Carrot Top

And Fifi's mention of eggplant just reminded me of wonderful caponata. Easy to make and it is the season right now! Caponata bruschetta. . .caponata tossed into hot rigatoni with a shaving of parmesan. . .caponata with ham in a sandwich. . .oooooh!

So what's the scoop with the Cornell study? It seems to be a little off from the reality we are hearing here. Oh. My opinion is that touching someone who you are serving is inappropiate and over-familiar (old-fashioned term, that, what. . . ) unless you work at a strip club.

All I seem to talk about is roast pork lately. What does that mean? Anyway. Roast pork. As easy to make as a roast chicken and twice as good. If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, you can have a cubano (Cuban sandwich) for supper the next day with some black bean soup (which of course you have made ahead and frozen ) and some dulche de leche ice cream for dessert and if there are any bits left over after that, travel on to Chinese food the next day for roast pork lo mein with a starter of (so-easy-to-make) egg drop soup with maybe some lychees, strawberries and almond cookies for dessert.

Why, yes, crinoidgirl. I must admit to having an almost unbearably strong urge to change my "signature" to the line "Nobody ever erected a statue to a critic" last night. But that happens to me every once in a while. I took myself by the ear and gasping for air through a haze of enthusiam to make my point known while attempting to be subtle about it, posted instead the one below, which is a rather obtuse attempt to show a Zen-like appreciation of the subtleties of the situation. But do let's click a glass together on your thought above.

What a shame. And nary a server to deny it? Well, best wishes anyway to those who decided to leave Per Se for the undoubtedly higher wages and better self-image they surely will find elsewhere. Did we ever hear where it was they were going? Or was the thing so terrible to bear that they just had to leave. . .new job offer in the wings or not?

Sad thing is, that there are no real butchers here where I live. And no, it is not the boondocks either. The "butchers" work in grocery stores and in the past it has been shown that I have to give them very specific directions to the point of diagrams drawn on even minor things such as how to butterfly a leg of lamb. Doesn't surprise me, though. The "chef" at the local Japanese steakhouse did not know what I was talking about when I mentioned Kobe beef to him, either. Yes, a strange world. Ah, you lucky city folk!

Sounds like you grew up in my house! Family dinners were also where my sisters and I got a head start on some nice eating disorders, since we were always being yelled at to eat either more or less or forced to eat something we didn't like. (There wasn't a picky eater among us but some of the food was just gross.) If I had kids now, we'd all sit down to dinner once in a while but I would go out of my way to avoid repeating that rouine. ← Ouch. Yes, your stories are making my tummy hurt. My childhood dinner table memories are of total silence while at the table with my mother who never spoke. The plates had a piece of overdone meat and some sort of canned vegetable. Once in a while an iceberg salad with Catalina dressing. Once in a while spagetti, which was good. It actually frightened me when I made friends and started eating at their homes at the elementary school age. So much stuff was going on! I did not know how to eat a baked potato and watched in awe as they did it. I was stunned by the fact of their fathers who were definitely "father figures" besides being fathers at the head of the table. So gruff and masculine. Startling. At home, I took to bringing a book to the table with me and reading while eating. My mother did not mind. .................................................................. Yes, there are some odd stories of families at table. ................................................................. In my own case, I must say that it did not strike me too oddly that this was the way it was when I was a child. It started to sink in as other ways were shown to me. Finally, in my mother's defense, I must add that her behavior very well might have been due to undiagnosed depression. In those days, not much was known of these sorts of things, and people just lived with what happened. ................................................................... Most people do the best they can, I guess, within our own individual limitations.

Well, dear. Let your imagination run free! Let it take you wherever you wish to go!

Yes, of course, you are right! Blinded by the glamour of it all I was. I still do wonder, though, Pam, if there would be a taste difference between the Wagyu and the "usual". I always seek as interest the small detail of care (such as feed or housing or whatever) to see whether it does end up showing up in quality or taste or not. Just out of curiosity. I like the idea of inter-connectedness and am always trying to prove it. Doesn't always work though.

Well. . .for you people with the problem that your (insert appropriate capital initials or defining-type name here ) leave stuff all over the countertops when they come home, there is always the solution of redirection, isn't there? Just buy some of those velvet ropes they use to force people to stay in line at theatres and banks. Make sure they match the decor of your house, right color and texture and all. Hook 'em up before they get home in a path that leads directly to the spot where they are supposed to put their junk. Do not allow unhooking of ropes till task is done. Simple, no? Behavioral technique. Just like rats. Or dogs or pigs, for that matter.

Not a cure-all. Nothing is a cure-all for anything, is it? But all time spent with one's children gives rewards of all varieties both in the present and for the future, is my personal feeling. Even though one might want to run away from the sibling bickering often. As for the second question, if there is only one parent in the family, then it must be a family meal, for that is the family.

From a purely practical viewpoint, I am happy to hear this. More Wagyu all around, more good trade opportunities. On the other hand, I am somewhat saddened. It seemed somehow "right" that to give such kindness to an animal before eating it would be rewarded with more delicious taste. Oh well. I guess it is never that simple, is it. Looking forward to hearing of your next adventure with the brisket. Do keep us posted!

Whoa. Definitely some New Age guys there. Well. You and the kids can pack lunch this week, no?

Have you ever noticed that people with "to die for kitchens" rarely ever cook? At least the people I know don't. I have this next door neighbor, Phil, who has the AWESOMEST kitchen....including a commercial gas cooktop/oven. But he doesn't even KNOW HOW TO COOK. He comes to my deli for takeout......all the time....... ← Yeah. It's a "style thing". I have known people like this who use the excuse that putting together a kitchen of this sort "improves the real estate value". Okay. Who needs real estate value when you can have a good home cooked dinner is my feeling, but. . after years of things like this bothering me, at some point I just gave up. Really, I am getting spooked though on eG today. Just after reading this thread, I went on to the "supermarket duh's thread" and the world is beginning to take on Twilight Zone dimensions. I had intended to go grocery shopping then cook, but now I think I'll take a nap and hide in the house instead. AND avoid on-line shopping!

This is obviously what a person needs to buy to hang on their front door if there is a Sub-Zero refrigerator in the kitchen. Just to set the right mood, you know. A little touch of autumn leaves twisted alongside, some pine tree bits, maybe a touch of heather or gorse or fraise de bois in the summertime et voila! One knows Ones Place in Life.

Yes. I would make a meal of eggplant caviar if it were here in front of me. Oh yes.

I am curious, raxelita. Was there a stable team at Per Se with the servers according to the people you know who quit? And also curious to know where they are going to next. . .?

*If* (and to my mind that is a big "if" in the likes of a place like Per Se) there were servers who were performing at a much higher or at a much lower level than their peers, then that would have been not only inappropriate for this level of dining but also would reflect very poor management. My feeling is that indeed, there may have been a "team" of sorts existing there in the first place. A team of professional service people that are dedicated to this field. (It does happen, though it requires a consistent effort made by management through training and support in daily team-building, too.) The formalization of the service charge will guarantee a steady and reliable income to all members of this team as long as they hit the levels of performance they are supposed to, which is "high". Beyond that, it seems it might ensure them some benefits such as health insurance also. What could be wrong with that?

Try here. I've ordered several briskets from these folks and they have been outstanding. The taste and tenderness is incomparable. Once you try one you won't settle for anything less. And, at $2.95 a pound, they're a real bargain. There is a shipping and container charge however. ← That is a very nice link, dls, and I for one will definitely try ordering from them, as the area I live in has little to offer in this way. I wonder if the Kobe beef that they are producing would have any discernible difference in flavor or texture than the Japanese Kobe beef, as the "extras" like massaging the cow are not done here. Interesting. . .

I am sorry if I sounded brusque or dismissive last night. This morning, let me put my thoughts in better order: The person who wrote that real-life little vignette in "Seasoning of a Chef" has probably been asked a thousand times by people "not in the business" for stories of "what it is like in the business". People are hungry for these little stories. Personally I do not think that means that they have crossed the line to insipid over-sentimentality and dreadful heavy romanticism of the life of a chef, the life of One Who Cooks. It just means they are hungry for stories. Stories serve a need in the human mind and heart just as science serves a need in human existence. Indeed, I am sure that stories serve the greatest need, in this thing that we call the human heart or "soul" or spirit or whatever other words one wants to apply to it. Not everything in life is a symphony, either. Most of it, is not. It is silly little tunes, some of which make no great sense and that are of no great importance. That's okay by me. I would not demand a symphony of life daily for then it might demand a symphony from me right back. project, you sound like a very well-educated person and one who cares deeply about learning the ways of cookery. If I were someone wanting to learn to cook, personally I would start by reading an older version of Larousse Gastronomique from cover to cover without missing an entry. The next book I would head to would be one of the older Julia Child ones wherein she gives step-by-step instructions. This worked for me. Of course, there are many more books and ways (this would likely be a good thread for eGullet. . .the best books to learn to cook from! everyone has their favorites) but of course the thing is a process. It doesn't get learned with one book, one semester, one course. But if you do it each day, not thinking about it too much but just letting your hands do most of the work, it will happen. And again, I am sorry if I was rude. Karen

Sigh. Please go have a nice glass of wine, project. ( back to you.)

project. . .to my mind, it was a story. A simple story, which I have the right to enjoy just as a story, without the angry intellectual hyperbole that might be wished upon it. I also have the right to not enjoy it, as you obviously did not. But it might be a bit unfair to take a piece of work that someone created for another persons pleasure, as well as possibly for a paycheck, and trash it because it does not do for you whatever it is that you seek from it. . .which is apparently teach you how to cook. Perhaps you should have tried the route I did. Drop out of school in the beginning of the ninth grade, somehow find the right books to read to self-educate, do so, and end up as an Executive Chef who not only figured out how to cook but also how not to be angry at the world. Best of luck. There are lots of libraries, lots of bookstores. Perhaps it would be a better use of your time to go find a book you might like than to trash those that don't appeal to your intellectual vigor.

All's well that ends well and here's to new beginnings, Carolyn. Cheers and bon chance!

Alleuluia, Mayhaw Man. You can't argue with New Orleans any more than you can argue with mathematics. It just Is.

I've heard good things about those guys too. But when I first read your post, I thought you were talking about bonefish the fish itself (which is a semi-game fish you catch with a spinning reel in coral reef shallows in the Florida Keys). Wonder how and why they chose that name. Marketing studies or something? Why "bonefish"? At first you would think it would turn off the average customer. "Bony" and "fish", the ideas, together. Never mind. . .I'm just ranting on about words as usual. Carry on.