agnolottigirl

Here's my grandma's family recipe that is probably based on Tuscan cream cake described above. . . you can make each component as fancy or as simple as you like. When we feel really lazy, the cake comes out of a box and the pudding does too: Make a yellow layer cake a day ahead of time. Poke holes in it, and splash with white rum whenever you think of it. (Be careful--if you have "helpers," you could end up with a soggy mess.) Cut cakes in half. Alternate fillings of strawberry preserves (I like unsweetened) and thickened chocolate pudding, with rum or rum extract. Make sure you do the levee trick mentioned earlier, or you get a big mess. Frost the whole thing with barely sweetened whipped cream. Garnish with strawberries. If the whole thing is too soggy, or the layers won't stay put, get a big glass bowl and call it a trifle!

LOL LOL LOL--thanks, melkor!

OK, so by dinner time the first posters had scared me off the idea of cooking the smelt last night, but today it looks like the pro-smelt lobby is on top. . . almost lunchtime. . . . stay tuned. Thanks, all!

Mmmmm, Top Pot. . . . we went to Zeitgeist Sunday morning and the Top Pot on Fifth the same afternoon!!!

Mmhmm. My smelt are starting to sound less like cheap edible protein and more like expensive fertilizer. Thanks. . . . .

Oh, man. . . . so what you're telling me is, I can't actually treat them like big sardines. Or are they on the No list too? (That would make me feel better about the smelt, actually.)

That's the whole question over there in the subject line. I hadn't seen them in the store before and I figured what the heck, they're less than two bucks a pound. But now I realize. . . no idea what to do with them. Frying, I think, right? But heads or no heads? Bones or no bones? Guts or no guts? Help!

Sorry, mudpuppie! Try this: http://www.danielnyc.com/recipes/lemonrisotto.html Worth scouting the rest of the site--there are a bunch more recipes, though this is the only one I've made so far. It was fantastic. . . also made it with shrimpies in addition to citrus and asparagus, which may have been even better.

Humungous pot of cacciatorre. Let 'em choose what meat (if any). Pasta. Garlic bread.

Jeez, dudes--why doesn't everybody kick back and have a brew. . . of his or her preference?!?!?

Porcini risotto for this time of year. . . with or without spinach. Daniel Boulud has an interesting lemon-lime-asparagus version on his web site, for spring.

Oh, I dunno, Toasted. . . my mother did her best with me, but apparently I'm one of those "slow learners" you hear about.

Wow, this thread is so much cheaper and so much more gratifying than therapy! I will never again, after preheating the oven to "hotter than a thousand suns," decide I need to move the rack with the pizza stone on it. . . and take the oven-sized pizza stone out with ONE hand (the other oven mitt was too far away, ha) BEFORE identifying a likely heat-resistant place to put it down.

A kid in our neighborhood used to eat bugs for a nickel. Does that count?

Visiting the Mondavi winery in Napa, we overheard one of the tasting guides telling someone that they had the paterfamilias Riedel there for a tasting and were pressing him for the glass he'd use if he were limited to a single shape. Supposedly he said the chianti was the one he'd recommend--though of course he went on to say that you really do need them all. . . if you're serious. . . etc.

A twofer for the "I'm a moron" thread, both last night: Put pan on burner. Noticed burning smell and smoke. Took pan off burner. Hmm--onion slice on burner. Put hand on burner. (This isn't quite as dumb as it sounds. We have one of those flat-top ranges, which leads me to my next magic trick.) Still shaking head from last dumb moment. Finished cooking halibut. Removed pan from burner. Put plastic cutting board on burner. Running fan, opening windows, to get rid of burned-plastic smell before husband (restaurant cook) gets home and makes fun of me. (And yes, I hid the dead cutting board under coffee grounds in the trash.)

Foie gras with mango sauce!?!?! **gasp** I'm not going to be able to work for the rest of the day.

I had never had a mango before I went to the Philippines. In about a week's time there, I pretty much ate my weight in mangoes. They were juicy, buttery, unbelievably tasty, and nonfibrous. My husband's extended family, whom we were visiting, thought it was very amusing--the little white girl turned out to be a mango fanatic. The sad fact, however, is that you can't get mangoes here that are anywhere near as good.

I second LEdlund on Tim's salt and vinegar chips here in the PNW. . . I kinda have to be in the right mood, but when I am, nothing else will do!

Aren't dacquoises mostly egg white? You can layer with all kinds of bad-for-you-but-tasty fillings. . . ganache and buttercream spring to mind.

Try Bob's Red Mill--looks like they have a few different options: http://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=express

Oops--I made the Three Girls/Three Sisters mistake too. They're both good, and they're both in the Market. Girls is the bakery--where you can get that monster-sized roast beef & horesradish. Sisters is by SBC and has good panini. Also has a little-known outside seating area for lunch just around the corner and up the stairs. On a sunny day, you can't beat it.

Haven't found a decent reuben, but for east-coast-style grinders, DiLaurenti used to do a pretty good job and is cheap, cheap, cheap. (I haven't been there for a sandwich since they renovated, though.) Also, Three Sisters (the bakery in the Market) makes some excellent sammiches. I'm a particular fan of the roast beef with horseradish. And the bread, which is often the downfall of an otherwise perfectly respectable sandwich, is great, natch. And of course Bakeman's, for real roast turkey--from the sandwich Nazis! (If you are homesick for the east coast experience, this is your best bet. . . it has more than a little in common with Durgin Park.)

Andaluca? Not super-traditional, but. . .

I just burned myself, too--am making this oven-fried chickpea thing that seems promising. Have been stirring occasionally with metal slotted spoon. (See earlier spatula fiasco--was very proud of remembering to use metal utensil to stir something that is cooking away at 400+ in the oven!) This last time, went to stir, couldn't find spoon. Hmm. Open oven. Ohh, there it is, that silly spoon! Yes. Grabbed it with my bare little paw.