Katie Meadow

@blue_dolphinNext time I have dental surgery, which is hopefully never, I'm inviting you up to the Bay Area to put me on the popsicle diet.

The first meal my mother cooked for my father was roast chicken. Back then, chickens were plucked, but not completely. Not only did she leave whatever feathers were on it, but she neglected to note that the cavity had paper-wrapped liver and giblets inside. She tried to learn to cook, but never really overcame her trepidations. My nephews, her grandsons, always loved her chicken and rice dishes. But to be fair, their mother was a weird health freak and cooked dreadful food for them. Would you serve umeboshi plums to a ten year old for whom a burger and fries was the apex of exotic? The older nephew grew up to be a restaurateur, and the younger one has broad enthusiastic tastes. He adores my cooking! He's married into an Italian family and his father-in-law is a master of the seven fishes feast. Ya never know. My own daughter never wanted to learn anything from me and she's rather a slapdash cook. I forgive her, since she has twin toddler girls and works full time. When we visit, my husband and I do a lot of cooking to help out. Their kitchen is small and poorly stocked, with lousy choices for pots and pans. I would gladly buy them all kinds of equipment, but they claim they don't need anything. In my opinion they need almost everything.

For many many years, pre-pandemic, Trader Joe's stocked a basic Valrhona bar identified by a red swoosh. It was labeled Le Noir Amer and it was 71%. It was a hefty bar at 3.5 oz and it was delicious. And it cost $2.99 per, so perfect for every day bites or baking too. This was my go to chocolate bar for many years; simple and delicious, no frills. Valrhona discontinued the product a few years ago, but it was a fantastic deal. I don't believe TJ's carries any Valrhona bars any more. Nothing I've found lately comes close in taste or price. At the super-high end of the spectrum my chocolate of choice is Neuhaus, which is Belgian.

Without bothering to look back to see how many times I have contributed to the cabbage thread, I can only say that I have been a dedicated cabbage eater for decade; just the typical round cabbage. No, I don't love the smell of boiling cabbage, so that's not in my repertoire. I use it in stir-fries, as often as once a week. I love it quick-pickled with carrots in the most basic style, so that it works great with Asian foods or Mexican. I make lots of slaws, some to eat as a side, some to use in burritos or tacos, especially with fish. But I also like a rather mustardy slaw for certain things like hot dogs. Slaws are endlessly variable. And finally, I love braised stuffed cabbage, simmered in a tomatoey sauce, although I make it rarely because I am lazy and it's a production. At least one cabbage is always on our major shopping list.

What everyone in NM does is roast immense quantities of green chile in the late summer to early fall and then freeze them. When your order a "bowl of green" out of season at any NM restaurant you should assume the chiles are frozen. I've been doing the same since I moved to CA decades ago with the poblanos I bought in the fall at farmers' markets here. It worked fine until the chiles lost their heat. Fresh jalapeños are more easily available during winter and spring; they seem to be shipped routinely from Mexico all year long. But they are now always big, shiny and tasteless.

My experience is much the same, sadly. In the late1960s and early 70's I lived in NM. Jalapeños were reliably hot and not large. Poblanos were also reliably hot but not overwhelmingly so, and just right structurally for chile rellenos. If you wanted a hot long green chile there were varyingly hot ones, increasing in heat to the Hatch chiles grown in the Hatch valley. I moved to CA in the mid-seventies. Most Jalapeños were reliably warm, perfect for making pickled peppers. Most poblanos were also very warm. Slowly over the years they both became milder. I was able to source hot ones at a super mercado here in the East Bay, but then that place, which was truly great, folded. Now if I want a Jalapeño I have to buy serranos, which are often too hot for pickling. Just once in the last few months did a batch of Jalapeños surprise me with heat. I haven't been back to NM in years, but I do know that a mild pepper called Big Jim has infiltrated the market, and are sometimes sold amongst Hatch chiles. Several years ago I found one grower at the local farmers' market with reliably hot poblanos. Since the pandemic, though, even that source has become tepid. It's really disappointing, as a lot of the food I used to cook depended on hot roasted green chiles. The Jalapeños recently have been like green bells, or worse, with no flavor at all. Trying to make the dishes we loved in NM is now almost impossible. s

A quick search, maybe not so reliable especially when it comes to taxonomy and fungi, identifies a mushroom called a Black Velvet bolete, Tylopilus alboater. Sites suggest it is found east of the Rockies in the US and in China! So, not exactly definitive info, but after all, mushrooms are fleeting and who knows. Supposed to taste very good, though. I often use portobello shrooms in my fried rice. A black bolete would be nice in tomorrow's scrambled eggs. Too bad for me.

Once upon a time I did a lot of mushroom foraging. We have black chanterelles but I've never heard of a black bolete. Sounds delicious. I quit foraging for the black chanterelles because my only good patch was in dense Poison Oak and I became more and more allergic.

For those of you who wish to order Chinese sesame paste I find the one from Mala Market is great. Can't make Dan Dan noodles without it! Although pricier, I like it better than the one available in nearby Oakland Chinatown. https://themalamarket.com/collections/regional-chinese-sauces-pickles/products/organic-sesame-paste-zhi-ma-jiang Not that it is relevant to Chinese cooking, but since it has been pointed out, tahini is a different animal. For any middle eastern dishes I love the brand Soom, which I order from Amazon. It doesn't separate the way some other products do and it tastes fresh and pure.

Yeah, but it's peanuts, so you can't take it in your lunchbox. Maybe best for a homework cocktail while mom and dad are having their martinis.

Lunch is going to be a party at my house, with favorite nostalgia foods. I'm celebrating being on the right side of the dirt after my bad fall and in no way ready to leave the house yet. One friend has a birthday tomorrow and we're getting a chocolate cake for her. That same friend makes the absolute best matzoh ball soup on the planet, so she's going all out for poor pathetic me and bringing a pot of it. We'll have bagels and lox too. Another friend isn't much of a cook, but she is a party unto herself and my husband is going to make us Mexican Coffees, her favorite alcoholic drink, to have with the cake. It'll all be downhill from there, with me being cranky, my husband doing the cooking, which means a lot of very basic pasta dishes and grilled cheese sandwiches, hours of PT, podcasts, pot gummies and pizza. Things could be worse, of course.

Thanks. Yes the thread that pop up that make me queasy are this Hospital Food and the Never Again...thread

Thanks to all well-wishers. Just having my husband's French toast this morning was a total thrill!

Wow, what a dubious honor to be able to post experience in this thread. Now I realize how incredibly spoiled and privileged I am. Just got home yesterday afternoon from four nights in the hospital after fracturing my hip. So weird knowing I now have titanium body parts. Only because I haven't spent time in a hospital for many years, the food seems worse than ever, way worse than airline food, frankly. By the last day I figured out that the "choose your own omelet" wasn't bad and you could opt for actual fresh spinach. The steamed broccoli and carrots were real vegetables and were plain and not tampered with. We brought our own butter and salt and that was a tolerable option. Thursday chef's special was roast turkey breast and mashed potatoes. The turkey was actually not bad, plain, even moist and redolent of thanksgiving. The mash potatoes were inedible. My guess is they were reconstituted with water. No bread was even tolerable. The concept of toast escapes them. The pancakes were like slabs of recycled cardboard. All salad dressings were disgusting. Because they use minimal salt they overcompensate with dry herbs and spices. I know I haven't used canned beans in many years, but the black beans were indescribably bad. The English Muffins were third tier something, served sort of warm but not actually toasted and were powdery and very very strange. The menu was extensive and not appealing. They gave you a choice of fresh fruit cup or canned! You could order a cup of one kind of fresh fruit, and the grapes were good. The hospital insists you order three meals a day and encourages large amounts in every order. I ate less than half of anything. In other words my husband had plenty to eat. The crackers and cheeses from home saved my life and a friend brought me some excellent cookies. I learned why so many people in America love oxycodone. The staff was amazing in every way, from doctors to janitors. I got a ride home in a gurney transport from two hilarious guys. Whatever they had been smoking I wish they would have offered me some. Their GPS on board was, of all things, a MAN who gave them insane directions to the house, but that was the highlight of the four days. The three of us were in stitches, the good kind.

Unconditional approval for use in potato salad.

The STUPORBOWL was of no interest to my parents or my husband's parents when we grew up--me in NY, him in CA. My husband will probably watch this year, only because the Niners are in it. We used to go to the movies every year during the game, but not in the last few years. I like wings, but am not a fan of anything ranch. In fact, we don't eat and watch TV at the same time, except maybe popcorn once in a while. The rest of the typical game day spread is completely beyond me, as are the rules of football, which I will never understand as long as I live. When my husband tries to explain the rules of play my brain just goes somewhere else, even though I THINK I'm listening. Most likely I will sit next to him and read the paper during the game and pay attention to the screen only when the commercials are on. Sick! My spectator sports of choice are baseball and tennis. For food we will be having cauliflower marinara on pasta. Always good and always easy. But it will not be eaten in front of the TV. He freaks out if I even get one crumb on the sofa, so you can be sure he won't allow red sauce anywhere near the TV! And that's how my tomorrow will unfold. I see the game as leisurely crossword puzzle time.

Worth comparing to Deb's, I should think, but haven't done so yet.

For many years, while my mother was alive, I was a devotee of the Halal cart on the southwest corner of 53rd, near the fountain. I would get the chicken, and always asked for mostly white sauce and a squeeze of the red, which is very hot. My mother lived three blocks from that cart. There was almost always a quick-moving line; those guys work fast! I have actually made that Smitten Kitchen recipe when feeling nostalgic, but not for many years. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was pretty good.

And good riddance I say.

I pulled the plug on corn syrup years ago. In my pantry you will find Lyles, Steen's cane syrup, sorghum syrup and Tippleman's Burnt Sugar Syrup. Oh, and maple syrup which I rarely use except on pancakes. I'm not fond of molasses, so I usually sub Steen's. I use the Tippleman's,along with butter, to fry apples as a breakfast treat. It would also be the best option for Jamaican Black Cake, if you are so inclined. One of my favorite recipes for gingerbread/cake is Laurie Colwin's Damp Gingerbread, which uses Lyles and no molasses. Delicious!

That is indeed one weird looking tin. But in its favor it is nothing if not collectible. What a stroke of mad genius to spotlight Ted as a representative of the King's Guard. I guess he needs a sugar fix to keep himself upright.

@liuzhou I know the snails for the broth are river snails, but is there more than one species used? Are the snails farmed? If the soup is so popular now how do they regulate the harvest? Or do they? Just curious.

Yep, same recipe, same hilarious comments. When it comes to crab cakes I agree: lotsa crab and as little filler as you can get away with..

Now that we have thoroughly pounded Chicken Maryland and dissected the implication of Chicken MarylandS it's time to turn our attention to the city of Baltimore. What came across my inbox from the NYT this morning via Sam Sifton was Pierre Franey's recipe for Crab Cakes Baltimore Style. The comments from readers are simply hilarious. Franey, as you might know, is not from B-more, and natives of that city don't take kindly to his take on crab cakes. Pick your crab-meat, and don't let anyone tell you what to do with it.

I don't buy a lot of cookbooks, but recently I bought several used ones on eBay: Root to Leaf / Steven Satterfield (of Miller Union in Atlanta) Open Kitchen / Susan Spungen 50 Great Curries of India Frida's Fiesta / a lovely book that has recipes for some of Frida Kahlo's favorite meals for entertaining.