menon1971

Mouli makes one. I have a Foley which I think is inferior to the European varieties, but gets the job done. Is this one French, I cannot tell?

I would go with garlic as a vegetable.

Cool tool! Quite retro. What is the brand? These are great for pureeing chiles - much of the tough skin stays behind.

Are we talking herbs or spices, or both?

I am a bit of a Vermonter when it come to coffee and try to find a local joint that gets it right. That said I have had Starbucks but two of three times and in each instance I came away with the exact same reaction as CR. I love strong coffee, expresso, Lebanese, Turkish, etc., but Starbucks seems to treat its beans and brewing process a bit like one might merge onto a highway in a Geo. They push it a little too hard for what it is and the result is not pretty.

How was the Williamsburg episode? Did my former compatriots behave themselves?

I tried to go with things introduced post 1950 but am ready to be corrected. 1. noodle bake/Campbell's soup flavored casseroles 2. fried chicken 3. baked potatoes with sour cream (and perhaps, chives) 4. macaroni and cheese 5. various types of sub-type sandwiches Post 2000: Most of these items are not particularly "American," but I feel that they have entered into the vernacular consciousness. 1. things with pesto (of various types) 2. things with sun dried tomatoes 3. things with previously exotic mushrooms 4. "ginormous" fast food meat based sandwiches 5. fried coke (why not?)

Upon reflection, aside from my under-development "Bloody Mary Gelée" there is a local catering company that makes a delicious collard green pesto. They serve it in little cups atop fairly tight grits (not instant).

I'm pretty sure Bourdain could do a dinner party. ← Is that challenging? ← oh yaa. ← ?

I'm pretty sure Bourdain could do a dinner party. ← Is that challenging?

If he had a magazine like Oprah and Martha I doubt I would be tempted to crack it. Tony's tips for home entertaining - "bad boy" style? Please............

I bought my GF a large bamboo board at T.J. Maxx for around $10 and she is really fond of it.

The force?

"And today on Oprah/Martha Stewart/Rachael Ray/Ellen/etc. bad boy celebrity chef and author, Anthony Bourdain, will be cookin' up something tasty and discussing his new book, Bistro Meals Made Easy............but up next, advice on how to fix up that failing relationship with a delightful homemade flower centerpiece.........."

Perhaps with Retsina.

I bought an ugly but quite functional "Three Rams" cleaver from a Vietnamese fishmonger who told me his secret for brewing great green tea and who hates Jane Fonda; the cleaver was $8.

While working at a certain living history museum I cooked in front of Julia Child (an honor - she called me "young man" when I introduced myself to her), Martha Stewart (I was 24 and did not know who she was and contradicted her as she spoke to her companion - in her defense she took it well), and the then Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Try the Garden Cafe in the West Building of the National Gallery. Nicely prepared food, wonderful atmosphere. I just looked at their website and they seem to be doing some sort of British thing in honor of a current exhibit: http://www.nga.gov/pdf/garden_cafe_menu.pdf. I am not sure that they will be offering the typical menu items which are usually lighter.

Here she is: Essie's Bloody Mary Gelée prototype one. My ladyfriend persuaded me to try this by convincing me that I really should not post something this specific not attempted. So last evening I decided to make a quarter batch using V-8 juice as a base. However, I made some modifications from the original post. I used a few pieces of celery rather than the leaves, minced the onions instead of chopping it and realized that I was out of bay leaves so those were obviously omitted. I simmered everything but the lemon juice, vodka (Smirnoff red lab - I am with the NY Times on this one) and gelatin (plain old Knox in this case) for ten minutes. I then let the juice cool for 10 minutes, reason being to reduce the evaporation of the alcohol once everything was blended. I then added the gelatin to the warm juice, blended and poured through a wire, helping it along with the back of a spoon. The lemon juice and vodka were then mixed in and the lot was poured into a small bowl which served as a mold. The concoction was left to set over night. Mid afternoon the trial began. Our initial reaction was not one of horror as if I had sinned against nature, but an overall, “not bad.” She suggested (as others on eG did) that it might be good served as part of a canape with shrimp perhaps. Upon reflection I portend a thinly sliced piece of toasted bread with slivers of the gelée shrimp and guacamole, or sour cream/creme fraiche/crema fresca with caviar (not sturgeon - I work for the state). We both agreed that to offset the over-pronounced flavor of the alcohol there needed to be more lemon juice and more sugar, so the next time I try this it will be with an additional tablespoon of both. We also came to the conclusion that tomato juice would have given this a cleaner flavor. Here is the modified version as it stands at the moment: Essie's Bloody Mary en Gelée 4 cups tomato juice 1/3 cup chopped sweet onion 1 chopped stalk of celery 3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar 1 tsp. salt 2 bay leaves 4 whole cloves a dash Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. Hot sauce 1 Tbsp. Prepared horseradish 4 TBSP. lemon juice 4 if with vodka envelopes gelatin 1 cup vodka Simmer first 10 ingredients for 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then blend in gelatin. Strain and add lemon juice and vodka. Stir thoroughly and mold. Allow to set in refrigerator for 8 hours.

I was lying around the house with my ladyfriend having a discussion about things one might have been served on a mid-twentieth century continental style cruise ship and the subject of gelatin dishes came up. She immediately thought of my long deceased paternal grandmother’s tomato aspic that my mother trots out every Thanksgiving and Xmas (I personally love the stuff, but I grew up eating it). That’s when it hit me: what if one were to make it into a gelatinous bloody mary. A savory and nutritious jello shooter (chunder), half cocktail, half appetizer. Has anyone tried such a thing? Is it good? Does this sound appealing to anyone? Are some of you feeling a bit queasy? Here is my grandmother’s recipe with modifications noted in brackets: Essie's Tomato Aspic/Bloody Mary en Gelée 4 cups tomato juice [or V-8] 1/3 cup chopped sweet onion a few celery leaves 2 TBSP. Brown Sugar 1 tsp. salt 2 bay leaves 4 whole cloves a dash Worcestershire sauce [1 tsp. Hot sauce] [1 TBSP. Prepared horseradish] 3 TBSP. lemon juice 3 [4 if with vodka] envelopes gelatin [1 cup vodka] Simmer first 7 [8] ingredients for 10 minutes. Add lemon juice. Soften the gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold water and add to hot juice mixture. Stir thoroughly. Strain and mold.

Here is a nice video of André Soltner making a Tarte Flambée: http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/meet/soltner.html#

IPA, of course, refers to an India pale ale. These were super hopped but otherwise simple English ales. The additional hops were added to aid in their preservation on their long voyages to India. ESB's in my experience are both quite hoppy and malty, i.e., full bodied and bitter.

The problem with many of these tasting menus is the lack of choice, in terms of number courses and in terms of selection. The old prix fixe idea still seems to me a good one. The notion of a menu being analogous to a play seems silly and self-important. One doubts that the name Keller will be mentioned in 100 years with the same recognition as Miller or Klee. This is not to say that innovative, creative, and above all aesthetically pleasing cooking is not to be appreciated, even revered, but it is not abstracted in the same way visual arts and literature are. Anyone asked to call to confirm a reservation should politely reply: "I would prefer if you called me to confirm the reservation. Thanks you." My physician and my dentist both call to confirm I do not think it is too much to ask of a host or hostess.

Actually, some of the Therias Et L’Econome knives look quite nice: http://www.therias.com/bandeau_new/anglais.html.

There were several factories using the water power of the falls at Thiers but most have closed; a lot of the old stock went to Lee Valley Tools, of Ottawa, and was sold off until 2003 in their stores or online. That was quite a sale; we were able to look at or purchase a huge variety of carbon steel knives dating back to 1920. There is still a small factory in Thiers making Sabatier SS knives, and apparently carbon steel as well. ← To the best of my knowledge there are at least three Sabatier-identified cutlery operations in and around Thiers: Thiers-Issard, L'econome, Sabatier Diamant, and Sabatier-K.