santo_grace
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Posts posted by santo_grace
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A little over a year ago I was told by my manager to pick a conference to attend. I had the choice of Boston, Orlando, or San Diego. I jumped on the one in Boston since it had been a number of years since I had been, and the Red Sox were in town, so my husband and I made a weekend of it. While we didn't make it to No. 9 Park (our expensive dinner was at Oya), I was lucky the hotel was within walking distance of Sportello and Drink. I went to Sportello for dinner by myself and liked it so much took my husband for lunch when he got into town. We were also happy to go to Drink before we hopped in a cab for our dinner at B&G Oysters. Ms. Lynch contributed to a very nice weekend in Boston.
I bought Stir on my second trip to Sportello. For our New Year's Eve dinner we served the chestnut bisque, iceberg wedge, tomato tarts, and prune gnocchi with foie gras sauce. I don't usually source so many of the our NYE dinner recipes from one place, but everything was pretty easy to make and was all delicious. I did cheat and didn't make the gnocchi for the prune filling, and instead made them as raviolis. Given my lack of experience making gnocchi and time needed to prep other courses, it just wasn't going to happen.
We also don't always test all of our recipes beforehand, but we did with these. This was my first time roasting chestnuts and it was much easier the first time I made the soup because we peeled the chestnuts while still fairly hot. You can not let them cool too much.
Also, my foie gras sauce did break, but the suggestion of adding hot water brought it back together.
Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I just pulled Stir out again and am looking forward to making some summertime recipes. Cool corn soup with mushroom, scallion, and lemon sounds perfect.
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Realized I haven't said much about Chicago - as a little tease, I'll mention that our two dinner reservations are probably two of the three toughest we've ever gotten (went to El Bulli on our honeymoon in 09).
I was wondering when you were going to mention Chicago plans.
Schwa? Next?
I think some would say Alinea, but we didn't have problems either time we went.
Looking forward to seeing you enjoy your time here.
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I haven't been in a few years, because it did seem so "manly", Mike Ditka's in Chicago.
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Hi All,
We are in the market for a new stove. We can only do a 30" gas and expect to spend between $1,500-$2,500...so no Viking, Wolf, GE Monogram. Also, regarding BTUs, I'd rather not get anything that requires redoing gaslines to make them bigger. I saw some notes on this thread about having to do that and I don't think that is an option. Does anyone have any thoughts on the GE Profile or something similar?
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Italian - antipasto salad and white clam sauce - lots of cutup clams, not too garlicky. I'm always concerned when something is too garlicky that they are overcompensating for lack of taste with the other ingredients.
French - salad lyonnaise: egg has to be adequately runny, lettuce can't be too wet, large lardons (but not too large)
Chinese - Mongolian beef: I'm not sure what I base it on...maybe the sauce and I only want green onions in it.
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Lula, Violet Hour, schwa. I'll report back.
Go across the street from the Violet Hour for some Big Star tacos. The takeout window is a great option.
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Some butter would help with making them less healthy and very tasty. I think they look good but butter makes everything better.
Ahh, santo_grace, so right you are. There is 1/3 cup of butter along with 1 egg in the recipe. It helped, but still not enough for Sig Eater
.Noooo...I meant butter on the muffin. Slightly warmed in the toaster oven or microwave with butter.
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Baked 'em for about 17 minutes and they looked like this...
And this...
Not bad looking, huh? And guess what - they didn't taste bad. I mean, how bad could they be? After all, they do have sugar and salt in them, along with a little vanilla.
Interesting then, that the first thing I heard from the other room, as Significant Eater was downing her half, was something along the lines of: "So what are these, health muffins? Stick with the cookies, will ya!?"
It's not nice to fool mother nature, now is it? Or Significant Eater either.
Some butter would help with making them less healthy and very tasty. I think they look good but butter makes everything better.
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spaghettios. Tried 'em once. Couldnt swallow the first bite.
How old were when you tried? I think these are only for those under the age of 16. These were a treat for me as a child even though my poor mother couldn't stand the smell. At some point I couldn't stomach them either.
Never eat again...olives. I'm done with trying them because I think I should like them.
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I won't be able to join you all this year
BUT, it is for a very good reason: I'm pregnant! Due June 30.
Very exciting! Congratulations!
I will be unable to attend. I was hoping to attend this year since I have family in the area, but we'll be in Seattle eating and wishing my brother well before he climbs Mt. Rainier.
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$150 gift certificate to Williams Sonoma. Can't wait to figure out what I'm going to buy!
Me too! Going to WS tomorrow.
Plus, a stand alone ice maker from a very well-meaning friend. I think it will be best to bring out for parties.
While Christmas shopping I bought myself a copy of Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking.
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Whew! I'm tired! But all I have left to do tonight is to puree the pate in the food processor, pour some clarified butter over the top, and stick it in the fridge until tomorrow.
Here we go:
And last but most assuredly not least, the cranberry salad. This has been on every Thanksgiving and Christmas table as far back as I can remember. I have no idea if it's my mother's recipe, or if she got it from somewhere else, but she always made a double recipe and kept it in the fridge, as I still do today, where I will go to it like you'd go back to the ice cream carton or the cake or pie plate. I eat it for breakfast, I eat it for lunch, and I will make it as long as there are fresh cranberries to be had. (I've tried freezing, and it just isn't the same; the thawed berries tend to get soft.)
If this were any easier, it'd be illegal. For a single recipe: 1 bag cranberries, washed and picked over; 1 green apple (I use Granny Smith); 1 red apple (I use Honey Crisp or Jonathan); zest and flesh of one orange; 1 cup pecans, chopped; 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 package raspberry Jell-o. Chop all the fruit in the food processor and toss together with pecans in a big bowl. Heat the water with the sugar until it's almost at a boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in Jell-O. Pour over fruit and stir; chill overnight before serving.
Don't be hating on the Jell-O, here. Rather than congealing, it tends to make a syrupy base that sort of glues the whole thing together.
I just finished making my batch of this a couple of hours ago...no pecans though. My mother got the recipe from my father's mother. I have very vivid memories of her attaching the metal grinder to our butcher block countertop, grinding all the ingredients with a bowl sitting on a stool to catch everything, except for all the juice which inevitably ran down the front of the counter onto the floor. What a mess. Thank goodness for the food processor.
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An oxtail daube from Paula Wolfert. Two days of my life. It involved making a meat paste from pig's foot, salt pork, and ham, and spreading it over the oxtails. There was blanching, defatting, straining, skimming, reducing, and braising. It was going so well, but in the end it was a dry mess. I'm not sure where all the liquid went. It was a test run for New Year's Eve dinner. I was sooo glad I didn't wait to the actual dinner party. I recently made a daube from Julia Child. Best daube/stew/braised dish I've had a long time. A top 5 dish.
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Guilty. Off the top of my head (I'm too lazy to get off the couch to look)...
Canned water chestnuts
Almond syrup (the kind you put in coffee...we don't even drink coffee)
Canned chipotle peppers
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I agree...do the omakase. We were there in June and they were really good about not including certain dishes that I didn't want, but my husband did. I can't eat as much as he does, so it was nice to be able to remove some courses. Other than our dinner at Alinea in July, this was our favorite meal of the year. We also really enjoyed sitting at the bar.
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I am a big fan of Vinho Verde. Around here bottles run about $5 to $7, which is not under $5, but in the area.
I agree. It's summer when I start buying cases of this. Bought a case at Binny's last weekend for $5.99/bottle. With the case discount it's pretty much $5/bottle.
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Looks like they are trying to resurrect Gourmet in some fashion. I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay $5 a month (I'm using the Wired cost as a point of reference) for something I paid $20/year for.
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Oh, wow! I don't know what kind of cheese that is, but it looks amazing.
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uhockey - after reading your post, I'm sooo disappointed Alinea couldn't accommodate our table of 8 for this Friday. We were originally only 6 and had a reservation, but when we changed it to 8, we could no longer fit. We haven't been back since July 2005 and were all looking forward it. Thanks for such a great post. I'll try to get over my disappointment at Spiagga.
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I just pinch. Drop a pinch in water & it's pretty easy to count the threads. My pinch is about 20 threads.
Good to know. My pinch is probably half of that and at times I haven't felt like it was big enough but was afraid to add more. Next time will be a big pinch.
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I can't believe it took me this long to discover garlic soup. Sooo delicious. I've tried two versions, with eggs added or with diced potatoes. I'm amazed a soup with so little in it seems so hearty and filling.
If interested, scroll down for photos for the garlic soup in the first post. http://jimandjules.posterous.com/
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I'm going to suggest some sides other than vegetables - quinoa, couscous, and lentils. All these can easily be added to with herbs (dill is delicious with lentils, parsley in the quinoa and couscous), and a little acid (lemon juice, red wine vinegar, etc.). Any of these sides work well with any meat. They also help soak up some of the juice from the meat, which is tasty.
Others:
Chicken or Eggplant Parm with Pasta/Marinara Sauce
Stews or Soups - for me nothing beats a green salad
Pork - roasted beets sprinkled with a little lemon juice and parsley
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One of our best dinners yet!
Amuse - Bacon, Rosemary, and Potato Flatbread
Scallop with a brown butter vinaigrette
Julia's Garlic Soup
Arugula Salad
All Day Pasta Sauce
Lamb with Poached Port Pears
Ham with Mole Teloapan, Cornbread, and Jicama/Pickled Red Onions
Assortment of Spanish Cheeses
Winter Spiced Molten Chocolate Cake with Rum/Ginger Ice Cream
Can't wait until next year!
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So far, I got a set of 4 Mikasa martini glasses - 10 oz! They are beautiful, but huge. I also got The Art and Soul of Baking, and bought myself Artisan Breads Every Day and A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen.
More likely to come on the 7th for Orthodox Christmas.
Ha! Be careful with those large martini glasses. I've gotten into much trouble at my friend's house with his huge glasses.
Brief trip to Chicago: Itinerary feedback requested
in The Heartland: Dining
Posted
I think your plan looks really good.
A couple of thoughts/comments.
I hope you enjoy M.Henry...never had a bad brunch or lunch there.
I really like Alex's suggestion of Big & Little's, and would choose it over Bari's. We used to order takeout from Bari's for work, was a welcome relief from some of the usual catered lunch fare, but not sure it beats Big & Little's.
Save some room if you are heading over to Hot Chocolate...combining it with Takashi is a good one-two punch.
Another thought it to check out our food truck scene. Meaty Balls is a good one for lunch, and they post online and their twitter where they will be.
Also, I was skimming through this and didn't notice when you are visiting, but you may want to think about getting into Next. You could try same day tickets, especially if you are flexible with some of your reservations (e.g., Sunday at Avec you aren't going to make reservations). Last I saw the Thai menu is going on until Oct. 9 and the Childhood menu is starting the following week. If you are coming after the Thai menu ends, you could try to get tickets when Childhood goes on sale and turn into a crazy person like the rest of us.
(Just don't turn into one of the idiots that gets mad at Grant and Nick for "forcing" them to sit in front of their computer, or miss meetings or their commuter trains all day trying to get tickets.)