Suzanne F

Saturday: Black Cod broiled with a marinade/glaze of miso shiro, mirin, grated ginger, and a couple of pinches of cayenne. Leftover brown rice reheated with roasted chopped cashews. Sauteed julienne chayote. Watercress, Boston, and romaine lettuces with sherry vinegar and olive oil. Paumanok Barrel Select Chardonnay, 2001. (North Fork, Long Island, NY) Tonight: Duck hash: meat from confit duck necks and wings plus neck meat from recent stock-making, white onion sauteed in duck fat, and leftover "gratin" of redskin potatoes (no cream, just duck fat and stock) Frozen chopped spinach cooked just enough to thaw/heat, with nutmeg, garlic, and white pepper. I refused to go out to get more salad stuff, so no salad. Paringa Shiraz 2002 (South Australia)

Edited to add: everyone should check out The Kitchen Scale Manifesto on RecipeGullet. Oh, how I wish the publishers would learn! But it's more a case of people just not being used to using scales. After all, we are now the only country in the world that still uses pounds and ounces, because somebody decided we were too entrenched to change to metric In Understanding Baking there are great charts for converting between weight and volume, with explanations of how they got the numbers. Even so, as long as we have to go back and forth, it's all still approximation. And I drank my milk out of yahrzeit glasses. (Creepy!!!) The ones I see now seem to be much smaller than when I was growing up. Some African recipes I've seen call for "1 Prince Albert" of something -- meaning the can that the tobacco comes in. At work at one restaurant, we measured something by "crabs," meaning the containers that our crab meat came in (actually, either 1 cup or 1 pint, I forget now). But ultimately, as a home baker, I don't worry too much about precision to the last decimal point. If it works pretty well, and tastes good, that's good enough for me. It's kind of the way I cook on the hot side: rarely measuring precisely at home even when following a recipe, because I know more or less how it will come out. Oh, when I cooked and baked in restaurants, I measured very precisely, because the customers expected absolute consistency. At home, though, that's not an issue. As long as it works, I'm happy. And He Who Only Eats is happy. And my guests are happy. What more could I want?

Take it out of the fridge; wait until the the guests have left, and then . . . You get the idea.

Thanks! Even if I can't get a group up for Wildwood (btw, the link shouldn't have that "s" in it), I'll try to get HWOE there by ourselves!

Jantzen Beach. If I go, I will probably get a car, and others may have cars as well. There will also be some locals who might be available to transport (Multnomah County folks and Portland department people). Sounds like cost is now a non-issue. The couple of kosher-keeping guys I'm thinking of are fine with eating fish anyplace; they just won't eat anything with meat or poultry or forbidden seafood. At the last conference, we even ran into one of them at a Southeast Asian restaurant. Certified kosher is not necessary. Thanks for your help in refining the search criteria.

NEAT! I was thinking of asking if I could come over, but now maybe you should cancel the guests and just celebrate together. Congrats! "Cuddlefish"? Hey, that's HWOE's joke.

No, she does not. Although in her discussion of equipment, in her "committed" list she suggests getting a scale to "[w]eigh chocolate and nuts for more accurate baking." And at the "happily over the top" level (beyond "getting started" and "committed"), she recommends: Having talked with her in person quite a few times, I doubt she would say that those who do not weigh all ingredients are not baking "correctly." She's a bit more tolerant than that: if you want to bake, and try, that's good enough for her.

Anyone have a recommendation for a place to get kokoretsi (various innards wrapped up with intestines and grilled)? The only time I get it is at the Ninth Avenue Festival, and the restaurant it came from closed some time ago. I think it's related to Ithaka, that opened on East 86th Street.

Suvir, it was truly OUR pleasure to be there. I was sitting next to Pan's father. As he was perusing the menu, he said, "Oh, chicken tikka, everyone does that." I don't doubt that Amma's would be a cut above every else's, because of the care that Suvir describes. He ended up getting the apricot-stuffed lamb, which he said was wonderful. I don't doubt that, either. Jackfruit! I wasn't paying attention when it was first described, so I too thought it must be some sort of meat. How much trouble is it to procure here?

In its posting in 1989 (year 7), you mentioned how surprisingly dependent readers were on seeing the recipe each year. Like many others, I finally followed your advice and taped the recipe on my cabinet door, even though I've made it so many times that I've got it memorized. It is a never-fail, always impressive recipe -- my go-to dessert. How does it feel to create such an immensely popular recipe? If that's all you were every known for, would you be happy or sad? Thank you for joining us!

Chunks of shrimp in a mousseline sounds great. The only thing I have to add is: if the shrimp are in their shells, use those to make a base for the sauce. You know, your basic [saute the shells -- add aromatics -- add fish stock and white wine -- cook 1/2 hour or so] stock. Oh, dano1 already said that. Great minds, etc.

At the end of March, HWOE will be in Portland for a conference of the American Society for Public Administration (government practitioners and academics). I hope to go with him. We're expecting to put together a group of unknown size to have a great meal. Help! Here are the requirements: Cheap to moderate prices Within easy access of the DoubleTree Hotel Food that people who keep kosher but still eat out in non-kosher restaurants could eat (this is a maybe) Able to take a group of up to 10 or 12 people on fairly short notice, on either a Sunday or Monday night Good wine list important to the 2 of us, maybe not to other folks. It's been 10 years since I was in Portland, so I have no idea of any place other than Genoa (btw, might that work?). (Also: if I go, I won't be "conferring" the whole time and would love to get together with some of you, if we can arrange it.)

I do pretty much what Mudbug quoted, except that I don't wash the leaves first. Just wrap the heads well in paper towels (or spread out the bunches stalk by stalk on the towels, such as with swiss chard) and put away in plastic bags. For herbs and watercress, I stand them in jars of water, wrap a paper towel around the "head," and place a plastic bag loosely over the top. The only problem I've had with that is the tall bunches freezing because my fridge is sometimes too cold where I keep them. And, of course, I reuse the paper towels on the next batch of leaves, after they dry out. Eventually they are used to wipe up the counter.

That is what I had heard as well ... but I think at some point, it has to be frozen or pitched out ... Eventually, you might as well just turn the stuff into glace. Of course, this works only for stocks, not for soups with other stuff in them. I hate the idea of pitching it, and I know that my freezer is stuffed almost beyond closing. But glace takes up so little room, and is so handy. Both at school (I worked in stewarding) and in restaurants, we did the reboil thing, although not more than once on any batch of stock; it usually was used up before we'd have to do it again. And to be honest, at home I sometimes keep stocks in the fridge for a week or even longer, with no ill effects. But then, yes, I do reboil them before using them.

dumpling - - DON'T DO IT!! (The sword thing, I mean!) When I have a long report to file here, I usually do it in Word and copy it into the reply window here. Just a thought. Of course, the advantage of doing it over is that you have a chance to make it better. Pan -- oh yes, cauliflower. Suvir did it at Diwan, and it was a huge hit when we did the big dinner there. It's a Chinese-influenced dish.

Yes: go with a tasting menu. And the accompanying wine flight. Whatever you end up with, you will enjoy it immensely. (If not all of it, a high enough percentage to warrent the expense ) And as for desserts: close your eyes and stab the menu with your finger; you won't go wrong with anything! (As for specific dishes: if the Foie Gras Brulee is on a tasting, GET IT!!!!!! I still dream of that dish)

Time for corrections from the Stickler: the chicken was dark meat; that's why it was so juicy and delicious (sorry, Soba ) One of those pieces of "fish" was the wonderful Indian/Chinese cauliflower, that Suvir did at Diwan, the one with ketchup in the sauce. Be that as it may, the lunch was incredible. Everything was spiced differently from everything else, and all dishes were delicious. (Well, Pan's father was disappointed in the dal that came with his apricot-stuffed lamb fillet, but he wiped his plate clean of sauce. ) And the best part was meeting Marlene and introducting her to the best in Indian food. The best? hell, this was her first Indian meal ever! What a relief that she loved it! (How could she not?) Suvir spent a great deal of time chatting with us, explaining the food and talking about other important issues. And Hemant was gracious as ever. The big news from Suvir was the imminent availability of Bengali food -- not generally known outside of its home -- at a new place in Brooklyn (not his).

Think there's anything symbolic about the author of the piece? (Sorry; I just had a look at this, um, thread)

Mmmm, okra! The other night I was at a Southern dinner, and the chef (an Arkansan, but wth) told us how he made his fabulous greens-and-okra: First make a stock with the smoked hocks/neckbones/etc. When that stock is done, then add your greens and cook until they're almost done (this is the melting version, not the nouveau crunchy way). Finally, for the last 10 minutes or so, add your okra, split lengthwise. Oh, was that good! (I think there was a lot of garlic in it, too.)

Yay! See you at Amma at 1. (HWOE will NOT be joining us; we can all share his portion )

The prices at almost all NYC restaurants are too high, if you're used to NJ prices. (I was shocked at how inexpensive the China 46 dinner was, compared to last year's New Year's dinner.) AS FG said, tell us what you ate, and we will tell you who you are.

I would love to hear what other home cooks who have used this book think of it. Anybody else?

But isn't there a version of caramel made with salt butter that's supposed to be dynamite?

I am very pleased and proud to announce that last night, after taking the saute pan out of the oven and placing it on top of the stove, I did NOT grab the handle with my bare hand. This thread has pounded that into my consciousness as no burn ever did. Thank you all!

We were just talking about this the other day in relation to making hollandaise. In addition to what DtheC says, salted butter can sometimes be of inferior quality and less-than-up-to-the-minute freshness. The salt flavor covers a multitude of sins.