Megan Blocker

I actually had a dessert the other day, here in New York, garnished with a few gooseberries. I thought of Ling!

Thanks, bergerka! Do they have scones in Madrid?

Thus far, I've had no problem finding meat at Schaller and Weber, Eli's, Citarella, or Fresh Direct. Of course, those are all close to my apartment, as opposed to Whole Foods, which is not.

The fact that they're totally overpriced helps, too.

Wow. It's funny, Daniel, I was out with my cousin and his girlfriend last night, both of whom, like me, are huge Italian food fans. She asked me if I'd been to Del Posto yet, and I said no. I DID mention that you were going for your birthday, and that I was eager to hear your review. Based on it, I won't be spending my moolah there any time soon...sounds like I'm better off sticking with Babbo and Lupa.

Hmmmm...all the little packets and gizmos...makes think it might be BryanZ!

Yes, I agree. I'm beginning to think this is why I enjoyed the bits about other people so much more than the bits about Buford...I wasn't really sure what the point was.

Ah, yes. Just finished the book last night...

Actually, he was the one that assumed you take it for granted (by using 'we' instead of 'I'), so you should probably take your issue up with him. ← Fair enough, a2k! Henry, defend yourself! ETA: Just saw Henry's post...you're forgiven.

Mmmm, good point - is the proposed New York ban on the selling of foie gras, or just its production?

Aaaaand, we're off. I do not take foie gras for granted; as a matter of fact, I take nothing that I eat for granted. I do not agree that foie gras is inhumane to produce, and, therefore, I continue to eat it. On the other hand, I make every effort to avoid, say, factory-raised chicken. I do not prepare it in my own home, and I do my best to avoid it elsewhere. I do not take the animals who have died for my meals for granted, and for you to assume the opposite is not really all that fair to me. ETA: I forgot to say that everyone is entitled to their own opinions; I assume that you disagree with mine, and that you believe foie gras production is inhumane. That's your perogative. But please don't assume that I haven't thought this through. I also believe that foie gras bans gain a lot of support (though not always their genesis) from people practicing reverse snobbery rather than people concerned about humane treatment. Therefore, I am certainly of the opinion that a great many people involved in the movement are, in fact, trying to tell me what I can and cannot eat for no good reason whatsoever.

Ditto here.

Well, it stuck in Chicago. Oh, my oh my. I cannot believe this. Seriously - like we don't have real problems to deal with? We have serious issues feeding a good number of the humans in this world - how about people focus on the inhumanity of that, rather than on how we feed ducks and geese?

My mother and I had dinner at Degustation last night, and I was really pleased with the whole experience. It was, definitely one of the best meals I've had in the past couple of months. We started off with the tortilla and the artichoke with an oyster. The tortilla was fabulous - thin and delicate, folded around shallot confit and a quail egg, and topped with a slice of pickled jalapeno. We both really loved this one - it was savory and had just a little spicy-sour (my favorite flavor combo) from the pepper. The artichokes were fried and served with an oyster in a mussel broth. I'm not a huge fan of artichokes, but this dish was really interesting. The mussel broth really tasted strongly of the sea, and the oyster was one of the most delicate I've tasted. In the second course (I think all of these were from the second course) we tried the roast beef sandwich, the grilled shrimp, and the scallops. For me, the scallops were the standout. They were seared and served on top of a tomato and garlic puree, along with some mushrooms. The scallops themselves were perfect - sweet and tender - and the puree was just lightly garlicky. The mushrooms were almost squeaky in texture between the teeth, and made for a nice combo with the yielding flesh of the scallops. The shrimp were good, grilled simply and served with a lemon. Very basic, but, in this line-up, just a little dull. This coming from a girl whose favorite food is cold chicken straight from the fridge. The roast beef sandwich was good, but not divine. I hate (HATE) cilantro, so I pushed the herb salad to the side, which may be why I was not such a big fan. Finally, we tried the lamb loin, foie gras and the pork belly. The pork belly was served with pickled jalapenos (again - yay!), a sherry sauce, mushrooms, and probably a few other things that I can't remember right now. It was just the right amount of pork belly, nice and crispy, and the tang of the peppers and sherry really played nicely off of the fatty, luscious pork. The foie gras was lovely. Seared perfectly, served with fleur de sel and some cherries on a bed of caramel gelee. To be honest, I actually found the gelee to be a bit bitter, but the cherries went really nicely with the foie. Again, the right size - not a huge slab of foie, just a nice portion. The lamb loin was really nice - nothing out of this world, but good meat prepared really well, with a gorgeous mataki (?) mushroom alongside, which my mom thought was soooo cool. Finally, for dessert, we did both the grilled strawberried and the tarte tatin. Both were fine - I loved the light Greek yogurt with the tatin, and the (bruleed, not grilled) strawberries were really good. All in all, a good night, and I definitely recommend it.

Heidelberg at 86th and 2nd has been full throughout the World Cup...here's a link to their menu on MenuPages.

Funnel cake! That's about it...though, if I have to eat at an amusement park, my choice is usually the ubiquitous chicken fingers.

Sorry if I missed this upthread, but what's the new book about? I'm about fifty pages from the the end of Heat and enjoying it very much. I've actually liked the bits about the Babbo kitchen best, and the parts about Buford's soul-searching and development as a butcher less, but overall, very enjoyable.

Used some more of that chicken and mayo to make a warm pasta salad this afternoon...campanelle, chicken, red onion, cucumber, tomato, parsley, homemade mayo, red wine vinegar, Sriracha, salt and pepper. ETA: And pine nuts!

Had a very nice meal at Lupa last night...started with the bucatini, finished up with the sweetbreads, too full for dessert! However, we showed up at nine, put our names in for a table, and were told it would be 45 minutes' wait. Ended up being two hours. I have no problem waiting two hours for dinner, particularly when I wasn't too hungry when we arrived. I do have a problem with being told 45 minutes and THEN waiting two hours. I wasn't too miffed about it (having been pleasantly surprised by the original 45-minute estimate), but my friends were pretty peeved and made it known to the hostess, who brought us free prosciutto. Personally, I think they should have bought the glasses of wine we had at the bar during our wait...anyhoo. Food was solid, as usual. Service was attentive and friendly. But the hostess should give better estimates on times to get a table...the two people in my group of four who'd never been to Lupa before will probably never go back, which is a shame.

I usually eat them like an apple, one bite at a time...but I was wearing a white shirt the other day and decided that it might not be smart to let the red juice dribble all over my front. I did put the pit in my mouth and suck on it, just like I normally do, though...

I am completely addicted to the pumpkin scones at Alice's Tea Cup, a cute little restaurant here in New York. I am not, however, addicted to the hour-plus waits for a table. So, today, I decided to use the can of pumpkin that's been in my cupboard for six months to give homemade pumpkin scones a shot. I used AnnT's scone recipe as a jumping-off point, and mixed pumpkin with the cream (and only used about 1/2 - 3/4 cup cream). They came out really well...could have used a bit more leavener, probably to counteract the heavy pumpkin. My kitchen smells like Thanksgiving! ETA: Those madeleines look great, Abra - all light and airy! One thing I've done to keep edges smooth is to avoid filling the pans right to the rim...gives the batter room to puff out a bit without going over the edge and creating that ruffly bit...

Food-themed is probably ok, too...I've told my friends all about the thread I started in their honor...thanks, you guys, for all the awesome suggestions!!

Thanks, Shaya! And Susan makes RIDICULOUS breakfasts, doesn't she? Yum.

I made roast chicken yesterday, and the slog of leftovers has begun! I really shouldn't complain...cold chicken is one of my all-time favorite foods. Today I used some to make a composed salad, along with some romaine, cucumber, plum tomatoes, red onion and new potatoes. Served with a homemade dressing...I made some mayo last night (nothing better with cold chicken than homemade mayo), and for the dressing I thinned it with some lemon juice and added a healthy bit of pepper.

I'm trying out different flavored yogurts, having decided it's time to get more calcium. Today it was Emmi (strawberry) and a sliced, perfectly ripe plum.