abooja

Ooh, race fans. Cool! I'm making shrimp mojo de ajo with jasmine rice, chopped salad and a few Coronas with lime. If the past is any indication, we probably won't eat until 400 laps in. In the past, I would try to plan race-inspired menus, like Martinsville Meatloaf and Richmond Ribs. The more alliteration, the better. I almost always made red beans and rice for Daytona or Charlotte, and something that went well with wine (usually steaks or an assortment of cheese and fruit) for Sears Point/Infineon (Sonoma County). I would also take photos and post them on my website. Boy, I had a lot of free time when I was single. Enjoy the race. And go, Junior!!

I made grilled salmon and roasted carrots for dinner the other day and, while there was way too much orange on the plate, it did make for a tasty meal. Perhaps you can prepare whole bunch carrots instead of the baby carrots and alternate them on the plate with spears of asparagus, to break up the color.

The new husband (as of Monday, Feb. 11th!) and I had pan fried steaks with caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas and yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It's taking everything in my power right now to stop myself from demolishing the rest of the cake, sitting just inches in front of this laptop.

Thank you for a very amusing read.

We visiting RTM for the first time ever this past Saturday. Shared a decent provolone-topped cheese steak at Rick's, bought a few whoopie pies and red licorice, and went home somewhat disappointed. Living in Lawrenceville, I just don't see any reason to make a special trip there when we have a Wegman's right here that services most of our needs. A round trip took around 1-1/2 hours, and parking for less than two hours cost $15. Unless I'm buying tons of meat, there is not much savings to be had. I hate to say it, but a drive to Zabar's in Manhattan, while more expensive, would be a lot more satisfying. The food court atmosphere aside, however, I can see the appeal of RTM for locals. I guess I am just spoiled.

My grandmother still does that. I am planning on trying it some time. you have to crack them for the brine and seasoning to penetrate and for the bitterness to be removed. She used to crack and soak them in several changes of water for a couple of days to remove the bitterness. Never vinegar though, just salt, water, lemon and chilies and they are delicious. ← Your grandmother must be a better cook than mine was. Oh, she could bang out a tasty pot of lentil soup or escarole (OSH-KA-ROLL) like no one's business, but these olives left much to be desired. I wish I had a jar of her olives to test right now. My tastes have matured some since I was a kid, when canned Lindsay's (or Oberti's, etc.) were the only olives I'd put in my mouth.

My grandmother used to buy those all the time and cure them herself. We'd hear her up on the third floor whacking them with a hammer to crack them (for some inexplicable reason). She'd stick them in a jar with a bunch of spices and vinegar, then straight into the fridge (I believe), where they'd sit for many weeks. God bless her, they were horrible. You couldn't pay me to eat one as a kid, and I loved olives.

The few apple cider doughnuts I've ever had were purchased at Greig Farms in Red Hook, NY. They were hot out of the fryer -- tender, yeasty, and with a slight apple-y undertone. I wished I could have consumed them by the truckload, but then, I wouldn't be here today. I have never tried to make them, but thought about it several dozen times. Let me know if you find a good recipe.

It's got to be between either Bay Parkway & 23rd Avenue or Bay Parkway and 21st Avenue (Bay Parkway essentially being 22nd Avenue). Wow, I am astounded. I spent the first 30 years of my life in Bensonhurst, and there was never anything remotely interesting to eat there, save at L&B Spumoni Gardens. Now that I think of it, my mother did mention going to a new Vietnamese restaurant on 86th Street. Given my parents proclivity towards pasta and more pasta, I couldn't imagine what they had ordered. Clearly, I am going to have to grill them on this. I've actually been to Sahara as well, with my mother (the more adventurous eater of the pair). It was huge, but the food wasn't terribly impressive. That was around four or five years ago.

I can't believe that I lived in Hackensack for two years and never went to White Manna. My fiance's food allergies aside, I should have made a point to go there. I knew nothing of its wild popularity, except the long lines I always saw while driving by, but I could tell it was the kind of drive-by dive I would enjoy. Crap.

A good friend of mine, a b&w aficianado, told me that she, too, does not recall ever tasting lemon in one of these damn cookies. She went so far as to say she might be inclined to spew it out were she ever to taste such a thing. I contended that the spate of bad, inauthentic black & whites is to blame for this. What do you all say? I've been baking these cookies for a while now, feeling quite impressed with myself, and now I feel like a fraud. I've never been a fan of these cookies, but I do enjoy the ones I have baked lately. I feel I have no black & white chops, even though I am from Brooklyn, NY and have been exposed to them my whole life. I need to know what the real deal is supposed to taste like. I am completely obsessed at this point. Thanks for your input. -- Lisa

I dug up this thread while researching black & whites, to prove a point that they, in fact, should have some lemon flavoring in the cake part of the cookie. I baked a batch this past weekend (I use a Nancy Baggett recipe) for my fiance's son, a Long Island transplant in New Hampshire, and both he and his girlfriend said they didn't recall them having a lemon flavor. This was quite disconcerting to me, thus I spent the last hour or two scouring the web for support documentation. A wikipedia entry mentions the lemon. Every recipe I've ever seen includes lemon. Finally, eGulleteers have mentioned the lemon. I feel vindicated! BTW, a whole thread on black & whites? I LOVE eGullet!! -- Lisa

The smoke alarm in my Queens apartment used to go off whenever I would shower. The last place, only occasionally. Now that we're renting a three-story townhouse, with smoke alarms on each floor, every little thing sets them off, and simultaneously. I bake a lot of breads and pizzas and find that simply preheating the oven at high temperatures will set them off, and that's without even opening the door. My solution? Turn on the vent fan above the stove and, sometimes, crack open the kitchen window. Works every time.

Rob, it sounds like you may have overproofed them some, but apparently not too much as you still found them enjoyable to eat. As mentioned earlier, you might try adding some malt syrup to the water bath. That will add some color to the crust. No one seems to have mentioned it before, but I use Jeffrey Hamelman's bagel recipe from Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes. A great recipe, except I boil for two minutes a side instead of the suggested 45 second total boil. That definitely makes them chewier, which I prefer, having lived the first 30 years of my life in Brooklyn.

This actually sounds like a popular dish in the southern US. My ex-boyfriend, a native of Baton Rouge, LA, used to speak lovingly of a concoction very much like this pear salad that involved canned fruit, mayonnaise and, of all things, cheddar cheese. I would sooner eat my arm.

Speaking of Paula Deen and vile recipes, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this monstrosity yet. I can think of a lot better things to do with Krispy Kreme donuts (like eat them, plain) than to bake them up into some mushy diabetic nightmare.

A man after my own heart. I suggest you bake a cake in one of these, and decorate it like a race track. I've been wanting to do that for a while now, but couldn't justify another $30+ baking item or the space it would occupy in my kitchen. But I could live vicariously through you. Go, Junior!

My fiance has severe allergies to nuts, seeds, beans, corn and all related oils and extracts. Dining out with him is like playing Russian Roulette, particularly in restaurants where English is not the primary language spoken. When we order Chinese take-out, he asks what oil they use to fry in. If it's "all vegetable oil" (blessedly, he's not allergic to soybeans), we order and take our chances. If he experiences no adverse reaction, we go back. It's unfortunate and a huge pain in the ass, but necessary if we ever want to eat something other than what I've cooked myself. We understand it is our responsibility to avoid his particular allergens, but would absolutely love it if restaurants would be willing to share a list of exact ingredients with diners who request them. It's almost shocking that, in our litigious culture, this is not already mandatory, but I suppose it would be damn near impossible to police. On a side note, Wegman's (excellent grocery store nearby) has a Chinese cafeteria-style take-out section, and its chef personally walked my fiance through the ingredients of all the dishes he could and could not have. It turned out that there were, like, three safe dishes (including plain white rice) that he could have. I reminded him that, since he only ever asks about cooking oil at other restaurants, that he has no idea what he's eating half the time and has to rely on his physical reaction to foods to know whether or not they are safe for him to eat. Not a great system at all. Were it not for the battery of allergy medications always coursing through his veins, he might have reactions all the time, and much more severe reactions at that.

I always see packaged chocolate-dipped waffles in the bread/pastry aisle at Whole Foods. They're cute, but not very appealing to me. I'd rather just eat the chocolate, thank you.

Thanks for the responses regarding the addition of simple syrup. I'm still torn as to whether or not I'll do it. However, if having some in there will prevent future curdling, I might just add it. Good thing I have until March 3rd to decide. Millie (as I call her) was born on September 3rd.

I just heard the last ten minutes of Steve talking to Mike Colameco on Food Talk on WOR in NY. Pretty cool.

Sounds a lot like the Handy Housewife Helper. All those features, plus it can core a apple. Where are Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton when you need them?

I'll ask again...has anyone else added a simple syrup to their extraction? I'm still not touching it for another 2-1/2 months, but inquiring minds want to know. Thanks, Lisa

I've baked five loaves of NKB using the original recipe, each time with great success. (In fact, this afternoon's lunch was comprised, in part, of two slices of my latest success.) However, I've also baked around 8 or 9 loaves of sourdough versions of the same with far less success. I've tried as much as a cup and as little as a couple of tablespoons of starter, liquid starters and doughy starters, shorter rise times and longer rise times, both retarded and room temperature, and still get a yellow-hued loaf with a dense, wet crumb and a none-too-crispy crust. Given the minute amount of instant yeast called for in the original recipe, I wonder if I shouldn't change the starter amount to one teaspoon or less. I've successfully used this same starter in a few loaves of pain au levain, so I don't believe that's the problem. It's my formula. Nothing so far beats the original for a crispy, crackly exterior and an elegant, holey interior. I wish I could figure out what I'm doing wrong. Oh, well. It doesn't cost a whole lot to experiment. -- Lisa

It depends on the individual, of course, but I like both Cook's Illustrated and Bon Appetit, in that order. -- Lisa