Bond Girl

Jaz, do you think the method of brining will apply to a sturdy fish like Tuna or Salmon?

This is quite interesting. I have a recipe for cured tuna, which requires you to first smother the tuna in a mixture of salt and sugar, then you cook it for 2-3 hours in a shiver, covered in olive oil with onions, garlic and a bunch of herbs. I'm wondering if you can do the same thing by brining. (ie. use water instead of oil) Any thoughts?

I second the Laurie Colwin one for traditional, easy to bake brownies. I think there is also another one from Katherine Hepburn that you may be able to find on http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=106559 (Okay, I know this is a pretty fluffy site.) Also, I'm not sure if the two recipes are the same. I like a good dose of amaretto in my brownies and hazelnuts are preferable to walnuts. Once in a while, I'll grate some orange peel in it and soak it with cointreau.

A long time ago while I was staying at Claridges in London, I had to move rooms due to water problems. I was there on business at the time, and had most of my work papers spread across the floor of my room. When I moved, I told the concierge to move everything like it was. When I got to my new room that evening, I found all my papers spread across the floor in the exact same pattern as the old room.

you can cook Asian eggplants in a bit of vegetable oil, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and thai chili, spinkle with cilantro. serve over rice.

Just had a great meal at Otto with Blondie. The artichoke was very tasty, a bit on the salty side, but tender and flavorful. Citrus and Celery root salad lived up to all the rave praises that I've been hearing. I've found it a very fresh pairing of flavors with the sweetness of celery roots balancing the fresh tartness of the citrus. I had the Napolitan pizza with anchovies. if this were any other pizza, I would say the crust can do with a bit more flavor but with a rich tomato sauce and anchovies, I was glad for the plain pita like crust. Dessert was too die for. That ricotta gelato really rocks.

Just got off the phone with Vongerichten himself. opening night is tuesday. Expect mob scene.

I grew up with tea eggs which is a tea and soy sauce cooked egg. But sometimes I'll use Chinese tea as a marinate for heavy meaty fish like salmon or cod. Then brush it off to bake or sear it a pan. Earl grey is really good to flavor chocolate truffle. there's also the fruity flavored tea from marriage feres that I'll grind very fine to use in my pound cake.

Last year when I was on my malaysian cooking spree, I decided to make Nasi Goreng. Being too lazy to head into chinatown for Thai chili, I decided to use the scotch bonnet I found in the corner deli. Needless to say, the thing was so spicy that very few people can stomach more than a few forkful. The other time, I decided to make madeleines, along with about three other items I have divided between the stove and the oven. In my effort to multi-task, I forgot to butter the madeleine pan, and ended up trying to scrape it cake out with a spoon.

Come on! How long does it take to make a pasta sauce? Cut up a bunch of tomatoes, a bit of olive oil, garlic and onion, some herbs and you are done.

Didn't get to have the roasted veg. but had a very good salad. CB is a lot better when it's not busy and during the day.

Okay, here is my entry. As you guys may know, I’ve never learned how to cook properly, so my rendition of what is “contemporary American” food may be off. Here is what I served to three of my neighbors: Braised Lentil over toasted bread slices Originally, I had wanted to serve lentil puree. So, I sauté some onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil and throw in the lentils to cook for a bit. Then I pour in some vegetable stock and a sachet of herb de provence. The Lentils cooked for over an hour, still I was not getting the consistency for a puree, and so I decided to test a bit of it anyway. Needless to say, I ended up with a sandy gritty mess at the bottom of my food processor. Improvisation: drain the lentils, stir in some capers and chopped tomatoes and serve on slices of toasted bread. Maple Roasted Butternut Soup with toasted Pecan I actually made this ahead of time. Can’t find the kabocha squash, so used butternut instead. Spent half an hour banging the squash on my kitchen floor with a chef’s knife. This is the toughest part about making this soup. Brush the squash with some butter and roasted it in the 350 degree oven. While the squash was roasting, I toss the pecan with some sugar, salt and rosemary, and toast them on the upper rack. Scrape out the flesh and cook it with some vegetable stock. When I was ready to serve it, I heat the soup through, stir in some maple syrup and heavy cream with a pinch of cinnamon and top with with roasted pecan. The funny thing is when you tell people that they are going to have butternut squash soup, they usually hate for it. But once they taste it, they end up loving it. Of everything I made, this one had the unanimous vote of approval. Pan Seared Tuna over Pomme Fondant with Cabbage, Artichoke Hearts and Crimini Mushrooms Pomme Fondant was something I learned from Melissa Kelly of Primo in Maine. Put a bunch of potato slices over pieces of butter and cover it with water. Cook it on stovetop until the water evaporate and then brown it in the oven. Since the oven was on all day for the butternut squash, I cook it ahead as well. The potatoes were re-heated in the oven later. The cabbage was sautéed with a bit of bacon, artichoke hearts from my pantry and crimini mushroom. I like to throw in a bit of vinegar and sugar for taste. Not being a meat eater, I did not know how to make crisp bacon. The smoke alarm went off twice during the cooking venture. In the end, one of my guests stepped in and did it for me. Finally, tuna was patted dry and seared medium rare. It’s a good presentation with the tuna layered on top of the cabbage over the potatoes. Lemon Granite Can’t imagine life without dessert. Never made granite before, but hey how hard can it be? Okay, may be I forgot to stir it every five minutes, but breaking up those pieces was hard work. So, I’ll just say my guests had big pieces of lemonade ice for dessert. Will think about investing in ice cream machine.

Thanks for the recommendation Suzanne. I have a psychosomatic allergy to meat (seen one too many slaughter house). I am trying the roasted veg. tomorrow at lunch. Will report back.

Wait! Just realize something. All the stuff you guys are raving about (ie. Chacuterie, meatballs, salumi etc) are stuff that I cannot eat. Hmmm...may be need to give up ideas of giving CraftBar another try.

May be I went on a off-night. May be I should treat this as a wine bar, in which case I shouldn't be there because I can only consume a limited amount of alcohol befoe my allergy kicks in. I will give it another try and report back.

I've been to Ghenet, but found their Injarat a bit on the sour side. Never been top Meskerem. Will try it next weekend. Is the 47th street location better than McDougal Street? ? I think only the wealthy Chinese got a lot of pork. Growing up, we may get it about once every other week, more if the neighbors slaughtered a pig and have leftovers to give away. We had chicken only on new years holidays. But, I grew up in a period when Taiwan had just recovered from Japanese occupation and people that are parents at the time are still frugal because they remember what it was like to go hungry.

Never read the book, but had a good dose of Madame Rossant from the weekly company sponsored French classes (sadly no longer due to cut backs). Interestingly enough, she is also the God daughter of the infamous novelist Colette. Husband did the interior of the restaurant. She once told me that the hamburgers at DSGG is comparable to the Daniel Boulud burger. Is that true? I'm allergic to red meat, so I can't really experience it at first hand. As for the original chef, he quit after he was told to reduce Kitchen staff by half. Colette blame most of her recent restaurant mishaps on the communication issues with the new chef.

Yes, I am going to the new year's dinner, and if you are there, I would enjoy talking to you some more about it. The eGullet Chinatown dinner would be a great idea.

For the first twelve years of my life I ate chinese food. When I came to the States I had to learn how to cook, so I discovered French, Italian, Spanish and Indian (because we lived in Jackson Heights). I also travel to New orleans a lot so I made a lot of cajun food as well. In my thirties, I am rediscovering Asian food, so it's Indonesian, Singaporean, Chinese, korean and Japanese. So I think my idea of Chinese food is kind of warped by all the other influences. BTW, where do you get good Ethiopian in NYC anyway? The only time that I get to eat decent Ethiopian is when I go to DC. I miss a good Ethiopian dinner.

Suvir, Can I tag along with you and Ed? I'm with you and Simon on DSGG, but am willing to give it another try.

Bux, Thank you for ther recommendation. I have been to sweet n tart and found it a "hit or miss", then again, it could be my own stigma about meat in general. (I can't stand chicken or any kind of bird) But, I will try Oriental Garden and A&B Lobster king house. Having spent many years exploring many different cuisines, I am re-discovering chinese food. As for DSGG and contemporary HK food, I wouldn't know enough to comment. My many trips to HK over the years has somehow skewed my view on HK food in general. As a side note, I heard all about how Colette Rossant improved Chinese food from Colette Rossant about three weeks ago (She taught French at my work place), so may be this is the "European-ized food" that Simon Gittins is talking about. She did know more about Asian spices than I do, and I'm Taiwanese. Needless to say, I was very impressed. By the way, where is El Bulli? Because I love love love Spanish food.

Suzanne, You cannot be more correct on this. When I go to Chinatown, I want to have authentic Chinese. So, DSGG seemed a little strange to me. Having said that, I do enjoy Fusion cuisine, particularly if it's from AZ or Annisa. Can't put my finger on why I just haven't taken a liking to DGSS. BUX, DSGG is partly owned by Colette Rossant who happened to also write about food for the Daily News. The original chef that opened the restaurant with her left, and judging from what you guys post here, looks like she has worked out her differences with the new chef. I tried the joint twice recently, still can't get used to it. It's not bad. Just not great.

Just flipped through the Craft Chef cookbook at the Strand. Now I am really curious about Craft. Will try to get reservation for next week.

caught on to this one late. Can I play too? Got several ideas for this already.

Had a friend from out of town who wanted to go to Craft, but can't get a reservation, so instead we ended up in Craft Bar, which claims to share the same kitchen and quality as Craft only less formal. We ordered fried oysters, which was beautifully presented but had too much breading on it so you can't taste the oysters. The arugula salad was okay, but certainly nothing to write home about, and at over $10 a plate, you'd expected fresher arugulas. From there on, it was downhill all the way. My fish stew arrived at the table luke warm, and must have contained a whole bag of salt in it. The calamari were so overcooked that it resembled old rubber. The fish were dry, hard and flavorless, and the clams were almost indistinguishable in taste from the calamari. After this, we both had to order dessert to get the taste of burnt garlic out of our mouths. Well, the apple fritters came swimming in a pool of melted ice cream, and was soggy on the outside and rockhard and ice cold on the inside. I vaguely remember seeing rave reviews about the place, and the place was jam packed on a Friday night. I personally think that for the price of $95 not including tip, a much better meal can be had elsewhere.