Panaderia Canadiense

If the veal is to be slow roasted, I'd be very very tempted to make Yorkshire puddings in the drippings - that gets you away from the potatoes component, as it's a nice alternative starch. Then I'd want to take the remaining juices from the veal and make a simple gravy with brandy to accompany the meat. That and some horseradish sauce on the side would seem to finish the dish. Do you have access to cherry tomatoes or heirloom types? A tomato-only salad instead of greens is a nice accompaniment to roasted veal. What would you be doing with the lobster vis a vis appetizer?

Also, if you can find one, look for the 1920's era "Purity Cookbook" - it's very basic, the 20's editions focus on savings, and it contains all of the know-how necessary for more complex dishes later on in one's cooking life. I learned out of a 1922 Purity, which I still have and use regularly. (And if you like, I'll scan it and make the pdf available - it's a truly remarkable cookbook).

I'll second the recommendation for an older copy of the "Joy", and add that older "NY Times" and "Fannie Farmer" are excellent standby cookbooks for beginners. Is she in any way interested in bread? If so, "Bread" from the Good Cook series is a must-have.

A third for revulsion of the cakey texture (something went wrong!) - with the richness of the bread it just seems that it should be very airy and velvetty. And not too sweet either, just a hint of sweetness to tell you it's breakfast time. So basically, the Montreal style.

Nikki - under the turkey towards the bottom of the plate are roasted camote, the local gold and purple veined sweet potato. Under the turkey towards the top is the black bread stuffing.

Here's why I've been infrequent with this thread throughout December: the entire balance of my Christmas sweets, on one table! That lovely mix includes: gingersnaps, chocolate-chip sugar cookies, maple-walnut shortbreads, three kinds of oatmeal cookies, Nanaimo bars, pumpkin bread, foccaccia (not technically a sweet, but I made it and it's there), cinnamon rolls, varous jams and pickles, and the gold bricks are Nova Scotia black fruitcakes.

Electric Tigrillo. Not a true tiger, because I lacked the orange spirits, and also because it's based on fresh-pressed mini-mandarine juice instead of full-bodied saville orange. It was dang tasty nonetheless.

Here in Ecuador, we were 4 at the table (me, Mom, Dad, and our fabulous neighbour Clemecia, who is alone at the holiday) and we did the traditional Canadian style early Christmas dinner. Also informal at our house - so no shiny decorations or beautiful place settings here. Here's the turkey, which, at 16 lbs, was the smallest our butcher received this year, before it went into the oven - I don't have a shot of it coming out all golden, because it was de-stuffed and carved almost immediately, while I was setting the table and dealing with side dishes. The place setting Pickles! Serving it up, buffet-style (I hate big dinners where the host loads your plate for you) Yummmm. The wine was a fruit-forward, rich Merlot from Pays d'Oc, which I'm really growing to enjoy. For dessert, a selection of pies - Apple or Peach-Strawberry (the pumpkin ones went to Clemencia's lunch yesterday, and we ran out of pumpkin!). And of course, what Christmas dinner would be complete without fruitcake?!?!? Please accept this stock photo, which makes it look far better than it did last night (because we just hacked it into chunks and inhaled it )

I got: a set of three silicon brushes for the pastry drawer, a 24" silicone-bearing turntable for cake decoration, eight Spanish-style blown glass red wine tumblers with stubby stems (very neat), and a bottle of Amarula liqueur. Oh, and an extra fridge. It was a good year.

Queso Fresco, then!

Peach crisp made with my good friend Marco's harvested-yesterday Guaytambo and Melocoton peaches from his orchard, and my own vanilla ice cream. Le drool. Who says I can't eat dessert at breakfast?!?!?

Cherries. They come all the way from southern Chile, but they leave the local Capuli in the dust flavour wise. They're hellishly expensive, though - I got a really good deal at $2 for a half pound; they're usually closer to $6-8 a pound when they're available (only at Christmas). It's worth it, though - it's like a Canadian summer the way they taste. And, unless my friend Marco is feeling particularly generous with his crop (rare!), the Melocoton type peaches from Argentina are better than the smaller Duraznos grown locally for canning. For fresh eating, though, the Duraznos beat the Melocotones. Go fig.

So nobody here considers that spiced flour is essential to scalloped potatoes? I learned them as thin-cut slices of potatoes layered with spiced flour, dotted with butter, and topped with parmesan and breadcrumbs on the last layer, and then with a cup of 50/50 milk and water poured in. Rotuts - do you use mace at all in white sauces? Or just nutmeg?

Yes, bleach, seriously. It's the only thing I've found that really works, and the bleach smell comes off very easily with a little soap and water. For pernicious onion penetration, which is what Richard experienced, it's also the fastest method to stop having hands that smell like Frankenstein. As for tactile sensation, that's why I suggested nitrile gloves - they're almost like a second skin and very little of the sense of touch is impaired. So little in fact that there's no problem, at least for me, chopping onions while wearing them. I'd say that if you have sufficient knife skills and a good sharp knife, there wouldn't be an issue anyway.

The difference is that true scalloped potatoes contain no cheese, while gratin definitely contains cheese. I've always gone for the best of both worlds - the main body scalloped, and topped with gratinade (parmesan or similar sharp cheese and breadcrumbs, often with parsely or cilantro thrown in for a bit of flavour.)

I have no idea if it's available in your area, but what you're talking about is called Nata (the cream of the cream) in South America. It's available here in convenient shelf-stable tetra paks, since it's used in the preparation of traditional Tres Leches desserts. I use it in truffles to push them very close to the too rich line when I've got access to Mother of Chocolate, which is very bitter. However, I'm also with MJX - using Nata in panna cotta is going to push the dessert over into "argh, my stomach" territory.

Wear nitrile gloves when handling onions in any large quantity? I usually, shame-facedly, immerse my hands in a bowl of weak bleach solution for a minute or two when I forget the gloves and end up reeking like the wrong end of an ogre. It works like a charm.

Maybe I can find Konjac here, but it's not the most common of the Aroid crops. I'll take a boo in the specialty stores.

Harina Integral in English is actually Whole Wheat flour, and Harina de Fuerza is probably best translated as high-gluten flour. Regular bread flour has less gluten in it than Fuerza does. I've always had excellent luck with a potato, boiled and then riced, left in a standard bread flour sponge (1C water, 2C flour) on the counter, in my little stone crock which has an ill-fitting lid. It sours in about 3 days and provides a lovely rise.

I can't imagine using either a food processor or the KitchenAid (even though I have a Hobart model KA from the '60s) - simply because I tend to make 8+ pounds of bread at any one time, and that would kill both machines. I also find that there's something intangibly lacking from bread I haven't worked by hand. But that's just me.

Karri - you've just described my normal procedure when working with pearl gelatine. Jane - I've tried simply adding chutney to baked things, and the problem I keep coming up against is that the cooking time, even in a slow oven (325 F) required to properly set the cookie will invariably also burn the mango chunks. That's why I'm thinking of a way to add the chutney without having to bake it.

Ah, it was me not understanding; I'm used to softening gelatine in water before adding it to anything (I have access only to pearl gelatine). If I can add it straight to the chutney, I'm less concerned! I've always seen it spelt with an e at the end, but I suspect it's a British/Canadian English vs American English thing.

The chutney is indeed fully cooked, so I'll do as you suggest: puree, and try a small sample to see what happens. The worst is that I still have liquid chutney puree at the end of it, which I can always just spread on cheese or something. Thanks!

1 oz ginger panela syrup (byproduct of candying ginger) 1 oz fresh lime juice 2 oz Remy VSOP cognac hot water to fill the mug I have no idea what this even might be called, but it's faboo.

Food that Really Schmecks has the following kugel: 1 C broad noodles, cooked until tender then drained 3 TBSP flour 6 TBSP butter .25 to .5 lbs Cheese (they say cheddar) salt and pepper to taste 1.5 C milk 2 eggs, well-beaten Breadcrumbs enough to cover -- Cook the noodles Make a roux of the butter and flour, then add the milk and stir until it thickens. Add the cheese, grated, and stir until melted Add the well-beaten eggs to the sauce Place the noodles in a well-greased baking dish Pour the sauce overtop Top with breadcrumbs Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes. -- They say that you should bake this thing in a ring mould, bake it in a water bath, and fill the center with veggies. I say that's a lot of work for a kugel, and I make it in a ceramic casserole. I also usually add a bit of powdered aji pepper and cumin to it, but that's not strictly kugelous.