Suzanne F

Okay, everybody, Elyse emailed me that she's having trouble getting on eG tonight. So even if you pm'd her that you'll be attending the next OFFICIAL meeting of the BC on Tuesday, November 25, 2003, at 7:00pm at Landmark Tavern (11th Avenue and 46th Street), please pm me ASAP to reconfirm. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your support. Mr. C: You keep thinking about Blue Smoke because it is one hell of a burger! Mmmmmmmm.

Just wanted to say: I disagree with the title of this thread. I do not consider him to have had a "poison pen." And, btw, he is "Biff," not "Bill."

Last night, HWOE was telling me about a dish he ate while I was out of town: Enchiladas Decameron. I didn't know Boccaccio was back, cooking Mexican food. Did you?

The New Cook by Mary Berry and Marlena Spieler (who happens to be a member of eG). This is a fabulous book for someone who knows absolutely NOTHING: it has color photos of every piece of equipment, every ingredient, every technique discussed. Very clear directions and explanations. Including how to peel potatoes, make a French omelet and salsa bolognese, prepare apples for pies -- all the really basic stuff that those other books describe well but don't actually show you. Just a wonderful, wonderful book. I'm not familiar with the book Robyn mentioned (although now I want to see it), but this one also starts from zero -- and actually SHOWS the reader what everything should look like, every step of the way. It was published by Dorling Kindersley (DK Publishing) in 1997, ISBN 0-7894-1996-3. You might be able to find it on Amazon; I think I got it through Jessica's Biscuit.

San Francisco, for a conference; got back on the redeye this morning. And where I had one of the worst burgers -- well, completely mediocre: at some restaurant at the SF airport, where I ordered rare and got well-done first , then the rare wasn't particularly meaty tasting anyway. But I thought it was decided: Murder Burger is not a burger, and therefore not meat for BC. Sorry, Mr. C.

Since I never think to special-order them, we only rarely eat lamb ribs (aka breast of lamb). But when I do get them, I marinate them in homemade jerk sauce and bake them uncovered. Mmmm, jerk lamb.

Precisely. However, when I produce something especially tasty, I feel so happy. And having HWOE sitting across from me, beaming and sighing, takes some of the self-critical sting out of it.

Yeah, she is, actually. See ya next week. (I mean here; I'm gone until Tuesday.)

I haven't been in touch with Gary in quite a while, so I don't know who's cooking for him. But there used to be a group of cooks who followed him from place to place. (The only drawback was his short tenure, so one could not be assured of having the job for very long. ) So they understand his food and how to execute it well and fast. And once you learn how to do it, it's not all that hard. FOH is indeed a different story entirely; it's more up to the management and owners rather than the chef (Rocco notwithstanding).

YAY!!!!!!!!!! Gary finally gets the recognition he deserves. Remember, I worked for him.

GG Mora: if I were giving the awards, YOU WOULD WIN, no question.

You're quite right. Sorry.

Sorry if I thought scouting parties might be helpful. There are, what, 100,000 restaurants in this city? Of which 99,500 serve burgers? (I'm just guessing at numbers here, but you get the idea.) Somebody's got to check out possibilities. Otherwise it's just a social club with a limited menu, meeting at a limited number of possible locales. And how dare you suggest any resemblance to Zagat???? Are you INTENTIONALLY misreading?

Oh, NEAT!! Potatoes are, after all, one of the basic food groups, right up there with bacon, steak, and . . . um . . . oh yeah, BUTTER.

No, it's just exclusatory. Bullshit. If we wanted to exclude people, we wouldn't set up them up publicly on the thread. We would love to have everyone join us, but, you know, sometimes you need subcommittees if you're gonna get all the work done. Committees-of-the-whole are SOOOO cumbersome. The time I ate by myself at MJ grill, I filled out a form. And I brought the equipment to City Hall, but we didn't manage to use it or fill in the forms. Hey, I'm just as serious about this as, um, anyone?

Giuliani? Squeat, I have not kept up with everyone's blogs (hardly even my own ) but yours has an extra dimension that's truly wonderful. There ARE some good things about California.

FYI: the second author on Better Than Storebought is now known -- or rather, again known -- as Elizabeth Schneider. Yes, she of Vegetables from Aramanth to Zucchini. I just have one question for Heather: before you think about starting from scratch, do you make full use of what you cook now? Do you wring every bit of goodness and taste out of what you make? Just something to think about. Because I don't believe it's all that worthwhile, as an example, to make your own bread if you don't use every bit of it, including the stale crumbs or dry end slices. Or to raise your own vegetables if you toss the cooking water. You get the idea.

The point is to mash it all -- yes, bones, skin, liquid, and all -- and turn it into salmon croquettes. Well, you can remove the skin if it really bothers you, but it and the bones crumble into nothingness when you mix it enough. In fact, health sources recommend canned salmon as a good source of calcium because of the bones. Anyway, mash it up. Mix it with some crumbs and an egg (and herbs, if you like; no salt necessary). Let it chill and firm up. Mold it into hamburger-size cakes and saute in butter. Serve with a side of mac-n-cheese or spaghetti with tomato sauce (preferably reheated from the day before.) Can you tell I grew up on this? Just don't think of it as "salmon."

Oh, no! Savoy? I'd be so afraid it might turn out to be horrible -- not because it's a bad place, but precisely because it's so good. And grass-fed gives a whole 'nother dimension to the beef. Can we please add it to the list?

For those in the U.S. interested in Australian cooking: there is a possiblity that the company which puts out Women's Weekly might be "translating" some of their list of cookbooks into American. I'm not sure which books, but as I find out more I'll post. And thanks for the link, Maliaty. I will definitely check it out.

I didn't mention that we ate for several days from each portion. So the cost didn't seem so bad, all told. And now I know why it was so rich! Makes me glad I didn't try to eat it all at once.

Isn't the famous pork shank at Maloney & Porcelli? Or am I missing your sarcasm?

What Soba said.

Hey, good hot dogs is good food. However: Gertrude Stein.

After seeing a mention on the NYC brunch thread: How about Piper's Kilt? Interesting neighborhood.