Suzanne F

It just occurred to me that "chili con carne" as we are discussing it is the American equivalent of cassoulet: there are "rules" for its making, yet no one seems able to agree on what constitutes THE authentic version. (Barbecue is another, but that's pretty well covered in other threads.) What other regional dishes in other countries engender the same passionate debate? Just curious.

In Glorious French Food, James Peterson gives a recipe titled "The Best Holiday Eggnog." To one quart of chilled crème anglaise (made from 3 cups of milk, 9 large egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar and either 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon extract), he adds: 1 to 2 cups of straight (not blended) bourbon, brandy, or rum (preferably from Martinique) and after further chilling, folds in 1 cup of heavy cream, beaten to medium peaks and garnishes each serving with a little grated nutmeg. Sound pretty good to me -- and it should calm the fears of anyone who worries about raw egg products.

Yes on almost everything mentioned so far: beer, chocolate or cocoa (just watch it carefully so that it doesn't burn), cinnamon, diced meat preferable to minced, real chilies (toasted rehydrated dried are fine if you can't get fresh). Also: beef stock for more liquid. Maybe some leftover red wine. Yes or no on the tomatoes. Yes or no on bell peppers. You can also thicken it with ground nuts or (toasted and ground) pumpkin seeds. Just be careful then about serving it to people with nut allergies, esp. peanuts. When I add tofu, I freeze it first, then thaw and crumble it before adding. Gives a "meatier" texture. But not much flavor, so I usually only add it in addition to meat, or use stronger seasonings. I prefer not to cook it with beans, but to cook and serve them separately. Especially since I usually make a huge batch, portion it out, and freeze it. The beans don't take kindly to that treatment. Finally, I usually cook mine down to be rather dry without any added thickeners. That way I can use if for tacos and enchiladas, too. And it works well layered with corn tortillas and baked, for a torte. I can always thin it out later if I need to.

The Polish babka we get at Teresa's (in the East Village) is a very simple, only-slightly-sweetened yeast dough, rich but not as rich as brioche. The kind we used to get from The Garden Bakeshop in Kew Gardens (?) was much fancier, with both streusel crumbs and very dark chocolate -- more definitely a dessert than something to have with coffee in the afternoon. Finally: my grandmother would take some of her challah dough, sprinkled it with cinnamon-sugar and chopped nuts, and make a cake that way. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out why the family referred to it as "hollywood nuts."

The neatest thing about Primo is that they have their own "farm" on the grounds. I'm not sure how much that works at this time of year, though. I've heard talks by Melissa a few times since she moved up there, and she is quite convincingly passionate of seasonality. My guess is the "buzz" has died down only because they are now so far off the standard foodie radar (which seems to think Portland is the end of the world). By the way, Melissa and Price just did a session (12/2) at DeGustibus, the cooking series that Macy's runs.

Pickled cucumber???? Do tell! Off-topic comment: you mean there's a Mrs. Macrosan? Phooey. Then I take back my comment on the Bride of Etiquette thread. (Well, no, not really, since there is also a Mr. Suzanne F )

I guess mine is "fine" -- in any case, it makes the most wonderful fluffy shower of cheese for pasta; allows me to grate citrus zest with no nasty pith whatsoever (usually rather hard with limes); and grates fresh horseradish fine enough so that no one chokes on it in a creamy sauce. I love it. Box graters are as Model-Ts to the Porsche of a microplane.

I've got a Cuisinart DLC-7 Pro, which is almost 20 years old, for which I also bought a full set of shredding, slicing, and julienne disks. Of course, they don't make that model anymore. But in all these years, it's never given me a bit of trouble. I bought a KitchenAid FP for a place I used to work -- I forget the model name/number, but it was very good. One of those keypads that you can just wipe off: a definite plus. Nice heavy base, so it didn't walk while in use. And it came with a mini-bowl and blade to use for small jobs. Quite nice to have that available. (I'm not that fond of my Cuisinart Mini-Prep). Robo-Coupe machines are really heavy and powerful -- but mostly for professional situations. The feed tubes are weird for home use, and I was always afraid one of my staff would inadvertently grate or slice off a finger. Definitely a machine to be careful with. As for mixers, I'm a KitchenAid Professional gal. Love it!!!!! Although I've heard very good reports about Kenwood. (edited following Rachel's comment below; Because "SHE" started it!!! )

Someone posted a link on that thread. Decide for yourself ...

Glad to hear you had a good meal. Did they still have the "Roast chicken with garlic?" Opinions here on DSGG tend to be so very much divided -- maybe because some people have trouble accepting it for what it is (a restaurant with a few French sensibilities and Chinese food) wanting it instead to be what it is not (an "authentic" Chinese joint). Does this seem like an accurate assessment? [ducks before everything starts flying ]

Thanks for the heads-up. Isn't that the space that was the legend-before-its-time, that was supposed to become a Cajun restaurant back around 1996-97, backed by some big rock star? Well, it's probably pretty clean at any rate (Ecolab is on the same block, no?)

To add a couple of points to Schaems good advice: once you have your first stock, you can add more bones etc. and cook it again (reducing as it cooks), to give more flavor. This combines the two steps into one. If you brown the bones etc. first, you will get more flavor and, yes, less bits of protein floating about. But you will also have a darker-colored stock. I prefer that, but then I don't ever do consommé. Just cooking the chicken parts until they are no longer red will not do very much for the flavor; nor, I think, will it make much difference to clarity (I could be wrong on that point, though). For clarity: yes, rinse the bones before you use them. Start everything in cold water. Never let it boil. Skim, skim, skim. And even if you skim, do the chill-to-solidify-the-fat routine. Escoffier has a zillion garnishes for consommé. You don't have to look them up. The point there is that you make your garnish (e.g., your diced cooked chicken breast), put it in the soup plate, and add the hot soup. No worry about more nasty bits floating in the soup that way. If you can get hens ("stewing chicken"), DO, and use the meat to flavor the stock. You might even have some flavor left afterwards so that you CAN use the meat. What you do with the meat is up to you -- just taste it to make sure it's still worth using. Every restaurant I've ever worked in just used trimmings and carcasses, bought by the case. Never whole chix or chix parts -- just the backs, necks, and other bones. But then I never cooked for Jean-Georges (I've got one of his recipes that uses a couple of roast chickens just for the sauce ).

Schaem's suggestion seems fine. Pack up the gnocchi (very lightly coated with butter so they don't stick together) and sauce separately, heat them separately (keep the gnocchi covered), combine them when hot, add your truffle oil and cheese. Yum. However, am I correct in assuming that you will NOT have a burner available at serving time? If so, then you can't heat the sauce as schaem suggests. Just heat it however you can. (I have very little experience with microwaving, but if you're comfortable with it, fine.) One other suggestion: boil down the cream a bit before you add it to the au sec garlic/wine. That will help to keep it from breaking. Oh, and by the way, Bond Girl: regarding your e-mail -- none of this was anything to keep private -- I asked here because I figured other people would like to see and offer their advice. No need to deny everyone the fun by going private. Now, gossiping about other eGulleteers ... that's another matter entirely! Welcome to eGullet, I hope you stay and enjoy.

What's the sauce you normally use? In any case, you'll want to add the truffle oil just before serving; otherwise the perfume may be lost.

I vote for the Lahmahjoon! Grind the cooked meat, season it well, add some zataar (either green or red), maybe a little crumbled cheese, some pine nuts, sesame seeds, whatever. Spread a little on the cut side of split mini-pitas (the really really small ones, no more than 2" in diameter) and bake until the meat is hot and the bread slightly toasty. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and serve. But, then, the lamb rolls do sound good ... as does the curry .. and you could always make little lamb-filled empanadas, or pot-stickers, or fillo triangles or boerek, or ???

Why, thank you for asking! Yes, what many others have said, and a few other considerations: Location Respect for the (best-possible) ingredients, and knowing when to leave well enough alone Respect for the customers (e.g., asking "Who would like to look at the wine list?" if no one at the table asks for it; staff's ability to answer all questions) Staff showing respect for each other A comfortable (= low) noise level Sufficient light to read the menu and see what I'm eating Lack of sensory distractions (e.g., strong-smelling flowers, or drifting cigarette smoke) And, last but by no means least, clean restrooms.

Jin, I haven't had it in about 45 years. But when I was little, it seemed so exotic, so different, so ... Canadian.

Habitant brand pea soup!!!!!

Maybe you know more than you realize about "cuisine of the sun." No: strike the "maybe" -- you've internalized a lot already. Loved the idea of "twig" de Noel. That kind of cake takes a lot of practice, mainly because it's so thin. Won't it be terrible if you keep practicing, making it over again? Could you share the hints about freezing and reconstituting buttercream? Pretty please??

Jason, that Wusthof looks way cool! Also look extra-deep, which is what I prefer bout Messermeister chef knives (deeper blade for better rocking action). Maybe that's the difference? If you get it, Rachel will certainly get used to it, and like Snowangel's mom, will become addicted (as, of course, will you). The extra heft makes chopping sooooooooooooo much easier.

They do have an online menu. http://sakagura.com/ "Stamina Tofu?" "Maguro Natto?" Looks like I've got to put this place on my list to try, if I'm ever going to get over my natto aversion.

Oh. I had it on a prix fixe dinner last year, and it was truly one of the best chickens I've ever had. And I could eat chicken every day.

First: the texture you describe in bean soups is probably because the beans have skins. If you dislike it (not that you said you did, but if you did), you can put those soups through a food mill, and get rid of the skins, but still have that mealy texture. Which may or may not be what you want. (Blend after passing for smooooooooothness.) Yeah: regular old dried skinless split peas (green or yellow) do cook pretty quickly. But more wouldn't hurt. Finally, I grew up in a mostly-kosher household. My mother made her split pea with plain water or with flanken (beef) or chicken in it. Then she'd take out the meat to eat separately (with its coating of green ) and slice Hebrew National frankfurters into the soup. Try it, it's great. (This is the way it's served at Brooklyn Diner, too.) But you're right: and I do not adhere to kashruth. So I use ham hocks -- easier for me than a bone, since I never cook a whole ham.

I'm with you on this one. Me too. And since Paul hates it (for the texture), I MUST order it when we're out. Instead of a food mill, try using a burr mixer (wand blender) or purée in in the regular blender. Food mill leaves too much texture. Do you add anything when you serve it? Croutons? Frankfurter slices? Mmmmmmmmmm.

Having trailed twice at Verbena -- once several years ago for Chef Diane and once early this year for Chef Michael -- I can attest to the nurturing atmosphere there. I got the feeling that both of you will mentor anyone in your kitchen whom you feel will benefit -- but will pay special attention to women, to make up for past lacks. (Now I wish I had taken your part-time offer )