Comfort Me

I love aloo gobi -- I use Gurinder Chadha's recipe. (She directed Bend it Like Beckham -- watch the special feature on the DVD for a wonderful and entertaining cooking lesson, closely supervised by her mother and Aunti-ji!) I also love samosa's stuffed with cauliflower. I made my recipe up, substituting cauliflower for the potato in a the recipe for samosas in The Higher Taste, a Hare Krishna book on living a vegetarian life. My only problem with the recipe is that they do not use any onion or garlic whatsoever because of religious belief, and use hing instead. Hing does add an interesting flavor, but it just doesn't replace onion and garlic for me. India has such vast religious diversity -- I hope my addition isn't culturally inappropriate. I really love Indian food -- as does my wife and 7 year old son. I am very lucky that they love the whole shebang -- cilantro, cumin, chiles. No picky eaters in our house! I wish Chicago had opportunities for westerners to learn Indian cooking. I was offered lessons in making chapatis early in the year, but I lost the contact, and have been kicking myself ever since.

I very rarely send anything back in a restaurant. I'm pretty easy to please. One experience, however, has really stayed with me. About ten years ago, my wife and I ordered minestrone at an italian/pizza restaurant near our getaway home in southwest Michigan. The menu didn't mention any meat. (We are Jewish, and don't eat pork or shellfish or eat meat when eating dairy.) When the soup came, it had huge chunks of pork sausage in it. We told the waitress to take it back -- that we couldn't eat it. She said fine, but that we would have to pay for it anyway. I told her I would not. The manager came over and told me she wouldn't take it off our check. I told her she might as well call the police, because I wasn't going to pay for it. I told her to bring me a check without the soup on it or I would have to start complaining very loudly about how they were trying to extort money from honest patrons. I think I even threatened to call the police from my cell phone. We didn't pay for the fucking soup. Needless to say, I have never driven by the place without thinking about how rudely we were treated. And we have never been back -- we even warn our guests away from going there! (I'm an Irish/German Jew. If a person could make money from holding a grudge, I'd be rolling in it!) If they had treated me better, I's still be a customer. (Their pizza was pretty good.) But after that? Screw em.

My wife firmly prohibits anything on our table which still has a head. This is absolute, and I had to promise her I wouldn't do it before she would agree to marry me. So I cut the head off, put proceed as if I otherwise was working with a whole fish.

I third or fourth the double boiler. I've never made a custard any other way -- having had the benefits of double boilers instilled at an early age. I've also never had a problem with scrambled eggs, and I've never had a custard fail to thicken. Kineharah! I've now got to go knock on wood and sprinkle some salt over my head. One NEVER wants to attract the evil eye!

I'm sorry I missed this thread before Shabbat, but appreciate the invitation! I wouldn't have had much to add, though, because I spent all day Friday making a wedding cake, and had accepted invitations to others' homes to keep from loosing my mind! My hostess Friday night served the most spectaculat chicken dish I have ever eaten -- a recipe from her mother -- called Chicken Diable. It isn't like others I have eaten. It was marinated in a mixture of margerine, honey, French's mustard, salt, pepper, and curry powder. The chicken was grilled, the generous quantity of marinade boiled and served as a sauce. I must have eaten 1 1/2 pounds of boneless breast! But today is Sunday -- the day I usually make out my menus for the next Shabbat. And mine for the next week are: Dinner We have guests coming early, so I'm planning some late-afternoon appetizers in addition to my usual dinenr. Matbucha Hummos Mock-liver (the grean bean recipe, not the eggplant) Homemade pita Tabouleh Moroccan meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce with olives and chickpeas Couscous with pine nuts and sultanas Marinated Carrots Steamed fresh fava beans More pita Pears poached in white wine with alspice, clove, and peppercorns Carmelcorn Lunch Challah with honey More mock liver Chilled avacado soup garnished with chives and sour "cream" Homemade salmon sausage with diced kosher fake crab and citrus horseradish Tropical chicken salad in pineapple bowls Cold fruit compote with parve pound cake Maxine Siegel Handelman has written a childrens book called The Shabbat Angels, the moral of which is that to ensure a peaceful Shabbat by doing something for Shabbat (i.e. kids picking up their rooms, cooking, cleaning house, etc.) every day. (It's a beautiful book -- Maxine is a friend of mine -- buy it!) The book makes me feel proud of the way I prepare -- Monday I'll make my shopping list. Tuesday I'll roll and freeze the meetballs, Wednesday I'll poach the chicken, make the matbucha, hummos, and mock liver. Thursday I'll poach the pears, cut the pineapples and make the chicken salad, make the tabouleh, defrost the sausages, and make and chill the soup. (Thursday nights are always my late-night!) Friday morning I'll make the pita dough. When i get home at 2:45, I'll do everything else. Is it any wonder I need Shabbat rest. But I do look forward to Shabbat -- starting on Saturday night!

I have to admit, I heard the douchebag reference, but it took me a while to convince myself that that was what I heard. I wanted to see him get hit by a car by the time Jeffrey gave him the boot. What is really funny is that everybody I know is well aware of why they have such troubles. The bar gets backed up because they serve eleventy-three froo-froo drinks with 37 ingredients each. THe food is cold because the kitchen is a quarter mile from the table. Rocco is never there because he's going through an intensive de-homosexualization process. (Anybody who has seen "Sordid Lives" is laughing right now.) And the entire staff is comprised of whining, back-stabbing slackers becasue they only follow the pretty, skill-free slackers they hired 'cuz they look good, not because they give good service. The staff don't know what kind of restaurant they are working in because they can't answer the most important question: "Am I an actor? Or am I a waiter? Waiter? Actor?" Oi! I have to say that you make quite a statement here. I would love for you to come in and try to wok a Friday and and Saturday night at Rocco's. The food is not cold, the service is great, the bar gets the drinks out. I am really suprised, because most of the people on egullet are really smart, that you don't understand the difference between TV and the real thing. There are no producers or editors involved in a 550 cover night. I would love to see you try to do what we do every night. For your information, I am an actor and a waiter, have been both for 12 years, and I am in great company. About 80% of waiters in NYC are actor or, musicans or comedians. Be sure you know what you are talking about before you open your trap. Sorry to the rest of egullet for being so angry. I work too hard to be brought down in this manner. So tell us then, Uzay -- if the whining slacker image isn't accurate -- is it scripted? Is it contrived? Because frankly, I'm not the only person who came away with that impression. I'd very much like a straight answer to my question -- is it "reality" tv, or it it theatre. You don't think people are whiners? Watch the show again. You got a problem with the rep you come away with from your involvement in this show, you shouldn't have signed release to begin with. One lesson you might want to come away with: Don't shit where you eat.

OK -- so I'm making a shitload of a whilte buttercream -- the regular way -- egg whites beaten and cooked with a hot sugar syrup, then butter beaten in. My recipe tells me to boil the syrup for a couple of mintues. Is there a temperature on a candy thermometer I should cook the syrup to?

I have to admit, I heard the douchebag reference, but it took me a while to convince myself that that was what I heard. I wanted to see him get hit by a car by the time Jeffrey gave him the boot. What is really funny is that everybody I know is well aware of why they have such troubles. The bar gets backed up because they serve eleventy-three froo-froo drinks with 37 ingredients each. THe food is cold because the kitchen is a quarter mile from the table. Rocco is never there because he's going through an intensive de-homosexualization process. (Anybody who has seen "Sordid Lives" is laughing right now.) And the entire staff is comprised of whining, back-stabbing slackers becasue they only follow the pretty, skill-free slackers they hired 'cuz they look good, not because they give good service. The staff don't know what kind of restaurant they are working in because they can't answer the most important question: "Am I an actor? Or am I a waiter? Waiter? Actor?" Oi!

I wanted to give everyone an update. Pesach ended and the yeast-induced orgy of baking began. My first bake-analia was a double batch of chocolate challah. (I wanted to make a couple loaves using the oval pans as part of a gift for friends with a new baby.) So -- I made the dough -- which after a couple of weeks without baking seemed more alive and exciting than I remember. THe dough is a real pleasure to work with. It rose gloriously. I had decided early on to try a couple of different techniques, because I wanted to test my theory that the dough performed better when baked in a pan. So I scalled 1.5 pound loaves for the ovals, 2 pounds for a large loaf pan with a fake braid, and 3 pounds for a large five strand braid. THe braids for the oval looked lovely, as did the five strand. I didn't take a pic of the fake braid before it was baked. I'm definitely going to buy a couple more oval pans. Maybe not from Happy Home, though. I'm going to try to find the metal shop on 13th Ave. in Boro Park. If any of you have tried my chocolate challah recipe, please let me know if you have any improvements. TTFN. THey all looked promising coming out of the oven -- though I think the 5 strand spread out a bit too much. THe taste was great, though. The loaf in the pan did, as I expected, slice better and had a firmer consistancy. This dough just seems happier in a pan.

Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me, by M.F.K. Fisher. So powerful, I had to put it down more than once. Excerpted from Fisher's journals and including a couple of her short stories, it mainly deals with her life with Dillwyn Parish (Tim), also refered to as Chebrex in some of her writings. Parish had a terribly painful, incurable disease -- she wrote so honestly, so heartbreakingly about it and his desire to commit suicide, a person couldn't help but cry.

I bought one of the composite mandolines from Chefs Catalogue -- Usually $100, but now on sale for $39.99 -- and I am pleased as punch. Help! I've been lusting after a mandoline but unwilling to spend the money. I've looked at the cheaper equivalents, but they look as unergonomic as the cheapo I bought at a garage sale for $3 and soon donated to the next rummage sale. The composite mandoline in the Chef's Catalog photo link may have better blades, but looks as risky or frustrating to operate. So here's my question to those of you who have these machines: do you actually use that food pusher thing? It looks to me as though one is supposed to be pushing down and sideways at the same time on the food in question, everything will be wobbling, and soon one would be using the hand instead of the pusher to grip the food and hold it straight. Looks like an invitation to sliced fingers. The only slicer I've seen that looks as though the pusher would work properly is the top-of-the-line Bron with the food cage that slides back and forth on a carriage that has a pusher hinged to it. I'd like to know from the experienced users whether I've got the picture wrong. Does the pusher work better than I think? Do you ignore it and use fish scaling gloves? Or do you just grin and bear the occasional lost fingertip? Surely I'm not the only kitchen klutz who has to worry about these issues... Mandolines are always fraught with risk! I'll admit that I don't use the safety piece. I get better results when I do not. No one I know actually uses theirs -- I've only seen them used by chefs on television who are, I imagine, trying to limit liability! I worry about sliced fingers, sure. I'd be stupid if I didn't. But knowing that I could receive a very nasty cut is enough to make me slow down near the end of a potato or a cucumber! I recently did 5 gallons of thai cucumber salad, and I didn't spill any blood. I have the Chefs Catalog composite mandoline, and I find it to be very sturdy and very stable. Nothin wobbles (except possibly my belly).

What's interesting is that Patty is a Penzey. It's mentioned on their site. I've never had a chance to get to The Spice House in Evanston, and unfortunately, the Penzeys stores in the Twin cities area close too early for me to get there after a full day when I'm in the area on business. For me, it's all about the spices and the prices. Mail order just sucks for some items, like the ground cinnamon, which definitely does lose potency over time. Getting a local outlet for Penzeys would give me a chance to buy in smaller quantities, more often. I've never had a shipment take more than three days. Since they grind on site and in small batches, you can feel safe in the knowledge that The Spice House won't send you stale product. And yes, Patty is a Penzey. I didn't bring it up because that would seem like I was part of the whole mishegas -- which I'm not. I've definitely taken sides -- and I have grown quite fond of Tom and Patty, but it is really about the product and the service. And I think both are better at The SPice House.

You have no idea how much I'd like that! I was hoping we'd be going to NY for summer vacation, but we are driving to Montreal instead to take up a van load of books. The Talmud Torah day school there was firebombed eruv Pesach, and their library was totaled. We are having a couple of book drives, and to save money we are going to drive the books up. I really wanted to go to Boro park, too -- I'm still dreaming of going to that metal shop on 13th Ave.! As they say where I come from, Good Shabbas, Y'all!

I'm not at all surprised.

Whassamattawidchu? Somebody break your arm? Make you own chocolate challah! It always tastes better when you make it yourself -- YOU know that! Yeah -- I could make a parve, but eehhh. Why bother. It doesn't have the same "comfort" quotient. Plus, because of a hectic afternoon (dentist appointment for 7 year old) I'm having a dairy Shabbas dinner -- homemade macaroni and cheese (made with sharp cheddar and gruyer) red cabbage and apples, a big salad, and a pineapple upside down cake. All I'll have to do when I get home is make the cake and put the mac in the oven. Lunch tomorrow is chicken soup, chicken salad, lima bean salad, challah with whipped honey, and "garbage" cookies.

I was opporating under the "No Cholent after Pesach" rule -- sortof like "No White After Labor Day". This weekend, though, is chilly, wet, and perfect cholent weather. I'm jonesin' for cholent and don't have any shortribs or flanken in the house. Can you say "S.O.L."?

Have you shopped at Penzey's, too? Would like to hear a comparative analysis from someone who has shopped at both, as I have shopped only at Penzey's so far but would be open to trying The Spice House. Living in Chevy Chase (in Maryland) I am not sure whether a postcard from me would count toward D.C. Does one have to have a D.C. address for the postcard to be a vote for D.C.? YEs, I've shopped at both. In two states. And my experiences have been the same each time. I had been a customer of Penzey's mail order, and started shopping retail at their forst store. The Penzey woman -- I can't remember her first name -- always had to show off her superior knowledge. I remember once explaining how I wanted some chipped cinnamon sticks to add to their fancy pickeling spice for my corned beef. She told me she knew better than I did and that I would be ruining her perfect spice mixture. I always felt like I was an imposition at Penzey's. I always left feeling bad about myself. So when I read a Chicago Tribune article saying a store called The Spice House had opened on Central Street in Evanston, I immediately drove up. At the Spice House I have always been treated as if my business was of great value. Even when I was only buying one little thing for home. I was given samples, encouraged to taste, treated like a V.I.P.. They are small enough that when I call with a question, I can talk to one of the owners -- Tom & Patty Erd -- who are incredibly knowledgable about herbs and spices. Often times I leave with a small bottle of some new herb or spice or blend with the instructions "Try this and let us know what you think." I never got that kind of treatment from Bill Penzey. Not even close. I won't ever shop anywhere else but The Spice House.

I was worried about this, too. Had several anziety attacks. BUt I have come up with a method which allows me to make them en masse and freeze. I bake my spuds to reduce moisture, replace 1/3 of the flour with semolina for structure, form, freeze on a sheet pan, then put them into a ziplock. Drop the frozen gnocchi into rapidly boiling water. Rapid is important. It keeps them from sticking to each other or to the bottom of the pot. I made a variation last week which was really good. On a whim, I added 1/2 teaspoon cayenne. I then cooked them, drained them well, and dropped them into a skillet with browning butter. Spank my ass and call me Charlie, but they were really good eats. I wish I had made enough to freeze.

Oh -- I dearly love my everyday "meat" dishes -- purchased from a synagogue which was tearing down its old building to build a new one and didn't want to store everything. They are old Walker China with the synagogue name and a seven candle menorah motif -- $3 a place setting. I bought 12!

IMHO, The Spice House is far and away a better store. Their product is the same, their service is personal and polished, they care about food as much as they care about making a sale, and the many orders I've placed on their website have all been perfectly, promptly filled. If I had to choose between a Penzey's down the block and paying shipping for The Spice House, there's no question what I would choose.

Ask your fishmonger for scallops from dayboaters. Most good mongers know who and where their wares come from. When scallops are obtained from boats that stay at sea for a few days at a time, they are washed in a preservative which makes the scallop absorb water. This makes it look fresh and appetizing, but doesn't produce a good sear. You can have the hottest cast iron, but it will still steam.

I bought one of the composite mandolines from Chefs Catalogue -- Usually $100, but now on sale for $39.99 -- and I am pleased as punch. The blades go in and out easilly, the whole things just gets dunked in a sink of soapy water, and the mandoline and the blade case all hang on the pegboard. It takes 10 seconds to set up and 45 to get it clean and hung up.

Never missing an opportunity to obsess about something needlessly for months on end, I've got a very special picnic to plan in late summer for which I would love some creative input. Think height of the summer, several very famous people, including a couple of mega-mega-famous Hollywood-type people. The hosts are oldest, bestest friends. I'm both cooking and a guest, so I want to design a menu that I can put out for the staff to serve. I've had the following thoughts: Gaspacho with organic heirloom grape and tiny yellow pear tomatoes (my garden), served in chilled glass punch or coffee cups. Pickled salmon in lettuce cups with a chipotle mayo. Watermelon and feta salad with a lemon viniagrette. Haricot verts, blanched, shocked, then marinated with garlic and olive oil Vegetarian bureks -- layers of heavilly seasoned onions, leaks, peppers, spinach between and encased in crispy layers of phylo dough. I have no idea about a dessert. Maybe individual semolina cakes with whipped creme fraiche. I'm not wed to anything listed -- except possibly gazpacho, which I must say I do rather well. I would like to keep it simple, elegant, cold or room temperature, and dairy -- no meat. Any ideas? I would be much obliged.

Why not? Makes perfect sense to me! I have some of my initial brisket still left and will revive it for the last two days of the holiday ... Your Chabad Shabbos sounded terrific! Be of good cheer and soon there will be chocolate chocolate challah to revel in!! Hag sameach, Aidan, to you and your loved ones!! And many happy returns, deares Gifted! May the blessings of freedom and peace be yours in this season and throughout the year. Made some really good Mock chopped liver today -- a double batch to get us through til after Pesach! Added a little red pepper flakes -- not enough for a kick, but enough that it brightened it up. I recently discovered that my wife, who won't eat liver to save her soul, enjoys the mock spread made with eggplant. (I'm not a fan of eggplant, but the mock liver is palateable and it makes matzah almost edible.)

We had Shabbas lunch yesterday at the Hyde Park Chabad House, having been invited by the Rabbi and rebbetzin. We had a wonderful time -- and a wonderful pesadick cholent! Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, meat (flanken, I think) -- but no beans or barley, of course. I've gotta say, it was one of the best cholents I've ever had! It was fairly wet, plenty salty, and the meat melted like butter! The Rabbi's brother and his wife and family were visiting -- they have a Chabad House in suburban Denver -- and all our kids melded pretty well. It made for long lines at the sink waiting to wash hands (I always hang back to cut down on the silent time between washing and saying Motzi!) but took great joy in watching 3 year old Esti wipe her hands and say the bracha! Today I slow-cooked two chuck roasts with chili sauce, LOTS of onions, red pepper flakes, herbs and red wine. Delicious today, and the leftovers will be good for dinner tomorrow when my MIL will be here. I'm wondering if I can make the same thing like a cholent -- put all the ingredients (and a few potatoes) into a dutch oven, bring to the boil on top of the stove, then put in the oven at 210 degrees.