ludja

I agree, cherimoya! This has become a "stock" soup in my year round repertoire of soups. I nearly always have the ingredients at home and it is quick and easy. The salsa garnish really makes it special. Beautifull photos of the tomatoes and soup, Chufi. And bravo for trying something pretty daring re: the simplicity; I'm glad it was good. Those green tomatoes are reallly fascinating. They are so dark making it seem like that is what they are meant to look like in their ripened state rather than being "unripe". Is that the case?

It's not a place but a thing: Québécois for happy hour or a cocktail party, and it can take place any day of the week. On orgainse un petit 5 à 7 pour souligner son arrivée. Ce bar a des maudits bons 5 à 7 ! I've never heard the expression used in its "Parisian" sense in Quebec (or in France, for that matter), and two Québécois word nerds I just asked say they haven't either. ← This compels an experiment in which I must use this phrase. I have some friends who are from Montreal and another couple who are from France albeit not Paris. It will be interesting to see their responses! I could also sprinkle the phrase around at the next French cineclub meeting, but as I don't know many of the people there very well yet, perhaps I shouldn't unless I'm up for an adventure. (Thanks for the examples, carswell!)

Whipped cream and caramel sauce sounds nice... Do you like mascarpone cheese? This could be lightly sweetend and perhaps lightened with whipped cream. A good flavor add-in could be minced, crystallized ginger. In the pumpkin pie thread, many of us were extollng the virtues of bourbon or rum in combination with pumpkin. Perhaps it would be nice to flavor pureed ricotta with some vanilla and bourbon and then sweeten it with confectionary sugar. I like tangy components, so this might not work for you, but I could also picture a lightly sweeteend, soft fresh goat cheese as a filling. Perhaps with some lemon added. Great topic! Now I feel like making some pumpkin rolls...

I make a tasty quick preparation of brussel sprouts courtesy of Alice Waters. Slice the sprouts very thinly and sautee in some butter for several minutes. Add some chicken stock to barely cover and simmer until cooked. Add a little more stock if needed; in the end you want them to be a little saucy. Finish up wtih some salt and pepper, fresh thyme and lemon juice. Nice and fresh.

I don't have any of Batali's books, but after following Kevin72's yearlong Italian cooking blog , I plan on checking out Batali's new book: Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Recipes to Cook at Home.. He's had much praise for the book and has cooked many recipes out of it already. (egullet-Amazon link)

So much good information already. It's great to hear people's favorites and to also hear of regional cookbooks that weren't on my radar screen, upcoming books and also books published in England or other countries. While, it's true that with the books being so recent we may not have been able to cook alot from them yet, it's helpful to know the good candidates out there. Personally, I will definately be checking out both Fowler's new book on Southern Baking and also Bill Smith's "Seasoned in the South" and am looking forward to browsing some of the others as well.

Some recipes I've seen (surfing the net; it's not in any of my New England or regional cookbooks that I've noticed) also have some lemon zest or use finely grated apples rather than applesauce. I'm intrigued to see what the texture and flavor would be like. I think I first heard of it in an excerpt from John T. Edge's recent book on "Apple Pie: An American Story". After tasting variations all over the country, he listed this pie as one of his favorites. Here's a link to the recipe he gives in his book: click. I thnk it's a rather old-fashioned recipe and I'm not sure that people make it much anymore, although it would be related to other apple custard pies.

This is a really cool idea, takomabaker. I bet they look great, and the raspberry jam filling squooshing out the sides when you bite it must be the coup de grace! These skull cookies might also work well. They sound a little finicky to make but they look really good. Check out the photo and recipe on Heidi Swanson's "101 Cookbooks" blog here.

Is it too early to think a little about pies, cakes and desserts for Thanksgiving? Here's a recent thread on pumpkin pie And a few on apple pie: apple varieties for pies recipes for apple caramel pie Don't forget to serve a wedge of cheddar cheese with your apple pie A tentative plan for me this year is: Marlborough Pie Pear Ginger Pie (I made this last year) Squash and Cranberry Strudel from "Lidia's American Table" in a blended nod to my Austrian roots.

Sounds like you have some access to an abundance of apples as well, liamsaunt! Do you typically use one apple variety or a mix?

De Tocqueville made quite a name for himself writing about another culture... Sometimes a sense of distance and a discerning eye from another perspective and set of experiences can be very illuminating, in addition to, but not instead of, voices from within.

Please share cookbooks released this year that you like or have your eye on? There has been much recent excitement on egullet with the release of Paula Wolfert's new edition of the "The Cooking of Southwest France". The thread has recipes that people have tried. Two other acquisitions for me so far from books released this year: A very welcome reprinting of Linda Dannenberg's "Paris, Boulangerie and Patisserie: Recipes from 13 Outstanding French Bakeries" The link is a thread in which people have shared recipes they've made. A new book from Penelope Casas (author of the great "Tapas" cookbook and many other good ones on the cuisine of Spain): "La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain" I haven't made anything from this yet, but I'm eyeing many good almond dessert recipes. (The links are or have egullet-amazon sponsored links which donate $ to egullet if you purchase the book through the link.) What else am I missing or that I should add to my birthday wish list?

A friend visited some wineries in Yarra Vallely and brought back a very nice shirza from Tokar Estate (2001 Yarra Valley Shiraz). Here's a link to their website. You may have run across it , but here is another link to some general info on Yarra Valley vineyards: click Have a great time. It would be great to hear back on this thread which wineries you went to and what your impressions were.

Here is a thread with a tested pan de muerto (bread of death) recipe... click and another thread with some discussion of the dish and fresh anise used in it: click

hmmm... this sounds so good! So many drinks discussed on the egullet boards that I need to try, but a good Negroni or Sazerac is certainly at the top of my list right now.

Thanks for the lovely letter, Lori in PA. It was worth the wait. Congrats on your canning extravaganza! Were the Nittany apples developed at Penn State or are they just a local variety that has persisted? I just learned of Marlborough Pie (an old traditional recipe from MA?New England) that uses grated apples or applesauce and a custard. Also flavored w/nutmeg and a bit of sherry or rum. I'm thinking of testing it out before Thanksgiving. Do you make many things with applesauce or do you mainly eat it alone? or with cream...?

They are pretty big! Big burittos at Chipotles or at privately owned taqueries out here have become our food of choice, though, after 10-15 mile hikes. They really hit the spot then... Else, I'll sometimes split one. Funny, I take it, naked burritos are minus the tortilla. I'd not heard the term before.

There is quite a goodly amount of paprika in the recipe; I am reallly curious to try this. The rest of the site looks like it has some other interesting R.I. recipes as well, including Portuguese. (Just turn off the music to prevent going insane!)

Thanks for sharing the new information on the Rocky Point Chowder,. menton1. It sounds like an interesting variation with the paprika. I wonder if that has any Porutguese roots; it would be interesting to understand more about it's history. People may even have had this type of chowder in Providence and just assumed it was Manhattan, and probably some restaurants do serve the latter. Did you get an idea whether this was still served in many restaurants from you contact, and if so, what restaurant to try for a good version? This is all more evidence of what Jasper White pointed out as the great and complex variabliity in chowder types in R.I and even, perhaps in Providence. With respect to being surprised at Chris' response, people may have been slightly taken aback by some of your comments earlier in which it seemed you completely dismissed what people said out of hand. (I was surprised at the tone of some of your posts, but decided to just let it go as miscommunication). Some people posting were from R.I., one was a noted N.E. cookbook author and others were folks who had lived in or near R.I. and thought they had something to offer. I'm glad you persisted and got some information on an apparent Providence chowder variant from a certain time period, and that you shared it with us, but I think it would also have been nice on your part to acknowledge the variety of interesting and related information that arose in this thread. AFterall, in my opinon, people took the time to post in a sincere and thoughtful manner. To me, this has been a very interesting and successful thread.

It has been formally established that it was arson. Regarding, suspects, it's a real Peyton Place. In addition to mentioning Mark Anderson, the article speaks of long, bitter internal disputes between partners. link

I was going to suggest Wallse if you haven't been there in awhile...but I see above that you would like to take the opportunit to try a new place. Sounds like a good idea! Have you ever eaten at Danube for a comparison? (I have no idea on reservation availability or how they compare in price or formality to other choices you were considering...)

While I can see a white Bordeaux working, I'd incline toward a light-bodied, supple red, like a Beaujolais or a Bourgueil. Southwest wines that would fill the bill include various Gaillac, Côtes-du-Frontonnais, Pécharmant, Graves and Fronsac, especially those done in a fruity style, second labels and wines from "weak" vintages. ← I agree with this as well. We had a light to medium-bodied, red Burgundy with the dish and that was very nice. I could also picture a good fit with a non- or lightly oaked Chardonnay. There is a richness to the dish but the flavors are not so strong that either would work well, in my opinon. Thank you for sharing the nice photos and other documentation in making the Rabbit Compote, Foodman! The salad with walnut vinagrette seems like a very nice accompaniment. For an alternate take, the presentation at Zuni was actually in an 'unmolded' state. The rillettes looked like they were loosely broken up with a fork and served in a nice, single-serving round on each plate. The prunes were on the side, as were the buttered, toasted bread rounds. The 'side' was a frisee salad with vinagrette. I think there is a photo of this in Carolyn Tillie's article which is linked to within The Zuni Restaurant thread linked above.

I don't go to Chipotle's often because there are so many good Mom and Pop Mexican taqueria's and restaurants around, but I think I would try new things there. Their ingredients are higher in quality than most chains, including Niman Ranch pork as the basis for their carnitas and barbacoa. You pick the ingredients to go in your freshly assembled burritto as you walk down the other side of an assembly line coutner. They are owned by McDonald's but are operated from a separate headquarters in Denver.

Thanks for the info. I definately knew of the Portuguese connection, but not the others. I don't know to what extent it still exists, but there is/was a Portuguese community on the other side of the Santa Cruz Mountains near the coast in fishing communities like Half Moon Bay and also in other coastal towns like Pescardero. Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero was started by Portugues immigrants around the turn of the century to serve the nearby logging community. As mentioned above, I have seen salt cod in one of the small older groceries that are on Main St. in Half Moon Bay. Near Sunnyvale/Palo Alto I think most of the Hispanic markets are Mexican, but thanks again for the information.

Thanks everyone for all the ideas so far. Interesting idea to make it oneself. Your post, Melkor, jogged my memory that Judy Rodgers has a whole discussion of this in "The Zuni Cookbook". Good to know that it's 'doable', in a practical sense. I would like to try this some time; especially after trying out what I can buy around here in order to do the taste comparison myself. Practically, I may first check out Draegers or Andronico's; I'll report back here if they have it. I was hoping that someone would pop up with some great hidden Italian grocery or deli on the Peninsula that I wasn't aware of, because it would be a great thing all around, but thanks for the reminder on Lucca's in the city, info on Ratto's in Oakland and also the Spanish Table. I didn't know of the last two purveyor's and am excited to check them out sometime when I'm in the area. Does La Salette actually have some formal retail, winesonoma, or as a 'regular' are you just able to buy some from the kitchen? Thanks again!