Hopleaf

great, thanks Adam. I'll try to get my hands on this book. Have you ordered from Interlink before? Are they a reputable site? Frankly, I've never heard of them and I get wary with new e-commerce sites. I'll have a look and see if the book has any good recipes to post (can we do that here or do we need to link to a site with the info?)

and creative cooking is inspired by many things. I like trying different combinations of ideas that I've garnered from a variety of magazines. Might like the idea of braising from one pub but thought the main item to be braised could be something seasonal or exotic that I found in another pub. If AC is, as you say Steve and Lesley, a professional resource, it might go along nicely with my On Cooking cookbook from which I've learned many a basic technique. And I agree with Liza, that if you're not profiting from your cooking and simply get joy from creating things in the kitchen, then it shouldn't matter where the inspiration comes from. So, I'm gonna try to find AC and see if I like it. Gastronomica Spring 2002 has been engaging at moments, but also tiresome at others. The Kitchen Design piece was exhaustively thorough in it's research and really took forever to get to the point. But the best piece in it was the one entitled Cooking with a Conscience by Lisa Förare Winbladh, wherein Thomas Drejing says "use your brains, cook with what's available" rather than always looking for the exotic. There's a wonderful picture of his Lobster with Rutabega and Rosemary that makes you just about want to eat the page.

Does anyone have any recipes for Persian cooking they'd like to share with me? I'm looking for a few particular dishes that my grandmother used to make, though I'd take a look at almost anything. In particular, (and I have no idea how to spell these since I don't know any farsi) adas polo: she made it with lentils, raisins and what I think was grilled lamb slices (though there weren't many of those, perhaps indicating how the cuisine reflected their history of not having a lot of protein from animal sources in their diets); havich polo: carrots shredded into a rice; then she made these cardamom butter cookies with raisins, which I think I've replicated, but something seems to be missing. There are a few others that I'll have to think of and post later. Thanks in advance!

Here's a hot topic!! (love the pun) First of all, can we clarify, the use of the word 'chili' can refer to chili the dish as well. I prefer specifying chili peppers or chili powder and even more precise would be the name of the chili pepper in question. It's the editor in me I guess. I've recently become a chili pepper afficianodo and really find the moderate use of ground cayenne pepper in consort with salt and pepper in most savory dishes can improve the overall taste-ability of different flavors...sort of as if the cayenne works to open up the taste buds (along the lines of Simon's "turning on the ignition.") Additionally, I make a chipotle mayonnaise by adding one or two peppers (fork mashed) and some adobe sauce to a cup or two (all of this is to taste, so experiment with what works for you) of either homemade or store bought mayonnaise. The results are great with quesadillas, pizza slices dipped in it, or as a condiment for sandwiches. The serrano is by far my favorite everyday pepper as it imparts a bit of heat but a really nice citrusy undertone. Add them sliced to fresh green salads or eat with quesadillas. I'm venturing into the habenero realm, though cautiously. Several friends have given me hot sauces that feature this hottest of the hot peppers (rating around 350,000 scoville units). I was wary at first, but found that I had built up enough tolerance to handle small quantities with food, though the heat does sneek up on you so have some cheese handy. The taste is really interesting; an almost sweet, meat-like flavor lays just beneath the heat. My only chili pepper story was when I was a wee little tyke and my dad dared me to eat a jalepeño (a mere jalepeño!) and I did. My mouth was on FIRE!!!!! I thought my tounge was about to fall off and my eyes were gushing with tears. and of course we didn't know any better and I drank water. Eventually it subsided, but it was quite some time before I was ever brave enough to try another hot pepper.

what's funny is I was just handed the Spring 2002 issue while I was typing my last post (the one on Red 'New'). Got some reading to do tonight! Some highlights that caught my eye: Women Who Eat Dirt, Designing Technology for Domestic Spaces: A Kitchen Manifesto (can't wait to read that one, maybe for the bus ride home), and of course the Bookshelf. Will report back!

The Gastronomica issue I have features an article on Man Ray, American ex-pat photographer, who was commissioned by a French electricity company to create a visual aspect to their marketing efforts. One of the shots from the collection is of a roasted chicken laying on a bed of rice with a metallic coil 'rayographed' over it. The coil sort of represents the heat used to cook the bird. The article discusses the symbolism of the photo and how it related to the electricity company's artistically intelligent yet culinarily middle class audience. Also, there's a fantastic article on antique apple parers, plus features on pho bo (Vietnamese spicey beef and noodle soup), a memoir of brownies by Lisa Yokelson, and much, much more. Seriously, that's just the tip of the ice berg for this one issue I have (btw, it's the Winter 2002 edition). Overall, I enjoy the intelligent discussion of food and culture in the journal, which they take to such a wide variety of topics. There's even an article on the Alaska's Vansihing Arctic Cuisine. Perhaps it's a bit heavy on the academic side, but if you're not too far removed from college or can still remember what it's like, this one's worth checking out. Steve, just curious who you refer to when you say some of the mags Liza mentioned are really intended for 'pros'? Chefs? Food writers? As for the Chicago restaurant scene...my wife and I don't get a chance to splurge all that much, but when we do, we try to find new and interesting places. One of the most impressive recently was a place called Thai Pastry on Broadway near Argyle, if you like Thai that is. And we're big fans of Zia's in Edison Park (Northwest side of town) for rustic, country Italian. We once championed the Daily Bar and Grill (at Clark and Wilson on the North side) as one of the best comfort food restaurants (their center cut pork chop with a sunny side egg on top was so delicious) but they've since changed their offerings to bar food (ick!). And finally, the Maine honeymoon...I'm gonna have to dig through our stuff for that. We ended up trying as many little places as we could find. We were driving up the coast from Manchester, NH to Bar Harbor, so there was much to choose from. One place that particularly stands out was in Bar Harbor, I forget the name, but what wonderful blueberry pancakes! I'll see if I can find the name and post it for all to try. They did sell a dry mix of their pancakes that we took home and whipped up one cold Sunday in Chicago when we were missing Maine. Hey, that Waitrose link, thanks lturley. just added it to my bookmarks. Will be going back there frequently.

I don't know about trends, but I've noticed that there's a cookbook review section now (in Chicago). I'd like to see more of that, cuz right now it runs a little hot and cold. Sometimes they review a new cookbook, other times they just don't have anything on cookbooks. There's always new cookbooks coming out and reading reviews helps me decide whether or not to even bother getting it. This section could also review food writing, anthologies, new books about travel and food, etc. How do you handle this?

Cool, I'll check those out Liza. There's also Gastronomica, the Journal of Food and Culture, which I've only seen one issue, but liked it a lot. The whole idea of focusing a publication on food and how it affects and is affected by culture is really interesting.

Ok, there's a ton of magazines out there that cover food and cooking. Here's the thing, the big ones, Gourmet, Bon Appetite, Food and Wine, they all seem to focus too much on New York and LA in their restaurant reviews. Once a subscriber to Gourmet, I cancelled my subscription because of this very fact. A lifelong resident of Chicago, I feel that there are a number of excellent restaurants here and new ones popping up all the time. I realize that New York has a long tradition of setting the culinary benchmark for the rest of the country, not to mention it being the number one media market, and LA also has a history of being on the cutting (I pun because I can) edge. But that doesn't mean there aren't new and interesting, or old and interesting, developments happening elsewhere. And simply a renewed focus on Chicago wouldn't quite cut it either. On my honeymoon, my wife and I found several wonderful eateries, restaurants and the like throughout Maine. Only once since have I ran into any mention of Maine cuisine...in Real Simple, not exactly a food mag. So, here's my list (in no particular order) of current favorite culinary magazines: All About Beer: a beer nut's dream, the folks at this specialty mag present the Beverage Institute of America's tasting results in each issue, Michael Jackson (the beer guru, not the lame musician or the NFL player) has a regular column, there's a home brewers column and typically their feature pieces are a wealth of history and information. Saveur: sleek, but not to pretentious. Solid travel pieces, good layout, not much advertising. Fine Cooking: Love this mag. They have virtually no advertising (haven't the slightest idea how they pay their bills), tons of cooking tips and their feature pieces lay out step-by-step methods in a clear and precise manner. Cook's Illustrated: these guys test everything, and their results are honest and straightforward. No favortism for certain brands. There isn't any advertising in this one either and no color photography. All illustrations are hand drawings, some b/w photos. A nice touch with this mag is the beautiful color drawings on the back cover that accompany each issue. So, those are a few that I like. Anyone want to recommend some of their favorites?

Wilfrid, your dry hand is used just to put stuff into and out of the flour, and into and out of the bread. You're using your wet hand really only for the egg in between the flour and bread. So: DRY into flour and to coat with flour, DRY from flour to the egg (without getting it wet!), WET to coat with egg and transfer to bread crumbs (without getting it bready!) and DRY to coat with bread crumbs and into your frying pan. Does that help?

ahh, I remember those days. Just wait til you have to get the little one to eat. When my wife was preggo a couple of years ago, she had a craving for cereal, that's right cereal! Of all things. Anyway, there I was ready to make her anything she wanted. You really just have to go with what she's craving cus that's her body telling her what she needs for the baby. One week it's cereal, the next she can't get enough milk, then it's carrots, whatever. I'm far from a nutritionist, but that's how we handled it and our little girl turned out fine. Now's she's walking around and learning new words and she's only one year old...musta been the Rice Chex!

Can anyone recommend a coffee grinder? I have been spoiled by past jobs in coffee shops and can never replicate the grind control at home. I've had burr grinders (obvious limitations for espresso, but suitable for drip machines) and the fancy Capresso one with the numbered dial, but have been disappointed by all. My Francis-Francis espresso machine isn't too fussy, but I find the better the grind the better the espresso. I actually even tried my hand at grinding the beans in my mortar and pestle...it wasn't worth the sweat. HELP!!!