maggiethecat

If you're staying in the Loop, don't miss Custom House -- it's a short, appetite-inducing stroll from any hotel. Even if you're staying on Michigan Ave., it's worth a six buck taxi ride. I loved NoMi as well. But, geez, it's not all pizza and hot dogs! Chicago Italian beef is a must, and I direct you to its temple, Mr. Beef on N. Orleans. If you have time for cocktails and duck meatballs (and who can't) direct your feet or taxi to The Violet Hour.

Thanks, Margaret -- this is the book I want to read now. I'll follow eGullet's amazon link and order it tonight. Vintage Maxwell -- how could that be bad? Your description reminded me of another novel, its close contemporary: Rumer Godden's The Greengage Summer, about innocence and ones first experience of France. I loved that book.

As a little girl, I thought the can of Lyle's Golden Syrup was as awe-inspiring as an illuminated manuscript. As a young matron those boxes of Godivas glittered like golden reliquaries. I check out the can of Clabber Girl every time I bake. There are boxes, bags and cans that I can admire as an aesthete as much as I love their contents. My daughter brought us, at Christmas, a jar of sinus-clearing mustard from the legendary Philippe's in LA -- soi disant site of the birth of the French Dip sandwich. She said: "I didn't wrap it, because the bag is part of the present." How well she knows me. (The bag got rumpled in her luggage.) Isn't that vernacular Art Moderne at its finest? I'd love to hear about what food packaging is in your food product Louvre.

This is a bad picture of what happened to our leftover wet- roasted chicken --Chicken Cobbler. The biscuits thickened the sauce. Hey, four meals for like, three bucks. And I have leftovers for lunch. A whole chicken is the smartest move, economically, you can make.

I decided to try the wet-roasting method with a three-pounder last night. It's a bastard recipe culled from the fridge. The glaze is Andrea Nguyen's Vietnamese Caramel from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen that had stood neglected on the condiment shelf for a year. The cavity was stuffed with two half limes. I threw what was handy -- potatoes, carrots and fennel -- around the bird and tossed in a couple of cups of white wine. Prep time: 7 minutes. Cooking time, dunno, an hour and a quarter? Dark brown, haunting sauce -- I never knew limes and fennel could be lovebirds. Crispy skin, lots of veggie vitamins. I'm going to play around with this method.

Lots of great ideas here, many of which I'll steal. But they mostly call for cut-up chicken and -- correct me if I'm wrong, Chris -- but I assumed from the topic title that you were asking for recipes for the whole, unbutchered birdie. I'm on the lookout always for new ideas for whole chix, because, well, they're easy. As it happens, Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories slapped onto the stoop last night, courtesy of amazon.com. Simon isn't helpful on whole roast chicken variations, but he does mention Italian "wet-roasting" which involves pouring un poco di wine or stock into the roasting pan, with herbal or vegetable additions. My Nonna-in-law used this method, so I pulled out The Silver Spoon, a book that's received scant rotation in the last year. Jackpot. Starting at page 920 there are many recipes using the whole chicken -- Chicken Roasted in a Packet, Chicken Curry, Chicken Babi (in the form of a babi, or toad!) Chicken in Lager, Deviled Chicken, Greek Chicken, Chicken with Apples, Chicken with lemons (2), Pollo allo Spumante, Chicken with Tuna, "Pot Roast Chicken," Stuffed Chicken, Chicken in a Salt Crust ... Most look week-night good, require few ingredients, and nothing special in terms of skill or equipment. I sit in the Plain Roast Chicken is God's Gift camp, but it's good to have a few variations to break the routine. If you don't own the book, PM me should you desire a recipe.

Other mac and cheese recipes take positions 62 and 96 in the Top Hundred.

I gave my mother-in-law this Campos Filhos bowl/baker/what have you for Christmas and inherited it when she died. I think I've used it four times a week, minimum, for twenty years. It's a perfect size for gratins, chicken pot pies and cobblers, and a terrific serving piece. My daughter ascribes magical properties to it: "I make your ragu recipe, but it never tastes as good as yours. I think it's because I can't serve it from The Dish."

Holy Heck. I feel inadequate as a cook and a carnivore. That's pork porn -- just a luscious thing. Keep us posted.

Clementine Paddleford

Yeah, you gotta figure your family feels your kitchen is well-enough equipped when this is the kind of cooking gift you receive. I'm going to set the toaster to medium dark to get the best ghostly effect. and I thought my Jesus on a chimichanga stamp was tackmeister...I was wrong, sorry kids.... ←

I received a stamp with which to imprint an image of the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast.

Oh, to have world enough and time... A year in which to discover the bright possibilities of life, craft and big hunks of important meat. At what stage is the ham today? Please give us updates on your work in progress.

I'm researching an article about Louis Sazthmary, arguably the chef who made Chicago a food destination. I got to Chicago a few years too late for his restaurant, The Bakery, so I'm hoping some of you remember the man and his works. And his recipes and cookbooks!

I love the felted oven mitts, but that quillted casserole carrier is the shit. Really. Please PM me the details!.

Tim's the total pro. And one of the smartest, funniest food writers in the known universe.

Rachel's PMs are works of art -- she can get in the flow all us writers yearn for. When she writes an article it's like getting a letter from your smartest, kindest friend.

Chris is brain, heart and he makes writing look easy.

Shaun gives us an important piece here, and beat even NPR to the story.

She's a professional, a Babe, and a passionate, winsome, funny writer. Thanks, Ivy.

Chef Carey, you're our culinary Dickens for the best of times, and the worst. Many thanks.

I'm still feeling the chill, Todd. Thanks.

I'm thanking our Daily Gullet staff writers for their contributions here in 2007. My MO is to bump up their articles -- you may have missed them, and missed some opinion, information , terrific writing and well, fun. Browse them with an eggnog or an Aviation.

Ellen, this piece resonates with most of us. Thanks for it and a wonderful 2008 to you and yours.

To Priscilla, Ivan and sixteen-year-old son and heir, the happiest of holidays and a bangin' 2008. May we read many Letters from the Canyon in the New Year.