Shaya

Got a last minute reservation at Lupa two weeks ago during a trip to NYC with the (little) kids. Meats we had as appetizers were wonderful, my main of house-made orechiette with sausage was outstanding - I will never forget the texture of those pastas! The downside: I ordered pennette in red sauce for the kids - and was shocked that it arrived still crunchy. My younger guy ate it without too much fuss but the older one definitely noticed it was under-cooked. I keep kicking myself for not sending it back as soon as I realized what was up - one of those moments I wish I could undo. I take enormous care in the food I personally prepare for my little guys and knowing I would not have eaten the dish myself, I absolutely should have spoken up. Why didn't I? Well, hungry kids, past their bedtime, had been up since 4am to catch two planes, and I didn't imagine they'd have the patience to wait for a new batch... still, no excuse.

I have the opposite problem to yours. I buy whole organic chickens and know exactly what to do with the breasts and bones, but the leg and thighs always pose a dilemma for me as I'm not a fan of brown meat. I usually end up braising them for a lunch for my sweetie. Actually, Khadija, I think I may have solved both our problems; I'll buy the chickens, take off the breasts and deliver the legs and thighs to your door! Have you ever boned the entire chicken? I have stuffed and rolled it, and roasted it atop potatoes. Yum.

Patrick, Cheryl, thanks for the advice. Hope to have a photo to post one day soon!

Henry - I've been reading your blog with mouth agape! I find myself with thoughts I've never had before, such as: "I must remodel my kitchen" and "how soon before I can go to Seattle to check out Salumi?". I feel like I'm losing my mind! I adore modern architecture, and am brought back to my university courses when I read your views on the philosophys of architects and chefs. By the way, it would be a dream for me to spend a day working in one of these kitchens; often when I enter a restaurant I have a secret wish that I could just go hang out in the kitchen rather than sitting at the table to eat. I am also fascinated by how fully you seem to be living your life, of course through extraordinary food experiences, but more importantly with good friends. It all comes down to the people, doesn't it? Thanks for the list of food movies; ironically my sweetie and I just watched "Big Night" tonight - it was his first time. You are so bang-on with pointing out the final scene when they prepare the omelet - I said to my husband that it's impossible to stay angry with loved ones for too long, for a meal is always in the future; in the end it is food that reunites us.

Patrick - stunning-looking eclairs, I think these were always my pick at patisseries growing up in Montreal - haven't seen any real eclairs since moving to Halifax though. I have had them on my "list" to make one day - would you say they are a high difficulty level pastry to make? Also how many days-long is the whole process? Ling, what gorgeous desserts, wow. Megan, bravo! Beautiful!

Percy - beautiful, just beautiful.

Hi Kathy, I'm really enjoying your blog. Seeing your heirloom treasure really touched my heart. I also became drawn to the kitchen by watching my grandmother spend hours at the stove. She is nearly 87 and still cooks for herself although I notice she has been slowing down lately because she finds it difficult to stand up. I always tell her I hope I can be so inspired when I'm her age. Unfortunately all her treasures are stored in her head, and for the most part my sister and I have little bits scribbled here and there. What a nice legacy your grandmother is leaving you.

Klary, this thread is amazing, well done. It must feel like such an accomplishment to have all your traditions documented in this way. My sister and I have talked many times of putting something together to document my Grandmother's traditions, and seeing what you have done here is very inspiring. I made your braised beef and it was wonderful. I look forward to trying many more of your creations.

Hi All - reading this thread last month really put me in the mood to make these. I really enjoyed the process. And I loved the final product, much better than any I've had commercially. I prepared the filling according to the recipe used by kiteless - I used strips of pork loin. I shredded the pork rather than chopping it to obtain a more tender texture (no, I do not have sensitive teeth, but I am always thinking about what will appeal most to the tastes of my 2 1/2 and 5 year old boys ). For the dough I used Ellen Leong Blonder's Dough as described by Tepee upthread. I used vegetable oil instead of shortening, due to preference. 2 comments about the dough - (1) I found it to be quite dry and I didn't even add the extra 1/4 cup flour for dusting. (2) I found it very tricky to get it to hold to itself when I pinched it together to seal. Did anyone else find this to be a problem or is this a symptom of my dough being too dry?

Gorgeous-looking cream, Patrick (your photos are so beautiful) - mine definitely resembled a buttercream moreso than a pudding. Re: baking - yes, it is cooked. I baked off a pate brisee shell that I made and then I added the lemon cream and baked at 325c for about 10-12 minutes - until it looked like it had changed somewhat but the butter had not separated. Since I've never eaten a tarte au citron (I'm not much of a sweet person!) I had to take a guess. Re: the immersion blender - I do have one of those! And I notice you mentioned to use it in an earlier post. However, the instructions for Herme's Tart Lemon Cream I found in a lemon curd thread said to put it into the bowl of a blender - and I was working from these directions when I made the tarte. I've learned a lot, and we all enjoyed the tart tremendously.

Try these threads: Lemons Lemon Curd

Here is my first project - my first Tarte au Citron, it was delicious, but man, what a LOT of butter. After making it I realized there was as much butter in Herme's creme as my entire family used throughout the 23 years I was living at home! This was also my first successful pate brisee - thank to TarteTatin for the really good directions. ETA: Pateick, I just found the thread where you have a gorgeous photo of your finished Herme's tarte - the glaze looks gorgeous, but complicated - this is as far as I can go with a dessert these days! Your other lemon creations look fantastic as well.

Hi All - This morning my 2-year-old and I made TarteTatin's pate brisee and Herme's lemon cream. Firstly, thank you so much to turning me onto making lemon curd - it's a delicious use of lemons, and very far from my realm of everyday cooking. Patrick - I have to confess that since I don't have a blender I had to make a judgement call on mixing in the butter and I decided to use the whisk attachment on my stand kixer. I ended up with a beautifully thick, whipped cream - is this what they call buttercream? So two questions: (1) Do I now have the right texture or do you think I would have been better off using the paddle? (2) Also, my little guy keeps mentioning he would like to have the tart with chocolate. I've read somewhere that a thin ganache can be added - how would I accomplish this - would I blind-bake the shell first and then add melted chocolate mixture and pour lemon cream on top?

Simple syrup - um, do you mean a suger/water mixture? Although this may not be too important, as I like it sour too.

Hi Megan, I just found your blog and I can't wait to read through it. We are bringing the kids to NYC in mid-March for their first time (my parents took us often as kids, I love the city) - your blog came at the perfect time! I look forward to seeing what it's like to live, eat, work there through your eyes.

I don't normally have time to enjoy or treat myself to a nice lunch - too busy catering to my very hungry children. But today I managed to pull it off - I had a homemade Montreal-style bagel, cream cheese, cuke, smoked salmon and avocado. Took one bite and was in heaven - it was like having sushi in a bagel, the way the sesame seeds tied it all together - a real treat!

Thanks so much, Pigeonpie.

Duh! Thanks for bringing me back down to earth.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sound great. Recipe please?

Hi Khadija, I know what you mean. Not too many food-obsessed in this town I don't think! I got the lemons at Great Ocean - they're from Arizona.

Thank you all so much. You have given me so much to think about. Culinary Bear - your lemon and almond sponge sounds really good, particularly as I could use the whole lemon - you get my mind thinking of baked goods, a realm where it does not enter too often - but I love lemony desserts Crusio's and Slbunge - I love the idea of limoncello - I don't know why I hadn't thought of something like that, particularly since my husband is always experimenting with flavoring alcohols - he would probably vote for this option Crusio's and Therese - I frequently make lemon-stuffed chickens so I will keep that dish for my regular weekly 2 or 3 lemons - this bag of lemons has appeared before me in order to push me to expand my horizons, so I'm going to run with it (or as Crusio so eloquently put it..."when life gives you lemons, you can also make lemonade") Smithy, Busboy, TarteTatin and Patrick - I think I am sold on making a tarte au citron TarteTatin - sending lemons by UPS is outrageous - I love it! A recipe (or a link to one) would be appreciated as I am mostly a cooking and not so much a baking person, so my cookbook collection is weak in that area - although Busboy you will be happy to hear I have Keller's FL book on order as we speak Patrick - I found your link to Herme's lemon cream - looks great - how is a lemon cream different from a lemon curd? Would this cream be used to make a "tarte au citron" that TarteTatin mentions? Gini - I have Paula Wolfert's Slow Mediterranean Cooking and am tempted by the preeserved lemons, but after reading all these great ideas I'm leaning toward making something that will provide instant gratification! Molly and Gini - with 2 little kids our cocktail days are on hold for awhile, much to my husband's chagrin - but I'm sure he would vote for this option too. Thanks again all, eGulleters are AMAZING!

I bought a bag of beautiful organic lemons the other day, knowing I only needed one or two for immediate use, but they only sold them by the bag (and besides, I can't resist nice-looking produce when it comes my way). I was thinking at the time maybe (1) a sorbet (but without an ice cream maker I find these turn out so icy) (2) preserving them - but them not sure what I'd use them for Any other ideas out there? I would love to use them quickly while they are still at their freshest.

Thanks Chris, I thought you'd be happy that I used cubed beef rather than ground. All the talk on this thread about the melting quality of cubed versus ground prompted me to pull out McGee last night - nothing like reading about the muscular structure of animal flesh at bedtime... But it does make sense the way he describes the role that marbling plays in rendering a very tender final product after long slow cooking.

Here is my very belated contribution! Last week my sweetie asked if I could make chili sometime. As I'm not a fan of big chunky tomatoes and onions and peppers, I had to come up with my personal twist. Reading this thread really inspired me, thanks to you all for coming to my rescue! Chili made with finely cubed rump roast, white beans, corn, London Porter (a dark English ale), molasses, tomato, ancho, chipotle and jalapeno chiles, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, paprika, and cayenne. Topped with grated cheddar. Even the kids ate it happily, they did not seem to notice all the chilis!

I am in awe, Klary. This is a formidable feat and you carried it off with great success. The food all looks wonderful; I can only imagine how much butter went into those raviolis! There is no better gift, in my mind, that the one you just gave to your husband and loved ones.