Shaya

Gorgeous cookies, Ludja.

I also found two more contenders, Kubbat Halab, in which the rice is mashed or ground, and Kubba Helwa, in which the rice is ground. I will send you all versions and you can choose.

I just spoke with my grandmother, my Iraqi food expert. She calls them "Erouk b'Roz" Basically a shell is made with rice and meat, and it is wrapped around a filling. This is then simmered in a broth, removed, cooled and pan-fried. I've found a more detailed recipe in one of my cookbooks, and I will forward it on to you by PM.

I heard about this place on the radio. I believe it is aimed at making a comfortable dining experience for visually impaired people.

Was it definitely ground rice on the outside? My grandmother makes them with a semolina paste, and they are creamy and cooked in the stew (with beets, okra, zucchini, whatever...) but I haven't heard of the rice version.

I don't. Share. My eclairs. Whenever we go to back to Montreal to visit my family, I always stop at my favorite patisserie and stock the fridge with 2 or 3 eclairs. For my own consumption. Somehow everyone knows this. Except for my brother in law. I really had to hold my tongue one night when he took the last one, ate it all in front of me, then asked, "Oh, were you saving this?" I also had that wonderful tarte flambee when I was in Lyon a few years ago. It took me completely by surprise when I received it, as I was expecting more of a traditional pizza. But man, was it great. I have been collecting recipes for it ever since, and am trying to work up the courage to cook with all that creme fraiche. Once again, you have captivated me with your photos. I have not been to this part of France, but something tells me that must soon be rectified!

Thanks for the travel diary, Megan. I love to see the foods you had, but I am equally taken with your gorgeous photos of the architecture.

I often make the Montreal bagels from this book, and their pita recipe is foolproof (it's found in their book on flatbreads). The Truckstop cinnamon rolls are quite bready, which is good for me, as I'm not much for sweets, but my husband prefers the old-fashioned version just like his grandmother used to make. Here are the bagels I made yesterday:

I found some Tuscan Kale (which I believe is cavalo nero) at the farmer's market last weekend, so I made Ribollita and some Tuscan bread to go into it! You can see more details regarding the bread here. Ribollita Tuscan Loaves

What a great thread this is. Thank you Pontormo. Wow, Stephen, those jars are so pretty. Hathor, I love chestnut soup, but I agree with Pontormo that it can be cloying if not done right. I made one with fennel once and really didn't care for it much. Last February I made one very simply, that I just loved. I didn't follow any recipe, just my instinct to let the chestnut flavor shine through. I used a base of butter, onion and celery, and roasted the chestnuts before adding them to the pan. No herbs either, I think I once used sage with chestnuts and it got on my nerves. This soup was really sweet and clean-tasting. Roasted Chestnut Soup

I made some Tuscan loaves today. I started yesterday morning by making the paste (flour and water mixed together) and let it sit all day yesterday. I made the dough last night and let it retard in the fridge overnight. Today I baked the loaves. They are really dense, and, of course, saltless. But the texture is nice and chewy, and the flavor is almost sweet. It's not the type of bread you would want to eat every day, but it suited my purpose tonight, as I had a hearty Tuscan bread soup (Ribollita) on the menu. I look forward to grilling some tomorrow and serving with flavorful toppings, I would appreciate any comments/critiques with respect to slashes, shaping and texture. Tuscan Loaf I lightly toasted some for a lunch sandwich of chevre feta, avocado and fleur de sel.

Weinoo, that soup looks really great, hearty, homey and tasty. Judith, those roasted quail look amazing. Unfortunately we can only get them frozen here and I am a little leery of this. Does everyone buy them fresh or is this a rare find? After all my euphoria with Campania, tonight I finally got into the Umbrian spirit. Spaghetti alla Pasta di Olive - this was great, with all the usual suspects...parsley, anchovies, roasted garlic, baby black olives. Served over homemade spaghetti. My 3-year-old help me make the paste and he gobbled it up tonight with a big "ummmmm". Trote al Prezzemolo - from one of the websites linked above. It's stuffed with breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon juice and grilled on my grill pan. Unlike Elie's beautiful trout, this one did not call for garlic. It was really tasty. Only because I used fresh breadcrumbs and stuffed the fish so much I ended up browning some of the stuffing on the pan after the fish was done. Contorno of Pisi e Pancetta with shallots and stock reduction.

Lucky you to be in Chicago. It's top of my list to visit - I am a huge architecture fan and would love to some Frank Lloyd Wright's works amongst others. I am really enjoying following your daily life of feeding your family. Your kids are so beautiful. As a mother of two young boys, it is nice for me to see someone feeding their kids with thought and confidence. This is not easy to accomplish. You are setting them off for a lifetime of good eating habits. Well done!

Welcome rasamalaysia. Your blog is a wonderful guide. My best friend and I were in Malaysia just after finishing university in 1992 and we ate almost exclusively at food stalls, which we found by simply stumbling upon them. I can only imagine the experience I will have the next time I visit, when I am armed with such great information. Thank you!

Kevin, those meal looks fantastic, from the grapes and sausage to the wormy squiggly pasta to the crispy potatoes with greens. I really have Italian cuisine to thank for getting me into eating greens. I really didn't get them 10 years ago. On the note of those umbrecelli, are they a regular egg-flour dough? Judith, I'm right there with you and Swisskaese when it comes to chestnuts. Lucky you to be in the midst of them the way you are! My parents used to roast them in the evenings and bring them to me while I was studying. A wonderful memory. I still buy loads whenever I see a good batch in town. I had my first of the season last night, a big disappointment. So far only chestnuts from China (!) are available, and they must be a completely different species because the tops burnt in no time . Hopefully the Italian ones will make their way here soon.

I made the Batter Cake with Fresh Pears last night. The details are in RecipeGullet. The base is crepe-like, just the perfect foil to showcase the sweet pears. My husband swears it's even better with a splash of pear liqueur on top. Really tasty. Thank you Paula! Batter Cake with Fresh Pears and with a little dusting...

Oh Judith, do I ever know those pepitas well. My Mom used to crack those constantly when I was little. She had the crack-em-in-your-mouth technique down pat. I got into them a little bit when I got older...they are really addictive. I actually saw some at our health food store last week and came so close to buying them...then I realized I didn't want to open THAT can of worms again.

Oh my goodness, you are killing me. First the pic of Claudio then that load of porcini - could you pleeease send some over to me (the mushrooms, not the man...) Do you have an apostrophe or some other punctuation mark in the title of the photo?

I used these beauties to make my moussaka. Moussaka I used lamb and veal to make the sauce. I also added b'harat, oregano and cinnamon; tomato puree; stock; red wine and bay leaf. It simmered for nearly 3 hours. As you can see, in addition to the eggplant I used potatoes, and I also added a marrow (like a giant zucchini) from my friend's garden. I used sheep's feta and a Greek sheep's grating cheese. It was even better the second night. I should add that I'm not a fan of the fluffy, eggy bechamel that typically tops this dish. I just use a simple bechamel flavored with nutmeg.

Foodman, that is one beautiful timpano. I have never been tempted before, but you have managed to put it on my radar... Nina, the chocolate eggplant looks wonderful. Can't wait to hear how Mike's turned out.

Buon giorno Hathor. You had me from the get-go; I do so dream of the living the dream that you dared not just to dream but to fulfill. Then you really got me with two of my all-time favorites - artichokes, purple-y no less, and with those gorgeous long stems - I only see those kinds of stems in my dreams. And of course the perfect little roasted potatoes. Thank you for starting off my day with such lovely images. Oh, and let me know how hard it really is to learn the language. Yes, another dream of mine. I speak French, so really, how hard could it be?

gfron, those deserts look amazing. I really love the combination of chocolate with a cooling fruit like mango. And those pistachios, gorgeous.

Thanks guys, for the kind words about the eggplant dish. Pontormo, once you deal with prepping the eggplant, peeling slicing, dicing and frying or baking...stuffing it is nothing! We had Kevin's much-touted calzone today, based on Mario's recipe. I used escarole, spinach, pinenuts, small currants, black greek olives, a fresh goat ricotta, bocconcini and pecorino romano. I didn't use capers. I also used Mario's dough recipe which called for olive oil, wine and honey. Amazingly the dough crisped up beautifully on the outside and was moist and chewy on the inside. Perfect. The times I have made calzone with my regular pizza dough, the dough has not been so memorable - somewhat dry and too crusty. After all the deep-frying I have done this month (check the previous pages of this thread to remind yourselves; I defintely win the deep-frying award for this month ) I could not bring myself to deep-fry the calzones. I baked them and they were divine. Incredibly filling as well; my husband and I each had one and we were done for the evening (I should say that they were larger than they appear in the photos, at least 6 inches long and well-stuffed). Calzone di Ricotta e Escarola Pizza for the kids. Somehow I scored buffalo mozarella from Campania at my Italian Market. A rare find around here. Now if only I could remember what I did to create that beautiful char along the edge... do you think I had an excess of sauce there, or perhaps was it olive oil? Hmmmm... Pizza with Mozarella di Bufala Campana

Pontormo, too bad you weren't in love with the Melanzane-wrapped polpette. I think you have convinced me to make the polpette without the melanzane. Thanks also for the Tornino/Tiella idea; it would be a nice change to have the eggplant with a bread rather than a pasta. And as for my kids and chocolate, you are right, it's not until we get older that the passion really kicks in. Any sweets will do at this age. I wonder how much of that has to do with hormones? Franci, just when I had convinced myself that eggplant and chocolate had no business being together, you got me with those enticing pictures. But it will be awhile before I want to fry anymore eggplant... I fried 40 of these guys today : I decided to make Franci's suggested Paccheri stuffed with eggplant. It was sublime! Somehow the combination of eggplant, bechamel, fior di latte, basil and parmigiano made for a sweet, creamy, luscious mouthful. I used canneloni shells which are longer than the traditional "pacchieri" pasta that the dish calls for. But I don't think the dish suffered for it. "Paccheri" with Eggplant Thanks Franci!

In case I can inspire someone else to try Kevin's calzone, here is the filling awaiting its jacket. I left out the capers - can't hang with capers.