scordelia

Genoises are tricky because they lack leavening agents. As I remember, Julia recommends beating the yolk/sugar mixture for at least 10 minutes, and do it. The egg whites should be at hard peak, and reserve some sugar to help them stiffen, and I add the salt to the egg whites as well as a little lemon juice to help them along. Also, I find it good to add the flour and egg whites alternatively, ending with egg whites, folding carefully. Lastly, callibrate your oven. These cakes are like souffles and are very sensitive, so get a good oven thermometer.

There actually is an Upstairs Downstairs cookbook (o/p): Mrs. Bridges' Upstairs Downstairs Cookery Book. ← It's a good cookbook. I have a copy. Upstairs Downstairs is full of cooking scenes throughout the series. There are two family weddings, numerous parties, family meals and endless staff meals. Angela Baddeley who played Mrs. Bridges came from a cooking family. Her mother was the Duke of Marlborough's chef. She used her mother's receipt book to create menus that would be authentic for the time period. She also insisted on having her kitchen set be a working kitchen and insisted on preparing all the dishes that were needed for the scenes. Angela also supplied many of her own props of pots, pans, knives, etc from the cooking equipment she had from her mother.

Lutz's is full scale. They are open for dinner and have lovely chicken paprika, terrific crepes and various Austro-Hungarian specialties. The food is more Austrian. I love Lutz's.

I also occasionally do the Bunco thing, and here is a very easy and popular one--a baked potato bar. I just bake a ton of potatoes and get lots of nice toppings--different cheeses, fresh herbs, bacon, baby shrimp, sour cream, broccoli, butter, tomatoes, whatever! I serve a nice big tossed salad, and that's all. Everyone loves it. If I have leftover potatoes, then I will make twice baked potatoes and stick them in the freezer.

I'd go for Gary Danko, and get the seared foie gras.

I loved the food at my wedding! And I am still married and would not change a thing. My husband and I had a less traditional wedding. We were married in December in Chicago (6 years ago) at the Raquet Club. The Raquet Club has wonderful, very English food. The wedding was smaller (75 guests). We were married by a minister at the club in front of the fireplace in the main lounge which is a two-storey panelled room with big red draperies and loads of evergreens at Christmas time. It was very pretty. The reception was the same room. We had a jazz quartet, and I wore a red velvet dress. For hor d'oevres, we had wine glasses of vichychoisse passed in lieu of little canapes. The club makes the best vichychoisse and it was less expensive and more original than little canapes. Then we had a buffet of whole poached salmon, rabbit pies in pastry, green salad and a croquembouche for the cake. Again, the club was known for their croquembouche; they look very festive and holiday, and we got engaged in Paris.

Hands on experience is very important. I have a degree in art history. I do not have any artistic talent whatsoever (unless my beautiful pastry and quilts count), but I did take a few studio art classes. Why? Because I felt that I could not adequately write about paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, etc without knowing how to do them myself. This does not mean that I had to do it well (and I didn't), but that I needed to be familiar with the actual mechanics and process. This applies to any critic. A literary critic should try and write some poetry or novel and experience the process. A restaurant critic should try the various jobs in a restaurant and see how the whole team fits together. Restaurants are about teamwork--from the dishwasher (yes Holly, that was a great job--they were happy days) to the executive chef. They are cogs in the wheel and one bad cog can throw off a whole operation.

Precisely! I am amazed at the number of food writers who seem to have little to no industry experience. It's good to walk a mile in another person's shoes. But for a real behind the scenes treat--why doesn't he try dishwashing? I did it for two years in high school. It was my first job.

I have to second Gary Danko for that special dinner--so amazing! The 5 course menu is $85 a head--get the seared foie gras, it is an orgasmic experience. You can see what I had to say about our trip to SF last Sept. Another place that our waiter at Danko's recommended was Quince. We could not get in, but our waiter said that it was started by Gary's long time sous, and that the food is excellent. Perhaps someone can enlighten us? For cocktails, I like the bar at the Palace. There is a beautiful Maxfield Parrish painting over the bar, and the bar snacks are very tasty and spicey.

I love eels. They are delicate and sweet. The best are the teeny baby ones. They look like pasta, and you eat them bones and all.

Here are my London faves-- For a pricier evening--St. John's (there is a big thread in Food & Media News) and Simpson's in the Strand--they do have a prix fixe--I particularly like the jugged wild hare and trifle. For Indian, we went to a place called Nazrul and found it very good and cheap. It's BYOB, but Sainesbury's sells beer by the bottle and Pims and lemonade and gin and tonics by the can (these are very strong). For tea, Fortnum and Mason's (make a reservation or get there early) or Maids of Honour (in Richmond). Maids of Honour makes many Tudor era specialties. Now, to save some dough (because London is expensive), do not eat in museums. Most museums are free, but they get you on lunch and it is not very good, but there are Pret A Mangers all over London. It is a French sandwich chain, and they have delicious wrapped sandwiches at a good price. One of my personal faves is the hard boiled egg, mayo and watercress sandwich on walnut bread at a pound thirty (about $2.50). For a little snack, one of my favorite things to get across the pond are Kit Kats. They are different than the American ones. They are less sweet and more heavily coated in chocolate. And if they are still around, try a blood orange Kit Kat.

Reidel is now making a limited line of wine glasses for Target. Here is the link: Reidel Glasses from Target

Give my Lemon Tarragon Sorbet a try.

I have had the same problem and have yet to find a good recipe, so when I want that chocolate dough, I either use chocolate cookie crumbs to make a crust (like a graham cracker crust) or I make the usual pate brisee and brush it with melted chocolate after it is baked.

I worked in the restaurant industry for ten years, and a lot more than 35% of my co-workers smoked, but smoker or not, we would all jockey for the smoking sections for our shifts, because the tips were better in smoking sections. The smokers tipped a better percentage, drank more and ordered more courses. Sure, our clothes and hair stank, but after 8 hours of running back and forth and carrying food, we all stank anyway no matter which section we worked in.

I have stayed in the hospital twice (having babies). My first baby was born at Bar Harbor Hospital on Mount Destert Island, Maine which is a very small place. The food wasn't bad, and new mothers got lobster dinners. My second baby was born at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago via C-section. The food was awful! The first 24 hours, I was only allowed jello and the like, but when I could finally have real food my choices were a chef's salad or a cheeseburger! What? I just had surgery, and while I wanted something more substantial than jello, I did not crave a cheeseburger. Fortunately, there was an Au Bon Pain and a Corner Bakery near the hospital, so my husband would go out and bring me nice soups and things. I never ate any of the food, and had fights with the nutritionists every day when they would arrive to berate me for not eating their carefully selected menus. It's strange. The cafeteria at Northwestern has good food. It's a popular lunch spot with many people. It was even featured on a local restaurant show as a good bargain place for lunch. So why can't they bring a bedridden person a decent bowl of soup?

Try Furama at Argyle and Broadway? It is clean, and the service is good. The food is good, and if your favorite is not circulating at the moment, they'll whip some up up for you (like whole clams steamed with black beans )

As Rich Melman points out, the building and business are worth a fortune. Why does Carolyn need to locate her catering company there? If she does not want to run the Berghoff, then sell it to someone who will. I sell real estate--I'll help her find a new location for her catering biz as a service to the city.

Firstly, one steams the pudding on the stove top. Place in a large pot and fill about halfway up with water. Cover and steam for 2-3 hours. Check occaissionally and add more water as needed. As for sauce, creme anglaise (or soft custard) is really nice on Xmas pudding and very traditional as well. Hard sauce is awfully sweet, and the pudding is sweet. When you flame it, you need about a cup of brandy--the pudding absorbs a lot of it. Light a single ladle full and pour over the pudding, then continue to gently ladle the remaining brandy over the pudding.

That is the best oatmeal cookie recipe! Also, the Pepperidge Farm pastry sheet and pastry shell boxes have some good recipes.

There is a nice old fashioned bakery in Western Springs.

These are domesticated geese and ducks. These are not migratory birds that have been plucked out of the wild. If you want to read an excellent treatise on the domestication of animals and how altered they are from their wild ancestors, then please pick up Germs, Guns and Steel by Jared Diamond. Also, keep in mind that those geese are also used in lieu of watchdogs in France. They can break your arm with ease, so I don't think anyone can force those geese to do anything. My grandparents were farmers as are my husband's grandparents. I have spent a lot of time around farm animals, working with them and caring for them, and then killing them and dressing the meat. This is what they were domesticated to do--to feed me. Now, I believe that a farm animal's brief life should be reasonably comfortable. It should not be given drugs and housed in a dirty barn. I make a considerable effort to buy meat and poultry that is free range and drug free. Not only is free range kinder to the animal, but a well treated animal produces better meat. From everything I have read about foie gras production, it is pretty artisinal and better than what is done to a factory chicken. Farm animals were bred to efficiently provide meat, milk and eggs for us by us, because we are at the top of the food chain, and until sharks grow legs, I will remain there.

The gossip I have heard is that Mayor Daley did indeed engineer the delay. Hizzonor is very well traveled and is very knowledgable about food and wine and enjoys his foie gras!

How about Hobo Burgers? Paula Deen recently did them and claims that they were a recipe from her girl scout days.

The Chicago City Council has delayed the foie gras vote: See full article from the Chicago Tribune