Chufi

ahh, that is a very good idea. Because mine really were very sweet - they needed a lot of salty pecorino to balance the sweetness. It would be better if the balance was already more in the stuffing. Luckylies, about how I shaped the ravioli, these things are so hard to explain in words. I recommend you check out Moby's course mentioned upthread, where you see it all explained in beautiful pictures.

thanks Moby! one other thing.. I used your recipe for the fava bean stuffing, only replaced the fava beans with peas (and added some mint). The great thing was, that after I had rerolled all the dough scraps for more tortelli, I had exactly used up all the filling! Usually when making recipes that require stuffing of any kind, I always end up having too much stuffing (or not enough). So I thought this was pretty amazing.

I make the pressed potatoes by pressing whole, just cooked potatoes (preferably small ones) between two plates until flat, then I bake them in the oven (drizzled with olive oil) until very crispy. like this: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=5867&st=7920

well, this thread inspired me to read Moby's course and that inpsired me to dig up my 10-year old, not much used pasta machine. I decided to spend the afternoon making tortelli. It took me about 2 hours to make the whole batch (400 grams flour). For the filling I mashed frozen peas with fresh mint, pecorino and ricotta. I froze almost the whole batch but ofcourse I had to try a couple: they are GREAT. the sweetness of the peas, the saltiness of the cheese, and the soft chewy firmness of the pasta... mmm.. (one thing though.. be prepared to take out the vacuumcleaner when you're done.. I had semolina everywhere)

These are the cans in my cupboard right now: Artichokes Tuna Anchovies Corned beef sweet corn Tomatoes Tomato puree Chickpeas Kidneybeans Chipotle in adobo sauce I also keep a few small cans with tomato soup because sometimes canned tomatosoup is the only thing that will do on a cold rainy afternoon (to eat in front of the tv)

First, some prawns cooked in garlic & chili olive oil. The prawns are cooked in the oven while swimming around in a pool of this oil. The oil gets the most fabulous taste.. you eat the prawns and then eat all the oil with good bread (if I have the day off, I will bake the bread myself). After that, the easiest and tastiest roast chicken: Marcella Hazan's chicken with lemons. Served with bunches of watercress and a bowl of roast green beans in balsamic vinaigrette. Maybe some polenta gnocchi on the side in case you have a really big appetite. Dessert.. I would love to make my lethal chocolate cake, but after the prawns and the chicken, that would indeed be dangerous. So instead something fruity.. in winter, quinces in red wine jelly. In summer, raspberries crushed with a little whipped cream and meringues.

that's exactly what I like about this blog: that your food does not look like diet food at all! I knew absolutely nothing about the WW system so thanks for enlightening me. it looks like you are eating very well!

I guess I was confused by the instructions in the course. This is what it said: To refresh the starter: 1 c sourdough starter 1 c Strong white bread flour 1 c water For the dough: 1 c refreshed sourdough starter 3 c Strong white bread flour. 1 c water (you may need more -- see below) 2 tsp salt It did not say what to do with the rest of the refreshed starter, after taking out the one cup for the dough. So I threw it out.. next time I will add it to the pot in the fridge. Seeing that picture of my bread, I am reminded I have to bake again. That starter is just sitting there in the fridge doing nothing!

so many great dinners! this was my dinner today - salmon cooked in the oven with parsley and sherry, cornmeal fryingpan cakes topped with creme fraiche mixed with chipotle chillies, leafy salad with chickpeas:

I just catered a wedding party and the most popular appetizer were the blini. I made the blini in advance (Martha Stewarts recipe) and froze them. Defrosted them on the day, and at the party, briefly reheated them in the oven, and topped them with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, chopped chives & spring onions, and some salmon roe (caviar would be even nicer but we were on a budget). The trays could not be replenished fast enough, everyone loved them. congratulations on your wedding!

My family consists if me and my husband. My husband has a 16-year old daughter who comes to stay on weekends. 1. In your family, do you cook dinner every single day of the week from scratch, or is there one or two days set aside each week during which time you prepare food in advance for the week? If you prepare things from scratch, are you able to prep some things in advance? I cook every day from scratch. I work parttime and on my days off and in the weekend, I sometimes cook in advance or I start dinner very early and do the prep work. When I have the time, I very much like to take it slow in the kitchen - put some music on.. relax. 2. In your family, who determines what to have for dinner? How frequently does this happen? To what extent are likes and dislikes taken into account when planning a menu? Will you go out of your way to accomodate food preferences such as vegetarianism? I decide what's for dinner but I do think about my husbands likes and dislikes. He loves plain white rice.. and I hate plain white rice. So I know what to cook if I want to make him really happy. When my stepdaughter eats with us, I always try to make something that I know she'll like. 3. Do you have a set repertoire from which to draw your meal ideas from? Do you routinely explore new things and ideas to expand your dinner repertoire? When you go food shopping, are you a coupon clipper or are you an impulse buyer? Do you shop for food once a week, or do you shop for ingredients as you need them? I am always reading cookery books and magazines looking out for new ideas. But sometimes seeing a beautiful pile of aubergines at the market can be the inspiration for a meal. And there are favorites that you just HAVE to have every now and then.. your own repertoire with recipes that get better and better every time you make them. I shop for food almost daily (which is much more common in the Netherlands then in the US I think). I go to a farmers market once a week, anoterh open air market twice a week, and the supermarket almost daily. 4. What gets discussed at the dinner table? Are there any topics that are considered off limits? When it's just me and my husband, sometimes we talk very little. We have nights when we are both very tired, when we like to eat a bowl of pasta in front of the tv. On other nights we discuss our day. When my stepdaughter is there or when we have friends over, I don't think there is any subject that I would consider off limits. Allthough I don't like it when discussions get very heated because it tends to take away the attention for the food. 5. Do you have a set dinner hour, or does it vary from evening to evening? When your family has dinner, does everyone join in at the table, or will some have dinner elsewhere in your home? How often are kids (or relatives, or neighbors) over to have dinner at your home? How often do you have guests (nonfamily/nonfamiliar) over for dinner? How often do you have dinner parties? Do you like to entertain? When you entertain, do you involve your children or not? we usually eat around 6:30. We both eat a very light lunch so we're usually pretty hungry by then! We have friends over for casual dinners very often, sometimes 2 times a week. Formal entertaining not so much allthough I like to do a big dinner every now and then. 6. How often do you introduce new food to your kids? Do you disguise it in such a way as to make it appealing, or are you pretty blatant about it? Are you a stickler for trying things out, or do you usually let things slide? because my stepdaughter does not live with us, I tend to make it easy for her foodwise and cook 'safe', which means things I know she'll like. At one point she did live with us (for a year), and then I did try to introduce her to new stuff - without much success. 7. If you have any dinner table traditions in your family not covered above or elsewhere, we'd love to hear them. we have two dinner tables: one in the kitchen and one in the living/dining room. Where we eat depends on my mood and the food I am cooking - when it is a bit more elaborate, or more then one course, I will set the table in the dining room. But we always light candles. And we always do the dishes after every meal. We don't have a dishwasher and I hate finding a sink full of dirty dishes first thing in the morning.

I have been taking Q10 for 2 years now. Before I took it, I had at least 4 severe colds a year that would often turn into a sinusitus. Since I started the Q10, I have not had a single cold. Sometimes I feel one coming on, but it disappears after a couple of days. I love the stuff! I am thinking about detoxing but so far, the only thing I am doing is trying to cook and eat without too much fat. No more desserts.. less alcohol.. more excercise. I know it's very far from real detox but I felt very virtuous eating my noodles with cabbage today!

I love soup! It's my ultimate comfort food - to cook as well as to eat. Today I made a simple beetroot-cucumber soup: some for dinner tomorrow, some for the freezer. When I see Jerusalem Artichoke at the market (which does not happen very often) I buy it for soup. Very simple: just sweat cubes of the Jerusalem artichoke in butter with an onion and some potato. Add light stock, boil until done, season with salt and pepper, puree. I think that is my favorite winter soup. The texture is unbelievably velvety and creamy.. the taste subtle and warming..

would that be the same thing as raisins? or am I lost in some dutch-french-english translation mess here? anyway.. this was our dinner: braised lamb with white beans spinach sauteed with red peppers and lots of garlic dessert: Nigella Lawson's clementine cake, which is (like she says herself) basically Claudia Roden's orange cake made with clementines:

percyn.. are you sure that steak is DEAD?? no seriously. That is some very tasty looking steak & fries.. Wish I could have some.. little miss foodie.. that artichoke dish looks so appetizing. But forgive my ignorance: what are raisons?

The wedding is over.. and it went really well. For weeks, I have been shopping, planning, cooking and freezing. The day before I was very nervous and worried. But it all went very well, people were happy and well fed, it was a great party. I made everything well in advance (including the croutons, thanks Rachel for the tip) except the biscotti which I made the day before, and they were the only item that I was not too happy with. On the night, I had help - 4 boys were in charge of opening the door, hanging coats,and all the drinks. I had 5 girls in the kitchen with me and I was so glad they were there. Feeding 120 people is very time consuming. The most fiddly thing to make were the blini - reheat pancakes, top with salmon, creme fraiche, chives, spring onions, salmon eggs. 200 times! here are a couple of the girls topping croutons with goats cheese, peppers in balsamic vinegar, and basil: throughout the house, there were several tables set like this, with salads, cheese boards, fish platters, ham, and quiches: The most hectic thing to do (which is why I don't have a pic of it) was plating more than 100 plates of choucroute with braised pheasant, mustard-spread rolls, and different kinds of pork. Also heating all that stuff on a small domestic hob was no easy thing. But.. it was a great experience and the happy faces of the bride and groom and the compliments of the guests made it all worth it!

my favorite dried porcini recipe: Slice up potatoes for a potato gratin. Layer in a buttered dish. Between every layer of potato, put the following: a dusting of chopped parsley a sprinkling of very finely chopped shallots some grated parmesan some slivers of garlic soaked porcini, chopped up salt and pepper. Instead of using cream for the gratin, use cream with some of the porcini soaking water (but 3/4 of the liquid should be cream). Dot with butter and bake. The potatoes and porcini are the stars here, but don't omit the parsley and shallot, they give the finished dish a great depth of flavor.

Marlene, I have been following this blog from the beginning and I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying it. Being from the Netherlands, I don't have much to say about gumbo, cornbread or fried chicken, so I can't contribute, but I am learning a lot here. Thank you for letting us all share your life and your cooking.

The trifle that I made out of a chocolate orange cake that looked ruined when it came out of the oven: the edges were burned and the center was still wobbly. So I cut out the center and cut off the edges. Was left with a sort of donut shaped cake thing. Sliced it, soaked the slices in orange liqueur, and layered those with bananas and home made custard. Topped with loads of whipped cream. It was the best trifle I ever made and maybe even one of the best desserts I ever made. Very christmassy taste and beautiful contrasting textures and flavors, yet very simple.

day-after-christmas party for 15: hors d'oeuvres - tuna balls, little salmon and avocado wraps, pressed baked potatoes with garlic-parsley mayo, toasts with gorgonzola/pine nut/basil spread. buffet - penne with butternut squash, sausage, porcini and rosemary slowroast tomatoes with tarragon panfried begian endive with balsamic vinegar sauteed courgettes with basil green salad with mustard vinaigrette dessert: chocolate banana trifle and cranberry ginger cake. The trifle looked very modest before I studded it with the white chocolate curls one guest brought as a gift!

oh I love these winter afternoons when you open a bottle of good wine and you have a pan of gamey loveliness simmering on the stove.. saturday dinner: braised pheasant with porcini and chestnut-mushroom sauce creamy gratin of swede and potato with bacon salad of baby leaves and radicchio to finish:

I have done catering for large parties before, but for some reason I was never very good at planning and preparing ahead. This time I am really doing it right. 200 blini are already in my freezer, as are 3 huge meatloaves. I am feeling soooo organized. I think that with the proper planning, advance preparation, enough storage space and (very important) enough helping hands to do last minute work and help you serve, almost anything can be done! I plan to take pics of some more of the preparation and of the day itself. If all goes well I will be very proud of myself and if all goes wrong.. you'll probably won't hear from me again..

Could it be a quince? ← no, a quince is a kweepeer in Dutch. It really is a type of pear, the variety is called Gieser Wildeman. Luckylies.. what a beautiful picture of the candlelit table and is that a fire in the background? And the rack looks great! and I want those oysters.. and those chanterelles.. pretty much everything I see on this thread, I want..

If you roast the beans, you could roast some red peppers with them. I am really urging you to try these roasted beans! Don't want to be pushy but you will not believe how great they taste! (ok I'll shut up about them now)

In Holland, it used to be the rule that catholics wore their weddingband on the left, protestants on the right. These days, everybody does just what they like.. anyway.. dinner last night: a pasta gratin with pumpkin, bacon, radicchio and lots of sage. Inspired by little ms foodies pasta with pumpkin further up this thread.. it was GREAT! The bitter radicchio was a great contrast to the sweetness of the pumpkin. Served with a salad dressed with pumkinseed-oil: dessert was stoofperen, I don't know how to translate, it's a pear that you can't eat raw. I stewed them in red wine with staranise and cinnamon, served with storebought custard and homemade biscotti: