LindaK

Wish I'd found this thread before your dinner, but you obviously came up with a great menu without me. I have only one question: Varmint, how did you ever do a dinner with this "interactive" format before your kitchen renovation?? I was one of many lurkers on that thread, and if I remember your "before" pictures correctly, the floor plan was a maze. Filled pastas may be easy but boy are they time consuming. I brought ~200 agnolotti to a birthday dinner party last night, and if I add up the active time needed to prepare filling, make pasta, roll pasta, fill pasta, I think it comes to about 4 hrs. Maybe with extra hands the rolling/filling would have gone faster, but still tough for a party like this. Coincidentally, I used the recipe for "three meat filling" from Matt Kramer's book for the agnolotti, with only minor tweaks. It's really delicious, But, and I quote: "There's no pretending that fashioning agnolotti isn't a lot of work...'You know that someone really loves you if they make you agnolloti' ." However, the leftover stuffing was put to good use for tonight's dinner as a stuffing for the zucchini I picked from the garden this afternoon. His flan recipes have always looked good but I've never tried them. Now I think I have to.

If we're voting, I second this description. Light on the mayo and celery, please, but theoretically, it is supposed to be about leftover lobster. Get your butter from the toasted roll. Though I share Fred's problem...when was the last time you ever had leftover lobster??

No one so far has mentioned salt. Stirfries are another story but for the blanching/cold water shock method, make sure the water is well salted. It doesn't help the discoloration problem w/ a vinaigrette but it makes a huge difference in flavor. If need be, I wrap them in a kitchen towel and stick them in the fridge until ready to use, they will keep perfectly for several hours. Saute in melted, unsalted butter until hot, toss w/ some salt and pepper...the best. Unless, of course, you toss them with some lemon vinaigrette, lots of fresh basil, and dump them over plate of sliced tomatoes still warm from the garden. Then that's the best.

I'm glad they didn't! delete you, that is.

Except for having that monster fridge in front of your window, your kitchen looks lovely, and I do like that faucet. You should see the peeling melamine on my 20 yr old cabinets. But the advice you're getting about living with it for a while is good. I knew my kitchen was slated for demolition when I bought this place almost 3 yrs ago, but it took the first year to figure out what worked/didn't work with the layout. Now that I'm planning my own renovation, I'm finding it harder than I expected to configure the layout of my much larger kitchen. My first impression of yours is that a smaller fridge (maybe even a cabinet-depth fridge or the undercounter fridges others are recommending) belongs next to the back door. You lose some cabinet and counter space. However, from your drawing it looks like you have 18" to play with on the wall with the window--can you build in some shallow shelving to the right of the window running to the doorway?

I have a vague recollection that it was on E. 4th street, and now I'm wondering if it was a Basque (rather than Portuguese) restaurant. What I remember is that the home cured salt cod was excellent, as was the rest of our meal, and that staff and owner were very friendly and attentive. Sorry for being so fuzzy, it was a random pick after a day of wandering and shopping. I hope it's still around, it seemed to have a full house.

Those photos are a great recommendation! This past Sunday some friends and I took the Chinatown bus back to Boston from NYC, with the intention of finding some bahn mi for dinner on the tedious ride home...lack of time and nothing promising nearby meant that we arrived home pretty hungry. I go back and forth often enough, next time I'll leave time to get some take-out at Bahn Mi Saigon. Love the blog, too. I'm not sure how much I'd cook if I lived there either. I don't really know your neighborhood, but my random wanderings through the East Village have provided some great shopping and great meals. Last fall I had a wonderful dinner at a nice but informal Portuguese place that cured their own salt cod--but don't remember the name. Yum.

This was a good excuse to stop by the organic stall at the Govt Center market today and ask my "egg guy" about his business. He's from Silverbrook Farms, in Dartmouth, MA. In addition to Govt Center Mon/Wed, he also sells at the farmers market in Milton on Thursdays, Norwood on Tuesdays, New Bedford on Saturday, and P-town on another day (forget when, didn't think you'd travel that far!). He's the only certified organic farmer at Govt Center, though I'm loyal to some of the other farmers there, who aren't necessarily "certified" but are very responsible with their farming practices. Since you care about the organic designation, Goldie, depending on where your husband works downtown, I would also recommend the organic farming school stand that is at the Copley Square farmers market on Tues/Fri. A great selection of veggies. Their salad green mixes are the best I've ever had. Like fresh eggs, they will make it impossible to ever go back to grocery store products. Happiness June-September, sadness the rest of the year.

First, if I can share some "mere praise" without being accused of veering off topic , let me say that your perspective and self-knowledge about the human side of food--whether it be through the lense of family or the industry--will make your book stand out amongst all the literary drivel out there. I have to second this insight--I strongly believe it to be true for just about any true avocation (versus occupation). I won't bore you with my bio but that comment really hits home, and I count myself lucky that I also had the guts to move off the academic track that all my years of grad school prepared me for to pursue what I really love. Now, I have a high-school age nephew who has decided that after much Food Network viewing that he "wants to be a chef" and go to culinary school. Since I've never once seen him putzing around in the kitchen at home. I'm begging him to take a part-time job in a local restaurant to see what he really thinks before he foregoes a college education. I don't need my Ph.D. in my current job but, like your law school training, it has given me skills I wouldn't want to be without. Would your book be a helpful thing for him to read?

Your recipe for hummus in Mediterranean Cooking uses this technique, I think. I tried it for the first time just this past weekend (not sure why, I've had the cookbook for ages) and it was the best hummus I've ever made. I think I added a bit more lemon juice at the end than your recipe called for, but the "tightening" technique you describe makes a big difference.

How about tasting MENUS? I wish I knew why the concept bugs me so much. I understand the reasoning, so perhaps it's only rarely well done. It usually appears to me an ill-conceived conceit on the part of the chef. And when I hear people speak in hushed terms of their having had "the tasting menu" they often seem so overwhelmed by the number of courses as not to be able to tell you anything much about the meal. I enjoy trying new things but I'd much rather the staff steer me to a new and innovative dish, and have more than two bites so I can really savor it and appreciate the chef's skill and ingredients.

Goldie, I've been looking for them too since I moved here 5 yrs ago--and last week I finally got lucky. One of the new organic farmers at my local farmers' market carries fresh eggs and they are excellent. I'll have to get back to you with his name, I can't remember. I found him at the Government Center farmers' market on Monday and Wednesday, so if you or any family or friends work downtown, it would be convenient--and there are some other wonderful vendors there too. But these small farmers are always based somewhere outside of Boston and typically show up in other local area farmers' markets. I'll ask him next week where he's from and where else he sells and report back.

go ahead, diss us Yankees, but I hope you used real (ie. Vermont) maple syrup with those lovely pancakes. For those of us who followed your kitchen renovation, please let us know how your new space changed your daily cooking habits. Is it easier for family and friends to help or at least hang out? Does that great new ventilation system account for all that fried chicken?

Ah, I miss the growing seasons of DC and other points south. We won't see cherries here in New England for a while. Thanks for bumping this thread up agan, though. I've dusted off my mini gratin pans (I like the individual ones for dinner guests) and they are just waiting for the first local cherries so I can enter the clafouti contest. Sour cherries, if I can find them.

The version I grew up with had not only a mayo base but hard-boiled eggs and crumbled bacon. yummy but rich, to say the least. Last summer I came up with a new variation when requested at the last minute to bring a potato salad to a bbq: - fresh waxy potatoes - fresh sweet corn, lightly steamed on the cob, sliced off into rough chunks - a dressing made from Hellman's (sorry, it was what I had handy) thinned with fresh lemon juice and seasoned with a bit of dijon mustard and a dash of tabasco - lots of fresh basil, cut in a fine chiffonade it was a huge hit, and I can't wait until corn season to try it again and see if it is as good as I remember.

sigh. Site managers, feel free to edit for off-topic comments and apologies if so. Every family Thanksgiving dinner of my life has at my aunt's home in a trailer park. Lots of delicious and nutritious food and not a wife beater or racist in sight. We do, however, argue about which is best, dark vs. light meat, and who ate the most pie last year. If we could find a way to constructively discuss this issue here at home, perhaps focusing on some of the positive ways in which issues of hunger and nutrition are being addressed. I'm a huge fan of programs like Alice Water's "school garden project" which ties connects kids and their school lunch programs to community gardening, getting kids to eat fresh vs. fast food by getting them excited about helping to produce it. I have a plot in an urban community garden, and I see kids argue about who gets to pick the carrots and radishes. These plots are also very popular with recent immigrant families, who can grow native vegetables that are hard to find in local grocery stores--an affordable way to help feed a family. Likewise, many of the vendors at my local farmers markets accept WIC vouchers or food stamps. Better than a grocery store and less expensive too. I can afford to shop at Whole Foods but even I refuse to pay their prices for some things. A healthy diet can be expensive!

A few years ago, a (Chinese) friend threw a pile of baby bok choy into the final stages of an otherwise traditional shrimp boil (shrimp, steamed outdoors with beer, onions, and a very liberal dose of Old Bay Seasoning). He has never been able to do a shrimp boil since without the bok choy, it was that good--really.

Well intentioned, but for whom? The "surplus food" program was designed as a means of subsidizing the agriculture industry--the govt buying what could not be sold in the private market and presumably being put to good use. It's mostly cheese or other dairy products. I love cheese and have worked half my life for the federal or local governments, but let's not kid ourselves that this program is about the kids or about healthy food. And I can't imagine processed cheese buying a lot of drugs.

Hey, we got the same machine for the same reason right about the same time. Happy to hear that you at least still have your marriage! I got the Cuis, anyway. Still works perfectly and I use it constantly. Can't imagine defecting to another brand.

Aioli AND a fried egg? I'm sure it was delicious, but a bit over the top for me. I think I'll try the aioli and lamb, though, sounds like an inspired combination.

I have and they are delicious. In fact, I may have some in my freezer and if I do I will make them and post the pics. I sometimes make burgers with a combination of lamb and 80-20 beef. I'd love to see pics and get your report back. why beef, though? I'd hesitate to add it to lamb, the flavors are so different. But then I'm not a big beef fan.

yeah--poach for about 2 minutes, shock in ice water. the couple of times we've served them, we always get a couple extra "test" eggs if we're cooking them in the shell. Poaching is a bit surreal, but the vinegar in the water trick keeps them relatively compact. I'm glad I read down the thread before I made a crass commented on the missing olives. And though I'm sure it's not traditional, sometimes I sprinkle some capers on top if I want the extra piquancy, and some fresh basil en chiffonade just because it's delicious. But am I reading this correctly, some of you use POACHED eggs in a salade nicoise?

Has anyone ever grilled burgers made with ground lamb? I've seen a few recipes that topped lamb burgers with a tzaziki sauce (cucumbers and yogurt) that looked tempting. I've been tempted to try a few times but always got distracted by something else, plus I wonder about whether the lamb would need something else to keep it moist.

You are correct, of course, but like anything you do often enough, one yearns for a little variety at times. The grin did not help. Thanks for rubbing it in! I'm not sure what I think of the fennel, though. with lime? and chilis? it isn't clicking in my mental palate, which is generally quite reliable.

Watch out for the evoo on the grill. The first time I ever took my favorite mustard/garlic/rosemary/evoo coating for lamb (from Julia's MTA I) from oven to grill, you would not have believed the fire. I still am not sure how I had the courage to rescue the lamb from the fire and clamp the lid on the Weber kettle. This was years ago but my friends still joke about the gigot flambé. Lesson: a marinade with 1/4 cup of evoo is not the same as a light brushing. I'm not stupid but I sure did a good job of looking dumb that night. But the yogurt marinade looks amazing. Must try.