M. Lucia

^ What a lovely dinner! It is nice to see some vegetarian fare here! Dinner here was spinach, pea and red pepper timbales, radish/lettuce salad and potato bread Dessert: milk chocolate ice cream and glaceed chestnuts (both homemade)

So I consider myself a pretty confident souffle maker. I make both sweet and savory souffles, in both large individual sizes, quite frequently. Today I made a blue cheese souffle and not having eggs, I skipped the yolks and used powdered egg whites. As soon as I added the bechamel to the beaten whites they began to deflate. I had a feeling this was a failure but I baked it anyway, and sure enough there was no rise to the souffle. I tasty little cheese egg bake, but no souffle. Not one to be thwarted, I tried again. I have made yolk-less souffles many times so I'm pretty sure that is not the problem. The second time I was super careful about everything- made my roux, added whole milk, and plenty of blue cheese to make it thick. The whites looked just like regular whites, stiffly beaten. I let the cheese sauce cool slightly b/c I didn't want the heat of the cheese mixture to deflate the beaten whites. I still had the same problem, no souffle. So was it the powdered egg whites? Have you made savory souffles with powdered egg whites?

haha, I had this terrible image of my little grandma in the kitchen rolling empanadas Dinner here was: - spice-rubbed grilled quail with rose petal jam (inspired by the Moro cookbook and done on a little indoor grill) -served with mushy peas and couscous this is my new favorite way to do quail (they also are really good flattened in a panini press or George Foreman grill)

I have used this recipe quite successfully: Homemade Graham Crackers (from Wayne Harley Brachman) King Arthur is also a good source: KA Graham Crackers

Daniel, those empanadas are making me nostalgic for some Argentine home-cooking, and that rum cake looks fabulous. Susan, that grits recipe looks like it could have been pulled from my mums file- down to the hand-writing and the notecard. Plus she's from the south... Elie, you have the most adorable pasta helper! Dinner here was simple: peas and potatoes masala with red rice and yogurt. Dessert will be from the big tin of shortbread sent to me by my boyfriend's Scottish mother :-)

Plenty of Pecan pie (with bourbon whipped cream), plus cranberry-apple crisp (with cinnamon ice cream). We usually have cookies or candy as favors (I might do ginger-molasses if there's time).

Last night I made one of my all time favorite soups: Chestnut Soup with Armagnac Prunes. I simplify the original recipe, and it is still outstanding. The house had this lovely mapley-woodsy smell to it. Served with some rye toast and followed by some comte cheese. Oh and Susan, the dark bread you were looking for (I think in the breakfast thread). Is it thinly sliced like the Mestermacher brand you buy here?

Oh, how wonderful that you are blogging again. As if this week weren't dedicated to food already, it can only get better with your special French twist. How is the turkey availability over there? I remember it being difficult to procure a whole one when we lived in Aix. P.S. Can I join the fan club? I'm useful for bakesales.

Wow, everything is so beautiful. It reminds me of the island we go to in Maine (where the only internet service is at the little library and therre are only 2 phones for the whole place). And what a great kitchen! Thank you for sharing, all the work you put into this has made it a rewarding experience for all us who get a peak into your lovely life.

I'm not a beer drinker at all but let me add my own worst beer experience. Local beer in Homs, Syria. I swear it was aged with rusty nails in it, because that's how it tasted. The worst part was that it did still taste like beer, just everything about beer gone terribly wrong. However, lest the region get a bad rap, the Lebanese beer Al Maza is quite decent.

Elie, I always wanted to try that beet cake, but who knew it would come out so red! Tonight for dinner I adapted this recipe for Wild Rice and Chestnut Salad. I made a salad of wild rice, fresh chestnuts, radishes, cortland apples and some shredded spinach for garnish. Dessert is apple galette served with coffee frozen yogurt and pistachios. It is so pretty- too bad I am too lazy/busy to ever take pictures.

Rachel, those pistachio-pomegranate tarts were actually a way of using up leftovers. I had pistachio meringue disks in the freezer and a pomegranate in the fridge. I picked up some figs when I saw them in the store and I whipped some cream and added some orange-flower water since I had a sort of Middle Eastern theme, and dessert was served. As for tonight's dinner, it has a little story: I have all this pomegranate I've been trying to use up, and there's this recipe for Khoresh-e Fesenjan I've been wanting to try but I never get around to it. So I'm doing some research today reading the riveting "Social Life Under the Abbasids," and there is a whole chapter on cooking. Of course, I have to read it, and it even has recipe guidelines from 9th century Baghdad. And it describes a dish of meat cooked in pomegranate and walnut sauce (ie khoresh). So I knew I had to make it. I chose to make it with duck, but it can also be done with chicken. It's basically duck breasts stewed in a pomegranate-walnut sauce. It was soooo good, even better than expected. Served with my favorite chelow rice. Ok, I admit it, I'm a total nerd and I might be taking my research a little too seriously, but it was fun.

My recipe has similar proportions to yours and uses 2 eggs. So yes, try adding another egg. Also, why are you using bread flour? I would try using all purpose. And make sure you aren't over-baking them. hope that helps

Abra, your blog is off to such an endearing start: the beautiful scenery, drool-enducing barbeque, last-minute drama, elegant food, and funny kids... I look forward to more!

Simply a big bowl of braised brussel sprouts and chestnuts with some good whole wheat bread. It was my first time preparing fresh chestnuts (the store was out of bottled) and I have to say it was a lot easier than I anticipated. That said, I do have one unhappy thumbnail. dessert: pistachio-pomegranate meringue tarts with figs and orange-flower cream

Anson Mills grits

yesterday: pomegranate martinis a big bowl of braised baby brussel sprouts with pancetta and cheddar biscuits (oh how i love brussel sprouts, and now i'm craving chestnuts) chocolate-coconut tartlets from gale gand's recipe apple cider doughnuts midnight snack: caramel pudding :-) Daniel- I call that dessert lemon pudding cake, I love all kindsa pudding cakes, so comforting

The contraption you all are describing sounds really similar to the fish holders for the grill. I am thinking an eggplant would fit quite nicely in a small fish basket. (good idea, those tongs are always messy!)

of course, what they all said. i sometimes make a broccoli souffle with bechamel base: (roux, milk, cheese) add chopped broccoli and any spices, fold in egg whites, bake i also have a great recipe for apricot souffles it uses pureed dried apricots with liquer and orange juice and done with a pistachio topping

^Oh my!!! Tonight dessert is espresso granita with cocoa whipped cream. Someone keep me away from the leftover whipped cream.

I haven't had a chance to dig up my thumbprint recipe, but chefblue posted this recipe in another thread that is very similar. I hope he doesn't mind if I quote here: you can also just roll them into balls instead of piping and you can fill them with jam or caramel

Oh my, I can think of zillions of ideas. Hazelnut Torte 1 cup ground hazelnuts 1/4 cup flour pinch salt 6 eggs, separated 2/3 cup sugar Preheat oven to 325, grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Combine ground hazelnuts, flour, salt. In a bowl beat the egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar until thick (ribbon stage, 3-5 mins). Fold in the hazelnut mixture. Beat the egg whites until foamy, add the remaining sugar a little bit at a time and beat to soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Put batter into prepared pan and bake until top is beginning to brown, ~35 minutes. Run a knife arond the inside of the pan and let cool. The cake will sink, this is to be expected. Serve with whipped cream. Now, you can also sub the hazelnut flour for almond flour, which is called for in many European recipes. The first one that comes to mind is the super easy French cake Gateau au Yaourt, or yogurt cake. Or a simple Pear Cake. I bet Chufi would have other ideas, check her Dutch cooking thread. I also have an old recipe for hazelnut butter cookies, the thumbprint kind, that are yummy.

Oh my goodness, you go away for a few days and this thread grows exponentially. Patrick, gorgeous photos as usual- you always make the desserts I have on my list to try, it's like having a personal tester! LMF is a Keller-like miracle, Chufi does double duty with Dutch cooking and puff pastry extravaganzas, and Daniel makes cooking for a crowd look like a breeze. Alinka, I was going to say the exact same thing about Alfajores, they are a traditional Argentine cookie with dulce de leche filling. A common brand is Havanna. Dinner here was good old Italian: ravioli nudi (spinach dumplings) in tomato sauce. A side of cumin spiced ceci (chickpeas). Dessert will be homemade turron de yema. I finally ran out of the boxes I got last time I was in Barcelona and have tried to make my own, I have no idea how they will come out. (fyi: turron de yema is literally egg yolk nougat, but its more like marzipan with egg yolks and bruleed on top).

Eid Mubarak! Yetty, I always love seeing your dishes, in this case since I am more familiar with Levantine Ramadan preparations. So much to learn and try! Anyways, some highlights from the past few days, between reading/teaching Foucault and other such academic excitement: leftover risotto got turned into arancini I made ajo blanco ("white gazpacho"). I was a little heavy handed with the garlic- pass the mints please- but it didn't matter because I adore this soup, especially the texture. Yesterday a roasted squash and pomegranate salad that was delicious. Roasted Acorn squash rings, lettuces, pecans, pomegranate seeds, and a pomegranate molasses dressing. Dessert was homemade yogurt ginger scones. eta: nice job on the carbonara Megan, don't you love discovering a simple pleasing dish?

Ok, I'm confused by the term "english muffin bread." English muffins, as I know them, are a yeasted dough that is cooked on a griddle, not baked in a loaf. You get the "nooks and crannies" that Thomas' talks about. I have a nice recipe for "english muffin batter bread" which is a loaf bread that has a nice texture and flavor reminiscent of english muffins, but in loaf form. I think I may have repeated what is said before, but I wanted to clarify, are you looking for holes in a bread or in the traditional holey griddle-cooked muffin?