maggiethecat

My parents drink tea with lunch. Their teapot is an ebony-handled late Georgian sterling silver beauty, hallmarked Newcastle, I believe. It has been making magnificent tea for over two hundred years.

Har. I'm an eldest child, which perhaps explains my mature, balanced and worldly approach to the dinner plate. I size it up, decide what flavors would taste best in sequence -- brussel sprouts after the roast pork, before the potatoes -- and try to predict at which point in the meal the sauce will turn cold. I do try to save a bite of the best for last.

Yesterday I made a half-hearted stab at cleaning out the car. On the back seat under the detritus of umbrellas, scarves, bills and Wednesday food sections I found three cookbooks that had gone missing for longer than I care to contemplate.

Putting out pastry dough, whether it's Nana's basic Crisco or multilayered puff pastry involving frozen butter. I've been doing this for so many years that I am pretty much a dab hand at dough. A little concentration, the rubbing of fat into flour with my fingertips, the careful measureng of water, the gathering up...

83,461. For all newcomers to this thread (welcome!) be assured that I am a piker in comparison to the heavy-hitters here. And come to think of it, I haven't had a new cb since a buddy sent me Bouchon for Christmas. I get paid next Friday.

81,354. It's a benign disase, I say!

Priscilla: Sigh. Asparagus in March. I'm glad the lads are warned. And yes, the Les Halles mushroom soup has entered the family canon. Trying to kick the debilitating plague that has renedered me miserable for six weeks, I made Sally Schneider's Garlic Soup from New Way to Cook. Throw two big heads of garlic into four cups of chciken broth. (I blush and hang my head here: In two months I'll have fresh sage and thyme from my garden, but I was reduced to using elderly dried herbs) Simmer for thirty-five minutes ,then puree the whole thing and inhale Italian penicillin. Mama mia. She asks for some pasta and parm, which I had; I used orchiette. Her recipe calls for sizzled ham, which I didn't have, so I sliced and frizzled an andouille. Plunk the pasta in the bottom of the bowl, add the soup, toss on the cured pork product and top with a generous handful of grated parm. Terrifically garlicy, but sweet and mellow. I feel surges of well-bing. Plus: I have a cup or so left, and I might try one of Sally's variations: poach an egg within.

My Bohemian buddies seem to go for stews and dumplings in a very big way; potato dumplings, bread dumplings, fruit dumplings. I remember an excellent veal stew with caraway and mushrooms. Don't forget the beer!

Just because it's the day after Oscar night, don't return your jewellry or take back your tux: the awards season is just beginiing. You might need your backless Valentino to walk the eGullet Society red carpet next Sunday, when I'll be announcing the winners.

I'm back from: a weekend in New Orleans with friends (great Crawfish Bisque at Cafe Sbisa,) missed flights due to fog in Mobile, and godawful flu the minute my heels hit the tarmac at ORD. I have not made soup, but I crave it, and I'm so desperately happy to be able to heat up Pepin's Pumpkin Soup and curl up with "The Sunday Philosophy Club." Lentils: Such a lovely legume: no soaking required. Because I'm sick I'm capricious: all your recipes sound wonderful, but I'm leaning to suzi's Brocco-Leekie.

Oops. You can blame the change on a bad memory, that's all. I apologize. I'll compromise: The new closing date will be Sunday, Feb 20th.

Serious simple Yum. (Never have I been to grateful to have an immersion blender as I am now in my soup project.)

Rachel: That sounds absolutely outstanding. I don't think I've ever made a creamy chicken soup, but there's no time like the present! Do you think that spaetzle would substitute well for the noodles? I think , because I made two soups in a week back in January, that I'm still technically on track. This hasn't been an opportune week for soup-making chez moi, darn it all. I did clear some freezer space by serving some of the left over "Les Halles Cookbook" mushroom soup. It reheated beautifully in the jukebox, and with a fresh spash of sherry, it might have been even better than first-time out. I used a little to enrich a sauce for a VDay strip steak, and it was deep and shroomy: not you mother's half a can of Campbell's . Next week, I'll be back on the simmer.

Wow. Romance, history, marketing, "fridge noir"... My socks have been knocked off. Deadline: February 28th. Let's hear from more of you; The New Yorker can eat its heart out.

Fried reigns . It is the apotheosis of cooking methods, and I think the topic needs to move away from it's deep-fried focus to include pan-fried: Eggs, potatoes, hash browns, chicken, for crying out loud! Thin crispy frittura or tempura batter. Breaded and floured, coated in corn flake crumbs and dunked: if it were not for Girlish Figure concerns I would would eat almost every meat, seafood or vegetable fried by choice, because I think they taste better. Probably four times a week. In real life.

79,996. Yes, Bloviatrix, he is a True Sweetie. ronnie -- and autographed copy? And as my daughter requested "Fast Food My Way" for her birthday, and I have to get it to the PO tomorrow, and she's an eGull, I'll add one. 79, 997. I'm trying to think of some kind of prize for the member that breaks the 100,00 mark. Er, maybe a cookbook?

Well, I haven't had dinner yet---smothered pork chops, braised red cabbage, fried potatoes-- but I must say the Tender Crispy Chicken Sandwich at Burger King was an outstanding lunch -- fully as good as a Chick-fil-A. I tried the new cheddar/bacon/ranch dressing version with the additional calories versus the , er, classic version . I'll go for the classic version in future.

I too use salt more liberally -- it really makes a huge difference. I probably undersalted for at least twenty years.

Thank you all so much for your savvy. recommendations, and bright ideas. Pam, that's chicken soup just the way I like it. And fifi, I too, looked at my limited freezer space, now a wall of of stock and leftover soup and vowed: I can make less soup. I can cut that recipe in half. I don't have a tableful of rosy-cheeked bairns and ancient grandfolk waiting to hear those lovely words: "Soup's on.!" (I don't even own a tureen, but I want one now, barely a month and a half into my soup cycle.) I am so delighted that I didn't decide to cut back on quantity before I made Nero's One of Each Soup -- for recipe read upthread. It's name is way too simple and Midwestern; this is, far and away, the best recipe I've made so far -- and I've enjoyed all of them, and they were from some high toque dudes. It needs a name that implies a whiff of it's simplicity and exoticism: Potage a la Mode de Kalamazoo? Soupe Nero? It is dead easy: Rough chop the fruits and veggies, simmer in stock till tender. Puree (I used an immersion blender) add a little curry and salt and pepper. Enrich with cream. And you get a soup so fresh, so mysterious (I can taste the banana just because I know it's there) and so , well, unlike anything I've eaten before. Notes: I did a stupid thing: I used a quart of stock instead of a pint of stock, so I had to simmer it down after I pureed it. It was still probably not as thick as the correct version, so I added, maybe, half the cream. And as we ate it we thought the same thing: Chilled, this might be the best cold soup ever imagined. So I didn't freeze the leftovers. I came home from work, pulled out the container, and found a spoon. It might have been even better cold than hot. I adore Vichyssoise and all the chilled tomato- based summer soups, but they don't come close. Really. I think a little garnish of diced avocado would be pretty against the pale gold of the soup. OK, this is a rave, but the Tuscan I live with tried it cold from the fridge tonight and said:"Absolutely delicious!" He doesn't throw around superlatives. Nero, I'll get you the Chimay pork recipe. Promise.

I'm doing some selfish yet altruistic Forum Host bumping here, because I'm really knocked out by these entries. All you eGullet Society writers, and yes, your name is Legion, take a gander at these stories, and let the first line roll around in your subconscious. I keep thinking about what the cleaning lady sees.

Sure, adjust the heat a little, but keep an eye on it.

Rachel: 250 containers --now that's luxury! I won't be making soup today, because I've been asked to take dessert to a get-together with old friends tonight, so it's baking day. But I'm going to make some stock so I have enough on hand to try Nero's family recipe tomorrow.

Cool. Beautiful. No knobs.

What a great thread -- I'll be checking out sales at the meat counter this weekend. And the depth and variety of recipes and ideas is exciting. I think I'll do the Jewish Pot Roast -- what amazing flavours. But then, there's the Mediterranean version with fennel... And I love a straight-up Yankee Pot Roast. I got a 5 qt LC as a wedding present and the knob snapped off within two years. I beleive this is a Known Problem with older Le Creuset, but it prevents me from buying any "covered casserole" from LC, although their cuteness breaks my heart. Marlene, I hope they have the knob problem fixed. (On the other hand, you could just dispatch Don to pick up a replacememt in a couple of years.) I have never made pot roast successfully in a slow cooker, and I don't really know why; it always seems fibrous and dry and the sauce thin. But electric frying pans! Now you're talking. I've never owned one, but my mother, in the 60s, made amazing braises, fron pot roast to pork chops in her handy dandy Sunbeam. Onion soup mix was a featured ingredient, as I remember. Now I use the Mark Bittman trick: take a bottle of cheap and cheery red, and boil it down to a half its original volume. If you have a good mirepoix happening, and a deeply browned beast, toss the reduced wine in the pan and work from there. Pop it in the oven (in whatever vessel you own) at 300, add a little water every hour or so if it seems to be cooking too fast. Make sure you have your bouquet garnie nestling somewhere. As dinnertime approaches, toss in your veggies. If the sauce seems thin (which is less likely if you've floured the meat before browning) mix up your liason and toss it in, remembering that your finger is the best tool for combinng flour and water or cornstarch and water. A beurre manie is even better if you have soft butter lolling about. I love dumpling. Noodles. Rice. Grits. But a potroast requires a divan of mashed potatoes on its first night out. What you make of it in its second apprearance is quite another thing. Potroast sandwiches: that's heaven.

8 dollars!!!!!!????? Good grief, that almost amounts to eating for free, given the quantity and quality. I got full just reading your post. We were at the Naperville location last Saturday for meat shopping ---man, those 1.69 a pound pork chops and 1.99 rotisserie chix! And you know, the produce section is better than good; all the veg were bright, fresh and decently priced. And I never know when I might get a craving for kohlrabi.