La Niña

I'll do one or the other - sherry or kirsch.

Is a blintz a sandwich? What about a dumpling?

I strongly disagree with this, Tony. When I taste a meal or a dish that gives me that WOW factor, I want to repeat the experience. For example, I am never tired of eating a slice of pizza at DiFara's - it's always fantastic, and I'm always delighted to eat it. As for music, I agree with macrosan. The more I listen to a piece of music I love, the more I understand it, the more nuance I am able to pick up - and the piece becomes more meaningful to me. Mind you, this is only true of food and music (and I suppose other things as well) that I truly love.

Rainbow is on 17th just east of Union Square. Pan, I assume you know Mamoun's, yes?

I was never a picky eater. The only things I didn't like as a kid were bleu cheese (which I adore now), lima beans (which are just fine), brussel sprouts (which I love) and fennel (which I am liking more and more). Everything else I ate. And I mean everything. I even ate offal as a kid.

I'm going to do layers of the pound cake, filled with jam, doused with some sherry. Then I'm going to caramelize some bananas, and put them in with some berries soaked in kirsch (I'll buy what looks good - strawberries, rasberries, blueberries) - then make a custard and pour that on, then finish with whipped cream and some toasted slivered almonds as a garnish. Will report on the results this evening.

Don't feel like the tropical fruit thing, and too much banana is overkill (today at least). I'm leaning toward a caramelized banana (great idea) and some berries, a custard, whipped cream, and toasted almonds on top. And some booze of course.

We live in a small town called Varano Borghi just outside Varese about 20 minutes from Malpensa airport. We spend about 7 months a year there and the balance based out of Chicago. Craig, I have spent lots of time near where you live - specifically in and around Ispra, and Bodio Lomnago. Varese is my favorite Italian (small) city. Lucky you.

I don't want to use pears. How about bananas?

Thanks. But I wanted to hear about the gang's favorite way of doing it.

I'm not interested in Jason's opinion about Zinfandel - the question is to you. How do you define great? Good is one thing, great is a lot more. Who are the zinfandel producers that consistently produce great wines? Where are the new zinfandel regions where they are planting zins b/c of what a great varietal it is? If you don't know, just say so.

The square pizzas are a different animal entirely. The crust is thicker. The sauce is a cooked sauce, as opposed to the sauce for round pizzas, which is uncooked. The flavor of the square pizza is quite different from the flavor of the round pizzas. And the preparation is different between the two styles. The square pizzas are known as "Sicilian" pizzas.

No delivery. But you can get pizza to takeout - you just have to order it, and wait for it.

Question -- are these items available, and would the quality be consistent, for someone walking in off the street (given La Niña's connection to the owner)? One casualty of this site, specifically the New York forum, is that my a-list of restaurants to experience is growing significantly faster than my ability to do so. Di Fara's is on the short list -- as well as DB Bistro Moderne, and about a dozen Lebanese take-outs in the tri-state area -- additions within the past week. And this, to a person for whom living expenses have dramatically increased in the past month, and now has a personal commitment to make more meals at home. Perhaps I should not leave the confines of the cooking forum. -- m. Not everything is available on a regular basis. They only make braciole once in a while. They'll do veal and peppers if you ask, if they have the right stuff on hand. Pasta fagiole - either they make it or they don't - you have to get lucky. As for the quality - if Maggie's not in the kitchen, the cooking is not nearly as good (her 2 brothers work 2 days each). The pizza is always great - Dom is the only one who makes a pizza, ever. As for the pizzas - you can get those pizzas at any time, as long as he has all the ingredients on hand. The chestnuts were special for us, as were the chunks of bufala mozarella.

The whole meal came to $20 bucks each.

So I have leftover sour cream pound cake. I want to make a trifle. I could, of course, just layer it with some sherry and fruit and a custard...but perhaps the gang has some interesting ideas for me...

Menu details: Square (Sicilian) pizza Round pizza with artichokes Round pizza with broccoli di rape, garlic, and sausage Calzone with prosciutto & porcinis Calzone with eggplant & red onion Braciole Veal & Peppers Salad Pasta Fagiole Mozzarella di Bufala (he gave us some plain chunks to taste) Chestnuts soaked in sugar and rum Vino, vino, vino

Peter - what about this?

Tony, you have to eat some really good pizza. Maybe you haven't. I can't tolerate lousy pizza - in fact, I can't even tolerate anything less that great pizza. But a truly great pizza is a great thing.

I gotta agree with Steve here. Well, certainly on the fact that Zin is not a great varietal. Mind you, I like to drink it sometimes - the bold, uncomplicated, fruit-in-your-face thing is welcome when I'm in the mood, or if a food seems to warrant it - but ultimately I find drinking Zin unsatisfying, relatively speaking - no complexity, no subtlety, no sophistication - just bold, bold, right there in front of you - and yes, no sense of terroir whatsoever. Those who disagree might do some further reading (I don't mean on egullet).

And, if I may be so bold - what's so special about Junior's cheesecake? I mean, I like eating it, but it's nothing unusual. And the ones with the fruit toppings - sickeningly sweet and syruppy and artificial.

My cioppino was nothing so glamorous as Blue Heron's, but it was very good. After reading this whole thread, and doing some snooping around on the web and in some cookbooks, I winged it as follows: I sauteed chopped celery, carrots, onion, garlic, green pepper, parsley in olive oil. After a while, when the onions were soft and transluscent, I added oregano, hot pepper flakes, fresh chopped basil, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes (Muir Glen), and red wine, bay leaf. Simmered that for a while, covered, until the carrots softened up, then added some fish stock I had in the freezer, cooked it for a while. In the meantime I peeled and cut up a few potatoes into chunks, and steamed them until not quite done. Before we were ready to eat, I brought it back to a simmer, added the pieces of potato, mussels, shrimp, pieces of cod, clams. Put the lid back on, simmered a few minutes until the shellfish opened and the shrimp got pink, then put in some scallops, cooked a few minutes more, added some salt and pepper - and that's it. Served it with good crusty bread and a salad and a bottle of Chianti. Delicious. Made tons, so now I have several containers in the freezer. Thank you jaybee for starting this. Great addition to my repertoire.

Cabby, when you get a lobe of raw liver (goose or duck), it still contains all of its fat (hence the gras in foie gras). So for example, if you put it in a glass jar in a double boiler (this means putting the jar in a pan of boiling water), and heat it, the fat will come out of the liver, crawl up the sides of the jar as it were, and the liver will end up smaller, and immersed in the fat. Then you pour out the precious fat and use it for whatever you wish (and of course you have the cooked foie to enjoy).

I'm coming, along with the Beau. I'm making a babka. The Beau is responsible for plastic/paper goods (have spoken to the hostess already about specifics). We will also bring wine. We'll be happy to bring cheese/butter/jam or anything else that's needed, if need be.

How about a soup dumpling without the wrapper?