LindaK

I've got a glass backsplash and I love it. I'd post a pic but mine are all mid-construction photos and my camera battery is dead at the moment. To clarify, mine is glass tile, 6x12" subway tiles. I love the look of one big glass sheet but those are really, really expensive custom products. Plus, I can't help but worry about any breakage. If one of my tiles gets cracked, no big deal. If you need an entire backspash replaced...$$$$...though they are made of tempered glass and tougher than you'd think. A couple of things I learned from my experience. Glass tiles or sheets are very tricky to install. Glass--even the back-painted glass that is standard for these installations--reflects every imperfection in the back mortar and grout. If those are not perfectly smooth, you'll see it. For that reason, installation is not the average DYI project. And professional installation for glass ends up being more expensive than standard tile because it takes more time. But lovely when it's done right.

The red lentil soup that I love so much comes from a small Turkish restaurant/take-out near my office, the Sultan's Kitchen. Luckily, the chef published an excellent cookbook some years ago, The Sultan's Kitchen, that includes the recipe. Easy and fantastic. According to the book, it was served at the James Beard award dinner in 1995. Totally worthy. Good dried mint makes all the difference.

Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad, p. 140 Lentil salad and tuna are two of my favorite things, so I’ve been anxious to try this recipe. Last weekend I finally replenished my stash of french lentils and got around to making the tuna confit. Though this recipe calls for canned tuna, I had leftover confit so I used it here. This is a delicious and unexpected twist on the traditional french lentil salad. The tapenade and preserved lemon are strong flavors but are used judiciously and the lentils stand up to them very well. The tuna is an inspired addition, though I think the lentil salad is good enough to stand on its own as a side dish without the tuna. I added some diced cooked carrots, mostly out of habit. It made a great lunch and I won’t hesitate to make it with good canned tuna.

Erin, can you say more about your recipe? it sounds delicious. By pure chance, I cooked up a batch of french lentils about an hour ago, they are cooling at this very moment. The plan is to use some of them in a salad with tuna, of all things--that from the new Dorie Greenspan cookbook that some of us are cooking from over here. Lunch tomorrow, I will report back. And per my post not long ago, I now have the recipe for red lentil soup that had me so enamoured. Time to make it again, I think.

Toasted cheese when I want to include other ingredients. When it's just bread and cheese, I'll take it grilled, please.

Tuna Confit with Black Olive Tapenade and Tomato Salsa, p 305 If this cookbook is any indication, Dorie and I both share a love of tuna, fresh and canned. I’ve been looking forward to trying some of the many tuna recipes in the book. This one seemed to be a good place to start, especially since it holds out the possibility of that magic word: leftovers. I’ll give this one mixed reviews. First of all, the marinade/oil for the confit is delectable. The preserved lemons add great flavor and complexity. Once cooked, it was even better. I kept a bowl of it on the table and everyone reached for it several times. The recipe calls for cooking 1 lb tuna in the marinade in a 225 degree oven for one hour. As you can see from the photo, my tuna was fully cooked through and even a touch dry. Given that it was poached in olive oil, that was a surprise. I’ve never done any low temp/sous vide cooking, so I need to do some homework on the temperature/time—too high? too long? It’s a great idea and the flavors were good, but I’d prefer the tuna a bit more pink and less firm. I cheated on the salsa. The recipe calls for both a tomato salsa and tapenade. I forgot about the tapenade, so at the last minute added some slivered black olives and chopped capers to the tomato salsa, which calls for red peppers and more preserved lemon. Guests were divided on the salsa—some loved it, others (including me) thought the addition of preserved lemon was too much of a good thing, given its prominence in the marinade. Everyone agreed that the tuna-salsa combination was great over mashed potatoes. Bottom line: we all enjoyed it and I’m glad I have some leftovers to play with. This recipe has inspired me to play around with the fish poached in olive oil concept and—gulp—maybe read the sous vide topic.

Dana, veal shanks are my favorite veal cut, they always have so much flavor. Yours look delicious, I'm adding this recipe to my short list, and I don't cook meat very often.

Savory pancakes. Over in the "Cooking with Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table" topic, I made Swiss Chard Pancakes and they couldn't have been simpler or quicker--the entire recipe comes together in a food processor in 10 minutes max, another 10 minutes to fry them up. Before that, I assembled a side salad of grated carrots--peeling them, grating in the FP, making a vinaigrette--that took no more than 10 minutes. Both recipes lend themselves to variations, but the basic idea is delicious and easy.

Swiss Chard Pancakes (farçous), p. 350 Grated Carrot Salad (carottes rapées), p. 107 If the idea of pancakes for dinner is appealing, then this savory pancake recipe is for you. Id never heard of farçous, but I love chard so this recipe caught my eye when first thumbing through the cookbook. Simple, quick, and delicious, these pancakes are chock full of greensthe chard plus parsley and chives, with onion, shallot, and garlic providing plenty more flavor. Dorie notes that the recipe is very flexible, and I can see how thats so. I probably used more chard than the recipe called for, but this is not the sort of recipe where strict measurements matter. YUM! Accompanied by the classic carottes rapées, which I used to showcase the gorgeous multi-colored carrots that are appearing in the farmers markets now that its fall (sob). Perfect to add crunch and contrasting color to the plate. My poor photography does not do justice to the lovely colors on this plate. Thanks to the handy food processor for grating the carrots then mixing the pancake batter, both of these were ready in less than 30 minutes (I halved the recipe). Dorie provides directions for holding the pancakes while you cook up the whole batch, but if you have hungry kids waiting, I can easily imagine serving them straight from the griddle.

will late end-of-season tomatoes work in this recipe? please, please....or must I wait until next summer?

Lemon Steamed Spinach, (p. 331) If there's an award for "Absurdly Simple but Delicious" then I nominate this recipe. I never would have thought to steam spinach, nor season it prior to steaming. But this technique takes no more time than my usual saute in olive oil, is endlessly adaptable with various seasonings, and with little oil is lighter and (feels) healthier than my standard saute--and requires no attention by the cook. There's no garlic in this recipe, but the next time I make it, I'm trying it with sliced garlic. But the lemon zest in the original recipe is worth remembering--so good! No picture, because it looks like the pile of spinach that it is, and it's pretty much all I had for dinner tonight, with some cheese and crackers. But definitely a keeper. This has changed the way I cook spinach. As Dorie suggests, it would make a great base for chicken or fish dishes.

Last year, the Boston Globe started a weekly column, Sunday Suppers, in its food section. The idea is to not only encourage the Sunday supper tradition, but to have leftovers from which to build another meal. It's been a really popular column.

I wish I could find a way to capture that fruity complexity while dialing back the heat so that I can use it in things I make for others who won't try it because of the heat level. Over here in the "Cooking from Fiesta at Rick's" topic, I made a ceviche that might be what you're looking for. The recipe calls for halving and seeding a habanero, then steeping it in equal parts fresh orange and lime juices--then removing the habaneros and using the juice for marinating the fish. How long you steep it will depend on your chili and the amount of juice. Bayless says to start tasting after 1/2 hour, I left mine for an hour before using. Anyway, it was excellent. Not the full habanero experience, but the fruity flavor definitely came through with only a small amount of heat. I suppose you could always mince some of the habanero to add to your own serving if you like the pain.

That's exactly what I did, you describe and diagnose my error precisely. By habit, I tend to cut back on sugar in recipes where the quantity seems to be flexible. Obviously, in this case I made the wrong call, the amount of sugar called for wasn't just a matter of taste, it was about the chemistry. It's worth my trying to bring it back into balance with an additional hit of alcohol/sugar syrup. But if not, fingers crossed for trying another batch with fall fruit. Thanks so much, I'll keep you posted.

FoodMan, that is gorgeous. What size tart ring did you use?

For those who didn't catch it, last week the New York Times ran a story in the food section, Spiking Summer Fruit in Order to Preserve It. I finally ventured a taste of my vieux garcon--tasty, but still vaguely effervescent, somehow it doesn't taste "done." It's been almost 2 months. Thoughts, anyone?

My experience is that quiches baked in most home kitchens are made using standard pie or tart pans, thus producing a thinner quiche. In those instances when I see quiche in a restaurant or pastry shop, it's generally thicker. I've always assumed that's because restaurants wants to serve something more substantial, and because home cooks probably don't have the deeper tart molds needed for the thick quiches. I checked Julia's MTA v1, she doesn't weigh in directly on the "thick or thin" question, but does advise on pastry/filling ratios. She notes that "an 8-inch shell will hold about 2-1/2 cups filling." That sounds like thin to me. So is the question here about preference or authenticity?

A useful tip: the creamy tomatilla sauce from the roasted vegetable enchillada recipe freezes really well. I had leftover sauce from my effort a month or so ago, and popped it in the freezer. A couple of nights ago I pulled it out to make some last-minute enchilladas and was really surprised at how fresh and vibrant the flavor still was. If I can find some end of season tomatillas at the market, I plan to make a big batch and freeze in small portions. It will be a great antecdote to dark, cold winter nights.

wow, I didn't know Radius served lunch. You couldn't do any better. A quick walk too. Enjoy!

I recently found a used copy of her book "The Indian Spice Kitchen," which sounds like the book you've described. It is organized by ingredient (spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits, nuts, dals and pulses, cereals and flours, misc.) and each entry includes photos/drawings and information such as how to buy and store, culinary and medicinal uses, etc. along with recipes. I've yet to cook from it but as a reference book it is fantastic.

Tzatziki, p, 24 Basque Potato Tortilla, p. 142 This post doesnt have much wow factor, but is a testament to how one can pull together a quick, light, tasty meal when you get home late, have an empty fridge, but still want something home cooked that isn't pasta. This was last night. The tzatziki is something I make often during summer. Super quick to prep, but it needs a little time for the salt to pull moisture from the cucumbers. In the meantime, you can make the tortilla. Dories recipe for tzatziki is identical to mine, so this more of an endorsement of her recipe. I really like the fresh herbs, especially the mint, that she specifies. Served with pita chips and a glass of wine, its a great appetizer. For those times when I want a more substantial version, I crumble some feta into the mixtureyum. The tortilla is simple to put together. Usually I use boiled potatoes, but this time tried Dories method of sautéing cubed potatoes with the onion. It saved me some time and the browned potatoes added good flavor and texture to the final tortilla. The one you see here is a mini version of Dories, I only had 6 eggs so used fewer potatoes and a smaller pan. Voila! Home at 9:30 pm, dinner ready by 10.

Okay, I'll ask the stupid questions. What the heck is this? what's the fuel source, how does it work, and what is it typically used for?

Great news, I was a big fan of Galileo and I Matti back in the days (and when I lived in the DC area). For me, Roberto Donna's food was an education. Thanks for the heads up for those of us who only visit and aren't otherwise clued in to the DC restaurant scene. And I didn't know he had a cookbook, I'll be on the lookout for it.

Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche, p 172. My offering for a potluck brunch today was batch of Dorie’s blini with smoked salmon. Very easy and the buckwheat flavor was delicious and a nice change of pace with the salmon. I didn’t fuss much with them, just crème fraiche, capers, and chives. But I can easily see dressing them up for a party. Here’s a tray of them before they were whisked off to their demise. The one tricky part is making them uniformly round. As you can see, I didn’t really succeed. Anyone have any tips there?

Dorie, the only thing wrong with that soup is that it made me "homesick" for Paris and the little restaurants that serve it. I've tried to replicate it over the years with various squash and pumpkins, to no avail--I didn't know it was a red kuri. Merci mille fois, Béatrix.