Luckylies

morels. had them at Lutece when I was a little kid and then found them growing on my lawn a few months later. My mom was a very happy lady (and I had a very happy little kid tummy) they are still my favorite..mmmmmmmorels. or maybe chanterelles....

my boyfriends mom gave me a nutmeg grinder! it's so pretty. Stainless steel with a little heart (awwwww) it's very cool looking and grinds very nicely. now I just need to find ways to use nutmeg... man, the sweetest gift...from a woman I barely know....

love # 9 apricot goodness, rich flavor, but yet still relativly light. It's my favorite evening beer as a matter of fact.

pick, poke, and smell all of your fish and creatures, even if it appears to drive the fishmonger crazy! take your time and don't allow yourself to be rushed and you'll get good quaility @ most of the places. there's a place on mulberry abouve canal that's good, sorry, dont know the name. pick your dinner like your picking pets.... which reminds me of hte pet frog story...

ooh count me in. hmm I've got to get my camera flash fixed....

Just thinking the same thing. ← mind reading egulleters! ditto.

First off: Cow whisperer and Perlow, those meals looked so divine. yummmm Last night I fell for the old bait and switch again. You know when someone (dad in this case) says "hey you wanna cook a small meal for me and a few friends?" small becomes 10 people the morning of. Anyhow I don't really mind the idea of poisoning my dads friends so I took up the challenge. Shopping was done by 2:30 yesterday afternoon (I hateeee Fairway during the holidays) I was almost beaten to death by 30 grannies. Things went very well. Dad provided the booze. I started with a boring green salad with vinegrette, and a carmelized-onion custard tart with anchovy slivers (does this thing have a name?) this was very good and it was served warm with Pol Roger champagne. Then braised shortribs with star anise, mustard, orange and lemon zest and forty other things that were quite yummy. This was my first time braising short ribs. They turned out divine. I combined a bunch of recipes and riffed on the flavors. I really can't belive how elegant they turned out. mashed potatoes, green beans with olive oil and sea salt. oven roasted tomatoes with thyme. all good. I just wish I had a warming tray at my dads house (or anywhere for that matter). Dad pulled out a bunch of fancy burgudys for this ( I wish I knew which ones) they were excellent with the ribs. for dessert. cream puffs filled with stawberry whipped cream and served with strawberry sauce and strawberry sorbet. I didn't make the sorbet, somebody brought it (a bit psychic perhaps?) These were light as air...yet few people had much room after the tart and the short ribs. some people (my new favorite people) had two. moree champagne. I'm no professional, but I feel that this meal took my way too long to prepare (5 hrs busy time) is that crazy? sorry if this post has been a bit long, and man do I wish I had pictures. and leftovers

I live a few blocks away and have watched otto transform into a loud disorganised space, to what now feels like a well run restaurant. Last night our waitor was very "with it" almost robotic. he knew, and could describe all of the specials, and made sure that everything was timed right. it was early, but this was a feat that they wer unable to bull off last winter for sure. We had (I had help) the cprese, the carbonara, and the pizza margharita with mozzerella (actually i'm not sure, I think it was marghrita but i wanted garlic chilis and cheese on it so it was a bit of a bastard pizza) I would have ordered a meat insted of the caprese, but decided to let my friend "help" with the ordering. The caprese was excellent as always. I think the mozzerella is now smaller, which I appreciate, because before the mozzerella, tomato, pesto ratio was a bit off. this was perfect. The carbonara with leeks was a bit too salty, actually, very salty, all throughout. I'n not sure if it's the type of pancetta batalli uses, or if it was pancettta at all. it tasted like snausage, which is not to say I didnt like it, I did, just when I think carbonara i think crispy pancetta (remember the carbonara thread?) anyhow this was good and i would have it again, but i'd double love it if it were a little less sausagy. The pizza is finally right. The crust is chewy, crispy, flovorful and just thin enough to support toppings. also I think the cheese ratio might have gone up a bit. the thing is not caked in cheese or anything but now each slice has some on it (before two people had to fight for the cheese). the sauce was always good... so this pizza rocks. it is just right in my book. goooooo Mariooooooooooooooo!

I didn't mean to lack compassion for the obvious tedium and annoyance that fixing things for others can bring on. Nobody likes to have to do their job twice, especially when it's because of the mistakes of others. For this I am completely sympathentic (this feeling runs through all professions) yet, some how it never floors me when people muck up an otherwise well-oiled machine.

gingersnap molasses ice cream...

I'm floored... I thought this kind of atttitude had all but dissapeared from fine dining. It is most important that the patron get a fine dining experiance. right? I know all of my knives and forks (well mostly) and could care less which one I use. I tend to err towards formality, but would never effect the dining experiance of my company by being a stickler. sometimes my friends or dining companions are not as well versed on "forks" and I make a point of not noticing or following their lead. The idea that my server is leaning over my sholder judging my cutlery decisions (insted of say, refilling my wine, doing somethingof relative importance)floors me.

my family knows I just got into cooking school. I cooked dinner the other day and my mom said "I give you an A minus on the latkes and a b plus on the roast etc" I almost cut out her eyes with my carving knife. I HATE (and am flabberghasted) when my family critiques my cooking after I have made them a lovely meal. I dont mind if I ask them what they think and they tell me..but grading dinner while at the table! grrrrrr..shocks the shit out of me every time... also rude people who think the world is out to get them... "um I ordered this well done, and it needs to be fixed now" mean people people who show up to dinner early then expect me to chat. people who show up to dinner more than 15 min late and expect me to serve them. people who dont help clear the table after an intimate dinner party (4 or less) people who have eaten before dinner. At a dinner party people who bring other people unannounced. people who leave the table to smoke cigs, in the middle of a course. okay enough bitching for me. for today.

amen to Jason and Fryguy. Crabcakes must be crabby. I like lump blueclaw meat, some people like peekytoe..but it freaks me out. I like to mince some yellow bell pepper with my crab, salt, pepper, eggyolk, sometimes a smidge of garlic or roasted garlic and a little breadcrumb. coat in crumbs or panko and fry. you can also not bread them and saute them in a bit of butter, just make sure not to over cook them! I serve em with aioli or old bay/tabasco mayo.

stuffed cabbage....mmmm. and you can freezw it just fine and it's cheap as dirt. i dont have a recipe but its essentially- cabbage leaves rolled around beef mixed with uncooked rice. then cooked in the oven with a sweetened tomato sauce with some rasins thrown in. you cook it until the beef is cooked and the rice is done (just crack one open) or leave one unwrapped in the dish, and add 15 mins to account for the cabbage wrapping. if the sauce starts to get tedious. try other sauces, mushroom is popular in some recipes. or other variations of this theme. sorry if the recipe makes no sense. also think depression food ( as in "the great") there was hardly any meat and everything was streched. also meatloaf taco/burrito/chili night/night/week baked potato W meat and cheese hmmm.. I'll keep thinking. ps. I'm generally in exact some situation save for cooking at moms house (and making her pay for ingrediants.

ha! I planned my winder holiday bad jew/bad christian dinner on festivus. What a perfect day for family dinner. what does one eat? I'm thinking turducken. now where to find that pole....

ha! my sister actually yelled at me for not following a recipe the other day. a RECIPE for latkes! If I told grandma she'd flip. Next thing you know my sisters going to ask for the "prized stuffed cabbage recipe*" *also does not exist

"my craving for fettucini alfredo... " oh god, this craving is the worst cause it has to be perfect* also carbonara. spinich ravioli in pink sauce w/ pancetta. baked ziti. ribs from any animal. mac and cheese. carpaccio.anything cooked in duck fat. grilled cheese with avocado tomato and pesto. quiche lorainne. rare burger. smoked salmon, anything that will make me really smelly in bed. you guys have me on the floor. one night i came home to find my dad wearing gym shorts in the kitchen eating waffles covered (COVERED) in butter and maple syrup and muttering unintelligibly to himself. i thought "great dad has finally snapped" turns out it was an ambien thing. had us all really puzzled for a few days, as he didn't remember a thing.

I was at Western Beef (in nyc) yesterday...god I love that place. after reading this thread I saw chicken feet for four bucks and figured I'd try to cook them myself, for four bucks, even if they were inedible (hardly a word in my book) it would be interesting to try. I used some of the ideas from the recipes above and modifed them for what I had in my house (lazy, lazy, lazy). the feet turned out very good! Almost how they taste at dim sum, a little more kick. I might use less five spice next time and a little less chili sauce, but otherwise they were gone in an half an hour and really easy to put together. Chicken feet (1 lb) chicken feet Marinade- 5 tbsp minced garlic 3 tbsp Chinese five-spice powder. 1 tbsp salt 1 tsp pepper 2 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp ground ginger 1 tbsp white rice vinegar ¾ cup sriracha hot chili sauce 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil 3 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil Sauce 6 tbsp pre prepared black bean sauce (I used Roland) 5 cups water 5 tbsp of above marinade Mix garlic, five-spice powder, salt, pepper, sugar, ginger, rice vinegar and sriracha chili sauce in a medium sized bowl. Add chicken feet, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or more (up to twelve hrs). Reserve marinade. In an small saucepot, brown chicken feet in small batches in the sesame and vegetable oil mixture, remove finished feet to a plate. Add black bean sauce, 5 tbsp of the marinade and 5 cups of water to the saucepot. Add the browned chicken feet and simmer over low heat for forty minutes or until the skin is falling off the bone and the meat is tender. eat infront of the tv with cold beer, and content look on face.

Since I did mine with the skin on, using Paula's rub recipe, and it came out great, I'd have to say try it this way the first time around. Just make sure to keep the temp at 300 or lower till the last 15 minutes of cooking time. It was still way juicy. and when I removed the shoulder from the oven, I was showing an internal temp. of around 170. Suzanne, certainly all the places on the lower east side marinate with garlic, and lots of it (I love El Castillo de Jagua's version)...but maybe we can get a definitive answer on pernil form one of our Puerto Rican or Domincan egulleteers. How about it, Luckylies? ← Ha! a definitive answer when foods involved? well, firstly unfortunatly I'm not either Dominican or Puerto Rican..I'm Black/ Jewish/ Native American/ New Yorker etc.. no yummy pernil in the roots. Unless you count my mother having a latin american cooking phase a while back... But since I consider myself an authority on just about EVERYTHING I'll both ditto and laud both Suzanne and Trillium's opinion on pernil. It must have tons of garlic. I've never seen "pernil" without crisp skin, very tender, jucy, fragrant meat and platanos maduros...well, thats just the side of my choice...regarding el castillo de jagua (sooo good,, 'cept their always out of pernil by the time I get there... the baked chicken is really good too) I'm roasting pernil right now, 14 pounder for a christmas party. over night on low in the vulcan (bout 170) and then a good part of today. I think I'm going to pull half and sauce it a la carolina bbq... serve it with coleslaw and cream bisquits. the other half is coming home for cracklins and plantains and rice and beans on tuesday. mmmmm pork week (can anybody recommend any excercises I can do sitting down?)

love em. in the dim sum reddish brownish sauce, but only when their hot, at room temperature they are too gelatinous for me. I could snack through hundreds of them. ducks webs are a different story though. tried them the other day, and they bear no similarity to the goodness that is la pie de poulet (guess who speaks no french)

kids like food thats a game, or surprise, or "not allowed" or for grownups. the second you hade the oysters...guess who's suddenly whipping up the mingionette...yep, the seven year old..as a kid I always thought it was cool to like the same food my foodie parents liked. I figured it made me more sophisticated... I'm surprised kids will eat "kid food" plain everything with plain sauce...ick! give me something with marrow bones or a tail, and I was a happy camper. these are thigns as a kid i always thought were fun. *frogs legs *marrow bones *oysters *anything with claws *escargot in decoritive shells *chicken feet (dim sum) *quail or quail eggs ...I was such a little weirdo...

I never really measure on this one but if you can make beschma beshame besh...white sauce you're in. -make white sauce. when you're melting the butter throw in a little *or a lot* minced garlic. finish white sauce. stir in enough grated cheddar cheeese so that you are worried for gradmas old heart; as much as you can without the sauce getting too stringy. add salt and pepper to taste. -Add this to cooked elbows (I prefer small shells) and coat. put in baking dish and cover with more grated cheese. bake at 350 until bubbly and the top is melted. - or put in ramekins and melt/ brown under broiler (no need for the oven step). *there are plenty of nice cheeses you can add which i'm sure will satisfy your cheese tooth. for me it's only mac and cheese if it all cheddar...or at least mostly. * I also make my white sauce with heavy cream if I'm feeling spry this recipe is also great for children who dont like "stuff" on anything. good luck.

lespinasse...oh wait, shit. march...been once need more bar pitti...its jusr the best sunday staple ever. cafe gray...just to see...also as a kid I had a HUGE crush on him. I followed him around for like a week (no joke) sushi yasuda..i'm so lame for avoiding midtown like the plague. actually I'm fine with it. Mono..why not..heard it's aight. The tasting room. Mom? Dad? anybody want to have dinner? Blue ribbon (not sushi ) but the other two. I put my boyfriend on and he's never been the same since... can we say stinky cheese addict. Hasaki. I still think their fish rivals, or exceeds the best in the city blue hill. never been. Wish i lived closer to le zinc. or chanterelle. the daniel sky box. somehow after eating over the kitchen, eating on the floor loses it's appeal...well, not entirely cru. I've had their small appetizer tasting at the bar and it was excellent. now on to a big meal. dinosaur bbq. never been. pink tea cup. childhood favorite. there are more but my mind is a bit fuzzy now...

golden unicorn /e. bway(more interesting with very good selection and orginization) or hsf /bowery & canal (always hot, pretty good selection ) I also like mandarin court on mott. good quality but not a very big selection. I've never been to jing fong (never even heard of it) and consider eating dim sum practically a part of my religious structure (hmmm am i lapsed?) I also tried to start a mongolian hot pot thread. any sinophiles know a good place in nyc for hot pot?

omaka springs...I've never heard of it (that's not saying much though) I'm excited it sounds goood.