Liza

A few quotes from Jeffrey Steingarten's essay, "Perfection Pizza", included as part of It Must Have Been Something I Ate. 1) "The most important thing about pizza is the crust. Toppings are secondary. " 2) "There are two perfect pizzas. One is Neapolitan. . . The other perfect pizza is Neapolitan-American. " 3) "The mystic hand of evolution somehow transmuted the true Neapolitan pizza of 1889 into the perfect Neapolitan-American pizza of today, which is 14-18 inches in diameter, rimmed with a wide, puffy, charred circumferential border; heavier, thinner, crisper, and chewier than the Neapolitan original..." 4) "Serious pizza places here and in Naples have brick ovens fueled either by wood, or in New York City and New Haven, by coal."

It's getting the beau to stand still that can be a problem.

1 Roast Aubergine App and a Confit to go, please. Wondering: are the spring onions already popping their tops up over there?

Robert et al, Any thoughts on adding sour cream?

Before the filling, I'll suggest a slight change to the basic pasta recipe: we've been making pasta dough with half cake flour half all purpose flour and finding it much silkier than when done with all AP. Question: if I'm thinking of the right chitarra, it's a pasta slicer that looks like a tiny loom, upon which you roll the pasta through the guitar-stringy-looking things- is that the same thing you're describing? Oh. And seafood filling with saffron sauce sounds good to me, too!

Dinner for four at Union Pacific last night. The usual wonderful and friendly service, with a bunch of extras thrown in. Must comment as I chose an entree I hadn't previously tried: the Miso-Marinated Hangar Steak with honshimeji mushrooms. Cooked rare as requested, this was an incredibly tender piece of meat. I was worried the miso would be too sweet but there were thiny-thin slices of garlic (I'm guessing, but probably double or triple blanched) on top which began the beguine with the miso and didn't stop. Also new to me (as we usually get the cheese plate) were five desserts: Chocolate hazelnut parfait, which was delicate and not overly sweet. Loved the crunch at the bottom layer. Chocolate panna cotta with espresso foam and caramel popcorn - much more espresso than chocolate and a good choice for those without a sweet tooth. Toasted sesame seed creme brulee with pink grapefruit sorbet - I wish I had tried the sorbet with the brulee but someone else monopolized this one. The one that I monopolized: Banana Nutella Triple Decker with tapioca pudding: before I saw the menu, I thought this was banana french toast with chocolate, which frankly, still sounds pretty good. The tapioca pudding didn't add anything, but the combination of banana, nutella and a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate at the bottom to cut through the sweetness was perfection to me.

OK, Jaymes is out. Haunted?

Famous Seinfeld line as a reference: "These pizzles are making me thirsty".

Ferdlisky, Welcome! Liza

Amanda, Many thanks for joining us here for this Q&A. Many thanks, too, for the article in today's Times, linked here: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/29/dining/29MEAT.html It's very helpful to see an article that is supportive of small, local producers. Are you finding your readers to be more receptive to this kind of information? Liza

Peaking up from sub-zero temps, I have to ask: ramps? Ramps? As ramps are wild and usually picked in spring time in Michigan and NY state, I have to wonder where are they finding ramps this time of year? Cause I'd like some, too, please.

We used to go the New Englander diner on Cedar Road/Lane (?) in Teaneck - could very well be my very first restaurant experience. And I STILL miss the old Dairy Queen in Tenafly, where I had many many root beer freezes. Now it's a bank.

First usage of the "No ____" on Egullet? I refer, of course, to the "no pincers" edict set down by the Mighty W.

Veddy interesting!

Food Lovers Companion: "Although claimed by many to be of Australian origin, an Australian cookbook, The Captain Cook Book: Two Hundred Years of Australian Cooking, declares that the carpetbag steak came from the United States..."

I know, Jinmyo, I know. It's like the Great Headless Egulleteers and their Marvelous Bread Products .

Neither have I.

What band? Therapy? from Belfast. And yes, Stellabella, please write.

Most important step is browning the shanks - leave 'em til they're really good and browned, you'll be glad you did. The recipe I use is Mario Batali's from "Simple Italian Cooking" - if it's on the Food Network website, I'll post a link here. EDIT: here's the link: http://www.foodtv.com/foodtv/recipe/0,6255...55,7198,00.html As for the gremolata, it's also lovely mixed with orange and lemon zests and some toasted pignoli nuts.

Crab salad with frisee, celery root remoulade, and apple gelee - from a Boulud recipe available on his website. Next time: more remoulade, please. Roast Muscovy duck, rubbed under the skin (much more difficult than with a chicken) with a puree of creminis, pancetta, thyme and butter. Spritzed inside and out with citrus yielded a really crispy skin.

ohmygoodness. Where's the 'awe' emoticon?

Edited: Why bother?

I remember having to peel a bass player off the ceiling at the old 9:30 club after hearing the 'mice' running around the inside of the walls of the backstage area. Shortest set of the tour.

Let's say that I don't like blue cheese because I don't like the taste. To some foodies, I am wrong. Let's say, however, that I don't like blue cheese because I am allergic to it. Am I suddenly not wrong, even though the outcome - I don't eat blue cheese - is the same? And please show me the statistics that say an"overwhelming number of people like blue cheese", I'd really like to see them.

Wait. You leave your cell phone on at dinner?????