ludja

I have some ideas for the cookies off the top of my head, but I'd like to peruse a few of my cookbooks before making some specific suggestions. Soba noodles are Japanese fresh buckwheat noodles that are often served cold in various dressings. There is also "cha-soba" which is additionally flavored and colored with green tea. They are usually garnished pretty simply, but I've seen recipes with green onions and/or mushrooms. Probably some good additional real info on egullet in the Japanese forum. (Radicchio leaves are just an idea for an easy and pretty serving device.) The wasabi stuffed quail (or chicken) eggs were just a cross-cultural idea; salmon eggs are used in various sushi dishes and are pretty as well. Mirin (a sweet Japanase rice wine) or teriyaki glazed salmon is pretty common; should be lots of recipes online. "Satay" was a silly thing for me to say; I was mainly just thinking of serving them on sticks. Edamame are fresh soybeans; usually just boiled in their pods in salted water. If you've not had them; they really are a beautful bright green in color, delicious and are nice slightly warm. One can usually buy these frozen.)

Wow, this thread has some of the best stories I've seen on egullet! No particular stories to approach those recounted that I can remember right now, but I've had almost uniformly good experiences (so far!) eating alone at the bar or at tables of restaurants when I've traveled for work. I usually come with some reading material to peruse while waiting for my order, but often end up putting the reading aside when conversations evolve with other people. Some of my best experiences were in Amsterdam. As a solo diner it's fun to revel in the slight sense of mystery that seems to arise and which can lead to interesting conversations.

They would be great as a substitute for kale greens in Caldo Verde. (I just made a pot with kale yesterday, but it is also very good with beet or mustard greens as well.) The stew uses a lot of greens, and once the soup is cooked, it reheats wonderfully for a few days. So it is a great way to use up and save greens for longer eating.

As a nod to the German part of the family it may be nice to have a few trays of an assortment (3 or 4 kinds) of German/Austrian cookies. These could be made ahead of time and brought along and would go fine before/after or along with the Key Lime Pie. If you plan on serving coffee you could serve it "mit schlag" after the pie and with the cookies. My experience in preparing Japanese food is also very limited, but if you wanted to have a Japanese-theme for the appetizers you could include some things like edamame, spiced, cold soba noodles with mushrooms served in raddicchio cups, raw oysters and some vegetarian sushi rolls to serve alongside the tuna sashimi. Stuffed quail eggs with wasabi and garnished with some salmon roe? Mirin or teriaki-glazed salmon satay served on skewers with a dipping sauce. For one hot hors d'oeuvre, vegetable tempura might be doable, especially if you can train or assign someone to make two rounds of these. (I haven't made it in awhile so I'm not sure how far or if these could be made in advance.) The cookies (and perhaps coffee and whipped cream) and Key Lime Pie 'cover' the Germans and Southerners. Serve great Italian food for the main course with perhaps a seafood and non-seafood option. Lots of possibilities here, so I'll leave it at that for now. The initial way I've suggested above somewhat segregates the different traditions but in a way that I think nicely pays noticeable 'homage' to all and in a way that I think could be elegant and pleasing at the same time. Another way to fit in traditions would be through the drinks. A selection of some nice crisp white german/austrian wines to go with the Japanese appetizers? Or an aperifif of elderberry flower syrup/Champagne with a sparkling mineral water non-alcoholic version? (Geman/Austrian inspired.) Iced tea? Italian wine to go with the main course? It combines dessert and coffee, but another nice German/Austrian tradition would be to serve "Eis Kaffees". This is a parfait with strong iced coffee, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. (This could be served instead of the cookies or maybe with just one great simple crisp cookie). It would be easy to have everything prepared for the Eis Kaffees ahead of time and they are very refreshing. Kids could have vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Another approach would be to represent each tradition in the appetizers and maybe desserts, but this would be a little trickier to carry off. This sounds like a lot of fun! edited to add: If you're interested and need ideas for the German cookie plate, let me know!

My meal looks pretty huge in retrospect , but maybe it could be reasonable with the right portion sizes or cutting out some of the courses. It's kind of generic too...but it contains some elements I would really like. I would love an all seafood meal but I'm not sure if that would be generally lauded or appreciated.

A few general ideas for *a* version of a very special meal: ( do like the idea of incorporating some special type of mushrooms somewhere in the meal, although this will also be dependent on seasonality.) special seafood dish as a first course, potentially cool or at room temperature ( I would love something with sea urchin but this may be too far out for some; else something with oysters, shrimp, lobster or scallops; other ideas would be to prepare these or sushi-quality fish in some of type of raw or crudo preparation; something great to go with Champagne or the best local Gruet, perhaps?) a perfect consomme with some type of quenelles (I've never taken the time or expense to make a truly rich perfect consomme and I would love to have one; this could be a clear beet-beef consomme with mushroom quenelles or a classic seafood consomme with trout quenelles, for instance ) a smaller course with fois gras, sweetbreads, quail or some other savory special game or offal (This could be as part of a stuffed pasta dish or not.) A special lamb or beef dish (lamb for me...) I like the idea of a carefully picked selection of cheeses that are difficult for the average person to obtain. Escoffier's Fresh Pineapple Sorbet served with Champagne Sabayon and Candied Rose Petals. Opitional: One imaginatively-flavored and delicious tasting dark chocolate truffle Well, I could picture many other types of perfect meals, especially if one narrowed the parameters in some way or focused on the influence of a particular cuisine or a particular season. It sounds like a fun undertaking; I hope you share some of your decisions later on.

Just thought of while seeing this thread, but I think a habenero or scotch bonnet pepper flavored Bloody Mary would be great. A judicious hand with this chile is needed, but the flavor with tomato is great. I like the beginnings of your asian-inspired ideas, detlefchef. Green versions sound interesting as well. Lime might also work nicely with some of the herby/spicy mixes. I wonder if lime, cilantro and serranos would work in some incarnation.

I've been drooling over the bar since it was posted as a teaser on the previous foodblog. It's gorgeous! Did you buy it locally, if I may ask? Love the bowls for your kitties as well. Do try to keep warm and dry up there, it is promising to be a rather wet and wooly week around here. I guess it's nothing that a few, well-crafted cocktails can't combat though. Thank you, JAZ, and have a fun week!

Thanks for the report on your dinner. It sounds like a wonderful Thursday evening for a lucky husband and friend. This dinner does sound wonderful. In fact, I think I'll add it to "menu idea" file. I've never had Znaimer Gulasch, There is no mention of it in my Austrian cookbooks, but googling around to find out more about it brought me back to a few mentions on egullet! Is it basically a Viennese paprika beef gulasch garnished with sour pickles on top? Where would the cucumbers be used in this menu? I love all chestnut desserts, I need to make some "Kastanienschnitten".

My mom baked lots of Austrian and Hungarian baked goods while I was growing up so many of them, while delicous, are not typical "American Classics". (strudel, anyone???) There is one "American" cake she made often though, that became our family's favorite birthday cake while I was growing up. My father still requests it each year. It's a vanilla "whipped cream" cake and we make it with a vanilla buttercream frosting. The cake batter has beaten eggs in it *and* whipped cream. This produces a wonderfully old-fashioned, dense, moist, vanilla crumb that is the antithesis of a cake mix in texture. There is a recipe for this cake in Jean Anderson's book I mentioned above. It is still one of my very favorite cakes. And the vanilla on vanilla flavoring, is for me, just wonderful. We serve the cake with vanilla-flavored whipped cream as well. This is truly the perfect cake to have with a cold glass of milk. Could it be a cute serving idea in a restaurant to serve it with a small, icy cold glass of milk? It would be a study in white and vanilla. Truly old-fashioned and nigh impossible to find nowadays outside of a home kitchen... Another great favorite was apple crumb squares: short bread crust, buttery sliced apple layer and a butter crumb on top. We knew this through it's Austro-Hungarian roots, but I think through immigration long ago this is a part of the American lexicon as well. These are also very delcious served with a vanilla whipped cream. Strawberry shortcake was often the star of Fourth of July gatherings. My Mom usually used spongecake bottoms, but after my soujourn in the South I've converted to using sweet cream biscuits. I also make sweet cream biscuits to top blackberry, peach or peach-raspberry cobblers and they've always served to transport friends who grew up in the South. In New England, summer was also the time for blueberry pies. My twist on that now it to make a "Blue and Black" pie with half blue and half blackberries. New to me, but classic to New England. Rhubarb crisps have also been mentioned; we had them warm, but not hot, with heavy cream. Growing up in CT, I heartily agree with Mizducky's and Pan's reminiscences of bakery goods in NY/Boston/CT including cannolis all the way. My mom didn't make coconut layer cakes, but this was the very first "new" cake I made on my own as a teenager. If you read through the threads here you will see much lusting, passion and fond remembrances of coconut layer cakes. While Italian-meringue frostings are one of the classic permutations, I prefer the buttercream-based frostings. I lived in the South for awhile after leaving home and I picked up a new favorite cake that would have been a childhood favorite if I was born in that place: Pecan layer cake with caramel frosting. This is a classic, regional Southern cake that some people may not make as much at home anymore but which would surely be much appreciated by anyone. I posted a link to a great recipe by Bill Neal in a recent thread on caramel desserts. If I grew up in California, perhaps my mother would have made fresh apricot pies or fresh date shakes, two desserts I think that are delicious and really unique to California. (Thanks for your remembrances of non-coastal CA, dianalane!)

Yum, that looks good, Alinka, decoration or not! Thanks for the pointer on the Russe Praline cake as well. I haven't dipped my toe into Bugat and Healy's book yet other than to read it. I love all sorts of dacquoise cakes. Inspired by an earlier post by Wendy Debord, I checked out the dense almond cake with almond paste she mentioned from Greenspan's "Cooking with Julia". There is a wedding cake in there I'd like to convert into a birthday cake: dense almond cake layers, almond daquoise layers, apricot glaze and a rum buttercream....

Too funny. A perfect situation regarding the boots-- as long as they don't impair your cooking. Finding a great opportunity to use an extravagantly singular purchase is always deeply gratifying.... I find each successful use, against all odds, a triumph. I guess we could apply the same logic to extravagantly unique kitchen gadgets, etc. that we fall in love with. I love Chufi's advice and your embracing of it with gusto. I sometimes find myself needlessly and annoyingly, I dare say, apologizing for any "plan B's"... Hope you are all enjoying your dinner!

Great 'recovery' in process, I'd say! I think the beet relish sounds great with the cheese. I really like marinated/vinegary beets with either goat cheese or feta as well.

Good homemade butterscotch pudding with whipped cream on top. Some great regional desserts from New Mexico are sopapillas, natillas, and capirotada. The first are airy fried dough fritters served with honey. The second is an oeufs a la neige concoction with Spanish roots and New Mexican flavors. The third is a bread pudding with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, almonds and cheddar cheese. (yes, cheddar cheese.) (I didn't grow up with any of these, but I think they are great American desserts.) Jean Anderson's, "The American Century Cookbook" has a great overview of favorite American desserts of the 20th century.

Here is a link to a recipe for a strawberry bavarian: click One idea would be to use it as a filling between a split sponge cake. Cook the cake in a springform pan. Split the cooled cake in half, place bottom back in springform pan and pour in the bavarian cream. Place other half of cake on top and chill in the fridge to solidify the bavarian. You want a nice thick band of fillling, equal or nearly equal to the cake layer(s) thickness. I would serve it topped with powdered sugar, a few fanned out strawberries on the top center of the cake and serve it with a strained strawberry coulis or sauce. Kirsch would be a nice extra flavoring to add to the strawberry sauce. I made a raspberry mousse cake like this and it was great. You have the beautiful pale pink band contrasting with the dark red sauce and you also have a nice contrast in berry flavor between the smooth creamy filling and tart/sweet smooth sauce. Welcome to egullet, toni! Hope you report back here on what you end up trying. Here is a link to a recipe for the raspberry cake I made. click And there is a photo which will give you an idea of a strawberry version would look like. photo

Here's thread with discussion on Irish Whiskeys. click

Beautiful photos, schneich. Thank you very much for sharing them and including the annotation alongside. Did you happen to taste the Early Grey cookies? They look amazing; I may need to try something like this.

I have heard of "crepe gateaux", i.e. from France. I've also seen crepe tortes in traditional Austrian and Hungarian cookbooks-usually with a ground nut or chocolate-nut fillilng). Kurt Gutenbrunner is currently serving some Palatschinken (Austrian word for crepes) Tortes at his newish restaurant, Blaue Gans, in NYC. That being said, who knows where the founder of Lady M got his/her *immediate* inspiration. It seems like it could have been from Japan if they are relatively popular there. There was an article on Lady M and the milles crepe cake in Saveur. I can't recall if the inspiration and/or origin of the version of their cake was discussed in it...

Thank you for the great replies everyone. Hopefully travelers and residents will keep adding to it and it will be a nice source of information. (I can't wait to go myself, hopefully before too long.) Thank you, Corinne, especially for the detailed information and links on the whiskeys, table and linenware and cookbooks. I should tell him to consider shipping some stuff back...

Here also is an excerpt from the Sterns, “Roadfood”: click “Abbott’s is renowned for chowder and lobsters, both of which have defined seafood excellence in eastern Connecticut for decades. The chowder is a style unique to southern New England shores: steel-gray, briny, full of clam flavor, plenty of clam meat, and a handful of potatoes; and the lobsters are steamed to perfection.” (Abbot's refers to: Abbott’s Lobster In the Rough, 117 Pearl St., Noank, CT)

For those without accesss to good fresh shellfish or corn right now, there are also old-fashioned New England recipes for a chicken chowder. It has the traditional chowder ingredients of potatoes, salt pork and milk. Here's a basic approach: Slowly cook up some cubed salt pork to release the fat. The cubes can be left or the crackings can be removed to add back in later as a garnish. Add in some sliced onions and saute over low heat until they are translucent but not browned. Add water, a bay leaf, some minced celery leaves and chicken pieces on the bone or "a nice plump fowl" and poach at a slow simmer until cooked. Retreive chicken from the broth, remove the skin and bones and tear into med-large pieces. (Chill broth to partially defat if you like). Add chicken back to broth, add in diced potatoes and cook untl the latter are tender. Heat a quart of milk. Make a thin paste with 2 Tbs flour and some water, whisk to make sure it's smooth and add to the milk. Bring back just to the boil and add milk mixture to the chicken broth. Cook all until slightly thickened. Serve with a pat of butter on top and sprnkle with cracklings if you reserved them. I've not made this, but both recipes say it is as good on the 2nd day as the first. I'm thinking it might be nice to add some carrots or sub parsnips for the potatoes. Thyme might be another nice flavoring. Maybe a bit *too* old-fashioned for me, but one of my books has an old recipe for an 'egg chowder' in which hard-boiled eggs are subbed for fresh clams and the whole is cooked in chicken stock instead of clam broth.

I wonder why Rhode Island style is even avaliable in Connecticut? ← Not sure what you mean in your question... (unless I'm being dense and missing a joke!) I've seen all chowder styles available in CT, but "New England" style is the most common, followed by Manhanttan and then Rhode Island. Also, I grew in central CT and don't really know as well what is or would have been traditional re: chowders in, say far southern or eastern CT. Those areas could well be influenced more by their neighbors, namely, Rhode Island to the east and NY to the south. ← Another tidbit of information... Here is a recipe for "Noank Clear Clam Chowder" in this link provided by Jason Perlow in this post. Here is quote from the header of the recipe which is from, The New England Clam Shack Cookbook: Favorite Recipes from Clam Shacks, Lobster Pounds & Chowder Houses by Brooke Dojny This *is* precisely the area of CT and Rhode Island that my dad was sailing in and serving in a Naval base in the 50's/early 60's, so this may explain his strong memories of the clear "Rhode Island" version of the chowder. It is interesting that regional variations could persist as long they did in such a small area of New England.

Thanks, wendy and jackal10. I hadn't thought it through too carefully, but I had wondered if the different ratios of souffle mixture to surface area of the cooking vessel (in the ranges we are speaking of, ie. ramekins and 'normal' souffle dish) would affect the rising and/or stability of the souffle. Thanks for the cooking time reminder, jackal10.

I have no idea about your salt pork questions other than to offer up that you generally need to pour boiling water over it and then soak for a while to get some of the salt out. A good substitute is bacon. ← Salt pork is not smoked and has a higher proportion of fat to lean than bacon typcially does. Below is a description but I don't know what the equivalent name is in Great Britain if it is still sold there. (I would have thought that this orginated in Great Britain as in the US it dates back well into the earlier colonial times.) link

Thanks for the heads up on these particular crackers. Speaking of sesame seeds, I tasted an interesting (new, to me) product there recently: sesame seed "m&ms". They were serving these as a free sample over chocolate pudding and whipped cream. Each individual sesame seed is coated with a thin layer of m&m-style candy coating in bright colors like shots for ice cream! (There may have also been a thin chocolate layer underneath, I'm can't remember). Anyway, I thought these were pretty cool. These could be a neat semi-adult substitution of those waxy shots! They would certainly be fun to serve over sundaes.