Rachel Perlow

re: the wheat vs rice flour wrappers. I've used both. Frankly, in use there seems to be very little difference, I think one is round and the other is square. The main thing is to make sure you have the kind that aren't supposed to be cooked. (Tommy - can't help you with making the fried spring rolls, I've only made Chinese Egg Rolls.) You can tell that it is the kind that only needs to be soaked because it has a waffle pattern imprinted on it from the mats they lay on while drying (during production). re: basil. Yes, we use Thai basil. Wondee (of Wondee's restaurant in Hackensack, NJ) gave us a small Thai basil plant last summer that did really well in our garden. I think we used that more than the regular Italian basil.

This is near where Jason and I will be in July. Our base will be in Villennes-sur-Siene, north-west of Versailles. Any and all recommendations for day trips are welcome. Rachel

Is this the glove to which you are referring?

Add jsibley to that list, along with a "probably" from megkel & her husband, and we're up to 18 - 21 participants. I'm glad we're going there early cause at this rate we'll be taking over the place! Just kidding, they seat around 100, so the more the merrier! :)

Actually, a simmer is a little more vigorous than that. There should be constant, but small and non-stacking bubbles on the surface of the simmering liquid.Cooks Illustrated did a Kitchen Note about this showing the differences between a simmer and a boil, I think in conjunction with the bouillabaisse recipe in September 2001. Unfortunately, the Kitchen Notes are not available online. If I can find my copy of the magazine, I'll add more details later.

I always thought a faggot (in Britain) was a cigarette, please explain to us silly Americans what the food version of the word is? Thanks.

Peter - this sounds more like what I know of as Mongolian BBQ. Korean BBQ is more similar to Japanese Hibachi, except you cook it yourself on a small coal or gas flame grill in the middle of the table (or the waitress can help you cook it).

Ooh, fluffernutter. I haven't had one of those in ages. Now I have to make one when I get home!

My brother's former roommate used to boil (braise actually) them in beer before finishing on the grill. If you can't slow BBQ them like in the south, this seemed like the best way to make them really tender and flavorful. You just crisp the outsides on the grill then baste with sauce shortly before serving. The pre-cooking can be done hours to days ahead of time, helpful if you are serving a crowd in the summer.

All that talk about sausage rolls reminded me of the "pigs in blankets" I make. Jason really loves these, we make them for company and have occasionally made a meal out of them. But they have to be the homemade kind, the ones from the frozen food appetizer section aren't as good. Actually because they are so welcome by all the guests we've served them too, I guess they aren't that embarrasing! I refused to allow pigs-in-blankets to be served at our wedding, but people do really love'm. Here's instructions (it's hardly a recipe) in case you now having a craving for them. You take decent hot dogs (we prefer all beef kosher style franks), cut them into 4-5 pieces, on the diagonal is prefered. Open a can of Pillsbury dough (the best for this is Crescent Rolls, but the cornbread is good too, the biscuit dough seems too heavy - we've tried many varieties), and spread it out on a cutting board. Each triangle can be cut into 3 pieces, wrap around a piece of hot dog. Place seam side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake according to biscuit directions, or freeze before baking for quick treats (bake from frozen state, just a couple minutes longer than from thawed state). I serve with two sauces: Ketchup mixed with pickle relish, and Mustard mixed with Honey.

Here's a link to a similar, but slightly better product, Annie's Homegrown. These are "natural" or "organic" mac & cheese, made with whole wheat and real cheese, no artificial colors, and fun shapes like bunnies and peace signs. And with all that goodness, they still manage to taste a lot like Kraft Dinner. They are usually available at natural food stores like Whole Foods or Fresh Fields, in addition to online.

WIMP!!! If you aren't going to commit to the confession you shouldn't have even posted the tease! Come on, out with it! As for me, none of these are on as regular a basis and jhlurie suggests, but sometimes the occasion arrises where a Wendy's Frosty is called for, a Cup O'Noodles hits the spot, or the late night White Castle hamburger from the freezer (I'm outing Jason here, they're his and I criticise when he buys them, but I eat a few before they're gone!).

Like Jon said, it is a very limited menu. Please look to my post above, I really did completely replicate the menu (except for the Korean letters).So Tommy, did you go today? (Edited by RPerlow at 7:49 pm on Jan. 13, 2002)

To answer Rosie's question first, for a Saturday afternoon lunch (we arrived around 1:30) it seemed pretty busy. It has a decent sized dining area, I would guess they have a seating capacity of around 100, and was about 1/3 full. I'm sure at night it's even busier. If it were Sunday I would think a lot of them had just come from church because I saw quite a few kids in suits or dresses. Which reminds me, we were the only non-Asians in the place, and they seemed very happy to see us and that we enjoyed the food. Now, back to Jon's comments. First off, I think it is important to note that it is called a ToFu & BBQ restaurant, in that order. Because, I feel that they really specialize in the tofu part. As mentioned above, the menu is very short, 8 tofu soups and 2 BBQ. The menu cards on the table list a couple other options (squid BBQ and seafood pancake), but when we tried to order the pancake, it was pointed out that they only have items 1-10 now. Presumably, when they opened they had all 12 and the last two didn't sell as well? BTW - they opened about two months ago. The menu: Tofu soups, all Ů.95 come in eight varieties, you can order them in any one of five spiciness levels: White, Mild, Medium, Spicy, and Spicy Spicy. Mushroom Seafood Beef (Clam, Shrimp, Oyster, Beef) Seafood (Clam, Shrimp, Oyster) Kimchi Beef (Spiced Cabbage, Beef) Oyster Clam Beef PorkBarbeque, ű.45 each Korean BBQ Ribs (Galbi Gui) (Beef Short Ribs) Korean Boolgogi (Thin Sliced Beef Seasoned with Special Sauce) That's it, that's the entire menu. The restaurant is a really interesting mix. From the outside it looked like fast food, and the limited menu supports this idea. However, the room is decorated very nicely. Lots of nice touches, polished wood tables & chairs, a view of the grillman behind glass, real plates and stone bowls, and a decent bathroom. The soups came out still bubbling in their small cauldrons. An optional ingredient is provided along with the pan chan (the little dishes of pickles & stuff - they were pickled Zuccini, not cucumbers!). It is a raw egg. If you want it, break it into the soup and either stir it for an egg drop soup effect or allow it to poach. Other items of note: The server call button. There is a little raised bump on each table, which says "To call server, press here." When you do a little chime goes off and your waiter or waitress appears (later we noticed a table number light sign by the hostess station). We hardly needed it because they were so attentive, but it's a really nice concept that I think all restaurants should adopt. I feel even stronger about that after last night's dinner (a different place) when I had to ask about 4 times for a glass of water. The water, or un-water. At most Asian places you get hot tea, this is no exception. It was a nice smokey green or ginsing tea. And in the water glass was the iced version of it. After our waitress served us rice from a larger stone bowl, she poured more tea into that bowl. This is rice tea (or soup?), I guess a palate cleanser for to finish the meal. Light House or Myung Ga ToFu & B.B.Q. Restaurant 261 Broad Avenue, Fairview, NJ 07022 201-941-0104 phone, 201-941-0706 fax (Edited by RPerlow at 10:36 am on Jan. 29, 2002)

Glyn and Yvonne Johnson Alan and Sandy Levine Jason and Rachel Perlow Dee and Paul Reiss Ken and Helena Robinson Lowell and Rosie Saferstein Helena and Alex Sarin Tommy & Mrs. Tommy Mark Stevens and possibly his brother, Rich

Assuming Rich comes with Mark, we are now up to 18 participants! I can't wait to meet everybody. There's still time to RSVP if you want to come, the more the merrier!

re: Cinque Figlie: Interesting post. I hope that the success-has-prompted-them-to-get-a-bigger-location-but-now-is-ruining-the-restaurant phenomena is not at work. I hate it when that happens to our favorite places. I will admit that we haven't been there on a Saturday night since the move, but our experience in the past with them has been excellent service any night. I hope that this was just an aberation, but we'll have to go back soon to check.

In previous orders, it has been strictly plain packaging, although they were able to include a gift card for the Thank You gift I mentioned. Even in plain packaging, the wonderful quality makes it a welcome gift. However, I just checked the website and apparently they now offer a couple of very simple gift baskets. Interestingly, there is Gift Basket B and Gift Basket C, but no Gift Basket A. I wonder if that was something different for the holidays? Regarding customer service, keep in mind it always seemed like a small business to me, even though, as Jason mentioned elsewhere, it is the #2 producer on the Big Island. When you call, you get whomever is in the office, not some big order processing department located elsewhere. Even so, we've never had a problem. If you are going to place a large order, like for numerous corporate holiday gifts, I suggest you speak to them personally about it and then clearly write out what you are ordering, for whom, etc. and fax it in. As I said, speak to them about it for more details. I'm going to email this thread to them to see if they are interested in answering these questions themselves. Rachel

I originally posted this in a coffee thread on the General Board, but as this is an excellent source for mail order food, I thought it was worth copying here. OK, here's our source for pure Kona coffee, Bay View Farms. Jason and I visited them on our honeymoon and got a personal tour with Eva and met Roz in the tasting room. We bought a lot then and had it shipped home as souveniers for family, wedding attendants, etc. Since then we have ordered from them several times. One of the best received presents we ever sent was a Thank You to a business colleague of Jason's. We sent her a couple of pounds of their coffee and one of macadamia nuts. Totally fresh amazing coffee and nuts. I am now going to talk rhapsodic about their mac nuts. :cheesy: They have the Best Macadamia Nuts Ever . They are whole, very large, dry roasted without oil or salt. They are excellent for eating out of hand (I like to dip them in a little kosher salt, or sprinkle some on after toasting them) or to use in cooking. They have a really true flavor since there is no greasy, powdery, salty coating - like some other mac nuts available nationwide in supermarkets. A couple we know recently came back from Hawaii, and they gave us a bag of mac nuts. They may has well have been that unmentionable famous brand. They were mostly halved nuts and had a lot of salt on them. Useless for baking. If you like mac nuts and you want to try some really excellent ones, call Bay View Farms. For the coffee, I believe they roast everything fresh right before shipping it to you. Both products are vaccuum sealed. They also sell green coffee wholesale.

OK, here's our source for pure Kona, Bay View Farms. Jason and I visited them on our honeymoon and got a personal tour with Eva and met Roz in the tasting room. We bought a lot then and had it shipped home as souveniers for family, wedding attendants, etc. Since then we have ordered from them several times. One of the best received presents we ever sent was a Thank You to a business colleague of Jason's. We sent her a couple of pounds of their coffee and one of macadamia nuts. Totally fresh amazing coffee and nuts. I am now going to wax rhapsodic about their mac nuts. :cheesy: They have the Best Macadamia Nuts Ever . They are whole, very large, dry roasted without oil or salt. They are excellent for eating out of hand (I like to dip them in a little kosher salt, or sprinkle some on after toasting them) or to use in cooking. They have a really true flavor since there is no greasy, powdery, salty coating - like some other mac nuts available nationwide in supermarkets. A couple we know recently came back from Hawaii, and they gave us a bag of mac nuts. They may has well have been that unmentionable famous brand. They were mostly halved nuts and had a lot of salt on them. Useless for baking. If you like mac nuts and you want to try some really excellent ones, call Bay View Farms.

FYI we're up to 14 confirmed attendees. It's looking like it's going to be an interesting evening. I look forward to seeing everyone there. Anyone else thinking of joining us? RSVP by January 18th.

WineLibrary - excellent wine shop! Doing a search of nearby restaurants on yp.yahoo brought up most of the places I immediately thought of anyway, here's a summary: The two closest restaurants (besides the BK next door) are Scotty's Steakhouse, at 597 Morris Ave, you can't miss it, it is right on the intersection of Morris & Millburn. It is casual, moderately priced, decent fare, but definitely not a prime steakhouse. Just up Morris Ave is Emerald Russian Restaurant at #633. Although it bills itself as Russian, a lot of the menu is Italian. The best Russian dishes are served as specials. Get the specials. I'm not sure if they have a liquor license, it may be a really good choice if it is BYO right after visiting the Wine Library. I tried calling, but got the machine - (973) 467-8687. Here are some that are a short drive up Millburn Ave: Very, very casual (and fun) is J P Lee's, 318 Millburn Ave. Which is a mongolian BBQ place. You get ingredients from a salad bar like area and hand it to the chef to cook (you order soup and drinks from the servers, skip the soup). They also have a chinese buffet at dinner time, but stick to the BBQ. I'm sure it is BYO. I'm not sure if you wanted lunch or dinner, but a lot of people have been talking about Basilico at 324 Millburn Ave, which isn't open for lunch on Saturday. I called, it opens at 5, so if you are interested in going there, call, (973) 379-7020, and make your reservation now and plan on going to the Wine Library in the late afternoon. I haven't actually eaten there but I'm sure it is more formal than the others and certainly more expensive, however it is BYO. Other ethnic options are Enhance Thai Cuisine at 321 Millburn Ave (973) 376-8424 or Sono Japanese Restaurant at 323 Millburn Ave (973) 467-2444. Oh, one more, Sinclaire's of Millburn 279 Millburn Ave (973) 379-2232 is a terrific fish restaurant and store. Once again, check before hand to see if they are BYO and/or open for lunch.

Let me add a "me too" for most of the comments on places mentioned above. But I do have a few notes: Bergen County: Wild Ginger is probably the best one I've been to, maybe even better than Nobu in NYC. It is accordingly one of the most expensive places - not that it isn't worth it. East has decent quality, is packed all the time, which alleviates the worry about stuff sitting on the conveyor belt too long. They also have a nice selection of cold sake. Last time we were there we had some of the hot food, great beef negamaki. The sushi chefs will make stuff to order if you ask. Since the little plates hold about half an order at a regular sushi place, you can try a greater variety of types of sushi too. A good rule of thumb for this place is to order sushi only if you are sitting next to the conveyor belt. If you are at a table, get cooked food. A good everyday sushi place if you live in the area. I've only been to Yamaguchi once, and have heard from more than one person how good it is, and how full it is of Japanese business men. However, perhaps because so many Japanese business men frequent it, it is also full of inescapable cigarette smoke, ruining the experience for me no matter what quality the fish. Morris County: Nikko is good, but too packed all the time. Believe it or not, East Tokyo (the place in front of the bowling alley) on Rt 10 in East Hanover has just as good food, friendlier staff and you don't usually have to wait cause it is a larger place. No, you can't hear the bowling alley, they are completely separate. Midori, the restaurant the Nikko owners opened further up Rt 10 West is OK, but not as good as the original. Frankly, the first time I went there it literally smelled a little fishy. Similar the second time, so we stuck to cooked food and haven't been back. The best sushi in Morristown is at Nagano on Washington St, it's on the second floor, basically across the street from Grand Cafe. Best quality, but more traditional than Wild Ginger. Sono: Millburn is in Essex County, not Morris. That is a really good place. Decent sushi and great fried oysters.

mikec - your post got me curious about Chez Catherine, but you didn't mention where it is located. I assumed Montclair from the context of your post, so I did a search. I think I was wrong, is this the location? Jason and I will have to try it soon. Chez Catherine 431 North Ave W Westfield, NJ (908) 654-4011

As long as we are 16 or fewer people, it won't be a big deal if you just show up. Check in around the RSVP date to see how many attendees we are up to.