ludja

Toasted Pecan Caramel Layer Cake-- there is a great version in Bill Neal's Southern Cooking ($ for egullet if you order thru this link) I was reminded of this after seeing the Burnt Sugar Cake recipe above (which I'll definately try). For this classic southern cake the pecans are toasted, ground and folded in to the cake batter. The frosting is a praline type caramel (with out the nuts).

Saw this in a book I just took out of the library: Blue Plate Special: The American Diner Cookbook. b7 McKeon and Everett. In their ketchup (besides tomatoes) are: chopped onion chopped red bell pepper celery seed cinnamon stick allspice mustard seeds sugar salt vinegar & paprika (Equal amounts of all spices except 1.5 x celery seed and 3x paprika and 3x salt)

perhaps another fantasie au filo....?

I haven't tried lots of sodas from different countries but am intrigued by those already listed by other people--especially good grapefruit and ginger ones. One that have I tried and like is Almdudler in Austria. One aspect I really like about it is that it is not overly sweet. Here is a description: "A not overly-sweet citrus soft drink with a hint of various Alpine herbs. In Austria it's as common as Orangina is to the French." I like Pellegrino's Sansbitter and am also interested in trying another Italian bitter soda, Stappj recently discussed on another thread. stappj I admit to sometimes searching out "Coca Cola Light" AKA 'Diet Coke' when I've been traveling Europe--to satisfy that cold carbonated caffeine craving... This thread will remind be to branch out during future ramblilngs.

A Chez Panisse classic: Salad made with nice greens mix (some bitter), vinagrette and served with roasted beets and warmed goat cheese rounds covered in chopped walnuts. (or simpler even with chopped walnuts and pieces of goat cheese) Beets taste great wtih citrus... roasted beets with orange or lemon vinagrette. Hmmm... time to buy fresh beets! edited to add: oops didn't see tanabutler's whole post above about the salad already--I was so excited to look at the Beet-Ricotta Dumpling recipe!

It think this blog has officially become x-rated.... C'est incroyable!

I have a small piece of data that fits (or at least is not inconsistent with this). I've seen potato or corn starch used in conjunction with flour in a number of German/Austrian cake recipes.

Yes, these are great suggestions! Had to give a second 'thumbs up' for the ginger ice cream/plum compote combination as it was a surprisingly successful and new combination to me. I had a great dessert a few years back at Hawthorne Lane in San Francisco. It consisted of a flat almond meringue cookie; a scoop of ginger ice cream on top and surrounded by a plum/peach compote. It was so great that I recreated it at home for a dinner. The tartness of the plums just goes great with the ginger ice cream. (I'm a ginger fan, so I've also made ginger/pear tarts and pies... yum). On another note: One of my favorite egullet threads was also started by bleu d'auvergne. It discussses homemade aperatifs--and it includes a lovely recipe from her also: homemade aperatif thread I guess this vin de noix is not your own yet given the time of year?

I had an Isabel Sauvignon Blanc a year ago and I believe it was a 2001. We were extremely impressed and I also recall the 'grapefruit' notes with fondness. Thanks for your tasting notes on this wine. I definately would have considered buying this vintage again but now may be more wary. Do you or others know if this is surprising or not; ie for a Sauvignon Blanc to change that quickly? A rough rule of thumb for me has been to drink S. Blancs sooner rather than later, but I'd be interested to hear more from others on this topic as I am a big fan of New Zealand/Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs. If you have comments on other Isabel S. Blanc vintages that would be great too. Also, welcome to egullet redwinger!

The aperatifs and food look so inviting. May I ask what the drinks are? ?Lillet?

I'll join the chorus and thank you for a great blog so far bleudauvergne! I love eating crystallized ginger straight (no matter how strong...) but another nice use is chopped up in biscotti--- can also add chocolate or nuts with... Also a good add in for shortbread cookies or scones. Thanks again for the nice photos and looking forward to some of your 'interviews'!

FPPM: Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market...

Thanks for the link; I think it got corrupted in your post; here's the link for the same thread: retail austrian pumpkin seed oil There is a placemarker for pumpkinseed oil recipes but no recipes listed yet... Unfortunately it is expensive; for the top grade oil (first press; not diluted with other oils) it is $35.00 or 20 pounds per liter.

I bake successfully quite a bit but I have about a 50/50 success rate with cream puffs! Sometimes they just don't puff up that much; or they are still too raw in the middle while too brown on the outside. I haven't really committed to one recipe and make them with longs gaps of time in between. Guess I have to find a good recipe and take notes!

Thanks for the rec on Qunice Squeat! Sounds like a place to definately check out. I second Squeat's suggestions including The Helmand in North Beach for Afghan food and Delfina's in the Mission for great Italian. Zuni also! If you feel like any spicy Hunan food; you might want to check out Brandy Ho's on Colombus near the Pyramid. Two other ideas: The pastries, breads and savory tarts at his bakeries are incredible. Other nice place for french food--mussels in particular is Plouf (between Union Square and the Financial District)

Would that be Sparky's Diner?

I think that's exactly what I ordered at Acme when I went there! Yum.

Yes, this was one of the best things I've done in Baltimore! Open every day except Sunday from 7am-6pm over near Federal Hill.

Nice idea!

On the recent horseradish thread we were speaking of an Austrian sauce--Apfelkren. It's an apple-horseradish sauce. Goes great with beef and pork--could probably come up with some good ways to use it. I've seen mayo variants also with grated apple, onion, horseradish, lemon juice, s&p. Use to fill small tomatoes or stuffed eggs? Spread on roast beef slices and roll up? Fill stuffed mushrooms with? Use as a dip for cooked shrimp? Another idea is apple/cheddar combinations-- cheddar gougeres stuffed with chopped apple or spicy applesauce and bacon? fresh or crisped apple slices to dip in pimento cheese? cheddar cheese empandas filled with spicy apple mix? Make some type of apple chutney-cheese spread. Sounds like a fun party; be sure to tell us what you end up doing.

I echo eveyone else's thanks for the beautifully illustrated step-by-step chicken gumbo recipe---and, I really love the photos that you took while you were 'downtown'. Reminds me of long drives outside of Chapel Hill, NC through small towns. It's great that so many of the old businesses are still alive and kicking.

Tonight I'm going to make a trial run of an Austrian bread my Mom usually makes for Easter called "Milchbrot" or 'Milkbread'. If it goes ok, I'll make a second loaf on Saturday. We usually eat it for breakfast or a snack. I"m ignorant on what distinguishes certain breads (I don't bake bread a lot--yet anyway) so I don't know what its American or French counterpart is if it exists. The ingredients are: yeast, milk, bread flour, salt, lemon zest, melted butter, sugar, and raisins. Top is glazed with an egg wash. It's formed into a round loaf and gets a nice brown crust and firm medium crumb. Tastes great with sweet butter on it! I think there is a more elaborate German/Austrian Easter Bread that may also have almonds in it (Osterstollen) and is fashioned into a big braid, but I love this simple loaf.

I thought it was a belgian endive salad...

In England they use: 'icing sugar' for 'confectioner's sugar' and 'caster sugar' for 'granulated sugar'. Inverted sugar sounds interesting; I've never heard of it but it almost sounds like it would be chemically inverted...

It might be a good idea to google a bit using the cake's name--maybe you'll find recipes that seem better or that give clearer instructions. This recipe is not that descriptive. I'm not sure what the heating is for after the mixing. Sometimes, one heats up egg whites in preparation to whipping; it helps increase the volume. Maybe something similar is achieved here. My avatar is a drawing of an 'edelweiss'-- Austria's national flower found high in the Alps. Although now I may look at it and just think 'octopus' !