SobaAddict70

Sort of relevant to discussions about turkey leftovers, not to mention that I'll probably have this for dinner sometime next week, as leftover cacciatore gets better the day after or even two days after. A side variant of chicken cacciatore is chicken marengo (aka "hunter's chicken", which contains on occasion wild mushrooms and sometimes cognac or brandy, in addition to tomatoes, peppers, onions and the usual battuto). So what's your favorite version of cacciatore? And what do you serve it with -- rice, grits, potatoes, noodles? The real thing is so much better than your typical tv dinner (Stouffer's or Swanson's). Discuss... SA

em, not so lucky it seems, as I may have to work late this evening. but in any event, if things are still going strong past 9 pm or so, and they probably will be, I may stop by on my way home. I live within walking distance of the restaurant (and coincidentally, am working at a location at present time, also within walking distance, so who knows, I may make it after all. but if I don't...well, then, carry on.) SA

good to hear that the GT rabbit proved to be better than my experience there. When I was there last, the olives in the sauce overwhelmed the entire dish. Wonder if the potatoes took the edge off this time. Or if the garlic sausage and olives were more muted? Two strong elements there...with potential for flavor overload... SA

When is this bash (I'm not going to page through 16 pages of posts...) Is there room for one more? I'm really THIN...heh. SA

Better a purist than (insert your favorite adjective here). But I hear you. (OT alert: I do love my Mrs. Dash. ) When it comes to stocks, I'm 90% purist. The 10% is when I have to cheat, and that's when the local Cantonese palace comes in. You'd be surprised what miracles you can produce with three quarts of chicken stock from your local Cantonese takeout joint. *They* never use canned stuff....of that I'm sure. SA

Bases such as these tend to be way over-salted and contain other impurities (i.e., chemical additives, preservatives) that you may not want in your sauce or soup. If you use demi-glace (from scratch) or homemade stock, you can control the quality of your ingredients and the level of salting in your final product. And ultimately, its the difference between a superior sauce/soup and an inferior one -- factoring in differences of opinion, of course. SA

Saturday evening: Took a page from Honmura An (Japanese restaurant in SoHo -- the place is known for making their own soba noodles every day): Hot soba noodles topped with shredded duck meat, minced scallions, sliced duck skin, gomasio and ginger-mushroom soy-mirin dipping sauce. (Cheated once again -- takeout duck from one of the local Cantonese palaces in my neighborhood.) Finished off with a broth made out of the soba cooking water, some ginger and star anise-infused chicken broth and red miso. Green tea. Hot red bean and date soup for dessert. (also from the local Cantonese palace) --------------- Sunday evening (tonight): takeout from Texas Rotisserie & Grill (the South Street Seaport branch), but y'all don't want to hear about that, I'm sure. LOL. SA

Roast butternut squash or acorn squash. Scoop out pulp, mix with unsalted butter, light cream. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe some allspice. A little (just a little, mind you) brown sugar or date sugar. Fold in a little mascarpone if you want. Puree, and mix all ingredients thoroughly. Shape into rounds using either buttered ramekins or a biscuit cutter. Spoon over each squash round a spiced fruit chutney. (I vary the ingredients of the chatni from time to time. Right now, the batch in my fridge includes plums, nectarines, dried apricots, pears, dried currants, apple cider vinegar, golden sultana raisins, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, brown sugar, fresh cracked black pepper, and pomegranate syrup (sp).) Serve IMMEDIATELY. SA

For chips, I prefer any plain or lime-enhanced stoneground white corn tortilla chips. For salsa, I prefer to make my own (see below for a sample). SA ------------- plum tomatoes, halved and roasted roasted garlic, peeled yellow, Bermuda or Vidalia onions, chopped EVOO chipotle en adobo, chopped poblano chiles, seeded and minced (to taste) salt and pepper, to taste fresh plum tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped red wine vinegar pinch of sugar cilantro, chopped Saute the onions in a little EVOO until the onions are translucent, season to taste with salt and pepper. In a blender, combine the roasted tomatoes and garlic with the onion mixture, pulse for thirty seconds to a minute, to blend. Add chipotle and poblano chiles, pulse but do not puree, so that the chiles retain a little texture. Add a splash of vinegar and a small pinch of sugar, mix thoroughly. Fold in as much chopped fresh plum tomatoes as you like, add a sprinkle of cilantro. Refrigerate to allow flavors to develop, or serve immediately with chips.

Cheap-o ramen noodle soup, made with 2 packages of ramen noodles. The soup base in one giant pot of boiling water, followed by one and a half packages of ramen, cooked in the usual manner, topped off with sesame oil, chopped scallions, and whatever Mom happened to have on hand, (i.e., chopped hardboiled eggs, leftover congee, leftover minced pork with black bean sauce, tofu, stir-fried sliced beef tongue with chili paste, etc.), and the remaining dried ramen noodles (broken up into bits). On occasion, I still have some. Mmm-mmm-good. Jason: you should try this sometime. Its great. SA

An entire week's regimen of Theraflu, endless bottled water, endless oranges and other assorted remedies wasn't enough to kick a relapsed cold that won't go away. (And its waning today, but still not gone.) I thought that my absence (!) would benefit y'all than if I had shown up. Oh well, better safe than sick, I always say. I want pix, dammit. SA

Exactly. They're giant insects, after all. I think I'm going to hurl now... SA

Eggplant omelette. (For a recipe, click here.) Steamed rice. Stewed mixed greens with pork fat, garlic and a sprinkle of patis. Green tea, Lurisia. Silken tofu, steamed and topped with warmed orange blossom honey. SA

What, no ortalans? Shocking, just shocking....heh. SA

Cantaloupe and Gouda or Provolone. Guava paste and queso blanco. Anjou pears and Camembert. Papayas and sliced fresh mozzarella. (Really, it works. At least to me. ) Roasted bananas and either cabrales or other blue/goat cheese. SA

That would be appreciated. In addition to bringing all this wonderful stuff, I'll have my handy cutting board and wannabe chef's knife. (Ever since a horrible experience with a friend's set of kitchen knives which were NOT ergonomically aligned properly, I've insisted on bringing my own knives to other ppl's kitchens, no offense CathyL.) SA

I never parboil veggies when roasting them. Why bother, since that defeats the purpose of roasting? You want the flavor to be concentrated, not diluted. mixmaster's recipe is about right. I prefer it at 375 though. SA

hey, if Tommy is strange, then I'm the crazy old man in the padded cell. Saturday: a menage a trois of sandwiches (I was at a friend's place and didn't feel like cooking): hummus sandwich: toasted whole wheat bread, hummus, horseradish, jalapeno pepper jelly. peach sandwich: toasted whole wheat bread, melted shredded cheese (mozzarella, jack, provolone, asiago), peach preserves deli sandwich: toasted onion bagel, sliced roast turkey, sliced salami, provolone cheese, miracle whip, horseradish, roasted peppers, EXTRA GARLIC Mrs. Dash. Grapefruit juice. Sparkling water. -------- tonight: broiled skinless chicken breasts (seasoned with a t. of EVOO and topped with onions and sliced peppers, salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash) roasted turnips and potatoes (seasoned with EVOO, kosher salt, pepper and rosemary) steamed broccoli (topped with ghee and toasted black mustard seeds) Ginger-clove tea. Evian. SA Edit: added day and also tonight's (Sunday's) menu.

The 18th is a Monday and might be bad, considering that several transactions will probably seek to close as soon as practicable before Thanksgiving, so I will most likely be stuck at work. Another time, perhaps. The 14th is preferable for me, subject to whatever may be happening at work, of course. SA

The restaurant you're thinking of is Sugiyama. Although, if memory serves, there wasn't any sauce poured over it. SA

No turkey, just Cornish game hens. SA

I'm sure if you do a basic search, you'll be able to come up with a lot of interesting results re non-dairy based pasta sauces. For instance, click here and here. SA

Since Rosie will be bringing olives, I'll probably be doing something more along the lines of "preparations involving olives". So far the menu looks a little like this: marinated olives (for the recipe, check out some of the earlier pages where I posted it) tapenade spaghetti with sausage, fennel, olives and citrus zest stewed chicken with olives, preserved lemons and honey I may revise it again as the date gets closer. SA

Monday: Dinner while working OT in Tribeca: takeout from Blue Ribbon Sushi (ok, so its not quite home cooking but who cares?!?) chawan-mushi (BRS's version is pretty authentic, right down to the gingko nuts inside the custard) wild mushroom miso sashimi: uni, salmon, hamachi (pristine), saba, cooked lobster, blue crab, toro, octopus, scallops, nori tamago, smelt roe. Fresh pickled ginger. Freshly grated wasabi. Green tea. ------------ tonight (Tuesday): bought some soy sauce chicken from a local Cantonese takeout palace. (note from Soba: China Fun, located on the corner of 64th St. and 2nd Avenue is about as good as being in Chinatown, and that's saying a lot. At least, I think so.) Deboned the chicken, shredded it. Stir-fried along with minced ginger and garlic, shredded cabbage. A little spicy red bean paste, a little hoisin sauce, a little mushroom soy. Topped with minced scallions. Congee. Spicy pickled turnips. Ginger-clove tea. Evian. SA

oh and btw, a BM is composed of the following ingredients: buns with sesame seeds lettuce cheese burgers chopped onions pickles special sauce (which is basically Russian dressing, altho I'm sure McD's version contains more than just what Russian dressing entails) this is as near as I can deconstruct a BM. of course I could be wrong. note that the order of ingredients does matter. I'm posting this for the benefit of Jin, Suvir, and others who may have never experienced the BM "in all its shining glory". (in other words, imo, for a sandwich purported to be the cornerstone of McD's menu, its a pretty boring sandwich. I suppose the "special sauce" is their deconstruction of what ketchup is supposed to be like.) SA