Comfort Me

I was taught that choux paste had to be used immediately and could not be stored.

bagna calda! now i'm drooling!

I have a non-fuzzy logic, not-National brand rice cooker, and I plan to remedy that as soon as we pay down some credit card debt. My friends with National cookers all love them -- and the rice I've had from them is always perfect. My cooker, which does automatically shut off, only does so after the bottom is very brown -- not something you want in your white rice. I love the idea of a retractable cord -- I'll have to remember that. I wonder if the stores in Chinatown will let me cook a batch of rice in one before I buy it?

Pudding

Glace de Fromage Blanc

Tommy: I don't have the answer about what the restaurant should do, but... My firm did over $100m in billables last year -- not bad for a a samll firm -- and I can't think of a business transaction, short of those requiring signatures, which we do not prefer to carry out via e-mail when absolutely possible. And if a signature is needed, I can e-mail the signature page and they can fax it back. A letter is nice, but communication is communication. Period. If a restaurant gives out their e-mail address, they should check it regularly. And a complaint from a customer is a complaint from a customer. i lean towards the thought expressed so clearly by Carolyn Tillie: i do business via email all of the time. when i feel it's appropriate. i think pen on paper and a wet signature may have been appropriate in this particular instance. Well then, you can write Tillie if you'd like. Thank goodness I have no desire to live by the Code of Tommy. And a relationship did exist -- a restauranteur/customer relationship. Whatever your personal Edict of The Day, if a restaurant gives its e-mail address out freely, then e-mail is acceptable. If they didn't want to do business by e-mail, they wouldn't make it freely available. Jeez.

Tommy: I don't have the answer about what the restaurant should do, but... My firm did over $100m in billables last year -- not bad for a a samll firm -- and I can't think of a business transaction, short of those requiring signatures, which we do not prefer to carry out via e-mail when absolutely possible. And if a signature is needed, I can e-mail the signature page and they can fax it back. A letter is nice, but communication is communication. Period. If a restaurant gives out their e-mail address, they should check it regularly. And a complaint from a customer is a complaint from a customer.

I'm going to throw this out there, too. My lovely German Grandmother used to make the best cole slaw -- she chopped the cabbage by hand, and her dressing was vinegar, sugar, and possibly water, but I don't know what else. It wasn't a hot dressing. And it was sweet and tangy. The only place I've been with similar slaw is White Fence Farm, South of Chicago. (Famous in the Heartland) If anyone knows how they do it, I'd love to know.

I brought a suitcase full home with me! My wife was livid!

Mayhaw: No, I did not get to Metarie. We decided to cancel the car and enjoy red bean day in the Vieux Carre. (Fiorello's on Decatur St. was exactly what we needed. I'm a bit choked up thinking about it!) I'll post a report on the trip once I figure out how to do the pictures thing. We had some great food, some okay food, and, well, let's just say our experience at the Camelia Grill is probably a whole thread in itself, and I don't know if I can take the personal attacks that would come with my description. I wish, more than anything, that I could go back right now. I was meant to be there. Oh, G-d, I love it there. Must go cry now. Aidan

Having just returned from a heavenly trip to New Orleans, I immediately sent out invitations to fellow frozen Chicogoans to enjoy a bit of Mardi Gras at my home. I promised red beans, chicken and sausage jambalaya (with homemade sausage), greens, and Galette des Rois (the French pithivier style, rather than the New Orleans yeasted -- I've been working on mastering laminates and this is a great opportunity to show off my puff pastry!) Having promised the moon in my invitations, I went to RecipeGullet to check out what authoritative recipes the Louisianans had posted for posterity. And, alas, I found not a single recipe for red beans, jambalaya,or greens. How could this be? I know Southerners, and Louisianans in particular, to be the most generous breed on earth. Now surely you owe it to your fellow eGulleters to spread the word, to feed the hungry, to fatten up the thin! We gotta have some fuel to keep warm here -- today's wind chills are for -35 degrees! How 'bout helping a guy get his fix, huh? Pretty please?

We often will have whole salmon for dinner. I like to oil mine, season with salt and pepper inside and out, fill the cavity with dill, green onions, and lemon wedges. This I wrap well in several layers of cheesecloth and tie off with twine. I then rub the outside with oil again. Cook over a hot fire on the grill for 10 minutes per inch of thickness at the thickest point, turning halfway through. When the fish is done, remove to a tray, and slit the cheesecloth at the cavity. Peal off the cheesecloth, and miraculously, the skin peals off with it. Remove the flesh from the bones, splash with lemon and a bit of dill. Great summer fare, or, if you have a gas grill, wonderful for bringing summer into the bleak winter. Leftovers make a lovely addition to salads or made into a mock mousse by mixing with cream cheese, capers, lemon & dill.

If they cared about the parents, they would serve Vicoden.

Oh. My. G-d. You actually called it a restaurant! I haven't laughed that hard since Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa Cake! I have had to go to these places to take my son to birthday parties. Just the presence of so many crusty, oozing, snotty children is enough to put me off my feed, then add in the ever present smell of the bleach solution used to disinfect the tables, chairs, trays, toys, games, etc. That is my idea of a f****** nightmare. And the rat doesn't bother me as much as the staff, which can generally be described as disinterested and disagreeable. Upon entering, adults and their children are stamped with an invisable, unique code. Adults leaving with children are then checked at the exit to make sure they aren't taking a child they didn't come in with. The ink on my hand must have washed off when I washed my hands. An employee questioned me when we tried to leave, and I explained it must have washed off when I washed my hands after using the restroom. She told me I shouldn't have washed my hands. I almost threw up on a nearby "Bonk the Mole" game. Friends don't let friends eat at Chuck E.'s

This is an interesting topic for me. Dear friends were married recently. I did the wedding cake, which is another post in and of itself. But their reception is on point. Their reception was scheduled to start at 4:00 with an hour of cocktails and passed hors deuvres. (My spelling sucks. Sorry.) When the wedding started, at 3 p.m., the caterer still had not shown up! I missed the ceremony because I was setting up tables and chairs in the church hall. Cocktails started at 4:30 -- but the hors didn't get out until around 6:00! That's a LOT of time with an open bar! And dinner, which was supposed to be at 5:00, didn't start until 7:00. People were pickled by the time dinner started, and the food wasn't particularly good -- or even particularly warm. Then the bastard caterer stole the $60, 3/4" thick round piece of tempered glass I had made for the cake base. I don't know what they worked out with the caterer, but if my guests had to set up the reception hall, put up the tables, set out the chairs, dress and set the tables, I wouldn't have paid full price.

I was watching last night while working on a project. Without looking, I couldn't tell the difference between them. I hope Singh begins to make this her own. I want someone who is going to make me stop and think. Someone who will challenge the diners as well as the viewers to look at food or restaurants or chefs differently; to stop and ask questions. Otherwise, I might as well be watching Barney.

My favorite brik is lamb, garlic, onion, and chard (wilted and squeezed dry) with a quail egg. I use quail eggs because I can't seem to make the brik, even using small chicken eggs, without 80% of them ending up all over me. I'm kind of retarded when it comes to making briks. The last time I tried I ended up with egg in my hair, my shoes, and my lap. Never again! I had an interesting brik at a friend's house once that had heavilly seasoned, spicy lamb, fava beans, and lemon zest with an egg. She served it with a yogurt sauces. Kickass! I also like veggie briks made with potato, green onion, garlic and cauliflower with lots of cumin and coriander and a bit of tumeric. The Harissa completes the flavors well.

I started out liking the show, but I didn't think Amanda Puck was able to generate any sparks or sparkle in the conversation. I like SIngh, I think she's a lovely young woman, but she doesn't have the zing either. I'd like to see them get a young, opinionated, snappy, humpy, gay guy to host the show. I think it would give the show an edge it needs.

You have really hit my soft spot. I love North African food. Love it! Couscous is my favorite. I have a couscousierre which belonged to a friend's pioneer grandmother in the early 20th century when she moved to what was then known as Palestine and live in a tent and cooked over a fire. I never actually use it -- it is too small for my use -- but I love having it. I steam my couscous in the traditional manner. I don't have a gsaa, but I use a wide, low (3") piece of crockery instead. I fluff and rake in the traditional manner. But instead of making it in a couscousierre, I use an electric vegetable steamer lined with a coffee filter. It works very, very well. As for the stews -- I love them all. I've never had one I didn't like. I tend not to use as much fat as the authentic recipes -- which often start with 1/2 cup of olive oil or s'mem. As for merquez -- unless it is a vegetarian or dairy meal, I've never been in any situation where having merquez hurt! (I make my own now, 'cuz I like it nice and spicy!) And I can't imagine life without harissa! I have a wonderful recipe for briks that I got in Israel which I will pass on when I have the chance. They are labor intensive, but delicious. What I do is buy enough ingredients for a double batch, then have a friend who is handy in the kitchen over and we sit and kvetch and fold briks. When they are all done, I divide them in half and she takes home half and I keep half. I also recommend grinding your own lamb -- you can control the amount of fat which goes in that way, which I think improves the taste. Lamb fat is rather strong. I know not everyone has a grinder, but it can probably be done in the food processor. And while Paula Wolfert might make warka by hand, I suggest you go to a Greek bakery and ask to purchase fresh phyllo. You'll be glad -- both for the flavor and the fact that it is easier to work with than the frozen, factory made sheets. Ummmm. Now I'm hungry for a couscous with seven vegetables!

I loved Tatie Danielle, a French film about a mean, mean, mean old woman and her semi-abusive caretaker, Sondrine. The old woman is addicted to pastry. Pastry appear throughout the movie.

OK -- I made this suggestion to a friend a year or so ago and she cried and told me she hated me and that I was a terrible friend for not having any faith in her abilities. She arrived 36 hours before the wedding and did a cake for 250. She did exactly as I had told her and everything went really, really well. She hasn't spoken to me since, but the bride is now a colleague, so I heard all about it. (And saw the pictures. Nobody -- NOBODY looks good in strapless lavender hoopskirts. Come on, everybody. Say it with me. NOBODY...) Make a fake cake from styrofoam -- available at craft stores. Sculpt it exactly as you like then cover it in soft white fabirc (well pinned on the bottom) and then fondant and decorate it with royal icing, which dries very hard.. (I suggest making a "cutout" in the back to facilitate the picture taking ritual. You can then piece a piece of cake into the right spot later.) Have it carefully packed and shipped by Mailboxes, Etc. or the ilk a week in advance. When you arrive, make three sheetcakes, frost with a buttercream and cover with fondant. Maybe even pipe a bit. But who cares. They are going to stay in the kitchen and be cut up before anyone sees them. Far faster, since you aren't worried about exacting designs or perfection. And the guests get served faster because the behind-the-scenes cakes can be cut and plated without waiting for the picture taking thingy. Or you can do what a friend of mine did -- say you are making the cake, then order it from a fancy bakery. Just make sure the fancy bakery doesn't put lables on the cake rounds. You get caught that way.

Maybe frozen veggies aren't on the menu because Bird's Eye hasn't signed on to her payola scheme yet?

I did a fondant covered three-tier, dotted swiss cake for a friend's wedding. It took ten years off my life. The night before the wedding I started rolling out the fondant -- which I had spent the afternoon making, but there was freakish weather and 100% humidity and it was a disaster. It cracked, it broke, it was useless. So the next morning finds me standing in the rain outside a Michael's crafts when they opened, begging for all their white boxed fondant. They didn't have any, but they walled the next closest. 65 miles and a nervous breakdown later, I was back in the kitchen, rolling out storebought crap. The cake was georgeous. I got it boxed and into the wagon to transport to the church. While I was stopped at a stoplight, a 16-year-old girl rear-ended me. I swear, I was like lunatic-in-a-box! I was shreaking hysterically! I'm certain she was so traumatized she never drove again! Luckily, I am neurotic, so I had packed a good emergency repair kit. I put the patched side of the cakes towards the back and nobody was the wiser. I cried all through the wedding. Then the caterers (who were responsible for cutting and serving) stole the $60 round 3/4" thick piece of tempered glass I had made for the cake base. Those bastards. I was just asked to do a cake for a wedding in May. I said yes, but not until they agreed on the "no fondant" rule.

Several years ago, out of the blue, I developed an allergy to raw alcohol. (Thank G-d I can still have it cooked!) Before dinner I order bitters and soda with lime. With dinner it is usually sparkeling water with lemon. After dinner it is usually Schweppes Bitter Lemon. I could -- and sometimes do -- drink this throughout the evening. I love it. But someone told me I shouldn't drink so much quinine, so I limit myself to one or two. If I'm going to a cocktail party, I sometimes take this along -- it looks alot like my old favorite G&T and tastes like a cocktail, not a virgin something.

Unfortunately she's not going away. The article in Gourmet/Sept. 2003 (which I would post a link to if I knew how!) states that she is all set to introduce kitchen products, home decorating produts, etc. a la Martha very soon. Apparently she made over $20M on QVC with lord knows what. She is going to be around for a while. A classic example of "When Good Things Happen to Bad People". I don't think Mooph is the only one among us who could benefit from a little grief counselling. And just to get my 2 cents in. I don't care if Martha Stewart is a difficult person. I don't care if she makes Leona Helmsley look like a creampuff. I don't have to kiss her goodnight and I don't have to work for her. Over the years, though, I have learned a great deal from her magazines and her televison show. I have had occasion to meet her socially, and she was nothing but charming and gracious and witty and enjoyable company to me. (And she insisted that a good bottle of Calvados is money well spent.) So this I feel comfortable in saying... Sandra Lee is no Martha Stewart.