Amuse Bouche

Another Glenmorangie fan here -- I think I prefer the sherry wood to the port wood after tasting them side by side, but the 10 will do in a pinch. Like Balvenie as well. I'm the daughter of a dedicated Macallan drinker, and when I say dedicated, I mean DEDICATED. We also have a bottle of Mortlach, another very hard to find malt, that is Gordon & MacPhail bottled -- picked it up in Scotland last year. And Dalmore is a quite nice affordable single malt for daily sipping.

Slice very thinly (like potato chips), dip in a batter of seltzer and flour, and fry, then serve with a garlic yogurt dipping sauce.

When I travel (and I assume it's the same for most people on this board), I tend to search out authentic local food. If in Scotland, I want to eat the best Scottish food I can find -- local ingredients, local preparations. I'm not about to travel 5000 miles to eat cut rate New York deli food! However, despite the fact that the owner of the Anderson (you) is not a local, native Scot, you are in fact (gasp) an American, you did not go to Scotland to open a cut rate Philly Cheese Steak stand. You (thank you) are serving excellent local produce and local preparations. That's all I meant!

I dug the review too. I think he has a gift for capturing the flavor of a restaurant -- not just the food, but the dining experience, which is what he is reviewing. The section is not called food and wine; it is called Dining and Wine. There's a reason for that. I don't think you can really understand the ethos of Babbo without having some inkling of Batali, and the image of the orange sneakers really draws that well. Batali is an iconoclast at heart -- he's not trying for the haute experience. And I think the review of Babbo gave us a glimpse of that. In a way, it seems Megu is the opposite. And the descriptive details give me a glimpse into the dining experience at Megu, but also into the food. And the tools to weigh whether the merits of the food are enough to outweigh the attractions and detractions of the dining experience. I think I'm developing a little crush on Frank Bruni. The Roe not taken! Bwah!

41. Given that I'm at the beginning of my collecting years and I live in a small apartment, not bad!

I just wanted to bump this all to thank you for your invaluable help. Last weekend I baked a wedding cake for a dear friend, and was helped by the numerous questions I posted on this forum. It was an orange buttermilk cake with orange buttercream filling and chocolate ganache icing, decorated with royal icing and chocolate plastic. It made it from my apartment to the reception site intact, firmly anchored by bamboo skewers (thanks for the tip, chefpeon). I just wanted to post a picture of the finished product. The wedding colors were pink and brown, and the ceremony took place under the Brooklyn Bridge, which was supposed to be suggested by the cake: I also got a lot of compliments from people saying it was the best wedding cake they had had. And asking if I did cakes for a living (I don't. I'm about as amateur as they come.) I also wanted to picture the cake I baked for my own wedding, over a year ago.

When we were staying (near, not in) Inverness, we had a great meal on the Black Isle in Fortrose -- there's only one major inn in Fortrose, which is a tiny town, and it's owned by an American, but we had a delicious meal -- I remember venison with blackberries? I think it was called the Royal Hotel, but looking it up on the web it's now the Anderson. www.fortrosehotel.co.uk Not the Plough Inn, the other one. I'm trying to figure out where we ate on Skye -- I think we had one meal in the bar of the Eilean Iarmain hotel which was OK, but not great, and one meal in our hotel, Viewfield House, which was lovely, but they only serve to guests I believe. I know another hotel on Skye is owned by Lady Claire Macdonald -- Kinloch Lodge, and she has several cookbooks out -- the food is supposed to be quite good. In Edinburgh, we enjoyed Stac Polly a great deal, but we focused on what I believe is their strength -- game dishes. I think we had duck and venison. We went to the location on Dublin Street. The Witchery, which is mentioned in the other thread, is expensive, but the atmosphere is lovely and they have a light lunch for L10 for two courses, which is a nice thing to do. Taste of Scotland is a great resource.

Doesn't a dome have more to do with mixing method than recipe? I made three tiers of a wedding cake this weekend, and I mixed some of the layers separately. I used the same recipe for all three tiers, and some domed and some didn't. (It didn't really matter because I leveled all of them and then ate the leavings!) but the only thing that might have really changed was the variation in mixing times and how much I creamed the butter/sugar mixture.

Nigella's Recipe: 4 organic lemons 4 eggs 4 egg yolks 300 g sugar 200 g unsalted butter (Sorry for the metric for you USers, I have the UK version of the cookbook) Zest and juice the lemons. Beat the eggs, yolks and sugar together until the sugar's dissolved. Add butter, lemon juice and zest and heat gently over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and grows smooth. I don't have a chance to test this weekend, but the recipe's there for anyone else's testing pleasure. While I'm at it, Cranberry Curd 5 c. or 1 lb cranberries 1 c. + 2 T water 7 T unsalted butter 1 2/3 c. sugar 6 large eggs Heat cranberries and water in a covered saucepan over low heat until tender and the cranberries have popped. Pass through a food mill (or push through a sieve) and put puree back in the saucepan. Add butter and sugar, melting them gently. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add to the saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Passionfruit curd 11 passionfruit 2 large eggs 2 large egg yolks 1/2 c. sugar 7 T unsalted butter PUt seeded pulp of 10 of passionfruit into a food processor and pulse just to loosen the seeds. Strain into a bowl. Beat together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan, and when melted stir in sugar egg mixture and the passionfruit juice, and keep cooking gently, stirring constantly, until thickened. Off the heat, whisk in the pulp, seeds and all, of the remaining passionfruit. Let cool.

It wasn't lumpy -- it just wouldn't come together. It was like a shortcrust pastry, that would break when I tried to knead it. I looked at some other recipes, and they called for almost a 1/4 c. of corn syrup for the same amount of chocolate. I threw it in the (mini) cuisinart and added some extra corn syrup. That seemed to do the trick, and it's now much more of the texture I expected.

So after reading a bit on these boards and elsewhere, I decided to attempt to make my own chocolate plastic, using 7 oz. white chocolate and 1 1/2 Tb corn syrup. I've let it rest and tried to knead it, but it's just staying crumbly. How do I fix it? Just more kneading? Start again with a new batch and add more corn syrup? Any suggestions?

I recently bought a bottle of Douce de Provence, which is like a pear version of Grand Marnier. It has the similar cognac notes as Grand Marnier, but is richer and sweeter than Poire William. I personally prefer Grand Marnier (maybe I was spoiled by the bottle of 150 Anniversary I bought in Italy for a song) but I've had lots of people I've given it to say they like the pear stuff better. I've made my own quince brandy, which is ridiculously easy -- cut up some quinces and put them in a jar with brandy and some spices -- a very small amount of star anise and a cinnamon stick. The flavor is quite unusual, and it looks beautiful in the jar.

Well, there's always the good old G&T. And a margarita. Those are classics. In the fizzy but light category, I seem to quaff an inordinate amount of vinho verde in the summertime, and (don't hate me) white zinfandel (very cold, it's a refreshing aperitif. Not unlike a kir) I tend to favor rum based drinks more in the summer than I do in the winter (with the exception of hot buttered rum, of course.) This would include the usual suspects -- mojitos, rum and tonics, but I have two favorites. The first is a Bermuda Rum Swizzle. We drank a lot of these when visiting Bermuda last year. They're reminiscent of a Mai Tai but not quite as sweet. We make them at home with this recipe: BERMUDA RUM SWIZZLE 2 limes 5 oz. orange juice 5 oz. pineapple juice 1 oz. grenadine 4 oz. dark rum 4 oz. light rum 6 dashes Angostura bitters Squeeze lime juice into pitcher. Fill pitcher with shaved ice, add remaining ingredients, and swizzle until a frost appears on the outside of the pitcher. Pour into 4 12 ounce collins glasses. Garnish with an orange slice, a lime slice, and a swizzle stick. I've heard that for authenticity, they should be made with falernum instead of grenadine, but I haven't tried it. The other is my grandfather's recipe for a navy grog. The proportions are to taste rather than exact, but they involve equal parts light and dark rum, grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, and a float of pernod on the top. Even people who don't like the liquorice should try the Pernod -- it adds depth to the drink without any overt liquorice notes. Last time I made these I used ouzo instead of pernod, and it worked very well.

On the professional dress discussion, Jones Day, being notoriously behind the times on everything, never switched over from business dress either. Cravath doesn't have casual summers though, and Jones Day does. My other half is an agent, and they make at least the flunkies in the agency wear suit and tie every day. As he's risen through the ranks, he has been able to take more liberties with his dress

I can't believe nobody has mentioned zucchini/squash blossoms! Dip in a batter made of seltzer water and flour, deep fry and salt liberally. Crispy and delicate with an amazing zucchini flavor. I planted zucchini seeds this year just to get my hands on the blossoms! Also Mounds or Almond joy served with pineapple (maybe battered and fried as well?)

It's a nice additional flavor to a lot of provencal dishes, like a traditional fish soup or a bouillabaise. I have a great recipe for a chicken stew, too, which calls for orange zest. It pairs very well with fennel. Also, it's nice to cure some green olives with orange peel and herbes de provence.

I really like Nigella Lawson's recipe for Lemon curd from How to Eat. It has a nice tart finish that really appeals to me. Most commercial lemon curd is too sweet and buttery. She also has a recipe for Passion Fruit Curd and Cranberry Curd in How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Her recipes are geared more towards the home cook than the professional, and I haven't tried these particular ones, but I'd be happy to post the recipes this weekend if anyone's interested in giving them a shot.

One of my favorites! I made a homemade pumpkin chutney last fall -- it was fabulous on roast meats! And somewhere around here I have a recipe for a pear and cranberry chutney. Once you get the basic idea (fruit and/or vegetables, sugar, spices and vinegar) you can make infinite variations.

When most people say "pizza" they think of crispy chewy crusts, topped with an old fashioned tomato sauce and gooey mozzarella cheese. Me? I think potatoes, and peanut sauce, and pineapple. Yes, that's right. I share a residence with that temple of fusion cuisine -- the California Pizza Kitchen. It goes where no chef has gone before. It is, in fact, the Olympics of Pizza places, with toppings so varied, so international in scope, and so surprising as to satisfy even the most jaded of palates. Take the Sante Fe Chicken Pizza. A southwestern explosion of flavors, it includes grilled chicken breast marinated in lime and herbs, caramelized onions, Mozzarella cheese and cilantro. Topped with fresh tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole, this pizza shares only the crust with a traditional pie. Feel like something a little more Asian? Try the Peking Duck Pizza. With peking duck, Mozzarella cheese, soy-glazed Shiitake mushrooms, crispy wontons, slivered green onions and a ginger Hoisin sauce, who needs to order Chinese? And if you're actually in the mood for Italian, you still won't be confined to those old, boring pizzas. You can order the Rosemary Chicken Potato Pizza -- the flavors of Italy on a pizza crust. Don't feel like pizza? You can get your tastebuds tickled by California Pizza Kitchen's multiple menu options -- try the Kung Pao spaghetti or the BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad. The flavors may be familiar, but the presentations most definitely are not. The next time one of your family members wants Thai food, and another wants soul food, you might just try the California Pizza Kitchen -- where everyone can find what they want.

The Tavern Room at Gramercy Tavern is IMO one of the best values in NYC. As is Babbo.

Thanks everyone. The cake isn't going to be huge -- a 6" tier, a 9" tier and a 12" tier. I think I'm going to make a demo 6" this weekend and try freezing it -- see what happens. I'll also take a pastry bag full of ganache and a small spatula for repair work if necessary!

I'm making a wedding cake for a friend that will be coated in chocolate ganache. Ganache is more fragile in terms of decor than the fondant I usually use, but it's also not subject to the same problems with condensation that fondant is. I've frozen ganache before it's poured -- can I freeze the individual tiers of a ganache covered cake for transporting? Also, I was thinking of transporting the cake (about 4 miles away) before assembling the tiers, then assembling at the reception site. Is this a good idea? Bad idea? Any tips on transporting and assembling the ganache cake without marring the finish would be greatly appreciated. And since this is about food, in case you were curious, the bride has eventually decided on an orange cake with orange buttercream filling coated in chocolate ganache.

I'm making a wedding cake and I love using liqueur to flavor syrup brushed on. However, it's a white cake, so dark liqueurs don't look fantastic. I know there's triple sec and cointreau, kirsch and it's related fruit cousins, white creme de cacao. Any other suggestions? Is there a clear coffee flavored liqueur?

mkfradin -- what's the difference in your white cake recipe that results from the change in technique? I ask because I'm a fan of Dede Wilson and I actually made her white cake last night as a test run for a wedding cake I'm baking.

I vaguely remember an article in Wine & Spirits magazine (or some such title -- I read it at a friends' house) that discussed good bars in the City (Dale De Groff disciples, usually). It included the Flatiron Lounge, Bemelmans Bar & Milk & Honey. I have been to Flatiron, and it's very good. Interesting mixes but also classic cocktails. Another recommendation I would throw in is the Temple Bar on Lafayette. They make Manhattans with rye -- the best Manhattan I've had in Manhattan, and the popcorn is excellent.