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Suzanne F

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Everything posted by Suzanne F

  1. Suzanne F

    Rabbit

    A few weeks ago, I made the "Braised Rabbit in Balsamic Sauce" from Lidia's Italian Table (Bastianich, if she needs further identification). Contrary to her suggestions, I just chopped the whole thing into pieces, including all the bony parts and the thin layer of rib meat. So one bunny was two full meals for two people. It was one of the rare times I actually followed a recipe, and it was excellent. Even made the suggested accompaniment of Swiss Chard and Potatoes -- yummmmmmmm.
  2. You'll probably get a lot more action if you take the money you would spend on a dinner out and use it to buy a bottle of Champagne (that's Champagne, as in "the real thing"), some long-stemmed strawberries, and some good chocolate that melts at body temperature. Leave the restos to the amateurs.
  3. edited since your plans changed: I'd say just stick with db or maybe District (130 W 46, 212-485-2999) for lunch.
  4. Moopheus, that's true, but it's still great at explaining how to do things. I've got one of the original two, and don't feel the essence is lost. And another vote for Peterson's Essentials of Cooking]/i]. The man is a born teacher, and it comes through far better here than in any of his other books.
  5. There probably IS certification by a meat-cutters' union. Here in the U.S., such a union might be part of the Teamsters, who seem to have locals in many different parts of the grocery business. Certification might only be done through apprenticeship and practical examination. Whether or not there is a text available, though, I don't know. But that's the source I would look to here, and also in the U.K. Edited to add: I'm also very interested in this, because such a book would be helpful to me in my work, if I am ever lucky enough to do another "translation." For now, the most I've found is only Frances Bissell's The Book of Food, which discusses American/English/French cuts. But to find a source with both descriptions AND pictures, now that would be great!
  6. I was well into adulthood (chronologically, anyway) before I found out that it was NOT sturgeon! That's what we called it. Just "sturgeon." Which of course makes no sense whatsoever if you know anything about Jewish dietary laws -- sturgeon is forbidden. So your "poor man's" makes a lot of sense. And then when I had the Miso-Marinated Black Cod at Nobu, a light went on . . . could it be? That velvety texture, that flake . . . oooh! I don't care what you call it; just call me when it's on the table!!!
  7. Suzanne F

    Kaffir Lime Leaves

    Dessert: at Match Uptown, we made a sundae with coconut ice cream, tamarind sauce (cooked tamarind pulp plus sugar plus lime juice), mango "chutney" (diced mango plus a tiny bit of sugar plus guajillo chile powder plus HAIR-FINE CHIFFONADE OF KAFFIR LIME LEAF), garnished with a piece of dried mango. There might have been some sorbet in it, too, but I can't find that notebook. Anyway, I :wub:ed it.
  8. In a recipe for Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes linked to from this thread on "Potato Madeleines", we find the standard instruction to trim off 1/4 inch from the end of the head of garlic before wrapping in foil and roasting. I have always used the "separate the individual cloves, peel (or not), and coat with a little oil" roasting method. So I have never understood why this . . . um . . . circumcision is done (other than for presentation of the whole head). But if one is simply going to puree all the roasted garlic, why cut? Can someone please enlighten me?
  9. Suzanne F

    Potato Madeleines

    One word of caution re: silicone pans: they tend to hold onto flavors, so if you use one for garlic mashed potato madeleines, you may have to keep making them in the same pan and not use it for anything else. Gee, what a hardship.
  10. Thank you, Luckylies, for breaking the taboo and telling the truth about Magnolia. I believe they do make the batter from scratch, but you are correct about the :blech: frosting. (I know from working on a book of their recipes, in which those horrible ingredients were indeed listed.) I don't know if Billy's has corrected for those faults, but if they have, might be worth trying. But indeed, Veniero's is a good experience, and a good example of commercial "Italian" baking. And if you mean Gabrielle Hamilton's Prune, that's actually on First Street (one block above Houston), way over east between 1st and 2nd Avenues. I've only been there once, mostly loved the food, but it is very cramped (discussed here).
  11. At home we're FtoF about 363 days out of the year; once or twice, if there's something on the tv that MUST be watched, we'll sit side by side on the couch to eat off the coffee table. (Those are virtually the only time the tv might be on all year.) Out, we are very often side by side. Easier to yell . . . um . . talk into each other's ear. And while I hate PDAs, if there's a tablecloth to hide it under, I don't object to a bit of kneesies. (After 30+ years!) Besides, that way we have a four-top all to ourselves. Ninety-degree angle only works if it's a nice big square table. Don't you hate it when you get stuck that way at a teeny tiny two-top?
  12. And please let us know what you think, when you try it. I admit to being prejudiced.
  13. Canton: I have a feeling that it's under new ownership. Because I remember that it was, in fact, closed for a while, but is open definitely again. Eileen has to be well into her 80s by now (iirc, she might be the former mother-in-law of my mother's childhood friend Sy Snider's daughter Amy or Jenny, and both of them are a little older than me. Amy/Jenny, I mean; my mother would be 88 and Sy maybe over 90, if they were alive.) But speaking of tried-and-true in Chinatown, I have always had consistently good food at Great New York Noodletown. Not everyone I know has, but I have. YMMV. And I agree with Bux about Dim Sum Go Go, too.
  14. Well, at Alfanoose, he ALWAYS has the turnips. Please forgive my enthusiasm; just the food, and Mohamad, too. What a great guy, even if he only has a little thin moustache.
  15. No, really, Luckylies, tell us how you REALLY feel.
  16. Oops. Yeah, "hetero" misuse on both our parts. May I make a suggestion for the salami? The last time we had it there, it just didn't seem as dry ( = well-aged) as in the past, and therefore not as intense in flavor as it should have been. As if they are selling it "before its time." So before you eat it -- if you can control yourself -- you might want to let it hang a while to dry and concentrate more. As for Russ & Daughters -- now, having read Calvin Trillin's Tepper Isn't Going Out, I can't think of the place without a desire for "a nice whitefish." Hmmm, it's supposed to be really warm tomorrow; maybe I need to take a walk uptown.
  17. Oh, gee -- come on downtown: I can get Texas Pete in the Pathmark under the Manhattan Bridge.
  18. Yes, thank you. Chanterelle has been our gold standard, but we haven't been there in a couple of years, so it was good to read an objective update. I'm especially glad that the seafood sausage has returned to its glory; last time I had it, it lacked a certain savory snap. But are you positive there was grapefruit in the dessert? After all, passionfruit does have a bitter edge to it. (That's one of few bitter foods I do NOT like; grapefruit I love. Chacun à son goût.)
  19. Thanks for making that clearer in your opening post. But I'm not so sure that ANY other region produces heterogeneous groupthink or behavior. Jeez, I hope not!!! Sure don't see that here on eG. Maybe I'm a little oversensitive, because I still remember when the rest of the country hated us. :sad. But just about all the NYers I know haven't a scintilla of "attitude." But to get back on topic: so how was the food??? And did she carry it back on her lap, or get it packed in such a way that it could go with the baggage?
  20. I'm very sorry she was given a rough time. But please, the "New York" attitude is a myth perpetrated by those who have not gotten past the age of Gerald Ford. New York, and New Yorkers overall, do not exhibit "attittude." Only individual schmucks have "attitude." (They might be from anywhere and just happen to be working in NYC.) And rudeness is a stateless citizen. For a brief mention of a different experience, see Chris Cognac on his wife's visit. This thread includes a typically attitudeless post by one of the NY Forum hosts.
  21. The New Yorker, January 17, 2005:
  22. Well, the guy at Alfanoose only has a thin moustache, but he takes great care about his food. Everything really fresh. If you don't like the shawarma, try his vegetarian kibbee. Or his spinach pie. Or his Red Lentil Soup. Or his Tabouleh. Or or or . . . well, you get the idea. We have something from him at least once a week. And since you really do know about this food, please report back. I mean, I've only had it here in NYC and in Detroit, never at the source. So I'd really like to hear your opinion, please.
  23. Oh, YEAH! The neatest thing about that Ruhlman book is that it's really three books in one. So if you don't have time to read it all the way through at once, you can just do one part and come back for the others later. And I don't care what Bourdain says, this guy is a very, very good writer.
  24. Lamb felafel??? If it's what I think it might be, sounds good. But would you elaborate, please? Also, where exactly is the truck? I need to know for HWOE in case he ever visits the alma mater.
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