Suzanne F

From the eGullet User Agreement: So which parts of this apply?

Gee, I thought I posted this before, but I guess not: red Swiss chard. Unlike other "colored" vegetables like purple broccoli, it actually retains the red when cooked. Carpaccio (the real, beef kind) Steak Tartare Raw Kibbe Boiled spiced crabs

Okay, so I held my nose and read the piece one more time. Okay, lots of evidence of how she is "gratuitously bitchy" and other similar descriptions. And references to other negative reactions (here and elsewhere) to her "bitching and moaning." All the research seemed focused on digging up more dirt on her. But never a mention of why this Schrambling-bashing is necessary. Just because she is what she is? Surely she must have done SOMETHING besides be her incompetent, nasty self to deserve such lambasting. And surely there are plenty of other targets out there, with skills as limited and attitudes as bad.

Once again, Dr Johnson hit it with: I will ask my question yet again, and hope that this time a direct answer is forthcoming: Why? Why, when there are so many other topics equally -- or more -- deserving of a good muck-raking approach, should so much time be spent "exposing" as mean and incompetent a writer who clearly does that very well herself? Why her, why now, why with so much bile and so little backup?

For nights like that, there's Spaghetti Carbonara!!!!!! Anyway, it was for me last night (although I was cooking for 2). I mean, doesn't almost everybody have in their house: - dried pasta, preferably spaghetti or linguine - bacon (at least, most eGullet members do! ) - onions - eggs - parmesan cheese - freshly ground black pepper? In the time it takes for water to come to a boil and the pasta to cook, you've diced the bacon and sautéed it, added the chopped onions and cooked them down, grated the cheese and whisked it into the egg. So when the pasta is done, drain it (leave a little water on it), add it to the bacon/onion pan, add the egg/cheese mixture and pepper, stir it all up, and BINGO! Actually, the cooking can all be done while the pasta boils, so you have time for a glass of wine while the water heats. PS: last night we had salad, too, as usual. Easy enough to make while the water boiled, so we had our preprandial sherry at the same time.

After perusing Schrambling's website (which I did before I made any comment on Steve Klc's piece), I would never refer to her as an "innocent victim." Yes, she is bitchy, she is mean, she is unpleasant. So why waste so much time and effort on her at all? And, worse yet, in the same negative style she uses? This carries the rank odor of a vendetta. Retired Chef, welcome. Please do not be put off by Chef Klc's own cheap shots. He has much knowledge to offer, and does. But neither is he an "innocent victim." Just remember Hamlet, Act I, Scene v, lines 106 to 109.

Too bad he didn't take a more reasoned approach than she does. All I can hear is "Nya nyaaaaa!"

I forced myself to read it twice, just to be sure. WHY, for god's sake? That was the most mean-spirited, unnecessary piece of vitriol I've read in a long time.

Gee, thanks a lot, Maggie. No, actually now that you mention it, I've got Lotte Lenya in German and Judy Collins in English, singing "Pirate Jenny" from Threepenny Opera. Or maybe Nina Simone (now THAT is the scariest version I ever heard!) Anyway, I do believe that one could learn from the right book -- and the one I mentioned at the end (The New Cook, by Mary Berry and Marlena Spieler) might be it. Or maybe James Peterson's Essentials of Cooking . Alas, I can't do a "review" of either, since the former came out in 1997, and the latter in 1999. But I might try a "compare-and-contrast" at some point. There's at least one member here to whom I want to give a copy of The New Cook, for him to play with and report back on. Of course, right there I'm stacking the deck, since eGullet members know food, even if they don't know how to cook it. But, hey, life is unfair.

Me too.

Oh, time for the anal-retentive obsessive-compulsive to chime in. An entire two-drawer legal-size filing cabinet holds the current collection; there are 4 magazine boxes waiting with clippings to file. In manila folders within hanging folders. Top drawer: front half: by course. Mixed clippings (whole meals, holiday menus, by chef, etc.), then alpabetically: Appetizers, Baking, Beverages, Breads, Breakfast, Desserts, Entrées ... you get the idea. Top drawer: rear half: by ethnicity/nationality. Mixed ("International"); Afghan, African (except North African); American, including African-American and specific regions; Armenian; Asian (except Chinese and Korean) ... Bottom drawer: by primary or focus ingredient. Almonds, Anchovies ... Needless to say, when looking for a recipe I think I may I have, I spend a lot of extra time searching all three areas. If I'm actually using the recipe in the kitchen, it sits naked on the counter, off to the side a bit. Recipes from actual books, and those clippings with tiny type, are copied, enlarged, onto scrap paper. (Our office is in the apartment, so we have a copier right here.) Years ago I had one of those Plexiglas cookbook stands, but I made the mistake of trying to scrub the gunk off of it.

That's a great suggestion!

Today's NY Times has a writeup of a new one in trendy Williamsburg, the Bedford Cheese Shop, in a "funky little mall" at Bedford Avenue and North Fifth Street. "The cheesemonger, Frank Shuck, ... opened the shop with his partners after years at the temples of cheese: Fairway, Dean & DeLuca, Balducci's, and Murray's." Maybe the Times was just waiting for you to ask, Fat Guy. edited to add this link to the item.

C'mon -- hot sauce goes well with EVERYTHING! What I want to know for everyone is: how do *you* scramble them? Just a light mix in a bowl and a gentle stir in the pan, so they come out streaky yellow-and-white? A thorough whisking blend in the bowl? And what about the degree to which you cook them -- oh so many questions, for such a seemingly simple food.

After I sent off the piece, I finally read Burton Kaplan's review from Wine Lovers' Page, which I downloaded about a month ago. Boy, am I glad I waited! He says the book "clearly affords amateur cookaholics the best dissertation in English on culinary technique since Escoffier." And: "Tack-sharp color photography..." -- yes, if you only want to see the finished dishes in the front. Well, the photos of techniques ARE excellent, albeit sometimes on the small side. Fat Guy is right about the prospects of this one being a good reference. But for that it could be half the size, leaving out the extra recipes. It is clearly a class text, with those recipes the equivalent of exercises in a math or grammar book. And that was what I wanted to get across: that one can't simply pick it up and learn to cook. Hell, I can hardly even pick it up, period (6 pounds 12 ounces!). But even as a reference, it strikes me as so ... middle-American. More P.F. Chang's than Congee Village. I know I'm spoiled by all my books on specific ethnic ingredients or ingredients in general, which are more exciting and, taken all together, far more comprehensive and useful for my style of cooking. But I have to remind myself that P.F. Chang's has probably introduced more people to something almost akin to Chinese food than all the restaurants in Chinatown. Which they should be applauded for doing. (Don't hate me, Jinmyo )

I always add liquid to scrambled eggs, usually milk or water, mixed into the eggs before they go in the pan -- I'd add cream if I kept it around and if He Who Only Eats weren't looking. I learned that gives a softer product. Water makes it fluffier than milk or cream; but cream tastes oh so much better. Sometimes I add cottage cheese, either whipped into the eggs or put in the pan first to melt down a bit before I pour in the eggs. This makes a very different kind of dish, though. Since it never totally melts, the eggs look more like dotted-swiss fabric. And the whey leeches out, as Ron has noted and D the C explained. Not a pretty sight, but to me it tastes good. Oh, yes, and I add a splash of Worcestershire too, which makes it both uglier and tastier.

BD: You, Suzanne and I must make a point of dining out together. Looks as if we won't find anyone else to go with us. Oh I'm in Name the place! How about the club where Nick Gatti works?

I'd love to, also, but I'm too lazy. I just eat it out. According to the Time-Life Foods of the World volume on Latin American Cooking, a feijoada completa for eight to ten people entails: 1. Orange slices 2. Rice 3. Collard greens or kale 4. Pepper-and-lemon sauce 5. Butter farofa (toasted manioc meal), garnished with hard-cooked eggs and stuffed green olives 6. Black beans 7. Batida paulista, a rum-lemon drink (although caiparinha would probably do) 8. Fresh beef 9. Smoked beef tongue 10. Corned spareribs 11. Smoked sausages 12. Jerked (dried) beef 13. Fresh pork sausages 14. Slab and/or Canadian bacon Whew! That's why you eat it for lunch on Saturday and then nap until it's time to go out and party.

The beef braciole made yesterday during the storm,mmmmmmmm. Gemelli. Steamed spinach. Salad of red boston, red romaine, red and green bell peppers, with a mustard vinaigrette. Standing Stone Pinnacle (Bordeaux-style blend from Long Island) Adding yet another request for the chocolate cookie recipe.

Richard K -- one should be able to. AA eggs are the freshest: the albumin sits higher (instead of being spread out and somewhat watery); the yolk sits well on top, in a rounded mound. As time goes on, the egg will kind of sag (rather like us women ). That said, I don't really know if one could, if not viewing them side-by-side.

Oh, lord! the 17th printing of the tenth edition of The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook, "completely revised by Wilma Lord Perkins" (apparently FF's niece), published in paperback by Bantam Books not much after June, 1968. "This low-priced Bantam Book contains the complete text of the original hard-cover edition. NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED." The crumbling pages have by now turned a rich caramel color. Do I still use it? Well, I still look at it for information.

Whether it has or not -- Yes! or rather, NO. Oh hell, I agree that it's a horrible term, and if I saw it in a review, I would avoid both the restaurant and the reviewer in future. Welcome, lk597!

Joy -- is that Huh as in or Huh as in or Huh as in ? Yeah, burgers. Very safe there, no disappointments whatsoever. Although not what I really want to always have to order at a place that serves BBQ.

Anything you might coat with plain/AP flour before cooking, you can use this (not necessarily South Asian foods). I recently did some deep-fried mussels, adding some spice to the gram flour. Quite nice.

Nina -- what you have described is precisely what I meant: you DEMONSTRATE that you deserve the special treatment. Not that you ASK for it, nor that, heaven forfend, you DEMAND it. But that you SHOW you are capable of appreciating it. (Of course, Wilfrid's pre-arranged dinner, and Steve P.'s medical reasons -- which should have been discussed with the staff beforehand it at all possible) are exempt. THAT sort of asking is perfectly acceptable, even necessary. Who does? And Stellabella, there seem to be at least three different "central issues" now. Sorry if I've added to your fully-justified confusion. Wilfrid did a good job of laying them out, although he seems not to have included his diversion into discussing the menu ahead of time. Which to me is the height of good manners, by not putting sudden, undue pressure on the kitchen, while assuring one's own satisfaction.