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I just picked up Live From New York - the oral history of Saturday Night Live. I've read up to the end of the original cast years so far, and I have to say this book is snoozeville. There is nothing here that I haven't heard before - the pressurecooker atmosphere, the drug use, the round robin romances, how big a shit Chevy Chase was (is), what a trainwreck waiting to happen Belushi was, and etc. After the original cast left there were multiple long stretches where I tuned SNL out, so I'm hoping that those parts of the book will be at least informative and interesting. But I don't hold out much hope.

Instead of a ricotta based lasagne I've recently taken to the version made with a bechamel sauce that's been cheesed up with grated parmigiano reggiano. I also layer with more parmigiano and a little fresh mozzarella. It's far creamier and nicer and the cheese packs a flavor punch, unlike the ricotta.

For Helena: Stuffed Chicken Leg with Saffron Rice and Saute of Baby Spinach, Sauce Supreme.

I thought a confit consists of long, low heat cooking of items submerged in oil. Helena's description sounds like baked chicken legs rather than a confit. Am I missing something?

The following is my more-or-less standard BBQ sauce. It's is based on Bobby Flay's recipe, but I've cut the sweet component way down and I use different ground chile powders than he originally specified. I think it's very good, great with ribs. * Exported from MasterCook * New Mexico-Style Barbecue Sauce (Gr) Recipe By : (based on) GRILLIN' & CHILLIN' SHOW #GR3633 Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 medium red onion -- finely diced 1 garlic clove -- finely diced 6 plum tomatoes -- coarsely diced 1/4 cup ketchup 2 tablespoons dijon mustard 1 tablespoons dark brown sugar 1 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon cayenne 1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, heat the butter and sweat the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture in a food processor, pour into a bowl, and allow to cool at room temperature. This sauce will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator or several months frozen. Yield: 5 cups

Alas, I don't have the name of the restaurant. That meal happened in 1973, during my first visit to Italy, and I was a just graduated high school student who knew nothing about food and who was fairly wide-eyed at everything I was newly experiencing in Europe.

Not at the moment, no. But give me a couple of days. I haven't done this dish in ages, so what better time than now to do it again?

Some good links for Italian food are www.italianfood.about.com/food/italianfood/ www.cucinait.com www.gamberorosso.it/ www.italiancookingandliving.com

Hah! You are a very funny guy, Kikujiro.

There was recently another thread on this exact topic (but I haven't been able to locate it to get the link (though I didn't spend too much time on it either). Some memorable dishes I've had in Italy include a pizza with artichoke hearts in Milan, fritto misto of fish in Venice, my first experience with pasta alla carbonara in a little roadside trattoria in the middle of nowhere in Molise and, my favorite, pasta aglio olio con pepperoncino that was fixed for me by my friend Roberto in Castel San Vincenzo, also in Molise. All of these were revelatory to me at the time.

I am not familiar with the recipe you're having trouble with, but when I do boned, stuffed chicken legs I use a drumstick-thigh segment and I remove all bones and sinews by making an incision on the body side of the leg along the bone structure and carefully scraping and cutting. Adapting a technique I saw Pierre Franey use for stuffed cabbage, I lay out a clean tea towel, arrange the boned chicken leg on the towel so that it is roughly circular, spoon on the stuffing, fold the edges around the stuffing and then use the towel to squeeze the stuffed chicken leg into a perfect ball. I roast it that way and then artfully plate it. It looks great and it's easy to eat. I most often use a duxelle stuffing and I serve it with a supreme sauce. It's a bit "classical" I think, but there's nothing wrong with that is there? But as with all stuffed things, the room for experimentation is endless. I have also seen boned, stuffed chicken legs done where the drumstick/thigh is reformed around the stuffing and sewn up tight. Sometimes the drumstick bone is left in and the stuffing is limited to the thigh portion. Maybe this is closer to what you're looking for.

This sounds a bit over the top to me, but if it succeeds in taking Olive Garden down I'm all for it.

Yes, thanks. I am looking forward to your report.

Is that the brand name. Were can they be had? at www.bigass.com of course. lots of stuff to browse through there. Sending us to that link was evil, Tommy. A good spanking is in order.

I saw Jack McDavid on an old Great Chefs episode maybe 15 years ago, long before he became Bobby Flay's Sancho Panza on Grillin and Chillin. He cooked bear (he pronounced it "bar") and it looked fabulous. I'd also be interested to hear what his menu is like and how the food is there.

FG: I don't doubt that there is a learning curve to getting to be proficient with a broiler. I don't doubt that broiled foods can be very tasty. I guess I prefer to grill rather than broil. I am more comfortable grilling than broiling. The last thing I broiled was a salmon steak and that was, maybe, 15 years ago. I didn't ruin it but I remember being a nervous wreck for the 15 minutes or so that I was actually cooking.

Where are the pictures? They're not loading for some reason.

Oddly, I have never been a fan of broiling. I don't know why. I am vaguely afraid of it as a technique.

I too have a Le Creuset 12-inch grill pan. I too don't use it very often, because it's difficult to clean and also because using a grill pan in the house without ventilation is not a good thing. When I want to grill something I fins it easier to light a fire in the old gas grill, summer or winter, than to lug out the Le Creuset.

What would signature dish-less chefs do without the crutch of foies gras?

I've been thinking about olive cake ever since this thread came out. Yesterday I visited an Italian import store, where I purchased some pancetta and some porchetta, and a bunch of cerisuolo (sp?) olives. I whipped up the olive cake using the recipe Helena provided last night and brought it into work this morning to share. Unfortunately, the Phillistines I work for don't permit aperatifs or cocktails on the job, even for food sampling events. But I did try a small slice. It is moist, as advertized, and the pancetta provides a bare and occasional hit of saltyness, but I couldn't distinguish the porchetta - even though it had been rolled in crushed red pepper flakes - and the variety of olives I used are too bland for this. Oil-cured would have provided more olive impact. The only problem for me now is: do I sneak off for a three martini lunch in a little while so I can taste my olive cake in proper context, or do I wait another 7 hours before I get home to try it? Have any of you made olive cake recently? If so, what was your experience with it?

Raw seafood, particularly shellfish. A birthday dinner present of Oysters 4 Ways - one of which ways was raw - put me in intensive care for a week and nearly killed me. Now I just say no.

Basildog: could you expand a bit on what this scale is please? Is a "10" high and a "1" low? What is the basis for this scale? Have I understood you correctly that your rating has dropped a notch? On a scale of 1 to 10, a "2" implies to me that your food must be a hair better than inedible, but everything else I've read here on egullet about your place (not to mention that pic of Boris and the mackerel) indicates that you run a decent shop and cook up pretty good food (and have fun doing it). That's the kind of place I'm always in search of in my neighborhood, although in my neighborhood that is a little like the search for the Holy Grail.

Then we are basically in agreement, Jinmyo, as long as we recognize that we are speaking colloquially when we talk about the "art" of someone's cooking. The problem is that there are both chefs as well as the serious foodies who follow them who truly believe in this chef-as-arteest stuff. And being a master craftsman is an achievement to be admired. So why isn't this enough?

Perhaps you are right. But I maintain that this is more than just a semantic difference. I think that chefs who see themselves as "artists" are missing the point. I think customers who patronize, nay...worship, certain chefs for their "art" are also missing the point (not to mention dropping obscene amounts of money on what is basically just a meal). Ultimately it's a harmless game for those who want to, and can afford to, play. But to my mind it's all pretentious foppery.