FoodMan

Don't know what that bitter taste could be, mine has none. It is more like sweet and spicy. I would guess whatever you bought might have been stores improperly or who knows what the raw ingredients were like. maybe they are lazy and ground up the seeds? Sweet peppers, hot chiles and garlic will not make for a bitter paste. Try it and see. Elie

Roasted halibut with sauteed zucchini and roasted garlic potato wedges. OVerall it was pretty good, except for a few bites of the zucchini that turned out bitter! One of the most annoying things.

I love that crosshatch design in the crust--did you cut partially through the raw dough to make it? Were there any holes to release steam? I don't see any. Perhaps this acted to hold in some liquid which might have evaporated. ← Sorry, I muct've somehow missed this yesterday. Yes, you kind of partially cut before it is baked. Actually there were four small vents if I am not mistaken. So, you have a very good point, maybe they were too "small". They might've closed during baking and caused much more steam to be locked in. In any case the tart especially the crust was a huge success withg everyone and I would love to try it with ramps if I can get ahold of some.

I also find the Proscuitto we get here and especially the Canadian Pancetta much saltier than the European stuff. Same goes for other things like Serrano.

Please say it isn't so!!!!!!!! Here is my take on what you can bring in the country, it all depends on the customs agent. Coming back from Spain this summer I had among other things, sausages, cheese and anchovies. The agent asked me what I am bringing in, I said "sausages, cheese and anchovies" , he says "Welcome back home" . I'm guessing if he was to go by the book he could've taken all of them and I would've been one sad tourist.

Did you try the "Ruggles Bakery" (u probably have) in the village? Pretty good dessert selection and a not too bad setting.

Onions? I typically do not add that. Are they cooked then added or simply pureed with the base?

I bought both steaks from Fairway Market (not to be confused with the ones in NYC) in Fort Lee, NJ -- two NYC Prime Strips. I then salted and peppered the meat on all sides, and let the spices penetrate for about half an hour. Right before cooking I lubed them up with a small amount of corn oil. I then pulled out the big cast iron pan and heated it for about 5 minutes at full blast until it got really freakin hot. I then put the steaks on, first on the side where the fatty layer is, to render the fat out and to sear that side good. Then, with a good amount of grease in the pan, I cooked each for about 3 minutes per side. I then removed them from the pan and kept them warm in the toaster oven at 150 for about 10 minutes until ready to serve and so they could rest. ← Very nice! Haven't had a good steak in a while and this really makes me want one. Were these potatoes roasted in duck fat by any chance?...of course, I almost forgot, you don't like duck fat . They look pretty tasty as well though.

I am always very happy when someone finds a great use for leftovers! Good for you. I did a nice selection of leftovers yesterday. Tossed some white rice with juices/sauce from the Monday Braciole. Heated the Braciole along with the remaining squash wedges and sliced the meat thin. Arranged the meat and squash nicely on top of the rice and served. Looked like a brand new dish. I also made a salad with some hot house tomatoes (not too bad), thinly sliced onion, capers, mint leaves and large chunks of toasted homemade Italian bread all tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar....a Panzanella of sorts. Dessert was more of the toasted bread with a thick smear of homemade Pear-Chocolate spread.

LOL, thanks for the chuckle Nancy . So basically you added a 1/4 Cup vinegar instead of a 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon. Maybe you could make some more soup sans vinegar and just add it to the previous one, thereby adjusting the flavor.

My most recent product try out was for their CM Organics Frosted Flakes. Very good, extra crunchy and I even think a little sweeter with a more deep flavor than Kellog's Frosted Flakes. My wife however loves her Kellog's and is not willing to make a complete switch

Congrats! I guess you have to wait to have them printed before starting construction? the actual approval is not enough? Sorry, I am very ignorant in these matters.

Richard- Can we non-DFW folks get a little background? The name sounds familiar but I am drawing a blank.

I could be wrong, and I will verify once I get back home, but I think Wolfert has a recipe for that in her awsome "Cooking of The Eastern Mediterranean". A lovely variation, although this is more of a spread/dip rather than a condiment, is "Muhammara". Basically it also has ground up walnuts, some parsley and is flavored with pomegranate molasses. The reciep above can certainly be used a base for it. Elie

Randy- If a month delay in opening is your only problem, you are lucky. Seriously, we rarely hear a restaurant opening "on time". In Steven Shaw's book he provides a short profile of Cafe Gray (I think it is Cafe Gray) in the Time Warner building, talk about delays. We are talking months and months of delays. Best of luck to you and we will be looking forward to the end result.

Sunday- -Panelle, fried herb-chickpea fritters, (recipe from J. Oliver's latest book "Jamie's Italy") with herb oil. The dough was pretty dense and heavy, but once fried...I can only compare them to savory herb-chickpea churros -Marinated and broiled chicken breasts with buttery rice -Dessert was apple, pear and raisin tarts with vanilla ice cream. These were put together last minute but came out wonderful. Monday- This might seem a lot of work for a Monday night dinner. However, the braciole was prepped and seared on Sunday night. It was finished cooking tonight while the squash roasted. A very lovely fall meal indeed. - Farsumauro, a Sicilian braciole (recipe from M. Hazan) braised in white wine. IT was wonderful, tender and loaded with flavor. - I've said it before and here it goes again. Squashes are my all time favorite vegetables during fall/winter. I love them! I roasted wedges of an acorn simply rubbed with rosemary a touch of cinnamon, salt, pepper and olive oil. The seeds turn nice a toasty too. Don't even let me get started about the crispy chewy skin bits...

It’s the end of summer! Actually we are in the Fall already, but I’ve been meaning to start this thread for a while. The wonderful bounty of summer vegetables have reached it’s end and winter is looming by. Case in point are those large red sweet peppers. In Lebanon, red bell peppers are made into a hot pepper paste. I believe this is of Armenian origin. I have nothing to support this assertion (yes I do know that Turkish cuisine has a myriad of chili pastes) other than observation. During the late summer/ early fall months you could see large trays of the fire-y chili paste drying on the roof tops, the roof tops of mostly Armenian residents. In Armenian sandwich shops it is a staple. It is no surprise then that many non-Armenian Lebanese adopted the practice of making this including my grandmother who lives in a town in Northern Lebanon and only visits Beirut if she HAS to. The process is fairly simple, puree the bell peppers with a good number of spicy peppers. You can make it as hot or as mild as you like. Finely mince garlic and add it to the puree. Cook the puree with olive oil until the oil floats freely on top and the mixture is a little dry. Spread the cooled pate in a large tray and let it dry in the sun. I do realize this last bit might not be as feasible in the US, so I simply cook the paste a little longer and store it in jars. What do you use it for? Well, absolutely anything. The paste is a little sweet, hot, and has the unmistakable bell pepper taste. I love it spread on some pita by itself! I also use it to mix with all kinds of Mediterranean dips especially stuff with eggplant in it. I add a dollop on top of my lamb or chickpea stews. Spread it on pita and wrap around grilled lamb chunks or Kofta. Dip fried kibbe in a yogurt sauce mixed in with the paste. Well, you get my drift…. Click here for my recipe. Here is the puree in start of cooking: And here it is at the end. Notice it is reduced by more than half: If you do give it a try you will not regret it and please do not foget to post any comments, suggestions or problems on this thread.

I made the mushroom leek torte too! So let's compare notes. I mainly did it because I had all the ingredients and it sounded like great dish. Like you Lucy, I used regular leeks but added a chpped clove of garlic to get it closer to ramps. The crust for the tart is perfect, easy to work with and bakes to a lovely shade. I will be using it for any other savory tart. Here is the tart getting filled with leeks, mushroom and homemade creme fraiche Before going in the oven and fully baked Unfortunatly I almost forgot to take a picture of the sliced pie. The one picture I did take came out blurry and is not worth posting. The dish is excellent and has a wonderful flavor. The tangy creme fracihe is definitly what makes it very special. I agree with Lucy, the tart stores very well and leftovers are excellent. One minor issue that I had is the fact that the mushrooms are not sauteed but placed in raw. They release a lot of moisture and make the filling pretty runny. Did you have a similar issue? You might not, if you used wild mushrooms. I used the small white ones that the recipe asks for. The next time around I would rather saute the mushrooms before adding them in. Once cool though the filling sets out a little better. So an option could be letting it cool all the way to room temp. Then slicing into it?

Armenian-Lebanese Chili Paste Serves 15 as Hors d'oeuvre. During the late summer/ early fall months in Beirut, you could see large trays of the fire-y chili paste drying on the roof tops, the roof tops of mostly Armenian residents. The paste is a little sweet, hot, and has the unmistakable bell pepper taste. I love it spread on some pita by itself! I also use it to mix with all kinds of Mediterranean dips especially stuff with eggplant in it. I add a dollop on top of my lamb or chickpea stews. Spread it on pita and wrap around grilled lamb chunks or Kofta. Dip fried kibbe in a yogurt sauce mixed in with the paste. Well, you get my drift... 8 fresh red bell peppers 4 Scotch bonnet (or to taste) or other hot peppers 4 garlic cloves, minced or mashed 1/2 c olive oil Salt - Half the peppers, remove the seeds and cut them up into big chunks. - Puree the peppers in a food processor until fine. Mix in the garlic. - In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat, dump in the puree (careful! It will splatter) and cook, stirring frequently until the water evaporates and the mixture is the consistency of a soft tomato paste. When this happens a film of oil will rise to the surface. - Season with salt to taste and store in clean jars. Top with a little olive oil and keep in the fridge. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Hot and Spicy, Vegetarian, Dip, Vegan, Condiment, Easy, Sauce ( RG1440 )

The sausages sound like the Lebanese Sujuk. Typically I would say they are street food/pita bread filler. In Beirut, you can get them at any sandwich shop that sells Shawarma and Falafel. Grill the sausages, and put in pita bread, top it with tomatoes, pickles, maybe a little lettuce and hey if you still have some of that parsley . Wrap and enjoy. I've never heard of Oregano water!

We usually do this recipe. With a scoop of vanilla Ice cream, it's heavenly. I recommend peeling the apples though.

Houston Press' Dining Section Spy Vs. Spy Robb Walsh reviews “Gravitas”, gets "busted" and conducts a little experiment about the value of anonymity. Discuss the article and the subject in this thread Houston Chronicle's Dining Guide A romance rekindled By Alison Cook. The Chronicle's critic regains her head-over-heels love for Houston's Brennan's This thread is for food media DIGEST entries. If you want to discuss one of these news items, please start a separate discussion thread.

I think it does. I might pick some up and give them a try in the name of experimentation--tasty experimentation .

I guess this question is mainly for Lucy, about the kidneys. Remember my complain about not being able to find them here. Well, when I bought the rabbit for the compote last week at a local foodie-gourmet-superstore (Central Market), I actually saw that they had veal kidneys, tongue and sweatbreads. However, these are not always available and they were frozen. Should I even try the kidneys or like you said, it HAS to be fresh? Elie

It's getting nice and cool outside, or in my case in Houston, it's getting less humid. The perfect time of year to resurrect this thread, time for kitchen projects, like French terrines. Even though it is not labeled as such, the Rabbit Compote with Prunes, from Paula Wolfert's new edition of her "Cooking of Southwest France", will make for an awsome terrine if made in one. I was thinking I can even layer the prunes halfway through and end up with a nice looking cross section the next time around.