ludja

Another tip I just saw persusing through some old American regional cookbooks is to make an open faced, "Dutch Pear Pie". Make a dry mixture of sugar, flour, freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of salt. (about 1 cup of sugar and 6 Tbs of flour). Put alternating layers of sliced pears and sugar mixture into an uncooked pie shell. Pour a cup of heavy cream over and bake at 350 until it is set. Let cool a bit before serving. Sounds good to me...

I haven't been there yet, but have heard many solid recommendations for Prager Winery and Port Works in Napa. Another option, might be to try a late harvest Zinfandel. I've had nice ones from J. Fritz Winery in Sonoma, north of Healdsburg. They often taste them with dark chocolate and it's a wonderful combination. Here's a tasting note on their website:

Thanks all, for the great responses, which are a casebook example of one of the aspects that make egullet so informative. The answer to the question is not a straightforward one, in the sense that people's experiences are so different across the country and in different families, but in reading people’s responses one starts to get a picture. "Flat or grill plate" or "griddle" was probably the word I was searching for in the first post! There was some mention of it, but I would have thought there would be quite a bit of Asian and/or Asian fusion cookery on the grill… Wistful sidenote (and at the risk of going off topic):: I wish there were more Aussies and New Zealanders on the forum. Language is no barrier, and the contrast and comparison between the U.S. and Australia is fascinating to compare in the context of food especially in view of both the similarities and differences in our national histories regarding indigenous cultures, early settlers and 20th century immigration from all over the world. Is there a competing primarily Australian forum or has the word on Egullet just not gotten out yet?

It seems relatively clear that they are comparing the new "6 month grated domestic cheese" to "10 month grated domestic cheese". What I do find interesting, as a scientist, is the way they report that they have achieved the reduced curing time by using a speedier version of the enzyme presumably implicated in the curing process. If there are no other factors involved in achieving the flavor of a traditionally aged parmigiano reggiano (all other factors being kept constant, such as the quality of the milk, etc), perhaps this is a way that all producers could speed up their production with no ill effects to their existing product. Or, some adjustments to other processing conditions may be needed in tandem with the accelerated enzyme in order to still (truly) achieve the same endpoint. That is, Kraft will remain Kraft, but perhaps Parmagiano Reggiano would also remain the same with this accelerated process. I'm not advocating tampering with the traditional approaches, but it is interesting from a scientificc standpoint.

I like Ton Kiang for dim sum--nice fresh dumplings, in my experience. I had a great experience in my first visit to Koi Palace this summer. Our strategy was to call up and get a number for an early start (10:30 or so) on a Sunday. They have a huge and great selection of dishes. Another nice feature is that you can both order items you don't want to miss off a menu and then supplement this per your whim and the contents of roving carts. I mention it on this thread, but one of my favorite Thai places is Marnee Thai (2 locations in the Sunset). I've yet to try many of the other good sounding suggestions in that thread but Marnee Thai compares favorably to a bunch of other places I've tried in SF and on the Peninsula in terms of bolder, fresher flavors and the breadth of the menu.

Thanks rebel rose and wiinesonoma! This is really fascintating to see and follow along. Hope you you have time to also take and post some snaps winesonoma, but in any case, it's been fun to follow both crops simultaneously. It seems like there could be significant variation depending on how carefully bunches have to sorted for picking, but how much does each picker typcially harvest in one day? How about a comparison between professional and non-professional pickers? (I'm assumng your crew is non-professional, winesonoma...) Are the grapes be picked at any time of day? How are the grape bunches actually harvested? Are they collected in smaller containers to minimize pre-mature crushing or is everything (bunches, juice) just put rather into the crushing device without delay?

The green grape pie you describe sounds very interesting Jaymes. I've seen some intriguing grape pie recipes as well but haven't tried any yet. I found this recipe http://pie.allrecipes.com/az/GrnGrpPi.asp by googling, but I think you would have fount this already. Also, it looks to be a much less nuanced version of what you're describing. In case it is of interest, I've recently seen a grape pie in Richard Sax's "Classic Home Desserts". It used seedless red grapes. They are roughly chopped, drained and then tossed w/some lemon juice, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon and salt. The mix is poured into a chilled pie crust, dotted with butter and then covered w/a top crust before baking. Off topic from pies--but there is also a wonderful sounding green grape tart in Paula Wolfert's, "Slow Mediterranean Cooking". Reduced grape juice puree is used to sweeten a custard. Other grapes are sauteed in butter and then the tart is cooked with the filling of custard and sauteed grapes... sounds good as well!

Thanks for the great blog Percy... and for torturing us with the DeNic roasted pork, aged provolone and sauteed greens sandwich. Are the greens always spinach or do they also have broccoli raab? Also, what was the "little dessert" pictured in the photo above the Basset ice cream shot? Best wishes for your aunt's recovery and convalescence.

The ones I've seen and made look more like the examples in this photo: click The sweet filling is placed into a depression in the dough (shaped like a round bun) before baking rather than being completely surrounded by dough.

I ran across a good one in a French movie I saw yesterday, "La Vie est un Long Fleuve Tranquille "(1988), directed By Étienne Chatiliez The context was an dinner table admoniition directed at the children in a bourgeois househeld. It went something like this: "Don't drink cold water right after eating a spoonful of soup; it will crack the enamel on your teeth." (I have no idea if this is rooted in any real sayings or if it was dreamt up by the screenwriters...

One of the original versions is a sweet yeast-raised bun from Czechoslovakia. The traditional fillings are fruit, poppyseed and sweetened farmer's cheese (similar to what would be in a danish). In the ones I've seen and made with a friend of Czech descent, the filling is visible on the top of the bun. Does anyone know if savory kolaches were traditionally made in Czechoslovakia or is it sometihng that just evolved in the US? I've only heard of the sweet ones from Czech friends and in reading books. edited to add: Here's an article from the Austin Chronicle:click It has a bunch of information aobut kolache and their transformation and life in Texas. Here's a quote:

Thanks suzisushi! As advertised, the recipe looks both simple and delicious.

Alice Waters Charlie Trotter

Sounds good to me, if you don't mind posting it!

I made something a while back that was very simple and surprisingly good. It was a riff off a Napolean, in between the layers was a mascarpone/whipped cream filling, slightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla and chopped candied ginger. The surprising part, was that the layers were made by briefly broiling cut out rounds (~ 3 inches) of flour tortillas (regular--not whole wheat or low fat, etc). on top of which was a sugar/cinnamon mixture. I can't recall if there was any fat involved (for example, a little butter). They tasted great and no one had any idea re: the provenance of the crispy layers! The sad thing is I can't remember in where the recipe is re: more tips on making the rounds. But I think it would be pretty easy to experiment a bit. They don't cook long; that I remember. I made them just one layer thick, but you could make the rounds smaller and make two layers. Another idea would be to make Italian cream puffs (bigne) filled with a ricotta filliing. Possible additions to the sweetened (with powder sugar) filling would be good chips of dark chocolate, orange peel and anisette.

Thanks for this demo, hzrt8w. This dish was not even on my radar screen until this thread--although it does remind me of Thai shrimp toast type dishes. It sounds like it would be incredibly savory and tasty; I must try it sometime.

I was reminded of this question after seeing this recent thread re: finding traditional American BBQ in Australia: click. A good friend visited Australia and stayed with some local hosts in Melbourne. They cooked on the 'barbie' several times, but my friend was surprised to that what they called a barbie consisted of a flat metal sheet for the cook surface (not a grate) fueled by gas. It was similar to cooking on the type of cooking surface you would see at a breakfast restaurant in the US. The food thus was not really "grilled" in the way I'm used to in a backyard situation (ie. over coals or over a gas grill with grates). Is this a typical barbie? (And do Australians call it a barbie?...) What are the classic traditions, recipes and types of grills? Is it traditional to grill out for Christmas or New Years? Are there traditional dishes called bbq in Australia, and if so, what are they like? Are the traditions similar in New Zealand?

Thanks! That's cool, b/c it was pretty evident from your post that it was a new cookbook for you. It's a good first step to be excited enough by a book to want to cook many dishes from it. Have fun trying it out.

Which cookbook, pray tell?

I've seen quite a few recipes where the the stuffed cabbage rolls are cooked in a bed of saurkraut: click and click These recipes are described at Hungarian, but it wouldn't perhaps be that surprising to also see the use of sauerkraut in other nearby places...

Hey, glad you're feeling better... and yes, it is also nice that you're well enough to finish your awesome trip blog. The crawdaddy corn soup and bbq shrimp sandwich just look amazing!!!

Hey, thanks for the tip, Sandra. The Harftford Atheneum is indeed a very good museum--for both their permanent collections as well as their visiting exhibits. I go there about twice a year when I am back visiting in CT but have never eaten there... Two other nice places for food and art, both: The Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. (click) In addition to great food, they also have a relatively good and extensive list of wines by the glass. Nice outdoor seating too. It's been mentioned before on the forum quite a few times, but The Cafe Sabarsky at The Neue Gallerie in NYC (click) is very good. It's also a beautful space that truly evokes cafes in Vienna. The museum is nice, but small. (I've only been to it once). Nevertheless, we often go the cafe for an Austrian pastry and coffee break during visits to the Met which is right nearby. The cafe was started by Kurt Gutenbrunner, chef and owner of Wallse, also in NYC.

source of the quote here ← Interesting... This reminds me of the earlier egullet thread re: the Polish spelling (which I promptly forgot) and pronunciation for stuffed cabbage: here To add to the list of names, in German, it is the rather prosaic: gefullte kraut or gefullte krautrouladen (umlaut over the 'u' in gefullte)

Thanks for all the comment, JEL. Barley does sounds like an interesting variant on rice or soaked bread crumbs as part of the stuffing. Also, thanks for sharing your nice essay MarcoPolo.

My mom (and then me) have mainly made these filled with the ground beef and rice mixture and then cooked in tomato sauce. (No raisins for me please, but my (Austrian) grandmother's homemade tomato sauce usuallly has a very small amount of sugar added to it). We always referred to these as "Polish galumpki's" (sic). For non-tomato versions, I've seen a bunch of recipes in my Austrian and other Central European cookbooks that cook the cabbage rolls in stock. Often sauteed onions and peppers are added into the brasing liquid as well. When the cabbage rolls are finished cooking, the sauce is defatted, it may or may not be sieved and then is completed by whisking in sour cream and paprika so that you have a similar sauce to that served wtih paprika chicken. (Obviously not a Jewish recipe, in this case, with the combination of dairy with meat). The filling for these types of cabbage rolls are typically pork or a mixture of ground pork and beef. Other flavorings to go along with the meat in the stuffing are sauteed onions, salt and pepper, marjarom, caraway seeds or cooked bacon. I also saw some other variations where a strip of bacon is wrapped around each bundle. After they are cooked and removed from the pot in order to finish the sauce, they may be cooked briefly over higher heat to crisp up the bacon a bit. I think I may just want to try a non-tomatoey version. It sounds like the final taste would be quite different from that which I'm used to. I'll report back if I give it a whirl soon.