Behemoth

could the picture be too big? I've done fine just using water to seal. The one thing is to make sure you squeeze the air bubbles out otherwise they poof out and potentially explode. For some reason freezing them before steaming also seems to do the trick. Maybe because the filling doesn't start streaming until the wrapper is already mostly cooked & therefore more resilient? To be honest I never actually thought about it before this: usually I freeze my wontons and I'd never had a problem, then once I tried steaming them fresh and they poofed out and nearly exploded, after which I learned to press the air bubbles out.

What allows a candy to qualify as kosher for passover? (sorry, my grandparents were so reform they practically took us to egg hunts. My mom actually took us to egg hunts )

I like the tadpoles. Are those done with a squeeze bottle, or a spoon?

This sounds more like it. It's at the end of April so some people might be getting the mojito-caipirinha bug. How would you make this? You could use creme de cassis instead of the cherry puree -- it might end up cheaper and a little less work. That would make it very similar to a cocktail I saw in one of my books called "el diablo". (cracked ice cubes, lime peel, and then lime juice, white tequila, creme de cassis 1:3:1) Looking through my books now, I keep coming across tons of pink drinks. Might be worth a half hour at your local borders. Oh, they also have one called "wild night out" that is white tequila, cranberry juice, lime juice and club soda. Very light girly pink I bet that would be fine with white rum also. There's also a planters punch with grenadine....

As far as I've experienced it, in Lebanon it would refer to a several hour long semi-meal of lots of little dishes that you would snack on with arak (or wine). Like tapas. And usually something you'd need to drive to a restaurant in a christian area to get, as my more enthusiastically muslim relatives weren't so keen on the whole drinking culture, tradition (quite literally ) be damned. We'd start somewhere around 11am and go on till around 4pm, or else it would start in the evening and go on into the night. Someone would inevitably bring along an oud... We had other meals of little dishes to go with afternoon tea for example, or little side dishes with dinner, but I don't remember anyone ever referring to them as mezza.

How about something like white rum with a little pomegranate juice? (not that I've tried it or anything...) Personally I would do pomegranate juice with prosecco. Or a little campari in prosecco.

I was out of town for a while...spring break is almost over Yesterday was the most random assortment of foods. Baked two ciabattas. Made Pierre Hermes chocolate mouse. Made corn chowder which we had for early dinner. Then we had a can of tuna in olive oil with lemon & garlic, with pita bread and a glass of sauvignon blanc while watching john stewart. Today I'm making pizza, and I am defrosting some ribs for tomorrow, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

I don't see why that wouldn't work, I should try it. I have no idea what the cutoff point is for yogurt -- it never lasts that long. I guess it just gets too sour or something, I've never actually seen it turn green.

I would add that there is probably no definitive version of ayran. The Lebanese versions I grew up with were pretty sour/salty, the turkish versions I've had in Germany were sour but less salty and the stuff I had in Iraq was made from goats milk and had a flavor that was sort of smoky and salty, but not very sour. All had their charm. I don't know if anyone else does this, but if you buy a tub of organic yogurt and keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks, it gets good and sour. (Not past its date, but about a week short.) That's what I've been doing lately, lacking enough time & energy to make my own. It's usually much too mild for me when I first buy it. My ayran is just salt, yogurt and ice cubes in the blender on a hot summer day. Best eaten with a lahmajun/sfiha/lamb "pizza"

I'mjust trying to imagine what happens to thousand island dressing when you bake it. Yikes.

chefzadi, I have always wondered where Algeria got its name -- in arabic Al-Jazair = the islands but as far as I can tell, looking at a map, it seems to be pretty solidly island-free.

Volpi is a good brand...you can tell your friends it is carried by Schnuck's supermarket, a St. Louis chain that has branches in Central IL, where I'm at. (Though my first choice: my Italian guy in Urbana carries Batali's dad's stuff, which is amazing. ) But Volpi is quite good. Schnucks has it both pre-sliced in packages, and whole, behind the deli.

Do you have a branch of Bagelman's near you? My NY Jewish grandparents might disown me for this, but here in Central Illlinois, Bagelman's actually gets their version far closer to the old-fashioned small-dense-chewy-with-crackly-crust genuine article than most places in the Northeast. Shocked and very pleasantly awed, I was.

No fans of Ron's Ribs in the house?

Ben, if you go back a few pages you will see that my first attempt at ciabatta was very similar to yours. Seth gave me some good advice and linked a Q&A with Reinhardt. I've made it once a week since then with excellent (and consistent) results (I've put a few photos up here and in the dinner thread)...I would bet anything you are overkneading, which was my first mistake. You barely knead ciabatta at all -- you just mix it enough to incorporate the dry and liquid ingredients then dump it on the counter. Oh, and I find it takes more water than he says -- the initial amount, plus I keep putting water on my hand as I mix the ingredients, so maybe almost half again the amount of water. (Maybe this is just because it is winter?) Anyway, It should be really wet and sticky, so that you need a good deal of flour on the counter to keep from making a huge mess. The turning method merely involves pulling the dough lengthwise and then folding the ends over in thirds, just like a business letter. No kneading at all. I do this twice on the counter, then once as I set the dough in the couche. (the last turn seems to prevent the crust from getting pushed up off the bread. ) Good luck!

We are not alone: Garbanzo beans: what are your favorite dishes

I like whiskey.

I have a few pints of homemade chicken stock that I defrosted a couple of days ago. Now it looks like I have to leave town for 5 days, and I would like to refreeze it so it doesn't go bad. (I was planning to boil it first.) Can I do that? Or do I need to figure out how to use it all up tonight?

What is interesting about this is that eating on the street is definitely not an arab practice. It would be considered pretty rude to eat on the street, out of respect for people who might be fasting or cannot afford to buy the same food. Typically you buy stuff from street vendors, but then you take it inside (school, work, home) to eat it, sitting down. When my dad and friends of that generation first come to the US, that is typically the first thing they notice about Americans. (My favorite quote: "all walking around with cups, like babies with bottles!") From my experience in Europe, people will buy street food but will eat it at a stand or bench near the takeout place, not walk around with it. Since my experience is mainly in Hamburg, it could also be that they don't want to risk spilling anything on their pristinely chic outfits

Coincidentally, I took some leftover short ribs & gravy out of the freezer and, with the addition of some blanched carrots and a quick pastry dough, made a beef pot pie. Yum. We also had a salad: cress, goat cheese and avocado with lemon, olive oil and cracked pepper dressing. (Got home a little earlier today )

I've never been disappointed by Dmitri's in Queen Village. The trick (with your companions' permission) is to order all appetizers for the table, mezze style, and maybe one or two main dishes to share. Saturday might be a bit of a wait, but that's what the New Wave Cafe is for

At most indian places I've been to you can get "salty" lassies, which are a lot like Ayran. I always get a double-take from the people at the indian place, since they are not used to non-indians ordering that version.

Most Germans, especially those of MTV-watching age, speak fairly fluent English. I am guessing the fact that it is in English is part of the charm for them.

Elie, now you've got me craving the damned things...My friends and I used to buy a cheese man'oush almost every day on our walk to school. Best breakfast ever. What kind of cheese do you use? I, too, like the fluffier version of zaatar man'oosh. My dad always used to buy us the dried-out crispy kind on our way to Beirut, never my favorite. (Though as a good daughter I never told him that ) We are still planning to go this June. (Could it really get any worse than the war was?) I am looking forward to introducing A. to the many wonders of Lebanese street food.

We had a grazing dinner yesterday. Started with marinated roasted sworfish with avocados, scallions, radishes wrapped in perilla leaves. Later on we had some of the dumplings frozen from last week, pan fried then steamed for spouse, in mandu guk (Korean-style soup) for me. All with the rest of the viognier. Then we had our favorite grappa, with the Simpsons. I have no idea what to make tonight, I am sort of in the mood for chicken or a hamburger (I am so suggestible!) but I really shouldn't be cooking. I have way too much work.