Bond Girl

Awbrig, great pics. May be I should forget Miami and go to Lenai instead.

Not that I know what I am talking about here, but here's my 2 cents. I don't disagree with Steve Plotnick on the reasonableness and flavors relating to rare meat. But, as a person who's friends are mostly non-foodies, I had learned over the years that taste is at the end a 'subjective' matter, build and formed by each's own experiences. There was a study done many years ago that found that we are drawn to things that we are most familiar with, which became part of our 'taste'. Therefore, even if the taste is worng or unreasonable, should we make the person eat the right thing and be miserable? Here are two examples: I recently took a friend to afternoon tea. The scones were fresh out of the oven, baked to perfection. Nice and crunchy on the outside and warm and moist on the inside. My friend hated it. "Too wet!" she complained. It then dawned on me that, having grown up with dry, stale shrinkwrapped scones from the local supermarket, she has come to think of scones as things that should be dry, tasteless and crumbly, eaten with lots of sugary jams- a concept I found utterly un-palatable, but she prefers it that way. She is probably 'wrong'. But, should she have stayed and eaten something that she didn't like? Another time I was in Paris with a boyfriend who happen to eat a lot of chocolate, and decided to take him to Dubauve and Gallais, my favorite chocolatier on Rue Saint Pere. After sampling a few pieces, he pronunced that the chocolates were too bitter and not even half as good as his bag of Hershy's chocolate kisses and Nestles Crunch. Once again, should he have eaten the French chocolate and be miserable, simply because just about every foodie on this earth will agree that Hershey is inferior to Dubauve and Gallais? As for the price/quality debate, I'm not sure if the market is all that efficient in food as in wine. I think a lot more goes into it such as marketing and scale. Case in point is some of these big restaurants such as Tavern on the Green or Cafe des Artiste, where my clients like to go because they heard so much about it. An entree will typically run between $20 to $35, and they are God awful. On my own, I'd prefer to go to places like Pearl or Mary's Fish Camp, where for a fraction of the price, you can have a more memorable meal.

Thanks Awbrig. NYC is going through its coldest weather in six or seven years. We hit 9 degrees this week, which was certainly below normal. My small apartment gets heated up quite quickly when the oven is on, but I got a lecture on carbon monoxide poisoning recently, so I will be very very careful. In the meantime, the local homeless shelter is getting lots of baked goods including pound cakes, apple pies, lemon tarts and a few different quiches.

So far it's been soups and stews. I haven't had any heat in my apartment for the last two days, so I tried to keep the stove and oven on as much as possible. So far, I've made a huge pot of Gumbo, some black bean soup for the local homeless shelter, and vegetarian Chilli (Thanks Jaymes!) that fooled a bunch of meat eaters. Tomorrow, I will try to get to the Fishmongers so I can make cioppino, inspired by the recent thread.

I heard that it's like a thick cookie-ish kind of wrap that is a bit like a egg roll wrapper. The Nobu cookbook has a recipe that requires it, but I can never find it in any of my usual NYC food shops.

I layer it with a nice pastry cream, some strawberries, kiwi and sliced mango and caramelized bananas. Throw it a bit of crushed pralines for texture. Let me know if you need a recipe for pastry cream.

With a very limited kitchen space in a tiny NYC apartment, my spice cabinet is about the scariest place around. Friends are always afraid to open it for fear of being injured by fallouts. I have a set of spice containers from Dean and Deluca, which stacks up nicely. I just keep on refilling them with huge batches I buy in Jackson Heights. I go to Patel Brothers and come back with huge bags of things like Garam Marsala, Sumac, Tumeric, Cumin and Chilli Powder. Still trying to find a cheap source for Fleur de sel and Hawaiian sea salt. In the summer time, I have basil, mint, rosemary, thyme, majoram, oregano and Verbena growing on the window sill, but now it's just dwindled down to the thyme and the verbena.

This sounds really yicky but the standard Chinese version should contain solidify duck's blood, which is one main reason that I stay away from it. In addition, to Jin's list , sometimes there people add straw mushrooms and baby corn.

Sorry, I got it wrong. I was thinking of myself actually because I am lactose intolerant but can have goat milk so goat cheese is the only think I can have sometimes. But, in this case, better t6o be safe. Forget the goat cheese altogether! Thanks Suzanne for the correction. Need to re-reade post carefully

I know this may be sacriledge, but what do you guys put in a vegetarian chili? I happen to be allergic to red meat, and hates birds with a passion.

If you want to stick to the Italian theme, how's about pasta topped with abbrabiata sauce or a ratatouille like vegetable mixture (Tomatoes, celery, eggplants, and zucchini) I can find you a more exacting recipe if you need one. And, the non-dairy eaters can sprinkle goat cheese on theirs. If you want to do something more Mediterranean in nature, you can make a vegetable couscous.

I used to make these really great pumpkin cookies, but now no one will eat them because they think they will become pregnant!? It only happened 3 times!! Wow, may be it's the same three couples that had the tomatoe soup in my house.

My be it's because I learned how to cook by checking out Craig Claiborn's cookbook from the local library when I was a teenager, may be it's because back in those days I had to make my allowance stretch so I couldn't afford a lot of ingredients, but as I get older, I became more experiemental with complex flavours and spices. These days, I aim for a melange of flavours that work together discreetly like a symphony.

Actually, I had a version of Gazpacho from Calle Ocho that's pretty much like a cioppino but has lots of jalepeno and lumps of crab meat. I do think if you make it in the summer, you should add lime juice instead.

Never been to the Tadich Grill but I heard all about the it though.

My latest version is: chopped onion, garlic and bell peppers sautee in EVOO. Throw in some (usually a large amount) of red pepper flakes. Pinch of oregano, thyme, rosemary, crushed fennel seeds and a bay leaf. add a coarsely chopped carrot, and a large jar of roasted tomatoes. Pour in a generous amount of clam juice and water. Throw in some cubed patotoes Let the whole thing simmer the soup is like a thick stew and the potatoes are soft and still hold up. Strain half the vegetables out and leave the other half in. This step depends on how thick you like your soup and I usually throw the potatoes back in only because I like them. Pour in a splash of white wine and turn the heat up high for a minute. Add whatever seafood you like. I usually like a white firm flesh fish, some shrimps, a couple of clams, a bit of squid and a few scallops. Top it off with fresh chopped parsley. In the past, I made it with a combination of tomato paste and freshly chopped tomatoes. Use red wine instead of white. Sometimes, I'll omit the carrot and the potatoes and put in some pasta instead.

I go to Miami once a year in February, and accidentally stumble on this event last year. Will let you guys know if it's worth anything this time around. Nonsense! I was never there.

Hey Jaybee, Wanna trade cioppino receipes? I have several cioppino receipes, which evolved over the years. It's one of my favorite things to make for small dinner parties.

I don't know about that I only went to part of it last year. Nick, I guess you have the inside info on this. I just logged on to the AIWF website and didn't see anything announced.

I have several all time favorites and all really easy. Steamed shrimp dumplings for a large crowd. Gougeres for cocktail parties Cajun shrimp for football parties Tart Tatin for afternoon tea Cioppino or Louisiana Gumbo for small dinner parties Chocolate Grand Marnier Souffle for dessert. Here is an interesting coincidence, every boy-girl who ate something that contain tomatoes at my dinner parties usually end up happily married to each other.

I am traveling from NYC, so it's currently a toss up. I heard the big thing is to secure invites to the after party, which is infinitely more interesting. Last year, friends of my somehow crashed the Campari party at Mynt, and said it was better than the BBQ on the beach.

I'm thinking about going to the Food and Wine festival in South Beach, FL at the end of February. The event feature some pretty impressive culinary line-up. Wanted to know if e-gulleteers is also going? Or, if anyone has some past experience? What are some of the more interesting events? And, how does one go about getting to the after parties?

I don't mind sharing a table with someone, man or woman. And, I don't have a prefernce to dining aloone, because often when I dine with friends I tend to engage them to exploring the food and check out the scene together. Thanks Suzanne for the tip on SB. My ammo up to now is to stare blankly and pretend that I don't speak any English (easy being Asian). Now I will get the waitstaff to escort them back to their table. Actually after I posted the message I had an after thought. Last year, I was dining solo at an upscale restaurant on Central Park West after the opera. because it was very late, I thought I grab a quick bite at the bar. Half way through my dessert, I was confronted by a drunken customer looking to procure the services of the world's oldest profession. I ignored him until he pissed me off enough. The bartender witnessed the whole incident thought someone should call security. I asked the restaurant manager, who was finishing up at the end of the bar to call security, but he simply looked on and did nothing. It's one of the best places in NYC to eat, so I will probably go back for the food, but I certainly will think twice before eating alone there again.

not to answer for anyone but I think it's the stigma that society attach to solo woman diners. Single women eating alone are deemed strange phenomenons. They must have some sort of disease or social dysfunction because they would be eating with someone else like a girlfriend or some guy if they are anywhere near normal.... I don't like it, but I have come to accept this as the way the world works. I haven't had the opportunity to eat alone in a three star retaurants in Paris simply because everytime I was in Paris I was with a guy of the moment. In New York, however, I frequently eat out alone. I've eaten at Jean Georges, Bouleys' Daniels, Le Cirque, Union Square Cafe, Nobu among other restaurants alone. Quite often, that is an experience in and of itself. Sometimes, I am almost forgotten by the wait staff. Sometimes, I get pitiful looks from other diners. Other times, I get the once over look from the hostess who would most likely repeat: "Only one for dinner?" But, more often than not, I get accosted by some slime ball who's pick up line is almost alway: "What's a girl like you doing eating alone?" It makes you not want to go out. Still, as a someone very wise told me once, what other people think should never dictate what you do. And, as long as I love food, I will go out to eat whether it's alone with a book or with a group of friends.

Thanks Jinmyo and Suzanne. The next time I see chard, I will be sure to get some and try them.