SobaAddict70

Dear Erin, Thank you for your concern that I am missing out on the wonderful sauce. First I should add that I used around four tbsp of Lurpak and used the cooking time that Sam gave in his original blog. The assumption that there must be something wrong with the way that I cooked it is one assumption that could be made. Those who have seen my cooking posts may not come to that conclusion. The other conclusion is that not everyone sees this as the tomato sauce to end all tomato sauces. Does it taste of tomatoes? Yes. Does it have a nice mouth feel? Yes. Is it simple? Yes. Is it a "wow" sauce for me? No, sorry. ← Um, ok...??? So you like what you like. Chacun à son goût. I was just pointing out what I did. Not sure why you took offense. *shrug* ps. who is Erin?

For me, the less there is in the sauce, the better. Marcella aside, I usually make an olive oil-based sauce. Figure 1/2 a small onion, a clove or two of garlic, a handful of chopped parsley, a pinch of salt, some olive oil and a can of high-quality tomatoes or preferably fresh. Cook the onion, garlic and parsley gently over low to medium-low heat, until onion becomes translucent, add the tomatoes and cover. Simmer for roughly an hour or until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end. Use as needed.

My preferred method is to cook it on a low heat setting, almost to the point of it being shut off, preferably slightly covered and to stir it as infrequently as possible. I also have it on simmer for about, oh, say 40 to 45 minutes. I used one box of Pomi chopped last night. No salt until the end. It could be that the flavor profile was different than your version. My feeling is that 20 minutes is too short. Sam doesn't give proportions. I believe the recipe calls for 5 T. butter, not an insignificant amount. I used a mix of Lurpak and Ronnybrook, mostly because that's what I had on hand.

That speaks volumes for why she drives some people crazy, I'd say. ← Not sure how that speaks volumes. Explain? FR encapsulated value-laden messages on his show in an effective manner towards his intended audience -- children. She's not advocating that we be treated like children, but rather that whatever message is transmitted be conveyed in a way that communicates effectively to the people who need to hear it most. I don't see her imposing her will on anyone. People will do whatever they want until they experience an epiphany or hell freezes over, whichever comes first.

Thanks Kim. That buffet looks pretty good -- especially the pigs in blankets. ==== Ricotta gnocchi with M. Hazan's tomato sauce (see this thread)

They taste like asparagus to me. They have a delicacy that's accentuated when tossed with a little melted butter and a touch of salt. Speaking of which, that's for brunch this weekend.

Is it too late to register? I always miss out every year. I've never been but I figure it might be interesting to go for one day.

When I roast a chicken, I usually do it using Keller's recipe. Skin always stays crisp, even while resting. I've never had to brine the meat for what it's worth.

If you notice, the trend has been for the NYT critic to move away from the traditional French/haute cuisine model. It's almost as if restaurant reviewing has become more "democratic" in a sense. You want to involve people more, and you also want to involve as wide a range of your audience as possible. A four star review pretty much negates that premise which is why I think Frankypants won't go out in a blaze of glory. He's already left his indelible stamp on things. I'm pretty sure he's just doing it for sheer enjoyment now. I know I would if I were in his shoes.

Because it tends to overwhelm when in fact it should be a supporting player, if that makes any sense.

Well as it turns out I couldn't get any Hoegaarden because the Gristedes I was at sold it in a six pack. And since I'm not a beer drinker by any stretch of the imagination, I wasn't about to pick up a case just for one dish. I got a bottle of Ommegang Witte instead. I still have about 3/4 of a bottle left. Hmph. Maybe I'll think of something. Turned out well after all.

I have about half a pound in my fridge if that helps any.

Marcella mentions that you can make this sauce with fresh tomatoes. The problem with that scenario is that I can think of a few hundred other things to do with fresh toms [in season] other than a cooked sauce. But you can make this sauce with fresh or canned. I usually use Pomi crushed tomatoes. It's fine. It's a really forgiving sauce -- proportions are almost irrelevant. Once you make it, you'll be sorry you didn't make more.

This is actually on the menu tomorrow night. I had made a batch of ricotta gnocchi earlier this week. The remaining dough will be for tomorrow evening's dinner. Pix to come. PS. I don't measure when I cook. PPS. Edited to add a pic of some gnocchi I made last year. If you can forgive the tired-looking chopped parsley, the sauce is straight out of the recipe Sam quoted above.

Dump the cleaned/debearded mussels in a pot, along with chopped shallots, some parsley stems, a slice of lemon and the beer. Bring to a boil, turn heat down a notch or two, cover and let the mussels steam in their own juices until cooked. Serve with a loaf of sourdough bread -- as I type this I'm thinking of the heel of sourdough that's on top of my fridge, which will be perfect with this. Thanks for the help btw.

That's what's for dinner tonight. Normally I use white wine but I thought I'd like to do something else for a change. Beer is not high on my list of things to drink -- if I go out to eat, it's not something that I would normally think of ordering, but I *have* done it on occasion. Elsewhere, it's been suggested to me that I should consider a Belgian beer. Well, since I'm not a beer drinker, much less a regular bar-goer, I wouldn't know what tastes good. Is there something people might recommend? Edit -- to be clear, I'm looking for a brand name. I'm in NYC if that helps.

Suzanne Goin's recipe. Click. I've heard the Zuni Cafe version is good too.

Sam's got it right as usual. This sauce has a permanent place in my repertoire. It's amazing.

Chicken congee Toppings include -- crispy chicken skin, shredded leftover roast chicken, shallots and bacon fried in chicken fat, chopped scallions, white pepper, sesame oil and mushroom soy. And it freezes well, so I've got the makings of dinner a couple weeks from now if I want to.

Oh, I know how she comes across to people. I don't think I'm being naive at all. Idealist perhaps. Stubborn definitely. I can see that you have your perception, and I have mine so I think we should just agree to disagree and leave it at that. Besides, we're not AW's target market so it doesn't matter anyway. But I can't help and mention a recent example, like from this weekend while I was at the farmers' market. A fellow was showing off a bucket of fiddlehead ferns and people were stopping by, curious at the spectacle. You could tell that several people were interested but something kept them from delving further. Could it have been the price? Those ferns were selling for $8/lb. Could it have been the pre-cooking prep involved? Because you can't just toss them into a saute pan and call it a day. You have to get rid of the chaff and possibly rinse them in a couple changes of water. Could it have been other factors, like maybe a lack of desire or knowledge about cooking? That's entirely possible, as this isn't a vegetable you normally see at the market so of course people aren't entirely familiar with them, as opposed to say, artichokes. It could have been any number of things, or perhaps people were just interested merely because it was an unusual sight. It's not an every day sort of occurrence. Well, maybe that was a bad example. There have been times where I'm at the market, and it could be Jerusalem artichokes, or purple potatoes or my perennial spring favorite, ramps. Or something as mundane as squash or flounder. People are clearly interested in wanting to cook and eat better, but the problem is that they don't know what to do with half the stuff and so consequently, not only don't they try, they don't broaden their experiences. And we wonder why some people think that cooking (never mind AW) is something they can't fathom.

First time making non-potato gnocchi. Definitely a keeper. Ricotta gnocchi with asparagus and wild mushrooms I have some leftover dough in the frigo. I have a feeling M. Hazan's tomato sauce will be on the menu later this week.

On another board, someone mentioned that Jamie Oliver (JO) would be an acceptable AW-like figure without the perceived elitism. It doesn't really matter to me who the messenger is as long as it gets people to a place where they care about what they're eating and where it comes from. That's the only way that you'll see any sort of sustained change -- if people vote with their forks.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here. I agree--it is an uphill battle and has to be handled delicately. ← I explained myself when I edited my comment. See above. You perceive her to "instruct" you to live your life better. I'm open to being piqued to learn more about something. I don't see it as instruction but rather a way for me to think or learn about something that I haven't been exposed to. Maybe it's just me. ← My point is that when you're trying to teach somebody how to like something, not every one is immediately receptive. You and others here (it's not just you) are already on board. It's those who aren't but who might be, that someone like AW is really addressing. So, the real question is: If I tell you that Beowulf is good for you and you should just accept that even if you're skeptical because I say that you should already have been pouring your time into when you were wasting your time watching tv, will you still be so curious and eager to think the thoughts I suggest? Probably not and that's the problem. ← Well...I've already read Beowulf [translations of course as my ability to read Old English is lacking]. It depends on the person and whether he or she is open to hearing other points of view and possibly acting on them. I don't think AW is going to change, at least not without significant media retraining. In fact, I don't think I'd want her to change. But I recognize that I'm in the minority here and that's ok.

I don't understand what you're trying to say here. I agree--it is an uphill battle and has to be handled delicately. ← I explained myself when I edited my comment. See above. You perceive her to "instruct" you to live your life better. I'm open to being piqued to learn more about something. I don't see it as instruction but rather a way for me to think or learn about something that I haven't been exposed to. Maybe it's just me.

This sounds compelling, but here's an analogy. I love medieval literature and I think that if people were able to rediscover its pleasure and I think it might give people essential critical thinking skills and historical perspective that may go a long way to reversing some of society's ills. If I told you that, as a person who thinks and talks, you should be reading medieval literature because it's good for you and would solve some problems, despite the great deal of time and patience you have to devote to it, you might think I was some kind of elitist and you might be turned off to medieval literature. Instead, it's better to meet people where they're at and tell them some cool stories from the lit to pique their interest, then if they're willing, you hook them up with a book. This works much better than telling people that they should do it because it's good for them. A difference of perception. You see instruction, I see curiosity. This is a red herring. Nobody here is shutting their ears to the problems that AW is talking about. In fact, I think the problem might be that were all actually aware of everything she's talking about (it is, after all, old news to many of us I think). That's what gives us some critical distance: I for one am not attacking the message but the messager, as I think many on this thread are. Now some do shut their ears up because of her perceived elitism. In the context of conveying a message, isn't this the problem of the person who's trying to communicate something and not the person their trying to persuade? Persuasion is about gently bringing people over to your side, not imperiously assuming they should already be there. This is the heart of the offense that people might take: AW seems to look down on people who aren't already on board. Obviously this is not her goal; I just think she can't do it any other way, hence my argument against her as a spokesperson for these issues. ← She might not be the right spokesperson -- but if someone equates the idea of slow food with elitism, then you've got an uphill battle. I'd wager that that view has less to do with AW than people's discomfort in the kitchen, and that comes from not knowing how to cook. I can't begin to tell you how many comments I've heard or received from people who say "this is beyond my ability", "there's no way I could possibly make this for dinner, how do you do something like that?" -- and so they don't even try. And when they see someone like me who really cares about where his food comes from, almost to the point of obsession, they look at me like I'm crazy or think that I'm out of touch. If anything, AW wants us to learn how to cook -- because once you're exposed to this sort of thing, it opens up all sorts of possibilities, and maybe it'll lead you to places you've never been. Now, whether people are open to that sort of education is another thing altogether.