Malawry

Thanks for the heads up, Bill. I'm planning to book us for the 12th when I return to town this weekend, unless somebody has objections.

I was jealous, until I read this.

Nuts burn pretty easily, and they are nasty when burnt. I'd try one or two fritters before breading all of them with the pecans to see how they come out. I'm guessing you'd be safe if your fritters are small so they heat through quickly. Personally, I think the idea of the marshmallow fluff sounds too sweet--unless you're trying to make this a dessert. But I scrape the marshmallows off the top of sweet potato casserole, so perhaps that's just me.

The Langley Park store opened today. The line was all the way around the building, and traffic was backed up on University when I drove by on my way home from work today. (Fortunately I was driving on the other side of the street!)

I thought about ordering a chicken after the suggestions here, but I was already breaking the bank as it was--the gumbo in question was part of the menu for my birthday party this past weekend. Feeding 25 people well ain't cheap, though it sure is fun and the gumbo was very popular. Next time I order, I will be sure to get a chicken. Which kind have you guys enjoyed? (I think they have several stuffings, right?)

BTW, has anybody ever had Thanksgiving dinner at 1789? I sometimes have a little fantasy whereby I am whisked there for a long, leisurely Thanksgiving meal where I don't cook a single item. I've heard the meal is legendary there and that they book it up by the beginning of January every year.

I'm heading to my old Carolina home. I chef, Mom sous-chefs. There's a bunch of little kids around and since we don't get together in December we exchange Hanukkah gifts at Thanksgiving every year. So with little kids, presents, alcohol, football, and tons of food, it's always an exciting holiday. I personally am looking forward to checking out the alcoholic loot from my parents' recent tropical cruise vacation, eating copious amounts of braised red cabbage and stewed apples with my turkey, and watching the little ones open their prezzies. We usually drive back on Saturday to avoid the worst of the traffic.

I'm still planning to put together a dinner for us there, but Aung wasn't around when I came by last Friday and then I got too busy with other things to set it up with him. I'm still taking suggestions for dates, though! Right now Sunday, Dec. 12 is looking most popular, so if that doesn't work for you make your voice heard.

I relied on Busboy, Mrs Busboy and Hjshorter to push everything out at the last minute. I adore frisee salads with duck confit. Easily one of my favorite things to make and eat.

Last night, for about 25: Gumbo Biscuits Frisee salad with duck confit and dried cherries Display of Italian meats, olive salad and sesame seed breads Stuffed eggs with spinach Pecan-crusted chicken wings with remoulade sauce Roasted pears and brie in phyllo cups Spiced pecans Butter cupcakes with chocolate buttercream Candied almonds: plain, coated in chocolate and powdered sugar, coated in chocolate and cocoa powder Beverages included Linden Vineyards 2002 riesling, Chateau St Michelle riesling, Nicholas Feuillate brut champagne, passionfruit lemonade, Guinness, Sam Adams, and God knows what else people drank.

I did end up ordering from Poche's. I had some trouble with their website--I was trying to pay with AMEX and I think something was wrong with their coding for accepting AMEX. So I called the store and spoke with a very charming lady who took my order over the phone. Everything arrived two days later via FedEx, still frozen solid and packed in styrofoam. I didn't actually try any of it until yesterday, when I cracked into some andouille and some tasso for a big batch of gumbo. The andouille is particularly delectable--chunky, spicy, salty, porky goodness. The label suggests you remove the casing, which is thankfully easy to accomplish. The tasso is much spicier than the tasso I bought from Central Grocery while visiting NOLA in March, so I added a little less of it to the gumbo than I was planning to. It's a damned good tasso, and I enjoy the extra kick this version carries, but I didn't want to subject any of my guests to super-spicy gumbo (my best friend in particular is very sensitive to spices). Anyway, good stuff.

I ordered some of the New Orleans roast from CC--both decaf and caf, figuring I'd brew some for my LA-themed birthday party last night. Of course I got carried away during the party and forgot to brew coffee. But I did crack open one of the sacks of decaf a couple of days ago and it was absolutely divine--that dark-bitter-rich brew I love so much. The order came pretty promptly, too, in a cute box imprinted with CC "stamps."

With photos! Ben, I didn't mean you shouldn't present the whole pig. But honestly, unless you're reasonably good at carving, or you're deboning the beast, I'd show the whole animal and then whisk it away to the kitchen for carving. Nobody needs to see you do it, and you'll feel better about it if you're not being watched. If somebody who seems to know what they're doing offers to help, let them. Dad finally let me carve our turkey last year and he was amazed to watch it--he'd never learned how to take the whole breast off the carcass, for example. It took a lot of reassurance for him to let me do it, and I did it in the kitchen to help him save face.

I have never done this before, either. But I did see it done while I was a student in culinary school. There, we deboned the pig and stuffed it before roasting it in the big bread oven: Stuffed Suckling Pig Onions Celery Whole Butter Garlic Sage Thyme Sea salt and white pepper Apricots Sherry Ground pork Eggs Deboned suckling pig Pork tenderloins Carrots BG with sage stalks Gelatin Arrowroot Make stuffing: Sweat onions and celery in butter. Add garlic, sage and thyme. Season. Poach apricots in sherry and water and add to onion mixture. Chill. Add ground pork and eggs. Stuff pig: Place two tenderloins alongside spine of pig. Cover tenderloins and back of head with stuffing. Add two more tenderloins. Add enough stuffing to hold shape of pig. Sew pig shut and cover head and tail with foil. Roast atop rack in pan at 425 degrees for 90 minutes until skin is crisp; lower heat to 300 degrees and cook for 2.5-3 hours until done. Rest before carving. Make sauce: Make stock with pig bones, carrots, and BG. Cook 3 hours and strain. Reduce 50-70% and finish with 3 sheets of gelatin, arrowroot and seasoning. It was delicious. I'm sure there are others here with more experience on weights and cooking times etc, but thought I'd throw this out there as a jumping-off point. A few other thoughts: Make sure the rotisserie is big enough to hold the pig securely, and if it's motorized make sure it can handle that weight. I am a big fan of brining. I think your brine should reflect whatever you'll be doing with the pig as far as seasonings, stuffings, sauces. So for some nice fall flavors maybe you could add turbinado sugar, nutmeg, allspice, OJ in addition to salt and water. Or you could just do a plain salt-water brine--I rarely add anything else when I brine foods, but then I've never brined a whole pig. If you debone and stuff the thing, serving is easy; you just cut off whole slices and serve them. If you don't debone it, things get more complicated. Are you familiar with meat fabrication in general? Do you plan to present the whole pig and carve it tableside? (I'd recommend you carve in the kitchen unless you either are deboning or have a lot of experience with carving meat.)

My "evil" comment was a direct descendant of this comment, and was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. My apologies for any confusion. I don't think Krinos or Goya is evil. Sysco may be, but since almost everything I use at work I buy from them I know personally that they're only as evil as what you order and how good your rep is. (Mine's awesome.)

Daniel, I work about a block from Marathon Deli. Want me to go ask them about their gyro meat sometime? I've never gone in there, though I have eaten at the new Kosher deli next door to it. I get Krinos gyro meat from Sysco for work, thereby supporting two evil food conglomrates with a single food order. I don't have a spit so I get the pre-sliced stuff. It's pretty good gridded until crisp-edged, chopped and piled on a big Greek salad with tzatziki.

I just called and spoke to Aung. They are open on Sunday nights, so that is a possibility. Since they are still figuring out things in their new location, they are not currently taking reservations. He said they could probably accommodate us on a Sunday most easily before 6:30 or after 8pm (Sundays have been very busy there). He also said a weeknight would be far preferable to them. We briefly discussed putting together a special menu. Let's hear more date suggestions. I'm going to try to stop by Friday afternoon to discuss more details with Aung, so PM me or post here by then. I'm totally flexible. Bill, if you seriously need a place to stay, my futon should be available.

Fennel is great in a slaw, too. I like to pull the water out of it by shaving it, tossing it with salt and a touch of sugar, then rinse and drain. Use as a bed for grilled meat. Then there's fennel-tomato compote: Onions, very thinly sliced Olive oil Sea salt and white pepper Fennel, very thinly sliced Chicken stock Tomato concasse Bouquet garni Sweat down onions in plenty of olive oil. Season. When softened, add fennel. Soften fennel briefly. Add remaining ingredients and plenty of seasoning. Bring to a boil on the stove and then cover with a cartouche (parchment paper circle). Bake in a moderate oven until completely softened and melted down, about 45 minutes. Stir periodically to prevent sticking. Garnish with fennel fronds.

I'm into the idea of a Mandalay gathering too, and am willing to organize it. How's the week of December 6? Who's game? What nights that week work for you?

You need a gradual approach. Don't allow yourself to be shooed out of the kitchen. When Mom starts something, offer to finish it for her. Do dishes if she won't let you do anything else. Eventually you'll wear her down. Not only does Mom allow me to contribute in a meaningful way, she actually sous-chefs and allows me to manage kitchen operations as the chief decision-maker when I come home. She's a good cook, but she recognizes that I'm better. And we have a lifetime of cooking together that makes it easy and comfortable to be in the same kitchen at the same time.

If your stock was covered while it was cooking, it may have cooked too hot--thereby causing enough boiling action to force the fat to emulsify into the stock. Since you've reduced it, is it cloudy or glossy and clean-colored? You also may have had bones that just aren't very fatty. In culinary school we cleaned chicken backs before tossing them into the stockpot so there wouldn't be too much fat in there to skim out later. I don't bother with this step at work now--I don't mind plucking the fat off the cooled stock before freezing. Were you using veal bones, or beef bones?

Tell us exactly what you did to make your stock. Some stocks don't get noticeably gelatinous until they're way way way reduced. I bet if it's cooled completely and you wiggle it or stick your finger in it, it will be more gelatinous than you thought. But if you're looking for a demi-like texture, best to get it reducing even more.

"For What It's Worth"

FWIW, I've made whipped cream with gelatin plenty of times. In my experience, it starts to weep after about 24-36 hours. Granted, I was making it on the job where it was constantly pulled in and out of the fridge, but still. Weepy whipped cream = no fun. Plus I can taste gelatin in it sometimes, which is also no fun.

Spice-rubbed pork ribs Old-fashioned slaw A big salad with blue cheese dressing Coffee