bushey

All right, I'm going to have to go on a mission to find Black Bear franks -- you guys have convinced me. roz, your post brings back memories of sitting around the table on Friday nights at camp humming out endless renditions of Shmulky's nigun. Yai, diddy dai, diddy dai dee dee, dai dee dee........

Last time my husband and I were in Boston we did the North End walk, including a visit to Paul Revere's house (where I hadn't been since a field trip in grade school) which was quite interesting, and then we walked around trying to find a restaurant. It was one of those days when you don't really know what you want and none of the menus look appealing but you're hungry and tired and just want to eat. We went into a little place on the corner of Hanover Street and Parmenter, a place called Trattoria Il Panino. There are several around, but this is apparently the original. It's a small place and it was pretty empty. We didn't have great hopes, but the pasta was delicious. Homemade, light and fresh tasting. Very reasonably priced. We knew we hit the jackpot when one of the waitresses came in to start her shift -- big black hair, lots of heavy gold, a tight black skirt, leopard print top and a thick accent: the real thing .

Every once in a while I feel that I'm on the verge of getting organized and fantasize about throwing together the ingredients for a nutritious, hearty meal before I run out the door in the morning and that we'll all sit down to a fabulous dinner at night. And then I remember who I really am...... There are several dishes that lend themselves beautiful to crockpot cookery and I make them maybe once a year. Meatballs in a sweet-sour sauce and pot roast come to mind. If you have the time to brown meat or chicken on top of the stove and then let it braise all day in the crockpot the results will probably be good. Another popular use in the winter is hot mulled cider or grog for parties. I was actually thinking about it in the shower this morning. Next week I'm hosting our monthly group and the members have some quirky dietary restrictions so I was thinking about making some vegetarian chili in the crockpot. I'm sure it will come out great, I won't have much last minute fussing except rice and corn bread, and it will be easy to serve (we usually do buffet style meals). Fat Guy, if you have a chance to post some recipes, I'd be most interested.

Is Charlie's open on Sunday? If it is, go there and order the turkey hash. You will not regret it. The rest of the food is okay, but you will never forget the hash. Have you checked the brunch scene at some of the Boston area hotels? That may be your best bet for a traditional sort of brunch. Stephanie's on Newbury has pretty good food and is in a great location for leisurely strolling an people watching. Who is Michelle Topor? Almost every time my husband and I go into Boston I schlep him around the North End, going up every little side street and alley, checking out all the groceries and hardware store. Would love to go on a tour with someone who knows his or her stuff.

I'm surprised that in all the hot dog discussions on this board and elsewhere, no one ever mentions one of my favorites: Grote and Weigel all beef franks. They're nice and spicy and get juicy when you cook them. They took over my #1 spot from the Isaac Gellis dogs I use to buy at the deli.

I think you might be confusing Tashlich with Caparot, where you swing the chicken or rooster around over your head (that's how the poor fowl looks after a few swings). I forget exactly when you're supposed to do Caparot but I think it's during the ten days of repentance or right before Yom Kippur. A happy, healthy, sweet New Year to one and all.

I love champagne(!) and have several favorites all under $50: Chartogne-Taillet Cuvee Fiacre (a wonderful grower-producer champagne for about $39.) Taittinger NV Brut; Taittinger Rose (for a domestic bubbly, I do like Domaine Carneros, which is a Taittinger venture). Nicolas Feuillatte NV Brut ; Laurent-Perrier NV Brut; Joseph Perrier NV Brut, all three are about $25 or less -- I prefer them over Veuve-Cliquot, Egly-Ouriet, and Perrier-Jouet Billecart-Salmon Rose is wonderful, but only the half-bottle is under $50. Another wonderful rose is Vilmart et Cie Cuvee Rubis, if you can find it. Cheers!

Grib-in-iss growing up in my house, too, though my mother never actually made it herself. If my father was really lucky, a relative would send us home with a jar of chicken fat and he'd get my mother to make him an omelette. Kelly, the kugel recipe is in DStone's first post. Try it, you'll like it.

Basildog, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids. I'm not sure how the smoking figures into the equation.....nope, better not go there. I will feel sorry for you, too, if it will make your recovery speedier.

DStone (can I still call you Big Man sometimes?) it's not as sweet as it sounds, and the coke makes it turn into a nice brown sauce. Suzanne -- Chili sauce and cranberry sauce for meatballs. It's one of those quickie favorites that sounds like it should be anathema to a foodie, but believe me when you make up the teeny meatballs in this sauce in a crock pot and bring it in to the office for the "holiday season" potluck, there's never any left. We've been invited to have lunch/dinner Saturday afternoon with friends and one of the highlights will be Susan's chopped liver. She renders her own schmaltz and serves the liver with the gribenes on top. My husband and I usually argue good naturedly about the pronounciation -- he says it like "grieve-less". What do you expect, his grandparents are from Poland, not Lithuania?

SuzanneF -- Long time ago I used to have a warming cart. It was Salton, and had a nice large surfact on top and a place to store extra plates, etc. underneath. It wasn't even that ugly; it looked like pseudo-teak. We inherited it from my ex sister-in-law. Don't remember when I got rid of it, but it was probably around the same time as my ex......... Would have come in handy all these years. (The cart, I mean ). But at the time I hadn't yet inherited the family holiday dinners. Jin -- I suspect there is very little that would actually horrify you .

Thanks for the great suggestions. It's usually so crazy in the kitchen by the time we are ready to serve the emal and there are a million people coming in and saying "What can I do to help? What can I bring to the table?" Actually, that's the part I like best, when we're all in the kitchen and my nephews keep coming in to ask for more soup. I like the idea of blanching the vegetables ahead, then sauteeing at the last minute and serving in a warmed bowl. Maybe I'll be able to find some great green and yellow beans at the farmstand on Friday.

Thanks for the recipes. We make Aunt Sue's Kugel (but we call it Cousin Linda's) with spinach every few years and it's always a hit. Here's a new brisket recipe for you to try. Sounds crazy, but everyone loves it. Brown your brisket on top of the stove in a dutch oven -- you can use a little oil if you want and/or dredge the meat lightly in flour first, or not. Throw in a can of coke and a can of whole berry cranberry sauce and pop in the oven. I usually cook mine at about 200 degrees over night, but 350 for a couple of hours would work, too. I make my matzoh balls using the same approximate recipe, but I separate the eggs and beat the egg whites stiff, then beat in the yolks, and fold in matzoh meal and salt. To add to the theme of apples on the holiday I usually make a big pan of apple crisp for dessert.

It's getting down to the wire for planning our Rosh Hashannah dinner, and as we were going over the menu last night, my husband and I were bemoaning the perennial problem of how to keep cooked vegetables hot at the dinner table. The meal will be traditional : chicken soup, salad, turkey, stuffing, roasted beets, my sister-in-law's carrot kugel and......???? I like to serve a green vegetable like fresh asparagus or green beans, but they always end up COLD practically as soon as I put them on the table. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? That is, aside from serving them as a room temperature dish to begin with. I prefer veggies in their cloase to natural state rather than gussied up in a casserole.

We had a tough long weekend and by yesterday I was craving some real comfort food, so I tired to recreate a pasta dish I love from a nearby restaurant: rigatoni a la Nonna. I made a meaty, rich bolognese sauce, and amalgam of recipes from How to Cook Everything (Bitman) and Joy of Pasta. First I sweated some minced onion, carrot and celery (soffrito) in olive oil until the vegetables were tender, then I added a pound + of ground beef and pork. Cooked until the meat was no longer pink, breaking up the clumps. Added 3/4 cup dry white wine and let that evaporate. Then I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and let the sauce simmer gently for almost two hours. Every once in a while I used a potato masher to break up the vegetables and keep the meat from clumping. When it was nice and thick I added salt, pepper and some heavy cream -- just enough to enrich the sauce and make it a rose color. Before serving I grated some fresh nutmeg over it and added some defrosted frozen peas. Served the sauce over mini rigatoni and it was wonderful.

Jaybee -- You're my man. Don't ask, don't tell .

I feel like I've entered a Firesign Theater skit: "haven't you finshed building that bridge yet?" Jaybee, kudos for being so considerate of your guests' needs. Did you use a new grill for the burgers or somehow cover your own grill? That's something I used to struggle with when my in-laws used to come for dinner. That, and substituting Mother's or Mazola pareve margarine in my cooking.

I usually make pesto by eyeball rather than measuring ingredients and though it comes out different every time it's almost always very good. I use a food processor or blender, though I keep telling myself it's time to get a mortar and pestle. The basil leaves go in first, followed by a healthy splash of olive oil, some chopped garlic (I go easy on the garlic based on personal preference), a handful of pine nuts (almonds if I'm out of pignoli), and a little bit of melted butter. If I'm making a big batch and plan to freeze some I don't add the parmigiano -- otherwise, I add just a little touch, à la Adam's thread. I prefer to add the extra cheese, salt and pepper when I'm using the pesto in a dish. Process until it's the desired consistency. I prefer mine more emulsified and creamy than most commercially prepared versions.

We ate at Ransome's Dock last year on a long weekend visit to London. A good friend has a flat nearby so we walked over for dinner. This is exactly the kind of place I'd love to have in my neighborhood. Though I don't remember exactly what we ate (jet lag), I know I had a lovely piece of fish with beetroot. I agree about the wine list -- my one disappointment is that we didn't order the Cloudy Bay SB, which is hard to find here in the States.

Funny, there's a quote I used to have it as part of my screen saver that was atrributed to the Dalai Lama: "Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon." Maybe he's a Harriet Van Horne fan? Nina, FWIW I believe in magic. And I think that the audience or diner or partner is an integral part of the equation. One needs to be open to the possibilities. As for dr revenue, well, I think his reaction and letter were way out of proportion to the perceived slight. Would not make my short list for a friend or a dining companion.

Another option that might go over well is Baked Potato Bar: Some big Idaho potatoes, baked, with a lot of offering for toppings: broccoli, shredded cheese, chili, sour cream, butter, chives. This could be a quick meal in itself, or serve along with grilled chicken breasts. After reading this post, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I only have teenage girls to feed. Of course, I'd be willing to trade them one week every month for boys .

A few months ago I was in the mood for cold sesame noodles and I had a brain block on where to find my favorite recipe. I ripped apart my recipe box and my recipe folder and looked through cookbooks at Barnes and Noble. Finally I found it in my old Time-Life book on Chinese cooking. Will post it later when I get home. Calls for sesame seed paste -- I prefer the Lan Chi brand. Now throw a few eggplants on the grill or roast 'em in a hot oven so you can make Baba Ganouj with all that leftover rancid tahini.

I haven't made pesto in a couple of seasons but I was just eyeing my basil plant the other day and then I saw some ice cube trays at the dollar store..............presto, pesto! In a pinch I'll pick up some jarred pesto, if I can find the Pastene brand. One of our favorite appetizers on vacation (the only time we're relaxed enough and have enough time to make food before dinner) is pesto bruschetta. Toast slices of baguette lightly, then top with a smear of pesto, a slice of tomato or spoonful of chopped tomato, and a thin slice of cheese. Provolone sliced thin from the deli works well here. Zap under the broiler and enjoy with a glass of white wine. Tastes best when followed by mussels marinara over linguine.

Toni10 -- Sounds delish. Also sounds similar to Portuguese shrimp that I've eaten at some local restaurants. It's always on the menu as "House Style Shrimp" and involves shrimp sauteed in olive oil, sherry or beer, garlic and spices that I approximate at home with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. You can peel and eat the shrimp and soak up the sauce with bread. Think of all the fun and good eating you'll have trying to recreate the dish -- butter, garlic, shrimp, spices -- what could be bad?

phaelon56 -- I love Jasmine & Bread products but they're really hard to track down. Have you tried the "Beyond Ketchup"? It's really good. We also liked their hot marinade. I should probably put in a mail order while it's still on my mind.