Rachel Perlow

I was making macaroni and cheese and had an inspired topping idea. Took some leftover blanched cauliflower (can't eat it roasted every time), and gave it a quick whirl in the food processor along with a little bit of the grated cheese for the sauce and a bit of olive oil, and used that as the topping for the casserole. Bake until the mac & cheese is bubbly and the cauliflower is browned. You wouldn't even know it was cauliflower. I wouldn't use already roasted cauliflower -- too brown -- or raw, as it may get watery when cooking.

This reminds me of something I thought of yesterday while stuck having lunch at a Chili's. Here is an item from their menu: Other than some spices I suppose are sprinkled on the chicken breast prior to cooking, what the hell makes this "cajun"?

Serve it with lime wedges. That is, vinegar in the kitchen (a teaspoon at a time), but to pick up the acid at the table, lime makes a much nicer presentation.

Just an update, the Pathmark version are called "Tasty Tots." As for flattening for extra crunchiness, I'd suggest the flat end of a meat tenderizer. What's that called? A meat pounder? Anyway, do the tots for the first 10 minutes at 400, then when you are supposed to flip, flatten them, another 5 minutes or so, then flip. That's what I'm going to try next time. This process is making them sound like tostones to me.

My mother hates those pin feathers on kosher birds as well and obsessively pulls them before cooking the bird. Unless there's a really hairy patch, I hardly notice the occasional feather. Also, they are much easier to remove when the bird is cooked. They are usually on the bits of bird that don't usually get eaten, so I don't see the big deal.

Don't forget the black pepper. Lots of freshly ground black pepper.

For a very slight cut, like a paper cut or something that bleeds but is not deep, has anyone else ever used stiptic powder? For humans, the most common form is a white stick, used to stop shaving nicks. However, I have veterinary stiptic powder in the house for when I cut the dogs' nails, jic I cut too far down. Well, I had a small cut the other day and I pressed a little of the powder on it, worked like a charm. But I suppose I wouldn't use it while in the process of dinner prep if it were in any area that could contaminate the food (put a glove on over the wound in that case).

We never bother with the paella at TdE. I guess we must have tried it at the North Bergen location at some point, but it's dropped of the radar to us. Instead, we usually order at variety of tapas and (depending on how many people are at the table) just one or two main courses. If we were in the mood for seafood, I'd prefer the Mariscada (Verde) over the paella. If you want a rice dish, you have to try their Arroz con Pollo, amazing -- it is not the same as a paella.

How about if you take a sheet pan with you into the freezer and place the pastries you need onto it while remaining in the freezer? It is not good for the quality of your product to have them partially defrost and then refreeze numerous times. If it is too cold for you in the freezer, then put a hook up next to the freezer and keep a coat there. Another option would be to not freeze them one type of item to a sheet. Instead, make assortment trays so all you have to do is pull out one sheet and you have your assortment ready to go straight into the oven.

My only objection to much of the above is the addition of salt. Those golden nuggets are pretty salty already. Pepper is definitely a good accent.

I have a question regarding cooking the Boeuf Bourguignon. Here's a quick summary of the recipe: Brown beef, set aside. Brown onions, sprinkle with 2 T flour, add wine, optional: add demi glace (I added a little broth), add carrots and meat back to pot, add water to cover. Simmer for 2 hours or until beef is tender. Now, when I had just added the wine and broth, the sauce came together and looked to be the right finished consistancy, but of course the meat had to cook. Adding water to cover completely thinned out the sauce, but it did have 2 hours to simmer and reduce. The meat actually took closer to 3 hours to become fork tender. I was wondering if it would make more sense to add less (or no) water, and cover the pot? The meat would cook faster and this would be more of a braise, yes? I was using a Le Cruiset dutch oven, so the pot is plenty heavy and so is the lid.

Glenn, I see you were there on a Thursday night. We stopped in on Saturday night and the place was packed. We actually had to wait for a table. Service suffered a little because of it, but the food was as good as ever.

It's funny Squeat mentioned the Safeway store brand, because that's what we have, well, not Safeway, but Pathmark. Much better than Ore Ida. And, you bake them at 450 F (actually, I do them at 425F w/convection), they don't need to actually be fried at home.

Actually, we once visited the Stinking Rose in San Francisco and I remember thinking the Garlic Rose in Madison was way better -- food and atmosphere. The only item I didn't care for the many times (more than twice, definitely) we went there was the garlic ice cream. I thought it might be made with roasted garlic and therefore sweet, but it wasn't and the raw garlic overpowered the vanilla ice cream base. I remember particularly enjoying the pork chops there, and the garlic/onion soup. Oh, but I agree with most of the above, it's not necessarily worth a trip out from NYC just for dinner. But there's a lot to do in the Morristown/Madison area that might be worth a day trip.

Oh well. I called the patisserie near our home (Jason wrote them up for the NYT, click, and in eGullet, Patisserie St. Michel, but he's not set up for mail order. He has the most amazing petit fours. Really beautiful with pistachio and fruit fillings.

Well, we never went very frequently, every few months or so. The main reason we stopped going is that they closed.

Well it is our anniversary today. Wink.Anyway, Jason wanted me to post a more exact recipe & technique so here goes: Egg Rolls Vegetables 1 napa cabbage, separate rib from leaf and slice both 2 stalks celery, finely sliced 1 lb bean sprouts 1 carrot, julienned (for color, I also used up a bit of red cabbage that was in the fridge) 4 oz white mushroom, sliced 2 oz drived mushroom, soaked, sliced (I used black fungus and shitake) 1 med onion, quartered & sliced 1 bunch scallion, separate white from green, finely sliced 8 waterchestnuts, julienned Meats 1 lb shrimp, cooked & roughly chopped (we had shrimp for dinner last night and I bought extra, cooked them all at the same time, seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. There was a lot of liquid in the container, drain off and reserve) 6 oz chinese roast pork, cooked & sliced 4 oz ground pork, fresh Flavorings 2 Tbs Soy Sauce - divided 1 tsp rice wine vinegar 2 tsp chinese mustard 2 tsp salt (most of this will be used to salt the cabbage and rinsed away, only use about 1/2 tsp in the sauce) 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp pepper 1 tsp corn starch drained shrimp "stock" 1/4 cup oyster sauce Also Pork Fat and/or Peanut or Corn Oil Several bowls At least two colanders/strainers Large Wok Prep the cabbage first, then placing the leaves and ribs in separate strainers, liberally salt them. Allow to rest for 30 minutes, rinse thoroughly, and drain for another 30 minuts (or use a salad spinner). After the cabbage is salted, rinsed and drained, and the rest of the ingredients are assembled, the first thing to cook is the roast pork. You want to cook it slow to render out some of its fat. Remove from wok and set aside. Turn up the heat and stir fry the cabbage in the pork fat, first the ribs then the leaves. If you don't have much pork fat, and for subsequent stir frying, use peanut oil, corn oil, and/or bacon grease alone or in combination. Stir fry each vegetable individually, seasoning with a small splash of soy sauce, until it is just barely cooked. Add each ingredient to a large colander inserted in a larger bowl as it is cooked. Vegetables with similar cooking times may be combined, but you don't want to overcrowd your wok. After the vegetables are cooked, add the fresh ground pork to the wok, when it almost done, add the reconstituted dried mushrooms (if you didn't cook them yet). Mix the corn starch and other flavoring ingredients into the shrimp jus. If you don't have any, you could use chicken stock, or just whatever juice has accumulated in the bowl under the colander with the vegetables in it. Cook down until very thick, almost dry. Lower the heat and pour all the vegetables and cooked meat into the wok. Carefully stir and fold the ingredients until they are all thoroughly mixed with each other and the sauce. Using two large wooden spatulas helped. Pour all the ingredients back into the colander in the bowl and allow to drain/cool for at least 1/2 hour. Jason described the filling/rolling/frying pretty well above. The oil should be at around 375 F, but I used the bubbles on the chopstick combined with the sacrificial first fry technique. Pork and Chive Dumpling Filling 1 bunch green Chinese Chives (not the same as the chive herb. If you can't find them (or yellow chives) a better substitute would be scallions 1 cake pressed tofu, finely diced (by hand) 1 lb fresh ground pork 1 small can water chestuts 4 gloves garlic 1 small finger of ginger, peeled and sliced against the grain 1 carrot, peeled, roughly chopped 2 ribs celery, roughly chopped 1 oz cellophane noodle, soaked 1 Tbs Soy Sauce 1 Tbs Oyster Sauce 1 tsp sesame oil 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 egg, beaten Slice the chinese chives finely and put in a large bowl. Add the finely diced tofu and ground pork. Set up your food processor. With the blade spinning, drop in the garlic and ginger. Then the roughly chopped carrot, celery and water chestnuts. Pulse to chop, but not puree the vegetables. Add to the chives & pork bowl. Add the drained cellophane noodles to the FP and chop, add to the bowl. Add the seasonings and egg and mix thoroughly, you may have to use your hands. Use this filling for steamed or boiled dumplings, fried gyoza or mini-egg rolls. Very important: when filling the rolls or dumplings, especially when frying, it is necessary to get out as much air as possible, so that they don't blow up and ruin the oil.

I added a subtle subtitle.

Really? The lettuce too? I know that's true for the lycopine in a tomato, which needs to be consumed with some fat for it to be useful.

Here we go again. It's "Wino Wednesday" but there's a different wine guy (Fred Prince), not Carol Burman.

OK, I'm listening over the computer now (click "listen live" link at http://www.wor710.com). He's got Rocky Aoki on today, talking about Benihana, sake, etc. Edit: After a while it became obvious the main reason for Rocky to be on the show was to promote his Sake Club, click RKA-SakeClub.com. When I listened the first time, Alton Brown was on and I wasn't sure if Rocco was talking too fast because Alton was talking fast too. Rocco is still talking too fast. I think it's contagious, because Rocky is talking a little fast too. Also, the commercials, especially the restaurant commercials, do seem a little more intrusive then when AS was at the helm.

I've listened once so far. Rocco talks too fast.

It was bland, yes, but the calamari was cooked just right so it has a lot of potential. It should be worth noting that the standard pizza toppings of red pepper flakes, oregano, granulated garlic, and grated cheese are available on every table, in addition to salt & pepper. I added a little of each (not the s&p) and it vastly improved the slice -- I guess I would have liked mozzarella on it, I want cheese on my pizza. To me the only pizza that didn't need any of those toppings was the sausage. The seasonings in the sausage itself flavored the pie so well that it leads me to believe it was put on the pizza raw, so the flavored fat could ooze everywhere. The clam pie was pretty much tied for first for me, although a shake of red pepper flakes was helpful, and I wouldn't have minded some tomato sauce.

Yeah, but when they include ice cream (a frequent freebie), it is always nice and frozen. They use a thermal bag, similar to the one they put ribs in.

You can input your time zone or zip code to get your local programming. I usually turn to DirecTV because that's what we have, if you use cable or just broadcast, then turn to your cable provider's website or tvguide.com.As for the show... I've watched two episodes so far, and I am surprised by how much of the food I don't want to try. In regards to the smoked salmon/apple/onion timbale, I would have liked some instruction on how to serve it. I totally didn't get the "sweet cheese medley" until at the end when he topped crackers with it as an hors d'oeuvres. But even then, it didn't appeal to me. The pico de gallo looked messy -- whole cilantro stems, ketchup??? And the huge ham chunks in the quick cassolet didn't appeal to me. Oh, and the whole avocado half coated in what looked like spicy thousand island dressing, ick. On the other hand the Asparagus with Croutons and Chorizo is a totally new way to do asparagus to me, definitely something I will try. And, the almond cake with berries looked very good (although I would probably just do a single layer, how are you supposed to serve that multi-layered but not frosted version, with sticky syrup and loose berries all over it? Overall I like the show, mostly because it is Jacques. The show and the website both have excellent production value. I love the tour of the set on the website (woof says the stuffed blue dog ). And while the music reminds me of Mr. Rogers, I just love watching him, even if I only like one idea per episode.