FrogPrincesse

Love the built-in flour dispensers too. What a great feature! I am also admiring your mid-century dishes and matching glasses. Absolutely perfect for your house. May I ask where you found them? And of course the food is incredibly inspiring. Can't wait to see your Christmas meal!

Hi Jason, I did a quick search in my cookbook library using EYB and came up with a few ideas: Duck liver ravioli (Babbo) Confit of duck gizzards, duck liver flan (Paula Wolfert - Cooking of the Southwest France) Preserved gizzards with warm lentil salad (Lucques) Hopefully they can inspire you!

That's a big classic and it's wonderful. My standard recipe is from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles. It's a simple sauce with butter, shallots, fish fumet, cream, champagne, lemon and chives. Oysters and champagne is also a classic pairing - for example, warm oysters in champagne sauce. I imagine that this type of sauce would be good with fish too.

Is the black olive stuff a tapenade? Sounds like a good combination. And everything can be prepared in advance.

Thanks for the reminder! I should buy the prunes tonight (I already have the armagnac) and start the process asap. I've made pruneaux à l'armagnac before as an accompaniment to seared foie gras or gâteau basque, but never as an ice cream. That seems like a perfect ending to a holiday meal. I will need to decide which recipe to use (Paula Wolfert, David Lebovitz or Anne Willan - I have these three to choose from).

Chris, that menu looks absolutely mouthwatering. Paula Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France is a great book for the holiday season. I just got my copy a few weeks ago and made foie gras au torchon for Thanksgiving, and it greatly surpassed my expectations. My brother & sister in law will be hosting the Christmas party this year (and they will for sure have turkey on the menu). I have volunteered for appetizers and dessert. For light appetizers I am considering a duo of rillettes (a traditional pork recipe and the salmon rillettes from Paula Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France). For dessert, I am tempted to steal your idea and add the glace aux pruneaux à l'armagnac to the menu (are you using the recipe from Wolfert as well?). Maybe I will serve it with a traditional bûche de Noël.

I am going to be test driving a couple of savory quick bread recipes for a potluck. Indeed these are really popular in France and there are even entire books devoted to them. The most traditional one is the olive, cheese & ham version. They seem to be ideal for potlucks as they can be eaten room temperature and are very portable. They make a light lunch with a salad. They are also good with a spread such as tapenade. There was an article in the New York Times about "cake salé" this summer. (The accent is important as sale means dirty!)

Le Pain Quotidien has excellent bread, cafe au lait, jams & chocolate spread. It's a great casual place for breakfast or lunch.

On my list so far: a Thermapen, a meat grinder to make pate (chopping by hand is not optimal), Charcuterie by Ruhlman et al., a better pasta machine (the cutters on the manual machine that I own are dull, and I end up having to cut the sheets of pasta by hand). I am thinking that a Kitchenaid stand mixer with the pasta and meat grinder attachments might be a good idea...

Yes you got it right, it has the liquor and the dissolved oleo-saccharum, nothing else. That's good news. It would be a shame to have it go to waste!

It might be waterzooi, a typical fish stew from Belgium. My friend Anne makes a nice one. It's lighter than a bouillabaisse (I love them both though!).

We had the eggnog ice cream from The Perfect Scoop at Thanksgiving, together with chocolate lava cakes. It was perfect, with a strong nutmeg flavor, and the rum/cognac did not hurt. I made the ice cream a couple of days in advance and it was still very smooth and creamy when we had it, with no ice crystals. I had some ice cream left so I made the chocolate chip/walnut cookies a few days later, also from the book, and we had ice cream sandwiches! The cookies were relatively thin (fit for purpose) and crunchy. They were delicious in the sandwich and also on their own. I plan on trying the chocolate cookies from the book next.

The Fish House Punch I made for Thanksgiving was a great success. Everyone enjoyed it and was in excellent spirits after a few glasses. I ended up using all applejack instead of apricot. It was so good that I made another batch a few days later for a party. Now I have a question - I have a bottle left of the liquor+oleo-saccharum mixture (no water added). How long can I keep it in the fridge? Would it be a good idea to freeze it since I don't anticipate using it right away?

Thanks for the tip, Dan, that sounds like a plan. I'll try it without the apricot liqueur. I am probably going to stick with the Wondrich ratios for the "mixture" though, since this is my first attempt (rum/cognac/peach (applejack) 2:1:1). I notice that your recipe favors the cognac against the rum (you are at 1:2:1). edited to correct typo

I’ve settled on Fish House Punch for Thanksgiving. I’ve never made punch before but the recipe seems straightforward. Since I don’t have peach brandy, I will use the recommended applejack substitution (maybe with some R&W apricot liqueur). I am making a large block of ice in a metal bowl (what a great idea, so much better than ice cubes). We are invited to a party on Sunday and plan on bringing punch as well, maybe a different recipe assuming that I can source the necessary ingredients before then. I looked for Batavia Arrack that some of the other recipes call for, but I haven’t had any success so far. I just went through this thread and started reading David Wondrich’s Punch book, so that’s giving me a lot of ideas!

My 4-year old daughter's list: 1) eggs in any shape or form (soft boiled, hard boiled, poached, scrambled, sunny side up, omelette - she loves them and could eat them everyday). I buy eggs at the farmers market for her so they are super fresh. She even tried duck eggs with me (which she loved). 2) anything served in a tortilla that she can assemble herself (tacos, quesadillas) 3) quiche lorraine (she loves bacon) 4) mac & cheese 5) hamburgers She also loves tempura shrimp with rice, kalbi ribs, fish and chips. As most kids, she is not a big fan of veggies (she prefers carrots and corn). She loves cheese and is willing to try any kind of hard cheese. Overall she is not super adventurous but is more likely to try anything that she helped prepare. She refused to eat pasta for a long time until we made fresh tagliatelle together.

How funny, I just had a version of the Last Word with rhum agricole named Enough Said at Craft and Commerce in San Diego last week. I am not sure what rhum they used, but after a few sips I decided that I still prefer the gin version. I find it more complex and interesting. It might be worth a try with La Favorite though. I love La Favorite blanc. I just ordered a few bottles through Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido and it's disappearing very fast. Favorite uses so far (sorry for the unintentional pun) are Ti Punch (of course!) and El Floridita no.1. La Favorite blanc has such a complex and beautiful flavor (for me it has coconut, pear, and sugar for the finish, without being sweet at all) that it's really hard to go back to other rums. I have no idea what to do now with the rest of my rum collection right now. Thanks to all who recommended this brand (slkinsey and all) by the way. I also acquired Neisson blanc and Neisson XO during a trip to La Martinique a few weeks ago, but I have not opened them yet. I was just shocked to see how cheap rhum agricole was there - less than 10 euros for a 1-liter bottle of the rhum blanc! corrected typo

Chris, I’ve started my planning – we are invited to my parents in law so they are taking care of the bird and most side dishes, but I’ve volunteered for the appetizer and dessert courses. I have to admit that I don’t care much for turkey in general (heresy, I know; my excuse is that I am French and turkey is considered a lower grade meat in France), so I am relieved that I don’t have to prepare it. I tried to convince my in-laws that we should start a cassoulet tradition for Thanksgiving, but they did not buy it. I thought that it was a great idea tough, and we could have made confit turkey legs! In any case, I was thinking along the lines of foie gras au torchon and squash soup for the first courses. There is a good kabocha soup recipe in Sunday Suppers at Lucques that I’ve made before and that would be appropriate for the occasion; it has just the right amount of spice/heat to keep it interesting. Foie gras just because it’s the holiday season and now is the time to be decadent. Last year I had made pate de campagne but I think that I want to “upgrade” this year. Also the days of foie gras in California may be limited – we only have one more year before the ban in 2012. I was going to buy a lobe at our local French grocery and prepare it au torchon per Paula Wolfert’s instructions (just got her book). I’ve never prepared foie gras au torchon but after doing some research and looking at a few tutorials online, I think that this is something I can handle, even the deveining part which sounds intriguing to say the least. Another option would be to combine both courses and make squash soup with seared foie gras – there is a great recipe by Anne Willan in the Country Cooking of France that I’ve made for a dinner party once and was a big hit. But it requires last minute searing which may not be ideal – typically the kitchen is a war zone that day so I prefer dishes that can be prepared in advance. For dessert, last year I had made a chestnut charlotte which had the advantage of being surprisingly light and airy. The recipe was from Les Halles. I am still undecided for this year, but David Lebovitz’s recipe for eggnog ice cream looks good. If I make this, I will need something else to go with it (cookies? a tart? I have not yet decided). Lastly, since Dave Wondrich’s book on punch just came out, most likely we will be having a champagne punch. I just need to remember to order the book though!

I second Marche Moderne in Costa Mesa. I’ve been there about a half dozen times and every meal has been impeccable. Last time I had an outstanding foie gras terrine. On a more casual side, we enjoy the fish tacos Sharky’s. Yes, it’s a chain, but the food is great and it’s perfect for a quick meal.

I spent the weekend in Las Vegas a week ago. I had nice meals at Otto, the Batali restaurant in Venice. The standout was the pasta course. We went there twice and sampled the lamb ragu which was my favorite, and also a great carbonara, and a super rich pork belly ragu (as expected). We also had the cheese & meat boards. The affogato that we finished our meal with was excellent. Overall we felt that the menu was similar to Osteria Mozza in LA, but the execution & service were better at Mozza. Prices were reasonable for Vegas (about $20 for a pasta course). The best meal during our trip was at Sen of Japan, a sushi restaurant off the strip led by a former head chef from Nobu. The restaurant is located in a nondescript shopping mall; the décor is very simple and unremarkable. But everything else was not. The service was impeccable. We had the five course omakase and everything was outstanding. The most memorable courses for me were the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño and crispy garlic, the black cod in miso, the inventive sushi rolls, and the miso soup with clams. We had similar dishes at Nobu before (the preparations for the yellowtail and the black cod were especially familiar), but I felt that the attention to detail was really excellent at Sen of Japan and service was much more engaged and genuinely interested in creating the best experience for us. It was also about half of the price too which does not hurt! The five-course omakase is priced at $55.

Very nice review, et alors. I am glad that you enjoyed your meal at Alan Wong. Your daughter is lucky to be able to experience such a special place at a young age!

Alan Wong (on King Street) for his impeccable and creative Hawaiian fusion cuisine. I only had exceptional meals there.

That's amazing. I recently experienced a horribly bitter taste in my mouth that completely altered my sensations and turned to metallic towards the end. It lasted for 2 very long weeks. I was quite miserable and could not think of any reason until now... Yes, now I realize that it coincided with the use of pine nuts from Whole Foods. Mystery solved.

+1 for me. I got the last (misplaced) copy of Culinaria Italia for $8 at Costco yesterday.

I made the chocolate ice cream last night. I did not have whole milk so I used 2% instead. It took a while to thicken the custard but the result was extremely rich and unctuous. As Rodi said, this is really fantastic, probably the best I ever had. I suppose I could further improve on it by using better quality chocolate (just used the dark 72% chocolate from Trader Joe's), or heavy cream/milk (usually I try to use Strauss Creamery in the glass bottle but I used regular quality this time), but the result was already to die for...