laura

Sometimes, depending on the decrepitude of the contents, microwaving helps

Speaking of lamb has anyone tried the icelandic lamb that was in NYC recently.? I bought my racks of lamb at Whole Foods, not a store known for the quality of it"s meat. However I wanted to try the icelandic lamb after an article in the times was so rhapsodic. It was great, didn't look great, very lean, it should have been tough , it wasn't it was tender, great flavor, delicate and not gamy. I spoke to the meat manager and he told me that the season for it is over and he won't get any more till next fall.

Before Tocqueville was a restaurant it was a small cafe with a great takeout section.{I really miss it} anyway they used to serve truffled egg salad, that I believe was made with truffle oil , I never saw evidence of a truffle. It was really good l

There's a brioche type of pepper, herb bread that I have eaten at now defunct American Place restaurant. that I have always wanted to make so this gives me the opportunity. It does require yeast for it's execution.

The ricotta at the italian market at Chelsea Market is the best I have had of the firm ,drained variety, I believe it is called roman style. And I think it is imported from Italy. Di paolo makes a similar version but it is not as good as the one at Chelsea Market.

The Thursday night special at Lupa of Gnocchi ala Romana is very good/ A very large portion of semolina discs covered with melted cheese, at l5 dollars, a bargain.

The Thursday night special at Lupa of Gnocchi ala Romana is very good/ A very large portion of semolina discs covered with melted cheese, at l5 dollars, a bargain.

Using yeast breads as a standard would eliminate many other kinds of breads that might be interesting. I assume that a flatbread such as Agik Ekmek which is technically a cracker but uses yeast would qualify.

Would it be incorrect to assume that crackers could be included in the bread bakeoff?Biscuits too?

I haven't been to Danal for many years , so I'm glad that it is still alive and well They used to serve a very pleasant afternoon tea, that one needed to make reservations for, as it is a very personal place. I wonder if they still are offering afternoon tea?Sandra did you notice ?

Nina I can bring a white wine if that is ok

Suvir I was away and just read this thread. I would love to attend if there is room on Nov 20

Laurent Gras is an incredible chef! I was very sad when he left NYC for SF so thanks Cabrales for alerting us to his return, brief as it may be but always welcome.

Toby That was a terrific post. Thanks for the time and effort and desire to share your knowledge with us.

Ed My husband was a great fan of the white rums and would drink it as they do in the FWI a little ice and some lime. I usually will add a lime sugar mixture with the rum, and sometimes with orange juice, lime and ice. We would usually bring back bottles of white rum when we went to the FWI primarily because we could never find it here. Why do you think it will become popular here if no one ever has a chance to drink it and see just how good it is?

Ed. you are obviously not referring to rhum agricole such as Clement from Martinique orLe Mauny also from Martinique. Those white rums are essentially pure , distilled from sugar cane, as I understand it. Somewhat raw but extremely fragrant and always brings me back to the caribbean when I open the bottle . Are there places to purchase these white rums in the united states?

Has anyone eaten at Bayard's since Muller has taken charge.? What's your view of the experience?

A friend brought this wine for dinner tonite. It was very fragrant and I liked it. I wonderedif anyone is familiar with it and particularly the grape, petit verdot?

The recipe for Passard's Mustard Ice Cream is on page 148 of Patricia Wells Paris Cookbook

Steve thanks for the very evocative review of Arpege. Your writing in general transports one to the essence of the place. My one lunch at Arpege , while memorable in every respect, was particularly significant regarding the appetizer of carpaccio of sea scallops. It has forever changed my view of raw sea scallops. As you report the ingredients were extremely fresh, but the slicing of the scallops were so thin as to be almost transparent , and the texture resulting fromthe thinness transformed the ingredient, while maintaining the integrity of the fish.I think that is the genius of his cooking skill .

The ricotta flavor at Bussola is good as well as peach and strawberry.

a just picked from my garden meal, with a few additions, Swordfish{from Whole Foods} as an aside, I think their fish looks better, the swordfish was very fresh and from Mass. Anyway, I picked japanese eggplant, small yellow squash, big boy tomatoes, marinated them in olive oil , s,p and rosemary. The swordfish was marinated in sesame oil and soy sauce, I grilled everything with additional rosemary branches, sprinkled lemon juice on the grilled foods, added a few boiled ruby crescent potatoes and I was in heaven.

I use Marcella Hazan's recipe: she specifies for fried zucchini, but I have used it for onion rings, zucchini blossoms etc. It is very good, as is most of her recipes. and astonishingly simple to execute. She calls the batter Pastella. 2/3 cup all purpose flour, for l lb of zucchini, or whatever. Put l cup water in a soup plate, gradually add the flour sifting it thru a sieve and constantly beating the mixture with a fork until all of the flour has been added. The batter should be the consistency of sour cream.

I too ate at Eric Frechon's restaurant near Buttes Chaumont section of Paris and was extremely happy with the meal and the atmosphere and price; how this translates to a more upscale and ambitious setting , I don't know, because I haven't eaten there.

As I recall the entrees were 30 dollars and up. I had rack of baby lamb from the pyrenees, roasted in rhododendron honey served with fava beans and pureed sweet potatoes, 35 dollars, my son had clover fed filet of beef from simenthal, a canton in Switzerland, served with truffled mashed potatoes. Actually an interesting rendition of this often served dish, because the potatoes were still lumpy and the addition of truffle oil as opposed to truffle butter gave the dish an earthy quality. The beef was p;robably the best tasting filet that I ever had due to the preparation of extremely flavorful filet with indonesian peppers. My friend had a dish that contained three fishes on e of which was a fish from Lac Leman, as well as fresh water crayfish. 35 dollars. Her entree also included cola ( red snapper) a local fish. As you can see a good deal of the meal was flown in from France or Switzerland. The wine list was very expensive for St Martin and began at 40 dollars. The desserts were 12 to 16 dollars and were the weakest part of the meal. Clearly this is not a restaurant serving local food but the setting and preparation made the experience worthwhile