maggiethecat

Wow. The ugly duckling kitchen has become a beautiful swan. What a clean, cheerful, organized place it's become -- heavy on the inspiration and perspiration and light(ish) on the lucre. Like Rachel, I think that the basket for the potlids is just brilliant.

Welcome to eGullet and the Heartland Forum, Lynnbeth. I'm a pathetic citizen of the Western Burbs; could you fill me in a little about the China Grill?

I laughed out loud. I cruised some old CIs this weekend and found some interesting stuff, but the folks apply Occam's Razor a little too liberally. (Your minestrone recipe is uncannily like mine.) Last night I made Pam's Strawberry Soup, and a bright red splash on the palate it was on a dour January Sunday night. I think I got a little too happy with the pepper, and Sambuca would have been better than the Pernod I used. But we slurped it up joyfully, and yes, the off season strawberries worked just fine. The other two cups will become the base for one hell of a strawberry sorbet.

I have been seriously remiss in not tallying the count this week. Lord, I'm jealous. (Pweaver, I counted: 55. Alex, just give up already -- at least it's legal. Susan, what a wonderful discovery.) 77,709. Just get your heads around that figure! And I know it's probably only about a quarter of what the Society really owns.

Nero: This is a fascinating recipe, and it's officilally On The List. I need only to pick up a banana. (Of course it's fascinating--it's a family recipe from your family!) (I'll PM you the Chimay Pork recipe. It's in that stack of Pleasures of Cooking.) So, two fruit-based soups this week:sounds like a refreshing wintertime break .

It was fate! I found respectable strawberries at three bucks for two pounds, so I'll be making the strawberry soup that has haunted my dreams. And Pam, don't make us grovel: bring on the recipe for blueberry/rosemary soup. That's going to haunt me until you divulge the recipe. Ain't too proud to beg.

Thanks for the report, Anna. This recipe has been a tickle in the back of my brain all week, but I decided I could'nt make it because the strawberries in my market are far from stellar. You've given me the green light. And zilla: Brava, Pastry Lady! Your soup sounds stupendous, and reminds me again of one of the greatnesses of soup -- versatilty. And I'd better keep a bottle of anise flavoured booze around at all times, it seems. Soupe a la Zilla, Strawberry Soup, Tomato and Fennel...

SWISS_CHEF, your photo made me weep with envy, and the teeth-gnashing is still happening. Vintage Sabatier, as I've noted elsewhere, would be my knife category of choice. I have a metric tonne, and serious money in Wusthoffs and like Teutonic Big Boys, and I hate them. Clunky, heavy, boring and requiring more time than I want to spend on maintaining their edges. (And yes I have every stone and steel known to man.) I love the dimpled grip on my Global , and have never had a slip. Now let's exploe the eight buck category. I was away on business and had a suite with a tiny kitchen. No knives in the cutlery drawer. There I was at Wegmans, with all that good bread and fruit and no way to cut. I came upon an Oxo Good Grips display and shlled out 7.99 for something that looks like a five inch chef's knife with a serrated blade. I'm ashamed to say how often I use it back home.

I agree---canned black olives may not be the best of show, but they are not tasteless ---there's an earthy flavor and texture I enjoy on all relish-platter holidays. Plus, the kiddies would be even crankier at the kid's table if they couldn't sport an olive on every finger.

I read it this morning with a certain sense of smugness, because it confirmed what I've always thought about expensive vodkas -- just seriously not worth the money. Thirty five bucks a bottle for vodka?? And how would a more expensive vokda add to a cocktail, when it's essence is getting diluted by the other ingredients?

Rachel: Lucky Jason! I love the containers and the wintry touch of the snow shovel, identical to the one that's propped against my porch. And thank you all. I have more than 49 weeks worth of soups, just dipping into your ideas. Tonight was the Les Halles Fennel and Tomato soup. I reheated it and pureed it and took a sip. My God, I had made the first tomato soup I've ever liked, except for gazpacho! Ir was terrific tomtato soup, but the fennel was so subtle as to be just another aromatic. I don't blame the recipe too much: Bourdain calls for "two bulbs fennel" without specifying size or weight, and mine were on the Gwyneth size of the spectrum, as opposed to the J Lo. Dear Reader, I blew the mortgage money on a bottle of Pernod, and dropped maybe a teaspoon of the Greenish Fairy into the soup, along with my own pistachio garnish. That hit of pastis turned it from good tomato soup into something we raved about, between spoonfuls. St. Anthony of Manhattan is 2 for 2 in the soup department. Both the Mushroom and the Tomato/Fennel most highly recommended, and easy enough for Home Ec 101.

The Jess speaks, and I'm with her all the way--soap and hot water. No antibacterial anything, for the reasons she decribes. Use wooden boards, try not to cross-contaminate, and if you're a home cook your family will prosper. (I understand that restaurants have a higher standard of compluance.)

I've probably told this outdoor fridge story somewhere here before, but I love it so much that I'll tell it again. New Year's Eve Feast at my parents' house in Ottawa, five foot snowdrifts in the backyard. Every square inch of fridge and prep space was taken, so when Daddy returned from LaPointe's with six dozen oysters he set them on trays in the snow until it was ime to shuck them. Squirrels don't like oysters.

My word, what a beautiful bouquet of soups you've made this week, my Sisters and Brothers in Soup! And what great reicipes and tips -- if Penzey's weren't closed on Sundays, I'd be heading over for some smoked paprika. Poor Scorched! I hope you're feeling better. I think that the soup I've got underway--fennel, onion, garlic and potatoes are sweating as I type --might be the very ticket for you, if you happen to have a couple of knobs of fennel in your fridge. In taste theory, it would be bright and clean-tasting, and a change from your broth. Bourdain's Tomato and Fennel soup from The Les Halles Cookbook. (Speaking of broth, in order to satisfy the demands for this project I may have to get a part time job at a chicken processing plant, and stuff my overalls with scraps at the end of the shift! Next week I'm going to make my maigre-ish minestrone, with the parm rind and the chunk of salt pork, but no stock.) Pause. I should have stuck to my soup and not run away to post. Bourdain says it's important not to brown the vegetables, and it seems some of my onions have become tanned. I picked out what I could, and I'll live with the rest. Tant pis. I might empty the piggy bank and run out to buy a bottle of pastis. In the flippin' winter wonderland I'm inhabiting it would be nice to add that extra liquid anise fillup, as Bourdain suggests. Then perhaps I'll pour some Pernod over ice, watch it turn milky, add a splash of water and daydream about sitting on a sunny terrace, in sundress and sandals, smelling the lavendar. Cheaper than a trip to the Cote D'Azur.

Freeze it, then grate it ot run it through the meat grinder. Use it for suet pastry, mincemeat or plum pudding.

BK has always been my fast food whorehouse of choice. The Bacon Double Cheeseburger should be shut down by the FDA, and I have a passionate attachment to the newish Crispy Chicken Sandwich. But the McDonald's Bacon cheese and egg biscuit beats a Croissandwich every time. I preserve my tattered gourmande hauteur by never, ever ordering fries at a fast food place. I grew up amongst the frite wagons in Quebec -- puhleeze.

Canned pumpkin is one of those things America does well. I've put in my time prepping watery pumpkins and squash, risking dismemberment. Buy the can. Heck, I wish Libby's would would branch out to canned butternut.

Great idea -- why not? I'd just make sure they were very well greased and check the cooking time;they might brown faster in cast iron. (Others have reported good results using muffin tins.)

77,575. 14.69 miles. I love "Soul of a Chef," too, and exactly because you have three tightly-written suspenseful pieces. I remember the people vividly, and wasn't suprised when I saw that Steve, the big country club chef who was the only Master Chef winner is now heading up a new culinary program in the Chicago area. I remember his horrible head cold, his sports jacket, and that "He's cooking with some soul." Terrific writing.

The best mushroom soup I've ever eaten. To be fair, I haven't eaten a lot of shroom soup, because of a childhood aversion to Campbell's Cream of, but Bourdain's recipe made me a convert. That's part of the charm. Who knew that an onion, 12 ounces of button mushrooms, four cups of stock and some salt and pepper could make something so magnificently earthy-smelling and intensely mushroomy? Talk about easy: Sweat a small onion in butter. Add some more butter and sweat the shrooms for awhile. This is the place where I hade to check the cookbook three times. No slicing or chopping required. Just dump them in whole. Ease bordering on langour, and I'm all for that. Add the stock. Simmer for an hour. Puree in a blender. Splash in a little sherry and plate. I forgot the garnish, but don't forget the sherry. I'll try to have some in the house at all times, for this recipe alone, to say nothing of the glass for the cook.

Welcome to eGullet, Pam. Please contribute further, because your post made me add at least two soups to my list! How does one make a living off soup?

I think that, in the spirit of the “Letters” portion of the eGullet Society’s mission, it’s time for a Culinary Short Story Competition. I love the short story. Not to diss War and Peace or Moby Dick -- well, maybe Moby --but I revere writers who can conjure a complete world in twenty pages, or three, or one. Wild Woman that I am, I also love the two short story shows, Selected Shorts and Stories on Stage, that my local NPR station broadcasts every week. While richer, more enterprising folks are heading to their seven o’clock reservations at Per Se or Charlie Trotter’s – or ordering pizza from the joint in the strip mall -- I’m more likely to be sipping a martini and listening to a tale on the radio, while sorting socks and waiting for dough to rise. This hour is an escape, a delight, and a reminder of how great it was to be a kid and hear my father read to me before bedtime. WBEZ, the Chicago NPR outlet, has an annual short story contest wherein all contestants must use the same opening line. Let’s see what Society members can do with this opener: You can tell more about a man by looking into his fridge than looking into his eyes. Rules: 1)This is a fiction competition, not an essay contest. Plot, characters, etc. 2)Food must be an integral part of the story. Length: We're not killing any trees here, so think of 500 words as a good place to start Prizes: Prestige. An audience of millions. And a cookbook to the first, second and third place winners, in descending order of cookbook magnitude. Deadline: February 16th, 2005. Please post your entries on this thread:here

Channel your inner Alice Munro or William Trevor or Ian Frazier right here.

You're welcome, Marlene! Pretty, tasty and easily prepared ahead are all very good things. So is surprising the guests with spuds in yet another delightful guise. And so is being reminded of a grest recipe -- thanks, folks. I'll be pulling out the madeleine pans this week.

Er, Marlene, are you allerigic to shrooms? Otherwise this recipe is pretty benign. And I get to use sherry.