Alinka

Thanks, Susan, johnnyd, Klary! It's kind of funny to see the same picture multiplied . You're right. And it didn't help that the honey had a very assertive flavor. NOW you're telling me! Well, I guess I can console myself with the fact that I wouldn't have had time to grill anything this morning before going to work anyway. Hmm... dinner?

What a wonderful statement! I am tempted to quote this phrase in my signature . Lasagna! Sounds good... I've a question about San Marzano tomatoes. In the cookbook I was using, they insisted on San Marzano canned tomatoes for the pasta sauce. So I went and found some, and also bought a can of regular organic tomatoes. After the taste test at home, I understood why they wanted San Marzano . Now, question: is San Marzano a brand of canned tomatoes, or is it the variety of tomatoes themselves?

I shared my excitment over discovering the delicious combination of goat cheese and figs with a friend, and she said that figs are also good with gorgonzola. I had to try it. Here's what I've just had for breakfast: lightly toasted pugliese, gorgonzola dolce, and figs, drizzled with honey I'd brought from Russia - Conclusion: I would have liked the flavor of goat cheese better in this sandwich, and may be I should have been less generous with the honey or skipped it altogether. But the breakfast, with strong coffee with whole milk, was delicious. I can't imagine people chewing cold cereals for breakfast. What a waste!

avocado - would you believe me if I told you that I also threw a casual party for eight last night, and also used De Laurentis' recipes? Only I made baked polenta with three defferent sauces, and white bean dip, which went well with pugliese. To follow the Italian theme, a friend brought tried and true, but always delicious when made from the freshest ingredients, platters of tomatoes-mozzarella (tomatoes were funky red with green stripes, soooo sweet!) and melon-prosciutto: For dessert I made a mascarpone tart with crystallised ginger. When I was dicing the ginger I was wondering if it would give the tart weird texture, but the pieces became soft in the filling, and the flavor was so exquisite. Not sure about those plums though, but it was either that or the strawberries, that was all had in the fridge. Also prepared watermelon and mango with lime from Epicurious.

Well, now I really want to make some butter. Just out of curiosity whether I will be able to obtain the results that would be much more satisfactory than what I used to get 10 years ago, taking into account all your advice. That sounds like creme fraiche to me . What a nifty paddle!

What a lovely meal! Thank you for inviting us along, Chufi .

fiftydollars, thanks for the interesting post! I really want to give it a try. Can you tell more about this, though? - When I lived in Russia, my parents had a cow, and I it was my job to make butter. What we did was take a 3-liter jar, fill it about 2/3 full with soured cream (not sour cream per se, but the cream that got slightly curdled), cover the jar with a lid and just shake, shake, shake (usually while watching TV). Just like fiftydollars says, at first nothing would happen, and then suddenly you realize that it's not the liquid you are shaking, but something firm beating against the walls of the jar. It took forever. We did not have a food processor . But I never really liked the taste of that butter: it was sour compared to the store-bought. And, it was softer and more pale. Also, when you tried to spread it on your bread, the liquid would ooze out of it.

Thanks! What's "moellet eggs"? I just put together a quick sandwich of whatever was in the fridge: boiled egg, tomato, salami, goat cheese, olives, herbs. And the marks - this is why I loooove my panini press. Recently, I almost don't cook any more - simple food like mozzarella and tomatoes, greek salad, figs and goat cheese is so good. Gourmande gave me a great idea what to do with the beets I have in the fridge - roast them and eat with goat cheese. I look forward to that already. By the way, I've a question. Someone mentioned they had goat cheese and honey for dessert. Are they mixed, or is honey drizzled over the cheese?

After gawking at Ann_T's gorgeous pies, Chufi's crunchy warm pizzas that smell deliciously of bread, MobyP's buttery looking short rib ravioli (and I'm not even sure what that means), percyn's fancy layered salad, and everybody else's carefully prepared, beautiful dinners, here I am with my simple sandwich (I'm saving my energy for the pasta party I am hosting on Saturday )

But of course! Less for me (we don't want to get fat on those yummy buttery croissants, do we?) Mmmm... Do you want to tag along with Megan over to my house? Hm, I've been known to have ice-cream for breakfast. As well as leftover cake or pie Really, good coffee and good pastries (or bread) is all I need to be happy in the morning .

You've picked exactly the ones I was most fascinated with! Loved your "before" and "after" pics!

percyn - Yeah! Soup, rice, fried chicken - that's what I call breakfast! Thanks for the photos, they're great. So interesting to look at all those exotic foods. Not like the lonely croissant and a cup of coffee you'll get at a parisian cafe for breakfast: Talking about croissants - that's what I had for breakfast yesterday and today. A couple of weeks ago I was baking croissants for the first time, and as part of the experiment froze some after baking and also raw, but shaped. So now I know that if you rewarm baked ones in the oven, they come out almost like freshly baked ones: Almond ones (with frangipane) And my favorite - plain: Now I'm trying to figure out whether I'm supposed to defrost the raw croissants before baking. Probably should ask our pros in the Baking forum.

Yeah, with this dish that you are bringing - please do!

Ruth, what's FWIF?

Oh, that's because they were still warm when I took that picture. When hot, they are very, very soft. They are sitting on the desk in front of me right now, and they are crumbly all right . I've a question. The recipe calls for "fleur de sel, or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt" - I was not sure if it meant finely ground salt? I just ground some sea salt in the pepper grinder, and then thought that maybe grains of salt were supposed to be large. Also, I had a lot of trouble trying to cut them into rounds: hard pieces of chocolate made the soft dough crumble when cutting.

ME WANT RECIPE, PLEASE? ← YOU GOT RECIPE . I will need to figure out how to upload pictures on RecipeGullet. Here's how the loaves looked uncut:

Do you think you could share the recipe? Sorry it took me so long to post the recipe. But - here it is!

Irish Soda Bread I got this recipe from a friend. After making a few modifications, I like to bake it to eat for breakfast. 2-2.5 cups unbleached flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 cup sugar (if desired) 1/8 cup butter (ab. 1 oz) 1 egg 1 cup buttermilk Mix the dry ingredients and place them in food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. This can also be done by hand, using a knife or a pastry blender. Place the mixture in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the egg and buttermilk, then add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix and place the dough on a surface dusted with flour. Knead the dough until smooth. Flatten into a disc about 1.5 inches thick, dust with flour, and cut a cross on top with a sharp knife (do not cut all the way through). Bake on a greased sheet for about 40 minutes at 375 F, or until nicely browned. Cool on a rack. This is the recipe I got. And here are my modifications: 1. I shape the dough into 2 loaves: one with caraway seed, and the other one with added Splenda and dry cranberries. 2. For the flour, I use 1/2 cup unbleached flour, 1/2 cup soy flour, and the rest is whole wheat. 3. I don’t usually keep buttermilk at home, but I always have kefir, so I substitute the buttermilk with 3/4 cup kefir + 1/4 cups water (because kefir is thicker). Keywords: Breakfast, Brunch, Bread ( RG1387 )

Rajma A friend of mine, Russian, is married to an Indian and lives in India. She shared this recipe with me. She calls it rajma and says it is very poplular in Punjab. Lots of spices there! I served it over brown rice and with a dollop of sour cream on top (raita would've probably been better). 1. Soak beans overnight. I usually use 1 full cup of red (kidney) beans (as I cook for two). 2. In the pressure cooker, place 2 bay leaves, 2 black cardamoms (I prefer to crush them rather than place whole and then have to take them out), salt, 1 tablespoon ghee, and 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook 20-25 minutes. 3. Drain (reserve liquid). 4. In a deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add 3 small chopped onions, grated ginger (small piece), 2-3 crushed garlic cloves, and 2-3 small hot green peppers. Sautee until the onions are golden. 5. Add 1/2 teaspoon powdered red pepper (I often skip this part because the green peppers are hot enough) and 1 large tomato, pureed. Let stew a little. 6. Add the beans and garam masala (the garam masala you use must be made fresh – this is what makes the dish so delicious: ground into powder together 1 teaspoon cumin, 4 green cardamoms, a 1-inch piece of a cinnamon stick, 6 whole cloves and 6 black peppercorns. It is best to make the garam masala beforehand, while the beans are cooking). Mix everything together well and add the liquid reserved after cooking beans. Bring to boil, turn down the heat, and cook until the beans are fully cooked and the sauce reaches desired thickness. You can crush some beans if desired. 7. Add chopped cilantro and a couple of tablespoons sour cream (if desired). Serve over rice. Keywords: Main Dish, Vegetarian, Beans, Dinner, Indian ( RG1386 )

Rajma A friend of mine, Russian, is married to an Indian and lives in India. She shared this recipe with me. She calls it rajma and says it is very poplular in Punjab. Lots of spices there! I served it over brown rice and with a dollop of sour cream on top (raita would've probably been better). 1. Soak beans overnight. I usually use 1 full cup of red (kidney) beans (as I cook for two). 2. In the pressure cooker, place 2 bay leaves, 2 black cardamoms (I prefer to crush them rather than place whole and then have to take them out), salt, 1 tablespoon ghee, and 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook 20-25 minutes. 3. Drain (reserve liquid). 4. In a deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add 3 small chopped onions, grated ginger (small piece), 2-3 crushed garlic cloves, and 2-3 small hot green peppers. Sautee until the onions are golden. 5. Add 1/2 teaspoon powdered red pepper (I often skip this part because the green peppers are hot enough) and 1 large tomato, pureed. Let stew a little. 6. Add the beans and garam masala (the garam masala you use must be made fresh – this is what makes the dish so delicious: ground into powder together 1 teaspoon cumin, 4 green cardamoms, a 1-inch piece of a cinnamon stick, 6 whole cloves and 6 black peppercorns. It is best to make the garam masala beforehand, while the beans are cooking). Mix everything together well and add the liquid reserved after cooking beans. Bring to boil, turn down the heat, and cook until the beans are fully cooked and the sauce reaches desired thickness. You can crush some beans if desired. 7. Add chopped cilantro and a couple of tablespoons sour cream (if desired). Serve over rice. Keywords: Main Dish, Vegetarian, Beans, Dinner, Indian ( RG1386 )

Mmm... mmm... mmm!.. Ann_T, what a lovely plate! Mouthwatering. My lunch today was not as beautiful, but did not taste too bad for something meatless and low fat: Organic whole wheat penne with carponata-like sauce (eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, capers, balsamic vinegar, basil, etc.) and baked vegetarian "chicken" patty (ssh - from a box, don't tell anyone ).

Ok! After weeks of salivating over your discussion of Korova cookies (but unable to bake because I was on a business trip, living in a hotel) I finally have my own! Now it's your turn to salivate, he he he . (Ling, thanks for the link to the recipe.)

percyn, what's all that stuff on the last plate? For me, finally - a home-made, healthy breakfast: whole wheat Irish soda bread with dried cranberries .

That's all right: I'm enjoying all you guys' meals vicarously . And look forward to coming home and eating dinners made from the freshest ingredients again . Like these - These look great! Fresh, fresh, tangy, delicious... I have a mixed relationship with balsamic vinegar though: love the flavor, but I wonder if there is a way of keeping it from making the food look dirty?.. He he, I've been wondering the same thing. I usually eat a bigger luch, and dinner is something light like salad or a small sandwich. Definitely no multi-course meals.

Oh God, Ann, if you cook like this at home, do you ever need to go out? Great dinners, everyone! A little embarrassing to admit, but my dinner consisted of fruit and decaf latte at the hotel I'm staying at. And, a glass of red wine later