Suzanne F

You might be using too much. Saffron can have a medicinal flavor if too strong. BTW: another place in NYC for saffron at reasonable prices is Buon Italia, in Chelsea Market.

I now have about 1 cup of grated orange zest in my freezer (from a bag of terrific Valencia oranges). Please, give me some ideas for using it, besides flavoring cakes (which I rarely make). I promise to post in eGRA whatever I develop.

Not to sound like a brown-nose, but the recent and new threads on the antics of Bourdain and Ruhlman and Ripert . . .well, what can I say? We are truly blessed.

Same here. When I think mussel soup, I think Billi Bi (curried mussel soup). But I vote for . . . um, gazpacho? No, borscht. No wait -- cold cucumber/buttermilk soup with shrimp.

Inexpensive, excellent food for the small price: Noodle Pudding (down the street from Henry's End) Great NY Noodletown (ignoring decor and ambience; but we always have good service) Moderate: Azafran (we have always had terrific food AND WINE at reasonable prices) Expensive, and worth every penny: Jean Georges (based on 1 meal there) Chanterelle (based on many, but never enough) edited to add and explain

Precisely. Thank you for starting this discussion; more will come, let's hope!

Oooh. Next time you buy a calf's head, look for little holes on the neck.

Thank you. Well, everyone -- all eGulleteers -- who ate it liked it. And lived through the night. Me, I love garlic.

It works both ways. After 9/11, as soon as Alberto and Marco who ran The Little Place were allowed back in (2 blocks away from the site), they grabbed the stack of delivery slips and started checking on their customers. As soon as anyone else could get through the barricades, people started leaving them notes. By the time they were finally able to reopen on 11/1/01, well, let me just say that everyone was very, very happy to see each other. We were there, to celebrate HWOE's birthday as well as their rebirth. A little while after that, they held a "raffle" to raise money for their impending move. All of us regulars bought lots of tickets, even though the prize was just something like a week's lunches there. Why would we do that? Where were they moving? Right next door, to a bigger space. The Little Bigger Place. We've met their family (they are brothers-in-law), and if they don't see us for a little while, they ask the people we brought there -- now regulars on their own -- after us. As someone has already mentioned, it is absolutely the cheapest way to build a loyal clientele: just be nice.

I posted a recipe on eGRA for High-Test Hummus. It includes raw garlic, roasted garlic, and garlic oil. If you cut down the raw, or leave it out completely and up the roasted, you'll have a decaf version. Have a look and see what you think.

Maybe he's thinking of Erma Bombeck? The distinction that Andy made originally was, it seems to me, was in regard to books at least nominally by chefs. Not by great teachers (Kamman, M. Hazan, Child, Labensky, King) or by great writers (David, J. Grigson, Burros, Fisher, [Colchie] Schneider, Harris), but by chefs who are famous for being chefs (not merely for being excellent restaurant cooks). On a quick check of my catalogue, of those folks I know for sure are restaurant chefs or the chef behind a successful retail business, I've got 15 women and 31 men. If I were to count overall, though, I suspect the authors would be preponderantly female. After all, look at the membership of the Food Writing section of IACP!

Monica -- everything until the last day was vegetarian? Wow. And so many carnivores think vegetarian eating would be boring! Thanks for a fascinating story.

As I recall, watching the chef in Boston do it, he stood back a bit from the pot and scraped and flung the noodles at the water. Which is probably harder than scraping directly over the pot, but at least prevents steam burns and soggy blobby dough. BTW: how long did you have to knead the dough?

I've seen them both in the freezer case. I think they're cooked before being frozen.

If you bake bread, sprinkle some small cubes -- well, a lot of them -- into the dough before you shape it. A little Parmesan or other cheese along with that wouldn't hurt. Saute in some olive oil and add to pasta sauce, either at the start or end of cooking. Just remember to adjust the sauce. Mix with ricotta and shredded mozzarella to stuff calzone. Grind and mix with ricotta to stuff ravioli.

For large quantities of guajillo and chipotle peppers, I used to start with a food processor to break up the largest, heaviest pieces. Then transfer to a blender. Yeah, it makes for more cleanup, but it works faster overall.

Here's how the doughs would be "tested" at Dufour (which amounted to blind baking the shells): 1. Fit a second tin on top of the dough. This gives you a sandwich of dough between two tins. 2. Invert the whole thing and place on baking sheet. 3. Bake for 1/2 the time. 4. Flip over. Remove inner tin. Continue baking until done. IIRC, the pastry was not docked. (These were disposable aluminum tins.)

Thanks so much for the report, and for the heads-up on that Anjou. (That's my closest good wine shop ) But I wish you hadn't given away our secret.

Yes, indeed. Another article of possible eGullet interest on that site is here.

How were the shrimp done, and how were they?

Well, I really needed the new Lorraine Feather CD, so I had to place an order with Amazon. Besides, I've given up hoping that I'd be sent a copy of Fergus's book for having worked on it. But I'll wait until everything arrives to post the list. (What, you think I could get off just ordering those two items???)

Drying is important if you will be sauteeing: if the greens are not dry, you will stew them rather than saute. Here's a truc: after you shake off as much water as you can, put them in a clean pillowcase (not fabric softener), tie it closed, and spin it around your head a few rotations. As for blanching: this reduces sharpness and bitterness in some highly-flavored greens. It also can protect the color, and soften tough leaves.

BANANAS?!?!?!?!?!?

If you can't sun-dry them (as I suspect right now you can't ), you can always do it in the oven. Cut in half, empty of seeds and stuff, place on parchment-covered baking sheets in the lowest temperature oven you can manage. Leave for as long as it takes to get them as dry as you want, turning them over from time to time. Store in freezer or fridge.

How about some Tomato Chutney?