Suzanne F

Don't be silly. No one could usurp you; it's not that sort of verb. Nor has your position been usurped; I just thought I'd follow through on what I said I'd do. Or did I not say I'd contact Blue Smoke? Well, anyway, I have no desire to take on the position of BurgerBitch. Just thought I'd help out. K?

Just bumping this up to remind people: The Next NY Potluck: Date: Sunday, January 18, 2004 (not Superbowl Sunday, but probably conference championship{s}) Time: TBA, probably late afternoon-ish Location: Lower Manhattan Theme: PIE: think outside the crust

Recap: BC at Blue Smoke, Saturday, December 13, 1:00pm As far as I can make out, the list of prospective attendees is: elyse SuzanneF + HWOE alacarte Blondie JosephB +1 Kirk Picaman MHesse Sherribabee + 1 or 2 for a total of 12 or 13 If I missed you, I apologize; please PM me. EDIT: I just talked with Annie at Blue Smoke, to alert her to our coming. (A group over 10 is considered "large" and is expected to make advance arrangements.) She will get back to me with info. For the record, regular a la carte price of the burger is $10.95, plus $1 for cheese, $1 for bacon.

The menu offers steak "cooked to your liking." Or worse yet, "to your likeness."

alacarte -- I did mention it, but I can kind of understand the mention getting lost. Yes, we MUST have a thread on "The Law of Punitive Extremes." But unless Mr. C. gives permission for someone else, it's really his to start.

I'll also beg a ride, for me and HWOE. Soba can sit on my lap, if need be. And if we can't get a ride, can someone please let us know how to get there via NJT or some such?

Or stew it with onions, tomatoes, and peppers (sweet and hot) for a sort of southern ratatouille. You won't even notice the goo.

P.S. We're talking coriander seed, not leaves, right? Right.

Actually, Avery now has some decent-looking, heavier card stock: glossy (#8879) or matte (8876), with clean breaks instead of fuzzy perfs. When I needed some a couple of weeks ago for the WCR conference, that's what I used. I did not put my business's name or website on the card, because they are meaningless in this context. Just my name; phone; e-mail; tiny pictures of a place setting and book, side by side; what I do in gerund form, one word per line; and "www.egullet.com" since I was talking up the site a lot. Of course, I already knew most of the people I gave the cards to, but this defined a new potential relationship. I think that's important: the card should be complete in its definition of YOU as you wish people to remember you.

It's similar. But she calls for 4 quinces to one chicken. And instead of the stock and port, she uses 1 cup of fruity white wine. Cooks the quinces, adds a little light brown sugar and reduces the liquid to 1 cup. Then coats the chicken pieces with seasoned flour, browns them and dusts with the coriander, deglazes the pan (minus the fat) with the liquid, pours this over the chix in the baking dish. Bakes at 375, covered 15 minutes, then uncovered another 15. You could always add some lemon; I might. Although using wine ups the acidity anyway.

Oh, yes! Knives: got a set of some very nastily serrated Regent Sheffield (English) knives years ago, before I knew any better. They remain in the knife block because HWOE likes them (what does he know? He . . . Only Eats ) They are the flimsiest, most dangerous knives I've ever had. Ugh. I too have a fish poacher somewhere in the back of the bottom of the cupboard. And a big, fancy Bron mandoline on top of the cabinets. Well, at least I only paid about half price for it. Benriner is so much easier to use. Also several wine-bottle-opening accessories, such as a hook to fish the cork out after it's gotten pushed INTO the bottle. Can you say, BIG SPLASH ALL OVER?

Please do, tommy. This has been a really good thread.

Elizabeth Schneider (my goddess when it comes to fruits and vegetables) has very good information in Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables. Some handy hints: She gives recipes for Honey-Baked Quince Slices; Chicken Baked with Quinces; Stew of Quinces and Lamb with Saffron and Split Peas; Quince Conserve with Vanilla; Quince Marmalade with Lemon and Ginger; Quince and Almond Tart; Quince Paste Candy (aka Membrillo); and Quince Cordial. Unless you are in the no-fruit-with-meat camp, try them in a stew or alongside meat. The chicken recipe above calls for gently stewing sliced quinces in apple juice to 30 to 50 minutes, then browning a cut-up chicken, deglazing the pan with the fruit liquid, and baking the whole thing until the chicken is done. Since the quince turns pink when cooked, it's quite lovely.

Wow, zhangstah: if that's what you get to have for dinner, please, please keep posting. Welcome Tonight (saturday) we had: Chicken broth (made yesterday/today) with fine egg noodles Portobello mushroom caps grilled, then baked with a topping of own stems, pancetta, panko, parmesan, shallots, a little egg, and ricotta. Roast garlic mashed potatoes. Salad with mustard/garlic/dill dressing Harwood (Australian) Shiraz, bought today at a wine store in our neighborhood that we never noticed before.

Oh?? Sounds good to me. Any details available??

As mentioned in this discussion of our dinner at Amuse, we had a Schneider Cabernet Franc, 2000, from the North Fork of Long Island. It was GOOD, went well with almost everything, and was enjoyed even by a non-drinker. (That might not be a positive to some here, but in this case, to me it is.)

Ooooh, does that sound good I've had that at rm -- topped with a little caviar -- and yes, it IS good. Fat Guy, because your description is so full of detail -- I've gotta see that cake. Nothing substantive to add to this thread: we ate out. So for us, the best part was being with friends. ALWAYS the best part of a meal, IMO. Especially when they're eGullet friends.

I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.

Oh dear, am I going to be drummed out for admitting that I'm with Soba on not understanding all the brouhaha? I mean, CB is all right -- if I have not just had a big, rich meal. Which pretty much precludes my having it in a restaurant. And I almost never make desserts at home. I don't deny that it tastes good and is fun to eat. But I guess it's one of those foods I just don't "get:" I can think of lots of other things to do with cream, sugar, and a little egg. Now, if you ask about the Foie Gras Brulee at Jean Georges -- All the wonderful textural elements, but with much more interesting flavors. One last thing: last night we saw the Beckett/Albee plays with Marian Seldes and Brian Murray. Creme brulee is a very, very important element in the Albee. And funny, too. If you get a chance to see this (NYC; don't know if it will travel), DO.

Pretty good memory, actually, Soba. Wait another 20 years before you really have a right to complain! One correction: Schneider Cabernet Franc, 2000. When HWOE saw it on the list for only $42, he practically jumped out of his seat; at any rate, his shriek caused US to jump. Long Island is not doing very well with Cab. Sauvignon, but the Cab. Franc is flourishing. This wine worked beautifully with all the dishes, except maybe the little cheese/fig tarts in the amuse; it brought out the cheese's aggressive tendencies. And I was amazed to see Soba have as much as he did. Not much by my standards, of course, but more than his usual couple of sips. So I guess he liked it. So did our fourth, who first said, "None for me, I'm on cold medicine;" then, "Well, just a taste;" then, "Mmmmm, sure, I'll take a refill." Anyway, the wine has a good balance of fruitiness, spiciness, acid, and body. The other amuses -- duck prosciutto-wrapped honeydew, and gougeres filled with cheesy cream -- were a lovely start. Even if the server called the latter "puff pastry filled with gougere cheese." Actually, we started with rolls: faintly oniony, almost brioche-y but not as rich. These came quite quickly after we were seated. But everything else took forever to arrive and, as Soba said, was offered to the wrong diner. Tough as I am on service, though, I forgive them because of the day. Besides, just about all the food was excellent. The salmon 2 ways was actually tartare and smoked, with the smoked salmon draped over the potato cake. The each by itself was very, very good. The tartare was very citrusy, a good contrast to the richness of the fish. The smoked salmon was pretty heavily smoked, but eaten with the potato cake it was nicely mitigated. I thought the best thing about the chanterelle tart was the spicy microgreens on top. Not that it was a bad tart, just a bit busy (it had sundried tomatoes as well). Beautiful to look at, though. While I was disappointed that the veal chop (a rib chop) was WAY overdone -- I asked for it on the rare side of medium-rare, and it came out well done -- it was clearly excellent meat, and not 100% dried out. My suspicion is that it sat under a heat lamp far too long, since the top surface had that look to it. But the sauce with it was just right, and was especially good on the Brussels sprouts. I loved them, but then I don't mind when they're overcooked. These were only a little overcooked, so they hadn't developed that cabbagey stink; and they still had that nice color. The chopped walnuts on them were a very nice touch. The venison could give "filet mignon" a good name again: very flavorful and gamey. The endive (it seemed more like braised, to me) was curiously acidic, but a good contrast. I would have been satisfied to have ONLY had the bowl of mashed potatoes. The cornbread dressing was a bit sweet for me; the regular had some kind of ground meat, and was okay. The cranberry sauce was a good version of cranberry-orange, with nicely balanced sweet-tart-bitter flavors. I would have liked more, but of course that wreaks havoc on wine. Desserts: the apple crisp was a classic: very thinly sliced tart Granny Smiths, and a thick layer of basic streusel. Served with maple-walnut ice cream, in which I could taste the walnuts but not the maple. That was fine, though -- the crisp had all the sweetness it needed, and the walnut flavor was all that was needed to complete it. The sticky toffee cake was the last thing I ate, so it didn't make much of an impression. Somehow, I think I make like the one at Craft better, but I'm not sure. Soba's chocolate thing looked fabulous, but seemed as though it were all served a bit too cold (the chocolate aroma should have been stronger). Oh, and the decaf espresso was just right. I would go back to Amuse. I like the basic concept (even if this mean was not an example), and I definitely liked the food. By the by, does anyone remember where the chef, Gerry Hayden, was before? All I can remember is that he's Mr. Claudia Fleming. PS: yes, as always it was delightful to dine with other eGulleteers. We (HWOE and I) had originally planned to go to Wallse, another place I've wanted to try. But it was not possible to increase the reservation from 2 to 3 -- a deuce to a four-top -- so I switched to Amuse. Then it was easy to invite one more person along. So with 3 eG members and 1 hanger-on, we had far more conversational topics than we could ever complete. Our first toast was to eGullet. edit to add: We've all noted the problems with doneness and mediocre service; but holidays like this are the worst time to judge what a place can really do. (One of my absolute worst dining experiences was on Mothers' Day.) That's why I hope to go back for a "normal" meal. FWIW: the chef WAS there, at least when we arrived at 7:30. But whether he was still there later, I don't know.

Define "best." Fastest response? Best customer service? Least expensive? Cutest website?

Oh, we get that without even trying. I mean, when you've got 17 people at a bunch of tiny bar tables . . . We're lucky it's only the papers that get in the food.

- "Product" -- our euphemism for purchased frozen crab cakes - The best macaroni and cheese I've ever made: sweated shallots before making the roux; added lots of Old Bay, dry mustard, cayenne; 5 cheeses (neufchatel, 2 kinds of cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano); and a perfect crust of the grated cheeses plus cheese-cracker crumbs - Plain steamed spinach - Salad with romaine, radicchio, endive, and boston, plus home-roasted and -martinated peppers, and home-pickled artichoke hearts, dressed with the oil from the veg plus the spiced brine from the artichokes - Roederer Estate sparkling wine (CA Champagne substitute) to celebrate that HWOE finished and delivered the first draft of one of the two books he's working on.

Ooops. Didn't mention a time for Blue Smoke on 12/13. Since it's Saturday, and there's no eclipse, shall we revert to 1:00pm? I wonder if we end up with a large group, they'll put us downstairs in the Jazz Standard space? That's where I'm used to eating their burger, anyway. Anyway, I'll check with them after the holiday. So far, the RSVPs are: elyse Suzanne F and HeWho (as someone called him last night) alacarte MHesse Picaman Kirk Keep those RSVPs coming, here or by pm.

This is one of the scariest things I've ever read. Welcome chickenlady! Glad you made it through the fiery furnace(s!).