Behemoth

Yeah, there is some distance between 3 and 4 star -- access to ingredients and technique are one thing, but sheer invention is another. You can follow a Charlie Trotter recipe precisely, but he came up with it first, and that adds something to the experience as well.

Beer batter fried marlin strips, pico de gallo salsa, avocado slices, white corn tortilla and lime squeezed over. Fish tacos are God's way of telling us that, even though we usually act like total idiots, he still basically loves us.

It is pretty bleak, isn't it.

Thanks Marlene! Yes, I am also definitely leaning towards the salmon. The salad will have to wait until tomorrow, until I see what my supermarket has that looks good. Another possible is grilled endive with vinaigrette and sieved egg. I love love love love love the idea of a pear and rosemary granita. Not for this crowd, but definitely one to put in my little idea book. (edited for mucho typo)

Sorry Soba...not a fan either. But there is a branch of an Oregon chain named "Moonstruck Chocolate Co." near me. Is anyone familiar with it? They sell this dark chocolate espresso bean bar which is aabsolutely mazing. I am not an expert but I taste a lot of chocolate liquor in there. I don't buy truffles very often but they do a clear creek pear brandy one which is good. (Though I'd love to have more brandy in there...) Oh, and amen on the Ritter Sport bars.

A haiku of adoration, to my butcher: I asked for soup bones you gave me two hanger steaks and charged $.99 per lb Okay, for dinner we had the most amazing USDA prime porterhouse steaks I've ever had in my life. (Seared 3 minutes per side). And fingerling potatoes, boiled then fried with sea salt and lots and lots and lots of black pepper. And braised radiccio with prosciutto. And the rest of that great Chianti... But mainly it was about the steak. And the price on the soup bones was no mistake. (what was that old MFK fisher line about good steak and red wine turning your earlobes red and making you very affectionate?)

There's a stand in Hamburg where we get 'em topped with mayo, currywurt sauce (sort of a curry/ketchup hybrid) and carmelized onions. Sorta gross, sorta amazing. I can stand it about once a year, which is about as often as I get there.

In a sandwich with leftover lamb, mustard, thinly sliced red onion, v. sharp chedder. Nullo, arugula is quite peppery, think watercress. Oh, things you would do with watercress would probably work great -- japanese salad with sesame, in sandwiches with cream or goat cheese...

Is it OK to ask for some advice here, so I don't start a new thread? I am having a dinner party this Saturday night. I know how it goes from middle to end: Braised short ribs with turnips, or possibly fingerling potatoes, or both cheese plate (1 blue, one soft) with pear slices mousse au chocolat What I am not sure of is how to start the thing. OK, German crowd, some a little older, I'm guessing not too adventurous. I need 2 dishes: 1) I want to have one thing sitting out with apperatifs, and 2) a salad, soup or appetizer for when they first sit at the table. I don't want things to get too heavy, because the reast of the meal is a bit rich. For the starter, I was thinking smoked salmon on black bread with (very German) horseradish cream. Or possibly homemade potato chips with aioli. Or...? For the second thing, I thought fennel might be nice, possibly a shaved salad with orange slices and black olives. I don't know if I could find frisee but that could be another possibility. Or I was thinking of lightly grilling either endive or radiccio with some sort of goat cheese for a salad...or...a soup of some sort...? Since the other stuff can be made in advance I am quick with a knife I am fairly flexible about the amount of last-minute work involved.

I thought the whole point of making pancetta is that it would keep for a really long time in a reasonably cool place.

Lala, when we first moved to the midwest last year I got served my very first lasagne made with kraft cheese singles. Slight culture shock, to say the least...

Okay, this might sound revolting, but back in my "cooking for a vegan household" days, (don't ask) I made a pretty good version of lasagne with tofu -- crumble up soft tofu, then sautee it in olive oil with some chopped onion and a tbsp or so of miso to get that cheesy taste. Also works well on a pizza. I mean, if one eats dairy mozarella is king, obviously, but as a substitute it really wasn't that bad. The macrobiotics wanting to get rid of the tomato, now that's where I drew the line. Bolognese lasagne is a lot flatter than the american version. I personally love both, though they are somewhat different animals.

Homemade tagliatelle w/ bolognese meat sauce. Actually, most of it was already made...I'd refrigerated the sauce and dried the noodles yesterday. Outstanding Chianti to wash it down: Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Reserva 2000. I am sorely tempted to drain the bottle but I have some more work to do...maybe just a sip...

Could red cabbage count? Or a beet and watercress salad maybe?

I like to steam rather than boil them, that way they don't get waterlogged. (Especially turnips & rutabega.) I love celeriac and potatoes together. Buttermilk makes a great mashing liquid.

True that, my favorite shows are technique shows. I was able to make pasta, pie pastry, an omelette, etc successfully on the first try all from watching those types of shows. I picked up a lot of things from watching my mom cook, and these shows filled in the gaps on things she didn't make a lot of. I always come away with something useful when I watch Julia & Jacques. There should be a FoodTV 2 (like they did with MTV) for people who aren't complete novices in the kitchen. Most of those shows are really dumbed down. I guess by and large I prefer the PBS shows.

I like to make a salad dressing/sauce for fish/dip by blending sorrel, hass avocado, buttermilk and some scallions. I got this idea from Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, by Elizabeth Schneider. Everyone should own this book, for it is an awesome awesome book. I've also made quiche with sorrel. The sorrel loses its bright green color when cooked, but retains its tartness, which cuts beautifully through the richness of the cream and eggs. Why am I wasting so much time on eGullet this weekend???

This sounds like something Ready Made Magazine would have published at some point. Great resource, if you're not familiar with it.

Is that the one with the sort of pasta? I haven't had it in years. Isn't the pasta kind of like what people here call Israeli couscous? I didn't like whole chickpeas as a kid, so there are a lot of dishes I didn't start to appreciate until after we left the country. This thread is really becoming a nice resource for new recipes...

again with the peasant food: shanklish salad (stinky spicy yogurt cheese, chopped onion, chopped plum tomato & olive oil. homemade olives with hot peppers man'oush (pita dough topped with zaa'tar) eggs cooked in olive oil, in my lebanese clay frying pan, topped with yogurt, salt & black pepper.

I kind of like the codeine side effects...light a couple of candles and flow with it, man.

May we please be clear that rolling said stockings to just under the knee is NOT the look we're talking about here. (shudder)

I think the confusion is with the word "affluence". I took it to mean social affluence, ie the ready availability of calories, and the decreased need for hard physical labor. (Not that I think low-wage jobs aren't hard on the body, but they are a different kind of hard on the body. e.g. the difference between churning butter and standing at a cash register for 8 hours.) In any case, social affluence is not quite the same as individual "wealth".

How about picking things your mom really loves but doesn't get that often, and then maybe tweaking them a little? E.g., my dad loves gorgonzola, and blood oranges. When my parents visited us we had a dinner party for them and a few other people. Two of the dishes were belgian endive filled with a little blue cheese, and a savory salad of blood oranges and red onion, very thinly sliced on a plate topped with a good vinegar and olive oil dressing. My dad caught the references, so it was a nice inside "wink". Edit: also, my mom always sends me off with giant bags of herbs from her garden. So once when they were invited over for another dinner party, I incorporated herbs from her garden into each of the dishes. That was also pretty nice. I have a friend visiting soon with whom I always used to go out for jamaican food. We have both since moved from that city, so when he comes to visit next month I will be making jerk pork (hopefully weather will be BBQ friendly) & fried plantains. That kind of thing...

Well, generally when a bunch of people recommend something my mule instinct kicks in and tries to take off in the other direction. Spent 1.5 hours at stupid borders reading all the stupid books trying to find something else to use my 20% coupon on and this one won anyway. I'll try the bearnaise in the next week or so. It will be my first attempt but my heart is usually good so I'm optimistic. PS -- Why didn't you tell people pearl onions are easier to peel if you soak 'em in hot water first? That's just mean.