Rachel Perlow

Ah, but a Wiener Schnitzel would be veal. What's a pork schnitzel called? I agree with the lemon wedge, adds just the right sour tinge to the fried cutlet. I like it with tonkatsu or schnitzel.

No, it's pretty much the same flour/egg wash/bread crumbs (panko) method. You might want to fry in sesame oil. Not the toasted kind. I think Korean and Japanese cooks use a simple sesame oil for a lot of frying. I would serve tonkatsu with some asian greens, rice, and well, tonkatsu sauce, which is kind of flavored ketchup.

Yeah, you could just use flour, but then it would be all crunchy and fried.

Well, wouldn't using Panko turn the pork chops into tonkatsu? Which is good, but not the same as schnitzel. To make tonkatsu, you do the standard flour then egg wash then panko crumbs method of coating, then shallow friy in vegetable oil. For schnitzel, I use plain bread crumbs (after the flour and egg), and fry in a mixture of butter and oil, usually peanut because that's what I have, but plain veg oil is fine too. I like to serve it with buttered spatzle sprinkled with parsley. Sauteed (red) cabbage with apple is another excellent side.

Wait, you guys eat the hulls? I think of home roasted pumpkin seeds like sunflower seeds, you pick or bite the nut out the hull. I wouldn't think of using them as a salad or soup topper w/out shelling them first.

It's next to Goodman's True Value Hardware, 1400 Palisade Ave, Teaneck

Ooh, and then you won't need the table by the proposed pass-through (B), and, if you put another counter-bar at the pass through, with stools in the dining room, you'd have two rows of seating for your cooking show. I like the idea of red knobs & pulls for the newly painted cabinets, especially since you are doing the floor in red & white checkerboard. If you can't find the right red in stock, you can always paint cheap wood or metal ones -- and do the exposed hinges on the penninsula as well. You're taking the doors off to paint them white, so easy enough to paint the hardware too.

Speaking of creme brulee... A bakery we recently discovered does wonderful things with creme brulee. First off, it is baked in a crust, rather than a ramekin, which seems so much more appropriate for taking home. And he does some wonderful flavors in addition to vanilla (mango, pistachio, pumpkin). Jason just did a short article about this shop for the New York Times. Here's a link to the thread about Patisserie St. Michel, where you will see lots of pictures of Andre's stuff. Just for inspiration. Keep up the good work!

It costs more than the average Indian buffet, but is definitely worth the difference.

I'd never heard of Re-Store either. Click here to find a list of their locations.

I wanna go back!

As long as we're talking Morris County, you should check out the Moghul Restaurant at 35 Morris St, Morristown (973-631-1100). I haven't been to the Edison location, but if it run by the same people as the one who own the Moghul in Morristown, I'm sure it's great. We loved going to Moghul when we lived near Morristown. It had a fabulous lunch buffet and unique and high end a la carte offerings at dinner.

Update from Andre: people are already showing up at the shop having read the story. They weren't prepared for it, thinking that it was coming out on Sunday (we told them on Thursday, when we knew when it would be published). I don't know whether to say to you all to hold off and give them some breathing room, or get there quick before everything sells out! Rosie -- I haven't seen it in print yet, did any of the photograghs make it in?

Jason's still in bed, but I thought I'd respond regarding the article. It is a short (~350 words) "Quick Bites" about the Patisserie, designed to quickly inform readers about new or lesser known food shops or restaurants that ordinarily wouldn't get the full review treatment. Most of what was written was covered in the Best made cakes of north NJ thread, and continued into it's own thread, linked by Jon. I hope the story will give this twenty-four year old establishment a much appreciated boost in business, not that it was lacking -- most of their stuff sells out by the early afternoon.

Here's the DirectTV schedule for the show, you may have to adjust the settings to see it for your time zone.

I was thinking a baker's rack on that long wall would be good microwave & toaster placement area, freeing up the countertop.

Marlene -- I see that the resort you recommended above is all-inclusive. We've found in the past that we generally don't care for all-inclusives because the food is usually of lesser quality and we like to get out and explore the region, including restaurants outside the resort. How does this place's all-inclusive compare to the run of the mill all-inclusive place?

It really sounds to me like you are over grinding your nuts. A few seconds too long in the food processor and you've got nut butter. You need to use the pulse setting when grinding nuts, and definitely err on the side of under grinding them. I'd add the sugar for the final pulse or two and mix the butter in by hand, as I think it may draw out the oils from the nuts.

Freeze the custard (with "stuff") in a ziplock freezer bag, separately from the crust. Just defrost, fill and bake.

If the idea is to just not make it very rich in dairy, but you don't mind a little fat, then make a veloute, perhaps out of fish stock instead of chicken.

Note to Matt: Pesto freezes very well. Use ice cube trays. FYI, however, I just usually freeze the basil pureed with a little olive oil. That way I can easily make pesto out of season, or just add a cube to season a tomato sauce or some soup. Most instructions for doing this I've seen say to leave out the cheese when freezing, but as long as you don't actually cook the pesto (allow it to defrost in the fridge overnight rather than microwave), it tastes just fine. Just gently warm it on the pasta or whatever.

What, no mandoo-gui? And am I the only one in the world that likes the sweet potato casserole with pineapple and topped with marshmallows? It's good. Dammit. And the French's green bean casserole, that must be made with canned soup, etc. I've tried making it from scratch, no one liked it as well.

Dammit, now I want a cheesesteak. Not that cheesesteak. Just a cheesesteak.

Did you add any salt to the dish? I know that butternut squash in particular needs some to balance the sweetness.

Pick up lots of individual serving sized tins or plastic ware, whenever you have leftovers of anything, freeze it in an individually sized portion. Use Sharpie markers to label, label, label -- everything. You will not remember which container is tomato gravy and which is chili, or milk versus cream of something soup. I thought I was defrosting a piece of steak, which turned out to be Chinese roast pork. Oh well, stir fry the next day, but a label would have helped. Use the too meaty sauce to make lasagna or ziti. Have cans of tomato around, it can always be thinned with more tomato. As an alternative to regular Italian spaghetti, top with shredded feta for Greek Spaghetti (learned that at a local Greek restaurant, it's really good). Precook beans and freeze them in small portions -- easy to add to soup or as a side dish. Use sandwich or snack sized baggies for freezing small portions, then store all those little baggies inside larger freezer weight bags, keeping like items together. Milk freezes well. I don't know how much milk you guys drink, but I usually can't get through a half-gallon without the dregs spoiling, but if I buy quarts, I run out just when I need more. I buy a gallon and freeze about 3/4 of it in 4 quart-sized containers (around 3 cups in each). If you need some defrosted in a hurry, do it in the microwave (loosely covered, I remove the lid then just place back on top w/out sealing), stopping every couple of minutes to pour off the liquid, shake the icy part and return to the microwave. If you know you are going to need some the next day, just stick a frozen container in the fridge the night before. I do it for the convenience of not running out of milk, but it doesn't hurt that gallons are cheaper per unit than smaller containers. Oh and congratulations!