ludja

No, but fall and winter are good seasons to make one... Also, rereading this thread is making me reconstruct and crave the taste in my mind. For others interested, here is a phonto of a Dobos Torte I found on Google Images: click

As SuziSushi mentione the skins comes off rather easily when they are hot. They are still plenty hot enough to melt butter, etc. They keep fine on top of a double boiler. For Thanksgiving, when my double boiler is not large enough, I make them right before people come, then turn off the heat. I re-heat them by adding in a little more milk and mixing well.

I looked through some of our earlier egullet threads and also googled regarding rendering pork fat and could not find a real answer to this. I have usually bought pork fat trimmings from a Mexican grocer. That has worked pretty well after I cut off some of the 'extraneous" meat before starting to render the fat. You also get a fair number of cracklings when starting off this way. I just saw pig skin available at my Chinese market for a very good price (60 cents/lb) and wondered if this could also be used to render lard that is to be used in baking? There does not appear to be any visible lean in the pig skin. Does one have to cut the fat off of the skin or just cut the skin up into cubes? Will this give you pork rinds rather than cracklings? Is the lard too strong flavored? I've heard that the choice lard is the leaf lard surrounding the kidneys, but I have been happy with the end product that resulted from the meat trimmings above. I'm just interested to know if I can use this alternate source and if so, how to do it. Thanks in advance!

Thanks to everyone for this thread and to Ah Leung for the great pictorial and recipe. Ma Pa Tofu is also one of my favorite dishes. I need to make this at home! I'll report back once I do. I also like Hunan Eggplant with Spicy Pork Sauce which in some ways is similar to Ma Pa Tofu in texture and taste. I start the dish from a recipe in Tropp's "The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking".

Thank you for sharing this, Tejon. I try to make this my first automatic response. Sometimes just smiling at a child even startles them out of their behaviour, or as you say, at least gives the sometimes frazzeled parent a little break from all the evil looks. I know that you have a special challenge so I don't mean to compare situations directly.

No. Vienna is "Wien." And it's Oscar Mayer wiener, shortening of wienerwurst, from German Wiener "of Vienna" (from Wien "Vienna") + Wurst "sausage." BTW, Wiener Würstchen are called Frankfurter in Vienna and all of Austria. Same for wiener schnitzel —Etymology: German, literally, Vienna cutlet. In German, weiner is pronounced like "viner." ← The reason I asked how it got transposed was that as schnitzel desribed, the word derivation originates from Vienna or "Wien" in German. I guess it was just an accidental transposition that happened at some time in history over here and is now a charming legacy! I just wondered if there was story behind it. Note that most other large hotdog brands, for eg. Oscar Meyer, use the proper "wiener" spelling. "Wein" in German means "wine" and is pronounced "vine" as schnitzel allluded to above. Anyway, I didn't mean to derail the original topic. Let's hear about more favorite weiner experiences and places in RI!!!

And I think there is another rather mundane point that I'm not sure has been brought up recently. When I was a child, my parents and many others then, believed in naps and bedtimes for younger children. Many parents I know nowadays do not schedule naptimes or earlyish bedtimes for their kids. Often when I see a child acting out in public they are obviously bleary-eyed and whiney through a serous sleep deficit. This may be exacerbated by working parents who drag their children around and about all weekend or until late at night during the week. (It is a difficult connundrum re: having to run errands on a busy schedule, but I think some effort should be made to not overtire kids). I feel very sorry for the children who often seem quite miserable even as they are making others miserable in their wake. A well-rested child, I think, would solve half the problems that one witnessess in places like coffeeshops.

A quote from "The Note on Attribution" in the preface of "The Cooking of Southwest France" by Paula Wolfert. “When I develop a recipe, I base it on my various tastings of the dish, the literature and oral lore that surrounds it, and my own amalgam of methods and techniques, most taught to me by various cooks through the years”. Is there anything else you could share about how you approached the actual process and viewed the dynamic between researching recipes and traditions via tasting dishes, personal interactions and reading written sources? Thank you very much!

It is interesting to think of cooks all over the US and other places excited and enabled to make these traditional recipes from the southwest of France in our own little corners of the world. Thank you so much for the wonderful update to the first edition. With the piquant addition of some restaurant-inspired recipes in the book as mentioned earlier, (i.e. both old and new) it seems like the book mainly aims at capturing home recipes of the region. Do you have a sense of how much of this traditional southwestern cooking is still being done in France at home? If so, is it more or less common than when you wrote the first edition twenty years ago? Is there an overall sense of continuance with the traditions, a strengthening or rediscovery of them or a feeling that the traditions are slipping due to "the modern age" and blurring cultural differences between geographic regions? In a related vein, can you comment on the extent to which this particular regional cuisine is cooked by home cooks in other parts of France? I also wonder if the cuisine is being preserved and enlivened by both restaurant and home cooks to the same degree at this time? I realize these are quite a few questions, but I guess the common theme is querying your impressions on how this regional cooking tradition is being practiced and preserved in France today. Thank you for your thoughts, Paula!

Ok, here's a silly question. Are "New York Weiners" pronounced " New York weeners"? Also, is there a story behind how the "ie" got transposed to "ei'? This may have been discussed before somewhere, but I can't recall.

How nice to see you're blogging again, Abra! By coincidence, just last week I had re-read parts of your excellent first blog when I was searching for something else on egullet. The week ahead sounds exciting; thanks for taking us along for the ride!

The spots don't sound normal; it sounds like they must have been a bit old or were exposed to too much light. I use Yukon Golds often for good mashed potatoes. I cook them in their jackets and make sure to just cook them until they are just finished. I usually make sure the potatoes are about the same size as well to ensure that they are finished at about the same time. (Else I'll check the smaller ones first and remove them as they are done.) Peel them while they're hot, send through a potato ricer and add in salt, butter, whole milk and maybe some half and half. Perhaps cooking them with the skins on yields a less narrow time window for overcooking them such that they fall apart. Perhaps they get more waterlogged being boiled after they are peeled. (I've never made them this way with any potato.) I think Yukon Golds are a bit less starchy than russets so that may be why your method worked with russets but not with the Yukon Golds.

Ranch Style Brand beans from Texas are a very good canned bean. I especially like the Pintos w/Jalapeno and the Beans with Sweet Onion. http://www.foodlocker.com/brands-r-ranch-style-beans.html The product that I've been wanted to try after reading about it on egullet is "Steen's Cane Syrup" from Louisiana. And thinking of LA, I always keep Peychaud's Bitters and Herbsaint on hand to make Sazerac cocktails.

Thank you for sharing your recipe, Russ. It's quite different from the ground/minced beef, wine, milk ragus I've made and I look forward to trying it. Pork butt, pancetta, sausage... sounds great. Thank you for sharing your menu ideas as well.

Two books I have that I like and that are devoted just to breakfasts are: A Real American Breakfast by Cheryl A. Jamison and Bill Jamison. Almost 300 recipes from very traditional to newer in style. Great background on the different recipes as well as variations. The book covers all different styles of breakfasts; some chapters are: Egg, Dairy, Pancakes, Waffles, French Toasts; Meats, Seafood, Hashes, Stratas ad other morning Casseroles, Breakfast Sandwiches, Home made Cereals, Fruit, Breads, Morning Cakes and Cobblers, Smoothies and other Breakfast Drinks. Good Mornings by Michael McLaughlin. Lots of innovative recipes--sweet and savory. This includes a lot of interesting recipes with a SouthWestern flare. ← Thanks for the tips...Amazon, here I come! Does anyone know if I can buy these via an eGullet friendly link? Breakfast yesterday was Luchi-Chochori; a Bengali dish of fried dough discs with a very simple boiled potato curry flavoured only with mustard oil and chili. Today was a nice omelette with fresh crab meat. Poilane toast. Yummy yummy. Coffee both days was a Keralan brew. Raj ← Real American Breakfast by Jamison and Jamison (egullet Amazon link) "Good Mornings" is only available used at this time (as far as I can see from Amazon) so I don't think the egullet-Amazon link would apply. It's bargain though, starting at $0.75... I haven't used any of the following books, but here are some other breakfast books suggested by Amazon... The Big Book of Breakfast: Serious Comfort Food for Any Time of the Day by Maryana Vollstedt Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham Brunch by Louise Pickford The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook : Breakfast and Beyond by April Moon Joy of Cooking: All About Breakfast and Brunch by Irma S. Rombauer Culinary Institute of America: Breakfast and Brunches by Culinary Institute of America Here's another link to an Amazon customer's list of "best breakfast books"... click edited to add: I'm going to ask a mod to make this a separate thread so it doesn't get buried and hopefully we'll get feedback from more people..

There is an egullet thread here discussing the newly released Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

Check Please! Reviewed in Episode 2: Lark Creek Inn 234 Magnolia Ave/ Larkspur, CA 94939 1550 Hyde Café and Wine Bar 1550 Hyde St. (at Pacific) San Francisco, CA 94109 Everett & Jones BBQ 126 Broadway (at 2nd Street) Oakland, CA 94617 There is a butterscotch pudding recipe from Lark Creek Inn posted also. Several of the reviewers had it at the restaurant and raved about it. It's on my list... No surprise that everyone loved 1550 Hyde but there was a pretty mixed response to Everett and Jones, especially about the service.

wiener schnitzel... (It can be difficult to remember if you don't speak German, but a pronunciation pneumonic I heard of a long time ago was, "EIsenhower's nIEce".) Glad you had a nice b-day celebration, Megan. This restaurant is on my list to try sometime soon.

Langbein has a 10 month old blog called "The Bruni Digest" which spoofs, week by week the writing of NY Times restaurant reviewer, Frank Bruni. click and Interesting in light of some of our recent discussions re: anonymity and online reviews and criticism.

For posterity, here is a list of the books reviewed: "The Arab Table: Recipes and Culinary Traditions" by May S. Bsisu (Morrow, $34.95) traditional cooking and pantries in the Middle East and North Africa "La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange" by Madame Evelyn Saint-Ange and Paul Aratow (Ten Speed Press, $40) (reissued version of a 1927 French cookbook) "Dough" by Richard Bertinet (Kyle Cathie Limited, $29.95) by a British cooking teache, Richard Bertinet, with step-by-step color photos and a DVD. "Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best" by Max McCalman and David Gibbons (Clarkson Potter, $32.50) “A lavish primer on everyone's new favorite food: how to choose it, how much to buy, where it's from and what makes it great, with seasonal notes and wine pairings. Every cheese gets its own page, with essay and details and a photo you can almost taste.” Cucina Romana" by Sara Manuelli (Interlink Books , $29.95) combination of ”traditional and innovative” dishes "How to Cook Italian" by Giuliano Hazan (Scribner, $35) (son of Marcella Hazan) “Maybe the world didn't need yet another pasta-to-tiramisu primer, but Marcella's son acquits himself by including dishes that don't turn up everywhere, particularly a zucchini casserole and a sausage-stuffed duck.” "India With Passion: Modern Regional Home Food" by Manju Malhi (Interlink Books, $35) By British food writer's Manju Malhi "Mangoes & Curry Leaves" by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Artisan, $45) Dishes from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. "Moroccan Modern" by Hassan M'Souli (Interlink Books, $29.95) The author, Hassan M'Souli, is the chef of Out of Africa in Sydney, Australia.. "The New Spanish Table" by Anya von Bremzen (Workman, $22.95, due by Thanksgiving) “An admirable blending for anyone who finds Ferran Adrià's wizardry (or mad science) a bit daunting and Penelope Casas' classics a little too familiar.” "The Silver Spoon" (Phaidon Press, $39.95) See link to discussion thread above. (English issue of Italian compendium of recipes, publishes in Italy since the 1950’s). "True Tuscan" by Cesare Casella (Harper Collins, $24.95) A New York “City chef's "flavors and memories" of his birthplace, heavy on the herbs but without all the cliches. The side notes on history are enlightening.”

The only actually cooking prep that I'm doing yet is rendering some lard for the pie crusts. (I use half butter, half lard). Most of the menu is set, but I've also been cruising my farmer's markets and produce stores for inspiration to see what they have and what looks particularly good. Interesting to make the gravy ahead of time using turkey wings. Besides having it done in advance it seems like a great way to insure plenty of gravy. On Thanksgiving day do you just deglaze the turkey pan and add it to the prepared gravy?

From the SF Chronicle Digest, two new cookbook reviews. (articles are available for a week or two) "The Baker's Tour" by Nick Malgieri "The Best Recipes of the World" by Mark Bittman

I love that quote... (And it reminds me that it's time to reread Moby Dick)

Just a general FYI, but "jonnycakes" is the traditional Rhode Island spelling I think. Welcome to egullet, Mitchell!

Yup, there's a ton of Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants in the Bay Area. In additions to the ones mentioned already, there's the various Straights Cafes (SF, Palo Alto, San Jose, Burlingame), plus a few more in the mid peninsula (Mango Bay, Banyan Garden, Island Cafe), the East Bay (Raffles Cafe, Red Kwali, Banyan Tree) and SF (Singapore Malaysian and Penang Garden). I haven't been to Singapore Malaysian yet but have fairly high hopes for it. I have liked my meals at Banana Leaf, though I haven't been back there for a couple of years as I'm rarely ever in that area anymore. Straights Cafe in the city used to be good (I was not a big fan of the Palo Alto version), but it went downhill a few years ago and I haven't been back since. ← Thanks for the info Malik! I went to Straits Palo Alto a few times awhile back and was also quite disappointed by both the menu and execution. To be fair, I haven't been there in several years so I don't know if it is different now.