amccomb

A friend of mine throws a St. Patrick's Day party every year and I always try to bring a dessert for the occasion. I don't want to just frost something green and call it good, and I don't want to just flavor a cheesecake or something with Bailey's Irish Cream. In the past, I've made rhubarb pie with short crust, whiskey cake (spice cake with orange zest and currants and a whiskey glaze), scones, and a trifle. Can anyone give me some new ideas for Irish desserts? Thanks!

Every year I fantasize about making a Spring meal highlighting spring produce. I think of radishes, peas, fava beans, asparagus, mint, lamb, etc. What are some other spring foods, and what are some dish or menu ideas to highlight those foods?

Crazy! I went to Rome between Christmas and 12th Night and ate at the Taverna Flavia, too. We had the tiramisu as well. ← What were your thoughts? ← Well, it was definitely one of our best meals in Rome! Your description of the tiramisu was right on. In general, though, I was pretty disappointed with the food in Rome.

Crazy! I went to Rome between Christmas and 12th Night and ate at the Taverna Flavia, too. We had the tiramisu as well.

Our wedding was also small - about 60 people. We had our reception in a restaurant since our main focus was food, and the hubby hates dancing. We were married in October, and I wanted everything to have a fall feel to it. Hors d'Oeuvres Wild mushroom phyllo purses Savory duck and sun dried cherry baklava Winter rolls with pomengranate dipping sauce Smoked chicken empanadas assorted olives assorted cheeses spiced pistachios foccacia Soup and Salad Creamy roasted onion soup with florentine croutons Baby spinach with marinated re donions, crispy goat cheese medalions, walnut vinaigrette Entrees Roasted butternut squash stuffed shells with browned butter, fried sage, and toasted pine nuts with a side of garlic sauteed spinach Stuffed herb roasted chicken stuffed with roasted fennel and chestnut stuffing with a side of sauteed herb gnocchi Citrus and spice roasted pork loin with roasted root vegetables Lamb with balsamic and rosemary reduction with a wild rice, apple, dried cranberry, and toasted nut pilaf Desserts Persimmon creme brulee and spice cake napoleon Pear and currant frangipane tart Gran Marnier pastry cream tart with carmelized cranberries Assorted gelato Assorted truffles Cake - chocolate with white chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache and almond cake with raspberry filling and chocolate ganache Wine, beer, coffee, tea, etc The top layer of the cake was chocolate with peanut butter mousse filling, which we ate a year later and wasn't too darn bad! We were served a tasting plate with small servings of all of the dishes, and while my husband ate, I had maybe a bite or two of food. Luckily, we had had a tasting beforhand, so I knew what it all tasted like! We were married on a Sunday, and that I would change. People left early to get home for work the next day, and I would have loved to have stretched things out a bit and not have been so rushed. I would have added a small band just to play some background music and made some mulled wine, cider, and hot cocoa to keep us going, Now the honeymoon...THAT was a food extravaganza. We went to San Francisco and wine country, and the highlight was dinner at The French Laundry. We had talked about having an indian buffet, but were afraid that only the two of us and our 6 closest friends would eat. I would have loved a huge breakfast spread with mimosas and bloody marys and such. Maybe for our 10 year anniversary.

I used panettone last weekend to make bread pudding, as someone suggested earlier. It was a huge success and I loved it. I would love to hear other uses. I'm excited to try the toasted chocolate sandwich.

In the Pastry Forum, under a subject where people were listing their wishlists of equipment (Kitchen tools you wish you had), someone brought up a range that was on their wishlist. I checked out the site, and the range is gorgeous, but I was curious about the quality of it, and the advantages and disadvantages as compared to more traditional style ranges, such as Viking or Wolf. Does anyone have any information on this?

Wow. That salad with the pecan dressing sounds wonderful! I happen to think shaved fennel makes an impressive salad, as well. Since citrus is in season, you could add orange or grapefruit sections, and it would probably go well with pecans as well, or even the goat cheese mentioned earlier. Another option would be a roasted beet salad. As for dessert, I was thinking individual lemon curd tarlets sounded nice, or maybe a napolean with a sweetened marscapone filling and dried or roasted fruit that has been simmered in a wine or port sauce and topped with cinnamon whipped cream. Or, one of the best desserts I've ever had was strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar and basil, and served with white chocolate gelato in a martini glass. Which made me think of this wonderful orange/basil panacotta my husband had...

I was hoping to make some marmelades this winter, but I can't find the produce I want to use. Is there a place online where I can order Meyer Lemons and Seville Oranges? I really want to make an orange basil marmelade...

Wow, it's hard to say. I guess my fallback is some sort of brownie. If I'm in a hurry, I'll whip up some brownie batter, and sometimes add things (cherries, raspberries, espresso, cinnamon, whatever) and then frost them with a chocolate ganache or cream cheese icing or peanut butter icing, or a praline topping, depending on what I throw in. I have other recipes that are standards, though - tres leches cake for Cinco de Mayo, parsnip spice cake or peanut butter pie for my husband's birthday, sour cream apple pie for my dad's birthday, some variation of bread pudding for my friend Kyle's birthday... I guess the two things I'm expected to bring to a party are brownies (if I'm lazy) or some variation of a trifle if I have time to bake a cake, make a custard, etc.

So, the italian brandied cherries and the brandied cherries from Zingerman's were very different. The Zingerman's were more like cherry pie filling - very sweet and gelled. The cherries I got at a monastery in Italy were very potent, not gelled, and not as sweet. I MUCH prefer the italian cherries. I made clafoutis with the italian cherries, which turned out really, really nice - custardy on the bottom, soft cake on the top, and a crisp, chewy golden crust on top. Yum. I simmered the rest of the italian cherries and much of the brandy with a few sprigs of rosemary (I love cherries and rosemary together), added some dried cherries and some of the "pie filling" Zingerman cherries and used those as a filling for turnovers, which also turned out really well. I made a glaze using powdered sugar and more of the brandy that I drizzled over the top. I was too lazy to make black forest cake, so I made brownies (from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet) and stirred another jar of cherries into the batter. I iced some with a cream cheese icing flavored with the last of the brandy, and the others with a ganache with a little amaretto and topped with sliced almonds. Those also turned out well. I have half of a jar left, and I plan to use them to make Manhattans. Now the problem is, I want more of the Italian cherries! I did a web search and didn't turn up a darn thing. I could have sworn that Zingerman's had two kinds of brandied cherries, and the others looked more like the Italian ones I have (in an urn shaped jar), but nothing turned up on their site. Where can I get my hands on some more without flying back to Italy? I did find the brandy the cherries were made with (Morlacco), but there is none locally available. If I can get my hands on sour cherries (which are hard to find here) and some of the brandy, I may try to make my own. Any suggestions on how to do this?

I bought some brandied cherries while in Rome, and received two jars from Zingerman's as well, so now I have brandied cherries coming out my ears. I'm trying to come up with several desserts using a variety of textures and flavors that can make good use of the brandied cherries. Any ideas?

Do you make your Moroccan preserved lemons with salt and lemons?

Maybe you should tell him you'll make the wings this year, and then do them right! But then, maybe he'll bring half raw meatballs floating in BBQ sauce.

I put leftovers on my pizzas. Curried chicken with curry sauce as the base is good, stri fry with tofu using a stir fry sauce as the base, thinly sliced beef with carmelized onions and blue cheese, alfredo sauce with roasted rosemary potatoes....pretty much anythiiing goes. I've even done a gumbo pizza that was great. My husband's favorite is pesto, mushrooms, spinach, and feta cheese.

I'm making beef chili with chorizo and mole, creamy chicken chili with chiptoles, two kinds of cornbread - a sweet and a savory... I may do tamales, since I get requests to make them more often than just Cinco de Mayo. Lots of beer, I'm sure. I want to do mulled wine SO bad, since I didn't have a chance to make it the whole holiday season, but it just doesn't seem to go well with chili. I am also jonesing to serve my hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows. Maybe later that evening. I want to do a few starters to have out before the game and plan to do the chili during half time. There will be non-football people upstairs playing board games and football people downstairs watching the big tv.

Sorry to post twice in a row, but I had another question. I just got back from the store and couldn't find potato starch (for coating the marshmallows) anywhere. Would it be somewhere other than the baking aisle? Could it be under a different name? If can't find it, can I use something else?

I know I've read here before that using something with fat messes with the ability of the mixture to become fluffy, but my husband is begging me to try to make peanut butter marshmallows. Could I make a plain version, whip it up to full fluffiness, and then right before spreading it into the pan, whip in the peanut butter? Is there some other way to get this to work?

Are there any particular traditional holiday foods we should look for? Any recommendations on where to get them? We were hoping to hit some great bakeries, cheese shops, sausage shops, gourmet foods shops, etc. We talked to someone about arranging a culinary tour of some of the local favorites, but I'm not sure we can afford it, since it would run 290 euro for the two of us for a 3 hour tour. If we could arrange our own tour, that would be ideal. Also, any recommendations for simple lunch fare and coffee?

Hello! I'm looking for a fool proof recipe for popovers that takes 30 minutes or less to bake. I have a recipe now that takes a full hour, and because I was planning on making these for Thanksgiving, their won't be oven room for a full hour. I can give them 30 minutes. :) Or, if I could make them ahead, that would be nice, but I really wanted them to be fresh from the oven. Anyway, I would love to get a recipe and/or tips. Thanks! Amanda

I like cabbage with pork, and I have an easy cabbage strudel that I make that might work. You sautee some cabbage with green onions, salt, pepper, and caraway seeds, then let the mixture drain. Meanwhile, melt a bunch of butter and pulse some rye bread in the food processor to make breadcrumbs. After the cabbage has drained a bit, you take a sheet of phyllo dough, slather with butter then sprinkle with breadcrumbs, top with another sheet and repeat until you have...I dunno, maybe 8-10 sheets. Then plop the drained cabbage onto the stacks of phyllo dough and roll up like a strudel or a huge egg roll. Slather with more butter, then bake until golden. Slice and serve!

Can any of this be done ahead? Well, I'm assuming the syrup can be, but could I bake it partially and then warm it the rest of the way? I'm running low on oven space, but it this is better made fresh, I can find the space!

I am having trouble coming up with green veggies for t-day. I may do a salad, and I will probably do peas, pancetta, pearl onions, and cream (and maybe turnips), but I want to add another warm green veggie, but everything I come up with contains cream! I'll already be using cream in practically every other dish, so I would like to have a hot green veggie without cream. I also want it to be special. As much as I love roasted brussel sprouts or steamed green beans or broccoli, I want everything to be special for Thanksgiving. Any suggestions?

I'm branching out. Instead of mashed potatoes, I would like to try mashing some other root veggies. I see all sorts of recipes for them, from celery root to parsnips to turnips to sweet potatoes to carrots....so many that I feel a little lost. What are some good combinations? Any tips for making them absolutely silky? Should I add anything to them? Butter and cream, like for potatoes? Chicken stock? Help me break new ground!

Another menu idea - A salad with arugula, pomegranate seeds, shaved fennel, red onion, feta, and a honey red wine dressing, seared scallops with braised lentils, various root veggies, and wilted swiss chard with a light mustard sauce, and semolina cake topped with a fig, almond, date compote with honeyed yogurt sauce.