Lapin d'Argent

After you've taken Fooey's advice, make this recipe, from Epicurious: Nectarine Lime Curd Tart with a Brown-Sugar Crust Dead easy, and one of the best desserts I've ever made. Also, make nectarine sorbet, or even better, nectarine ice cream. A once-a-year treat that's so worth the effort (and the calories)! - L.

I like to make a sort of paste, or spread, with goat cheese, and whatever other ingredients I'm going to include: Chopped roasted peppers, scallions, chopped grilled onions, grilled corn, cilantro, etc. Then I smear a good amount on one tortilla, smoosh on another, and toast in a pan on both sides until the middle melts. Not traditional, I know -- but tasty, and it always works! Plus you can make the filling way ahead of time, or even make the quesadillas ahead of time, and just keep them refrigerated, stacked with parchment paper between so they don't stick to each other. A great party food. - L.

Thanks for the reminder, Chris -- I forgot to post that at the end of August I filled three canning jars: - 12 oz Mount Gay rum & 6 Madagascar beans, chopped - 12 oz Vodka & 6 Madagascar beans, chopped - 8 oz Mount Gay rum & 6 Madagascar beans, chopped Should I have put in more beans? I shared plenty of my stash of beans with some friends, who also packed up a bunch of jars with assorted booze. And I have more beans left than I know what to do with! I guess I should get my hands on some more jars and booze and pack them up. - L. [edited to fix stupid typos]

Katie, I should have added that that's the only tuna I buy these days. And I eat it pretty much plain, with a little lemon juice, maybe some chopped sweet onion or capers. I'd rather have a small amount of really tasty tuna, than a larger amount of so-so tuna. But I read recently that the mediterranean tuna fishery is really in bad shape, so I'll have to curtail my favorite treat even more... Oh, well, we enjoy it all that much more when we do have it! And think of the extravagance of a tuna melt! Now here's a topic people haven't discussed much: what kind of cheese do you use? - L.

For an interesting glimpse into how "American cocktails" were perceived in Britain, particularly in fashionable London society c. 1905 - 1915, I highly recommend the novels of J. Philips Oppenheim, many of which are available on Project Gutenberg. They seemed to be very simple concoctions involving some spirit like gin, sherry or vermouth, and lemon, perhaps sugar. Great mystery surrounded their preparation, but they were always prepared in a cocktail shaker. The best could be had at the American Bar in any major hotel in the various European capitals. And people were making them at home. There are also intriguing references to food being served in restaurants. All this, and usually a good yarn, if nothing much in the way of actual literature.

At [our] home, a tuna melt is always made open-faced on a toasted english muffin. Otherwise, grilled on both sides in butter just like a grilled cheese. Been years since I had one. These days, I try to limit my tuna habit, uh, intake... - L.

To me, ALL cooking requires patience and calm. Or maybe it IS patience and calm. Patience and calm is the point of cooking for me. Otherwise, I would just get take-out, or microwave leftovers. If I hurry, or I'm not focused, it all ends in tears... - L.

I did enjoy reading your reply. It is how I like to feel about the cooking that I do, especially when Ed and I make Chinese food together. ← So did I. Sometimes there's an ingredient too bulky for a bowl, then this one will be the last one on the board, see http://sousvide.wikia.com/wiki/File:Gr%C3%...se_en_place.jpg. BTW, after the glass of wine you drink while prepping and the one you drink while cooking, there are the ones you drink while enjoying your meal! ← Thanks, Darienne! PedroG -- You're right. Usually meat is the last thing I prep, to avoid cross-contamination, and it will often just stay on the board. And you're absolutely right about the wine we enjoy with the meal!

Bowls. Always. Even for the simplest recipe I've made a thousand times before. And DH has been trained to do exactly the same. (DH! ) I like the time that a proper mise gives me to consider exactly what I'm going to include or exclude, review the order of adding ingredients in my mind, consider which steps I might combine or alter, and generally get myself mentally into the meal. Then it's a relaxed pleasure to focus on the cooking, without any distractions for last-minute measuring or chopping. It may take a little longer, but I find the food comes out better, and I enjoy myself much more. Besides, there's the glass of wine you drink while you prep, and the one you drink while you cook...

The shorter days must activate some sort of braising gene...I just saw this thread, but on my dining room table are the ingredients all ready for my favorite vegetable braise, adapted from Molly: celery root. leeks, carrots, and fennel. Tomorrow the braise goes in the oven for dinner tomorrow night, even if the weather does recover from today's lovely autumn preview, and climbs back into the muggy 80s.

Wow...those look really yummy! Thanks for pointing out the article johnnyd -- those fish cakes are on the menu for this weekend, especially since it looks like the whether is finally going to cool off a little bit. Hope I don't have to go all the way to Arlington to get Aleppo pepper...

Brilliant! Never thought of that. ← Thank you ! Why don't they tell us these things....

I have a small baking tray from an old toaster oven that sits on the counter to corral the myriad small jars and bottles of things that need to be always at hand in my little prep area. Other spices and dried herbs live in two drawers opposite, next to the fridge. What I end up using most, and couldn't think of living without (ignoring for the moment the distinction between herbs and spices): Sea salt - coarse Sea salt - fine Pepper corns in one or more grinders - (usually a mix) Penzey's medium hot cayenne pepper flakes Cumin seeds Sweet Hungarian Paprika Oregano Cinnamon Allspice Nutmeg Cardamon And then there are the items I use fresh: garlic, basil, thyme, rosemary, mint, cilantro, tarragon. Of course, there a lots more exotic items in my two drawers, but if I'm honest, they are mostly just taking up space.

I want to thank posters on this topic for the tip about the towel folded back over your holding hand -- works a treat! Also, I just discovered this trick by accident with my most recent batch the other night. Maybe it's obvious to everyone else on the planet, but in the case of a a slightly curved blade like that on the Oxo, point the curve down, not up. It must have something to do with the shape of the oyster hinge, but the point went right in there when I had it, uh, pointed in the right direction. Blether, those are some beautiful oysters, and I bet they were delicious. - L.

Had my first "real" fried egg sandwhich last weekend. It came from Verrill Farm in Concord, MA, of all places -- a local, well known farm stand that supplies produce to most of the best restaurants in Boston. There was a guy out front at a table in the blazing sun with a couple of butane burners, a basket of fresh eggs, a pan of cooked bacon, toasted english muffins, and sliced white cheese. He cooked the eggs to order with the classic broken yolk, and wrapped them in foil. We ate them in the car on our way to the next food-purchasing venue. My husband didn't want bacon, so the guy cooking gave me extra! They were Pretty Good. However, the previous weekend I had made my own favorite: 2 egg whites (I don't really like the flavor of yolk -- HEY, this is about ME, OK?), fried in good olive oil; lots of sea salt and freshly ground pepper; toasted ciabatta; and wild arugula from the garden tossed with olive oil, and tiny bit of thick balsamic vinegar. Now THAT was an egg sandwich. Many people do not appreciate the sublime subtlety of a properly fried egg white. That is so disappointing. - L.

My copy of this book just arrived last week, and there are lovely local nectarines in the fridge from the farmer's market (hiding from the heat). Thank you for the prompt...maybe I can stand to turn them into granita!

Zone 4 might be a bit cold for outside, but last summer I bought fresh ginger at the farmer's market in Copley Square in Boston from a woman who grows it out in Northampton, MA -- Zone 5. So now you've inspired me to add it to the (lengthy) list of things I intend to start next spring, when I have brand new raised beds built in my kitchen garden. I'm guessing they would still need to be started indoors under grow lights to get a long enough season. Just wait until next year... - L. [Edited to fix stupid typo]

V. - I absolutely agree that "dry-farmed" tomatoes are best. Although please don't suggest that we start paying Japanese prices for them! I *love* sungolds, and always grow them, even though they crack if you look cross-eyed at them. The other cherry tomato that always does well for me, no matter what, is Matt's wild cherry. I just had some of those on a sandwich for lunch. Sadly, not mine, since this is the first year in a long time I didn't grow anything. But I have no doubt that anyone who planted either of those would be over-run with tomatoes, even this year. I also swear by my favorite all-rounder, Enchantment, which you never see in markets. Other favorites include Rose de Berne, Carmello, and Tigerella. And you are right: mix them all together...just like good cider, a complex fresh tomato blend is best! - L.

I have this one also -- it's wonderful. And thanks for the reminder -- time to "cook" out of it again. - L.

Yesterday was the day I was anxiously awaiting, the first day I had enough tomatoes to make this recipe. So simple, so wonderful. Thanks for sharing it! ← I'm so glad, Corinna! I wish I could take credit for it, but like so many great things, we stand on the shoulders of giants. - L.

Gorgeous! As long as you enjoyed eating it as much as you enjoyed preparing it, I am certain Julia would approve.

I got up at 6 this morning to make the pate brisee for the quiche. And then I decide to prebake early as well. Smart move. There's a big fan pointed at the stove in the kitchen (we have electric), and two lobsters are giving their all in Julia's honor in the steamer right now. The salad is prepped and the dressing is made -- lemon vinaigrette from The Way to Cook. Also on the menu to start are oysters. Because I knew she'd approve. And there's a bottle of Macon-Villages chilling in the freezer. ← Well, it was not pretty by the time I was done with it, but the Quiche a l'Homard Americaine, was To. Die. For. Even after I discovered that I had no Madeira in the house and had to substitute Armagnac. Even after it turned out the the filling didn't even come close to the top of the 2" ring mold, and I had to hack away at the extra crust in self defense. (DH loves the extra bits as crackers.) I did add more scallions and about 1/3 cup of leek, because they were home-grown and looked beautiful at the market stand. But that didn't really matter. The thing was a revelation. I realized I had never had a real quiche in my life. And it was sublime. Thank you Julia. Bon Appetit!

That looks really, really lovely deensiebat.

Today, for lunch, I had a sandwich made with a local heirloom tomato picked up at the farmer's market sprinkled with sea salt, on toasted bread drizzled with olive oil then spread with goat cheese. Yum. Then I ate the rest of the tomato with olive oil and sea salt. Chef's prerogative. - L.

Today, in Maynard, MA: $6.99/lb for 1.5 lbs; $5.99 for chix. Just steamed up a couple of 1.5lb beauties for tonight's Julia Child birthday dinner: Quiche aux Fruits de Mers. Of course there will be extra lobster meat...why cook only one lobster when you can have more? - L.