Sandra Levine

With all the entertaining, home cooking, take-out and take-home that goes on here -- I wonder what happens to the leftovers. Do you just snack later? Re-heat for next night's dinner? Or, turn them into something else? That's what I did with an extra pint of rice from 5 Stars Punjabi Indian Cuisine. The "plain rice" is deliciously flavored -- cumin, coriander, cardamon are my guess. I made a custard using two cups of milk, two eggs and about 3/4 cup sugar, then added the rice after it thickened a bit. After the rice absorbed the custard and solidified in the fridge, I stirred in enough creme fraiche to make it pudding-y. The resulting rice pudding has an unusual flavor, but is no stranger than an herbal sorbet. I recognize that this is a superficial and profane "fusion," but since I am a home-cook and not the chief of a Michelin-starred restaurant, I don't think that matters! What do others do with leftovers?

I was so sorry to read your description of this dish, which, when I had it ten years ago at Guy Savoy, was everything you hoped it would be. I remember barely cooked oysters floating in briny aspic of crystalline clarity. I've remembered it all this time.

There's a very good almond cake recipe in Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking that calls for only 6 tablespoons of flour. I'm pretty sure you could substitute 6 tablespoons of almond meal with the desirable effect of intensifying the almond flavor.

Actually, some melted chocolate drizzled artistically over the cooled hamentaschen would be a very good, as well as appropriate, embellishment.

Pastry for hamantaschen (also good for rugelach or small tartlets) 1/2 lb. unsalted butter 1/2 lb. cream cheese 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour Blend butter and cream cheese together till smooth. Incorporate flour and press into a flattened ball. Allow to rest in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before using. I generally use yellow raisins for hamantaschen. Plumping them in booze would certainly add something! I haven't tried it. I also usually add some grated lemon zest to the filling. Apricot and prune butter (lekvar) are almost pure pureed dried fruit. (there is some corn syrup and sugar added) I've never used Solo and would be afraid that it has some additional thickener, but that may simply be my misconception.

Hamantaschen are triangular filled pastries or cookies served at Purim, (this year on Tuesday, Feb. 26), The shape recalls the hat worn by the villain of the story found in the Book of Esther, which tells how the Jewish people were saved from destruction. Jewish holidays: "They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat." I generally use an apricot or prune filling in a cream cheese pastry crust. Many people use a cookie crust, either a more contemporary butter cookie dough or a crisper, yet more grandmotherly oil cookie dough to encase the filling. Any fruit could be used, and poppyseeds used to be very popular. For my filling, I add chopped dates, raisins, honey, orange juice, chopped nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg to jarred apricot or prune butter butter. I like a chunky, textured filling. I cut out 2 1/2" - 3" rounds of thinly rolled-out pastry, add a dollop of filling and pinch up into traingles, then dip each triangle upside down into lightly beaten egg white and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Does anyone else make them? How?

My guess is that a firm, thick-leaved cabbage with a tight head will work best. Cut it into chunks so that the leaves stay attached to a bit of the stem. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and drizzle oil all over, so that most of the leaves get at least a few drops on most leaves. I bet caraway or cumin seeds would be a good addition. Cabbage, I suspect, would take less time than cauliflower, at a slightly lower temperature. Sprinkle some roasted sesame oil over the cabbage just before serving. I'd be afraid of the leaves burning. It might be better to par-boil the cut up cabbage until it softens somewhat before roasting, as above, in order to reduce the risk. Again, I haven't tried this, but that's what I would do.

Great description of risotto-making, Jinmyo. Ah, hearing! Yes, the risotto tells you when it's done, with a whoosh-ing sound that is noticeably different from the sounds that it made before. Roasted chicken also whooshes when it's done, but it's harder to catch because 1. the oven door is closed and 2. you're not standing over the bird the way you stand over the rice pot.

You see it sometimes at the Greenmarket, or other farmer's markets, by people who know the word and think they are communiciating with others who will recognize it, but not generally in a more commercial application. If a supermarket brand, Red Apple, e.g. decided to bottle perry, I'm sure they would call it pear cider. Although, come to think of it, I'm not sure that it should be called perry if it's not alcoholic, although we do use cider that way, so why not!

Pear cider is traditionally known as, "perry."

No, it puts 20 pounds on you. As you saw in real life, I'm really a size 2. Ken, the picture, Roll2Dx-21 is one of the best ever taken of me! (I'm the one on the far right.)

I know what you mean. Alan doesn't speak much French, so I tell him to keep Maurice Chevalier in mind.

Catholic, with the Sephardic name Cardoz, and from Goa, the fomer Portuguese colony? I'll bet his family was Jewish before the Inquisition. God help me, I'm beginning to morph into my grandmother.

Tommy, I couldn't agree with you more. During my first trip to Paris, alone and single, I was so intimidated that I could barely croak out a word in French, and did not have a good time. Years later, my husband, Alan, was at first reluctant to go to Paris because of all the usual cliched reasons stated above by previous posters. After much cajoling, I convinced him to give it a try. Feeling more confident the second time around, I decided to put to use the vast food vocabulary drilled into me by a French teacher in college who was determined to make my class capable of reading a menu, if nothing else. Once we were there, we took note of a few cultural differences and adjusted our behavior accordingly. We now play a game when we go to Paris: blending in as much as possible. We win when a French person asks us for directions in French...and we are able to respond correctly. Some tips on having pleasant interactions with Parisians: Appearance: Parisians take clothing and grooming as seriously as food. They love their beautiful city, and tend to feel that sloppily dressed people (by their high standards) are probably too boorish to appreciate it. Dress more formally than you might on vacation in the U.S. For men, this used to mean wearing a jacket and tie, but standards have loosened somewhat. You still need to pull yourself together, though, without sneakers, which are worn only for active sports. For women, the key is grooming, accessories and tasteful make-up. Manners: Certain rituals of politeness are expected, as distinct from true courtesy, although attention to the former on the part of the traveler may lead to the receipt of the latter from the locals. "Bonjour," is not enough when greeting someone. It is necessary to add the appropriate honorific, i.e. "Bonjour, Madame." When entering a store or restaurant, if you say, Bonjour, Madame or Monsieur you will be treated much differently by the owner. Merci and s'il vous plait are also magical words -- also to be followed by Madame or Monsieur. We have had people walk us to our destination when they felt we had not understood their directions. Once, at the restaurant, A Souseyrac, the people at the table adjacent to us heard us talking in English about the dfference between foie gras and pate de foie gras and gave us a taste of each from their own order to help us make up our minds! The French have a love-hate relationship with the U.S., whose popular culture they embrace and revile at the same time. If you express admiration and curiosity about French culture (and why else would you be there?) you will be rewarded.

Is it possible that your mother used powdered sugar and/or cake flour in whole or part without noting it in the actual recipe?

At one time I was interested in cooking Chinese food at home and had success with Irene Kuo's The Key to Chinese Cooking. It, too, is old -- 1980 and may be out of print. The first section of the book breaks down techniques. The seond part contains many recipes, some of them unusual. Kuo talks about a technique she calls, "velveting," which describes a method of coating an ingredient like chicken with a mixture of egg white, cornstarch and oil, allowed to sit, refrigerated for half an hour and then either fried or poached before bein cooked in a recipe. This apparently, is a very common technique in Chinese cooking that seems to be sloughed over in most Chinese cookbooks. I eventually gave up the Chinese cooking because I couldn't bring my self to use the amount of salt required. In a restaurant, my attitude is, what I don't know won't hurt me. I don't know if this book is still in print, but it may be worth your while to look for it used. The Sichuan Cookery book also sounds terrific. Good luck.

The way I do it is to separate the florets and slice them vertically about 1/3" thick.

Not that far-fateched. There is a sweet Swiss chard tart that is a Provencal dessert.

Comedian Alan King's autobiography was titled something like, Is Salami and Eggs Better Than Sex?

I had this dish at Guy Savoy in 1985 and remember thinking at the time that it was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth. I wonder if it is still on the menu?

I think it also helps if you stir the eggs in with a fork.

Has anyone else been here? It's fairly new, located in Woodside, a heavily industrial section of Queens. The restaurant is located in the store/warehouse for the owners' first business -- importing Italian food. Starters: Spanking fresh, grilled sardines for Alan. Prosciutto wwith figs for me. Usually this is served with fresh figs, but in the middle of winter, it came with semi-preserved figs, a little sweeter than fresh would have been, but still with some juice in them. Main: for Alan, black linguine with shellfish, for me, grilled pork chops, served with a veal reduction, light in texture, intense in flavor, accompanied by a risotto-like orzo preparation with lots of finely chopped vegetables mixed in. Wine: we each had a glass of a Sardinian white wine that was similar to, but not, pinot grigio, light, lemony and herbaceous. The waiter told us that the owners regularly travel to Italy to select wines from small producers. Dessert: a flourless chocolate cake with dollops of caramel and raspberry sauces. I rarely order chocolate desserts, finding them too heavy after a meal. I prefer something refreshing, generally. But, years ago, I cut out a recipe, long since lost, for "Chocolate Cake Ischia" and wondered, given the name of the restaurant, if this were similar. The cake was deeply chocolatey, but light, rather than fudgy. Delicious. ๧, before tip. The restaurant has a couple of gimmicks: a popular tableside preparation involves a scooped-out wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano -- a cheese "bowl." Additional cheese is scraped from the interior and mixed with pasta and other ingredients right in the cheese bowl. My guess is that it is similar to pasta d'Alfredo. In between customers, the cheese rests under, yes, cheesecloth on a rolling cart off to the side. The other gimmick is live music. Thursday, the night we were there is opera night. Four very good singers, accompanied by a pianist, sang from 7 to 11. I hasten to add we were not there for the duration. Usually, in places like this, I would say that the quality of the food is inversely proportional to the quality of the music, but here both were good. The food was actually very good and we are eager to return. (Edited by Sandra Levine at 8:19 pm on Feb. 6, 2002)

On the other hand, a shank, with the bone and all, looks unmistakably as if it came from an animal. Maybe a less identifiable cut would be an easier way to start. Chicken or pork cutlets, for example.

We've enjoyed Coppola Rosso, (Calif.) widely available for about บ bottle. It's also a mix of grapes, very consistent, good with Italian food.

Reisling, of course.