SobaAddict70

Monday night: Roasted a head of cauliflower, saved half for later. Other half, broken up in bits and pieces, tossed in a caramelized onion and anchovy sauce (red onions, garlic, anchovies, red pepper flakes, EVOO, Italian parsley, unsalted butter, dried currants), over penne rigate. Pear and shiitake mushroom salad -- not as weird as you might think: sauteed shiitake mushrooms in unsalted butter and cracked black pepper. Took off heat and cooled slightly, added diced pear. Tossed together, combined with frisee. Sea salt and white pepper to taste. Lurisia spring water. Coconut flan. Soba

When you look closely at what I drink, it's really just water -- either bottled water, mineral water, sparkling water, tap water or flavored in some way (tea). Or juice/cider/fruit punch. I'm a little envious of ppl who can drink wine and beer. Well....just a little. Soba

The thing is, will they let you take meals aboard, past security? Plastic knives and such are legitimate things, but I can only imagine an overzealous security goon refusing a passenger access for fear of an exploding overripe banana. (half joking, half sarcastic and half serious here, folks...yeah that's three halves, so sue me. ) Soba

hm, I discovered sugary breakfast cereals when I was in the Navy. I'm glad to know that I wasn't missing out on anything. There are things out there that I've never had, however -- Velveeta's one of them. There are things that I've had that I haven't had in DECADES and I'm not about to go back having them -- Stouffer's, Swanson's, Chef Boy R Dee, Kraft's Cheese and Macaroni (yeah I know its supposed to be said the other way, but I kinda like it this way heheheh), Grape Nuts, and most canned soups. Wonder Bread falls into this category as does most prepackaged crap and things like fruit roll-ups and frozen vegetables. On the other hand, I long for the days when I could drink milk with abandon. Soba

The Japanese version of Oceana, by William Grimes Soba

London broil with caramelized onions Slow roasted tomatoes Couscous (probably had butter in it, I can taste the butter, not sure how much though). Soba

I've not been cooking for a long time. Last week was the week from hell -- trapped in the office and with no time for anything else outside of work besides sleep (what little there was) and getting through the day. On the other hand, we made frequent use of catering services in midtown Manhattan and even managed to get takeout from Diwan. (Separate tangent: Diwan DOES deliver, btw, provided that you live within a few blocks radius of the restaurant or work in the area. Just a tip. We placed a substantial order -- of course this being takeout the food quality wasn't as up to par as if we had been at the restaurant, so some decline if any can be attributed to this. The lemon rice and crispy okra weren't hits though. That's ok, more for me.) Tonight, I'm making a redress with respect to my cooking vacation. Roasted cauliflower pasta -- I've been aching for this ever since I made some of JD's roasted cauliflower a few weeks ago. Let's see how it does as a "sauce" for farfalle, combined with sauteed onions, anchovies, red pepper flakes and Italian parsley. (I can't wait to get home as I type this.) Will report later when I've consumed my effort. Soba

Because my dad died of complications caused by adult-onset diabetes, brought on by no less than 5 cans of soda a day (!), my mom made sure I stayed away from most sugary stuff when I was growing up -- although that wasn't always the case when I was a teenager. On the other hand, we had much more processed stuff, primarily because of convenience's sake. (Read -- single working parent with only child, therefore, limited time on hand with which to prepare and cook dinner, etc.) That probably explains why -- a) I drink a lot of water all the time (not to mention partial reason for my aversion to anything alcoholic and caffeinated (although I will drink Earl Grey/soda from time to time); alcohol besides the fact that I can't metabolize it as easily as most people, but that's another story); b) I prefer fruit to anything sweet or dessert-ish, although sometimes my resolve falls apart; and c) why there's NO junk food or very little processed crap in my kitchen that I can lay claim to. My roommate on the other hand, who's always been a big person, will eat it if its there. (And he wonders why he's gained all that weight. I'm not kidding. He went through an entire box of Entemann's chocolate chip cookies in one sitting. I've done that when I was a teenager, but I can barely bring myself to think about it now. ) Soba

Bottled water. Lunch is an hour away -- will reply again when I go down to our cafeteria of horrors. (Not horrible if you know what to get and if you stay away from the "exhibition cooking".) Soba

Filipino food is famous for pairing fruit with meat, much less sweet stuff with meat. To wit: menudo -- ground beef, vegetables (typically carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and chickpeas) ... and RAISINS. I've seen a version with turnips and golden sultanas. My mom uses Sunkist regular. embutido -- think of your basic meatloaf, in a rolled up version, stuffed with hard boiled eggs and veggies, and you guessed, it, raisins. lumpia -- the fresh version is usually paired with a sweet plum sauce. talong omelette -- this is an omelette made with a Japanese eggplant, with or without the addition of ground pork or beef and minced garlic, usually paired with banana ketchup (substitute regular ketchup) there's more, but these are just examples. don't get me started on the use of SPAM and fruit. that's a whole other subtopic. Soba

Vietnamese catfish and the Mississippi Delta by Julia Reed Recipes: 1. Laotian Catfish Soup 2. Catfish Courtbouillon Cheers, Soba -------- Note from Soba: This week's Voice of Sietsema will feature the review from last week's Village Voice, along with this week's article. Last week was the week from hell -- I didn't have time to do anything outside of work. 13+ hour work days from Friday to Thursday will do that to you. Thank god its over....for now.

Never mind that some of us (*cough*) are lactose intolerant and therefore can't exactly consume milk and/or dairy products on a regular basis. I do agree however on the margarine. Soba

Punishable by having to eat the bland nasty things. May it please the Food Court, I'm in line for Defendant No. 1 on the crime of boneless skinless chicken breasts. But mine aren't bland.... heheheh Soba

How to convert pea hating people by Jonathan Reynolds Recipes: 1. Alfred Portale's Spring-Pea Soup 2. Jane Grigson's Peas in the Pod 3. Cold Dilled Peas Cheers, Soba

Oh, don't get me wrong. PF's frites ARE quite good, but I'd be interested to know what's the lead time in between frying cycles. I mean, the frites aren't exactly fresh....but on the other hand, they're pretty good imo. I'd say about a 7 to 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. The topping sauces are another story though. And FG, your description is exactly that. Not sure when I'll get in that neighborhood again, but probably soon. Soba

hm, these restaurants aren't Indian per se, in the sense that they're frequented by Indians. They're places that seem to cater to non-Indians, most of the time. The foremost one I'm thinking of is Pearl Palace, on Pearl Street, across the street from Goldman Sachs's flagship office building. And I've had samosa chaat at a few places in Jackson Heights. The samosas at PP aren't what I would call "amazing", more like a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. PP offers its samosa chaat with either vegetable samosas or meat samosas. Usually its chopped tomatoes, onion, green peppers, bhel puri mix, tamarind chutney, cilantro chutney, raita, chickpeas and a few other ingredients I can't quite identify, all on top of two or three samosas that have been broken open. And this is probably a substandard version of samosa chaat compared to others that you've had. This is not something I would make at home, btw. Pastry isn't something I'm inordinately fond of working with. Soba

It's been my experience that in some Indian restaurants, you can't get samosa chaat unless you specifically ask for it. I mean, it's not listed on the menu. Soba

Welcome to egullet, estherschindler. Soba

William Grimes previews Nice Matin on the Upper West Side Soba

El Gordo is correct. Pommes Frites, while having very good frites (note my usage), does not have twice-fried frites. My own preferences aside, their dipping sauces are diverse and range from mediocre to excellent. My opinion --- stay away from the roasted garlic hollandaise (yeechhh) and stick to traditional or what passes for traditional. Soba n.b. they probably are twice-fried, or at least pre-cooked, but when I've been there I've only seen one frying.

I used to be a fan of the Food Network. But then, Emeril took over. Gone are the days of David Rosengarten (and "Taste"), and Julia re-runs. Now we've got schlock on America's Best and All Emeril, all the time. Maybe they should rename the network to Emeril TV? Then he can be a true media mogul. Underneath all that lard and smoke and mirrors he may be a talented chef, or even a chef with something special. What gets me though is why he thinks he has to act that way. I think he gives the average viewer less credit than the viewer deserves. There's a fine line between boorishness and brilliance, and he routinely crosses the line from idiot savant to village idiot. Cheerio, Soba

Varmint, maybe in your next life, you and I can trade places. Anyone who's an egulleteer and who's met me knows what I mean. Good luck with the body change system, Soba

whoops I'm so used to just doing the Sunday Mag food section that I skipped the entire layout. the sidebar is there only because the link to the article is on the web site's "cover" page. Soba

What if Mario Batali and Bobby Flay worked for McDonald's and White Castle? Recipes: 1. The Flay Burger 2. Adobo Fries 3. Mango Batido 4. Mario Batali's Spaghetti on a Stick 5. The Rocco Roll 6. Gabrielle Hamilton's Flavored Butters 7. Maury Rubin's Passion Push-Up ----------- Sidebar: Bruce Grierson reports on the future Atkins diet: genetic gastronomy Cheers, Soba

A mini-review by William Grimes on the new kid of the block -- Wylie Dufresne's WD-50. Sign me up for a reservation!!! Soba