Suzanne F

Not a cookbook, no, but it counts here. We are not such sticklers here for titles. If it's about food, it counts. Right, Ms. Maggie? BTW: yet another for me: The Pepper Lady's Pocket Pepper Primer by Jean Andrews. It's my idea of a perfect reference book: photos of every item described, and almost all the photos are life-size; the writeups are clear, interesting, and include substitutions, uses and much other information.

I've got to jump in here: Nora opened while we lived in DC (1976-1980) and it was immediately one of our favorites. She went organic much more recently, obviously. We try to eat at one or the other of her places whenever we are back in DC. (Nora is one of the very few places on the East Cost where I feel comfortable indulging in salmon.) Asia Nora has also been a favorite; HWOE says that a sauteed rockfish dish he had there a year or so ago was one of his all-time best eats. (Remember that HWOE stands for He Who Only Eats. ) We were at Asia Nora for New Year's Eve a couple of years ago, and it was wonderful. I've been in the business (BOH); I have high standards for food and service. I have been very happy with Nora and Asia Nora. Just because there is not a lot of bruit, doesn't mean there is not quality.

The Summer 2004 issue of Gastronomica as a brief (all too brief) article by one of our own, Timothy C. Davis. Sadly, this is not online.

We go there with the same view as going to Trattoria dell'Arte, across the street from Carnegie Hall: sit at the antipasto bar, chat with the antipasto barista, eat some not-great-but-not-terrible-and-not-too-too-overpriced food, drink some wine, skip dessert, and go enjoy the concert. We never order off the menu; that's not very good food at all. But the antipasto bar is fine, especially if you love vegetables. Actually, their seafood salads can be quite good, at least several cuts above your basic salad bar.

I was with MHesse last night. My thoughts, in addition to the belief that if I still worked nearby NYBC would be one of my regular lunch spots: 1. NYBC needs to train the cashiers much better! I approached clearly as a novice, and was given almost no help. She didn't even tell me I could specify temperature! As a result, mine came out medium-well, which turned to well-done on sitting. In her defense, though, she allowed as how the "Big Deal" could, in fact, include a salad and fountain soda; she did not make me take bottled water with my burger and salad. (Good; I refuse to buy water, ever, anywhere.) 2. The bun is very good, if too big for the burger. The shine is from egg wash (and it is an egg bread, not white). That armor-plating helps it hold together under the onslaught of juicy accoutrements. 3. The accoutrements were excellent: I had the Seattle, with portobellos and grilled onions. I loved the onions -- really good grilled flavor. Tons of mushroom slices. And the tomato slices and chiffonade of romain that come standard were also good. 4. Unfortunately, while the accoutrements were juicy, my overcooked burger was not (obviously). However, it had excellent char, imparting a strong grilled flavor. I suspect that the meat flavor would have been good, too, had it not be incinerated. If only it had be seasoned. (Why are so many burger places afraid of salt and pepper? That was a problem with the Shake Shack burger as well -- I tasted Mark's.) 5. My Seattle supposedly had NYBC's "burger sauce." Fortunately, I didn't know that -- because when I tasted it by itself, I hated it: burnt tomato flavor under Worcestershire and raisins, kind of like a bad, thinned-out A-1. The Creamy Horseradish was good, though, and made a fine addition to my burger's panoply of flavors. 6. The salad that came as part of the Big Deal was very satisfying: a good mix of greens, a couple of nice cherry tomatoes, chunks of cucumber, grated carrot, and a minimum of green pepper. All neither too dried-out nor too wet. The "fat-free Cucumber Dill Yogurt" dressing tasted all right, but had that faux-mayo mucilaginous feel to it. 7. I didn't taste the fries until they were cold. They had potential -- good color and flavorful grease; even cold, they were still edible. While waiting for our orders we were discussing whether they had been blanched; couldn't tell for sure by looks. 8. On to Shake Shack: what a great aroma emanated from there! Truly Pavlovian. (At least until they closed up and were burning the grease off the grill; that was disgusting.) I only tasted a bit of the meat from MHesse's burger -- very good, but lacking in salt as usual. That was a perfect one-handed burger: even with the lettuce and tomato, it only requires one had to manage it. And at the price, a better value than NYBC. I'd probably do SS in the summer, NYBC in winter -- burgers must be consumed in situ, and SS only has that outdoor seating, a seasonal drawback.

Not a recipe per se, but from work I recall taking honeydew, pureeing it, mixing in water, salt and pepper, and a little rice wine vinegar; doing the same with canteloupe; then pouring the two into a soup plate for a kind of yin-yang effect, topping with some thinned-out creme fraiche, a few curry-grilled shrimp, and pappadum chips.

I've lost count of the hot sauces in my fridge -- they're taking over. Some of my favorites besides all the aforementioned are Trinidad, Batten Island (not very hot but very tasty), and Sontava. The only kind of hot sauce I absolutely refuse to purchase is one that has capsaicin extract in it. That's cheating! Besides, I want FLAVOR, not just HEAT!!!

Hear, hear!

Actually, that's the recipe in Fergus Henderson's The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. (The writer does credit it properly.) If anyone tries this recipe, please please PLEASE let me know if you have any problems with it. This was one that looked wrong in the original, and I made changes that seemed logical but I never actually tested the new version ( bad Suzanne ). Of course I hope it works perfectly but you never know. You might also check out Tate & Lyle's recipe site.

When I ate at Le Veau d'Or a couple of years ago, it certainly LOOKED as though it hadn't changed -- a fabulous example of Arte Moderne. I had a different reaction to the food than AB, but could try it again since he was so enthusiastic. I'm curious about the ratings of Restaurant Associates' early establishments, if they were (still) around, such as La Fonda del Sol.

Do you really think it's a "new" phenomenon in cities that have substantial African-American populations, of which Detroit is certainly one of the most major? Perhaps the phenomenon is more in places that do NOT have such populations? Or that this cuisine is now being presented in "white-tablecloth" restaurants (I think here in NYC Ida-Mae's is like that, although I've not been)?

Not that I really can contradict local folk, but our visit to Ray's a week ago was very, very good -- service was extremely helpful, and other than the sauteed sockeye being just a trifle more cooked than I like (but not to the point of being dried out), we found the food quite enjoyable.

Meatloaf doesn't provide decent drippings to make a good gravy. Cheat and make a brown sauce. Oh, gosh, mine usually does; I make it in a bread pan. But also way too much extra fat, so the runoff has to be carefully separated. I can often just add a little beef stock to the degreased juices, burr mix it with a hand blender to break up the clumps of protein, and then either whisk that into a roux or whisk in a slurry and boil it.

Among New York City Italians, too. fifi: if you ever go to southern Vermont, stop in Wilmington (Route 9, halfway between Bennington and Brattleboro) at Dot's. I don't know how authentic their sausage gravy and biscuit is, but oh! is it goooooooooooood. If you get it with the eggs and home fries, you need not eat again until the next day (almost ).

Here's what the baking powder does: the bicarbonate of soda (alkaline)component reacts with the acid of the lemon juice to froth as soon as they're mixed, and the other components (acids) work to leaven the mixture when exposed to heat, and keep the structure from collapsing. So it's not a reaction to flour, but to the other acids and alkali in the batter that the baking powder effects. PS: I never met a lemon bar I didn't like, except for those that skimp on the lemon juice in the topping. Pucker up!

I agree that it could be added to by vapors from within the oven itself, but oh, no! Throwing it out would be a horrible waste! Besides, I've had the same trouble with LeCreuset that was not cleaned throroughly. Which leads me to think that Scott123 is also right about the residue. Unless you clean off all the surface dirt and gunk, it will just keeping cooking on. Think about how dark well-seasoned cast iron becomes, for a case where you WANT the grease to stay. The brown spots might make your AC ugly, but as Marlene said, won't really affect the performance. And even though AC says not to, unless you're really fussy about keeping the stainless steel mirror-shiny, you CAN clean it with steel wool. You'll scratch the surface so it's not as pretty, but it will still work as well. Putting it in the dishwasher -- even the Master Chef pans with the dull outside finish -- is fine. I only wish my chef pan could fit. I'm all for the easiest way to get everything the cleanest.

To weigh in on the "how long do they keep" question: At the restaurants, we made them fresh every morning, and stored them in the fridge covered with dry cloth towels and plastic wrap. In single layers, otherwise they'd stick to each other. Even when well-wrapped, by the next morning the wrappers would have become rubbery. (As Rachel says, okay for my lunch but not for anyone else's, especially not the paying customers.) If I tried to add a layer of damp towels, they usually got too soft. But we pretty much used them up each day. If any were left the next day, we'd unroll them to get to the shrimp, and make new ones; the rest of the filling would be discarded. Of course, the ones with the re-used shrimp would be served first, and the shrimp would never be used a third time; those rolls would be discarded entirely (or left where the staff could have them). Another thing: we used the large-diameter wrappers, and didn't bother to fold in the ends, just trimmed them off. (Mmmmm, bits to nibble while making them.) We sliced the rolls straight across into 1 1/2-inch lengths (to serve as the base for pieces of mahi mahi), only cutting them as needed. Sauces were a lemongrass one, thickened with cornstarch (okay, but not my favorite), and a chile-garlic with a base of fish sauce and sugar cooked to caramel. (If anyone want the recipe, I'll post it on eGRA.)

I'm waiting with bated breath.

Saskanuck: That's what/where I figured you were. Just didn't want to seem un-nice. (No, I'm not Canadian, but just came back from a week there. ) You will find a nice balance of professionals and amateurs here, all of whom are listened to with the same attention. And many other readers-of-cookbooks-as-novels. Gariotin: When my mother passed away, it was easy for me to absorb most of her very small collection. But the copies of Volumes 1 and 2 of Mastering the Art were given to the friend I've known longest, more than 30 years at the time (by now more than 40). This friend called me the other day to thank me for introducing her to Julia. That is the best memorial.

As long as you keep it refrigerated, even with the broth mixed in there shouldn't be a problem if you'll be using it that soon.

Nora might about 25; it opened when we lived in DC in the late 1970s. Others that I remember -- mostly inexpensive, since we were young then: Childe Harold Mr. Henry's Trio (near Dupont Circle, on 17th Street. Not a great place; actually a diner + pizza place + bar [Fox & Hounds], but we loved it. Last time we stopped in a year and a half or so, Margo the waitress was still there ) Annie's Paramount (inexpensive steak place on 17th NW; in our day, a bastion of the gay community) I'd be curious to know if they're still open.

Just caught up with this thread, and wanted to add that Calvin Trillin sightings are to be expected: one of his daughters lives in SF. I ran into him at Cowgirl Creamery in the Ferry Building last fall, and made a fool of myself yet again (already had years ago when he showed up where I worked to pick up an order).

Welcome saskanuck! We definitely count non-recipe books, especially by those two (whom we love dearly!) And you are lucky indeed to have your mom's stuff. Member Bios have a thread here in "The Pantry." It's not obligatory; in our posts we all reveal far more of ourselves than we think we do, anyway.

I've read that you can peel back the husks, remove all the silk, slather the kernels with a flavored butter, carefully replace the husks, and then grill. But why bother? Do what GG says, and slather later.

I agree with Jake. And if your marinade is the kind that needs to be cooked first and cooled before using, so much the better.