rnewman

I have had wonderful results with Stoddard's ((617-244-4187). Currently their only location is in the Chestnut Hill Mall. They sharpen all knives by hand and are very knowledgeable.

Maida Heatter's recipe for Polka Dot Cheesecake is baked without a crust, unmolded, then a crust of graham cracker crumbs is applied after unmolding. The recipe link is below and should give you clues as to baking times and methods. link Hope this helps. Ruchi

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I realize that driving around and stopping when the mood strikes is half the fun, but with so many wineries in the area to choose from, I find that I get a bit overwhelmed if we don't have at least a few stops planned. Also, we are really interested in bringing back wines from makers that we absolutely cannot find on the East coast so suggestions for wineries we may not have heard of are much appreciated. Ruchi

Hello all, My husband and I will be staying in Napa in early March. Since this is our first extended stay in the area we would really like to take advantage of this and visit some of the smaller, not as well known wineries in Napa and Sonoma. We have already been to Domaine Chandon, Tryfethyn and Stags Leap on previous visits and a couple of our favorites are Miner and Peju. Any suggestions, especially in Sonoma would be much appreciated. Ruchi

I'm not sure if I'm too late with the recommendation, but we had an excellent meal in Salem a few weeks ago at the Lyceum Bar and Grill (43 Church Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970 T 978-745-7665). It's about a 5-10 minute walk from the PEM.

I have made probably the two simplest (technique-wise) things from the cookbook --French Onion Soup and the Roquefort and Leek Quiche. Both were excellent and I especially recommend his recipe for pate brisee as it remained crispy even after keeping leftovers of the quiche in the fridge for a couple of days. Oh, I also tried the garlic sausage with lentils which was also delicious, but, in my opinion, the recipe was very complicated for what should be a relatively simple dish (although this may be a common complaint with many of Keller's recipes).

I mix granny smiths with either Spygolds or Fuji apples in my pies -- a good mix of tart and sweet.

Thanks so much Steve for a great, informative post on an already great, informative thread. We had also recently purchased the GE Profile Dual Fuel Range -- now I'm not sure what the wattage is since, like you, I didn't know it came in more than one. I've only used it a few times for baking, but I'm very pleased with the oven size and the convection oven. It's nice to know that two professional pastry chefs feel that this oven is a good, affordable option given the number of exorbitantly priced ranges out there. I'm also pleased to hear about the quality and range of options at IKEA. We will tackle the cabinets next and again, while style is important, functionality and affordability are more important. Thanks again to both Steve and Brooks for so much great info. Ruchi

My husband and I went to Salts for dinner a few weeks ago. We have recently moved back to the Boston area after a 4 year absence and were very excited to go back to one of our favorite restaurants. We had dined there frequently when we lived in Central Square. We were pleased to find that the ambiance associated with Salts had remained. We felt welcomed when we walked in and we appreciated the warmness and congeniality of the atmosphere. We were a little disappointed with the food -- the appetized and dessert were good, but the main course was mediocre and the portions unnecessarily small. I has the corn consomme to start, which was wonderful and beautifully presented. The flavors of the corn, lobster and fried green tomato worked well together. I then had the fig-stuffed pork loin which just didn't do it for me. The figs stuffing tasted musty and was very dry while the hazelnut "polenta" was pasty and a little bitter. The dessert redeemed a mediocre meal somewhat -- I had an apricot tarte tatin with lavender ice cream (it doesn't appear to be on the summer menu listed on the web page). The apricots were caramelized perfectly, the tiny pastry disc was crisp and light, and the flavors went really well with the lavender ice cream. Oh, my husband had the Lamb's lettuce salad to start, followed by the rack of lamb and ending with the warm chocolate cake. I have to say that the service was wonderful, the wine list well chosen and again, the atmosphere warm, welcoming and not pretentious. So, while our meal was okay to good, there were enough good things about Salts to make us want to come back and see if we could get a better meal next time.

[ I made a green bean salad that was a hit with my friends last night. Blanch the beans then chill in an ice bath. Drain and toss with toasted walnuts and feta. Toss again with a simple vinaigrette (I used mustard made with walnut oil). It was so simple and delicious] I've been making a similar salad for years with the a mint vinaigrette and the addition of a little red onion. It's always been well very popular with all of my guests and is a great way to serve green beans cold in the summer.

I couldn't believe my eyes, but yes, there they were in the freezer case at Vons in San Diego. They are marketed under the Popsicle brand, it clearly says on the box "JELLO Pudding Pops" and also says "made with JELLO pudding". I quickly ate two just to verify authenticity -- we've all been waiting a long time for these to come back-- and they tasted just wonderful. There was that really thin layer of ice over the frozen pudding goodness and although the pops were smaller than I remembered and definitely a different shape, they tasted just the same. The box I had was a variety pack which contained 12 pops and contained the chocolate, vanilla and chocolate/vanilla swirl flavors. I am so happy -- I couldn't understand why they stopped making these in the first place. Hopefully they will be marketed all across the country soon enough -- just in time for summer!

You might try grating the carrot to give a finer texture and to make it easy to mold the finished halva although this will alter the cooking time and amount of milk used somewhat.

Cory, The description you gave of the carrot halva in your second post is correct. The key is to cook the carrots in the milk quite slowly so the sugars in the milk caramelize properly. Additional sugar is then added after the milk has reduced and the carrots are soft. The cooking down of milk to an almost fudge-like consistency is used often in Indian desserts. Most of the times that I have seen carrot halva made or made it myself, I have added slivered almonds and ground cardamom when the carrot/milk/ghee mixture is almost done. I recently went to a South Indian restaurant and they had halva made with beets which was very pretty and the taste was wonderful as well. Prior to this I had never had any vegetable halva except for carrot so this makes me think that, as you mention, other sweet root vegetables might lend themselves well to this cooking process.

I have had great success making these apricot souffles which call for rehydrating dried apricots, then pureeing them and mixing with egg whites. I use the recipe from the New Basics cookbook, but it has also been featured in Gourmet magazine. It also helps that you can make the base up to two days in advance and fold in the egg whites just prior to baking. At least this will take care of some of your apricots. Ruchi Apricot Souffles with Vanilla Rum Creme Anglaise 6 ounces dried apricots (about 1 1/2 cups) 1 1/2 cups water 3/4 cup sugar plus additional for coating ramekins 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon dark rum if desired 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 5 large egg whites 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar Accompaniment: Vanilla rum crème anglaise 2 cups half-and-half 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 5 large egg yolks 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon dark rum, or to taste To make the apricot soufflé: In a heavy saucepan simmer apricots, water, and 1/2 cup sugar, covered, 20 minutes. Transfer hot mixture to a food processor and purée until very smooth. Force purée through a fine sieve into a bowl and stir in lemon juice, rum, vanilla, a pinch salt. Cool purée completely. Purée may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered,. Bring to room temperature before proceeding. Transfer purée to a large bowl. Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 7-ounce (3 1/2- by 1 3/4 - inch) ramekins and coat with additional sugar, knocking out excess. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat whites with pinch of salt until foamy. Beat in cream of tartar and beat whites until they hold soft peaks. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, and beat meringue until it just holds stiff peaks. Whisk about one forth meringue into purée to lighten and fold in remaining meringue gently but thoroughly. Ladle batter into ramekins and bake soufflés on a baking sheet in middle of oven 20 to 25 minutes, or until puffed, golden brown, and just set in center. Remove ramekins from oven. With 2 forks pull open center of each soufflé and pour some crème anglaise into each opening. Serve soufflés immediately. To make the vanilla rum crème anglaise: In a small heavy saucepan bring half-and-half just to a boil with vanilla bean and remove pan from heat. Scrape seeds from bean with a knife into half-and-half, reserving pod for another use if desired. In a bowl whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt and whisk in hot half-and-half in a stream. Return custard to pan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thickened (170°F. on a candy thermometer), but do not let boil. Pour sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally. Stir in rum. Chill sauce, covered, until very cold, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Makes about 2 1/4 cups.

How about trying a comination of saffron and cardamom in a creme brulee or creme caramel. This combination of flavors is found in many Indian dessers including kulfi (an Indian frozen dessert like ice-cream) and a phirni (ground rice pudding).

In our family masala chai would is made with fewer spices: a cinnamon stick and either green cardamom or black cardamom depending on who in the family was making it. The cinnamon stick is left whole and the cardamom coarsely ground. Spices are added when the water has come a boil and then left to boil for about 30 seconds or 1 minute after which milk is added at a ratio of about 1 part milk to 3 parts water. The mixture is allowed to come to a boil again and then removed from the heat. Tea (sometimes loose, sometimes in bags) is added and the mixture left to stand, covered, for about 5 minutes. When we had colds or were feeling unwell my mother would make us tea made in the same way, but she would add a healthy amount of thinly sliced fresh ginger and whole black peppercorns to the water at the outset and leave out the cinnamon and cardamom. I still make it this way when I am feeling under the weather and somehow it always makes me feel a little better. Ruchi

Thanks for the kind welcome Suvir. My mother's recipe differed from yours in that it did not have as many ingredients and therefore was not as complex flavor-wise. I do not know exactly what her recipe is, but I do know that it contains a fair bit of fenugreek seeds and kalonji (black onion seed), it was definitely sweeter, thinner, and not nearly as spicy. Living in San Diego has given me the luxury of having wonderful tomatoes at the farmer's market for most of the year although when I was visiting my parents in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago, we found wonderful local tomatoes there as well. I have found myself cooking much more Indian food since I moved here from Boston due to a lack of good Indian restaurants in the immediate area, especially South Indian ones. This is why I am so glad to have this site as a resource. My mother is an excellent cook, but she rarely uses a recipe and I am so dependent on recipes that I find it hard to duplicate her dishes without having everything written down. I was especially glad to find your and panditji's recipe for kaddu because it is very similar to that which my grandmother makes. Thanks again, Ruchi Thanks again, Ruchi Ruchi

Suvir, Thanks so much for this recipe! After hearing all the good things said about it I made half a batch and then promptly made two more full batches since the tomatoes here were just beautfuI. My parents (both from Delhi) both loved it and agreed that it was the best they had tried in the US. My mother had a tomato chutney recipe that was her standard, but this one has replaced it. Our favorite way to eat it is either with aloo parathas or with spicy besan pancakes (which my mother calls cheela and which Madhur Jaffrey calls pudlas). We have also love it with roast pork and chicken. You are so right in saying that it is just good to have around because it goes with everything and all of our friends, Indian and non-Indian, cannot get enough of it. Thanks again, Ruchi