ludja

The cookbooks I value most also usually have a distinct flavor/tone or philosophy that comes through the pages. That is, the author's voice and cooking style comes through. Sometimes what is captured is less the author's voice and more the feeling of a particular cuisine and culture. In both cases these are often the cookbooks that I learn the most from and also treasure. Maybe another way to describe it is the perception that there is an authentic or truthful knowledge and passion behind the writing. I guess I was hinting at this in mentioning the importance above, to me, of introductory paragraphs, introductions and bibliography. Usually also, a certain tone or flavor is achieved by nature of the recipes chosen for the collection. In some manner, they fit together under some premise or feeling that is in addition to the promised subject in the booktitle. edited to add: A good recipe may also have additional "trucs" or tips and if appropriate, logical substitutions or variations on the recipe. That is, the small details that allow one to undestand or absorb the recipe and that then allows even a non-professional but thoughtul cook to make variations or changes in time. If a more traditional recipe is being modififed, I enjoy learning of how the variation is different than the traditional recipe.

Most important: Good recipes are the most important. A pleasing design and easily readable typeface/color combinations are important to me. Explanatory paragraph preceding recipe that gives some context, details or history of the dish as appropriate. If there are many 'unusua'l ingredients, it is useful to have a chapter/glossary that discusses the ingredients or tools. A good index that includes careful indexing by ingredient. Also good: Suggestions for pairings with other foods or wine, especially if the recipe or cookbook focuses on traditional regional dishes. Whole menus are wonderful as well. A well written introduction that gives me a sense of the author and his or her philosophy and the context or point of their book and recipes. If appropriate, tips on how far in advance all or part of the recipe can be made, and if so, how it should be stored. This can be especially helpful with baked goods. Weight measurements in addition to volume measurements for baked goods. Also, in recipes where it makes a difference, volume or weight measurements rather than just a descriptor of a medium sized 'somthing'. If appropriate for the type of cookbook involved, a good bibliography. I enjoy photos, but some of my very favorite cooksbooks have no photos, so this is not a requirement for me. I find photos more helpful for baked goods like breads, cakes, pastries or cookies. Celebrity endorsement is not important for me. If it is a chef or cookbook author that I already admire or if I independently determine that I want the book, I'll buy it.

I also posted these photos in the Dinner thread but wanted to include my menus here which are primarily from “The Gift of Southern Cooking". I really love this book and am grateful that Scott Peacock and Ms. Lewis were able to create this together. Here’s a Southern vegetable plate with Buttermilk Cornbread with Okra and Sweet Corn, Scalloped Tomatoes, fresh refridgerator Pickles with garlic, dill and coriander and Collard Greens cooked in Pork stock. The greens were sprinkled with some chile pepper vinegar also before serving. Dessert was a fresh Coconut Pie from Bill Neal's "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie". As an aside, everthing I've made from this book is a winner including this pie which is subtley scented with orange flower water and rum. I made another Southern vegetable plate a few weeks ago also using "The Gift of Southern Cooking". The plate this time was Okra Pancakes (so-named, but more like fritters), Creamed Scallions, Scalloped Tomatoes and fresh Black Eyed Peas cooked in Pork stock. The scalloped tomato dish is a real revelation. It is one of those dishes in which the ingredients are completely transformed to a new flavor. The ingredients are just fresh ripe tomatoes that are skinned and seeded and chopped, minced onions, salt, pepper, a tiny bit of sugar and cubed bread sauteed in butter. A bit more butter is poured over the mixture of tomatoes and croutons before baking. The dish has such a interesting flavor; it almost tastes like there is some parmesean cheese or other flavoring in there. The first time I used white bread cubes; the second time I had light rye bread at home and used that. Both very good! I like both the okra dishes as well. The okra pancakes have a much nice texture than the traditional fried okra I’ve had in NC restaurants. Of course, they vary widely in quality but I like the more substantial cornmeal batter around them in this recipe. I’ve made cornbread with fresh corn in it before but I like the addition of okra as well; nice heft and flavor. I’ll be making the creamed scallions often as well; a delicious and easy side dish that would also go well with roasted meats. I looked back to see if I had 're-made' anything that had been reported on before. Here are some previous comments on the cornbread vegetable bake and the creamed scallions.

Thank you, ohev'ochel, for this wonderfully detailed and funny demo--and for measuring for us! My grandmother says the same thing! The recipe sounds and looks so good; I've already bookmarked this page. A question, and sorry if I missed this, but where is the mahalab (mahlep) ingredient added to the recipe? Also, any tips on buying a good tehina? I guess trying to source it from a Middle Eastern market and tasting it would be the best bet... I love your Burmese sous-chef, signor boureka. He's so beautiful. One of my Tonkinese cats used to love to drape himself across the back of my neck and shoulders also. He would 'help' me with my writing at the computer...

Cool; thanks for the tip. Here's the link to the recipe: click

If you make the macarons you could use the egg yolks to make lemon curd. The curd, maybe lighted with whipped cream, could be used fill tartles shells made in the mini-muffin tins. (One would probably have to fill them the same day, but maybe this wouldn't take too long with a pastry bag.) The blueberries could go on top as a garnish. When I use blueberries as a garnish I like to brush them with egg whties and roll in granulated sugar and let the sugar dry. Sometimes I use a combination of bare and sugared blueberries for contrast in looks and taste. I've seen recipes for peach curd, which could be interesting, but I have never tried making one. I've made macarons a few times and what worked for me was to to store them in an airtight container in the fridge a day before. Fill on the day they are to be eaten. I don't have *that* much experience making macarons though so I defer to the more detailed experience of others if you find or get it. It will be fun to see what you wind up with and do try to take a photo of the desserts. I"m sure they'll look lovely. edited to add: I've just been perusing Emily Luchetti's new dessert book which is devoted to ice cream desserts. She has a whole chapter entitled "fingers" for ice cream desserts that you can eat with your hands. These are mainly variations on ice cream sandwiches and she uses interesting combinations of cookies and homemade ice creams. If it is not a broiling day maybe this could work. Easy to do ahead of time anyway and it should also be easy to scale these down to one-bite treats. Another very cool recipe she has involves making chocolate wafers by just melting chocolate and forming little 50-cent piece sized rounds. She places a round of chai ice cream between two of the 'wafers". She has meringue nests filled with raspberry sorbet. Another combo I'm drooling after is chocolate-coated cocoa nib florentines filled with orange ice cream and the outside edges covered w/pistachios! If the idea of frozen desserts appeal to you, you may want to check out this book!

I love these sculptures and their placement also. Great photo!

Here's a recent Kurdish restaurant meal that Swisskaese recently described in her current foodblog from Israel: click

Thank you for the more in depth information on Taqueria LaQuinta... We've eaten there about three times with no incident but being a local rather than a "semi-local" surely has advantages in determining the consistency (health safety?) of a place. I must go to the Marshall Store; not sure why I haven't been there yet. Thanks for the scoop on that and your other comments. That is so cool that you lived and worked at the lighthouse. Everytime we go by ourselves or bring visitors there I always wonder who are the people living in those houses and what would it be like to live there. I have so many favorite natural spots in the greater Bay Area but Pt. Reyes might be my favorite. I've hiked most of the trails in the park and love going there at all times of the year.

Sounds like a good idea to me. As you say, you can still use a lighter hand with cheese and dairy, but being able to use them makes it much easier to achieve meals with complete protein when basing meals on beans and grains. I also like her book, "Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets". I thlnk overall the produce would be similar enough in Great Britain. I would say about 90-95% of the recipes are vegetarian and as I recall, she goes light on the dairy in this one. I find myself cooking many more vegetarian or mostly vegetarian meals when I cook seasonally with the fruits and vegetables available. The quality and abundance of the in-season produce is inspiring and I find myself cooking more creatively as I approach the menu thinking of what to make with that month's bounty. "Field of Greens" by Annie Sommerville is a classic vegetarian cookbook from which I often make recipes for a mixed crowd of vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and everyone leaves happy! The recipes use many "tricks" to add rich flavor elements. Caramelized onions as mentioned by jgm are one ingredient. Also, mushrooms, roasted peppers, roasted nuts, leeks, chiles, garlic. marinated vegetables. There are two great chapters on soups and stews which are excellent. She has a number of creative and flavorful vegetarian stock recipes. There are also nice chapters on pizzas and turnovers. Not a vegan cookbook as cheese or dairy is used in many recipes. Good luck and have fun!

I think they're pretty cool. I don't mind the way the knives look but just wonder how they handle. Is there 'enough' blade to use the knives normally? It seems like they would work with more modern plateware that doesn't itself have intricate design elements. What is the name of the maker and where are they made?

If you have time and decide to go to Mendocino, the stretch of Hwy 1 between San Francisco and Mendocino has very spectacular scenery and quaint very small towns with old western buildings in the stretch north of Bodega Bay. The piece between SF and Bodega Bay is also extremely beautiful passing by Pt. Reyes and Tomales Bay. It takes a while to drive though so one would probably drive Highway 101 in one direction. The coastal scenery has a different flavor than that of Big Sur/Monterrey region. There are threads on restaurants in Mendocino. If you don't have time to venture up to Mendocino and Anderson Valley, Sonoma (just west of Napa) is another wine region option that is a bit more laid back than Napa. Sonoma wine country can be roughly divided into areas centered around the town of Sonoma and the town of Healdsburg. Good food in both areas that are described in previous threads. If you go to Sonoma you can still drive the portion of Hwy 1 between Sf and Bodega Bay--and stop off in the Muir Redwoods if you like. Both Sonoma and Mendocino/Anderson Valley are very beautiful so you really can't go wrong choosing between the two if you need to. Mendocino/Anderson Valley are a bit more remote than Sonoma in feel and are right on the coast. If you stay in the Carmel area for a few days, you can visits some wineries near there as well--Bernardus is a good winery 10 or 15 min inland from Carmel. If you drive up Highway 1 through Santa Cruz there are two nice wineries on the way--Storrs Winery in Santa Cruz and Bonny Doon, a little off of Highway 1 just north of Santa Cruz. edited to add: There are nice B&B options centered both around the Pt. Reyes area and also in Mendocino.

I've heard a lot of people recommend the Pine Cone Cafe which is right in town. I think they are know for using fresh, seasonal ingredients. The place I've eaten breakfast at several times is a pretty obvious choice right on the "main drag" of Pt. Reyes Station--The Station House Cafe. I've been happy with the meals there. Lunch or dinner may also be nice, but I've only eaten breakfast there. They always seem to have a bunch of homemade pies made as well as a homemade butterscotch pudding... The little Mexican place on Main St. is actually quite nice. I looked up the name and they also say that they use Niman Ranch meats and make homemade tortillas.. Taqueria LaQuinta 11285 Hwy. One P.O. Box 429 Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 (415) 663-8868 (415) 663-1925 fax If you're up for a hearty meal after a day of hiking, you may enjoy Vladimir's Czech Restaurant 12785 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Inverness, CA 94937 (415) 669-1021 Open since 1960. They have dishes like Roast duckling, Wienerschnitzel, Moravian cabbage roll, dumplings, klobasa, apple strudel. (closed Mondays) The place has a lot of atmosphere which includes Vladmir, the owner. It specializes in hearty Czech fare and they have nice beers on tap. Has anyone eaten at Rancho Nicasio in the nearby little town of Nicasio? http://www.ranchonicasio.com/index.htm It's an incredibly charming little old western town set around a square with many old wooden buildings. We stopped by once when they were having a big outside bbq to go along with a live show and it looked like it could be pretty nice. I've wanted to check it out sometime.

If you get up to Mountain View sometime, you may want to check out the Milk Pail which has both a great selection and excellent quality of vegetables and fruit; good prices too. Milk Pail 2585 California Ave (near San Antonio Rd.) website: http://www.milkpail.com/ They have some nice dairy products as well including manufacturing cream and a large selection of cheese at good prices. They may very well have good yogurt as well given that they have a noticeable Russian clientele. There is a Trader Joe's right in the same shopping complex and a "Beverages and More" which is a large wine, spirits and beer store with good prices. And---right around the corner on San Antonio is Ditmer's Wursthaus, a German deli with very good coldcuts, sausages and meats. It's a great little area for food and wine shopping!

This *is* an excellent movie and also an interesting snapshot of Sicilian life at a particular time. I just recently saw this and also noted that one of the nagging characteristics of the wife was her obsession with food and feeding her hubsband! Interestingly, Marcello Mastroianni's character in La Dolce Vita also gets irritated at his girlfriend over her concern for his diet.

Do you typically just add them into cooked rice or they toasted first in butter/oil before the rice and liquids are added? Is the finished dish considered a pilaf? It is a wonderful looking display and I love the concept. Any other comments you might have on the mixes are appreciated! Since I know you have a sweet tooth and like to bake, will there be any time in your schedule for baking this week?

And here's the recent thread on Kurdish food: click Glad to see you're blogging, Swisskaese! It will be wonderful to have a summertime complement to your nice Hannukah blog from Israel.

Thank you for a wonderful week of food in Moscow through your posts and photos! I"m dreaming of this honey cake from now on... I think that Russian desserts are not very well known in the US; it will be interesting to hear other tidbits now and then in the future from you and Lenoba! Thank you again and best wishes for your new family.

Some things could depend on where you get your hotel, but basically if you want to get dim sum and go to the Ferry Building those will each take up a chunk of the day. You could go to Tartine or Bay Bread Boulangeries early in the am; maybe even on the day you leave depending on the timing. If you get the TFL reservations then it seems that would pretty much fill up the day. If you don't get reservations for TFL then I would tend to pick from the more 'casual' places you have listed. (this would be a personal preference for me given the meals at Manresa and Chez Panisee). Your dinner reservation at Chez Panisse is early but if you get up there with time to spare in advance you can have a nice glass of wine, cocktail or innovative non-alcoholic drink beforehand, nextdoor at Cesar's; a nice, 'hip' tapas place next door to Chez Panisse. If you want to do something back in SF after the CP dinner that might depend on where you're staying. From the list of the more casual places you have listed: Aziza (this one looks interesting) Canteen (only considering for breakfast) Piperade Jardiniere Bix ... Incanto Quince A16 ... I've been to all except Incanto and Azizia. Of that list, Jardiniere is more formal than the others. I very much enjoyed a celebratory meal there and the atmosphere was nice but it has been over 6 years since I've been there so can't comment on it now. It would be interesting if someone could relate a recent experience there. Between Quince and A16, I would probably pick Quince as it is a bit more formal and the food we've had twice there has been flawless. (I can't do a direct Incanto/Quince comparison but from what I've read they are probably equivialent in quality even if the style may be somewhat different). I"m a fan of Chef Gerald Hirigoyen and like his restaurant, Piperade. I've been wanting to try Azizia after reading people's reviews.

I recently tasted Lacuma ice cream for the first time at a great old ice cream shop in San Francisco: Mitchell's Ice Cream (688 San Jose Ave., San Francisco; (415) 648-2300). To my recollection it had a kind of maple syrup undertone + fruit flavor. Very interesting. (This place has a lot of interesting fruit ice creams made with fruits of the tropics and South America). I can't find a link to it on their website, but National Public Radiio had an interesting piece a few weeks ago about a renewedflowering of Peruvian restaurants in the US. In particular they mentioned San Francisco, Miami and one other city that I can't recall. They described some of this as following from special programs/financing/schooling/exchanges sponsored by the Peruvian government with the express purpose of aquainting more people with Peruvian food by helping more chefs to be trained and restaurants opened.

My mom is from there and my grandparents live there so I've been to visit a bit and can understand dialect. It *is* a beautiful city that is off the beaten track for many, at least US, tourists to Austria. I've been in the area of Graz you describe; I'm trying to remember which direction is north, but a block or so from the Jakominiplatz is the Opera House and the city's main farmer's market. Sausages and Eis, yum! (My mon did actually know Arnold when he was a kid; they were among a group of kids who went ice skating and swimming at a lake right outside Graz! My mom doesn't sound like him normally but she can do a mean Terminator impression much to people's amusement!)

oops... I should have looked first. Thank you!

They look truly beautiful, gfron! I hope you do have the chance to put the recipe in RecipeGullet. I love lemon desserts... Your friends must have been pleasantly surprised with your culinary reprieve of their trip!

Thank you for reminding me of the proper name for Cepes in German: Steinpilze! I did some searching around and learned that the spelling of the Burgenland/Styria dialect Austrian word for Steinpilze is "Pilzling"---quite a bit different than what to my ears has been "Buetzling" all these years.... I guess the word stems from "pilze" in "Steinpilze" and has the diminuative, "ling" added to the end of it. web page with some dialect equivalents in Styria: http://www.seffcheque.com/page6.html A rather arcane bit of information for most, but I wanted to correct what I had written in the earlier post.

i know they were railroad guys. i am assuming huntington was one and, if memory serves, i think Mark Hopkins (who also has a hotel named after him was as well). as for the other two...you got me ← Leland Stanford is one of the four, no?