serves 2-4 as a side dish, depending on how hungry they are! Picture is of Thai Green Curry with Sliced Blade Steak, Snap Peas and Eggplant over Coconut Rice. 1-1/3 c Hot Water 1 tsp Chicken flavored Better Than Boullion, optional - If you don't use the BTB than use the same amount of salt - You could also use real broth instead of water & chicken base 1 T Vegetable or Peanut Oil 1 T Shallot, minced 1/4 c Coconut - the non-sweetened grated & desiccated kind, I get mine from Whole Foods 1 c Jasmine Rice Place 1 teaspoon Chicken flavored Better than Boullion (or salt) in the Hot Water and set aside. Place a 1 or 2 quart saucepot over a medium flame. Add the Oil, allow to heat for a few seconds then add the Minced Shallot (if you have no shallots, a little onion with 1 clove of garlic, minced, can substitute), saute for about 1 minute, then add the coconut. Stir for another minute or so until you can smell the coconut begin to toast. Add the rice to the pot, stir to combine everything until a few pieces of the coconut and/or rice begin to turn golden. Stir the water & chicken boullion together and pour over the rice. Be careful as it will sputter and come quickly to a boil. Give it a stir and when it comes to a boil, cover the pot and reduce the heat as low as it will go. Cook for 15 minutes, then allow to sit with the heat off for at least 10 more minutes -- DO NOT REMOVE THE LID. Fluff with a fork as you pour it into a serving bowl. Keywords: Side, Kosher, Vegan, Vegetarian, Easy, Rice, Dinner, Lunch, Thai ( RG214 )

I think this is definitely one non-event where children should be welcome (and encouraged). I mean, come on, it's hot dogs!

I ordered some after reading all of your's & Holly's raves. It is very good fudge and packaged attractively so it would make a great gift for a far off friend. As a fundraiser for a worthy cause it may beat out some other mail order fudge operations and makes a good gift to boot. However, if you are looking for fudge for personal consumption, it is probably just best to stick with a local candy shop, since it isn't so "AWESOME" IMO as to place it above all other fudges, when the price, with shipping, is over $11/lb. Speaking of, has anyone ever mail ordered fudge from The Fudge House? They have a great variety of flavors. Maybe next time...

Ok, just HOW BIG is that new kitchen of yours? Is he lost somewhere in it? He was not online at the time. But, even if he were online, he'd be in a separate office. We frequently communicate via IM even on days when he is home.

I wanna come. Jason, you coming with me? Either date & dinner time are fine with us.

That's how we caught it, we have "Cook's Tour" programed into our Ultimate TV. You get a lot of repeats, but they are easy enough to delete and worth the hassle so you don't miss anything new. FoodMan, and anyone else who missed it, remember that it'll eventually be repeated. We also discussed the St. Martin episode on the Caribbean forum on the St Martin thread.

I'm glad for the review of Saint's Cafe in Teaneck. I've passed it many times and have been curious, but they also advertise in those coupon mailers, somewhat of a warning sign to me. Does anyone else have any experience at this place?

Page 2? Oh, you must still have your settings on default. If you want, go to My Controls/Board Settings, where you can change the number of posts per page up to 40.

Here is a recipe for Velvet Falernum Syrup - a more reasonable amount. (Edit: I'm testing something)

I, on the other hand, buy half-sours several weeks ahead of planning to eat them. I like them about 3/4 sour. A new jar of half-sours still tastes too fresh to me. I keep'm in the fridge and shake up the jar every once in a while. When the brine is nice and murky I know they're ready. That was the problem with the half-sours I had the other day, I had just bought the jar and the pickles were too new.

Is a weller more or less done than a ripper?

Just watched your episode of A Cook's Tour. It was very nice to see Christian and Malachi again. And this time we got to see the third brother, who was busy doing his homework when we visited. I was laughing when you mentioned them being interested in cars, they certainly are. And they were very excited to tell us how they were going to be on Food TV. We definitely plan on going back to St Martin. It is such a lovely island. Has anyone else been lately? After you covered him on your show, I'm scared I'll have to make a reservation at the Freedom Fighters Shack.

Hmm, a Flaming Red Gully - made with Blood Orange or Red Grapefruit Juice?

They are Lionhead Meatballs. They are not on the regular menu, but are frequently on the Specials Board. If they are not on the Specials Board they cannot be made to order (we asked), as they take a very long time to prepare. But, as I said they are frequently on the board. If you are driving a distance (helena), you may want to call ahead and ask Cecil if they are on the board the day you are planning to go.

Took long enough but the motel renovations behind China 46 appear to be almost complete. There's now a banner up declaring it to be a future site of a Days Inn. The new exterior makes it almost attractive. (egads!)

Knawing the meat off the bones is one of the best parts of eating a chop (lamb or otherwise). This is the meat with the closest proximity to bone and it has a higher ratio of fat and marinade to meat. It is an experience similar to barbecue ribs. If they were frenched, the chops would definitely be less enjoyable. Frenching is a technique of a different style of cuisine and there is no right or reason to expect an Indian restaurant to do this wasteful procedure.

:raises hand: Me. Fortunately I had a few different varieties in the fridge: Kosher Dills from Jerry's, Half Sour and Garlic Dill from BaTempe - we had a taste test. The Kosher Dill from Jerry's won. I plan to check out Picklelicious very soon. <- Can that be a salivate/panting icon?

Are you leaving the skin on the internal birds? If so, what is the texture of the internally cooked skins?

Velvet Falernum Syrup - a more reasonable amount Dale's recipe for Velvet Falernum makes 5 quarts of the stuff. I've scaled it down to make about 5 cups of the finished product - quite enough for the home bar. Some additional notes, the flavor of the homemade Falernum is dominated by the bitter notes of lime zest. The commercial product contains lime juice, and I think more sugar, and is therefore more sweet/sour rather than bitter. When we have done tastings, people tended to prefer the more sophisticated flavor of the homemade (zesty) Velvet Falernum, so it is worth making yourself. Rum Marinade 1 c White Rum 3 Limes worth of Zest (peel it off) 3 Whole Cloves 3 drops of Almond Extract Simple Syrup (1:1) 4 c Sugar 4 c Water In a small covered container place the Rum, Cloves, Almond Extract and Lime Peel. Set aside for about 18-24 hours. In a 2 quart jar mix Sugar and Water. Shake it up every once in a while. By the time the marinade is done, the sugar will have dissolved. Strain the Rum Marinade into the sugar water. Taste. The almond flavor should be barely detectable, but it should be there. If you can't taste it at all, add another drop or two of Almond Extract. Keywords: Cocktail, Fruit ( RG206 )