SobaAddict70

NYTimes Dining In/Dining Out Section Wednesday, 8 October 2003 The California Rice Bowl (Kay Rentschler) The Food's The Thing (Florence Fabricant) The Chef (Matt Lee and Ted Lee) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) The Complexity Debate (Frank J. Prial) No Irradiated Beef Coming Soon (Marian Burros) Sustainable Ranching (Jim Robbins) Lever House (William Grimes) Snack Taverna (Eric Asimov) Test Kitchen: Knives (Denise Landis) Bits and Pieces (Florence Fabricant) Fresh Baked Pies at Rose Orchards (Faith Middleton) Letters to the Editor Food Shuffleboard Recipes in today's issue: 1. Scalloped Scallops 2. Harvest Rice Stuffing 3. Scattered Sushi 4. Green Tea Rice Pudding With Candied Ginger 5. Roasted Bay Scallops With Brown Butter and Shallots Cheers, Soba

I was talking to someone online last night and when I mentioned what I had for dinner, he was like "So elaborate!" (Never mind that last night's dinner was actually fairly simple, as far as I'm concerned. ) He went on to explain that his dinners consist of something frozen and pre-packaged and popped into a microwave. This same person doesn't much care for tomatoes unless they're smashed into tiny bits and turned into a sauce. Salsa is ok, tomato sauce is ok, but "raw tomatoes have a concentrated flavor that I find just too much to take." Huh? I don't think I could ever imagine being like that--now. What's really amazing is that when I was growing up, I thought nothing of Stouffer's boil veggies in a bag, or Shake-N-Bake. Soba

Roast squash as normal with EVOO and herbs/garlic/spices -- this will work with either Hubbard, acorn or other type of squash -- but not pumpkin (as I find pumpkins too watery). Let cool, scoop out flesh and seeds. Reserve seeds for another use or discard. Dice flesh and set aside. Roast garlic cloves until softened. Let cool, squeeze out cloves, and set aside. Saute thinly sliced red onion or Bermuda onion with unsalted butter and EVOO over medium-low heat, cook until onions are caramelized. Add garlic (I recommend two or three cloves worth, although you can certainly add as much as you want). Salt and pepper to taste. Add squash, cook until heated through. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Working in batches, puree squash mixture in either a food processor or blender and return puree to pan. Add a bit more EVOO, season to taste, and stir to incorporate. Serve as a sauce to accompany pasta. This is divine, topped with shaved Parm-Reg or with a few drops of white truffle oil. ------ Alternately, you can make a pizza with squash. Replace tomatoes with slices of roast squash, rub with EVOO and top with fontina or other cheese, sprinkle with herbs. Soba

Legalese is shorthand for "precise language". If anything, the letter fairly reeked of it. There's nothing in that letter, as written, that can be disproven even though you know and I know and almost everyone else knows that some things have been left unsaid. Soba

Late Monday dinner: Broiled Cornish game hens, first rubbed with a knob of garlic butter and some sage before popping it into the oven. (Skin on this time! heheh.) Roasted root vegetables with lemon-balsamic viniagrette Tomato confit. Orzo. Evian (me) Ovaltine (my roommate) Gonna go eat in a few minutes, but tossing around ideas for dessert.... Soba

oh yes! heh. and you'll be proud of me too (for once. ) Late dinner for me and my roommate: Cornish game hens, rubbed with garlic butter and sage. (Yes, I left the skin on this time.) Roasted root vegetables, lemon-balsamic viniagrette. Tomato confit. Orzo. Evian for me, Ovaltine for him. (one of his quirks...) dunno what to do about dessert though.... Soba

Well I've got some sprouts and root vegetables roasting in the oven atm -- sprouts, carrots, onions, some garlic cloves, turnips, potatoes, parsnips and squash, EVOO, kosher salt, rosemary. When they're done, they'll get tossed with a lemon-balsamic viniagrette. (Balsamic vinegar, EVOO, lemon zest, lemon oil, salt and cracked black pepper) Soba

hm, vegetarian. Are eggs and dairy allowed? I guess it depends on what you have in your pantry. Broiled tofu topped with miso paste Fried rice (rice, stir-fried with eggs, minced scallions, minced ginger and garlic, a little mushroom soy or light soy sauce and maybe a little toasted nori on top) Green salad OR pasta with spicy tomato and olive sauce (crushed tomatoes, onions, olives, capers, EVOO, garlic, red pepper flakes) steamed veggies with a little EVOO and maybe lemon zest or white pepper fruit. Of course, "quick" is also pretty subjective. Soba

I try to do this recipe with 2 tubs of sprouts. 2 tubs might seem like overkill, but consider that the volume of sprouts shrinks by half when you cook them. De-leafing two tubs takes about fifteen minutes -- I try to be as efficient as possible. When you de-leaf them, a helpful tip is to slice off the base. Leave the cores aside--when all of the sprouts have been de-leafed, chop the cores finely. Saves time and is more efficient. Or you can use a food processor if you really want to. Curlywurlyfi and others, you might try stir-frying the sprouts with thinly sliced chilies, minced scallions and/or thinly julienned ginger. A nice combination is ginger, black mustard seeds, and a few serranos or jalapenos. Soba

Amen to that. My mom raised me pretty much by herself (full-time working mom with an only child), so you'd think that she's the target audience for Lee's book. I think not. Mom somehow found the time to make an entire week's worth of meals, usually on a Sunday, which we would just reheat when she got home from work. We're talking about things like dinuguan, pancit adobo, sinigang and spaghetti and meatballs. I credit my love of food and cooking in part to her efforts, which were, as you might imagine, quite considerable -- add to that the pressures of working for a major NY investment bank and lengthy commutes to and from our home in New Jersey...for 20+ years. She is an amazing woman. Soba

People seem to have a hate affair with brussel sprouts. Something about little bunches of gas served on a steam table just waiting for a gastric inferno. I used to dislike them intensely until I discovered roasted brussel sprouts a couple of years ago. Sliced in half, drizzled with EVOO and a toss of kosher salt, then roasted at 325 F for 45 min. to an hour, these are amazing and as sweet as candy. Now, sometimes, I deleaf each sprout, cook the leaves down with garlic and slow-cooked onions, butter and/or EVOO, a bit of anchovies and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and sauce that with pasta. The onions and EVOO form the base of the sauce. Generous grind of cracked black pepper or fried bread crumbs to top it off. A new trick I've done is to shave each sprout with a mandoline, cook with some duck fat, salt, pepper, and chopped apples. Combine with a little red cabbage, apple cider vinegar. Serve as a side dish with pork chops or roast chicken. Any favorite things to do with brussel sprouts? Brussel sprout tempura, anyone? Soba

Sunday: broiled skinless boneless chicken breasts (rubbed with a pinch of Gujarati-style garam masala and a couple of T. of EVOO) slow roasted tomatoes cilantro chatni couscous green salad apple cider Next time, I'll use more oil and less salt for the tomatoes. Otherwise, they were amazing. (Slice plum tomatoes 1/4" thick, drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle of kosher salt, a smidge of asafoetida and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Roast at 200 F for 4 to 7 hours. Concentrated summery goodness.) Soba edit: you can season the tomatoes using whatever you have on hand. I vary the seasonings from just EVOO and salt to a smidge of turmeric (to bring out the color and add a little pungency) to what I did last night. Generally minimal is best. The tomatoes are really the star of the show. These were plum tomatoes but they work just as well with any kind, even tangerine tomatoes (which I had the pleasure of tasting while I was in San Francisco last week -- at the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero).

Welcome to eGlutton (er, I mean eGullet ), bryan. Soba

Pasta and certain EVOO-based sauces. Add a salad and a piece of fruit. Soup, salad and bread. Quiche, steamed vegetables. Steak or chops tossed in the broiler, roasted veggies and potatoes. Larb -- the non-larb burger version. Noodles or rice. It's not too difficult or expensive or time-consuming for any of these meals -- longest wait time might be 45 minutes with respect to the roasted veggies or quiche, but the effort involved might be more than a little for people who don't want to expend that kind of effort. I'm preaching to the choir though. Soba

Guess what? The Times has a Mongolian travelblog too. (Scroll down for the relevant link.) No Eagle Hunter though. *pout* No pictures of big, fat, lazy eagles tethered to rocks either. Soba

NYTimes Weekend Report Thursday, 2 October 2003 -- Sunday, 5 October 2003 The REAL Mongolia Travelblog (Michael Benanav) Choice Tables in Denver (Eric Asimov) The Next Big Thing In Burgerland (Geraldine Fabrikant and Stephanie Strom) Move Over Adam Tihany....Here Come The Designer DJs!!! (Glenn Collins) Sunday Magazine: Madhur Jaffrey (Jonathan Reynolds) Recipes in today's issue: 1. Manjula Gokal's Gujarati Mango Soup 2. Lemony Chicken With Fresh Coriander Cheerio, Soba

I don't, but I wish I did. "Gourmet" is a very broad term. One person's gourmet food is another person's mundane substance. Although I get what you mean....I think. Soba

Welcome to eGullet, kimabima. There are several people who fit your bill ("stay-at-home moms") and a lot of people who fall in between that category and the "rich and sophisticated" kind. Look around and take a peek. eGullet has a rainbow of flavors and types. Hope you enjoy your stay. Cheers, Soba

penne with roasted cauliflower, onion and caper sauce (roasted cauliflower, sweet onions, capers, olives, garlic, EVOO, chopped parsley, red pepper flakes) green salad ginger tea Soba

Actually, I live literally right across the street from Amma, and order from there every so often. Now that Suvir and Hemant have popped onto the local radar, I might do so fairly soon.... Soba edit: I can never seem to get Hemant's name spelled right.

Thanks for covering things, Suzanne. Maybe the Times should do some investigative reporting on the sorry affairs of airplane dining. Dinner on my trip to SF and lunch on my return trip to NYC today consisted of a "sandwich" of either turkey pastrami or salami and flavorless sliced cheese on dry hamburger or mini-rolls with Hellman's dijonnaise and baby carrots/lemon cookies (outbound trip to SF) or Frito's corn chips/apple (return trip to NYC) along with the obligatory tin of spring water. Can we say CHEAPSKI?!? The situation almost begs for an expose of some sort. Airline food on domestic flights, never a luxury ticket item to begin with has declined in recent years... On with the (late) report: NYTimes Dining In/Dining Out Section Wednesday, 1 October 2003 Long Forgotten Love Affair: Manhattan's Chinatown (Eric Asimov) When Cooking Is Merely An Inconvenience (Amanda Hesser) From Connecticut Sheep to Village Cheese Shop (Richard W. Langer) Syrah's Re-Emergence (Frank J. Prial) Goat Cheese (On A Sushi Menu) At A Vietnamese Restaurant?!? (William Grimes) Pier 116 (Eric Asimov) The Desert Okra (Mindy Sink) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) Bits and Pieces (Florence Fabricant) Pairings (Amanda Hesser) Recipe: Roasted Duck with Pepper and Chinese Spices Ducks and Geese Have Recruited Public Relations: Letters to the Editor Recipes in today's section: 1. Crispy Orange Coconut Balls 2. Orange Coconut Truffles 3. Leg of Lamb, North Indian Style 4. Stress-Free Raspberry Jam 5. Spiced Pumpkin Chutney 6. Pickled Fennel St. Clements Nice to be back in New York! Cheers, Soba

NYTimes Dining In/Dining Out Section Wednesday, 24 September 2003 Ducks and Geese Have Recruited Terrorists, Part The Second (Patricia Leigh Brown) Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Throw Us A Mangosteen! (R.W. Apple, Jr.) Autumn Rituals: Tailgaiting (Peter Kaminsky) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) The Chef (Matt Lee and Ted Lee) Family Memoirs (Joan Nathan) Reinvention Or Reinvigoration? (William Grimes) French Renegade In Red Hook (Eric Asimov) Pesto Alla Genoa Tommy's Idea of Heaven (John Carpenter) The Anti-Olive Garden Project (Catherine C. Robbins) Wine Talk (Frank J. Prial) Bits and Pieces (Florence Fabricant) Recipes in today's section: 1. Pork (or Chicken) Stewed in Milk 2. Blackberry Nectarine Crisp 3. Pearl Nathan's Chicken Soup 4. Matzo Balls 5. Gremlin Grill's Prime Rib 6. Greek Seasoning Blend Cheers, Soba

Cioppino. Lobster paella. Soba Edit: as Rachel suggests, prepare things as normal and add the lobster during the last few minutes of cooking.

Broiled skinless boneless chicken breasts, rubbed with 1 T. of EVOO mixed with a dash of sriracha, a pinch of light brown sugar, and some turnip kimchi. (Yes, weird, but what can I say, it was a moment of inspiration.) Popped into the oven and broiled for 20 to 30 min. at 350 F. Couscous Tomato, onion and pepper salad -- EVOO, rice vinegar, a sprinkle of patis (Filipino fish sauce) and furikake as dressing. Iced green tea. Soba

awww. I'll be in Internet-less land after Friday. (No computers for me for 5 days. heh.) I expect there'll be pictures when I come back next Wednesday, right?!? 1 pm flight from LGA means I get into SFO around 7:30 pm. Ugh. I'm in (in spirit). Soba