BrooksNYC

The reviews on that Breville oven are really excellent. Bookmarked for future reference, and thanks, gfweb. Counter space here in Pixie Kitchen is at a premium. I could plunk the Breville on top of the Royal Rose, but will probably wait for my loyal toaster oven (30 years old and still firing) to give up the ghost. Paul, what's cookin' at 140°? Oven roux? Dried fruit? Didn't know that convection ovens were more stable. Thanks for the tip. Am pretty sure that even with a new oven thermometer, I'll have to hover near the stove to monitor the temperature. Erratic behavior seems to be in the cards for a 65-year-old stove. Not that I'm pointing the finger. I'm kinda flighty myself.

Thanks for your input, everyone. All great ideas. Sounds like either a baking or a meat-probe thermometer will do the trick. And I've wanted a baking stone for years! Appreciate the nudge. Again, many thanks for your help.

Is there such thing as an oven thermometer that lets the cook monitor the oven temperature from outside the oven, i.e. without opening the oven door? My Manhattan rental has a tiny 1940s Royal Rose oven, "tiny" being another word for "Barbie scale". The thermostat, last I checked, is off by about 80 degrees, and the oven itself is so small that its interior walls don't retain heat well — there's just not enough surface area. The temperature plummets the instant you open the oven door, and then it's another 10 minutes for the temperature to build again. The compartment in the upper left-hand corner, barely wider than a ferret's hips, is the oven. Beneath it, a lilliputian broiler. The rest of the stove is storage for pots and pans. I have an ordinary oven thermometer inside the oven, but checking the thermometer means opening and closing the oven door and losing heat. I've seen meat probes that connect to a temperature display via a long wire, so that the temperature display sits on top of the stove while the meat is cooking. Would this work as an oven thermometer if I just draped the meat probe over an oven rack? I welcome any and all suggestions. Thanks. . .

NOLA cooking instructor Poppy Tooker is another fan of the "onions first" method. According to Ms. Tooker, the caramelizing of the onions helps the roux attain the proper shade of dark brown. Only after the roux is dark brown does she adds the peppers and celery. Apparently the high water content of these vegetables prevents the roux from browning further. Somewhere on YouTube, there's a video of Ms. Tooker making roux. She adds the onions to the roux when it's the color of milk chocolate, at which point the roux darkens -- pretty quickly -- to the color of bittersweet chocolate. Then in go the other vegetables. I've never tried this, Katie. Report back if you give it a shot. Happy Thanksgiving!

It occurs to me that a proofing box would be invaluable for making salt-rising bread. The bread relies on a temperamental milk-and-cornmeal starter (no yeast), and the rising dough needs to be kept at at steady 90-110 degrees for up to sixteen hours before baking. Maintaining the proper warmth has always been one of the trickier aspects of making this delicious old-fashioned bread.

Very helpful, Pierogi. For someone like me who loves reading cookbooks but is not, in all honesty, an experienced cook, it sounds like Louisiana Kitchen might be a better way to learn the ropes. So.....Chef Paul it is! Again, thanks.

Pierogi, do you like the Besh book? I enjoyed the sample pages I read on Amazon, and the book looks beautiful.

Right you are. It was the River Road Cookbook. Now in four volumes......wow! And thanks for the Community Cookbook Awards link. Just downloaded their list of winners. Thanks kindly for your help. .

It makes such good sense. Somehow, I'd never seen this tip (or maybe I had, and it didn't sink in) until I stumbled across a YouTube vid of Ms. Tooker doing a roux. Community cookbooks are great. Someone should do a thread on community and Junior League cookbooks. A hundred years ago (well....the 1970s) I had a couple of spiral-bound Louisiana community cookbooks — one from Baton Rouge (with a name I've forgotten) and the other called Jambalaya.

Great stuff, all. Thanks. While we're on the subject, Poppy Tooker has an interesting tip for making dark roux that I never see in a gumbo recipes. She makes a peanut-butter-colored roux and adds the trinity in stages, beginning with onions only. As the onions caramelize, the roux continues to darken. Only after. the roux reaches the desired shade of darkness does she add the celery and green pepper. She argues that adding the trinity in one swell foop releases too much liquid for the onions to caramelize, and that caramelized onions add depth of flavor. .

Thanks so much, everyone. Will definitely try grapeseed oil some day when I'm not counting every sad penny. For now, peanut it is. Alex, thanks for the link to the smoke point chart. There are some interesting follow-up comments as well. Much obliged to all!

Most gumbo recipes start with a roux made with flour and "vegetable oil". Given that the kind of vegetable oil is never specified, is it safe to assume that any oil (corn, peanut, canola, safflower, etc.) will do? Am guessing olive oil won't work, as it has too low a burning point. This will be my first whack at gumbo, so any input would be appreciated. Thanks. . .

Oh, Paul....the photo of your family's grocery store really touches my heart, and thank you for posting it. It reminds me of so many little grocery stores in the New Orleans of my childhood — many of them Italian; most of them gone. I live in Manhattan now. Over the years, I've watched big business and extortionary rents crush mom-and-pop store one store at a time. Saddens me to the core.

The Mirro sounds great, and there are slews of them available on eBay. Thanks.

Some see flocks of dead birds falling from the sky as evidence that These Be The End Times. Not me. It's the longevity of this demented cupcake craze (everywhere.....even Manhattan ) that tells me our days are numbered. It recently occurred to me that cupcakes, like cockroaches, may well survive global warming, nuclear winter, and deadly meteor strikes.

Lemme just say fuh da record: Artisanal bread is, in my opinion, one of the greatest things ever to happen to this island. Ain't knockin' dem artisans! I just need a fluffy old-fashioned loaf for a fluffy old-fashioned recipe. I should have remembered DiPalo's, and thanks for the prod. It didn't pop to mind because the last time I bought Italian bread, it was readily available everywhere. It vanished from my neighborhood supermarkets years ago, and places like Zabar's are doing that artisanal thang. Even better without sesame seeds. Excellent! Thanks so much, Mitch.

(Please forgive the double post if you've already read this on Chowhound.) I'd appreciate your help in tracking down old-fashioned NYC Italian bread. I'm about to make a New Orleans bread pudding, which calls for traditional New Orleans French bread. NOLA French bread is thin-crusted, and has a light, airy crumb. When I moved to NYC in 1970, I used to make this recipe with NYC Italian loaves. While not as light as New Orleans French, Italian bread was a credible stand-in. Most importantly, the crust (sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds) was neither too thick nor too chewy. Thick, chewy crusts or a chewy crumb make for a dense, heavy pudding. Do any Manhattan bakeries still sell old-fashioned Italian bread? It used to be everywhere, but I haven't seen it in ages. Crusty "artisan" breads are easy to find, but I'm searching for a lighter, humbler loaf. Thanks for the help.

I'll add my voice to the chorus: Infused absinthe isn't absinthe. A word from The Wormwood Society

I respectfully beg to differ! It's often pronounced that way, but "gourmet" shouldn't rhyme with "Torme." "Gour—" rhymes with "pure" and "lure." (So, for that matter, does "tour," often mispronounced "tore.") . A better rhyme for "gourmet" would be "puree." And I agree with Mr. Amirault. Time to eighty-six the word!

Not a streetcar. The #10 bus runs up Tchoupitoulas. The city has three streetcars: - The St. Charles Avenue line (Route 12) runs the length of St. Charles Avenue from Canal Street to Carrollton Avenue. - The Canal Street cars travel the length of Canal Street. (Route 47 ends at Carrollton Avenue and Route 48 goes all the way to City Park). NOTE: If Canal Street is still undergoing track repairs, buses will cover the routes. - The Riverfront Line (Route 2). Runs along the river between Esplanade Avenue and Thalia Street. Streetcars and buses are $1.25 — exact change. Route, schedule, and system maps from the N.O. Regional Transit Authority: http://www.norta.com/routes/index.php The reason to go to Napoleon House is atmosphere. It's old, old New Orleans, and if you go when it's not busy, it's a blissfully mellow antidote to French Quarter "woo-hoo!" bars. I like weekdays, mid-to-late afternoon after the lunch crowds have left. The Pimm's Cup is pleasant, but very light — more thirst-quencher than cocktail. The dress code at Commander's and Galatoire's is business casual. Galatoire's requires a jacket after 5:00 p.m. and all day Sunday. Commander's is a little looser, I think, but you may want to phone ahead to confirm. No shorts at either place. Nowadays, oysters are served year-round. That being said, I like Gulf oysters best during the winter months. They're plumper and more flavorful. Music listings: http://offbeat.com/listings/clubs.php

Bryanz, you might want to drop in on the Chowhound board as well (although locals aren't big contributors to that board either). If you're going to do Commander's, lunch, I think, beats dinner. I love Galatoire's, but be aware that the menu is a time-warp, and that's part of the experience. Order a drink and some souffle potatoes immediately so you have something to do while looking over the menu, then ask your waiter what's good that day. Saturnbar, did the Bistro at Maison de Ville reopen? It was closed for a while.

I have, and it's excellent. I believe DrinkUpNY carries it if you can't find it locally.

Appreciate the heads-up. Thanks!

Cheers, Bill. I've yet to try the French Pearl at home. Loved it at Pegu Club, though. It's a sophisticated cocktail. I guess you could substitute absinthe for Pernod. (Is Pernod sweeter?) Maybe one of you guys with a well-stocked bar can try both versions and report back.

French Pearl Pegu Club, NYC 1 sprig mint (10-12 leaves) 3/4 oz fresh lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup (1:1, uncooked) 1/4 oz Pernod 2 oz Plymouth Gin Add all liquids to the shaker, and gently but thoroughly muddle the leaves with the liquid. Add cracked ice, shake, and strain through fine-mesh sieve.