Verjuice

Greatest meal ever: Kansas City New York Striploin, medium rare. Sides of Maytag bue cheese and bearnaise for smearing. Rosti. Creamed spinach. Corn custard. All divine. And for dessert, brie en croute with apple compote, port reduction, fried sage. Tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream. Bonus: Sucking on the bone from the steak while playing Scrabble. This is going to become a ritual, I say.

This thread inspired me to pick up some organic Honeycrisp apples at the farmers market this morning. I can be counted among those who never really understood what all the fuss was about, having found them to share of the qualities of other apples I don't particularly care for that people go nuts over... The ones I bought today, however, had an incredibly delicate flavor profile. The taste really surprised me as I had remembered them being blandly sweet without any of the winey complexity of a really great apple (imo). The texture, however, reminded me of why I never cared much for them to begin with. Personally I prefer an apple with crunch and heft (Braeburn, Pink Lady, Winesap, Macoun) to one that is lighter-bodied and crisper and wet in the mouth with lots of watery juice (Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp), if you know what I mean. It's just a personal thing. As of today I understand what so many people love about them, though I'll still take a Mutsu or even a Macintosh over one any day. I hope this makes sense.

Melty. Just dumb.

I once made little grilled nutella filled panini. Sliced them on the diagonal and served with peanut butter ice cream and roasted bananas. That way you can have the bread you love so much and eat it too.

Here: The prettiest aprons ever.

Pretzel rods dipped in Marmite. A tall glass of unsweetened iced tea. Chewy ginger candies, some flavored with peppermint, others with peanut butter.

Here?... Scroll up.

What a great coincidence; a friend and I were just discussing this. I said I'd be happy if I never saw another one of these salads on a menu. Others things I wouldn't miss include French Onion Soup and Fried Calamari. I've just maxxed out on both for this lifetime. Oh, oh-- and flourless chocolate cake with raspberry coulis. Garnished with powdered sugar and a spring of mint.

I was meeting a friend at a bar in Boston last week. I wasn't hungry at all; had just had a huge dinner. I'm halfway through my first drink and I want something salty, crunchy and fresh out of the deep fryer- just to pick at, of course. Because I wasn't hungry, of course. So I order a couple of things off the bar menu. A gigantic cone of sage-dusted frites wth a great mound of aioli in a ramekin alongside. And a heaping platter of deep-fried green beans with some sort of tangy balsamic reduction and more aioli crowning the whole mess. They were great. We ate everything. My fantasy bar serves snacks that include but are not limited to the following: fried olives, all kinds of offal, excellent bread and olive oil and butter, great pizzettes, really fantastically tender Yankee-style onion rings (not the stiff giant bready ones) wonderful runny cheeses, lots of spice, killer pate, charcuterie, really great soups (no french onion soup at my fantasy bar, thanks), very simple green salads- and GREAT desserts (and that means no flourless or molten derivative chocolate cake thing with raspberry coulis, powdered sugar and a spring of mint-- this just makes me want to cry). What does your fantasy bar serve forth in terms of grub, then?

It's a nervous habit. Without exception, all price tags are removed en route from shopping bag to kitchen destination spot.

Glad I'm not alone. Surprised, but glad.

Smithy and MizD, Might these plates be the sort you might be looking for? Excellent blog, by the way.

Blackberries. I meet people all the time who rave about how superior these are to raspberries and blueberries. "You have to pluck them right off the bramble yourself when they're still warm from the sun", they say. I have. Still don't get it. Radishes with butter and salt. I love all three components separately. But I don't get how they are meant to complement each other. It's a textural thing for me, I guess. Chicken. Feh. I'll eat it if I'm a guest, but I'd much rather eat just about anything else.

I'm glad this thread has been started. Experienced the Keyah Grande in mid-September of this year during an impromptu visit to the U.S. (promised myself I'd get to Pagosa somehow if I made it out west at some point). It was an extraordinary evening. Looking at your gorgeous photos is making me feel awfully nostalgic, molto e. The grounds of the 4000 acre ranch are just incredible. Chefs Aki and Alex are wonderful hosts, as well.

Melty.

Happy Birthday and best of luck with all of this. For the cucumber gin sorbet, definitely use Hendrick's gin. You might already know that it is ambrosial, very floral with lots of cool cucumber notes. Even its producers recommend serving martinis made with the stuff with a slice of cucumber instead of olives. Ditto gimlets. It make a great gimlet. Mmm. Gimlets. I think those went out of style like 21 years ago. I highly doubt you'll need that much wine. 147 bottles for 21 is 7 bottles per person- Maybe I missed this, but are you serving any other forms of liquor as well? If so, then, some ideas: I suggest champagne cocktails with your Breakfast. Kir royales, Bellinis. Mimosas. Bloody Marys or spiked shots of gazpacho with your Second Breakfast. Dirty martinis and ouzo or arak with Elevenses. Some kind of dark, robust, unpasteurized Belgian beer with Lunch. Sake with Tea! Well, why not! And maybe some blood orange margaritas would be nice while the burgers are cooking.

That looks like something I could happily eat every day for the rest of my life.

I didn't find out that Tony Bourdain was stranded until a minute ago- I just got out of Beirut two days ago while the bombs destroying the road to Syria were being dropped in our wake... was fortunate to get a seat on a plane out of Damascus. I wish I'd known he was there, I'd have smuggled him onto the bus.

I believe that many of the traditional dishes in the Emirates are of the sort that only a local could love, though that certainly doesn’t assume that the affinity comes with the territory (yoo-hoo). I have heredity and a history of continual exposures on my side and I still can’t stand most of it. Most traditional of all is the one-pot wonder harees: porridge oats, kid goat-- bones and all- or mutton, rivers of ghee and cumin, boiled into a tenacious goo with all the consistency and appeal of book paste. A daily breakfast staple, although alarming quantities of this stuff are typically foisted onto neighbors and friends before the sunset meal (I guess that would make it breakfast, literally, as well) during Ramadan. Any attempt swallow a mouthful of it will send me into immediate panic mode, akin to what I'm guessing it feels like to drown in quicksand, head-first. Agh! … impenetrable. Of course, because of all the bone splinters, one is forced to work through it slowly and cautiously, chewing (can you chew paste?) thoroughly through the mash in search of sharp and gritty death traps--- Please, just give me Chinese water torture, or the guillotine, instead. While we’re on the topic of breakfast, perhaps I can interest you in another traditional breakfast dish? Sweet, sweet, evil balaleet. Vermicelli boiled in sugared water and oil until mushy (pod of cardamom optional). Drained, then panfried in ghee with saffron and onion (this step is also optional). Poured into a casserole dish. Several cups of granulated sugar poured over (depends on how sticky you like it). Fry a few eggs in ghee until yolk is cooked through and place on top. I used to have nightmares about this stuff... my cousins would always try to get me to eat it and I'd fake a tummy ache and call my mom to pick me up. Please keep the climate of the Emirates in mind while considering any potential temptation factor in either dish.

Your k’nafeh gave me a very specific craving but I ended up at Canelle, which is an excellent pastry shop albeit not for Lebanese pastry, for a twice-baked almond croissant. It was good but it wasn’t k’nafeh. At Samadi Sweets in Abu Dhabi, I sometimes treat myself to a semolina k’nafeh sandwiched into a soft, fresh kaek, syrup poured liberally inside… one can really only manage a couple of bites of this hulking, toothaching ambrosia before throwing in the towel, but it is food-on-the-go at its most magnificent. Also, my parents, who are very light eaters, have been eating a sort of modified version of k’nafeh for years, people go nuts over it… they like it because although it’s not necessarily lighter in calories (you end up eating more of it than of the traditional), it’s much lighter on the digestive tract, which makes it easier to sleep at night. I adore it but I definitely don’t consider it k’nafeh per se. First, they bake a very thin buttered layer of the shredded filo, so sheer it’s translucent, like lace… then, ricotta cheese in place of akawi is placed on top, also a very thin layer, maybe 1/8th of an inch or so. After that gets baked to a golden toasty brown, it’s inverted and the orange flower syrup is passed around in a small pitcher. They make it in a 12” round cake pan, and cut the slices into wide, thin, crisp wedges. It’s very buttery and extremely addictive. Patrick in the dessert forum made this vanilla pastry cream-filled version of baklava a couple of months ago. It looks delicious, like tender milles feuilles. Might give it a whirl one of these days.

My absolute favorite dessert. So, what was missing from this version, if anything? It looks spectacular. I love both versions, but marginally prefer the shredded filo crust (homemade, not the neon orange stuff) to the semolina version for reasons of texture and crunch. Since the gooey cheese and warm syrup soften everything, I feel like the toasty crisp of the filo brings it all together. As much as I adore semolina, I'd rather get my fix of it by eating basbousa and nammoura alongside my k'nafeh. My second favorite dessert... That last photo is killing me. In fact, I am in Beirut right now and just realized that I've only had it once in the last two weeks. Must rectify that pattern within the next two weeks. It's always time for k'nafeh!

If I could only have one salad for the rest of my life, then my choice would have to be a bowl of tender lettuces tumbled with the greenest, fruitiest olive oil, and a generous sprinkle of Maldon salt. Keep it simple. A couple of other favorites: -Rocket + cucumber + tomato + red onion + pomegranate molasses, olive oil, s+p. -A friend makes an amazing salad of baby spinach, maple-roasted sweet potatoes, bacon, curry oil, pistachios. Fresh raspberries optional. -My aunt's salad drissing, which is a dark sweet puree of balsamico, olive oil, capers, red onions, garlic, mustard, s+p- on just about any vegetable. -Crab and avocado with aoili and saffron oil. -Frisee with lardons. I prefer acid elements other than lemon juice to dress my greens. I always find it a bit abrasive compared to the alternative possibilities.

I tried to describe the smell upthread but I did a lousy job. I'll give it another shot. Hard boiled eggs smell like hard boiled eggs. Actually, to me if they are overcooked the smell of sulfur can be too much. Hard boiled eggs are one of the only foods I am picky about but I suspect that is just a matter of personal taste as opposed to the subject at hand. Raw eggs, milk and chicken smell different from one another, however they all share kind of a... hm... a cold weather kind of metallic, tight, organic, dog-saliva-like odor. That odor is compounded with a funky smell like a damp barnyard. Just the merest waft of it can feel overwhelmingly revolting, as in, I'll need to turn around and grip the edge of a table or something because it just stuns me. Not like body odor, or sweat, just this damp smell, like the breath of someone who is sick with a cold. A cold, bacterial smell, but not quite to the point of smelling like decay. In my clinical work, I have found that some practitioners are able to walk into a room and immediately be able to detect the smell of certain diseases. Some are very subtle. Certain medications can make a person smell metallic... or sweet... or off topic... Homework: Dip you finger in a beaten raw egg. Wait three seconds. Sniff. Report back.

Yeah. No allergies there. I love cooked eggs and I'll even eat them raw in the right dish (though I'll start with a small nibble and inhale slowly as I do so). Milk- I'm not a huge fan of straight milk in a glass purely because I don't want it that close to my face, but I have it in hot bevvies and on oatmeal or whatever. Whole milk has the strongest smell and skim smells like spit. But I like both. Chicken, eh. Chicken is chicken. Not my favorite but I certainly don't dislike it. Chicken breasts always smell worse than thighs. And that's a fact.

You're a saint. I volunteered in a kitchen where we prepared meals for disabled people using handouts from the food depot... mostly stuff slightly past its prime. One day, I was faced with twelve crates of government eggs... many were cracked, and the odor was just indescribably overwhelming. I should add that the smell always seems to be much stronger with the commercially-raised product and not quite as bad with fresh organic eggs (could be psychological). Oh man. I ran for the door like my life depended on it.