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I have to preface this by saying that the Goûter panettone is SPECTACULAR! It’s like eating a cloud. Even with the abundant chocolate inclusions in the three chocolates version, it’s still so light and airy. I’m also a huge fan of chocolate and orange so the citrus note is just divine. I rate it a whole constellation of stars. Maybe even a galaxy! Thank you all again for the helpful advice for my friends gathering. I decided to go with the minimalist approach of unadorned slices. I brought my good bread knife and a skillet but I found it challenging to cut this lovely cloud into even slices and couldn’t imagine toasting them on my friend’s stove, that I haven’t used before. When I presented my platter of somewhat uneven slices, my friends, who are unaccustomed to dining on clouds, deemed them to be too big, too much! O ye of little faith! Everything I cut was devoured and more was cut to take home. This morning, I decided to try the pan toasting method. I unboxed the leftovers and admired it: I made coffee, cut a slice, softened some butter and heated a pan but couldn’t do it and enjoyed that slice as is. I suspect I’ll eventually try to crisp up a cloud but not quite yet! My friends were all interested to hear how I’d heard about Goûter. One is from northern Ontario and 2 others have family in the Toronto area so I did my best to drum up business!

Very helpful, thank you! I’ve never had a panettone made with chocolate and wondered if it had more of a dessert vibe. I also didn’t know if the chocolate would make a mess if I tried to heat it in a pan.

I love the vanilla notes! Try it shaken with espresso (or cold brew) for a Carajillo or add to hot, spiced apple cider in place of the usual Tuaca for a Hot Apple Pie cocktail.

Love the ice cream art but the sign totally cracks me up!

Thanks! I had the small pan from that set. It was annoyingly domed in the middle so any butter or oil added ran to the edges. In spite of that, it served me well for many years, keeping it just for eggs, until I inadvertently let it get too hot. I’ve decided I may not be cut out for nonstick cookware!

@ElsieD and anyone else, I’m looking for panettone serving suggestions for a lunch/brunch with ~6 friends tomorrow at the home of a friend. I have the Soma and Three Chocolates panettone and could bring either one. I’m leaning towards the Three Chocolate as it sounds very interesting. I’m hoarding the classic one for myself! I ordered the Apple Pie panettone but got the Three Chocolate instead so I’m definitely bringing that or the Soma. Should I just cut slices so my friends can enjoy unadulterated panettone perfection? Should I follow your butter toasting method and maybe top with a scoop of ice cream for a dessert treat? Any other ideas? Alternatively, I could cut and wrap wedges and send my friends home with some to enjoy at home, though I’ve never had a panettone with chocolate so would welcome any advice I might pass on to them.

I have the 12” and 8”. I’m afraid I exposed the smaller one to higher temps (my bad) so it’s not nonstick anymore. I wish they worked with induction so am looking for other options.

Yesterday’s chile crisp tuna salad stuffed into some little gougeres.

Absolutely! The Calabrian chile crisp recipe in the book contains plenty of peanuts and is quite similar to a salsa macha and I think it would work beautifully.

Chile crisp chicken salad sandwich from Samin Nosrat’s Good Things. I took the liberty of making this with tuna instead of chicken but otherwise followed the recipe that starts with a good amount of the Calabrian chile crisp from the book and adds mayo, tahini, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, lemon zest & juice, cilantro, scallions, a pinch of sugar and roasted peanuts. In the header notes, Samin says that whenever she makes this for someone, they invariably ask what on earth it is and proceed to ask for the recipe. It is indeed hard to place but also delicious.

I have no cookie displays to share nor did I perform any epic multi day cooking extravaganzas but I’m posting what little I did. The main spread was with my cousins on Christmas Eve. Turkey, ham and beef tenderloin were the mains. There are always Swedish meatballs and lefse, which I commented on over in the lefse topic. My contributions were roast delicata squash tossed with a sesame-ginger dressing. Quick and easy since I had the dressing already mixed up. And the autumn chicory salad with persimmons, Gorgonzola and pecans with house dressing from Samin Nosrat’s Good Things. I’m posting this photo mostly because it was a quick iPhone snap taken on the kitchen counter, well after dark and I’m ever so jealous of my cousin’s kitchen lighting as it looks nicely lit without me needing to adjust it! I also contributed a huge pan of Anna Banana’s ‘Nanner Pudding that I picked up from ZEF BBQ. No photo as it just looks like a catering pan of whipped cream but it is very good and has become a tradition so I’m now stuck bringing it. To make the ZEF pick-up worthwhile, I treated myself to a pit smoked, Peking-style duck and some nice pastrami to play with here at home. In between dinner and dessert, there was a visit from Santa, who brought a gift for each of the little ones. There was much yelling and squealing going on, even before the sugary stuff was put out. At one point, a high-decibel warning popped up on my Apple Watch advising me that 15 more minutes of this would result in temporary hearing loss! I enjoyed a very quiet Christmas morning here with the cats!

I was going to put this in the Christmas topic but I think this may be better. I’m not Scandinavian at all but my cousins are and meatballs, pickled cabbage, lingonberry jam and lefse were always a part of the Christmas Eve buffet. This year, the cabbage was missing but everything else was there. I think the meatballs needed a good stir at this point. They were also very big. And this plate of store-bought lefse, which were not quite as cloud-like as the fresh ones @Smithy shared above. I have to say this version of a lefse meatball wrap with the pickled red cabbage, shredded green cabbage and a Gjetost cheese sauce sounds pretty good and makes me wish I’d finagled some leftovers to play with, cloud-like or not!

So cute!

Panettone French toast for breakfast per David Lebovitz’s recipe. Made with my $6.49 Aldi panettone. Very satisfied.

Today, I made the Cauliflower "Alfredo" with shrimp, parsley, and lemon from Six Seasons of Pasta. Surprisingly creamy and Alfredo-like for a vegetable-based sauce. Garlic and onions are gently softened in a glug of olive oil before the cauliflower florets are added to simmer with a splash of water until completely tender. That gets blitzed in the blender to form the base of the sauce which looks very rich and creamy but tastes quite light. I added some red bell pepper for color and texture and might add others like snap peas or asparagus next time. I will certainly make this again.

Of the Ottolenghi books? I like the first 5 books best. Not so much a fan of Simple, Flavour and Comfort. Ottolenghi, the original Jerusalem for its sense of place Plenty and Plenty More for their tons of relatively simple vegetable recipes. I like Plenty More better but both are good. Nopi, which I find both interesting and annoying for its chef-y restaurantant vibe. Some recipes are definitely worth the effort. I think I made all the cocktails and some were pretty involved! I also like the little OTK (Ottolenghi Test Kitchen) paperback Extra Good Things which I consider a good “idea” book. I have a Kindle version of OTK Shelf Love which I always forget to look at. I didn’t even have it on my EYB bookshelf until just now. I should give that one a look.

I’d suggest flipping through both to see what calls to you. Both have recipes that seem a bit repetitive if you have the earlier books. Neither are among my favorite Ottolenghi books but they’re both OK. Flavour is co-authored by Ixta Belfrage, who does interesting things with flavors, hence the title. It’s vegetarian and over 50% vegan. Dairy pops up here and there. It opens with a list of 20 ingredients and ends with a 2-page spread of “flavor bombs” or condiments used throughout the book. They should give you a sense of the spices used and what you’d need to buy. I am no longer a good judge of what’s a new spice or unusual vegetable anymore 🤣 No baking section though recipes like a squash galette and olive oil flatbreads are tucked in here and there. Just a few fruit-based desserts at the end. Comfort is co-authored by Helen Goh, Verens Lochmuller and Tara Wigley. With multiple authors, you get multiple points of view. There are recipes that include fish, seafood, meat and poultry. It has typical Ottolenghi sections on both savory and sweet baking. The recipes are organized more conventionally by dish type. The number of spices may be somewhat lower here but there’s still black garlic, za’atar, hispi cabbage (always an Ottolenghi favorite) and ‘nduja. I’ve cooked more from Comfort and have more recipes marked to try than Flavour but that’s just me.

Now THAT’S frustrating! I’m sorry you went through that trouble and wound up disappointed! I’m only frustrated for all the small businesses, here in the US and world-wide who are just trying to get the best materials and ingredients to make their best products and share them with customers who want to support them. Saying any more would be against guidelines but my minor inconvenience has been nothing compared to theirs! Oh, and my hair is currently a shade of neon green called Electric Lizard! 🙀

I haven’t heard anything yet. After Purolator returned my order to Goûter, I was told via email that FedEx”s process required them to charge those costs to Goûter and Goûter would let me know so I can pay.

Et voilá! Edited to say merci beaucoup a Goûter!

Four days ago, my cousin shared this on Facebook: Wise words but I can’t stop tracking! My order is now “out for delivery” 🥳 Very pleased as it says a signature is required and I have to be out for some commitments tomorrow so 🤞for today! I have a friends gathering on Sunday and am hoping to share my bounty!

Pastrami scrambled eggs from Alon Shayla’s book Shaya: A while back, I spied an NYT article touting the pastrami egg & cheese as the best breakfast. I picked up some pastrami from ZEF BBQ to try it but decided to start here.

I note the box appears empty…with that review, I’d have returned them! I think a low filling to crust ratio is par for the course with a very small pie so I wasn’t surprised and thought they were OK. Probably wouldn’t eat one on its own but warmed up, with an equally tiny scoop of ice cream, they made a nice little dessert.

When you’re already feeling miserable, the pain of every inconvenience is amplified many fold! I’m so sorry you’re under the weather and hope this will pass quickly!