Sandra Levine

If you coat the top and bottom with a mix of coarsely cracked black pepper and coarsley ground coriander seeds, and saute in vegetable oil (rather than olive oil) you'll get something very pastrami-like and delicious. Be sure to cook no more than medium rare. Serve with mustard. Really. Or, thin some Dijon mustard with a little cream.

In developing a new dish, which suggests itself first -- the sensory or the intellectual qualities? Which element is more important?

Yes, indeed. eGullet:

That and a place for tedious, circular, arguments. (edit disclosure: added smiley)

This sounds more like the first meal we had there rather than the disappointing second meal. Maybe we'll try again. I like the location, not far from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Alan and I had an early dinner here today. The appetizers were more intriguing than the mains, and very oddly for us, we both wanted the same things. We had the creamy tomato soup, deep orange in color, served in big white bowls, with swirls of pesto and aged balsamic vinegar. Then, a salad with roasted pear, lardons locally made goat cheese and mixed greens. The cheese was very soft and fresh, the pear, meltingly tender in contrast to the smoky, chewy bacon cubes. Our third course was a southwestern appetizer plate: beef marinated in chipotle sauce, skewered on a rosemary sprig, slices of avocado, a home-made flour tortilla stuffed with cheese, spinach and jalapenos; chopped dead-ripe tomatoes, a tangle of greens, and some large dots of chile verde sauce -- a well-chosen selection, beautifully prepared and presented. For our final course, Alan had pear (more pear) crisp and I had creme brulee. A do-it-yourself tasting menu for under $70 for everything.

Noques

There used to be (maybe there still is) a West Coast chocolate-covered nougaty bar called U-No. It was longer, flatter and drier than a Three Musketeers, but there was some similarity in general type. Does anyone else remember these? I used to ask people to bring them back for me.

If you lift the beater(s) out of the batter and let the batter fall back into the bowl, the dripping batter from beater will briefly "form a ribbon" as it lands, before blending in with the rest.

My beloved 12" Copco pan (with the light coating that Margaret described) flew out of the dish drainer and crashed to the floor the other day. The inttegral cast iron handle snapped right off from the impact. I had had the pan for 25 years -- a wedding present. I don't think they are made anymore. I have a 12" Lodge cast iron, but will probably get something else that I can use when I want to develop a fond to deglaze for a sauce. Isn't cast-iron too reactive, even when well-seasoned to do that? That was the big advantage to me of the Copco coating.

I don't have the images, either and the two helpful hints above are Greek to me.

I have always preferred middles. I am going to combine the Katz and Steve Bath techniques -- next time.

Thank you, Toby. I've always heard that Cantonese food was considered to be the best by Chinese people, but nobody would believe me when I passed on the factoid. Now, you have backed it up with some solid information. I hope you post more about Chinese cooking.

We've been there twice. The first time, a few years ago, the food was pretty good -- good enough so we went back a few months ago. This time, we were terribly disappointed. I didn't take notes, but I do remember that everything was very ordinary except for a dessert tart, which had a burned, garlicky off-note. We commented to the waitress, who pulled a face, but made no effort to give us something else or remove the offending item from the bill.

I found this link to the recipe in "Baking with Julia." (It's on a website for baking pans, etc., so they specify their own brand of cookeware -- ignore that. I checked the recipe against the cookbook and the ingredients and technique are the same. According to the book, Rick Katz was the pastry chef at Legal Seafoods in Boston. I love my own brownie recipe, above, which is simpler and yields a gooey-confectionary cookie, too, but I will definitely try this on of these days. "Best Ever Brownies"

i must have walked past that place 5000 times and always wanted to duck in. if recall, it was one of the last businsses to leave 42nd street. that story was featured in the NYT if i recall. Yes, that was Grant's Lunch.

You guys are just too young to have known Times Square's Grant's Lunch -- talk about dirty!

Bushey, the recipe I posted above is just about as easy to make from scratch as using a mix.

SuzanneF -- parsley root is not the same as parsnip, which is larger and much sweeter. It's not that easy to find, but when you use it, it does add that certain je ne sais quoi to Jewish-style chicken soups.

The brownies will be a little thicker, so you will need to bake them just a little longer, maybe a couple of minutes. Start testing at the time stated in the recipe, as if you were using the 9 inch pan.

I like to use rum, but many recipes call for bourbon.

Here is a link to Laurie Colwin's Black Cake recipe as it appeared in Gourmet Magazine in 1988, calling for homemade burnt sugar rather than the commercially-bottled stuff. I am always threatening to make this cake, too. Laurie Colwin's Black Cake I had Black Cake in Jamaica in the mid-60s. It was served at a wedding reception with small glasses of a sweet red wine that I was only able to identify 10 years later when someone gave me a bottle of port as a gift. (Weren't they talking about taste memory on another thread?) The combination of Black Cake and port is made in heaven -- truly memorable.

Blondies (Butterscotch Brownies -- the formal name) 1/3 cup butter ¼ tsp. salt or less 1 cup light brown sugar 2 unbeaten eggs 1 tsp. vanilla ½ cup sifted flour 1. Melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved. 2. Beat in remaining ingredients except for the strawberries. Mix only until flour is incorporated. 3. Bake in a greased and floured 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 23 minutes. Do not overbake. Do not attempt to cut into squares until cool. Chocolate chips, nuts or small pieces of fruit may be stirred in before pouring the batter into the baking pan.

Inquiring minds want to know...if you feel comfortable discussing it.

There need not be any chocolate at all in a blondie.