ludja

El Brunos is a great stop after a day visiting Chaco Culture National Historic Park on your way back to Albuquerque. Also handy if you are traveling between Abq and Durango/southwestern Colorado). Lots of nice seating inside and a very pretty outdoor courtyard if the weather is right.

Also, it just hit me why I was thinking of the rabe and ricotta combination. A great pizzeria in Albuquerque called "Farina" has the following pizza which is one of my favorites: pepe caldo pizza iwth broccollini, hot pepper, ricotta, caciocavallo (Caciocavallo tastes similar to aged provolone.)

The arancini sound good; is there mozzarella inside as well? Here are a few other recipes I found on the Martha Stewart website: Spaghettini w Broccoli Rabe Pesto, Calamari and Ligurian Olives Turnip Hash with Broccoli Rabe (add fried eggs for dinner) Baked Rigatoni w Sausage Meatballs and Broccoli Rabe Warm Cranberry Bean Salad w Butternut Squash and Broccoli Rabe I'm jealous at the great price you have on the broccoli rabe right now. I've never seen that kind of deal on them.

As I adore broccoli rabe but almost always use it in the one sausage/pasta dish, I'm also curious about other uses. I thought of other bitter greens (collard, etc) and came up again with the fact that it goes well with pork, as Alcuin mentioned. So, I do think sauteed versions of it would go great with any simply flavored pork dish. ON a more Italian note, I was thinking it would also go great with ricotta as in a ricotta pie or in a calzone, with or without some type of cured pork (sausage, pancetta, ham, etc). If no pork, then maybe tomatoes/sun dried or fresh or mushrooms would fit well. Here is a broccoli rabe ricotta frittata: http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/broccoli-rabe-ricotta-frittata-recipe-7753?click=recipe_sr Cruising online, I found some interesting recipes that used walnuts with broccoli rabe which somehow sounds like a great combination. Linguine with Broccoli Rabe Walnut Pesto http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/linguine-broccoli-rabe-walnut-pesto-recipe (Here you could make a bunch of pesto without the cheese and freeze it to save some of your bounty for later.) Add the cheese when you thaw and use the pesto later. I bet this would be good with chicken as well. Broccoli Rabe with Walnuts and Bulghur http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Broccoli-Rabe-with-Bulgur-and-Walnuts-241334 Thanks for your question; I want to try some of these other preparations now--including making a Pork Italiano at home so I don't have to wait for one until my next trip to Philly.

I really like the recipe from LIdia Bastianich: http://www.recipezaar.com/Orecchiette-With-Broccoli-Rabe-and-Sausage-328717 The chicken stock, high quality pecorino or parmigiano reggiano, crushed red pepper and the small amount of butter swirled in at the end are really touches that put it over the top. ONe my favorite top ten dishes! I usually lightly peel the larger stems of the rapini and use all of it then. If you can't get your hands on orecchiette pasta another shape that holds the sauces and bits and pieces well is fusilli. I do love using orecchiette for this dish though; whenever I run across it somewhere I buy it with this dish in mind. I've made other variations in which I've subbed anchovy or pancetta for the sausage; also very good,

In case the link goes dead; here are the guardian's choices: 1. McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture by Harold McGee (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, £30) 2. Beyond Nose to Tail: A Kind of British Cooking: Part II, by Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly (Bloomsbury, 2007, £17.99) 3. Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain (Bloomsbury, 2000, £8.99 in paperback) 4. In Defence of Food, and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin, 2009, £9.99 (new paperback edition) and Bloomsbury, 2006, £7.99 respectively) 5. The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, £30) 6. Thai Food by David Thompson (Pavillion, 2002, £25) 7. Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop (Penguin, 2003, £14.99) 8. The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen by Nigel Slater (Fourth Estate, 2007, £16.99 in paperback) 9. The Moro Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark (Ebury, 2003, £17.50) 10. The Big Fat Duck Cook Book by Heston Blumenthal (Bloomsbury, 2008, £125) So that's the top 10. The next six were independently nominated by more than one of the panel. 1, British Regional Food: In Search of the Best British Food Today by Mark Hix (Quadrille, 2008, £14.99) 2. The Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown (HarperCollins, 2006, £25) 3. Shopped: the shocking power of Britain's supermarkets by Joanna Blythman (Harper Perennial, 2005, £7.99 in paperback) 4. European Festival Food and Classic Spanish Cooking by Elisabeth Luard (Grub Street, 2009, £20 and MQ Publications, 2006, £14.99 respectively) 5. Not on the Label by Felicity Lawrence (Penguin, 2004, £8.99) 6. Culinary Pleaures by Nicola Humble (Faber & Faber, 2006, £9.99)

Any comments on Gallo Blanco at the Clarendon? Looks like great modern-classic Mexican food. http://www.galloblancocafe.com/ Another place that looks fun is Hula's Modern Tiki. (This is an Arizona outpost from the home restaurants in Monterrey and Santa Cruz). http://www.hulasmoderntiki.com/ Last question is regarding the Metro Brasserie and Bar in Scottsdale. Again, comments online and the menu and drinks look interesting but would be happy to hear about anyone's personal experience. http://www.metrosouthbridge.com/

We have had lunch several times at the Double Eagle which is in a gorgeous and historic old building right on the Plaza in Mesilla and have never been disappointed. It is wonderful to eat lunch out in the patio with all the tropical-like plants. The old historic wooden bar in the room next door is great to have a drink at as well. While all the food has been good, a standout from the last time I was there was their chile relleno made with local Hatch green chile. It was one of the very best rellenos I've ever had and I make a point of ordering them often in New Mexico. Here's the link to the restaurant: http://www.double-eagle-mesilla.com/ If you're still in Alamorgordo, have you checked out the restaurant in the hotel at the top of Cloudcroft; The Lodge? http://www.thelodgeresort.com/ We've stuck with steaks when we've ordered there and never been disappointed. Their tableside Caesear Salad is excellent as are the Banana's Foster! The whole meal and ambiance is a satisfying retro treat. Again, they also have an incredible historic wooden bar with nice cocktails offered. Caliche's is a fun place to get frozen custard in Alamogordo. We like the vanilla custard with sweet/salted local pecans on top. Well, I have other ideas for "NM treats" but I'm more familiar with places in Abq and Santa Fe. It will be great to hear your experiences in the Roswell area, eventually, and in other places in Southern NM. If you're in the Mesilla/Las Cruces area for awhile you should check out some places in El Paso as well. There are some tasty establishments down there and it is close to Las Cruces.

Nice use for leftover spaetzle: Sautee in some butter and then scramble some eggs in with the noodles. Season with salt and pepper and add in some chopped ham towards the end. Serve with a green salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette. I made some spaetzle and had some left over; not enough for a side dish on their own. I mixed them into some butter green beans for a side dish.

How was the food? (and the formality of dress...) I haven't eaten at either of the Do & Co's but I have eaten at a few good places (less formal) on two trips to Vienna in the two years. I need to round up my notes and post them in here. Thanks in advance!

Thank you Rob for all your contributions and good luck with your new culinary adventures. Hope you still have time to post!

Great report, BryanZ! Thanks for sharing it. I need to document my eating in Vienna last summer. Looking forward to your last stop! (We had currywurst in Vienna but were not very excited about it but it may not really be the thing in Vienna. At the stand where we had it they put dry curry powder on the sausage and then topped with ketchup---was the dry curry and the ketchup mixed together in Berlin? I love streetfood, diner food and sausages, etc but I didn't really like the combo of unmixed dry curry powder and ketchup...) We had lots of other great sausages including the classics and kind of funny (to me) but very delicious Kasekreiner; a sausage stuffed with cheese.) Served on a great Semmel (roll) and topped with mustard, these were addictive.

Can anyone suggest a place for oysters on the half shell at lunch time during the week? We'll only be in Providence a few hours, I''m thinking oysters if that's an option and then maybe Lucky Garden or Iggy's in Warwick afterwards. I would also have liked Chez Pascal or Al Forno but alas they look open only for dinner... I know the choice I have listed is pretty eclectic but I'm open to suggestions. I guess great seafood is my first hope... but excellent Chinese or Thai would also be great. We'll be there on a weekday so I think we're also out of luck for Lucky Garden's dim sum.

Thanks, this is great to know! I *was* rather surprised at the nice taste given its reasonable price. Have you come up with a name for this cocktail or has it evolved to something different? It sounds very appealing.

Has anyone tasted both Berentzen Apple Schnapps and Schonauer Apfel and can tell me how they compare? The subtitle for the Schonauer is "German Apple Schnapps Apfelkorn Liqueur". Like the Berentzen it is relatively low in proof logging in at 21% alcohol. I haven't tried the Schonauer in cocktails yet; just enjoying it straight up at room temp or chilled. It has a nice apple flavor. I'm wondering how it might compare to the Berentzen so that I might be able to use it as a substitute in some of the cocktails mentioned above. It's not too expensive (at least where I bought in Reno; under $20, I'm pretty sure.)