Katie Meadow

First off, let's not get sidetracked about the word "current," since it has nothing to do with plants or berries. There are three types of currant: red, black and white/yellow. They are related to gooseberries. I had wild red and black currants in my back yard in New Mexico. They were delicious. According to Wiki, the Black Corinth, also known as the Zante currant, is really not a currant, but a very small variety of grape that originally came from a Greek Island. Currant is, as noted above, a corruption of Corinth, and ended up being applied to the genus Ribes, which is the currant. It sounds like you may have the little black Corinth grapes or Zante Currant, since you say they have vines, so you are accurate in describing them as mini-grapes. They sound yummy! The currants I've had look more like berries on a bush, and don't resemble grapes in the way they grow. Raisins are dried grapes. Currants can be dried, but they are then called dried currants. I never dried them, just picked them off the bush as soon as they were ripe. I have no idea whether it's common to see any small dried grape varieties labeled as "currants." If I saw something tiny and black and dried labeled "currants" I would assume they were....currants!

It's news to me that dog lovers and foodies are mutually exclusive. But regardless of that, put these dog-lovers to work washing lettuce and helping prep salad under your supervision. After all, you are providing comfy space for the dogs as well as their lovers. You can certainly mix up ahead a large amount of simple vinaigrette that would work on a variety of lettuce or legume or veggie salads or even on potato salad. A little dijon covers a multitude of sins.

It helps the pizza from becoming soggy from the sauce. ← The best way I've found to keep the crust from getting soggy due to sauce is to prebake the crust for a few minutes before adding all toppings. And to keep the amount of sauce (and cheese) modest. We often do a 3 or 4 minute pre-bake (using a stone in the oven or no stone on the grill) and then flip the crust so the crispier side takes the sauce. I've never put cheese under the sauce and I get a thin crispy crust this way. If I had a stone that fit my grill I would use it, but it only fits my indoor oven.

Personally I wouldn't invest in a lot of stuff before I know what my roomie is bringing to the kitchen. If you can find some really nice basic pots and pans that are good quality for a good price--and you feel they will last long and be good investments and you really like them--then by all means buy them. A good enamel cast iron soup pot, like 5.5 qt or 7 qt can be a great investment if you can find one for a reasonable price. As noted above, not to heat the pasta water, but great for a pot of soup or chili or lots of tomato sauce. I use the smaller size several times a week, but there's just two or us most of the time. I used to use a 7 qt creuset round constantly when feeding more people. Most people acquire a non-stick pan somewhere along the line, so it's likely your roomie will bring one. A 10" cast iron skillet can do half your cooking and be a relatively cheap and permanent purchase. I agree with Fat Guy: if you have only one roomie, he/she can learn how to treat that pan w/respect. Nothing does french toast, grilled cheese or heats up a tortilla or bakes cornbread or cooks a trout or even cooks a fast egg scramble better than a well-seasoned cast iron pan. The one I've been using for the last 20 years was a flea market purchase. Then you can spend a bit more on a really nice stainess sautee pan that you aren't afraid to use for sauces, or things with lots of wet ingredients. One nice colander can rinse everything and be used if you don't have a pasta insert. One of my most useful purchases has been a dozen barmops. This is the best way to cut your paper-towel use by about 80%. They are terry cloth, and very good at drying lettuce or any other wet produce. They work for just about everything except draining bacon or wiping oil on the grill (or on your cast iron pan!) and far better for spills than a sponge or paper towel.

I never deep-fry anything, but the picture of the corn fritters in the recent July/August issue looked so good, and the corn has been so sweet lately, I went for it. They were fabulous. I think mine might have been slightly bigger than suggested, but the interiors were puffy and light. Sinful, really. I used barely the 1/2 inch of oil suggested, and I didn't make the roasted salsa, since I had some homemade salsa leftover. I didn't have any sour cream, so I subbed 2% Fage yogurt. My family liked the fritters with salsa, but I liked mine totally plain, with a little sea salt on top. We ate them practically as fast as we made them, so we didn't bother to heat up the oven to keep them warm. The carnival food of your dreams.

We're getting slightly off topic, but it is interesting to note that location seems to be a factor, which I didn't really think about. With every post I'm getting more and more embarrassed to admit spending $500 a month on food, although it's also true that certain non-food items like laundry soap and paper towels are often not excluded from the weekend shopping excursions, so my records may be a little haphazard. About half our meals are vegetarian, but that doesn't seem to make any difference; the cost of heirloom tomatoes at the farmers' market isn't really much less than the cost of chicken or farmed trout or shrimp. As for a Haas avocado, at the Berkeley Farmers' market they range from small at $1.25 each to extra large at about $2.50 or even more each. But they are the best ones I've ever eaten, so it's hard to resist. Gwens, when available, are about the same; they are my favorite. They are now selling huge Reed avocados--individual wrapped like French melons--for between $3 and $4 each. Randi, what do you pay per avocado? If you truck a semi full of CA strawberries to a Chicago supermarket, it has been noted elsewhere that the price per lb may very well be less than if you drive a few crates in a pick-up several hours to Berkeley. Some footprints are not as small as we might think or hope.

About pre-salting... I agree with the previous poster about making slaw shortly before eating it. That way you don't have to salt it first, and it's crisp and fresh tasting. This may just be personal taste, but I've never found letting slaw marinate in dressing to be an improvement. However, if I need to make slaw way ahead, I find that pre-salting does help keep the cabbage from getting limp or soggy, and helps keep the dressing from getting watery. I shred the cabbage and salt it in layers in a colander. Then I press it by putting a large bowl on top of the slaw and filling that bowl with water. I let it sit for at least an hour before adding other ingredients and dressing it. I haven't found it necessary to squeeze out any moisture after doing this, or rinse out the salt. However, I don't add further salt until I add everything else and taste for saltiness. I don't think this eliminates every bit of moisture, but it helps a lot. I like a wide variety of slaws, including one with green papaya. Recently I added shredded kohlrabi to a simple cabbage slaw and it was nice. I make very different slaws to go with different entrees. Some of my favorite slaw meals: Red beans 'n' rice with cornbread and slaw. Pot-stickers and Asian style slaw. Chili with cowboy slaw. Grilled chicken with Bakesale Betty's jalapeno slaw. Turkey and ham on rye with russian dressing and slaw.

Try this recipe for a change of pace. I think it was from Bon Appetit, a few years ago, can't recall. POTATOES WITH SAFFRON AIOLI 1 T water 1/2 tsp crumbled saffron threads 1/2 tsp smoked hot paprika or Hungarian hot 1/2 cup mayo 1 T olive oil 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 minced or mashed garlic clove potatoes: French fingerlings or yukon golds or red skinned new potatoes, unpeeled fleur de sel to taste (Orig recipe calls for chopped cilantro, but I don't add it.) Bring the 1 T water to a boil in a very small saucepan. Add saffron. Remove from heat and cover with a plate. Let steep 15 min. Mix that with paprika, mayo, olive oil, lemon and garlic. Keeps well. I like to simply put a dollop on my plate and dip the hot boiled potatoes in as I go. Of course there will be some left over. My husband likes to add more mayo and then use it as a sandwich spread. I've also used it in a creamy slaw.

Anything under $400 for two people seems very frugal to me, if that includes meals eaten out and alcohol. I tried keeping really good records of all food and beverage purchases for several months. I was staggered at how much we were spending, even though we almost never go out. But the more I kept tabs on it, the lower the monthly averages went, so clearly I was paying attention. Including wine, beer and very rare meals out, we were spending at least $600 a month for two. Our alcohol purchases are not high, since I am not drinking much. We managed to get it down to closer to $500 a month, at least during the winter. The summer budget goes up. Does anyone else find this to be the case? I don't make big pots of soup and I make a lot more trips to the farmers' market, where everything is irresistibly beautiful and costs an arm and a leg. I try to be careful, and only buy what's really outstanding. Prices are up at least 30% from last year. Those adorable Padron peppers that are all the rage now were $8 per lb last year, $12 this year. A few days worth of tomatoes now costs me about $10. Green beans at the Berkeley farmers' market are averaging $4 to $5 per lb. At Berkeley Bowl: $1.49, and just as good, if not organic. However, the stone fruit as the farmers' market has been outstanding, and I can't pass it up. Just goes to show, shopping more or less locally can carry a penalty; it's no small footprint if a gas-guzzling van has to be driven 6 hrs. roundtrip just to get a few crates of organic produce to the consumers.

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't end up eating steamers out. I visited my brother in CT and we bought a big load at a local seafood shack and cooked them at home. The were delicious and I ate an embarrassing amount. It was like going back in time. We did end up eating at Pearl one night, since we were in the neighborhood, but steamers were not on the specials that night. I had mussels. The mussels themselves were okay, but the preparation was not very good. My mother, always on a lobster roll quest, was disappointed as well. She thought the lobster was tough and there was far too much mayo. I had a really good lobster roll in CT. Instead of the more typical lobster salad roll, this was a hot lobster roll. Lot's of really big hunks of claw and tail meat on a traditional toasted and buttered bread. Nice. I'm not sure I would recommend Pearl Oyster Bar. Perhaps they've gone downhill?

Want to plug Cafe de Bruxelles, since it was this thread that gave me the idea. On my recent visit to NY I was dedicated to eating all manner of east coast crustacea and bivalves. My mother and I walked the High Line in the downtown direction and ended with lunch at the Cafe, which is just a few blocks from the Gansevoort stairs. Bruxelles stays open all afternoon, so that's a nice bonus. We both had the simplest moules marinieres and frites. The mussels were tender and fresh and there were lots of them. There was plenty of bread to sop the broth. The frites were among the best in memory, and a cold Belgian ale was exactly what we needed after our walk. It was after 2 pm, and there were only a few other patrons; very peaceful and relaxed. The staff was as nice as could be.

Make Banh Mi! That's a Vietnamese sandwich. You will need to make your own pickled vegetables, but that's easy--it's just carrot and daikon. The usual ingredients for banh mi, besides some kind of crunchy pickle, include sliced cukes, jalapenos, pate, cilantro, maggi sauce and mayo and whatever grilled or bbq'd meats suit your fancy. BBQ pork is a natural. I like it on a baguette or similar type of roll. You can find a ton of recipes on line. I learned how to make these sandwiches when I got Andrea Nguyen's book Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. She may even have a banh mi recipe on her website, so you could look there. I also use Chinese style bbq pork in home-made wonton soup or as a garnish for a cold noodle salad. You could even use it ito dress up an Asian-type slaw.

Okay, I don't know about other states, but here in CA mountain lions are designated "specially protected species" despite their numbers and it is illegal to kill or hunt them unless a permit is issued for a particular individual cat that has been deemed a public safely hazard.

Not to be prudish, but am I the only person who thinks this is a creepy idea? Are you planning to tell them before they eat it or after? Are you expecting your friends to think you yourself killed it? If so, that would be a mountain lion (cougar), since that's the only type of panther in the continental US as far as I know. It's not legal, by the way, to kill a mountain lion. They are protected. I assume that it is equally illegal to export dead leopard (old world) or jaguars (So. America.) If you expect them to believe you, then it's one way of finding out just how dumb your friends really are.

I've never been a big fan of chocolate ice cream, but recently I tried the HD Reserve Amazon Valley Chocolate and it's great. Not too sweet, not cloying. I did try the Brown Sugar and it was good but a bit boring. I haven't tried the 5 ingredients coffee, but HD coffee has always been my favorite commercial ice cream.

It looks like some purple version of kohlrabi. I love kohlrabi raw--I just peel it and slice it very thin and sprinkle it with salt of choice, or it can be used as a vehicle for a variety of dips. The outside is usually pretty tough, and needs to be well-trimmed/peeled with a knife. It will probably be pale green inside, but maybe not; I don't think I've ever had purple kohlrabi. It's popular in Chinatown, so I am guessing it is good for stir-fry too.

The knife pictured above is the one I use most of the time; long, tapered, white handle. The french type with a short blade works well too, but the main thing is that the blade be thick enough to survive the job. If your hosts have only one crummy knife and it bends the first time you use it you will be up a creek etc. Buy a good knife and take it with. By the time you are done with this party you will be an expert and will be glad to have it. If any salesperson tries to sell you a curved blade that looks more like an old grapefruit knife, stay away. And a second knife will come in very handy if someone at this gig knows how to open oysters and wants to help. Take a little scrubbing brush. Usually they don't require much cleaning, but a quick once-over under briefly running water is good. I've never heard of using a glove. It sounds like it could be awkward. I usually have a stash of old barwipes or even old washcloths--something thick to wrap around the oyster, hold it against the counter and protect your hand. You do need to grip firmly with your non knife-wielding hand. The advice about smelling the oyster after you open it is good advice. If something LOOKS fishy or has absolutely no juice, definitely smell it. If I can open oysters, anyone can. When the oysters are petite they aren't any match for a human, but I admit I struggle if they are really large. Remember when you first try to insert the knife into the hinge the knife will be pointing down toward the counter--not toward your hand. I find a little back and forth wiggle action lets the point get purchase and then slide in for the twist.

We eat almost all our meals at home, and they are almost all cooked by me. I use the freshest tastiest ingredients I can find within reason and I'm a pretty decent home cook. If every meal I put on the table was so exciting as to be worth conversing about or swooning over for the entire dinner hour we'd be an awfully weird family and I would be a famous chef. Well, okay, perhaps we are weird anyway, but we do talk about all kinds of things, and it's rarely the food. Once in a while I get some serious complements, but typically my husband (and daughter if she's home from college) are spoiled and a good meal is pretty routine. One of the few communal efforts we make is pizza. My husband makes a great dough, and I do the tomato sauce and toppings. We do all have a habit of critiquing our pizzas, but that is usually a fairly short topic, since by now we know what we each want out of a pizza and we've been doing it for years. Once in a great while we declare a "reading dinner." That happens if one of us is so wrapped up in a novel or is just feeling anti-social for some reason. But we all do it together.

Yes, I too am very fond of that sandwich. I make Betty's slaw frequently and I probably got the recipe from the Chron. I tried making the fried chicken (once) but it wasn't quite as good as hers. But then I never make fried chicken. And I'm only 10 minutes away from a ready-made sandwich (not counting standing on line, of course.) Betty's Bakesale also makes a pretty good chicken pot pie, great for taking to a pot luck on short notice or for a comforting dinner if you don't have time or inclination to bake your own.

Thank you Chris for the idea and endorsement and thank you Emily for the link to the RLB recipe. We made this pie last night and it was fabulous. We at it at midnight and then again for breakfast. I used a 9 inch pie dish but it was rather deep, so I added an extra cup of berries, tossing a few in to the ones that are cooked down first, and most of them into the not-cooked. I used the rest of the ingredients as specified and it held together perfectly; no more cornstarch necessary--and I say the less cornstarch the better. I made the mistake of tasting only a couple of berries first, and they were tart, so I used the full 1/2 c sugar. Next time I might be more careful and taste a few more before deciding how much sugar I might want. I could have cut back a bit, but then I do like tart pies. My husband made his standard Julia Child crust which works for just about everything. Anyway it's a great pie.

Thanks. I checked the on-line menu for Grand Central Oyster Bar and they do have them listed, but you are right that it's wise to call the day of. I'll try calling Pearl as well. It's definitely a Long Island summer childhood memory for me.

I'll be visiting family in New York in July and I have a terrible craving for a bowl of steamers, those long-neck soft shell clams that don't exist on the west coast. The first few posts of the thread "Bowl of Steamers" is pretty funny, btw. Is there a restaurant where my mom and I can indulge our nostalgia with a classic bowl of steamers and a side of melted butter? She's in midtown, but I think I can convince her to go out of the way for this. If that doesn't work, who sells them? She might or might not be able to remember how she used to make them, but if anyone can refresh my memory (I was too little!) please do so. Last year we bought very nice mussels at a place in the Chelsea Market and that worked out well. What's the name of that place? I can't recall seeing steamers for sale there, but I wasn't looking for them.

For meatballs that go in a red sauce I use a Mario Batali recipe similar to the one quoted above, but he specifies toasted pine nuts in the one I have, and that's a yummy addition. I also cut way back on the parm--too cheesy for my taste. I like using a simple Italian white bread rather than breadcrumbs, soaking it in milk and squeezing some of the milk out before adding it to the meat. And this week I tried something new: I made the chicken meatballs from last Sunday's NYT magazine "Cooking with Dexter." I served them as suggested with a cucumber raita and made a simple mixed veg curry to go with. I was surprised at how good the meatballs were. Who woulda thunk it. I always saute my meatballs and I never make a test one.

With leftover unsauced spaghetti my weakness is a crispy noodle nest. I use butter, and saute the noodles over a modest heat in a cast-iron pan in a relatively thin layer, turning infrequently til both sides are various shades of golden and crisp. It often doesn't really hold together like a pancake, but ends up a bit jumbled. No matter, it's deeply good. When my daughter was little (and before she liked red sauce) it was a staple.

A brief update on my mother and the three grandkids. Of the places I recommended as a result of this thread, the only one they managed to hit was Trattoria Cibreo--and they all adored it--said it was their best meal by far, and the price of dinner wasn't too bad. Even my picky nephew who insists that it isn't authentic unless no one speaks English (and he does in fact speak Italian) was very impressed.