CathyL

Or kamikaze decorative squash.

Aren't rostis just potatoes and butter? Latkes typically include eggs and either flour or matzoh meal as well as onions.

A sommelier isn't essential as long as your servers are knowledgeable about the wine list and trained to help customers with selection. (They should be anyway, as many diners are shy about asking for the sommelier.) Wine distributors typically offer staff training to restaurants, but it's important to supplement that with internal tastings and wine classes.

Wilfrid and Liza and cod and monkfish liver are so dreamy.

From M.F.K. Fisher's With Bold Knife and Fork: "In A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain grouses about the food he found in Europe in 1878 (even a god can sound a little limited at times) and makes a list of the foods he has missed the most and most poignantly awaits on his return. It starts out 'radishes,' which is indeed either blind or chauvinistic, since I myself always seem to eat five times as many of them when I am a tramp abroad as when I am home. He then names eighty separate dishes and ends, 'All sorts of American pastry. Fresh American Fruits...Ice water.' Love is not blind, and I do feel sorry about a certain lack of divinity in this utterance, but my faith and loyalty are forever strengthened by items 57 and 58: 'Mashed Potatoes. Catsup.' "These two things were printed on the same line, and I feel -- in fact, I know -- that he meant 'Mashed Potatoes and Catsup,' or perhaps 'Mashed Potatoes with Catsup.' This certainty springs from the fact that there is, in my own mind and plainly in his, an affinity there. The two belong together. I have known this since I was about five, or perhaps even younger. I have proved it -- only once, but very thoroughly. I am willing to try it again, preferably 'in a modest, private affair, all to myself,' but in public if I should ever be challenged."

Jim, thanks for posting the link to your terrific latke page. I want to make the celeriac scallion ones, like, now.

Liza, I'll ask my m-in-law what she has in the way of vintage 3-tinerie. We could organize an eGullet field trip to Philadelphia...

Yes, the Shinkasen is ridiculously easy to use. I have several Globals and like them very much. The light weight takes a bit of getting used to, but they're beautifully balanced.

It was a soupçon of cinnamon...not really detectable as such, just enough to add a hint of warm spiciness. I'd used a mix of heirloom apples which were very flavorful. My grandmother always put cinnamon in her Chanukah applesauce, so I did too. When you & Nina come over for latkes, Suvir dear, I'll make it without.

I've always squeezed the grated potatoes dry before adding any other ingredients other than the grated onion. It just seems logical. Why strain out the eggs or salt and pepper? You know, Stefalah and NSM, I argued about this, but some family dynamic made me follow my sister's directions anyway. I did drain off a lot of liquid after grating. Next time I'm doing it your way. I left the apple skins on, which turned the applesauce a very pretty shade. And added a bit of cinnamon, so there.

I made latkes last night for the 2nd time in my life. Last year's were, if not quite disastrous, not quite edible either: lumpen, leaden and greasy. This year, I invited people over and then remembered I didn't know what the hell I was doing, so I called my sister for a latke consultation. She said the secret was frying in...Crisco. Yep. Per her instructions, I peeled seven large russets, grated them in the food processor, and grated a large onion by hand. They were mixed up in the wok (excellent mixing vessel) with three eggs, 3/4 cup matzoh meal, ample salt and pepper. I heated 2 large skillets (one cast iron) and added a generous amount of Crisco to each. Picked up globs of batter, squeezed out the excess liquid, and dropped them into the hot fat. After about 8 minutes, flipping midway, they were golden brown and crispy. At some point I transferred the batter to a strainer to get rid of some of the excess liquid. Once fried, the latkes were drained on paper towel and left to cool, then reheated briefly before serving. Accompaniments were sour cream, homemade applesauce and a romaine/endive/radicchio salad. Every latke was devoured. As a bonus, the cast iron skillet is much better seasoned than it was before this exercise. Was it the Crisco? I don't know, but I'm definitely buying a can of it for Chanukah next year.

You're right, don't brine a Butterball. It's already been 'flavored' by the producer. Otherwise, brining helps keep the bird juicy and seasons the flesh. Click here for a good article on brining whys and wherefores. My favorite brine is very simple: 1 cup of kosher salt and 3/4 cup of sugar to 1 gallon water. Dissolve the salt & sugar in a little warm water, then add cold water to make a gallon. The brine should be cold when you put the turkey in. Use a deep stockpot, a food-grade plastic bucket (ask for one at the supermarket), or - for a smallish turkey - a 2-gallon Ziploc bag, preferably placed in a pot. Refrigerate or, if you're in a fridge-cold place, park it outside. I usually brine a turkey for 8 to 12 hours. Take it out of the brine, rinse well, and set on a rack in the fridge, uncovered, to dry overnight; this yields a crisper skin. Ask more questions if you need to, Marlene. Threads elsewhere be damned.

We're all rooting for you, Bushey!

Not allowing meats and poultry to rest before carving.

Right back atcha, Liza dear.

Everything's a tradeoff. So far, my turkey has been 1)butterflied, 2)brined for 12 hours and 3)rinsed and set on a rack to dry. Tonight, it gets stuffed under the skin. My husband claims if guests could see what I put this poor bird through, they wouldn't eat it. So shhhhhh, this is just between the thousands of us.

Pip pip, cheerio and all that. [Just to clarify that's it an upper crust, and not Oliveresque, accent I'm affecting.]

Pruny fingertips, I bet.

Yes. Thanks for noticing, Jin.

Of course, of course. I would be concerned about chemicals that might impart an off taste to the bird. I always buy a couple of those oven roaster bags - not to cook in, but to store the leftovers in. Haven't killed anyone yet.

I meant 'ugly' in the sense of 'something you wouldn't want to eat.' I should have said 'toxic.' Jeez, everyone's an editor around here.

I've been hearing about it for years but never tried it. I'd guess the effect is a little like cooking in a clay pot. Fine Cooking had a T'giving article on this a few years ago. How do you ensure that the paper bag isn't full of ugly chemicals?

Mike, it depends not only on the cut but on where you buy it. The pork sold in Iowa is probably fattier than what's sold in Manhattan. I no longer cook pork loin unless it's brined first, because even at 145 it's dry and tasteless. No internal marbling whatsoever.

Blondie posted a picture in the Dinner thread here. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page.) Melted broccoli rabe? Although I love it with just the oil, garlic and hot pepper - such a clean flavor, and the bitter edge is a good foil for rich dishes.

Like Suzanne, I scuttled my original veg plans (broccoli rabe) when I saw the gorgeous greens at Union Square: green kale, collards, red mustard. On Sunday I visited a market in Washington DC and found beautiful red kale too. I'm going to saute the greens and make a warm salad with chopped hazelnuts, dressed with a plum vinaigrette (plum jam, Dijon mustard, champagne vinegar & oil). The DC market also had romanesco broccoli, so I had to buy one. It will be a centerpiece, hopefully to the delight of my littlest guests. Still haven't done the wines; I'm leaning toward German riesling to start, and a Pinot Noir or Rhone with the bird. Sparkling cider the the underage set, courtesy of the T'giving wine thread. I nominate Bushey for the best-new-sig-line-of-the-week award.