ludja

yes! this thread brings back memories since I haven't bought them in a long time. A favorite was just butter on saltines. My Dad eats them with a glass of milk--one of the only times he drinks milk other than in his coffee! He also eats them with a thin slather butter, then topped with peanut butter! (does taste good though...) Also as part of the classic combos mentioned above: with smoked oysters definately with chile but also with other soups. (Great with chowder if you don't have the chowder crackers). Have them plain or with butter on them recovery after stomach flu (no butter) and with flat gingerale or liquid jello...

You can candy peel or zest. It depends on what you are going to use the end product for. The zest alone might be used for more delicate applications, maybe as a decoration on top of cake, etc. For peel, that you might eat of of hand (perhaps after dipping half in bittersweet chocolate) or might use chopped up in a fruitcake or Italian ricotta pie you definately want about 1/8-1/4 inch of white pith left. This does add some bitter counterpoint to the sugar, but it's good! It also add "succulence" if you will, or body to the candied peel. If you have an orange or grapefruit with very thick pith you should make sure not to use all of it but, again, shoot for an 1/8 to 1/4 thickness. I think the first boil without sugar is just an extra blanching step to soften the peel and remove some bitterness. I have candied peel and zest quite a bit but have not tried to candy the fruit itself. Mandarins sound nice; it will be interesting to hear from others if there are any pros/cons or tips to candying them. edited to add: I think mandarin or limes may not be used for candied peel (as opposed to zest) partly b/c they have so little pith with their thin skins. Anyway, interesting to see what others say!

El Patio (142 Harvard ) in Abuquerque near the University I think fits exactly what you are looking for. It is a small family-owned restaurant with excellent bowls of green and also carne adovada. Always so difficult for me to pick which one to have so I go there at least twice per visit. Modest place with nice "patio dining" when it warm enough; also room inside. Another place with excellent food that is a little fancier in Abq is Casa de Benavidez. They have a great carne adovada with red chile--and I also had some of the best natillas there for dessert. They also have a wonderfully landscaped patio dining area and a nice indoor area. Monday-Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Sunday for breakfast and lunch. $$. Most major credit cards. 8032 4th St. N.W., Albuquerque. Phone 505-898-3311." I've been to most of the places you've mentioned, including Tomasitas, and I think the two restaurants above are really tops. One NM restaurant that I haven't been too yet that has a long tradition in Abq is Sadies. We tried to go there once but there was a massive line and the don't take reservations.

I've had something similar to this called "aushak" in Afghan restaurants. Although the ones I've had are pretty large, ~ 2' by 2". They seem to have some similar flavors to the mantee, but as I've had them, they are filled with leeks, then topped meat sauce and yogurt sauce, garnished with mint. Interesting to learn about mantee, especially if you can buy them and then make the dish at home relatively easily. I do have The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Wolfert as well... Thanks for the topic newsbabe!

Got a little package from Amazon a few days ago... Jeni Wright's Patisserie of Italy (egull-Amazon link, $ for egull if you order thru this link) Some of the recipes I'm looking forward to making: Focaccia di Pere (Sweet Pear Pizza) Torte de Castagne (Chestnut Cake) Torta Gianduja (Chocolate Hazelnut Cake) Genovesa con Panne e Frutta (Cream Cake with fresh Fruit) Torta Elisabetta (Marzipan, Cherry and Ricotta Bombe) Pinolata (Pine Nut Tart) Marasche (Maraschino Almond Bites) Gubana (Fruit and Nut Snail Bread) ...

Hi tan319, The "gelee of orange and saffron molded into a panna cotta " sounds very intriguing. How is the gelee incorporated into the dish? a layer of gelee either on top or the bottom of the milk layer? I guess that "catalan style" means infused w/saffron? This dish must look beautfiul too!

rice pudding (left over) with raisins and cream & grapefruit juice & coffee

Thanks for the great mini-food blog eunny jang! The quick pickles looked great and I though they were an inspired condiment to have along with the brisket. Also loved the detailed "back story" with photos that you gave us--definately an important aspect of bbq'ing! The diner looks like my kind of place too. Hard to find that kind of great old diner out here in No Cal. Corned Beef Hash, yum. (maybe minus the rubber band though...) Thanks again!

I use that prep for any type of risotto. That being said, I haven't made risotto cakes from ones that contain seafood, etc. Usually for risotto cakes I use simpler risottos with the add-ins in small pieces ('plain' parmesean, tomato, lemon, mushroom, other vegetables....). Re: the breaking, I tend to keep my risottos a little on the moist side. Maybe this helps in them sticking together later after being chilled? In any case, the mix is pretty sticky even after a night in the fridge. Also, I form them relatively small (~ 3 inch diamter) and pretty thick. I lke the contrast of the crisp exterior and the creamy insides. A beaten egg or yolk or white is good for covering with crumbs. Last night I just garnished wth the green beans, but I also like serving them with seasonal vegetable ragouts for a nice appetizer or a vegetarian main course. p.s. the deep-fried cornish game hens and grilled vegetables look delicious.

Sounds like an incredible feast tupac. Can you describe the Italian Coconut Cream Cake some more? It sounds great... Since I still have access to good tomatoes, I made one of my favorite risottos with fresh tomatoes (and pancetta, onions, etc). Had it with a salad last night and managed to save some to make risotto cakes (chilled, brushed w/egg, rolled in dried bed crumbs and pan fried) tonight served with buttered green beans. Yum.

It is a fun article. The recipe sounds pretty good too. Maybe I will try making my own first banana pudding at home! It's been one of the best side affects of participating on egullet--innspiration to cook or eat things I may not have thought of before.

This may not help you wrt the article, because the influence was not due to ancestry or personal traditions per say. A few of us visited a friend in New Mexico and decided to make the following: margaritas guacamole and chips Tortilla soup Home-made Red Mole with Turkey Breast Sweet Potatoes glazed with chile, lime and brown sugar Mexcian Rice Cooked Chard Lemon Sorbet w/Vodka and Pomegranates Apple Fritters with Cajeta Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream It was a great dinner and the first and only time so far that I didn't cook a "traditional" Thanksgiving Day dinner. Since turkey mole is a big Hispanic feast food I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up in some houses though... Now that I think about it though.. there was one dish in my Mom's thanskgiving day dinner that was based on ethnic roots--Austrian. My mom makes a simple turkey broth soup with the giblets, wing tips, etc. She garnishes it with a common Austrian soup garnish: "frittaten" These are plain savory crepes that are sliced up into strips and added to the soup. Tastes great! Will be fun to hear other stories...

To have something non sweet and light; closer to a cocktail-- club soda and bitters (there is alcohol in the bitters, but such a small amount of bitters is used that it shouldn't upset your stomach).

Ditto on the thanks HKDave for the very good link! I'm going to bookmark this as it really give a good overview of hams and other smoked pork products. I grew up with "kasslerripchen" a delicious smoked pork chop. You can get it in German/Austrian delis or meat markets.

Well, to add another region to the mix, I have recipes for chow chow in several of my older/historical New England Cookbooks. Here's a quote from Lillian Langseth-Christensen's "Mystic Seaport Cookbook" (1970) on chow-chow. (She wrote this book using old historical sources and materials from the Marine Historical Association" "Brought by India and China by the whalers, chowchow is similar to mixed pickles with all the Indian condiments added: mustard, tumeric, cloves, ginger, cayenne, black and white pepper". Since settlements with whaling were in New England in the 1600's, it seems very reasonable that it would have originated there next to "the source" of the ingredients; namely, the spices off of the whaling ships. They had to do lots of preserving and pickling for long trips at sea and for long New England winters. Seems likely the spices to make chow chow moved along as America was settled. The tie to pickling and preserving seems to be more stronger among the PA Dutch and in the South--i.e persisting on a wider scale into more recent times. Probably why people associate things like chow-chow with the South or PA Dutch. (Lots of pickles and preserves in old New England books). Anyway, after the quote, all my ramblings are just amateur speculation!

Another nice producer is Alderbrook. I also like Quivira and A. Raffanelli. J. Fritz sometimes has nice Zins as well (I think they do have some Dry Creek Vineyards). Have been disappointed with Preston's offerings the last 5 years. edit to add: oops, I see you mentioned Alderbrook in the first post!

Good idea re: the garlic fries... Maybe their brewer is sampling these while tasting the beer also... I do like the garlic fries; luckily we can get those out here at Giants games also.. Likewise, for the space in SF as well. It is really beautiful. I think that is why "letting go" of going there has been tough. It had been a nice place to take visitors. With my experience now, I guess I worry that even if the beer is good sometimes, it is way too inconsistent, and when it was off, it was off way too much.

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Squeat. This is only based on memory, but when I first came to the Bay area about 12 years ago, I remember thinking their beer was ok. (Not the best of the microbrews around here, but decent). I have been to GB very infrequently in the last 5 years or so, which I think also corresponds to the time of their expansion--in CA and other places. Well, last spring I had some friends visiting from Germany, Munich, specifically. I only had a day with them and thought it would be nice to take them to GB in San Francisco for a beer. (It was close to their hotel and it has really dramatic views of the Bay Bridge, easy to park on a Saturday afternoon, etc). Well--the beer was terrible and I was mortified. I had explained ahead of time that this was a "microbrew", etc. Based on this incident, I will never go back there. And when I say 'terrible", I am not commenting on some subtle distinction. The beer was skunky tasting. I assumed at the time that it must have been some kind of outlier. I mean, how could they serve beer like that and stay in business? I wish I had brought them to SF Brewing Company!!! Does anyone agree that there has been a big decline in the quality--say over 10 years? Even though I think my tastebuds may have become a little more discerning, it's hard to believe that I wouldn't have recognized the beer as bad back then if it tasted as it does now.

Not sure if I'm missing something, but it would be interesting to know if he truly felt the quality was inferior (based on cooking and tasting).

Thanks for the idea and recipe eslamprey. (And welcome too, by the way! ). I have a few vegetarian friends and this is a great idea that could be used as a main course dish using veg stock. I love the 'traditional' rice and ground beef stuffing too. Always serve this with a homemade tomato sauce the way my grandmother in Austria makes it: a roux, salt and pepper and parsley, a pinch of sugar and fresh tomatoes. Recipe for Austrian Paradeis (or Paradeisapfel) Soss : Cook the chopped tomatoes with a little water first, then add roux and rest of ingredients and put thru a food mill. Don't need a lot of roux to get the right flavor and texture. Although the ingredients don't sound that different it makes a great tasting sauce that goes excellent with stuffed peppers--really fresh flavor of tomatoes that is surprizingly different without the garlic, onion, oregano. It's a great dish to make in August/September with the abundance of peppers and tomatoes. Meat filling for "Gefullte Paprikaschoten": ground beef, cooked rice, salt and pepper, margarom, onions, parsley, egg. Saute onions and parsely in fat or butter. Cook ground beef and add with rest of ingredients and stuff peppers. Simmer peppers, standing up, in tomato sauce until done.

It would seem to be implied in the start to this thread... but Southern Country Ham, including that from Smithfield, VA (maybe I missed somthing!)

Here's an egull-amazon link for Stitt's book. There are a few reviews already and if you order through this link it puts $$ in egullet's coffers: click I definately want to check this out soon; wish I had more chances to be in or near Birmingham!

Bill Neal and Damon Lee Fowler One of Bill Neal's early ventures before Crook's Corner was a formal french restauirant, La Residence. (Chapel Hill, NC). He went on to write very important cookbooks on traditional Southern cuisine. Damn Lee Fowler cites his formal passion and commitment for food developing during an extended stay in Italy. He then wrote several important Southern cookbooks and is now a part of the Southern Foodways Alliance. I'm not doing justice to either of these chefs and writers with such a brief synopsis' but thought I would include a little background on them for people not familiar with them...

Probably Nabisco... and the makers of instant pudding. Probably similar to Karo Syrup and popular versions of pecan pie. If you look at Karo's website they chronicle their publication of a pecan recipe as part of the syrup label and the ensuing sales and proliferation of recipes using Karo that followed. Bill Neal credits the original roots of banana pudding to English trifles that were also popular in the South. Seems reasonable. Found this recipe using home made pudding, vanilla wafers and meringue here Thanks for bringing this up hershellipow (and welcome). I didn't grow up with the dessert and was only familar with the whipped cream incarnation...

confession: as an American, I have once double-dipped on Thanksgiving. Attended a Canadian Thanksgiving potluck in CA... Are there any traditional dishes that would be differentin Canada than those for American thanksgiving feasts? What dishes are de rigeur? Influences from the French in Montreal or use of idigenous ingredients like maple syrup? Are apple and pumpkin pie the traditional dessert? (I guess I am echoing Daddy-A's questions, it would be interesting to know...)