Shel_B

I've never made a casserole and now it seems that they may be a good choice for a number of reasons. I'd like to get some ideas for vegetable or veg and meat dishes. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I don't care for Starbucks coffee, and imagine the blonde roast would be most insipid. We have so many great coffee places in the San Francisco Bay Area, with so many wonderful and interesting options, Starbucks is a last choice.

I am making my sweetie a Moro orange panna cotta served in a heart shaped ramekin, and we will have a bottle of her favorite champagne.

Didn't know there was a cookbook. Was it mentioned in the documentary? I dozed off for a bit. What's the name of the book? Thanks!

It looks like this is the new place. The original joint is nothing like what is seen in the NYT pic.

Last night, quite by accident, I came across This movie - I Like Killing Flies on Netflix. I highly recommend it. It's a documentary about a real hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon in NYC and the quirky owner.

I've recently been bringing food to a few events. One is an annual "soup party" where the host specifically requests home made items and wheren the attendees often extend themselves to make something different. However, most other events the atendees want simple, basic fare that they are familiar with. I learned that the hard way. I made smoked salmon deviled eggs - pretty simple but a little different. My GF, whose family the eggs were for, strongly suggested I stick with the simple, traditional mayo-relish-paprika eggs. I knew that everyone would like the salmon eggs. Just a few were eaten, even though some of the guests were "foodies." Afterwards, my GF's daughter told me that next time I should make the plain deviled eggs. My GF usually makes them and they are devoured in a flash. At the next even I was to bring a potato dish. I thought of tartiflette, some interesting versions of scalloped or gratineed potatoes, but settled on the Morman dish, funeral, or Christmas, potatoes. I used cheap ingredients (Safeway frozen hash browns, Campbells Cream-of-Something soup, generic corn flakes for the topping, cheap, bland, shredded cheese). The dish was a BIG hit, and was finished in minutes, even before all the other dishes were served. Lesson learned: when it comes to potlucks, simple, lowest-common denominator food seems to work best. My GF has been making potluck dishes for years - decades! and always brings a toned-down or blander version of a dish she'd make at home. For some reason, that's what works.

I have heard that male and female eggplants taste different and have different chracteristics which migh be considered for different cooking methods. Is this correct? What are the different characteristcs? Yesterday a friend showed me a very simple method of preparing eggplant and it's perfect for some of our uses. The eggplant is sliced fairly thin lengthwise, cheese and thin-sliced tomato is put on it, sprinkled with herbs, and then baked. We can use this on sandwiches. Is there any type of eggplant that may be better for this technique? Thanks!

Hmmm ... interesting idea. Chervil is not an herb that comes to mind very often.

I was thinking of adding the herb during cooking, so whatever I use would not be raw.

We like this recipe from Molly Wisenberg quite a bit. I use a mild curry, and less of it, in defference to Toots' preference. I also prefer a nice, home made chicken stock, not too rich.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I forgot to mention the stock. I've always used a good, home made chicken stock in this soup, and then finished with the apple juice to adjust flavor and texture. I tried to do the ingredient list from memory ....

Next weekend is our annual soup party, a pot luck for some Sierra Club members at which a number of soups are brought to share. This is a time to bring perfected recipes, and something that's not been brought before. This year I've decided to make a curried butternut-apple soup. Because of the varied tastes of the guests, the curry will be mild. Other ingredients will be butternut squash, sweet apples, leeks and onions, S&P, and some fresh apple juice (used for additional flavor and to adjust thickness). I'd like to add an herb or two, but I'm not always very good at previewing flavors in my mind. I was thinking of adding sage, and rosemary has come up as a nice possibility as well. I've got plenty of rosemary. So, what do you think of these choices, and what about some other possibilities? Thanks!

Has anyone tried Trader Joe's Bacon Ends? Comments? I usually make bacon in the oven, but over the next couple of weeks that won't be possible, and I'd like to try using the microwave. Any tips for making these bacon ends in that way?

I didn't do this, but an old roommate of mine did: he was cooking bacon in a fry pan and used a plastic fork to stir and move the bacon around in the hot grease ....

Excellent idea. Why didn't I think of that. Lots of old t-shirts here. Thanks!

Some time ago, Judy Rodgers of San Francisco's Zuni Cafe, mentioned that she uses clean, white, cloth napkins for straining stock. The idea made sense to me, and I now use old, white hadkerchiefs and lint-free napkins and towels for straining and filtering. I also use fragrance free, organic dtergent when doing the laundry, and I feel comfortable with this setup. No more cheese cloth and wasting money buying what is arguably a second rate product. Some people are concerned about chemicals, etc., in t the towels. How pure is cheese cloth?

Thanks for the pointer. I will definitely stop by. Their web site has piqued my interest. I'm familiar with Brown Sugar. I'm not a big fried chicken and waffle fan, whether served together or separately. Brown Sugar's are good, though.

So where is this place? Name and address, please. I'm always on the lookout for decent pastrami and corned beef.

I've seen the instruction for various kinds of oil, although not mustard oil. I see it frequently for olive oil.

Recently I've been thinking about that instruction which appears in numerous recipes. It seems like a counter-productive idea as, once oil starts to smoke, it starts breaking down, yes? Is there any benefit to heating cooking oil to the smoke point?

Toots has been making this dish for decades. The original recipe came from a hospital lunch program back in Michigan in the 1950s, and she modified it substantially. The nice thing about it is that it's very adaptable, and it keeps and travels well. She's been using it for pot lucks for years ... this is my variation on it. Vera’s Spinach-Cheese Frittata 2 1-lb pkgs frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, water pressed out, leaves separated frozen corn to taste (10 – 12oz +/-) or, preferably, TJ's canned corn, drained (not creamed corn) 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (or similar) 4 eggs, beaten 2 heaping TBS wheat or white flour 8 - 12 oz shredded pkg cheese, or grate some yourself (Gruyere, Emmentaler, Pepper Jack) 1 or 2 4-oz cans diced green peppers (TJ’s has good ones) 1 tsp minced or pressed garlic a little fresh ground nutmeg S&P to taste (usually I use no salt and add about ½ - 1 tsp fresh ground black or white pepper Put separated and well drained spinach in a very large bowl. Dump soup into another large bowl. Grind in pepper, add nutmeg, and mix. Add canned corn (Do not use creamed or cream-style corn) or frozen corn, green chile peppers, and sprinkle flour over all. Add eggs, garlic, and shredded cheese, and mix together very well. Add mixture to spinach and mix well. Lightly butter/oil 8x8 baking dish and add the mixture Bake @ 350-deg for about 40 minutes. During the last few minutes add buttered bread crumbs as optional topping, and bake or broil until toasted. With this dish, you really must check the time as it can vary a bit depending on the exact amount of ingredients used, moisture content, size and depth of baking dish, your preference for firmness and dryness, etc. Try adding sliced mushrooms instead of corn or with corn. TJ’s has condensed Portobello mushroom soup. Make white sauce and add ‘shrooms or corn or? Add bacon or ham pieces?

People have different palates and preferences. While a cook may prepare a dish the way he or she feels it's best presented, the person eating it may prefer more or less of a particular flavor. Should a restaurant, or a cook, be so presumptuous to decide for the diner what's most suitable, or should the diner have the option to fine tune the seasoning to his or her preference?

I like my chicken salad with tarragon ... About 2 cups shredded chicken, a couple of spring onions or scallions, a small stalk of celery, diced, a bit of flat leaf parsley, about 2 tbs celery leaves, a tbs or so of chopped, fresh tarragon, some good EVOO and lemon juice, some white wine vinegar, and a bit of not too intense Dijon mustard, plus S&P, makes a nice starting point for a chicken salad. My preference is breast meat, but Toots likes dark meat, so we use both. As you can see, no mayo.