FauxPas

yes, people would love to read this story along with the cookbook. Or reading the story could lead them to the cookbook. Certainly it should lead some new visitors to your restaurant. We are going to be in Tucson sometime in November and will be there for a few months or so. It's only a 3 hour drive to Silver City, NM! We know at least a few Tucson couples who would be very interested in the food you serve. I'll try and organize a group visit maybe.

Funny how several of us cooked pork cutlets last night! I did also, after brining them overnight. They were just OK though, I wish I had used some Panko crumbs like Kim Shook or Anna N with the Tonkatsu. Didn't take a pic after cooking. Baked squash and green beans were the best part of the meal, though!

How do you prepare your meat for the sesina (am I wrong spelling it cecina?) tacos? I looked at Rick Bayless' instructions for preparing the pork and it looked kind of tricky. Or am I talking about the same thing?

Kind of like this one? http://www.purewow.com/entry_detail/recipe/8821/Forget-florets--roast-the-whole-damn-cauliflower.htm The only thing i didn't like was that the inside was a bit too hard even when the outside was ready. So I agree with you, I think cutting it up a bit is better.

How did you cook them, Anna? I will go search that thread, but here is Williams-Sonoma's suggestion for cooking them in the Cuisi - steam-broil (instead of steam-bake) at 450F for about 20 mins on the upper rack position. (Though I would be keeping a pretty careful eye on them or else use a lower rack position) jo, I rarely roast cut carrots for more than about 20 mins.

We had a NY Strip Loin in the freezer that needed to be eaten, so pan-fried it, sautéed some mushrooms and tried making Shelby's Breaded Tomatoes. Shelby, the breaded tomatoes were lovely - like a really tasty tomato pudding. I think I followed your instructions but I did add a tiny bit of celery (trying to use things up) and I finished it by baking it in the Cuisinart oven because I was busy with both steak and mushrooms on the cooktop. That gave me some toasty bits on top. It's one of those simple recipes with only a few ingredients but the final result is much more than the sum of the parts. Made a very nice side dish. Thank you! Edited to add that it was a decent-sized steak and I love the end bits so my husband gives me those and he had the centre piece. Also, these were not the best tomatoes but they were pretty good. I can imagine how much better the dish would be with better tomatoes!

Trying to use things up and clean out fridge so we shared a salad of celery, pear, blue cheese and pomegranate. I put a few walnuts on mine, also. And we had a bit of leftover golden beet soup.

Looks like your camera focused on the Negroni, which seems entirely like the right thing to do!

Oh, that does look delicious and warming and just lovely for cooler days!

yes, thank you so much for posting that. Even if I never actually make the recipe (though it's on my list), I still have the vicarious pleasure of the photos and description. Thank you again.

So you don't bake yours?

basquecook, that looks like an amazing spread! Thank you for sharing! Shelby, I had never heard of breaded tomatoes (I know, must have been living under a snowbank or something!) so I had to look them up. Sounds tasty, do you have any secret ingredients or go with the basics of tomatoes, bread, sugar, butter? Your Grammy's salad looks very tasty, also. Yes, feeling like Winter Wonderland here. We had a spicy chili for two nights before the pasta.

we had a good snowfall a couple of days ago but it melted fairly quickly. Today, however, was this: Just for rotuts (and Shelby), here is our kitty, fascinated by the snow and the whiskey jacks (instead of the wild turks): And because this is a temporary rental and we had expected to be out of here by now, we aren't doing much shopping so this weekend we are doing clean-up. I had some roasted tomatoes in the freezer and a red pepper that really needed to be used so that became the basis for a pasta sauce.

Ha, me too. Was curious about the tart, and I found a NY Times variation by Melissa Clark where she makes it as a savory tarte Tatin rather individual tarts. I am wondering how similar the process/ingredients are compared to the one you made, gfweb?

Though I've found a few bars that will accommodate a surprising amount of tastings. Mind you, we still ended up leaving quite a bit of cash in their till. I remember the Bandon Dunes Scotch Bar as being especially generous.

Yes, we love pictures!!!! Good point, scuba!

Golden Beet Soup (wth onion, lemon, ginger, stock). Topped with a bit of gremolata and sour cream.

yes, welcome! Looking forward to your posts, but not sure we need pics of the sous-vide underwear.

That's almost what we did for Canadian Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago. A boneless skin-on tied turkey breast roast on top of stuffing. It was cooked in the Cuisinart Convection Steam oven and the steam-roast setting seemed to keep it quite moist, while still browning the skin. Edited to add: To properly tie this in to the thread, I don't remember the cost but breast-only can be expensive. This one wasn't too big, so not too many $$$. It gave us a couple of meals + sandwiches. (It's the sandwiches I like the best, I think!)

Serious Eats has a nice suggestion for a long slow baked tomato sauce. The recipe is just for the tomato sauce but you could add meatballs or ground meat at the end. Their reason for the long bake/simmer is that it concentrates the sauce and the caramelization gives complexity. A bit of reserved crushed tomato at the end gives freshness (as Paul Bacino suggests). This doesn't really answer your question directly, but it does give a suggestion for an alternative (and maybe improved) sauce overall, if you did want to try a slightly different approach.

That chestnut risotto made me salivate, not sure why. It looks so lovely but I wonder what kind of chestnuts, is it difficult to source the materials or can I make something similar? You are always so generous with info when asked and your meals and photos are so spectacular. You know, I was quite relieved when you made a (slightly) simpler dinner with the broccoli soup and cheese, etc the other night. You were becoming a bit scary with all those complex beautiful meals. I do love seeing them, but I want to believe you are human!

basquecook, can I ask about your mac 'n cheese recipe?

basquecook, that all looks so lovely. Happy Anniversary!! The honey butter, wow. And the mac 'n cheese looks delectable, also. Everything looks lovely! But I just hope you and yours had a wonderful day!

Can you tell me more about the soup? Thanks!

We had leftover meatloaf and still enough for a meatloaf sandwich for my husband tomorrow. Also, leftover crushed potatoes with roasted tomatoes and that lovely sherry-garlic-anchovy dressing. Steamed green beans and a bit of champiñones al ajillo (used some red pepper flakes, thyme, garlic, and a healthy splash of Alvear Fino). The mushrooms: