SobaAddict70

Sorry the swordfish didn't come out to your expectations. Maybe next time. What's chicken helper? (It's probably like hamburger helper, right? I've never had either.) slkinsey: Amen, brother. Soba

Kate, Kate, Kate... The Dinner thread is what it is. Not all of us whip up rarefied things every night, me being one of the biggest violators. (Broiled skinless chicken breasts anyone? ) Some of us are more creative than others -- thank god. And I, for one, happen to take extreme pleasure in reading what the most creative among us, happen to whip up every evening. If you happen to take a look at what torakris posts for example, you know she cooks for a family of at least 4, on a limited budget. The thread is what we've made of it. It's all good. I'd be interested, for one, to read what you cook for dinner on any night. Don't believe the critic behind the curtain. Soba

I'm not sure why people seem to think we're elitist when reality is so far away from the truth. This is a common misperception which pops up from time to time. In fact, a close reading of various topics on the different fora would lead someone to conclude with just the opposite: that the site provides an umbrella to a variety of people with a broad and diverse range of interests, likes and dislikes. If someone or a group of someones seems to think that we're elitist, or that a certain percentage of eGluttoneers are elitists/snobs/food groupies, hey, then more power to them....but it's not our fault, and I see no reason to defend ourselves for something that's really someone else's projection(s). Soba

good news: I fly out to SF, September 26, so count me in (this is subject of course to my work schedule. I'm praying that I'm not busy in the weeks leading up to that week. ) as for what I'm bringing, I think either some mostarda or a fruit chutney is in order, to go along with some of curdnerd's cheese. El Gordo, if you have room in the Gordo-mobile, I'd appreciate it if you'd include me too. Soba

sort of like Friendly's? I've never been to a DQ. Friendly's otoh was a part of my teenage years. Who can forget Reeses Pieces and Snickers bars sundaes? Soba ------ edit: reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer goes into the 7-11 shop and tries to get an ice cream cone topped with free sprinkles, including a fried chicken leg as a "sprinkle"

Modern Day Luaus (Matt Lee and Ted Lee) A Drink Sean Connery Would Be Proud Of (R.W. Apple, Jr.) Is Organic Food Better For You? (Marian Burros) The Chef: Chris Schlesinger (Sam Sifton) The Minimalist: Yucatán Flavoring Agents (Mark Bittman) The Mexican theme continues at Pampano (William Grimes) Chelsea's Newest Jewel Is A Diamond In The Rough (Eric Asimov) Wine Talk (Frank J. Prial) Beautiful Vegetables (Andrea Strong) Egg Creams (Ed Levine) Food Q&A (Denise Landis) Poi: Breakfast of Champions Off the Menu (Florence Fabricant) Bits and Pieces: Online Pastries, Jelli Bowls, Pickle Boutiques and Madras prawns (not Diwan) Corrections Recipes: 1. Giant Chipotle-Rubbed Steaks With Cilantro-Lime Butter 2. Ahi Poke 3. Kalua Pig 4. Yucatán Fish With Crisp Garlic Cheers, Soba

Make that a seven way tie with Jason's larb patties as a topping. Ok, just kidding. Well, sort of. Soba

I should add that several years ago, a bunch of friends and I went to Little Poland in the East Village. Little Poland, for those of you who don't frequent NYC, is a local East Village establishment on 2nd Avenue, near 12th Street (I don't remember the exact location but its around there). It serves the type of food you would see at Odessa, Vaselka's and other Ukranian/Eastern European places -- borscht, stuffed cabbage, kasha varnishkes, blintzes, etc. Anyway, when we went there for lunch, I took a look at the menu and never having been there, I saw an item that *I* like, but most people shudder at -- tripe soup. Some of the guys in our bunch think they're open-minded and adventurous, but not THAT adventurous. When I ordered it, I got stares and looks of disgust, as if to say, "how dare you order something like that when the rest of us are having recognizable things like burgers and hot sandwiches?" And I even got a few comments my way to that effect as well. I took it all in stride, but to this day, I get ragged on for my choice. I like tripe, and to be quite honest with y'all, I don't give a flying fuck whether people do or don't. That's what I stand by, and I wish certain people on this thread would understand that sentiment. The world would be a better place, I think. Soba

*sigh* This discussion (not THIS particular discussion per se, mind you) has popped up on egullet before in innumerable ways and all sorts of variations, forwards and backwards. I thought we'd left this topic a long time ago. Anyway, eGlutton is whatever you want and its a large enough site that it can accomodate all sorts of people who like what they like. If you like OG, fine. If you like haute cuisine, fine. If you like Mrs. Dash on cottage cheese and broiled skinless chicken breasts, fine. And if you like ethereal meal experiences every night of the week, that's fine too. What I don't get is why people seem to be offended that a) if you like OG, you automatically become lower class b) you can't like something like McDs or OG without eliciting shudders of horror c) you can either go for cheap eats or high end dining but not both and god forbid you mix the two among other things. Personally, I would never go to a place like OG for the reasons that MatthewB describes above. Plus I'm an impatient bastard. I want my food NOW, not two hours down the road and if I'm paying $50+, it had better be damn good or at least the upper end of passable for that type of money. This is not to say that I haven't gone to McD's (I do all the time), never gone to a BeniHana when I was a kid (I did all the time), HoJos/Friendly's/Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips (ditto) or the local takeout Chinese palace (read the dinner thread and you'll see that I do as often as I can get). My childhood experiences have no relevance to my current likes or level of sophistication. They have no relevance to what I think of yours or others' level of sophistication. As far as I'm concerned, dragging childhood experiences is pretty irrelevant to this discussion, for the most part. You like what you like, and no one should mold you into a cookie cutter just because they wish you should be. This is directed to both sides of this argument, not at anyone in particular. 'Nuff said. Soba

um...its the NY potluck dinner... oops Soba ediot: I see Suzanne beat me to it.

elyse, try "cheese biscuits" or "cheese scones". they're neither, but its the best I could come up with on 5 minutes' notice. Soba

What's your favorite condiment? For purposes of this thread, "condiment" can mean anything from jams and preserves to spices and herbs to salsas and salad dressings to gravies and sauces to nut butters and dried seaweeds to miso shiru and wasabi paste, etc. As for me, it's a six way tie between kosher salt, cracked black pepper, fresh garlic, EVOO, Mrs. Dash and unsalted butter. Can't live without any of those. Everything else is negotiable, more or less. What are yours? Discuss.... Soba

Season to taste as you go along. Case in point: for the pot luck, I think a large part of what made the two pasta sauces a success was that I kept adding salt and pepper at certain stages. Too often people undersalt or underseason, or do it at the last minute before service. Use as much butter or EVOO or whatever as you like, and then use some more. For elyse's cheese puff thingies, the reason why those were amazing was the amount of butter she used. If they were stunning hot out of the oven, they got even better slightly cooled or at room temperature (which is when I had them). Each of the cheese puff thingies practically oozed butter, they were soooooooooooo good. Let me go on record saying that the best pastries I've had in my life were those that used ungodly amounts of butter and more butter on top of that. Soba

They're pretty big in St. Louis (Missouri). One of my cousins lives there, so he should know. As for their cheesecakes, I can't say they're special. I mean, they're better than your average cheesecake (which isn't saying much), but then again its hard to elevate something like a cheesecake to something that's outstanding. (I'm not a fan of cheesecake in general. Most of them are too heavy or too rich. I thought I'd never say that, but there's always a first time I suppose.) Soba

pici alla salsiccia e funghi -From the NY potluck dinner EVOO onions garlic sweet Italian sausages, casings removed and meat crumbled wild mushrooms Pomi chopped tomatoes (for the tomato sauce, I used 1 and 1/2 boxes, reserving the half box to be used directly in this dish) dried thyme (Lorenza suggests using marjoram) salt pepper basic tomato sauce (above) tomato/onion pulp (above) red wine Saute onions and garlic in EVOO. Add sausages, season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until sausages are browned. Deglaze with a splash of red wine. Add wild mushrooms. Add tomato sauce, adjust seasoning, cover and reduce heat, simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato pulp and reserved chopped tomatoes. Add thyme (or marjoram if using). Adjust seasoning. Simmer uncovered for an additional 20 minutes, or until volume of sauce has reduced by a little under half. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Meanwhile, prepare pasta and then combine directly in saucepot. ( RG571 )

Fusilli alla Siciliana- From the NY Potluck Dinner I've made this dish A LOT of times, so I've reworked the recipe a lot. Roasting the cauliflower adds a new dimension to the dish that the original one lacks...not that the original one isn't any good Cauliflower EVOO Garlic (I used about half a head) capers anchovy fillets (I was planning on getting salt-packed anchovies but couldn't so I opted for the more familiar kind) flat-leaf Italian parsley red pepper flakes balsamic vinegar Roast cauliflower (350 degree preheated oven) for an hour and 15 minutes. I had prepared it by breaking into florets, and seasoning with EVOO and kosher salt. Took out the cauliflower, let it cool for a bit, and then chopped the whole florets up into smaller pieces. Saute minced garlic in EVOO, add capers and anchovies. Saute until anchovies have disintegrated into the sauce. Ok, so this wasn't a purely vegetarian offering, but the anchovies are only there to provide a certain depth of flavor. I like to use them because they add a bass note to a lot of dishes along this particular vein. Tossed in a good dash of red pepper flakes, not enough to overwhelm things but enough to lend a hint of a bite. Added the florets to the garlic/anchovy mixture, drizzle with a little more EVOO, toss to coat and cook uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more EVOO as needed. Towards the final 5 minutes of cooking, added a splash of balsamic vinegar and let the vinegar mostly cook off. I wanted just a hint of tang and sweetness. Added a little more EVOO, and adjusted seasoning to taste. Prepared fusilli and combined pasta with the sauce directly in the pot. Added parsley and tossed to coat. ( RG570 )

Tomato Sauce -From the NY PotLuck Dinner garlic tomatoes (Mario specifies canned tomatoes, but I prefer using Pomi vacuum packed when not using fresh. Here, I used chopped tomatoes although the strained version works just as well.) onions EVOO salt pepper Saute garlic in EVOO. Add onions. Add a bit of salt. Saute until onions are slightly translucent -- actually this is the step that's kind of difficult to describe as far as I'm concerned because its pretty instinctual. Add tomatoes, lower heat and simmer. Adjust seasoning to taste as sauce simmers. At this point, I added dried basil and dried oregano to the mix and let it simmer for a little over 45 minutes. Then strained through a food mill, using the fine disc. Saved and reserved the tomato/onion pulp for later. Reserved the tomato sauce for use later. Keywords: Sauce ( RG569 )

I'd love to, but I'll be in San Francisco the last two weeks of September. Soba

I bet the bread. Still got the memory of the taste of the pan de quejo in my mind. Simply amazing, a sheer delight to eat. I hope your business does indeed take off, because you deserve it! Soba

ok the recipes. Full disclosure: 2 of the recipes are from Lorenza's Pasta (Lorenza de'Medici, 1996, Clarkson Potter). The tomato sauce is inspired by the version found in Simple Italian Food (Mario Batali, 1998, Clarkson Potter), but I went a couple of steps further. For the tomato sauce: garlic tomatoes (Mario specifies canned tomatoes, but I prefer using Pomi vacuum packed when not using fresh. Here, I used chopped tomatoes although the strained version works just as well.) onions carrots EVOO salt pepper Saute garlic in EVOO. Add onions and carrots. Add a bit of salt. Saute until onions are slightly translucent -- actually this is the step that's kind of difficult to describe as far as I'm concerned because its pretty instinctual. Add tomatoes, lower heat and simmer. Adjust seasoning to taste as sauce simmers. At this point, I added dried basil and dried oregano to the mix and let it simmer for a little over 45 minutes. Then strained through a food mill, using the fine disc. Saved and reserved the tomato/onion pulp for later. Reserved the tomato sauce for use later. ---------------- I decided to improvise for the vegetarian offering since people were supplying olives in the form of olive bread and Suzanne's marinated olives. Also, by the time this got served, it had cooled down quite a bit so people thought that it was some kind of pasta salad. It's ok though...people liked it....but it really wasn't supposed to be a pasta salad. Oh well, maybe next time. The final product is quite a bit different from Lorenza's version. For the fusilli alla siciliana: Cauliflower EVOO Garlic (I used about half a head) capers anchovy fillets (I was planning on getting salt-packed anchovies but couldn't so I opted for the more familiar kind) flat-leaf Italian parsley red pepper flakes balsamic vinegar Roast cauliflower (350 degree preheated oven) for an hour and 15 minutes. I had prepared it by breaking into florets, and seasoning with EVOO and kosher salt. Took out the cauliflower, let it cool for a bit, and then chopped the whole florets up into smaller pieces. Saute minced garlic in EVOO, add capers and anchovies. Saute until anchovies have disintegrated into the sauce. Ok, so this wasn't a purely vegetarian offering, but the anchovies are only there to provide a certain depth of flavor. I like to use them because they add a bass note to a lot of dishes along this particular vein. Tossed in a good dash of red pepper flakes, not enough to overwhelm things but enough to lend a hint of a bite. Added the florets to the garlic/anchovy mixture, drizzle with a little more EVOO, toss to coat and cook uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more EVOO as needed. Towards the final 5 minutes of cooking, added a splash of balsamic vinegar and let the vinegar mostly cook off. I wanted just a hint of tang and sweetness. Added a little more EVOO, and adjusted seasoning to taste. Prepared fusilli and combined pasta with the sauce directly in the pot. Added parsley and tossed to coat. I've made this dish A LOT of times, so I've reworked the recipe a lot. Roasting the cauliflower adds a new dimension to the dish that the original one lacks...not that the original one isn't any good. Lorenza uses pici in the pici alla salsiccia e funghi (pici with sausages and wild mushrooms). Pici are a sort of thick spaghetti with a hollow tube down the center. I couldn't get pici at the last moment, so had to settle for percatelli. On the subject of pasta secca, I prefer using Di Cecco first, Barilla second, and generic/Ronzoni dead last. I feel that Di Cecco is a superior product, but other views may vary. I also tried to get dried porcini, but had to settle for portabella and shiitake. EVOO onions garlic sweet Italian sausages, casings removed and meat crumbled wild mushrooms Pomi chopped tomatoes (for the tomato sauce, I used 1 and 1/2 boxes, reserving the half box to be used directly in this dish) dried thyme (Lorenza suggests using marjoram) salt pepper basic tomato sauce (above) tomato/onion pulp (above) red wine Saute onions and garlic in EVOO. Add sausages, season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until sausages are browned. Deglaze with a splash of red wine. Add wild mushrooms. Add tomato sauce, adjust seasoning, cover and reduce heat, simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato pulp and reserved chopped tomatoes. Add thyme (or marjoram if using). Adjust seasoning. Simmer uncovered for an additional 20 minutes, or until volume of sauce has reduced by a little under half. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Meanwhile, prepare pasta and then combine directly in saucepot. Sorry Jason, but the recipe database is too complicated for little old me. Soba

When in Rome.... (Maureen B. Fant) When Restaurant Critics Go Look At Art (William Grimes) Clam Nostalgia (Jason Epstein) Recipes: 1. Fried Soft-Shell Clams 2. Tartar Sauce 3. Pierre Franey's Pasta With Clams Cheers, Soba

hm I wonder what they would taste like as dumpling filling? I had a couple for breakfast today btw. Finger-lickin' good! Soba

cool beans. recipes to come tomorrow, I promise. it was percatelli with a sauce of sausage and wild mushrooms. there was also fusilli with roasted cauliflower, capers and anchovies. nice photos, Jason. We have to do this again sometime soon.... Soba

she did -- a pecan pie and a pecan pie tartlet. but I think the cheese puff cookie thingies (which by the way are FUCKING AMAZING imho) stole the show. Soba

Jason and Rachel will post photos later on. Thanks be to everyone who came, because it wouldn't have been the success it was if it wasn't for you. My top 5 favorites (in no order of preference): 1. Elyse's cheese biscuits cookie puff thingies; 2. El Gordo's brisket 3. Jason's larb meatballs 4. Rachel's watermelon sorbet with key lime zest and rum 5. the lobster and tomato salad -- can't remember who contributed that. A good time was had by all, and the company rocked! Soba