ludja

Thanks for the info Freckels... storing it all up for a wine trip to France sometime...

The menu looks great Behemoth and I now I have a new thing I must try... The butterscotch krimpets! (read a little about them onliine). I love butterscotch so it sounds like a fun thing to try. I've only visited Philly a few times but did manage to have some great cheese steaks and pork sandwiches there; I must keep something like this in mind for party sometime. My biggest personal 'food' party to date was for ~ 25 people (Carolina BBQ) and it is a lot of work--but it sounds like you are planning things well. Thanks for sharing with us!

Thanks for your report Freckles, and happy that you got to visit Champalou and Huet as well and find some nice Vouvray to bring back... Did you have to set up an appointment to visit the wineries? I've heard that most of the vineyards in France do not necessarily have tasting rooms per se that are open for specific hours (say, as in Sonoma or Napa). Also, what determines which wines you get to taste?

Could make ricotta tarts--similar flavor profile and southern Italian... or maybe easier for a crowd--individual cream puffs with ricotta (rigotte..) filling. Can add in chocolate chips or candied fruit if wanted. (I have recipes for the filling if you want). Lemon ice?

Thanks for posting the pix bleachboy; definately an additional inducement to try this dish. re: the red chiles, there is a description in the ingredients glossary on p. 10 that lists "red chiles". It then goes on to give other names-- Chile Colorado or red New Mexico chiles. Gives chile guajillo as a substitute. To me, New Mexico chiles would also be the more unambigous term, but maybe it's a TexMex thang? i.e. the default for red chiles is the New Mexcian unless otherwise described... Looking forward to hearing about Richard's foray into the lengua dish.

It doesn't explain the whole picture but at least some of it is timing. I needed a little rhubarb for a dish ~ a month ago and I think it was ~ $5:00/lb at my local produce market (Milk Pail in Mountain View, CA) that has very good selection and prices. I stopped by today and it was $2.49/lb. For comparison though, Whole Foods has it out here at the same price as NYC: 4.99/lb. Another local market (Sunnymount in Sunnyvale, CA has it at 3.99/lb). I run into this game each year--looking for rhubarb (b/c I like it alot) and it always seems to be expensive. I thought maybe it was b/c it's grown back East or something. AFter seeing this thread today I decided to try and figure out where it is grown: link Also, link (halfway down).So it seems like a large percentage of the crop is frozen... I've never used frozen rhubarb; does it work well in some dishes? Seems like it might work in crisps, but I wouldn't want to use it for my French Rhubarb Tart or in a compote. Growing up, we and a lot of family and neighbors had plants in the backyard that grew like hell so I never thought of it as special or expensive. If the use of it has declined in home baking I wonder if that has also contributed to the outrageous prices. edited to add: I need to see if it is at any of my farmer's markets this weekend. From the article above it doesn't seem like it would be a big NoCal crop...

Thought I would bump this up again to see if anyone has any comments on American Chenin Blanc. A few of the Chenin Blancs I've tasted from Sonoma/Napa have not been very distinctive with out much acidity--although I haven't made a concerted attempt to find them. I was inspired to learn more after reading Craig Camp's recent great post on Savennieres Wines Here's another article that discusses New World Chenin Blancs a bit but concludes:

Thanks much for the chopped liver recipe Pam; I can't wait to try it. (have never made it for myself and I get to eat it only when I go back East since I'm in a Jewish deli desert out here). Thanks for your great blog too!

I love serving asparagus at RT or slightly chilled with a gribiche sauce over (fresh herbs (parsely, tarragon, chives, chervil), chopped, hard-boiled eggs, shallots, capers, gherkins, lemon zest, olive oil, lemon juice and salt). A great way to cook the spargel is: snap off woodier ends according to where they naturally break. Lightly peel stem end. Drop into boiling, salted water. Cook for ~ 10 min depending on thickness of spear. Good way to check doneness is to lift a spear on the stem end using tongs. If the spear droops ~ 30-45 degrees it is done. (I check the thinner spears first). Immediately plunge into ice water bath to chill; then lay on dishtowels to drain. Then chill until use. As others have mentioned, asparagus risotto is sublime.

This isn't any help, but just a question. If you get to taste some wines during the course of your 'shopping' it would be great to hear your impressions. I've been told the 2002 vintage was very good, although maybe that is getting too old??? I had a great slightly off-dry 2002 Vouvray from Champalou last summer. It is available in the US but I don't know if you are keeping your eyes out for bottles not available here (if this is your home)... Interested to hear from others more knowledgable. edited to add: Here's the link to this same topic in the French forum so that it's easy for us to check between the two.

If you have a chance when you have a little free time (?!?) I would love to hear more about your recipe for chopped liver. It's one of my favorite things to eat and I've been saving up some chicken skins and fat in the freezer... It was amazing to see your walk in filled with contaners upon containers of it!

Can you recall any more of the flavor of the two or can you compare it to any other wines? The colors are intriguing. How much sweetness did they have? Do you know the grape varietal? I did look at the Jura wine link you gave; from what I can tell these are not "vin jaune". p.s. The comte pie certainly looks delicious. (as do all the other dishes...)

Bugialli has an interesting quote in his intro to the book (published in US in 1996): The quote comes after a section describing the various invaders/inhabitants of Sicily: Romans, Phoenicians, Greeks, Germanic tribes (most influential of which were Lombards). Then Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, medieval Swabian Germans, the sea powers of Pisa and Genoa and then the Spanish Aragonese. Some things he mentions are earlier (and I guess he thinks stronger) influences of Phoenicians and Carthaginians 1000 years earlier. He says that cultivation of oranges and lemons came relatively recently (last few centuries) via the Spanish and that all beans (except favas, lentils and chickpeas--which he says were used by the Romans) came from the new World. (As did peppers, zucchini and other squashes, tomatoes and potatoes). Mentions that lambs and kid were used by the Romans and that pork is a very important meat in Sicilian cooking--lard, proscuitto and pancetta. Mentions that olive oil was in production before Arab arrival via the Romans and Etruscans and that many Indian spices were being used in upper-class Roman empire cooking. He also mentions the trickiness of interpreting the etymology of the names of diffferent dishes with some examples. *I have no idea if he has an agenda at all and I don't know anything independently on this topic.* Just thought I would briefly try to summarize some of what is in his intro. From other things he says it doesn't seem like he refuting Arab influence, but the (in his eyes) perceived overstatment that Sicilian traditional foods depend wholly or largely on Arab influences. (Maybe this has been prevalent in recent Italian books on the subject???) Anyway, this thread is very interesting and I wish you the best of luck researching your book chefzadi! Unfortunately his book does not seem to have a bibliography, so besides the recipes therein I don't know if you would get many other leads. It would seem that there would be a lot more material out there but I suspect that much of it is written in Italian. One thing that might be useful for research at the end of the book is a small dictionary of foodstuffs commonly used in the area with the equivalent words given in English, Italian, Sardinian and Sicilian. The recipes in the book are listed with their Italian or Sicilian names in addition to the English translations.

I grew up on home made cakes, and lots of them were European in style--denser, finer crumb, ground nuts, etc. I've never really liked the taste or texture of cakes mixes; people have described the difference pretty well above. (and forget canned frostings). So it's not been something I've done. (I do think that people's taste can be affected if that's what they grew up with--i.e. to like the texture and certain *other* taste of cake mixes better). I tend to make cakes with butter; not oil, so I'm not sure if some of what I associate with cakes mixes is the texture/flavor of using oil. When and if I have kids maybe I could see it if as someone mentioned above I needed to whip up some cupcakes at the last minute, but probably I'd find a reliable recipe and perhaps even make up my own dry "mix" at home to have at hand. (I've done that with cornbread and it has worked out really well). My mom did have one "doctored" cake mix recipe that she made alot and that I have continued to make--it was called "whiskey cake". Uses a plain yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, whiskey, walnuts and butterscotch chips. It uses butter rather than oil. (It's a great long-lasting coffee cake, sturdy enough to bring along for a week at a cottage or the beach).

What a great brunch; love the menu. Nice to have the soup and the two fresh salads; like the idea of the smoked salmon and avocado. I've been there on weekend mornings--setting the alarm to make the cake... It's nice once one is awake though; quite and no distractions. What else did you add to the mascarpone and berries to make the filling? p.s. The cake looks very lovely as well!

Check out the link in the first post on this thread.

How was this revolutionary in 1 9 8 7? ← maybe in Chicago? (need locals to weigh in whether this was really new at a high profile restaurant at that time and place)

Yes. Almond bread.... Maybe it's because we make varieties that don't have almonds that we needed another word? I really have no idea where the word komish comes from but it's used here. ← I'd never heard the word "komish" before either, but a quick Google turned up a bunch of recipes under that name, including at least one Kosher l'Pesach one, so I guess it's known to other folks too. ← Komisch in German is an adjective meaning "funny", more as in "a little strange" rather than "ha, ha". I googled "komish" and "yiddish" and saw a few sentences in Yiddish where it looks like it is being using in a similar way to the German meaning. Also saw it being used as a name for "biscotti" or 'mandelbrot' cookies as above. Perhaps the name may derive from the Yiddish 'komish' via German "komisch"... Thanks for sharing your busy week; it's impressive to see all this baking and cooking on an industrial scale! Good luck with the rest of your busy day.

... I have decided on the cakes though, after a lot of very careful consideration.. for the brunch on Sunday (with parents and inlaws and stepdaughter) I'm doing an oldfashioned spongecake, sandwiched together with a mascarpone cream and raspberries. To take to work, chocolate cinnamon almond squares. For the buffet, white chocolate-cheesecake (not baked, the refrigerator kind) with strawberry sauce, and a pistachio cardamomcake with lemon syrup. ← The desserts sounds great! Hope to hear more about them (and see pix) as things go along. Have you made any of these before or are you sailing out into the wild blue yonder with new desserts? (I recently cooked a special dinner for friends on the occasion of my birthday and it was so much fun. Enjoy your preparations, and here's sending Happy Birthday wishes to you in lovely Amsterdam)

Thanks for this description carswell! There looks to be a nice version of this very torte in Rick Rodger's Kaffeehaus. The hungarian name given is "Ludlabtorte" as you mentioned; the english name, "Chocolate-Cherry Mousse Cake". I haven't made it yet but surely will based on your fond memories and in looking over the recipe description more closely. Same flavors as a Schwartzwalder Kirsch Torte (Black Forest Cake) but the assembly sounds even more luscious to me. A chocolate cake with warm cherry preserves spread on top, then a layer of chocolate kirsch mousse, a layer of fresh cherries, then another layer of the mousse. Over all of this goes a thin bittersweet chocolate glaze...!! Here's a quoted description: The cake uses 12 oz sweet cherries, pitted ( ~ 2 cups) or thawed frozen cherries, cherry preserves and kirsch. Another terrific and interesting chocolate cake is another Austro-Hungarian torte, the Dobos Torte discussed in this thread . It consists of multiple thin cake layers that are frosted and filled with an incredibily rich chocolatl-coffee buttercream, the top has a burnt-sugar caramel layer and the sides have roasted hazelnuts. The thread has discussion on different recipe sources, results, etc.

Tomato and fennel are a great combo. I like to make risotto with tomato and fennel. Sometimes add shrimp into the mix or else make a shrimp and fennel risotto.

rachel laudan (caroline)

The migas you made look great Foodman... I made these from Robb's book also and they were great. (My first time eating migas). edited to add: Thanks for the blow by blow on the gruyere enchiladas Fifi... they look great. I was intrigued by that recipe as well and must try it sometime!

I love fennel and have gotton lots of wonderful ideas to use them from Alice Waters... grilled fennel wedges (parboil for 20 min or so; then brush with oil and grill on skewers-- serve with a little dressing of chopped leaves, olive oil, s&p, lemon juice and anchovy if you like) caramelized fennel: (cut into thin slices and cook slowly over med heat with olive oil and s&p until caramelized; serve as a side with grilled meat) One of my favorite springtime salads: shaved fennel, artichokes and parmesean salad Use a mandoline or plastic slicer to cut very thin slices of raw fennel, raw artichoke hearts. Put a layer on serving platter or plate. Squeeze some lemon juice and olive oil over and a few drops of truffle oil, s*p. Proceed with the next layer until done. On top layer shave slice of parmesean cheese w/vegetable peeler. Add some chopped parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, truffle oil... Serve. Go easy on the truffle oil if you use it; only 1 Tbs or so is good for 2 fennel bulbs and 2 lg. artichokes... Lots of great variations on this-- raw fennel and raw white mushrooms--beautifully pale, strew some chopped fennel fonds on top. radishes are nice too.

Also went to a friends house for a small wine tasting on Saturday and had another nice un-oaked S.Blanc: STERLING VINEYARDS® NORTH COAST SAUVIGNON BLANC 2003 Here are some tasting notes from Sterling's website Notes on winemaking: Appellation: 85% Napa County, 9% Mendocino County, 6% Monterey County Varietal Profile: 95.5% Sauvignon Blanc, 2.0% Semillon, 1.4% Pinot Gris, 1.1% Viognier Alcohol: 13.5% $12.95 per bottle We also tasted a Dry Creek Fume Blanc. It was nice, but didn't have quite the crispness I like. Sure enough when I looked on their website it spends some time in oak. Have to say though, it wasn't massively oaked. Nonetheless I definately preferred the Sterling in comparing the two...