FoodMan

You are correct Jin, it is red onions cooked in red Lambrusco wine and sugar. FM

Can someone please refresh my memory? Who is Stadlander? FM

Yesterday I made another fantastic cold weather delight; "Tortellini in sweet onion Lambrusco broth". It is another recipe from Batali's great "Simple Italian Food". Homemade Tortellini filled with chicken, mortadella, Proscuitto Di Parma, and Grana cheese cooked in a rich chicken broth with sweet Lambrusco onions (chopped red onions, sugar and red Lambrusco cooked together until it resembles a marmalade). For dessert we had Pate a Choux puffs stuffed with chocolate mousse. FM

The braised beef in Barolo is from Mario Batali's first book "Simple Italian Food" the basic gnochi recipe is from the same book as well. FM

Suvir, How would you incorporate Mango to make a Mango Kulfi? Can an ice cream maker be used to cut down on the time a little bit? I'm planning on making some for the inlaws as an after dinner dessert tomorrow. Your suggestions are always appreciated. FM

Beef and Potatoes...in the form of home made gnochi served with slow braised beef in barolo. Perfect comfort food for the cold weather. For dessert I made Alton Brown's cheescake FM

Over the weekend I made an orange blossom ice cream using a mix of Alton Brown's Vanilla ice cream (sans Vanilla) recipe and flavorings from Claudia Roden's "Dairy Ice Cream with mastic and rose water" from her middle eastern cook book. The result was superb served with some chopped unsalted pistachios on top. Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll post it. FM edit to remove some of the quotes.

I think he is taping new shows per several articles I read about him (unless they are outdated). However as was mentioned earlier Batali's first and foremost obligation is to his restaurants (especially Babbo). He said that he usually tapes up to 4 or 5 shows per day of MM pretty much in real time and then he is at Babbo by noon!! So the whole season will take him about a week's worth of taping. I believe I read this info in a Q&A session with him on the TVFN web site's forum. I don't know how much of "breaking new grounds" he is doing but I can say that flipping through "Babbo" or "Simple Italian Cooking" makes me want to try stuff I would never have thought of. FM

Great review. I do think this is one of the most appealing books that I have both aesthetically and culinarily. There is a beautiful glossy picture for almost every recipe in the book. It is an enjoyable read (even my wife couldn't help but flip through it) and as Andy said you could absolutely feel how much Batali loves what he does and how much passion he has for it. Recipes I've tried so far include beef cheek ravioli, black pepper pasta, gnochi with ox tail ragu, Pappardelle bolognese, potato encrusted tuna steak, polenta short-bred cookies, walnut cookies-- I think that's all so far. Each and every recipe worked perfectly and I am looking forward to trying more "adventurous" ones such as the lamb tartar with quail egg and to make my own duck brasiole (sp?) or Guanciale. what did anyone else try (especially some of the more exotic ones)? Thanks again for agreat review Andy. FM

Sunday Dinner: first course of spaghetti Putanesca, with tomatoes, basil and olives. second course: meatballs with red sauce, lots of garlic and homemade crusty bread dessert: using my new ice cream maker ( a christmas present from my dear wife) I made some orange blossom ice cream with mastic and rose water. heavenly. I am looking forward to trying new interesting ice cream recipes. FM

After a quick search on yahoo here is the link to the recipe I used for Tres Leches: Tres Leches I substituted whole milk for the heavy cream to make it a tad lighter. FM

Invited the in-laws on Sunday for a nice Mexican fiesta dinner. For an appetizer I made a roasted tomato and chile salsa and served it with corn tortilla chips and fresh squeezed lime margaritas. the main dish was charcoal grilled skirt steak that was marinated in onions/garlic/cumin tacos with chile "rajas" (roasted poblanos and onions cut into strips), brothy mxican style skillet beans (cooked with bacon onions and cilantro), guacamole and sour cream (Salsa , beans and steak recipes courtesy of R. Bayless). For dessert I had made Tres Leches for the first time . Served cold and moist it was the perfect end to the meal. FM edited to add the beans (NOTE FROM MANAGEMENT: This topic is a continuation of Dinner! 2002)

An improvised Moroccan "Tagine". Cooked some chicken thighs in hot OO until golden brown, then added some whole garlic cloves and deglazed with white wine. when the pan was properly deglazed and all bits scraped, I added some chopped preserved lemon, pitted kalamatas and some chicken stock. covered the pan and cooked over low heat. I served it with some thick Pita bread. I was tangy, a little salty and very scrumptious. FM

Very interesting. I've never seen the "toasted tahini" you are talking about. The only Tahini I've seen in Lebanon and here in the US is the "raw" Tahini and this is what is called for in the Humus recipes. I would certainly love to try the toasted one if I do find it though. FM

Thanks a lot Monica. I was hoping for a recipe and I got a WHOLE book. What more could I ask for. I PM my address, please let me know if you did not get it. FM

Personally I do not think Hummus with out Tahini is the "real" hummus even though the word itself (hummus) means Chickpeas. There needs to be some Tahini to get the right taste. I use about 3 tbsp per can of chickpeas, 2 garlic cloves, juice of two or three lemons, salt, cumin and about 2tbsp water or even more to get the consistency just right (like smooth guacamole) and plunk it all in the food processor, but if I add too much lemon juice because the lemons are not too tart I sometimes skip the water all together. drizzle with EVOO and enjoy. On the other hand I HATE this hummus you find at some middle eastern restaurants where all you taste IS the Tahini. They are a disgrace to this wonderful dip. FM

I've been cooking on electric stoves for years Suvir (since all apartements in Houston seem to only have electric installed). So I am a Pro at them . However, I much rather using the gas stoves and I made sure we have a gas stove when we move to our new home early next year. On another note Dana mentioned that her jars sealed almost as soon as she took them out of the water (Congrats on a successful canning session). Mine though did not seal (the lid not popping in and out) until they were fully cooled. I wonder what I am doing different. Dana, did u use a canning pot and racks? I just used a deep roaster on two burners. FM

Thanks for the explanation about chutneys, they are more than just vinegary dips after all. I did enjoy cooking and taking pics of the chutney. So no problem at all in doing that. I do love to share my foods with everyone on the board. I guess you did notice I decided to buy some whole chillies after I read your earlier answer about them. They do give a great smoky flavor to the finished product and they do look darned good whole. We are going to another christmas party next Saturday at a friend's house, so he will be the first to recieve a jar of my chutney which I'm sure he will enjoy. FM

As I mentioned before, I've never had tomato chutney before. The chutneys that I had were mainly a dipping sauce of some kind or a condiment and both were usually made with fruit and vinegar (apple, plum, cilantro, apricot or mango chutneys). However this one is more like an Indian "marinara" that can be used as a dipping sauce, condiment OR as a cooking sauce (sort of like a curry) and would taste fantastic any way . It also is not as acidic as the rest of the chutneys that I've had and until today I was under the impression that anything called a chutney has to be fruity and tangy. So here is my question, what is a chutney? what does the word mean? does it simply mean a sauce? I'm really curious to learn. FM

The chutney was done this afternoon. Sorry about the delay in postong but we had a christma s party to go to and my wife was pushing me out the door as soon as I finished canning. The chutney is indeed amazing!! It has a very complex and firey taste. The recipe yeilded 12 half pint jars plus some leftovers. Since we had to go I did not get a chance to taste except a couple of spoonfulls of this delicious sauce. The tomatoes were not as flavorful as I had hoped for so I followed The "chutney Queen's" suggestion and used a full 12oz can of tomato paste instead of six. Here are the pictures, The starting line-up The tomato puree Frying the spices The tomatoes are in The fully cooked chutney Pantry treasures Thanks for a fantastic new recipe Suvir, I will be doing this often. FM

I did stop by the Indian grocery store and bought all the spices that I did not already have, then stopped by K-mart and bought some Mason jars. However I did not get a chance to go to the market to buy the tomatoes since it was out of the way and I had to pick up my wife so I will probably make it tomorrow and post as soon as I do. I do have one question though, Are the whole dried chillies necessary? Can I use crushed dried red chillies instead? I forgot to buy whole ones and I do have a jar of crushed chillies. FM

Exactly what I was trying to say very delicately in the Kulfi post. Thanks for saying it here. My grandma calls that easy Kulfi, the Tuti Phuti Buri Mem di Kulfi (the fractured/broken old white womans Kulfi), for it is made by her when she is too tired and is willing to compromise on the taste. It does a certain job, but that is never replacing the taste and richness and magic of Kulfi made from scratch. Suvir do you have a good Kulfi recipe? the real deal. Or is it in another thread or in your book? If so then I'll have to wait till it's out. One more question though: Do u need an ice cream maker to make the real Kulfi? FM

ok it's pretty much 5PM and I'm heading out from work. I will stop by the local Indian grocery store and buy the spices for the Chutney. Hopefully I'll get a chance to make it this weekend. I'll report once I do. FM

I would imagine you should keep the butter seperate from the rest of your sauce until ready to serve. Juyst heat up in the microwave (the sauce without the butter) then whisk in the butter and serve. FM

She is an amazing woman and I do get stuff from her about 3 or 4 times a year whenever someone is coming to the states. However something cam to mind while thinking about your comment about how strong the flavor of the samen you tried was. Could it have been sheep's or goat's milk maybe that was used to make it instead of cow's?I know both are used but I have never tried them. Only fresh cow's milk is used in my grandma's kitchen. FM