Pontormo

Since taste and immediate visual access to the dishes are critical to judging (i.e. you had to be there), I am going to forgo assigning points. I have to wonder, for example, if the mint ice cream melted due to delays/haste in photographing. It's not as grave as cutting a baby in half, but I would also not wish to favor one of this kind, talented pair over the other. However, I have to laugh about the hush-hush business that accompanied the scrambling of the menu and the anonymously posted photographs. It looks as if I was not alone in being 100% accurate in identifying the authors of each dish as soon as the menu was posted. Here's my best Simon Cowell Does Paula impersonation regarding: First courses 1: Truly inspired combinations. I love the idea of the peach and avocado together and think the biscuit offered the critical element of contrasting texture that the blue-cheese loving Lorna always considers crucial to a dish. I also think the Peach on Peach a nice touch. (Had to look up the word "gastrique"; thanks for the lesson.) The Stilton seems a bit pitchy to me, a bit too much & out of place with avocado and peach. I'd like to see for myself if the quality of the avocado was too similar to the peaches in mouthfeel () or if there might be more integration of the peach and avocado elements instead of merely pairing the two. Avocado slices under the gastrique? This avocado preparation, but on top of gastrique? 2: Absolutely lovely. Pure. Simple. Elegant. Clearly the work of someone who pretends to not care much for vegetables but really speaks their language. How many people can pull off a sense of humor while being so mature and sophisticated about it? With the second course as it stands, I'd say a coarser puree would be in order: more chowdery. However, that would not complement that distinctive island. Color, here, too, holds its own against the visual impact of Lorna's striking bright green and peach secondary-color pairing. Given the second course's bun, the wedge of cornbread is not missed..too much [edited]. Quibbles: While ginger and peach I adore, does the ginger sing harmony with the corn [edited]? When diners try to cut into the faux gras with their spoons, do they splatter soup all over their fronts? Only quibbles. This dish shines for me. Second courses 1. I wanted to try this as soon as I read the menu. Ribs are Lorna. I was curious about the "crisp Gorgonzola polenta" and a little skeptical. Sounds like frico with a taco chip. ("Simon!!!") Soft polenta marries ribs well, nonetheless the finished dish looks classy and homey. Again, I'd leave out the gorgonzola. Oh, but, I do want the ribs slathered in peach. Were I Lorna, I'd knock on Daniel's door and borrow a sauteed scallion bundle or baby arugula leaves to "go with." I'm assuming the photo does not do the dish justice and bet we'd all salivate were we the giggling Japanese actress. 2. At least there are vegetables here in the slaw. I want to know more about the slaw: the way it's prepared, what's in it, what role the peach plays, etc. Nonetheless, I agree with others. This definitely speaks to Henry's strengths, but it doesn't match the elegance of his bookending dishes. (I'd also want some home-made potato chips or quick pickles on side.) Doesn't mean I don't want to eat it. Seconds, please. Desserts 1. Stunning. Mint doesn't spring to mind with peaches, but it is a wonderful combination. Caramel is perfect with peaches. Does it go with mint? I suspect the peaches are there as the Ryan Seacrest of the production, making them get along. Curry? I don't know Yet, I gotta say, I am intrigued and want to investigate. What skill! Look at that tart shell, that glossy goo! 2. Very pretty. Pared down. Bauhaus without the austerity; the foam lightens and brightens. The Italiophile goes for the traditional, original Bellini ingredients. Good choice. I need a little something extra, equally light, such as an almond tuille with a few scattered raspberries to dip in the white bubbles. All in all, I have no doubts about the reasons the score was so close. It's not just friendship. I cannot imagine accomplishing all this beautiful food in the little time the two of you gave yourselves. And at the end, I would like to know more about those stunning peaches.

SUMMER 1. Roma tomatoes 2. Fresh mozzarella 3. Excellent basil 4. Arugula 5. Prosciutto 6. Ripe cantaloupe (or peaches, figs....) Omit arugula if you have to be strict about the five. WINTER 1. Good crusty bread 2. Italian parsley 3. Spinach 4. Oranges 5. Bittersweet chocolate Pantry & fridge: Oil-packed tuna, capers, garlic, EVOO, red wine vinegar, canned Italian plum tomatoes, dried pasta, anchovies, lemons, cheese for grating, red wine, tea. S & P Summer: uncooked sauce of chopped fresh tomatoes, minced garlic, EVOO, grated Parm, mozzarella and torn basil. (Variation: Sub arugula for basil, ricotta salata for mozzarella.) Boil water as assembling. Arugula with simple vinaigrette on side as salad. Wrap ham around melon. Winter: Boil water, wash spinach. Make quick sauce by sauteing chopped garlic, add a few canned tomatoes, then oil-packed tuna and capers. Set aside. Cook pasta. Saute more garlic with anchovies in EVOO till they dissolve, then add spinach. Dress with lemon when done and serve on side. Toss pasta with reheated sauce and minced garlic. Eat chocolate with oranges. Then, there's always scrambled eggs, toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, fish, rice.... Mark Bittman's skirt steak with onions is great. Broccoli and rice on side. ETA: Kent, that looks fabulous. Gotta have potato chips.

Mike: Since you just moved to Georgia, I suggest you post an I Seek...(what are they called?) message in your regional forum and find yourself a local mentor. Then report back to us all. Andrew: Great suggestions...I see you responded earlier in rather amusing thread. My thing is that I just made a big corn and tomato casserole last night, so I am looking for something without tomatoes, but Mike, tomatoes are the way to go for a virgin.

Please explain. I am an outsider when it comes to Pocky culture.

I love okra. Okra pan-fried with shrimp and red bell peppers. Okra stewed with red bell pepper paste and ground beef with lots of lemon juice, noodle-rice pilaf and a mixture of cucumbers and strained yogurt on the side. Chicken with tomatoes and okra. Indian spice mixtures and okra. Since there was one vote for okra on this week's Lo vs. Yee Iron Chef Blog competition, I am bumping this thread up. Also, I bought just about two dozen beautiful okra at the market (one farmer was selling boxes of 8 for $3!!!), if anyone has a suggestion for something different* to do, I am all ears. *Something in which okra stars as a side dish vs. part of a stew.

One mistake: Omit the rice on the list above since vote was changed to peaches.

QUESTION: Where might I find Spanish-style chorizo? (Metro accessible locations, please.) If more than one option is available, any particular brand? RESPONSE: Arbucio, if you're still looking, go to the Dairy section. Wonton wrappers are usually found near the refrigerated brands of tortillas. Look for small plastic packages by the same manufacturer of Japanese and Chinese-style fresh noodles. Whole Foods carries them and major supermarkets always used to carry them. Go to Customer Service and ask if you're still without luck. Do try to visit the Asian grocers in Rockville (mentioned in other threads) or Great Wall of Fish some time soon, though.

Anyone would be happy with pastries and fruit salad. All other suggestions are great, too. Strata would be even easier than quiche since there's no pastry involved. Frittatas or Spanish tortillas. Even deviled eggs. Protein of some sort. I'd put in a plug for bagels, smoked salmon, cream cheese, mimosas. Nothing to make if you have a good source. Simple cheese blintz casserole. Kugel. Funny how beloved Jewish fare seems perfect for a baptism!! Coffee and coffee cake or peach cake.

! And awwwww! How very, very carino! All the iron in the mussels should probably do the two of you good. And Hathor, your post is quite a riot! Now, behind that basil tree, is that a sign of adolescent rebellion? A Burger King tee-shirt ?!!

Since midnight is not far away on the Atlantic coast, I would like to say that my inner child has finished its tantrum and retrieved the Birkenstocks she kicked across the floor. I am pleased that peaches are doing so well, but of all the possibilities on the official list, I am going to have to go with mushrooms, too. After seeing the Forbidden Shots of the aisles of Asian foods, I am intrigued by the idea that there might be a battle of Chinese regional specialties in store for us with all the dried mushrooms packaged there. And if anyone can pull off a chocolate oyster mushroom tart with woodear cream, it's Ling. I look forward to tomorrow's glimpses of Red Velvet cake made with duck fat! ETA: Henry, while I'm not exactly Switzerland on this, I am not wearing a Team Lorna tee-shirt either. I am so rooting for you, too!

Postscript to acknowledge garlic, but that's so Chez Panisse. Something green, dears, something green...

What's "vegetables?" ← Exactly!!!!! THIS CALLS FOR BLOG INSURRECTION!!! HEAR MY CRY, FELLOW EG MEMBERS: I CALL FOR A WRITE-IN IRON CHEF BALLOT!!!! There isn't a SINGLE vegetable on Henry's list of candidates . Bacon's too obvious. Eggs? Lorna's got an advantage re versatility. Peaches? Good, potentially broad range. Henry's already skilled in that area (peaches with scallops, great ice cream...) and we know what Ling can do there. Mushrooms are close, but the dessert biz? I don't know. I seem to recall that Lorna once said she didn't eat very many vegetables, either. I'd say we need to see them make something green! Could someone on the other coast please indicate what is best among the leafy greens at this time of year in Seattle? Meanwhile, I say, "Let them cook CHARD!" Chard goes with everything. Otherwise, I'd say beets from root to leaf.

Thanks for clearing that up guys. You know, I have been lying awake at night, wondering how this all started.. ← FOR THE RECORD, I recall a little bit of a PUBLIC exchange towards the end of Henry's blog when one of Ling's posts elicited a BLATANTLY flirtatious remark from Mr. Lo. I sent a message to Lorna telling her to flirt back immediately. She responded by indicating that I was not alone in sending the same unsolicited advice. It was definitely a moment when this place resembled a very happy Soap Opera. Thanks for the fun, you two. I had been hoping for such a blog after reading some of your terrific joint-reports in regional forums. What you've offered thus far is a feast already, thanks in part to the wider eGullet community in the Pacific Northwest/Vancouver. (What, pray tell, do Canadians use to speak of that part of North America?) Edited to remove question Henry just answered while I was writing this.

Franci & Judy: I love mussels, thanks for the inspiration! I usually associate them with cool, grey days, so it's nice to have two new ideas for making them during tomato season. Judy, I did manage to get a look at your blog finally, though it took at least fifteen minutes to gain access to the full entry. (Please send me a PM if you've recently changed your server since I am not having problems with any other sites. I called Tech and that was the only explanation offered unless my own computer is to blame.) Tanti belated auguri for the Fete of San Lorenzo. I only wish gas stations around here sold cool rustic cookware for baking! Franci: Should you read this thread before your trip to the Middle East and Hong Kong and have any specifically Pugliese preparations for zucchini that you have time to recommend, please share. I did eat eggplant in one form or another every single day last week, and as much as I felt the final serving of the stuffed eggplants was the best, I am ready for something completely different.

The most recently announced tribute: portrait in cornfield.

I can't remember the last time I cut an X in the skin of a tomato and counted as it bobbed in a large pot of boiling water before scooping it out and peeling it off in an instant. Same with plunging peaches. The thing is, for someone who knows how to cook but is intimidated by baking, loosening the skin on summer fruit this way is a bit like magic. It's fun. If you're using the time that it takes to boil the water doing other things, it's not a big deal. Learning this kind of insider trick is reassuring; when you see it works, you're more inclined to believe that the next step will, too, and so on until the cobbler emerges, golden, from the oven. Julia Child's instructions for making a peach tart include the same advice and opinion that Andrew offers here. The simple baked version omits spices altogether. As for compounding the intense flavor of a ripe peach with others, I have to say a perfectly poached peach, rosy after it's cooled, lightly glazed on top of creme patissiere ( with a little more vanilla or...), even with a little almond meal in the pastry, still retains its quiddity. As for the cobbler, please tell us how it turned out. I mentioned Abra's galette in particular because of the lovely effect you get when you sprinkle sugar on top. (A special kind of decorating sugar in this case; cf. how chopped nuts look in Ling's peach galette.) You could do the same thing with your cobbler with regular sugar or coat it with an egg wash (some recipes will have instructions) or leave the surface plain.

Pantry food! I was surprised to read that the last step of the recipe involved mushing the ingredients together without deep frying them. In the photograph they look like crisp golden fritters. This way, they are more healthful.

I was shucking corn the other night and remembered Sunday afternoons on a screened-in porch in the summer, being shown how to make dolls out of the husks with cornsilk hair. I wondered if anyone was passing on that kind of tradition within their own families. Then there is the wishbone, brined or not, drying out on top of the refrigerator. So, yes, decorating eggs and popcorn chains are perfect examples of what I had in mind, at first. However, because there are so many ways to think about playing with food, I decided to be terse when starting this thread. As for stuffed peppers, you'll find the majority tend to be armchair socialists.

What do you do? How do you do it? When did you start? Anything else you wanna tell me?

Peeling is a matter of taste. I would do it, too. Ginger, especially freshly grated, is another good flavor for peaches. Again, a matter of taste. As for baking dishes, Pyrex is fine. So is Corningware. Something that can go into the oven unscathed is the main thing. If you're looking at a bunch of different recipes, narrow your selections down to the simplest ones that do not require sauteeing the peaches first--as long as they don't ask you to use cake mixes or artificial ingredients. From that pool, compare the amount of thickener used for the fruit. I'd go for a generous amount since this is your first effort, but avoid using more than called for in any of the recipes. Something else you might want to do is look through the "What Did You Have for Dessert?" thread and look at images of recently baked cobblers and other fruit desserts, including Ling's & Abra's galettes, for different ways to treat the surface of your cobbler. This is perfect dessert for this time of year and one of the easiest things to bake. Remember to pick up some heavy cream to whip or some creme fraiche, sour cream or thick strained Greek yogurt depending on your taste. Then, of course, there's nothing like a scoop of ice cream next to warm cobbler.

Documented here.

That looks wonderful! Off the top of my head, I can't think of other tart or pastry crusts that are left to rise, though I imagine there must be others. As someone without childhood memories of the dessert, the potential for variations interests me as much as the simple, traditional version. It reminds me a bit of the French yogurt cake that Clotilde resurrects from time to time on Chocolate & Zucchini in that it would accommodate all sorts of things such as bits of peaches, berries, etc. mixed into the filling.

Forgot to say that the role of technology occurred to me first when I was thinking about granitas and the use of shaved ice on the street as opposed to ice frozen in trays.

I'm surprised no one else has picked up on these references to Sicilian granitas and ice cones in the United States. These seem the closest thing to drinks with ice cubes in Italy, except for the distinction that you have to make between wanting ice cubes in a glass of water and a sweet dessert-like drink or street fare. For the record, most Italian bars keep bottles of water refrigerated and they're poured not just the foreigners. However, in the summer, barristas will often size up the accent and appearance of the person asking for the 'bicchiere d'acqua" and reach for the ice cubes with their tongs if they think you're American...same way a few still reach for the cinnamon when you ask for cappuccino. As for wanting an icy Coke, well, here I have to say that the other American peculiarity is a taste for something made from diluted icky-sweet syrup to sip while eating Salade Nicoise or Pizza Margherita. Italians have their iced teas flavored with a cloyingly sweet peach juice, but these cold drinks are served on their own. The difference between the glass of cold water and the one with ice cubes is technological. When you look at the way this thread is unfolding, don't you detect a bit of the Kitchen Debate in the air? Or Ronald Reagan during his days as spokesman for General Electric? Does the habit of putting ice cubes in our drinks stem from a Post-WWII campaign to promote the glory of the nation as reflected in the way technological progress serves the American Home? In a belief in the superiority and democratic accessibility of our refrigerators and the nifty, modern ice cube tray? (N.B. Please trust the ironic tone. This is a call for more cultural history, not a challenge.) Further references: GOSNELL, Mariana. PARKER, Ian.

Franci: Quick note as you're writing: The figs!!!! Do you also eat them fresh with salami or is that just a Tuscan thing? Those melons are absolutely gorgeous. I've never seen them in central Italy either. Interesting to see the picture of the cultivated curved, thin cardoons. They barely resemble their larger relatives.