ludja

No apologies necessary, of course! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on another writer. Have you seen the Time Life Series Book on "Cooking from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire" from their World Cooking series? Wechsberg was the author of that volume and it is a very good book as well. He seems like he must have been an interesting person; I've also read a few other things he's written. For example, a history/biography of the Strauss family of Viennese waltz fame. I agree that his writing definately captures a different era.

I haven't been yet, but there is a new place creating a buzz in SF, Rye Bar at Geary and Leavonsworth. Rye Bar Some other Bay Area places for innovative, classic-style cocktails are: The Orbit Room on Market St in SF and Cesar's on Shattuck in Berkeley

Thanks for sharing the details of your experiments, glennbech! The last cake does indeed look very nice. If you *do* try the pan preparation with no buttering and flouring of the sides of the pan I would be very interested to hear the results. Thanks again, ludja

I'm not sure if that would be a little tricky--i.e. if you halved 'my' recipe there would only be one egg... This recipe, which is smaller than Lewis', dresses one medium-sized cabbage, about six servings. You could also shred some cabbage and make up some slaw with the leftover sauce. It will keep for at least five days or so... The call is up to you; it might work. The consistency you are looking for after cooking the sauce over simmering water in a double boiler and before taking it off the heat is that of a stirred custard, or the proverbial, "coats the back of clean spoon". I dip the spoon into the sauce and then use my pinky finger to draw a line on the back of the spoon. If it has enough thickness to leave a clean path, then it is thick enough. It is a balance between 'thick enough' and 'not too thick' that is easy to determine after a few times or if you've made pouring custard before. You may or may not want the celery seeds depending on your application and as mentioned, I go lighter on the sugar because I don't like too much sweetness in the finished sauce. You can always add more in later if you like.

Nice to hear to that Zarzuela's is still doing well. It's been years since I've been there, but I thought it was a good tapas place with a nice atmosphere. A bear to find parking near there though, maybe one reason I haven't been back for awhlie...

Is all the bbq in South Carolina flavored with yellow mustard? I lived in NC for a number of years, and am a big fan of Eastern NC bbq, but never got a chance to try SC cue. I have to admit that the addition of the yellow mustard never really attracted me too much...

The recipe from Edna Lewis (that I have not tried) uses a lot more vinegar than the version I have made from the DoubleDay Cookbook. Here are the ingredients for the recipe that I have made many times: 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp powdered mustard 3 Tbs sugar (I use less; usually about 2 Tbs; then taste at the end) 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup heavy cream 1/3 cup cider vinegar (heat to boiling) 1 Tbs butter 1 1/2 tsp celery seeds. The procedure is similar to that described above, although I mix the eggs, mustard, sugar and salt together on top of a double boiler; then beat in the cream and finally the boiling vinegar--slowly, in a thin stream while stirring constantly. Cook, stirring, until thickened and then whisk in butter off heat.

I live closer and could jog up today... I've also seen Genovese cioppino recipes where the seafood is de-shelled at some point and reincorporated as very small pieces in the sauce. It seems that this would freeze well becauce the texture of the small pieces of seafood would be less affected by freezing than larger pieces. Make sure to make some good seafood stock from the shells for future use if you have anough freezer space left. Cold mussel salad sounds good as well and it sounds like you should ask a bunch of people to bring over some good chamgpagne, Sancerre, etc and have an oyster feast! Having that many shucked oysters would be a fun opportunity to try other recipes that one might not usually make--Hangtown Fry for breakfast. I'd also buy some oil and set up some frying in a deep pot--fried oyster sandwiches... Don't forget to test your recipes!!! (Are there perhaps other recipes planned for the book that also use these ingredients and that could be tested at the same time?)

Here is another article on boiled dressing along with a recipe: click

A recent discussion on people's favorite uses of Miracle Whip (here) took some interesting turns. Some people also spoke of trying to replicate the taste and feel of Miracle Whip at home and that led to some discussion contrasting the ingredients for Miracle Whip and commercial mayonnaise. See here: click Then I ran across a good recipe for Southern Boiled Dressing... This reminded me of the uses many have mentioned here for Miracle Whip. Also the recipe has a significantly larger amount of vinegar (cider) than a mayonnaise and is also cooked as Badiane noted. The "fat" here is provided by eggs, cream and butter rather than soybean oil. I've made a boiled dressing for coleslaw before that includes celery seeds and it is actually a favorite recipe. Here is a version of the boiled dressing in "The Gift of Southern Cooking" with my version of the directions in case you want to try this as a substitute for purchased Miracle Whip. (The ingredients are bit more real!) I suspect the texture will be thinner than Miracle Whip so it would not serve as a substitute in all applications. 1 cup cider vinegar 3 egg yolks 2 tsp granulated sugar 1 tsp dry mustard 2 tsp all-purpose flour 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 Tbs unsalted butter 1/3 cup heavy cream Place egg yolks in a small bowl and mix in all ingredients except for the vinegar, butter and cream. Bring vinegar to a good boil in a saucepan and slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. Pour dressing back into pan, stir constantly and cook over medium heat until it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in butter; then stir in cream and cool. Will keep for 2 weeks in fridge, covered. I would be curious if anyone tries this and thinks it has a similar flavor profile to MW. (One could also add in paprika, dried garlic, etc.) ← As mentioned above, I've been making a boiled dressing with cider vinegar and celery seeds for years as my standard cole slaw recipe. In Jean Anderson's "New DoubleDay Cookbook", she refers to this as an "old-fashioned carolina coleslaw with celery seed dressing". I love it; it's creamy, tart and a little bit sweet but not overly thick and I think it makes a great classic coleslaw. Do you still make a boiled dressing similar to that given above? What are your favorite things to use it with? Edna Lewis, above, mentions the following: potato salad, coleslaw, in deviled eggs, on a cold pork sandwich, and over hot boiled potatoes.

Here is another article on boiled dressing along with a recipe: click I think I'll start another thread in the "Southern Culture" section on boiled dressing. edited to add: Here's the new thread in the Southern Culture subforum: click

I like Cafe Sabarsky as well; it does have the real atmosphere of a Viennese coffeeshop and the pastries and cakes are good as well. Re: the food writer, do you mean Joseph Wechsberg of "Blue Trout and Black Truffles" fame or someone else? Wechsberg's writing is indeed special and from another era.

I can't wait to try this dish; what an easy and delicious-sounding hot tapas. I also need to get the book as soon as possible...

Or Blintzes.... yum. Interestingly, there are a whole host of similar dishes in Austrian cooking called "Mehlspeisen" or "meals cooked with flour". They encompass dumplings, noodles, crepes, etc. that don't have meat but will have sugar, fruit, nuts, poppyseeds or quark/farmer's cheese. I don't know if these are considered retro in Austria now but I suspect so. They were a mainstay during times when meat was scarce to the tune of having meat once a week. I loved it when my Mom made Kaiserschmarren, Palatschinken or Plum Dumplings for dinner. She would usually make them when my Dad travelled for business and we would eat them with a fruit compote. (I still make them from time to time.) edited to add: Great first post, Anewman102, and welcome to eGullet.

Coincidentally, I came across something interesting that reminded me of this thread. I was skimming through "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock and was reading the recipe for boiled dressing. A quote from the intro to the recipe: This reminded me of the uses many have mentioned here for Miracle Whip. Also the recipe has a significantly larger amount of vinegar (cider) than a mayonnaise and is also cooked as Badiane noted. The "fat" here is provided by eggs, cream and butter rather than soybean oil. I've made a boiled dressing for coleslaw before that includes celery seeds and it is actually a favorite recipe. Here is a version of the boiled dressing in "The Gift of Southern Cooking" with my version of the directions in case you want to try this as a substitute for purchased Miracle Whip. (The ingredients are bit more real!) I suspect the texture will be thinner than Miracle Whip so it would not serve as a substitute in all applications. 1 cup cider vinegar 3 egg yolks 2 tsp granulated sugar 1 tsp dry mustard 2 tsp all-purpose flour 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 Tbs unsalted butter 1/3 cup heavy cream Place egg yolks in a small bowl and mix in all ingredients except for the vinegar, butter and cream. Bring vinegar to a good boil in a saucepan and slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. Pour dressing back into pan, stir constantly and cook over medium heat until it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in butter; then stir in cream and cool. Will keep for 2 weeks in fridge, covered. I would be curious if anyone tries this and thinks it has a similar flavor profile to MW. (One could also add in paprika, dried garlic, etc.)

In my furture travels I'll keep an eye open for Sonic. Several positive posts about them. Is a Sonic ice drink close to a Dairy Queen Ice Drink? I just pulled a bottle of ice tea out of the freezer . Slushy goodness. ← I haven't been to Dairy Queen for a long time so I can't compare.

I like the cold Sonic ice drinks as well. After a hike we had a the giant limeade slush and it was just perfect. Another time I had the lemon slush blended with soft serve ice cream. I like freezing cans of diet coke in my home freezer until they are slushy. I've got the timing down just right...

I"ve had problems with some genoise (non-chocolate) recipes rising enough also. Here is a link to some of the responses I got when I described that my genoise had not risen very well. click edited to add: I haven't retried this recipe yet with the suggestion to not butter the pan.

This recipe provided by Brennan's Restaurant in New Orleans looks spot on. Brennan's Banana Foster Another flamed dessert of yesteryear, but still served with pride at Antoine's in New Orleans is Cherries Jubilee. It is also still delicious! Flamed desserts prepared tableside were very big, I think, in restaurants around the US in the 50's and 60's.

It may or may not, but I think I just stumbled across a great name for a leather bar. ← Very good.

So the only difference is mustard powder and paprika--and I imagine more sugar than goes into regular mayo? ... ← Love is Blind! I think the more significant differences are the relative amounts of water, egg and oil and also the greater amount of sugar and the added ingrediants of high fructose corn syrup and food starch (corn ?) in the Miracle Whip. But hey, I might also be a fan if I grew up with it. I did grow up with my mom using margarine more than butter for cooking. I"m pretty sure she did this for economic rather than taste reasons. She would use butter in applications where the taste of butter was most important. Anyway, I hardly ever use margarine now even though I grew up with it. It may not be entirely a true analogy but after looking up the ingredient lists for Miracle Whip and Mayonnaise I see the analogy between the two as similar to that between margarine and butter. (I.e. Develop an industrial process that can produce something with cheaper ingredients and less nutritive value and add more sugar/high fructose corn syrup to it.) It is not a snob thing; I just find the extra processed aspect and ingredients of Miracle Whip unappealing. The taste doesn't do anything for me either, but again, that might be different if I grew up with it. Others have pointed out here though, that one is not necessarily a replacement for the other; they see them as two differents ingredients to use in different situations. Anyway, I don't want to rain on anyone's happy childhood food reminiscences. I was just curious to find out what the ingredients were for Miracle Whip especially since people were discussing trying to replicate making it at home.

Unless you're in New Orleans, Bananas Foster seems very retro to me. We recently had this expertily prepared tableside at a restaurant (at the Lodge in Cloudcroft, NM) and it was just heavenly. Old-fashioned yes, but so delicous. At Thanksgiving, I was somehow inspired to make an old-fashioned bacon-horseradish dip; again, very good.

Grew up in New England with only mayonnaise. I tried Miracle Whip as an adult but don't like the sweet taste or the mouthfeel. (I've only tried it on sandwiches.) Here are the ingredient lists for Miracle Whip and Hellman's/Best Foods Mayonnaise: Miracle Whip Ingredients: Water, Soybean Oil, Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Egg Yolks, and Salt, Mustard Flour, Artifical Color, Potassium Sorbate as a preservative, Spice, Paprika, Natural Flavor, Dried Garlic. click Hellman’s (Best Foods) Mayonnaise Ingredients: Soybean oil, Whole Eggs, Vinegar, Water, Egg yolks, and salt, sugar, lemon juice, natural flavors, calcium disodium EDTA (used to protect quality). click As usual, the ingredients are listed from highest to lowest percentage weight of the total. I highlighted the five most abundant ingredients in each product. Eggs are the second ingredient in the mayonnaise but the *seventh* ingredient in the MW. From what I read online, Miracle Whip is named after the emulsifying machine used to make it. I guess since it has a much higher percentage of water and a lower percentage of eggs and oil a more powerful emulsifying device was needed. The article implied that it was developed during the Depression because it was much cheaper to produce--less eggs and oil than mayonnaise. This fact, of course, also makes it less caloric even though it has high fructose corn syrup and more sugar than Hellman's mayonnaise.

interest: piqued. what's the story with this thing? from what i see on the instranet, it's more of an organized and formal thing requiring advance tickets and consisting of sit-down classes and seminars, rather than a walk-around madhouse kinda thing that you can just take in at your leisure like i'm used to. am i wrong? thanks for the suggestions everyone. there's nothing wrong with a fresh thread. that's for sure. ← Hopefully Robin will have something to say about her experiences. I haven't been there for the festival, but I think it is more of an organized series of events. Wine tastings and also restaurants featuring a particular winery and wines; sometimes the winemaker will speak. I haven't heard about the event Robin mentioned at the Opera House; sounds intriguing. (The Opera House is gorgeous, but I've 'only' been there for operas.)

It's conveniently in today's NYT Minimalist column. Sticky rice with mango ← Some recipes also call for the coconut sauce added seperately at the end (on top of the mangoes and rice) to be made up of the heavy coconut 'cream' that rises to the top. This is blended with some coconut milk to yield a thicker sauce. Lightly toasted sesame seeds are a nice garnish on top. I'm dying for some mangoes and sticky rice right now...