M. Lucia

Thanks for the suggestions, I, too, am suddenly enamoured by the idea of pom. curd! For the dacquoise, I think doing both the curd and a pastry cream would be too soft. So I could do pistachio meringue, pom curd, with white chocolate shavings, etc. Or, pistachio meringue, pom jelly, and this good cream cheese pastry cream I make. Will mull it over, in the meantime, keep the ideas coming!

I was thinking up ideas for a holiday dessert, and I love macaroons and dacquoise, so I thought what about a pistachio-pomegranate dacquoise. I want it to be red and green for the holidays. My first thought was: pistachio meringue pomegranate pastry cream drizzle of white chocolate and sprinkle of pom seeds and pistachios repeat layers But then, can you make a pom. pastry cream? Obviously pomegranate juice would thin it out too much, and pom. molasses might be too strong. Hmmm... So my second thought was: pistachio meringue, pomegranate jelly, white chocolate or cream cheese pastry cream, sprinkles of nuts and pom. seeds. That still keeps the holiday colors, but I am sort of attached to the idea of some sort of red cream. Anyway, if anyone has any advice on how to construct this dessert, or any of it's components, I could use some advice and suggestions. Many thanks!

I love the previously mentioned khorest-e fasenjan, with either duck or chicken. And salads, like mache, pink grapefruit, and pomegranate with champagne vinagrette. Gourmet/Epicurious has a nice, though complicated, pomegranate gravy. This Pomegranate Eggplant Relish is excellent. And this isn't savory, but I love to simply coat little bunches of pomegranate seeds in chocolate. When you bite into the chocolates to pomegranate juices burst nicely. Did you know pomegranate seeds are called arils?

What a loquacious bird. In Arabic "bidee" means I want, I always hear bratty Damascene kids squaking biddee this and biddee that. So when I first read your post I thought your parrot was saying 'I want,' or wanting to eat the other animals, eek.

Use way less cream, you don't need all that liquid. I would reduce the cream by 1/3 or even half, but still bake it covered so the top doesn't dry out.

My first thought was macarons as well, but perhaps a bit fussy if you haven't done them before. What about a lemon tart, Or clafoutis or far breton? Try checking out some of Clothide's creations at Chocolate and Zucchini.

Rachel, I always enjoyed your posts, but I never realized what a treasure was behind them. You are truly articulate and your writing demonstrates a unique ability to pull stories and emotions through the medium of food. Having returned to the U.S. after a year abroad, I can't tell you how excited I am to have a Southern Thanksgiving, tomato aspic, cornbread dressing, pie and all. I am so pleased you have chosen to share your holiday with all of us, and I will be checking in regularly. Just as you have made us guests at your table, I will consider you part of ours...

I love the white whole wheat flour, and have used it in many breads, quick breads, and even tart shells. I never noticed a 'funny' taste. However, I would agree that for cakes would go with whole wheat pastry flour.

Thanks for the suggestions, to clarify I meant a store, not a restaurant. I suppose I could succomb and buy raw peanuts and make them myself, now to find raw peanuts... In the meantime, will call the recommended shop above.

Hope this helps: Gingerbread Cheesecake 2 lb cream cheese 4 eggs 1 cup brown sugar 1 tbl chopped crystallized ginger 1/4 cup molasses 2 tbl butter 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp each cloves and nutmeg 1/4 cup flour crust of choice Put brown sugar and crystallized ginger in food processor and process to chop up ginger. Add the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and flour and pulse to combine. Put the molasses in a small saucepan and heat to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the eggs. Add the sugar mixture and molasses. Pour filling into a springform tin with your par-baked crust. Bake 350 degrees 1+ hour or until set.

I was perusing the new Lee Bros. cookbook and have a sudden craving for boiled peanuts. Once, long ago, I actually ordered raw peanuts from the Lee Bros. company, before they were famous, and made a huge vat of them. Anyway, I am wondering if there is anywhere in New York that sells them (preferably homemade)?

Just a thought that came to mind, In Turkey they make a dessert chicken breast pudding, I always thought it sounded gross, but people really love it. Seems like a homestyle type dish, but perhaps has the potential to be gussied up. And clearly fits the animal component. Chicken Breast Pudding Tavuk Gogsi I'm going to southern Turkey next week on holiday, maybe I'll check it out (I'm currently posted in Syria, hence my eG absence).

Finally! And close to home too!

400 pages and counting! I've been too busy to post recently, but I have been cooking. What lovely meals everyone's been making here. Some highlights from the week include: ginger-port grilled cornish hens with mushrooms over creamy polenta curry tiger prawns over coconut rice warm radicchio, lentil, pear and gorgonzola salad creamy white beans chocolate fallen souffle cake (flourless choc. cake, aka gateau au chocolat moelleux) homemade ny style cheesecake and inspired by alinka's beautiful cookies: christmas cookies (the royal icing is flying!)

Yes, the Korova cookie dough is really crumbly. When you slice the logs the cookies should generally hold together, but some pieces might crumble off, just stick them back on. Don't worry, they are delicious!

^ Kangaroo, we don't get that 'round here! Welcome back Klary. Tonight's dinner was rum-pineapple chicken breasts served with tostones- my first time cooking with plantains, everything came out well. I don't normally cook Carribbean and it was nice and warming after coming home in the sleet. I can't believe the tart from yesterday is already gone, so I made individual butterscotch meringue pies.

Yes, you must do brandade de morue, I love the stuff. I also love bunelos de bacalao (cod-potato fritters). You could probably use leftover brandade to make fritters, I think the key to lightness is to beat the egg whites for the fritters. Check out Portuguese recipes, I have had some nice salt cod at the restaurant Alfama. Also, the Portuguese recipes on Leite's Culinaria have lots of salt cod recipes. Looking forward to more!

Elie, that cornbread technique sounds interesting (the soaking), I will have to try it. Mooshmouse, thank you for a peak into your dinner making process, sounds like you have a good little cook in the making! Dinner here was creamy polenta topped with a ragout of spinach, kale, and puy lentils. Dessert will be Cranberry Eggnog Tart, this is fabulous, I've already had some afternoon nibbles!

Cod-potato fritters served with tahini (I didn't have mayo) and beet salad. Brown sugar rum sauteed pineapple with mascarpone.

I used to wish I lived in a doorman building, but I've switched to wishing I was Daniel's doorman! After eating out for several days (some great nyc meals), it's back to the kitchen. Tonight's dinner was pear/blue cheese tart with a cornmeal crust. It was going to be a mushroom/blue cheese tart but I didn't have time to go to the grocery, so I had some pears on hand. It came out excellent and I'll definitely make it again, maybe add some dried cranberries for granish. Later will be something I call "oreo dessert," sweetened cream cheese and crushed chocolate cookies, then fold in a bunch of whipped creme. Call it 'cookies and cream mousse' if you want to impress people.

I've made cinnamon and cardamom ice creams, both very good, so why not nutmeg. You could add a few extra egg yolks and some brandy/rum and have eggnog ice cream.

Sweet potato biscuits used for sandwiches with country ham and cranberry sauce. Oreo cheesecake for dessert.

I assumed powdered egg whites would be fine, too, as I have baked with them frequently. But after making 5 souffles in the past 3 days, the verdict is no. Every time I added the bechamel to the beaten powdered whites they deflated immediately. I let the whites sit to encorporate and they weren't overbeaten. And when I say deflated I mean a fizzing reaction resulting in a completely liquid-y mixture. I can't see an explanation but the evidence was pretty conclusive. In a side by side test with fresh egg whites, both beaten to peaks, the fresh whites made a nice puffed souffle and the powdered whites had no rise whatsoever. So lesson learned: don't make souffles with powdered egg whites. (I did make some meringues with leftover powdered egg whites, so they still worked in other applications, and I've used them in sweet fruit-based souffles) Thanks for the advice everyone.

Chufi, this is such an excellent thread thanks to your work. My thoughts will be with you and I look forward to your healthy return!

I was just going to add that there is a very similar thing in Lebanon, which translates as "slave heads," to be even more un-pc. They are usually available in summer and they come in two forms: in a sort of marshmallow creme or in ice cream. Sugarella, bless you for trying to be gracious, but "tetes des negres," in my reading, means heads of negroes. It's definitely not politically correct, and the reading you give it would use different vocab. I think the difference may be in what some people consider offensive.