CathyL

Toby, . I may change brownies to flourless chocolate cakes, or something else baked and chocolate. Or roasted squash of several varieties. Or both.

Snowangel, I don't know how inspired this is...but I slice several varieties of winter squash, peel and all (e.g., delicata, acorn and butternut), about 1/4" - 1/2" thick, toss them with kosher salt, olive oil and fresh herbs, spread them out on a shallow baking pan and roast in a hot oven until they're tender and caramelized. It makes a very pretty dish.

Maybe it's a regional thing.

To me 'blondie' means chewy/cakey in texture - i.e., a non-chocolate brownie (although chips are optional) - not crispy/cookie. And I'm with cakewalk here - a brownie without chocolate is like, like, a weebl episode without pie. If we're talking crisp bar cookies, my favorite take on FG's idea is Maida Heatter's Crisp Toffee Bars from her 'Book of Great Chocolate Desserts.' No eggs, dark brown sugar, nuts and chocolate chips, dough spread thin in a jelly-roll pan, so they turn out toasty crunchy yummy.

Stefany, great idea! I was pondering a prosciutto/jamon comparison.

The crack is characteristic of baking powder breads - I've never made one that didn't have it. The version of the Gourmet recipe on Epicurious (click) calls for a 9x13 pan, which would account for the longer baking time you needed. The cake probably wouldn't crack in the larger pan, but it wouldn't be as attractive. It does sound lovely - I like mhadam's suggestion of a rose water glaze.

It's a cake mix brand, Suvir. I used to adore Duncan Hines brownies - hot from the oven, with that crusty top. But they don't taste (or smell) the way they did when I was a kid. Changes both in the DH formula and my taste buds, no doubt.

YES. I have a nice collection of Wusthofs and a few Globals, but the knife I usually reach for is an old old Sabatier inherited from a friend. It keeps a wicked edge for a long time.

Snowangel, you must mean Jane Freiman's brownies - one of my favorites too. They're terrific frozen. I found the recipe posted here.* Another favorite: Maida's Greenwich Village Brownies from her first cookie book; the corn syrup makes them extra-chewy. I add 12 oz. chocolate chips just for the hell of it. I like barely-done brownies with oozy fudgy centers. Crispy edges are good too. And although I'll gladly eat them gussied up with cream cheese or caramel or whatever (except white chocolate), I'm happiest with just nuts. *Is posting a link to someone else's post of a (properly attributed) cookbook recipe legit? Or am I an accomplice?

Steve, thanks for the wonderfully detailed report. You captured the spirit of Taillevent perfectly. Did you eat gougeres with the champagne aperitif? The best anywhere, sigh. I sat at that table on my first visit, and the only off note of the evening was the Minister of Something-or-other at the next table who smoked big stinky cigars throughout.

Suvir, what size baking pan did you use?

Double O so dreamey.

'Bread' and 'mustard' seem too broad to me. I can envision a comparative tasting of Dijons, for example, but there are too many varieties (and uses) of mustard to anoint one jar, or even three, The Best. It might be fun to do several bread horizontals: baguettes, rye, bagels... I'm in for brownies, unless Jaybee wants to flip for it.

Let's pick a date. How about Sunday Nov. 10? [i'm still too cheese-sodden to have any clever ideas about what I'd get horizontal with.]

Me too. I use more hot pimenton than sweet. Cakewalk, Kyocera makes a ceramic ginger grater that will save your knuckles. It's pricey but useful for other tasks as well. Mine came from PCD. Click here.

Suvir, Claudia Roden's book also has a wonderful dessert of macerated dried fruit with nuts. The recipe is online here. It's very simple but really delicious. The variation with pomegranate seeds, which I haven't tried, looks even better.

Wilfrid, I have not eaten there in years and years - once it was a very nice little place, with competent versions of bistro classics, but I hear the food is now on a par with Sammy's.

Chocolate.

I have a weakness for beautiful tableware and indulged it when I was making big bucks. For anyone in Manhattan who is similarly afflicted and salaried, I recommend Avventura on 82nd and Amsterdam. Plain white plates are supposed to set food off best, but ho-hum. My everyday/company china ('Basketmaker' from LS Collection) has a stylized Native American design around the rim. For dinners outside, I have Japanese stoneware plates in a beautiful blue-green. Tableware is brushed stainless in a modern design. For grand dinners I bring out my grandmother's Grand Baroque sterling, and a motley collection of serving pieces from my mother-in-law's Dickensian shop in Philadelphia. Murano wineglasses: stubby goblets for reds, and a gorgeous ocean-blue for whites. I know the latter is a no-no, but just looking at these glasses makes me happy. I have a lot of serving bowls and platters in various shapes and colors, many picked up at crafts fairs. Deciding what to serve on which is part of the pleasure of entertaining, for me. I always serve family style. Napkins are plain black linen; I have a set of napkin rings shaped like suns and moons, which little kids find enthralling for some reason. No tablecloth - the dining room table is a metal tubing/glass topped thingy. Our late bulldog made an annoying sport out of leaping up from under, trying to snatch napkins - she didn't seem to mind smacking her face on the glass.

Chop up scallions and basil in equal amounts, add some lemon juice, salt & pepper and coat the chicken. Plop in a baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 425º or so for 45 minutes or so. (This is from 'Under the Tuscan Sun' and it's really good.) Mix a good spicy mustard with honey, soy and a little olive oil. Brush on the drumsticks and either bake in a hottish oven or broil.

Jaymes, the only chutney with which I am intimately acquainted is Suvir's Tomato. It must be fabulous with meatloaf because it's fabulous with everything I've dolloped it on so far. Except breakfast cereal, and that's only because I have none.

I think your plan is sound, considering that you've had it properly stored since last night. Why do you think it will last long enough to require canning?

Last time I was on the Atkins diet (briefly - it makes me psychotic) I tinkered with Bruce Aidells' recipe. Instead of breadcrumbs to bind, I used shredded mild cheese and egg. After the 2nd or 3rd iteration, it became a game to see how much fat and cholesterol I could pack in. Bacon grease to sweat the onion, garlic, red pepper; sour cream; egg yolks; 1/2 lb. of coarsely chopped andouille to 1 lb chuck and 1/2 lb each pork and veal. Turkey works fine too. Seasonings: Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, ground cumin, chipotle. Packed into a lined loaf pan and chilled, it holds its shape when umolded onto a rack over a shallow pan. Not too shallow - a lot of fat escapes during roasting. A rest before slicing, which it does nicely. Yes, Priscilla, sandwiches. With chutney! Maybe I'll make meat loaf tomorrow night.

Nick, thanks for the terrific report. Your descriptions are so vivid and precise I can almost taste each dish.

You were a better wife than I, Jinmyo. I absolutely refused to make hamburgers "like my grandmother's" when I learned this meant simmering balls of ground chuck in a skillet of grease for hours and hours. The kreplach recipe [sic] was even worse. Another option is to remove the chicken pieces when they're just shy of done and crisp them briefly under the broiler. Or with a butane torch, which is how a friend deals with the uncrisp skin of a smoked chicken.