FoodMan

broiled sirloin steak to medium rare. Served it with pan fried plantains, and sauteed esparagus. I made a mock-hollandaise from Alton Brown's book (he calls it "Hollandaise takes a holiday"). It was simple to make and tasted great and looked great. Drizzled the sauce mainly over the esparagus. I will post the picture later. FM

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. I did not know the brand name.. Sorry! Just the other day... a friends niece, a freshman at NYU prepared brownies from a mix such as what you have named for me here.... They were good.. great texture.... nice and gooey... but like you.. I would have loved them when they were first packaged... and when I was a freshman myself.... Now my taste buds have been corrupted, my innocence lost and I have few simple things that make me smile... But for several moments.. as I chowed down those Brownies she made... I was in heaven... and then I was craving Valrhona and that other stuff.. and smells and tastes these brownies did not have.... I could not agree more. I used to use mixes for everything. Now the idea of using some kind of mix to make brownies (or any form of cake) is not an option. With just a few more minutes worth of work I can get taste and texture that no mix can match and I can custiomize it based on my own whims and taste. FM "mixes shmixes"

I love brownies plain with no additions at all (except maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream once in awhile. The best brownies I've had and I bake them all the time is Alton Brown's from Good Eats recipe. I do not have it with me (at work) but I think you can find it at FoodTV.com. It's a true chocolate lover's brownie, very rich and tastes heavenly. FM

Anything very spicy or very condimented (including curries, spicy gumbos and jambalaya's). Also anything that's very "Lebanese" is how she puts it. This means stuff with lots of "pomgranate molasses", cinnamon, rose water... She really is not very picky though because she will eat pretty much all of the above as long as it is not too intensly flavored.. if that makes sense. So when she's out I normally would cook the spicy stuff especially the curries. Actually that was Friday night's dinner (while she was out with some friends), ground lamb curry cooked in yogurt with lots of fresh chiles, and for dessert it was "mistek" and rosewater icecream with pistashios. FM

I use plastic for all raw meats and wood for everything else. To clean I just scrub with warm soapy water. I have a question of my own: What is mineral oil? Is it only used to keep the wood from drying or is there another reason for it? FM

I found the recipe in gourmet last year. It's delicious, I make it all the time to have with tea. I also like to make a glaze flavored with orange juice and zest to spread over it. I'm sure you could whip up a nice rose water glaze. 3/4 cup shelled natural pistachios (4 oz) 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup whole milk (2% works well too) 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 cup sugar 3 large eggs Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 by 6 pan, then line bottom with wax paper. Butter/flour routine. Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until finely ground, I've also bought ground pistachios and it's worked well too. Add the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt and pulse once or twice to mix. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time (beating after each addition). Then add the milk and vanilla, mix well, then add the flour and beat till combined. Spread the atter evenly in cake pan and bake in middle of oven til the tester comes out clean, should take about 20 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for roughly 10 minutes and flip it out onto a platter. Glaze it if you wish. It doesn't need much, just enough for a beautiful sheen. It's excellent warm (if you can't wait) but it's delicious at room temperature. Enjoy. mhadam- Do you remember if "Gourmet" mentioned what country the recipe from? I am originally from Lebanon and I've never seen it. Just curious. I can tell you one thing though, it sounds delicious. I already printed a copy and will make it soon, hopefully over the weekend. I love the taste of Pistashios and Rose water (many Lebanese desserts including Pistashio ice cream combine these two). Thanks FM

Thanks for the recipe. You are a very kind person to have made this effort. Will certainly keep you posted. PS: I have pasted the recipe onto word and will now print it. Where does one get that Orangle Blosson Jam? Or does the recipe have it? Will check it in more detail once it is printed. You are welcome. The orange blossom jam is not part of the recipe and is optional (I think it adds a certain exotic flavor as a garnish). You can find it at any middle eatsern or Lebanese store. The brand that I have is called "Al Rabih". FM

Sorry it took more than 3 hrs but my wife was asking for polenta shortbread cookies and I had to oblige... well actually I was craving them and made me a batch but my wife does love them. So here goes the Ataiif recipe courtesy of Claudia Roden (with some editting on my part) with two options for a stuffing: For the Batter: -1.5 tsp. active dry yeast -1tsp. sugar -1.5 cups likewarm water -1.3 cups all-purpose flour For the Syrup: -2.5 cups sugar -1.25 cups water -1tbs. lemon juice -1 to 2 tbs. rose water or orange blossom water -Vegetable oil Dissolve the yeast with the sugar in half cup of the water. Let it stand in a warm place for 10 minutes until it frothes. Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and the remaining water gradually beating vigorously to make a creamy lump free batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave for an hour in a warm place. i will rise and become bubbly and a little elastic. To make the Ataiif. Rub a non stick skillet with oil and heat until very hot. Ladel the batter into the skillet making a small round (about 4 inches in diameter)when the bubbles on top start popping and the pancakes come away easily from the pan and the bottoms are golden brown they are done. DO NOT cook the other side as it needs to be a little sticky so that it can seal on the stuffing. Pile the semi-cooked Ataiif on a platter and stuff them one by one. To stuff them, put a heaping spoon of stuffing in the center of the pancakes on the uncooked side. Fold the pancakes over in a half moon shape (or Empanada shape :)) Seal the edges by pinching them firmly together. To make the syrup, bring the water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Then stir in the rose water and simmer for few seconds more. Roden gives two options for stuffing : 1) Mix 2 cups chopped walnuts, 3 to 4 tbs. sugar, and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. OR 2) Use a mixture of half and half mozzarella and ricotta (total about 3/4 of a pound), blended to a paste in the food processor. Tha atiif can be either eaten cold or pan fried in some butter (your choice, I prefer cold) . Either way drizzle with the syrup and top with a little orange blossom jam. Divine. P:S You can make the Ataiif, stuff them, and make the sugar syrup a day in advance and refrigerate. Let us know how the evening goes. FM

I have had Kataifi with coconut... I would love t he recipe. Thanks! I will try to get you the recipe as soon as I get home. Still stuck at work for another three hours probably. FM

I would make "kataiif", a Lebanese dessert . My mom used to make those all the time and they are pretty simple. They are small pancakes stuffed with sweet cream. they look like empanadas and are served with orange blossom jam and rose petal flavored syrup. Let me know if you need the recipe and I will dig it up when I get home. I'm pretty sure Claudia Roden has it in her "Middle Eastern Cooking" book. FM

I love my Babbo cookbook, it's a thing of beauty. We're having friends over for dinner on Saturday and I'm probably going to do the whole menu from it. I only recently bought it, do you have any favourite recipes you could recommend? I love the babbo cookbook also and would recommend: papardelle with bolognese sauce-- the best I've had (he uses tomato paste in this one, also good in lasagna) black pepper taglaitelle with parsnips and pancetta gnochi with oxtail ragu Big Eye tuna monkfish piccatta polenta shortbread cookies walnut shrotbread cookies In addition to great recipes this book is just damn great looking with awsome mouth watering pics and interesting commentaries. FM

I've eaten at three of Emeril's restaurants and I have to say that the food and the service were exceptional. It is true though that the TV show is mainly a "show" aimed for entertainment as well as encouraging people to cook at home. Food at the restaurants was more sophisticated, well presented and tasted great. As for the recipes from his books they are usually pretty successful and I have tried quiet a few. I also tried Mario's recipes both from his books and from the show with no disappointement (just be carefull with how much acid he adds i:e vinegar or lemon juice. IMHO he does add a little too much and I usually reduce it). Whenever I do visit NY, eating at Babbo will be a priority. FM

These are some mouth watering pics. I do my butt... uhm I mean my pork butt in the slow cooker as well (so it is not technically barbequed). Last time I did that was a couple weeks ago. First I dry rub the pork with a mixture of brown sugar, kosher salt, thyme, onion powder, chilli powder and cayene. Then wrap it tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight. next morning befor going to work pour half a bottle of your favorite beer (shiner bock for this one) in the slow cooker and put in the butt. Cook on low for 8 hrs or until you come back from work. pull the pork (I always love when the bone just falls out) put it back in the sauce and let it cook for another hour. Serve on your choice of bread (Keiser rolls hold up great) with cole slaw. FM

Last night it was homemade stuffed fried "Kibbe" (lebanese bulgur and ground meat "pastry" stuffed with ground meat, pine nuts, onions, and spices). I served it with a yogurt/cucumber/mint sauce and a nice salad. It has been so long since I had this dish homemade mainly because of the skill involved in forming the "kibbe". Mine came out delicious yet a little thicker than I would like them and the first few looked kind of funny (they are supposed to look sort of like torpedoes not misshapen thumbs). Once I got the hang of it it was a lot easier and the last ten or so came out looking perfect although still thicker than they should be. Hopefully next time I will get them as thin as I would like. All in all a very satisfying and tasty meal with leftovers for tonight. FM

I am assuming it refers to what cut of the critter the bacon is made of. Collar Bacon from the collar, Shoulder from the shoulder.... he difference would probably be in the fat content and connective tissue between the different cuts. FM

This is what I do with drumsticks and thighs. Season and sear on all sides in some olive oil then take out of the pan and put in as much peeld garlic whole cloves as you like (I like a WHOLE LOT of them), saute for a few seconds then deglaze the pan with some white wine or even some water add the chicken back in there with lemon juice to taste and the juiced lemon halves, cover and in the oven for about 30 minutes. This is a variation on my moms lebanese lemon chicken. It tastes divine especially the garlic cloves which are so sweet and savory after being cooked in the oven just mash one clove with your fork and smear on a piece of chicken right before you pop it in your mouth. FM

Ok I have not read ALL of the posts on this thread so I apologize if the following has already been mentioned. I think the main difference between duck and chicken is the amount of processing and the quantity of birds processed. There is probably 100 chickens (since Americans eat much more chicken than duck) processed for every one duck which makes the probability of conatmination much higher. Processing chicken also usually involves cutting the bird into pieces (breast, thighs,...), deboning, skinning.... while a duck in 90% of the cases is sold whole with skin and bone which means that there is much less possibility of the contaminants reaching the flesh. In either case I always wash the bird before cooking (duck or chicken). I always cook the chicken well done and the duck medium. One more thing. It IS acrime to buy a $17.99/lb or more fresh tuna and cook it beyond medium rare which is absolutely delicious. If you like the tuna well done buy canned it tastes pretty much the same. This is not a fad and it will not die out, the japanese have been eating sashimi for ages. If one does not like it he/she should not order it. My 2 cents, FM

When making mayo just add a tbsp of chile jelly (hot pepper jelly-- I used jalapenos and a little mint to make mine ) to the egg and blend (I use a blender to make my mayo) before you add the oil. Then proceed as normal.... result: a spicy/tangy/sweet mayo that goes great with garlic roast beef sandwiches (IMHO) Does this help? FM

My wife does not cook much but she has a couple of very good recipes. Yesterday it was her garlic stuffed roast. basically a round roast stuffed with as many garlic cloves as you can get in there (or like-- and I like lots of it) then slow roasted until medium with some onions and carrots. For a side dish I prepared a potato gratin from Mastering the Art of French cooking. It was layered potato slices with tomatoes, onions, and anshovy/garlic/herb/EVOO paste, then the whole thing is sprinkled with Parmesan and baked. Very Yummy. For dessert I made a classic "Tiramisu" from the latest issue of "Food & Wine". It was rich, creamy and sublime I will definitley make it again. Tonight--- What else Garlic roast beef sandwiches with homemade chilli jelly mayonaise (sounds weird/tastes great). FM

I am also late into this discussion but here is what I do (based on a advice from Alton Brown). Normally I season (cure) my cast iron pan only once a year. To season it, just heat it in the oven until very warm but not blazing hot, put i a little crisco (app. 2tsp.) and rub it all over the pan with a paper towel (inside and outside). Now put the pan back in the oven UPSIDE DOWN so that the grease won't pool in the center and botch the cure. after about an hour turn the oven off and let it cool. Wipe and store, now it's seasoned. To clean it after cooking I never use water or soap. If there was some grease left from the cooking I just put a tbsp worth of kosher salt and rub it with a paper towel. Sometimes I do this twice to get rid of all the little particles. If there was no grease left in the pan I use a little crisco. Now you have a clean pan . I've been doing this for a while now and it works perfectly. FM

Thsi thread is getting me in the mood for some great Pizza. I make Homemade Pizza at least twice a month. I make everything from the sauce to the dough and I use a Pizza stone that came with a handy peeler. The sauce I use is cooked basic tomato sauce (I'm thinking about trying the raw one now). As for the dough it's more or less the same recipe I use to make basic bread dough (I use the stone to bake my breads also). However after seeing Alton's 24 hour dough I will definitly try the slow rise method. As for the rolling pin versus hand tossing, well I started by using the pin but now I use my hands. It does not come out as even as with the pin but it has two big advantages: 1- It is much crispier and tastier 2- It is more fun Someone asked how to clean the stone so as to reduce the amount of smoke when you heat it (from previous bakes probably where cheese or sauce got stuck on it)? I just use a plastic scraper to scrape all the stuck bits and pieces after the stone cools. FM

Well I just placed my order with Amazon for Julia's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking-- Volume one". I got a pretty good deal on it $28 for brand new hardcover copy with free delivery. Not bad. However I was wondering, Why does it say "Volume one" in the description of the book but it is nowhere in the title and I cannot find "Volume Two" anywhere (Book stores or Amazon)?? Are they combined in this 40th Anniversary edition that I ordered?? Is the second volume out of print maybe?? FM

I paid a visit to my local book store and compared "The Complete Technique" by Pepin and "Mastering the art of French Cooking" by Julia et al (I looked for "The Way to Cook" but couldn't find it). As soon as I started looking into both of them I realized my mistake. It was like comparing apples to oranges. The Pepin book was exactly what its title says ---a complete book about his technique using the recipes as examples. As for the Julia book it was more about the cuisine with more recipes, how to use them, what to do if they fail,.... So for what I'm looking for currently I will probably go with Julia (online it is $28 instead of $40 from the store). I am not dissing Monsiour(sp?) Pepin, its just that right now I do not care to make ornamental carrots, or fold napkins. I will go through the Julia book first and work on the Pepin technique later. Thanks for all your help. FM

Jin I was waiting for your response and i knew it was going to be Pro-Jacque (The big Jacque fan that you are ) . I am checking the "Complete Technique" out on Amazon and it looks very interesting and informative. Do you own it?? what about recipes?? I am sure it will have more than enough of those. right? FM

Cathy I consider myself a good cook, not in the professional sense but a goog home cook. I can do pretty much anything in the kitchen (or at least I would try). My experiences include baking breads, Pizza, homemade pastas, Middle eastern food in general (Lebanese). I love making pastries especially soufles(sp??) tarts, custards/flans and all kinds of cookies/biscotties. I cook at least 4-5 times a week and I love trying new stuff. That should sum up my "cuisine" So i guess what I'm looking for is a French cookbook that is both challenging and very educational in terms of ingredients, technique, regions as well as tasty recipes. The lates addition to my cookbooks was Mario Batali's "The Babbo Cookbook" and I simply love it with all these "not too common" ingredients. I cannot wait to try the "beef cheek ravioli". So from what I got from you guys and gals I should probably get Julia or Jaque (I saw Jaque's "celebrates" and "The Complete Technique" but I guess " "Le Mehtod" and "Le Technique" are indeed out of print). Thanks for all your input FM