santo_grace

So far, it has been a good culinary Christmas...a WS gift certificate, nice sized chinois, and a wine rabbit. Also, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which I will be picking cooking two recipes a month with a friend of mine that lives in Paris. We will then cook a Christmas dinner together of Julia's recipes when he is home next year for the holiday. Can't wait.

I own the Oxo regular (non V-blade) and it still works well after 3 years of use.

Sorry to hear this has happened to you. I enjoyed seeing all that you put into your meals.

I make the same salad without the pecans. Thank goodness for the food processor. As a child, I would watch my mother attach the food grinder to the counter, crank the handle and grind all the ingredients with a bowl positioned on a stool underneath to catch the fruit and juice would run down the front of the counter. It's a nice Thanksgiving memory.

On NPR, Reichl said she would have created a very different issue had she known it would be the magazine's last. I guess that goes without saying, but she certainly left the impression that the November issue is not how she wants Gourmet to be remembered. Those Thanksgiving issues can often be a snore. I'm generally not a big fan of Thanksgiving issues, but I was sooo sad last night as I was reading this issue knowing it would be the last. It's disappointing that they couldn't do a 'goodbye' issue. I agree with this sentiment. Gourmet made me a better cook and more informed. I still have the issue on the impact of Walmart on food prices and product variety. I've gotten a lot of the other magazines over the years and I let them all lapse. I don't think I will be subscribing to any others for awhile. I'm assuming my cookbook collection will increase or I will start reading more blogs than I currently am to help fill this void.

So far this fall season I've made the Braised Leeks and the Lamb Shanks Provencal. With the leeks I followed the augratin portion of the recipe and they turned out wonderfully. A great use for leeks. For the lamb shanks, I must confess that the grocery store was out of lamb shanks and I didn't feel like going to another store. So, I substituted some nice big pieces of veal. I can't remember the cut of the veal, but it looked like a nice big chuck roast. We had a great time eating the marrow in the bone. The sauce for this was so tasty. I'm looking forward to being better prepared and having this with lamb next time.

I'm saddened by this news. While, I can't compare the content to Gourmet of 25 years ago, it was my favorite magazine over the others. I appreciated the education it gave us on topics that some people would rather ignore or don't know take place. There is no harm in having knowledge about these topics to help us make more-informed decisions. And it's not as if I read them all. Sometimes I didn't read the articles until I saw the letters to the Editor where a comment sparked my curiousity. Not every issue was a hit, but I don't expect that out of any magazine. I'll miss the wide range of recipes and the cover photos. It was always a happy day (sometimes to the end of a bad one) when I got home and Gourmet was waiting for me.

I'm not sure how far west on W. Huron you will be staying, but you might be fairly close to a section of Grand Avenue with a number of local foodstores. Green Grocer is located at 1402 W Grand - they specialize in local and organically produced foods. They often have small events (food and wine tastings) at their store. Terry's Toffee is located at 1117 W Grand - delicious toffee, ice cream and other sweets Bari's Foods and D'Amato's Bakery are next to each other at 1120 W. Grand - good neighborhood Italian store and bakery. You can get some good subs at Bari's. I'm a fan of the marinated eggplant with mozzerella. There might be other stores in the area that I can't think of. These are all fairly close to Piccolo Sogno, which someone else recommended. You can't beat their patio. If you head a few blocks southeast of this area you are on Fulton Market where you will find some stores/galleries/restaurants (Moto, Otom, Publican).

Still haven't been to the grocery store after a weekend of guests. Managed to create a tasty dinner of crabcake with bacon and fried egg sandwich. Salad on the side.

Quail egg raviolis. My husband would cook two at a time, and we would eat them as each one came out of the frying pan (finished off with butter and nutmeg) standing by the stove. Not the healthiest dinner, but it was delicious.

That's what we also had for dinner tonight. Ours was stuffed with oregano from the garden with garlic cloves placed under the skin. Roasted potatoes, mushrooms, and greens on the side. Seemed more like a winter meal, but then again, it hasn't really seemed like summer here.

I disagree; the dish looks great. ← I agree - I thought it looked like an egg sunnyside up.

Ron, I was just reading in an old Gourmet (May '07, yeah I'm behind in my magazines......so?) a recipe for "Asian Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce" that I thought sounded pretty damned awesome. They have cilantro & water chestnuts mixed into them, and I think you sure could make them appetizer size. I'd guess the recipe would still be available on Epicurious.com but if not, pm me, and I'll send it to you if you want. I'd marked them to make for dinner soon. ← I've made these before and they were a big hit. I also have a really good Rick Bayless shrimp ceviche recipe. It's not a traditional ceviche where the shrimp marinates in the lime juice, but it also gets lots of compliments and is very easy to make large quantities. PM if you would like the recipe.

Thanks for posting this. I made this the other night and the sauce was delicious. My husband is coming up with different ways to use the leftover sauce.

In order to use up a couple of the four celery roots in my possession, I'm currently simmering a celery root, green apple, and onion mixture. Will puree when done. I've made it before and it's really good and easy to make. Will top with crisped pancetta.

Found out today it is the year of the Ox, so this thread seems timely. We served braised oxtail as a course for our NYE dinner. Treated them like shortribs and cooked them in a homemade bbq sauce. Delicious. We had planned on serving the Oxtail Daube from Paula Wolfert, but when we did a test run a couple of weeks beforehand it did not turn out well. The meat paste you make from the pigs foot, fat and other ingredients was a disaster. I think I didn't have enough liquid in the dish.

Cracklin! Make cracklin out of the skin (from the flap near the neck) and put it over the red leaf lettuce w/the light mustard dressing.

Hi All, Just wanted to let you know what I ended up cooking. I stuck with a couple of my original appetizers of an eggplant/pepper dip and cheese/crackers. Also, stayed with the tomato roasted soup. Salad was very basic - arugula, red onion and dressing. I modified a seafood stew over rice - the sauce was a tomato base, and with the seafood I used only shrimp since my guest couldn't eat as much shellfish as I thought. Poached pears for dessert served with either dulche de leche gelato or soy milk ice cream. Thanks for all the suggestions. I wanted to serve the shrimp over polenta, but I'll admit I haven't made polenta before and was having too busy of a day to think about it. I'm putting it on my list of dishes to make by the end of the winter.

re: hard vs. soft cheeses Yes, I know goat cheese is bad for this guest, so I could guess other soft cheeses are as well.

I'm actually fine with cooking for this group. Two of the people I've cooked for many times and somehow have them convinced that I know what I'm doing. It is the person who is lactose intolerant/sugar free/gluten free that I've never cooked for before. I'm sure like many people in her situation she is hoping that I won't go to a lot of trouble.

Hi All, I'm still enjoying all the ideas. Thanks. Some of them could work if modified slightly - would have to remove the cheese and cream from the risotto. Paella sounds good. I could stick to shellfish since I have a fish allergy to worry about. A seafood stew was one of my first considerations. I would probably leave the soy chorizo out altogether for this friend. She isn't one of those vegetarians that misses the taste of encased meats or cured meats (much to Trotter's dismay when they accidently gave her a bacon dish). SeanDirty - thanks for the recipe. It just confirms that I need to ask for a ricer for Christmas.

I knew I would get some good suggestions! Keep them coming. I'm really liking the idea of the polenta or a chili relleno. I'll pass those ideas by my husband.

Hi All, We are having three friends over for dinner on Saturday. We have some food restrictions in the group and right now I'm feeling a little uninspired on what to make. I'm hoping some egulleters will help with that. We have some food restrictions to worry about. Friend A - vegetarian, but will eat fish and most shellfish Friend B - meat eater, but is allergic to fish. Which puts us to shellfish or a vegetarian meal maybe pasta. Except... Friend C - is lactose intolerant, sugar free, and moderately gluten free (could eat pasta, bread, but not in large quantities). She will eat meat (restrictions there also), but it's a non-issue since I have a vegetarian in the group. I would rather not make a whole lot of different dishes. Generally, we are up for the challenge, but like I said I'm just not feeling it right now. Pre-Dinner Appetizers - I'm thinking: - shrimp cocktail - roasted eggplant and red pepper dip (will buy some gluten free bread/crackers) - cheese plate with some fruit Dinner - Roasted Tomato Soup - Salad - winter salad of fennel/citrus/watercress Dessert - poached pears I haven't really gotten much into the entree. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Any chance he might part with that recipe? That's what I wondered! It looks deeelicious.

I agree. We did the trip in the opposite direction than you two...Moab, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion (and saw all the same beauty and desolate areas in between), so by the time we got to Zion, I was done. No more rocks please. "Yes, it is pretty, but please don't make me take another hike."