Comfort Me

I haven't quite figured out the new site -- especially how to quote from previous posts. My dearest, generous, talented, and esteemed Bloviatrix, would you PLEASE send me your recipe for your orzo/pinapple kugel? It made my mouth water just imagining it! I'm already building a menu around it for Sukkot! Oi! Sukkot! Aidan

La Shanah Tovah, my dear friends! Sorry to have been so far away for so long. The New Year will be better! RH dinner (for 20) will be: DAY ONE Mock liver and crackers Onion soup Challah (with and without) Tossed Salad from our garden Steamed carrots scented with orange zest Dolmades with mint and pistachios "Buttered" noodles Chicken Diable Baked Apples stuffed with couscous, raisins, honey and walnuts Pecan Bars I made a double batch of dolmades and took some to a friends house where we will have them for RH lunch. DAY TWO (just us) Salad Lamb stew leftover noodles Ravani (dense farina cake soaked in a honey/sugar syrup) And thank G-d we are invited out for Shabbas dinner or I think my head would explode. And Sunday I have mahjong at my place -- but it's only for four and it is my favorite meal to make, so I'm looking forward to it -- and whooping tuchas at mahjong! May you all be inscribed in the book of life for a year of joy, prosperity, health, happiness, and a wheel of gooey Epoisse! Aidan

Rabeye: Have you ever used beef bacon for lardon when making coq au vin? REALLY makes a difference! I am now a big fan of beef bacon. (Also really yummy in BLT's! ) Never fear! Shabbas is coming!

Barb: I hope I wasn't too hard on you. I just wanted to encourage you to keep coming back and to forgive and forget. (Although forgetting isn't always easy. There is that guy who accused me of being a fat woman...) Anyway, eGullet is great. I have been away for a while, and I missed my friends here. If you hang on the boards long enough and participate, you are bound to, also. And the stuff you can learn! It's just abso-frickin-lutely amazing! One day Paula Wolfert will be helping someone figure out a Moroccan spice, the next day Anthony Bourdain will describe what it is like to eat a fetal duck egg, and the next Rabbi Ribeye will give you an exhaustive lesson in brisket basics. Oh, the things to smell! The foods to eat! And to think that I found them on eGullet Street! (Sorry, Seuss, z"l!)

I'm hip? And here I thought I was becoming a little old lady! There is no set menu for mahj lunch. The only rule my wife (who does not play) has is that it be served at the dining room table instead of at the game table so that she and my son can eat with us. I try to pattern my menus after the fabulous luncheons served by my grandmother, z"l, to her bridge group. Chicken salad in bibb lettuce cups, gelatin salads, finger sandwhiches, etc. The only constant is the VERY little-old-lady mint and nut cups for each player! I'll never forget accompanying my grandmother to Betty Claffick's house -- she was a maiden lady in a huge house with fabulous, dark woodwork -- and there being a nut cup by my plate with mixed nuts. I especially loved the brazil nuts, and do to this day! That was 36 years ago, but I can still smell her house and taste those nuts! Anyway -- the finger sandwhich idea changed when my wife asked me to make potato and olive empanadas with fresh salsa verde. I guess I'll serve rice and maybe black beans with it. Maybe a small fresh salad dressed with guacamole, lime juice, and crema? And a pitcher of sangria, maybe. That should keep people happy! As for the nine days -- most of the people I know will make meat meals for Shabbbat. Fuggedaboudit! I'm glad to be back. I've missed you all!

Hello, all. Been away a lot -- super busy with day job, catering, summer, and mah jong group. Food hasn't been quite as fun for me, as I stepped on a scale and realized how much weight I gained. So I'm back on my old diet plan of, six days a week, always choosing the lower fat alternative and, on Shabbas, not worrying about a damn thing and eating what I want when I want. This Shabbas I'm making: Chilled potato and onion soup (My Irish grandmother's recipe) Corn and Radish Salad Grilled chicken with maple chipotle glaze Garlic smashed potatoes Grean beans sauted in olive oil with garlic Tofutti with Maine Mud -- a thick and nutty chocolate sauce. F@ the diet! I'm also looking forward to Sunday, when my mah jong group is coming over. (To play on my new set -- a complete set from the 1920's, in fabulous condition!) I'm making cucumber finger sandwiches, olive-nut finger sandwiches, a fruit salad, and low-fat coffee ice cream for dessert. Wish me luck!

Lots of company (10 people) for Shabbas this week, so I kinda went all out: Matbucha & Pita chickpea soup flavored with onion, harrisa and ras al hanout pumpkin couscous Tagine of lamb with garlic, olives, preserved lemon, and chickpeas Steamed carrots with dill and cilantro Ravani (a Greek cake soaked in a spiced syrup) Mint tea (in beautiful Moroccan tea glasses! A recent aquisition.) Life here has been really crazed -- working a lot (day job and catering) and trying to be a decent support system to a close friend with a seriously, seriously troubled teen. I need this Shabbat to recharge -- my battery is dead! I know it sounds counterintuitive -- drained so I invite 10 people over, but each of these people love me and make me feel better! May the One who set peace like a star in the heavens bring peace to Israel and all the Earth. Veimeru amen.

Mama? Is that you? I was reading, reading, reading...such a serious post...reading, reading, then BAM! -- I'm spewing Pepsi all over the computer screan. Thanks for the laugh, Callypigos. Barb: I am not an apologist for anyone. People, myself included, can be negative on the boards. And they can resort to ad hominem attacks. But if you re-read your own post, I think you'll see a great deal of negativity, as well as ad hominem attacks. Rocco's considerable talents as a chef have received attention on this and other threads. Maybe not as much as his egomaniacal behavior, his narcisism, or his apparent transformation in David Guest. But Rocco opened himself up to this kind of criticism by putting his life and his restaurant front and center on the public stage. The success of his book and his success at Union Pacific have both been noted, if only as a contrast to his very public failure at Rocco's. People here love food. Many of them also love pans, pots, things with motors -- you name it. Yes, I love my All-Clad, and I'm not going to appologize for that. But I also love my French food mill which I picked up at a garage sale for $1.00. And the set of three blackened cast-iron pans passed on to me when a friend died. There is a whole, unimaginably long thread devoted to the cheap things in our kitchens we love. I have never, not once, never heard anyone put someone down for being a novice. Indeed, I think even the most seasoned kitchen professionals feel quite amateurish in certain threads. (You get to talking about sugar work and I become the village idiot!) eGullet offers incredible opportunities to the kitchen novice for skills development as well as the development of self-confidence. Please, if you haven't already, check out the offerings at the eGullet Culinary Institute. You are relatively new to eGullet, and I see from your other posts that you have done well in many boards here. I hope you continue to enjoy eGullet and the intellectual, emotional, and culinary banter which gets tossed back and forth. With an open mind and a forgiving nature, you will thrive. You may find that you will hate someone in one thread and love them in another. In that way we are very much like a family. (I love my cousin Willa when it's just us, but put us in a crowd and she becomes a total ass.) Again, welcome and enjoy.

An modern orthodox shul here in Chicago, located in a very hip, predominantly gay, neighborhood, has a practice I really like and wish would work in our neighborhood. At the end of the kabbalat shabbat service, the rabbi asks "Who needs a place for dinner?" and people will raise their hands. He then asks "Who has empty seats at their table?" And he matches people up. Apparently it has been great for building a feeling of community and getting people who otherwise would never really know each other connected and talking. Kewl. The congregation is very young and very spirited. As much as I love to cook, there are weeks when I wish I could just not worry, show up to shul, and know I was going home with someone who would fill me with chicken soup and knaidlach and a bit of brisket. Oh -- and gefelte fish. I love them little rascals! (Delicious, but difficult to catch!) SSy'a.

Blovia: Can I come, too? You are "The woman who does everything more beautifully than I"!

I've had such a busy week, I hardly spent a minute cleaning, and we have company coming at 6:00! At least they are close friends who know what it is like to both work and raise a kid! It is going to seem like I am stuck in a rut, and maybe I am, but it is a rut we are all still enjoying. Gazpacho, salad, rojo chicken tamales, grilled flank steak (with a great sweet and spicy dry rub), and saffron rice. Gallons of freshly brewed, decaf iced tea with mint. Guests are bringing dessert. Last week I made dessert tamales to take for a special oneg at synagogue. I made a sweet masa with papaya and mango nectar instead of stock and some jaggery. I filled them with a stylized homemade mincemeat filling with lots of raisins, dried blueberries, currants, candied orange peel, rum, brandy, almonds and LOTS of pistachios. I made 72, but I could have made double that -- there wasn't a single tamale left over. What really surprised me was that so many people didn't know how to eat a tamale! I just can't imagine! Shabbat Shalom, y'all! Pray for peace!

Patience, Grasshopper! I was busy sauteeing onions, so I gave them time to cool. Plus, from my days in commercial kitchens, I have asbestos hands! I liked them so much, I'm making a batch Sunday morning to serve my mah jongh group. Parve, so I can make a dairy dessert. (Dr. Pepper Cake) Oh my dog! I just realized! I spent the morning thinking about what I was going to serve my mah jongh group. I have a moh jongh group. I am a little old Jewish lady! What will my wife say? Oh, who am I kidding? She'll say "Will you make enough knishes for Noah and me?"

Fifi- Do u remeber where on Bissonet St. the shop is? They might have those jars with spigots that Abra and Oreganought mentioned. Elie Does your town have a Pier 1 Imports? If so, they carry several different containers with a spigot. You can use any of them, just keep the lid off and cover with cheesecloth.

So - Swiss -- have you tried any modifications to the recipe? How did it work? I've been thinking about you for two weeks now! Any improvement? If so, what helped? Aidan

Googling "Vinegar Mother" came up with numerous hits for purchasing vinegar mothers, including this one. My wife loves vinegar -- she will dress a salad with just vinegar, no oil -- so I'm going to order a red and a white.

They don't cater only and exclusively to the gay community, because in Cook County that would be illegal -- we had a fairly comprehensive human rights ordinance which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. But there are restaurants which have a predominantly gay clientelle or theme. I'm thinking, just off the top of my head, of the Kit Kat Supper Club on Halsted, with female impersonnators/servers who put on drag shows while they wait table, and of Cornelias on Cornelia.

Hathor (and Cakewalk): I don't know where you are, but in Chicago one can purchase a quality Mother from Chiarugi Hardware, located on Taylor Street in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood. So if your city has an Italian neighborhood, that's where I would start. Or in a winemaking shop. Good luck. Now I gotta go check my bottles of vinegar!

Like them? I loved them! And so did everyone who ate them. I have an order for 500 minis for a bar mitzvah! Hmmm, am I sensing a possible career change? Well, I always call it my second job. I really love catering, and, since it is my second job, I take only the jobs I want to do and pass on the rest. That way I make sure it is always fun. I have at least two events a month through June 2005, and June 2005 is completely booked! (I even had to turn down a bat mitzvah because it was the same weekend as a wedding!) So -- do you think I could do a mock-liver filling for knishes?

In interviews I've read he had no use for italian cuisine, period. He grew up eating it but wouldn't learn how to make it. When he went into cooking, he studied French cuisine - his true love and passion. It's been rumored that he has had substantial cosmetic surgery (nose, eyes) to make him look less italian as well. Well, really. That could describe any of us. Stone: I, for one, have NEVER had plastic surgery to make me look less Italian. Or Jewish. Or old.

Like them? I loved them! And so did everyone who ate them. I have an order for 500 minis for a bar mitzvah!

In interviews I've read he had no use for italian cuisine, period. He grew up eating it but wouldn't learn how to make it. When he went into cooking, he studied French cuisine - his true love and passion. It's been rumored that he has had substantial cosmetic surgery (nose, eyes) to make him look less italian as well. He'll be an interesting talk show host... The Michael Jackson of 22nd Street!

If everyone who has spent time in a professional kitchen stops and thinks what it would be like to be gay and work in a kitchen, I think they could understand the need for a gltb chef's group. I can't count the times I heard anti-gay slurs in a kitchen. And, despite gay rights ordinances becoming more prevalent, fag-bashing is still allowed to go unchecked in our kitchens. My suggestion: Is it possible for a forum to be created on eG for discussion by/of glbt chefs? I think it would be a "Good Thing". I also think this is something for Nations Restaurant Association members to bring up as a suggestion for diversity workshops at the annual convention. And my two cents: I would never have thought ANYONE wearing fish pants was a gay man. Maybe a lesbian, but definitely not a gay man. We're here; We're queer; Have some kishke.

Can you see it now? Mama playing McMahon to Rocco's Carson? Maybe she'll also point out the physical atributes of scantilly clad female types in the audience. Maybe, a la Emeril, she'll throw meatballs into the audience! Instead of going out into the audience to chat them up, Rocco will go out into the audience to FEEL them up. It's hard to imagine, but I dislike Mama even more than Rocco. I've always thought there was something really deap-down ugly about her. She's always come across as if she'd smile to your face, then pull out a knife the minute you turned your back. She's obiously contributed to his lack of moral compass and narcisistic (my spelling sucks) behavior. I really can't wait for a talk show! I hope it happens! I'll never watch it, but I'll get the low down from y'all! Can you imagine what he'd be like as a talk show host? Sort of a combination of Joey Botafuoco, Emeril, and Benny Hill. It'll be some of the most compelling, gelastic theater since Charles Ludlam!

Yeah, but an Italian restaurant called "Rosenthal on 22nd". Not even in New York. Hows about "Rosies"? I think what they are really looking for is an exorcist.

Good question. 8 big ones. More little ones!