mamster

I made a most remarkable recipe last night. It's originally from Jane Grigson, but I found it in Tamasin Day-Lewis's Well-Tempered Food. I can give you the whole recipe in a couple of sentences: Get a 3-4 pound Savoy cabbage and core and slice it. Blanch the cabbage five minutes, drain, shock in cold water, and squeeze out most of the water. Layer the cabbage with 1.5 lb lightly seasoned pork sausage (I used "English banger" sausages from Whole Foods)--three layers of cabbage separated by two layers of sausage. Season with salt and pepper and dot the top with butter. Bake, covered, at 300 F for 2.5 hours. It comes out rich, juicy, hot, melting, almost unbelievably good. Give it a try, quick, before winter is over.

I'll try to make it.

I did a stupid microwave trick yesterday. My microwave is on a table at about waist height, and it has a turntable. I put in a bowl of Korean grilled pork, microwaved for a minute, opened the door, and the entire bowl was gone! For about two seconds I was questioning everything I knew about the universe, then I realized that I'd put the bowl in at the very front of the turntable and it was now at the very back, and I couldn't see it from where I was standing. This should have been in Dave's article, I think.

That took you until the third paragraph? Who's the fool?

MsR, Laurie and I are in for Georgian.

I drank two 2001 Selbachs tonight. First, QbA Piesporter Michelsberg, $7 from European Selections (I think that's the name) in Seattle. I opened this yesterday, actually, and while it tastes fine, it has an overwhelmingly sulfurous nose which didn't dissipate overnight. I believe the technical term is that it smells really crappy. It's light and acidic with little overall character, would be okay drunk out of a tumbler so you don't have to smell it, and frankly mostly I got it because I wanted to taste it alongside the... Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Auslese, $22 from Pike and Western in Seattle. First the sweetness, then the acidity, then, well, I've brushed my teeth and I can still taste the mineral flavors, like pulling a rock out of a clear mountain stream and licking it (which would be cheaper, but you might get giardiasis). Not that I have scads of experience, but this is everything I want out of a riesling. Give me a hip flask full of this stuff. I am so glad most people don't like German wines so I can get this for $22. Now, whether I could actually tell the great 2001s from 2000s or anything else, probably not. But I'm happy.

Do you think New York is so far that col klink and Laurie and I wouldn't come and kick your ass?

I think people sometimes convince themselves that dessert only has calories if you order it yourself. The creamsicle ideas sound delicious, and I agree with nightscotsman that you're better off not mentioning the yogurt. I wonder if you could substitute coconut milk for cream in other desserts. (Not whipped cream, obviously.)

I would never leave out the fried noodles, snowangel!

I agree with all the of the above except the parts I don't understand because they're in English. Trust me--my recipe will not cause any type of mange, blanc or otherwise. The unreported backstory to this column is that I told nightscotsman I wanted to make tamarind panna cotta and he said, "You know the tamarind will curdle the cream, right?" "Of course I know that," I said. "I was just testing you." Also, after eating a whole lot of panna cotta while working on this column, I can report that (a) the recipe is very delicious, and (b) I've had about enough of it for this decade. Why it should seem any richer than ice cream, I don't know, but it does.

Coconut Panna Cotta with Tamarind Sauce Serves 6 as Dessert. See Desperate Measures:Panna Cotta and related discussion One of the easiest individual desserts you can make is panna cotta, and it can be prepared ahead of time and quickly plated at the last minute. My aspiring pastry chef friend Neil Robertson calls this restaurant standard "cream Jell-O," and he's right. Gelatin with cream (or Cool Whip) is the basis for some of the most devastating culinary train wrecks of Middle America, but take the combination to Italy and suddenly it's elegant. There's very little more to panna cotta than cream, gelatin, and sugar. Another liquid such as milk or buttermilk is often added to cut the richness a bit. The cream mixture is usually flavored with fresh vanilla bean. The dessert is chilled until it sets and is usually turned out onto a plate to make an attractive plateau shape like a flan, but you can also serve it in dishes or glasses. Another fun thing about this recipe, besides the fact that it's no harder than making Jell-O, is that it's another use for ramekins, one of the most unexpectedly versatile of kitchen tools. Plain white ramekins work, but I prefer the colorful Emile Henry "Le Potier" sets. Aside from panna cotta, we use them for souffles, molten chocolate cake, pots de creme, and serving dipping sauces. Enjoying panna cotta is no more challenging than making it. While it looks and sounds elegant, it tastes like comfort food. While your guests lap it up, you can snicker quietly, look both ways for trademark lawyers, and ask how everyone likes the Coconut Cream Jell-O with Tropical Froot Sauce. This recipe is based on a coconut-tamarind cocktail developed by Neil Robertson for a column I wrote about tamarind. The article, with cocktail recipe, will appear soon in the Seattle Times, so consider this a sneak preview of the flavor combination. This panna cotta would be just right after a Thai meal. Panna Cotta 1-1/4 c heavy cream 3/4 c coconut milk, fresh or canned 1-1/2 tsp gelatin 6 T sugar 1/2 vanilla bean 1 c whole milk Tamarind Sauce 2 T tamarind pulp 1/2 c boling water 1/4 c sugar 1 tiny pinch of ground cloves 1/4 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp cold water To make the panna cotta: 1. Combine the cream and coconut milk in a medium saucepan. If you are using canned coconut milk (I recommend Chaokoh brand), it may have separated. If it has, empty the can into a separate container, microwave or heat briefly on the stove, stir until it recombines, then measure. 2. Remove 1/4 cup of the cream and coconut milk mixture to a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well. (It can stand while you heat the cream in the next step.) 3. Bring the cream and coconut milk mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cream and gelatin mixture and the sugar. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the seeds into the pan, and throw in the bean halves. (Did you know that vanilla beans are the fruit of a species of orchid, and all orchids have tiny "dust seeds"?) 4. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the gelatin and sugar have completely dissolved. Remove and discard vanilla beans. Transfer the mixture to a glass measuring cup set in an ice water bath. I use a 4-cup Pyrex sitting in an 8"x8" baking pan of ice water. 5. Add the milk and stir often until the mixture is slightly colder than room temperature (test with your finger; no need to break out the thermometer). 6. Divide mixture into 6 half-cup ramekins (have the ramekins sitting in a baking pan, such as a 9"x13") and refrigerate overnight. If you want to dig in sooner, increase the gelatin to 1 3/4 tsp and refrigerate at least 4 hours. To make the sauce and serve: 1. Pour the boiling water over the tamarind pulp in a small bowl, let it sit for 10 minutes, then use a spoon to mix well. 2. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Don't push the pulp through the sieve or the sauce will be grainy. 3. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Add the cloves and cornstarch and simmer just until thickened. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. 4. Unmold the panna cotta by running a paring knife around the edge and inverting the ramekin onto a plate. Spoon sauce over the plated panna cotta and serve. Keywords: Dessert, Intermediate, Italian, The Daily Gullet ( RG216 )

Leek and Onion Tartlets Serves 6 as Appetizer. The tartlets make great party food. You can make the dough and filling the day before, blind bake the shells in the morning, and assemble and bake the tartlets just before serving. And they travel well, stacked in an 8"x8" baking pan. See Mamster's complete article here and discussion here Crust 1 stick of butter 6-1/2 oz pastry flour (or substitute all-purpose flour) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp baking powder ice water 1-1/2 tsp cider vinegar Filling 2 T butter 8 medium leeks 1/2 c cream 2 egg yolks salt and pepper 1 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese grated 2 medium onions To make the crust: 1. Divide the butter into two parts (5 tbsp and 3 tbsp). Cut into small cubes and put 3 tbsp in the freezer and 5 tbsp in the refrigerator. 2. Put the flour, salt, and baking powder in a recloseable bag. Put the bag in the freezer and let it and the butter freezer for 30 minutes. 3. Place the flour mixture in the food processor bowl and process for a few seconds to mix. Save the bag. 4. Add the refrigerated butter and process 20 seconds until well combined. Add the frozen butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. 5. Add the vinegar and 2.5 tbsp water and pulse six times. The mixture will not come together in a ball. Reach in and pinch a bit and see if it holds together. If not, add a bit more water and pulse three more times. Don't add more than 3.5 tbsp water total. 6. Pour the dough (which still won't be doughy at this point) back into the bag, seal, and knead through the bag by squeezing it until the dough comes together into a ball. This sounds silly, but really it's quite easy and neat. 7. Refrigerate the dough for at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight. To make the filling: 1. Prep the leeks: Cut off and discard the root end and green parts of the leaves. Halve the remaining section and rinse under cold water to clean. Slice thinly across the grain. 2. Prep the onions: Quarter and peel the onions and slice thinly. You should now have about 1.5 lb total of prepped leeks and onions. 3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and onions and cook half an hour or until lightly browned and soft. 4. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream. Cool to room temperature and add the egg yolks. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To assemble and bake: 1. Preheat the oven to 375. Roll the dough out to between 1/16" and 1/8" thick and line a 9" tart pan or six 4" flan rings. Refrigerate the shells at least 30 minutes (or the sides will collapse). Prick the dough, weight the shells with pie weights or beans, and blind bake 20 minutes. 2. Reduce heat to 350. If using flan rings, remove the rings. Fill each tart to the rim with the leek and onion filling and top with a sprinkle of Parmigiano. Bake 30 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature. Keywords: French, Appetizer, Snack, Vegetarian, Intermediate, Hors d'oeuvre, Vegetables, Cheese, The Daily Gullet ( RG215 )

I have a kao soi column in the works, although it will be necessarily incomplete since I've never been to Chiang Mai. Kao soi is Chiang Mai curry noodles, one of the best noodle soups ever.

Important to a massaman curry, I think, it that unlike a red or green curry, it gets flavored with meat juices like a stew. You can make a perfectly good green curry chicken by just throwing some chicken meat in at the last minute, but that's not how I think of massaman curry.

I haven't made this much at home, although I've eaten a lot of it, and one thing I can tell you is that the commercial massaman curry pastes are disappointing. You'll have to make your own paste if you want a massaman to write home to Chiang Mai about. Armed with this knowledge, I've procrastinated about perfecting a homemade version ever since.

I sort of understand this, because I've made them at home and it was harder than I thought to get enough filling in there. Then again, I'm just puttering around in my kitchen, and out in the world there are real dim sum chefs. My top criterion is not too sweet. I realize they have to be somewhat sweet, but often the sugar is all you can taste. Believe it or not, they used to sell some pretty good ones at Costco. You'd wrap them in plastic and microwave them. They'd rank solidly in the middle of the ones I've had at various dim sum parlors.

Awww. I never learn anything from MY column. For that I have to read Dave's column.

In the recipe I posted, the vinegar is about 4% of the flour. You can't taste it.

I don't want to organize the next one, but I'll participate. If I do it again, it'll be more ingredients that I like. But it wasn't hard to put together. Who's up for it?

I mostly don't care, and I have mostly All-Clad Master Chef, too, but once I was at a cooking class and watched someone using a 10" LTD skillet, and I was gripped with envy. So I guess I'm Suzanne.

The only one I'd consider is the Ma Po Doufeu oven.

Schielke, if you don't know what tartlets are, clearly you haven't read my translation of Lolita. Probably if I revisit this recipe, I'll trying making a lard crust--Beranbaum recommends lard for all her savory pies and tarts, but I was too lazy to render lard and don't trust the supermarket stuff. Speaking of which, did anyone read the lard pie crust article in the current Saveur? I loved it. I'd put shallots on the onion side of the ledger because they have separable leaves. This is not a botanical opinion, just that I love shallots almost as much as onions and am looking for some way to fit that into my onion-scented world view. One thing I must add is that all of you should buy flan rings. We've used them for several different things now and they rule. Laurie made these chocolate tarts with orange cream for a dinner party last week, and people went ape. Ape!

You can go shallow or deep--that's up to you and what you want to do with it. I do this sort of thing in an 8 qt stockpot from Williams-Sonoma which was $50. I don't think you need to spend a lot for this piece; the Chefmate that people have been talking about sounds great. Le Creuset would also be a good choice. I'm an All-Clad fan, but they will charge you a fortune for a big pot, and it's not worth it.

Jason, you should write a cookbook called The Perlow Variations, a collection of your favorite recipes, plus bacon.

Sounds great. 727 seems to do a great job with fish, and a juicy pork chop? When I was there for lunch the other day (with seawakim, though I didn't know it), they were doing pretty well.