jdtofbna

Hmmmm....I suspect you may have hit the nail on the head and this is probably why I never choose Italian when dining in London. Perhaps I need to rethink my plan and just concentrate on taking my "young victim" out for a delicious meal. More food for thought.

Personally, I want something more towards fine dining, as I only have 2 nights in London before I head down to Cornwall, and I want to make the most of it. Good point, though, about my young friend's perception of Italian being perhaps more pasta-oriented. I'm not a big pasta eater myself.....What a dilemma!

Yeah, had lunch at the Spaghetti House in Covent Garden last year...the choice of my kind hosts, not me! That's why I've turned to y'all for some recommendations and advice and you've given me some good ones---thanks. Jana

Those both look like great suggestions--thanks! I had forgotten that Fifteen includes the Trattoria. You're right, Jamie's hugely popular here, I watch him on the Food Network all the time.

I will be making my annual visit to England next month and plan to take a friend to dinner in London. He's a neighbor's son who will be spending the semester studying in London, and he loves Italian food. Now, you probably realize that a young man who grew up in Nashville, Tennessee with parents from New Jersey may have a different idea of what makes a good Italian meal from the average British foodie. So, my question is, what would be your recommendation for a good central London Italian restaurant that would have an interesting menu but also offer dishes he might recognize? A friend of mine has recommended Latium.

I'm sorry I don't have any photos to post, but this is a beautiful, delicious summer soup. STRAWBERRY WATERMELON GAZPACHO Serves: 8 1/4 of a large watermelon 2 cups strawberries 4 limes juiced 1/8 of a large watermelon 1 medium vidalia onion 1 cucumber 1/2 yellow bell pepper 1/2 green pepper 1 bunch cilantro 8 slices pickled jalapenos, or more Pinch of sugar or to taste Pinch of salt Puree 1/4 watermelon in blender or food processor, add berries and process. Chop or thinly slice onion. Peel, seed and chop cucumber. Chop bell peppers and jalapenos. Chop 1/8 watermelon. Chop cilantro. Combine all ingredients in large bowl, adjust seasoning and chill thoroughly.

I agree, and I use a gas grill. I took a marinated beef tenderloin to a friend's for dinner Tuesday night and he cooked it on his charcoal grill with me supervising so he wouldn't overcook it and it was definitely better than anytime I've cooked it on my gas grill. I also agree that a gas grill is way more convenient and still imparts a nice grill flavor. If my only choice was charcoal, I'd hardly ever grill out. But, I know that's not the subject here. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share of the gorgeous tenderloin we did, but I will tell you that I marinated it in Marsala, olive oil, shallots, tarragon, parsley and lemon thyme and seasoned it well with salt and black pepper when we put it on the grill. Only had time to marinate it a couple of hours, but 4-6 is better and people swoon over this. I like to get the grill really hot and sear the meat on all sides, then lower the temp to medium low and cook the meat to an internal temperature of 120 or 125 at its thickest part. This way, some of it is fabulously rare while some is medium rare for the faint of heart. Let it rest at least 20 mintues before slicing. The great thing about this is it doesn't matter if it's served hot, it's just as delicious at room temp.

Yes, the sugar draws the juice out of the dill pickles and creates a syrup.

I make 2 versions of these "Cheat Pickles." For one version you drain a gallon of dill pickles, cut them into chunks, put them back in the jar with 5 lbs sugar, a bottle of Tabasco and lots of sliced garlic. Let them stand 24 hours, then refrigerate. The other version, which we refer to as "Christmas Pickles," uses a gallon of dills, 5 lb sugar, 1/2 bottle Tabasco, 3 tsp whole allspice, 2 tsp whole cloves, 1 cup chopped fresh ginger, zest of 2 oranges, 2 Tbsp pickling spice and 4 cinnamon sticks. They're pretty darn tasty.

Too true about there being plenty of good food to take home, but restrictions certainly put a damper on that. Here's a site I refer to: http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/ph....php?p_faqid=82

Kendal Mint cake, Lloyd Grossman's Caramelised Onion and Rosemary Chutney (do they still make that?) definitely cheeses from Neal's Yard or Borough Market, but I think soft cheeses are prohibited, clotted cream fudge if you get to Cornwall or Devon.

Friends are visiting from England and we had dinner on my deck (Nashville, TN) Saturday night: grilled salmon (marinated briefly in lime juice, olive oil and lots of garlic;) grilled veggies (zuke, cremini shrooms, red bell pepper, vidalia onion marinated in balsamic, olive oil and fresh herbs;) roasted fingerling potatoes (ok, maybe more winterish but, dang, they're good!) and an apple and fennel salad with lime/mint dressing. Lots of NZ Sauvignon Blanc to wash it all down. yum.

Ditto that. I used the Fine Cooking recipe to make a tart over the weekend and it was absolutely the best---and easiest---lemon curd I've ever made. I did go ahead at the end and beat it in a bowl over ice to cool it down. No straining, just the right balance of tart and sweet---perfect!

I bought a delicious "Healthy Breakfast Bread" from The Bread Lady in Elberta, Alabama when I was in Perdido Key over the weekend. The ingredients are: whole wheat flour, unbleached bread flour, water, skim milk, honey, dried cranberries, dried apples, walnuts, soybean oil, oatmeal, milled flaxseed, salt, cinnamon, yeast. Delicious, not too sweet, with a nice, tight crumb. Any ideas about a recipe for this? I've googled until I'm blue in the face (finger?)

I love to use fig vinegar on a pear, arugula and blue cheese salad.

I made mincemeat pie (ok, doctored-up Borden's in a box, but very tasty with a lovely lattice crust,) pumpkin pie (from a recipe I've had loads of success with but this time it got a big bubble in the middle that turned dark brown ,) and, my piece de resistance, pumpkin cheesecake with a topping made from cream cheese, conf sugar and minced crystallized ginger. Crust of pecans, butter, brown sugar and gingersnaps. Truly deelish, if I do say so myself !

Here in the South, boiled custard is king during the holidays. I always strain the eggs before adding them and that helps eliminate any weird eggy bits.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, particularly Selaks or Isabel. Fabulous summer quaffing. I'm kind of off them now that it's prime red wine weather, though....but I sure drank my share of them during the blasting hot summer we just experienced.

I did this potato and fennel gratin several years ago and plan to do it again this year. It makes a delicious side but could also be a veg main if you use vegetable stock instead of chicken. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102499

We usually start gathering around 1:00 with plans to have the big meal around 3:00. I offer bloody mary's, sparkling Shiraz, other wine and beer, and usually put out nuts (Marcona almonds preferably), crudites and a smoked trout spread with crostini---all served with football in the background, of course. But, I hasten to add, the tv goes off when the bird goes on the table!

I had fish tacos at Radius 10 here in Nashville last week that were fabulous. Made with grilled grouper, the menu listed the ingredients as red onion, fresh chili, watermelon, radish, avocado, tomato and cilantro lime crema on soft flour tortillas. The stuff dreams are made of!

hmmm...and then what?

Ok, I got carried away and, at the advice of my favorite wine merchant, I bought some smoked cheese and a hunk of Hugarian smoked pork loin to go with this juicy French Columbelle, to serve as snacks with 2 friends. That was all well and good, but now I'm left with big leftover hunks of smoked cheese and smoked pork loin---I mean, seriously smoked, like the meat was air-dried (still has the string attached.) I'm having some friends over Friday evening and would like to incorporate the dried smoked meat into some sort of hors d'oeuvres, but not being a big meat eater, I'm sort of clueless. Unless sliced very thinly, the meat is quite tough, but sliced thinly and allowed to come to room temp, it has a great flavor. Any suggestions????

I think this has been mentioned in another post some time back, but Sweet Corn Ice Cream http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102304 is delicious! It requires using the corn, too, though, so probably not much help for using up the cobs on their own.

Wow, haven't thought of that in years! My mom used to flush spoiled food back before we had a disposal. Kinda gross, but I'm not sure what a better solution would have been. By the way, I should say RE:my freezer trash, that I don't have anywhere to have a compost and it's usually not enough to make stock.