ludja

I think Zuni and Quince would be a great pair to check out. They both are a good example of Northern California influenced cuisine--Zuni (Medierranean) and Quince (Italy). I always have a wonderful time at Zuni Cafe and I would definately choose this over the french bistro choices you have listed--Chapeau and Clementine. I like Piperade (California French Basque cuisine) over several visits but have not been there in awhile. I like Piperade, but would still pick Zuni Cafe if I only went to one. Zuni also has a great atmosphere and is a great place for people watching. I have had two excellent meals at Quince. It is smallish and quietly elegant; not too stuffy. I would like to return there soon. The quality of the ingredients was excellent and the menu choices were varied and innovative enough to be interesting. In ordering, it was difficult to narrow my choices down. THe chef spent some time at Chez Panisse and the Chez Panisse aesthetic shows in the menu and ingredients--a big positive for me. I've enjoyed elegant dinners at both La Jardiniere and at Gary Danko but it has been a long time since I've been to either.

Thanks for your input, BigHoss. It's been a few years since I made this (too long) but I had thought I followed the recipe as it was written. Maybe I did, but the pork would have been even more tender if I had taken it to a higher temperature. In any case, I defer to others with more experience. I personally have been happy with the simple rub and the vinegar-red pepper sauce recipe I gave above. The flavors tasted very close to what I remembered re: Eastern NC bbq. I'll defer here also though, to anyone still living, eating and practicing bbq there! I lived there for ~ 5 years but it has been awhile since that time.

Hey, cute photo of the brawny stroopwaffel guy! I might have forgotton to pay as well if he was smiling and laughing. (Pretty cool to see the whole process of making stroopwaffels as well. I missed seeing that while I was there.)

Springtime in Amsterdam and Vondelpark courtesy of Chufi...sounds like a lovely week. Thank you for fitting us in your schedule and for sharing lots of beautiful photos with us. Happy Birthday; I"m looking forward to seeing your various birthday sweets and cakes as well as your sandwich party!

I agree that bbq means bbqing... but here's a recipe that helped feed my and other friends longings for Carolina BBQ when away from North Carolina and without a set up to easily do a long indirect cooking. North Carolina Roast Pork 1 whole boneless pork roast, bottom or butt (4-6 lbs) Dry Rub: (this makes more than you need; can scale down) ¼ cup sugar ¼ cup salt ¼ cup paprika ¼ cup ground black pepper Vinegar-Pepper Sauce: (this can also be scaled down) 3 quarts white vinegar 1 cup crushed red pepper 1 cup sugar 4 Tbs salt Place all ingredients in a gallon jug and shake to mix well. Store and left-over sauce in the fridge, where it will keep indefinitely. Makes about 3 quarts sauce. Mix together the dry rub ingredients and coat the roast generously with the mixture on all sides. Barbecue at 225-230 deg F until done, approximately 4-6 hours. Baste every 30 minutes w/Vinegar-Pepper Sauce. Or--with different but still good results, roast and baste it in an oven at this temperature. Meat Thermometer should read 170 deg or more. Let stand 15 minutes before chopping. To serve, chip or shred the meat and mound it on a plate. Douse with additional sauce. For sandwiches, pile meat on plain white roll, douse generously with sauce and top w/coleslaw.

Regarding the main premise of the article and in the words of one of my Indian colleagues: "Boool-Sheet". (Other's have already offered more elegantly and cogently expressed counterpoints . )

I made an Austrian Milchbrot. As mentioned, it is a simple milk and butter bread flavored with lots of lemon and studded with a few raisins. It is very good spread with sweet butter and eaten with tea or coffee. (I make this for Easter breakfast, rather than dessert. It is not very sweet.) Nice braid, Pille. The bread I made can also be made into a "Striezel" or twist. Wonderful offerings, everyone. Abra, how did the the Osterfladen taste? Would you make it again? It looks beautiful. (I have a few different recipes for capirotada and want to make that sometime as well.)

Although I grew up in CT, here is something I just heard about this old-fashioned cake in the last year: Hartford Election Cake article Recipe: click

I made some Chinese fried rice with some of my ham last night. I think I may try some ham croquettes for fun as well; I've never made them.

Other options for coleslaw (that do not have a sweet or fruity accent) : spicy asian coleslaw with peanuts red cabbage slaw with anchovy vinagrette classic southern coleslaw with a 'boiled' dressing and celery seeds I've had all three of these with pork and they provide a happy combination.

Enjoy your travels, Kent. Hope you document some of your food adventures in Yunan and in Shanghai as well for other threads... Good luck with your dinner; I know you can do it!

Freshly grated nutmeg and rum are both nicely complementary to banana. I've seen an interesting recipe for a roasted banana sauce, but I haven't tried it yet. Perhaps it is worth exploring if roasted bananas add a distinctive flavor. I would think a gelatin-stabilized banana mousse with whipped cream might be very nice.

Thanks also, Swisskaese. The hazelnut cream filling recipe looks delicious. I like the chocolate-hazelnut combination but I'd also be tempted to try this with the plain crepe recipe for a pure hazelnut experience.

Thanks for mentioning this, moosnsgrl. I tried this idea at Easter dinner yesterday and it is very nice.

Nothing is a bigger turnoff than seeing someone with power (or not) treat waiters with disrespect or arrogance at a restaurant. Apparently many CEO's feel the same way and use commonly this to evaluate the character of a prospective hire or business partner. article

Thanks for you insights, as always, Caroline. While I'm fascinated with Mexican food, my experience is only limited to some english-only cookbooks... and no visit even to Mexico yet! Input like yours is invaluable. I'd like to try some salpicone dishes and with your comments it may be a little easier to begin to know where to look in both cookbooks and in Mexico. Are there other Yucatan food themes or dishes that you are familiar with and that haven't been touched on yet in the thread?

Claudia Fleming has a smooth rhubarb ginger soup in her book,"The Last Course". She suggest a variety of different plating options--from simply add sliced strawberries or a scoop of strawberry sorbet or ginger ice cream. She also has more elborate plated sthat uses a number of other elements. I can't recall the details as I looked at a library book awhile back.

Thank you very much for this tip, trillium. This sounds like a great thing to have and I hadn't been aware of them.

I've always wanted to visit Austin sometime, and this thread only confirms it. Thanks for the great recs--from new and old Austin; this thread is being bookmarked directly.

Make sure you have great, tasty carnitas. Great carnitas pull this girl in anyway. Also important, well-flavored salsas with a range of spiciness including hot and including some green chile and tomatillo-based salsas. Good tasting fresh tortillas. Flavorful pinto beans; nice if these can be cooked with pork, although some non-pork beans would probably also be needed. Horchatas, cold beer and nice agua frescas would also be nice.

I haven't eaten there since they moved to the Ferry Building. Although the flavors were never as intense as they could be (even when back in the Mission) we did like their wine list which was pretty unique at the time in carrying many German and Austrian Rieslings and also Austrian Gruner Veltliners. Now there are many other places to buy and drink German and Austrian wines. Looks like they still carry a hefty number of Austrian whites, at least 14 different ones. Here's a link to their wine list: click

Great story, thank you for sharing it.

Excellent, this will spur me to try the lemon risootto I've been wanting to make for quite awhile. One of my favorte basic risottos that I make often is with tomato, pancetta and hot pepper. Yum! Time to make up another batch of good stock as well. I'll make them with cubes if I don't have homemade stock in the freezer but great stock makes a nice difference.

I don't have any fine dining suggestions, but my sister took us to good Afghan restaurant: SHISH KEBAB HOUSE OF AFGHANISTAN 360 Franklin Ave. Hartford, CT (860) 296-0301 We have lots of good Afghan restaurants in Silicon Valley and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. It's been a few years; is it stil up to snuff?

I've had several very nice dinners at Praire Star. The food was creative but not gimmicky and I would recommend it. The atmosphere is quiet; a nice place for dinner and conversation. A friend who works at the university often takes important visitors there for dinners and has never been disappointed. I remember an especially good elk dish there. I've only eaten at Restaurant Jennifer James's when it was open a few years ago and have not gotton a chance to try Graze yet. We thought that Restaurant Jennifer James was little rough around the edges for the price and its ambitions, but that was her first restaurant and I've heard good things about Graze. For one of your Albuquerque dinners you might consider Casa Benavides; a nice classic New Mexican restaurant. With the warmer weather you might enjoy sitting in the lovely outdoor garden area. My favorite breakfast places in Santa Fe are: Cafe Pasqual, Tia Sophia's and Harry's Roadhouse. There are also very nice French pastries including excellent almond pithiviers available at the bakery that is on the street facing the cathedral and right outside the Hotel La Fonda. All of these are right downtown except for Harry's Roadhouse. Cafe Pasqual has great creative, new New Mexican inspired breakfasts/brunches and it has a very nice atmosphere. It is very popular and is sitll one of my favorite places to eat in Santa Fe. Tia Sophia's is more hearty and simpler food; it reminds me of a New Mexican version of a great New England diner. Their breakfast burittos are great. Last time time I had an excellent chorizo, potato, egg and chile burrito there. Harry's Roadhouse is also one of my favorites in Santa Fe---great classic breakfast and brunch dishes with some New Mexican accents. They also have a selection of very good homemade pies including an excellent coconut cream pie. Lots of locals eat here and it has beautiful places to eat, inside and out. I like all these places so much that it is always extremly difficult to choose between them when I'm up in town. I think fyfas is spot on re: Coyote Cafe. Locals seem not to go there as much these days, including my friend who lives in Abq. He went again recently after not being there for several years and was still very impressed. This could be a great place to go to on your first visit to Santa Fe. For higher end dinners I'm also a big fan of Ristra and Geronimo's. (Ristra does have their menu on their website, I believe. I was just checking it out a few months ago.) The atmosphere is very nice and evocative of the region at all these places as well. I mentioned this recently in another Santa Fe thread recently, but we had an excellent lunch at the restaurant inside La Fonda. The restaurant is absolutely beautful during the daytime as well with all the light streaming in and surrounded by the handpainted artwork. (Step in and check out the La Fonda lobby and restaurant even if you don't eat there). I've only eaten at Joseph's Table once but we had a very nice dinner that I wrote up in the Joseph's Table thread. There were some very nice creative touches. I've had several very good meals at Doc Martin's as well. It is a little less 'innovative' but provided excellent execution and nicely designed dishes. The last time I was there was 3-4 years ago. Maybe someone else has a more recent experience to share. We also really enjoyed checking out the Anaconda Bar at El Monte Sagrado Resort which is a few mintues from the Taos plaza. They have nice cocktails and wine by the glass and the decor is spectacular. The drive is so gorgeous between Santa Fe and Taos. If you have time and the weather cooperates, consider driving the "high road" on the way up and drivng back in the canyon on the way back. Other things I would do on a one day trip to Taos: Millicent Rogers Museum and the Rancho de Taos Church. If there is time, the Taso Pueblo is also fascinating and spectacular. Please report back on your dining experiences if you have time; it is always great to have updates and insights on places.