kayb

I think it's hysterical. My favorite was a year or so ago, the stadium made out of snack food.

Anxious to see the final dish...but dude, I WANT your kitchen! Gorgeous!

PanaCana, I'd love the black bread recipe. Liz, I'm a recently diagnosed celiac and am trying to learn to bake gluten free. I'm working my way through the Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread book. I had some success with the crumpets recipe, and some of the quick breads have been pretty good; haven't hit a really, really good yeast loaf yet.

Franci, the Food 52 recipe was the one I used. It's marvelous!

Methodist latkes, country bacon, farm egg. With locally-made apple butter (not shown). Methodist because, well, they're fried in bacon fat (as was the egg). Not exactly kashrut.

I love it in frittata, browned with potatos, black beans, goat cheese, topped with salsa and avocado. A brunch fit for the gods. One of our local organic farmers makes it, and I buy it religiously; I also buy the "real thing" from one or another of the plethoras of Mexican tiendas here in town.

Made my maiden voyage at okonomiyaki. It won't be my last. With rice and pickled cucumber and daikon.

When you come down for the races, I will personally see that you have tomatos to take home!

I like Chappy's, near Baptist Hospital, (21st Street?) for Cajun/Creole. Merchants, downtown, is good. There's a little place called the Southside Grill out on Nolensville Pike that's respectable. Pancake House out on West End near the Vandy campus is excellent. Add me to the Loveless Cafe list, and I don't even care that much for fried chicken.

Recent dinners: Tomato bisque, topped with basil. Had it with cheese and (gluten free) crackers. Grilled steaks for the kids t'other night. I had mine with a caprese. Didn't show the cut version because, well, I overcooked it a tad and I was kinda ashamed. Bouef bourguignon over mashed potatos. Perfect dish for a cold, wintry, rainy day.

That is possibly the most stunning deviled egg idea I have ever heard in my life. I'm making them this weekend. Terrible breath be damned. As an aside, does anyone know any tricks for peeling a farm egg? I can't do it; they want to cling to the white and the result looks like a moonscape.

RRO, those ribs are about enough to persuade me to make the plunge into the world of sous vide. Franci, love the cauliflower! I will have to try that. Also, the risotto al salto looks wonderful. What's the difference in that and arancini, other than the shape and the cheese inside the arancini? dcarch, the leftovers -- I'll eat leftovers at your house any time! Paul, good-looking chicken fried steak. You could shame a lot of small-town Southern diners with that one!

Over-easy egg, country bacon, roasted sweet potatos with barbecue spice rub. Followed by gluten-free pumpkin walnut bread, with sweet potato butter.

I consistently shop the "used meat" section in the supermarket. Yesterday it yielded me two whole fryers at 49 cents per pound, one of which went into my oven as soon as I got home and the other of which went into the freezer for a similar treatment later. Also scored two four-pound chuck roasts for a little more than $14, and one of those is in the fridge waiting to be turned into bouef bourguignon today for consumption later this week. The other is vacuum sealed and in the freezer. I also have about four pound packages of ground lamb, reduced price between $2 and $3, in my freezer; need to get busy and use those. I buy my ground beef and steaks from the farmers' market, but for meat preps that are going to be highly seasoned/sauced, I find little taste difference in "used meat." I did buy some marked-down ground turkey, planning on turkey meatballs, and wound up throwing it out when I didn't use it in a day or so.

Is there a difference in rice starch and rice flour? (newly diagnosed celiac is trying to learn all I can...)

Mallet -- re: the succulence of squirrels, have you ever had squirrel and dumplings? Marvelous stuff. I have not hunted squirrels in years, though, since I shot one out of a tree and went to pick him up, only to discover I had only stunned him. Said discovery made when he bit through the web of my hand between my thumb and forefinger. Put me off hunting squirrels for good, but I'll happily cook any that someone else kills. ETA: And the meat pies look marvelous!

Ditto Diet Coke. Not Coke Zero, not caffiene-free Diet Coke, not any variety of flavored Diet Coke, and most assuredly not Diet Pepsi. Diet Coke.

I went back to traditional Hoppin' John this year, after a few years of using black-eyed peas as if they were beans in a prep similar to red beans and rice. It was good; never anything wrong with tradition. Topped them with a heaping spoonful of sweet chow-chow. For cabbage, I was hankering for German red cabbage, so that's what I made; in the past, I've sauteed green cabbage with garlic and ginger, then added coconut milk to braise until it's tender. Or sometimes I just do coleslaw. We had brats, just skillet-fried, to go with the cabbage.

Shelby, my daughter, who's been diagnosed for five years, assures me I can occasionally tiptoe off the wagon once my system gets cleared out and my intestinal lining regenerates. I'm figuring 60 to 90 :days without gluten before I go exploring. Meanwhile, I'm playing with gluten-free bread -- made some rolls yesterday that were passable. As for my rolls -- I promise you can make them. They are just about foolproof. They are also wonderful. Recipe here. My blog will also attempt to keep up with my gluten-free baking adventures.

Lovely meals, everyone; glad to see you back, RRO. dcarch, astounding knife work; I don't have the patience. mm84321, between you and dcarch, your lovely meals (both artistically and the flavors I can but imagine). mgaretz, the beef stew made me hungry for beef stew; I must make it soon. Scotty, congrats on the kitchen and dining area; please post pics soon! Due to a frantic holiday travel schedule, I didn't cook a great deal. Here was my New Year's Eve dinner -- pepperoni and abruzze from DiBruno Brothers in South Philadelphia, with gouda, Wisconsin garlic cheddar, Parrano and some other kind of cheese, with honey and gluten-free crackers. Christmas dinner, as it was just myself and my 16-year-old son, was lasagna and yeast rolls (my last fling with real bread after having been diagnosed with celiac disease). And one in between was oven barbecued pulled pork with Southwest Potatos, recipe courtesy the New York Times. Happy New Year, everyone!

Add me to the butter list. And Lawry's Seasoned Salt. I'm quickly getting to the point where I'll do without eggs, too, if I'm out of fresh organic free-range from the local farmers' market. I can do without half-and-half for my coffee and sub with milk, but I am not a happy coffee drinker when I have to do it.

My plastic cutting boards go in the dishwasher, but not my wooden ones; they will, in fact, eventually split. My paring knives, steak knives, etc., go in the dishwasher, but not my good chef's knives. China, yes. Crystal I don't have, so not an issue. Cookware usually gets handwashed because it takes up too much room in the d/w.

Agreed, on both counts. Also, charcuterie. In the South, while the cured hams and bacon and summer sausage are pretty outstanding, that's about the limit. I brought back a little over 5 pounds of assorted charcuterie from DiBruno's in the Italian Market area of Philadelphia; TSA looked askance, but I defended my right to pepperoni, sopressata, abruzze, proscuitto, et. al.

Not a lot of kitchen stuff, but I did get a set of mixing bowls from my daughter, since I threaten to steal hers every time I cook in her kitchen. Oh, and a way-cool trivet made of wine corks by my youngest daughter; big enough to set a sizeable casserole on! ETA: Merry Christmas/Happy Chanukah, everyone! My biggest Christmas present arrives next week, when my granddaughter comes for a four-day visit, along with her mom!

Well, I didn't cook it, but..... Ravioli and meatballs, from Villa di Roma in South Philadelphia. They've been judged the best meatballs (professional) in Philadelphia. I will not argue with this!