Malawry

I haven't returned for more than drinks since I stopped working there--and don't know who is serving there at this point, so I can't really suggest whose section to request. Ortanique tends to be a later-night kind of place, not many people go there for happy hour or early dinners but they pack it in after 8pm. If you decide to eat there, I can heartily recommend the following: All fish dishes, especially the tuna with wasabi and papaya sauces Curried crab cakes Whatever soup is on the menu--especially the guinea hen chowder and the tomato-lime soup The flank steak salad on the lunch menu, with worcestershire vinaigrette The foie gras, which comes with this addicting salad and bruleed oranges Shrimp ceviche--if that's the ceviche of the day, comes with this wonderful tostone "sandwich" with guac in the center--doesn't suck at all If you're at the bar and there's a chicken skewer or chicken wing type dish, this is also a sure bet--the sticky sorrel paint is addictive Rum cake and bread pudding for dessert--though the pastry chef left shortly after I did and I don't know if they hired a replacement or just decided to wing it with whoever had time.

Congratulations, Varm. I'm sure you, Dr. Mrs. Varmint and the Li'l Varmints will pull through just fine. And that magic corner--awesome! I'm curious as to how you're finding the contractors who will bid on construction.

I make it at work sometimes--it's very popular with my girls. I start by combining some broccoli florets, celery and onion in a small pot. Cover lightly with vegetable stock (or chicken, but veg stock = my vegetarian girls can eat it) and add some salt. Bring to a boil, then cut back to a simmer and cook until tender. Puree and strain the mixture. Make a thin bechamel in a large heavy pot, preferably with whole milk that's been infused with onion, clove and bay leaf. Pour in the puree. Stir, taste, adjust seasoning. Let the soup cool to 170 degrees or so to avoid the cheese splitting, and then whisk in grated sharp cheddar to taste. Serve immediately. You can top with blanched broccoli florets if you like. If I'm going to keep the soup for a while, I don't add the cheese. It freezes fine without the cheese, just reheat gently and then whisk in the cheese when you're ready to serve. Since I serve soups for two days in a row, I divide the soup in half, chill half of it and whisk cheese into the other half. I find cheese is more likely to take offense and split if you abuse it, so save it for the last minute.

To make your life difficult, if you're a culinary student. There's no way to really "turn" a mushroom--turning meaning "give a regular shape." Most vegetables are cut into seven-sided barrels when turned, but that shape won't work for a mushroom. So they're fluted instead when somebody wants to give them that extra-schmancy touch.

Thanks for the lush, vibrant colors and articulate descriptions, Monica. You make me want to visit India more than ever!

Ground pork, stir-fried with lots of scallions and chile oil, wrapped in lettuce and drizzled with hoisin sauce Stir-fried teeny tiny clams with broccoli, shiitake, and red peppers Grapefruit for dessert

I just found the place we stayed in March: International House. We walked a lot of places from here, but got in the car to get to Commander's Palace and to wander around the neighborhoods and parks by Loylola and Tulane. Beautiful, beautiful hotel. (I especially appreciated the Aveda products in the bathroom, but that's just me.) Thick towels, wonderful bedmade up with premium linens, helpful staff. Even the coffee in the lobby was superior. Very close to the French Quarter, if that's your interest. I just checked and rates of $99 a night are available in March--which is a true bargain for this kind of place. Staying there really made the trip for us.

We went over Spring Break last year, in March, and managed to book a luxury hotel for about $125/night through Quikbook. The city wasn't crowded and the weather was quite pleasant. Most college students don't flood New Orleans during Spring Break, they come earlier for Mardi Gras or wait for the Jazz Fest--a good thing. I'd gladly return at that time of year. Local strawberries were just coming in and we sampled some amazing oysters at the farmer's market.

You can use olive oil to top off the fat, if needed.

Bee-yoo-tee-ful, HV. Tonight: Italian sausages from Giacomo's in Greensboro, NC Melange of onions, mushrooms and peppers, with zinfadel Ruby Swiss chard with balsamic reduction

Creamy turkey-mushroom soup Broccoli Salad with Italian meats and olive salad

My MIL sent me a cool laminated Paris street map and a copy of the latest Parisian Zagat, for use in our January vacation. She also sent this interesting little hand-carved wooden condiment set from Hawaii. It has two very long-handled spoons with tiny tiny bowls at one end and big carved flowers at the opposite end. There are also two small small bowls to go with, carved from the same sort of wood. They're about half the size of your standard sushi soy-sauce dish, if that gives you a sense. I'm not sure what to use them for, but they sure are pretty. I love my MIL. She's the only one who gives me Christmas presents. (I'm Jewish.)

I just made my first-ever turkey for dinner. Brined, rubbed with herbes de provence and butter, stuffed with thyme and halved lemons, roasted for a few hours. Didn't suck at all. The carcass is currently turning itself into stock.

The Washington Post recently published an article comparing three bistro-style cookbooks--Bourdain's, Ina Garten's and Thomas Keller's. I'm pretty sure all three would include a cassoulet version, and think a vertical tasting of the three cassoulets would be pretty interesting. This may be difficult to achieve in this forum, since Cooking denizens live all over the world. But it could make for an interesting study. I personally own only the Bourdain cookbook, but I bet other cooks have the other two volumes. I think simply agreeing to cook a cassoulet together could be an interesting Cooking project--people could choose whatever recipe they like, and compare notes on ingredients and techniques. Sorry Jinmyo, Busboy stays.

My technique is closer to Suzanne's than to Culinary Bear's--and like Suzanne, I don't pick and process the meat, I leave it on the bone in the fat in the fridge. It keeps a looong time. I buy a duck maybe once or twice a month, cut it up, sear the breasts for salads, turn the bones into stock, and confit the legs. Here's a quick rundown of my method: When cutting up the duck, cut off any excess skin you can find. Render the skin to get duck fat. I render it by putting it in a small pot and heating it over low heat on the stovetop. It takes about two hours to render every last bit of fat out of the skin. Generally, the skin from a single duck is barely enough to confit two legs...though you might need to add a quarter-cup or so of olive oil to top them off. When it's done rendering, salt and eat the gribenes standing over the stove, keeping an eye out for wayward spouses. I rub the legs generously with kosher salt, and put them in a shallow dish in the fridge with some fresh thyme sprigs and cracked black peppercorns. I let it cure 24-48 hours in there. Pull the legs out of the fridge and pour off any expressed liquid. I usually wipe the legs down thoroughly with damp paper towels, but I guess you could rinse them to be absolutely certain they aren't too salty. Then I pack them into a small casserole I own that is the perfect shape and size for confiting two duck legs. Place them skin-side up. I gently warm the duck fat I rendered yesterday, just until it's clear, and then I pour it over the duck legs. I make sure the duck legs are completely covered with fat--I have a collection of duck fat in the freezer I can raid to top it off, or I can add a few spoonfuls from the confit container in the fridge. Use good olive oil if you don't have extra duck fat laying about and need to top off the casserole. I add a few fresh sprigs of thyme (I adore thyme). I lay the lid that fits the casserole on top, and place the casserole on a sheet pan to catch any drips. (I failed to do this once and only once. Lesson learned. Duck fat on the oven floor REEKS when you crank your oven to 450 to roast meats) The casserole then goes into a 250 degree oven for several hours--at least three. I check for doneness by looking at it and seeing how much the meat has retreated from the bottom of the drumstick, and by wiggling the bones to see if they are pretty much loosened from the meat. If the bones move from the meat easily, you're golden. Let the confit cool to room temperature before sticking the whole thing in the fridge. I have a confit container in the fridge, so I warm it briefly in the microwave, dump the contents into a bowl, put the new confit in the bottom of the container and the old confit back on top so it gets used first. Make sure it's covered in the fat while stored. I use confit primarily in salads, usually frisee salads with nuts and some kind of dried or roasted fruit. This way, one leg serves four or five people. I like to stretch my confit and resist just eating a whole leg of it. I used about five of my legs up when I made a big salad for my birthday party last month, so I feel confit-deficient right now and am especially inclined to stretch the remaining supply.

They said they're pretty booked-up in the restaurant tonight when I was hanging out at the bar yesterday, FYI. This usually means the bar will fill up, too. Try to get there early, like by 6:30pm. I prefer eating at the bar unless I'm with more than two other people anyway. It's not pointless to bother--you really want to eat here, it's one of the best deals in town. I eat out maybe three times a month on my own dime, and usually two of those three times are at the bar/cafe at Palena.

Palena can be rowdy, if you know and go with the right folks. My name is Rochelle, and I am a supporter of drinking.

Last night: Stovetop-braised chicken thighs with thyme and onion Ruby chard cooked in the chicken fat, with caramelized onions and balsamic reduction

I am considering stopping by Palena tonight for a drink before meeting a friend for dinner. I am definitely going to Firefly tomorrow night with a different friend--but hope to come by early and visit with His Dreaminess before she shows up.

I'm in the camp of crumbing the outside but not using any crumbs as filler. (I do this with salmon and cod cakes, as well.) Personally I like some veg mixed in--brunoised multicolored peppers and tiny ribbons of scallion, along with just enough mayo to hold them together. Pan-fry v-e-r-y carefully--though picking the loose bits out of the pan is the cook's privelege.

Actually, I swear I saw them at either a Hecht's or a Macy's not that long ago. I'd try calling around to the department stores.

Now that I'm not at work for a few weeks, I expect to be cooking a lot of the simple American food I love so much for dinners. Last night, I made some old-fashioned chicken soup, which we slurped with a big salad topped with Italian meats and provolone. I added several spoons of olive salad to mine, for a muffaletta-type effect. I finished the last of some 2003 Linden Vineyards Riesling-Vidal with this. Tonight, bratwurst on a bed of kraut/apple/bacon goodness. Hot hot hot coffee alongside--it was freezing out and this sounded so warming and satisfying to me. The wine from last night would have been great with this dinner, but I'd already killed the bottle.

I do still have a few gifts to arrange. How do you store oven-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil--will I need to process them if I pack them in jars? Should they stay refrigerated?

I have about 40 low-quality firm-skinned winter tomatoes that I spirited away from work on Friday. (I won't be serving again until the third week in January and they'll be moldy in addition to their other poor qualities by then.) I was thinking I'd turn them into concasse, but I already have tons of concasse in the freezer--I just don't use it all that often. I do not eat pasta sauce. I do eat tomato soup, but I usually make that with higher-quality canned tomatoes. Any suggestions? I have other tomato products like paste that I can use to enhance color and flavor if needed.

I prefer individual pieces of salmon to cooking a whole slab of it. I think the best thing on fish is the crispy edge, and individual pieces have more crispy edge than a big sheet. Plus, with smaller pieces, you can control the doneness better--I've cooked big pieces of salmon before that were overdone around the edges and undercooked in the center.