Carrot Top

I'm curious as to whether anyone has made corned beef in both this one-process way (with the quick-cure salt) and in the other two-part process way (brining/pickling the meat in a salt/sugar solution for a good long time before removing from the brine then seasoning with the spice mixture for several days) and what (if any) differences in taste or texture exist . . .

I found that there were lots of parts I just wasn't in the mood for at the time and had set it aside for awhile, too. Maybe it's time now to take another gander. Do write in and tell what your favorite stories were from it . . .

My two favorite photographs on your site are the empty dinner table and the menu board (not the hand-written one), Michael. There's such a hint of time being suspended in the blink of the camera's eye, with a subtle sense of almost-foreboding but not exactly . . . just a mystery of darkness that lurks behind the scene, a drama of huge proportions that mere humans might not have the ability to discern as they look in their usual way, with their usual sort of eyes. Sparks of memories of the great old still film-makers seem to lie in these photographs, where the image was primal, huge and all-engrossing to the point of exclusion of sound by requirement. And a touch of bete-noir but with a seething elegance rather than dirt-encrusted nails. Not just images but entire stories in the composition. Not a bite but a tale. Wonderful.

Could be so. It was the staple meal of every "large-group" function for some number of years where the food was made by non-professionals. Chicken a la King on noodles, on rice, in puff-pastry tarts . . . and was a favorite for caterers too for wedding receptions that wanted "something safe". A fine entrance into marriage - a "safe" dinner. It becomes quite dangerous after that dinner for all the ensuing time. ........................................ Did your son enjoy the Chicken a la King, Glorified Rice? I think my kids probably would.

What's astonishing is what a bad rep Chicken a la King has developed over the years. It probably has as bad a rep or even worse than most County Commissioners.

From "Rare Bits, Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes" (Ohio University Press 1998) author Patricia Bunning Stevens offers the information that although "Chicken a la King" is often associated with James Keene (Claridges, after his horse won the Grand Prix) or Foxhall E. Keene (Delmonico's, Wall Street broker) with the presumption that the name softened into "a la King" over time, that a better case can be made for a fellow named E. Clark King who owned The Brighton Beach Hotel when it was a fashionable resort for Manhattanites around the turn of the 20th century. George Greenwald, the chef, put the dish together one night and offered it to E. Clark King and his wife for dinner who liked it very much. They then put it on the menu as "Chicken a la King" at the price of one dollar and twenty five cents. So your presumption is correct, Glorified Rice. For we know that all vacationing Manhattanites are kings. P.S. That's funny, SB. We were both answering the question at the same time.

Unless you're from Maine. In that case, you have to eat B&M Baked Beans. Or they'd have to kill you.

Those burn scars do heal. It does take time, though. I have several from a long time ago, from pouring searing hot butter onto my upper arm when a large sheetpan filled with filo-based strudels tipped sideways when I was taking it out of a big convection oven that was taller than I was. There were two large white stripes sticking out of my freckles for about ten or twelve years or so. It was something useful to entertain children with at the time though (as kids think this sort of thing is really cool and gross) along with the usual trick of showing them how to (pretend) remove their thumbs.

You are both brave and good to do this, Ellen, regardless of whether you were looking for a new living situation or not. I think that it will be more difficult for you to deal with the issues of his health, particularly the dementia, long-term - than it will be for you to deal with the cooking part (my opinion is based on having been around more than one elderly person who suffered from dementia along with Alheimer's etc.). The foods that he enjoys, the canned foods and the familiar flavors . . . whether it is not-as-good-tasting or quality as fresh . . . are something that he has to hold on to as a firmament of who he is while some other things are slipping away. It may be that he will try some new things, but there may be times when he simply does not want to. I hope that you will find a "care-givers" course or group in your area to be with if you want to while you are doing this, as it is not just nothing, this part of it. ............................. Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Here's more: Scallops in Bacon Rice Pudding Strawberry Shortcake Blueberry Pie I wonder if he would like Blintzes?

As Margo just said - get your hands on a copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook (AKA Boston Cooking School). Every New Englander is issued a copy at birth. ← Or James Beard's "American Food" which I don't have a copy of anymore but which is stock-full of this type of recipe. .................................. I may have to borrow your guy, Ellen. My file keeps churning out more ideas. Strange. I hope this is the end of it. Creamed Mushrooms on Toast Grilled Bologna Sandwiches Sole or Flounder Stuffed with Crabmeat Chicken Noodle Soup (Maybe) Spinach Salad (small portion) Wilted, with Bacon and HB Egg. Served with Cornbread Potato Pancakes with Applesauce and Sour Cream Chicken Chausseur Meatloaf Peas in any way Carrots in any way Peas and Carrots together in any way Devilled Ham Sandwich Coddled Eggs with Toast (some fresh snipped herbs and cream on top perhaps?) Phew. Wierd. I have no ideas where these ideas are coming from. Maybe all these years I have been an old (New England) guy myself just masquerading as me.

I seem to have a built-in file of old-guy New England recipes in my head. Welsh Rabbit Stuffed Peppers Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (made with Lipton's Onion Soup and Cambells' Cream of Mushroom Soup spread on the roast as it cooks ) Sauerbraten with Red Cabbage and Potato Dumplings Spaetzle Fruit Cobblers Apple Crisp BLT Egg Salad Sandwich (you might be able to add a touch of curry here, Ellen ) Country Captain Cold Poached Salmon with Mustard Mayo - plain cucumber and tomato slices to garnish Shrimp Cocktail Shrimp Salad Stuffed Tomatoes Potato Soup Shrimp in Lobster Sauce

Vegetable Soup Corn Chowder Senate Bean Soup Popovers Well-Chopped Chef's Salad Waldorf Salad Baked Glazed Ham Succotash New England Boiled Dinner (pronounce that "dinnah", please ) Codfish Cakes

I can't believe you found that! Fantastic name, isn't it.

Eh. Baited and hooked I was, and the worm was worth it. Fabulous story, Rogov. Oh my heart hurts. Yes, yes, the idea exactly! Impetuous fellow, wasn't he. Determined to strike the last blow, too. I have to admit being curious as to what he looked like. Mmm. The Right Thing to Do, absolutely. And I have to admit there is nothing as wonderful as being an executive chef with a more-than-ample budget. Kissing chefs brings you closer to heaven, you know - as well as does bringing nice young women good things to eat. The challenges of cooking (and dining) "fully kosher" are certainly challenging in many ways. I can only speak as an outsider, with great respect for it being done (as Fat Guy noted in his post):

As with many things, it's how you look at it. Our culture in the United States is very different from many other cultures where the concepts of what children are and what they are supposed to do and be takes a different shape. Our concepts of the places that both old people and children can inhabit in the fullness of our lives has taken a very different shape. We tend to outsource rather than to gather close. My concept of this whole thing had a different shape when I was in my twenties and thirties, it had a different shape before I had my own children, it had a different shape before I had the chance to travel to and live in different countries that had alternate ways of composing their lives in these categories of children and old people. Our concept of family is very different than many other places, and that has an affect on how this plays out. Our support systems are different (or in some cases, nonexistent as compared to other places). The interesting thing about setting people into groups is that sooner or later, if one happens to fall into the group that one is setting into a particular form of desired/designed behavior - one will then have to face living up to the rules one has idealized as right for others. And of course, no path is ever as clear-cut when one has to face it themselves. Children, old people who are not as attractive as they were when young, sick people who are not as pleasant to be around as when they were healthy - we all can be these things or can have to deal with these things at the drop of an unexpected hat (though youth sometimes does not see this as clearly as those who carry more years). Whatever it is that a person votes for someone else to have exclusion from, they may have to face living that exclusion at some time in their lives themselves, whether they like it or not.

You must have forgotten two important sayings, sazji, due to lack of sleep. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Pretty is as pretty does. Dangerous kitchen activity perhaps, but certainly not unbecoming.

Buy the best pair of comfortable shoes you can afford. No. Change that to buy the best pair of comfortable shoes that you can not afford. Because sometimes the only thing that will keep you going is that pair of shoes.

That's always a problem with puff pastry things - perfect temperature from start to end - isn't it. Hmmm. If your daughter learns to make a Pithiviers, and my son does too, then the only thing they would have to argue about is whose would get served first.

Sliding sideways into the arena of people in politics rather than people at home there is a fantastic article about choices and how they can be affected by "daily life" in the realm of following a religion's laws on food in the latest issue of Gastronomica. This article is one that has been published online - here's the link to "How Caviar Turned Out to Be Halal" by H.E. Chehabi. Reminds me of the saying about laws and sausages.

Ah, Tepee. Even with all the imperfections you claim above it turned out gasp-producing. My thirteen year old son just walked by the computer and saw the photo and almost ran to my side, with a huge "Oh!". I can taste it now, looking at your picture. Fabulous.

Here is a topic on American food that offers some thoughts.

You are such a charming flirt Rogov. Of course we all want to hear the story. P.S. I can't believe foie gras ended up in a trash can! (Unless the trash can was well-lined with a clean bag for some cook to later remove and smuggle that foie out and home. Or maybe the kitchen staff had a feast . . . it's just inconceivable that it would be destroyed without anyone interceding. )

My first job as a chef was at a commodities firm (precious metals and coffee) on Wall Street. Everyone there was Jewish. Or close to it, but the partners whom I fed each day were all Jewish. They each had their own version of your story of "kosher city house not so kosher summer house" at differing levels, depending on where they laid down their cards in their conceptions of keeping kosher and how and when. One would keep totally strict kosher at home *unless* there were important guests to dinner and then all rules went out the window. (Imagine the organization that must have gone into that home kitchen . . . yes, he had a private chef.) He would be semi-kosher at work, with things that he would eat and things he would not. Another one had one day a week where he wanted kosher food served as close to the way it should be as possible in a kitchen that was not "legally" kosher. Another guy was more strict on a daily basis, keeping as close to the rules as possible including eating only approved foods on paper plates. There could be as many as six guys at the same table at lunch, each with their own personal (and very important to them) variation on what they would allow to be placed before them. It was great fun to try to fulfill everyone's personal wishes. One of the guys told me a story one day, a parable. He was the one that kept to the rules as fastidiously as possible and he was goofing on one of the other guys that did not follow the rules so closely. I loved this guy - he was probably the sanest of the bunch though they were all brilliant in their own fashions. "I had an uncle who hated fish", he said. "This was hard on him for so often he would be offered fish and he would have to refuse it and starve for the meal while everyone else was eating. He had been like this for years - keeping to the rules of kashrut and suffering his hunger when fish was served as something that was his burden to bear. One day he went to dinner at an acquaintances' home. He had told the fellow that he could only eat kosher food and the fellow had assured him that a kosher meal would be served. He hadn't told the fellow that he hated fish and when the entree was served, it was fish. Bluefish it was. But he had never smelled any fish that had this marvellous aroma. The plate was set down before him and he stared at it as the wondrous smell wafted from the fish towards him. He decided, against his better judgement, to take a bite. He loved it. This was the most delicious fish he had ever tasted and it was totally astonishing to him. Again and again, his fork bit into the flaky rich fish and he had gobbled up the whole thing before he knew it. When he went home that night, he wrote a note to his host thanking him for the meal and asking him if he could have the recipe for that fish if possible. The recipe was sent soon after, and when he read it he was shocked. This fish had been baked with bacon. The bacon had been removed from the fish before serving - it was only used for basting. Apparently the cook did not know that bacon on top of a kosher fish would render it non-kosher. His mind was in turmoil. He had eaten something trayfe. He had never done this before. But this was the first time he had loved fish and he had *really* loved it. His mind was finally decided. He would keep this recipe, and he would have it made for him by his cook and he would eat it. The reasoning behind this was that as long as he did not *see* the bacon, as long as he did not put the bacon in his mouth, it was not there, really. And God would want him to enjoy this fish." I've thought of this story as the Parable of The Bluefish and The Bacon ever since he told it to me. I don't know if it was a "true" story or not. But who cares? It begs the question of what is real and how we each define our own realities. Is it *not* there if you can't see it, or if someone else can't see it? The mind is a fascinating tool that creates many answers.

Yes, absolutely. Like liquor with a person, the tolerance level of corn cob and dog should be known. And like with a person, the owner should always be consulted before plying with these things.

I wish you the best of luck with your endeavor, Pam. Here we have several places that help people do this sort of thing - here's a link for one of them, which is through the Cooperative Extension. Some very nice success stories. The other option is to look for "Small Business Incubators" which are run through different government programs - they do basically the same things as the program listed above. (In this area there is one in Radford, Virginia - linked to Radford University - it is also very well regarded and very helpful.)