hensonville

Gumbo..."old fashioned", "real", "traditional" gefilte fish is just what it says i.e., stuffed fish. The contemporary balls or ovals are what the stuffing used to be. The old version is labor intensive and very decorative. You cut off the head and tail and saved them with some of the bones. You took out the insides and with some of the fish, eggs, onion, and matzoh meal you made a stuffing which you stuffed into the skin which had a little fish still attached. You then poached this in broth made from the head, etc. and soup vegetables. It was served whole. When sliced, it looks very nice because you have the stuffing surrounded by the outside of the fish. I made this once, and it took all day.

Superb nut cakes with no flour. Barley. Kasha. Zucchini. Sugar syrup. And, yes, Barbara Kafka with some time adjustment.

Timo...I wanted to tell you that I have been very pleased with hamentaschen filled with apricot and nuts. Most often I have started with dried apricots, but sometimes I have combined apricot jam with lots of chopped walnuts. Especially if you want a variety of fillings, this is good and very quick.

I must make ratatouille for twenty people. Would you please give me your advice on the method I should use? Do I need to saute everything separately and then layer it...ala Julia? Is there a simpler acceptable manner? Thanks.

Perhaps a coffee grinder would do the trick?

My suggestion: Boil the ground popy seed in milk. Add honey and a little lemon. Yum.

I just made two linzer torten using Trader Joe's 70% chocolate. Everything else was the same as always. The chocolate almost ruined my torten. If it hadn't been for the rasberry jam. they simply would have been bad. So I recommend not using this.

We often make flourless nut cakes...either with hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds. I grate the nuts on the smallest holes in my processor. I often add the juice and grated rind of an orange. In recent times I bake them in the microwave (Barbara Kafka except that I bake them a little longer.) They are very successful!

Has anyone been here? Is it good? Is it festive? Thanks

I happened to have stew at an Irish pub last evening. It was quite good, quite dark, and made with Guinness.

I would like respectfully to add a few historical footnotes. The Normans invaded England. They become the gentry. The Anglo-Saxons became the workers. The gentry ate and the workers produced. Thus, we eat beef from the French boeuf, but we grow cows, from the German kuehe. We eat mutton from the French mouton, but we grow sheep, from the German schaf. We eat pork, from the French porc, but we grow swine, from the German schwein. And so on. The French court and the French aristocracy dominated Europe culturally and, of course, geopolitically with Napoleon. The language of the Russian court and aristocracy was French. Viennese German is filled with French words. The Spanish chateaux are knockoffs of the French. The French dominated in cuisine as well as in many other areas. Thus, every aristocrat was familiar with French...language, fashion, manners. In this country, until recently, a very small portion of the population had access to a university education. Achieving a university education included familiarity with French language, terminology, manners, and food. Many, if not all, people who had a university education studied Latin. Few people travelled abroad. Many among the upper classes went to Europe as part of their education. In the last 40 years, all this changed. Many people attend universities. Language requirements have all but disappeared. And many people travel to Europe. European foods have become common in this country, and many more people have broader tastes and varied aspirations. At the same time, during the 1960s and after, a rejection of class became prevalent. So in some circles, it is an ideological point of pride to reject upper class symbols. The correct pronunciation can, by some people, connote class distinctions which they view with distaste. Where one puts one's self on this continuum is of course a matter of personal choice.

This is my favorite tilapia recipe. Mix cream cheese with quite a lot of parsley and dill. Spread this on the tilapia filets. Roll them up or fold them over. Sprinkle with lemon. Chop and saute some shallots. Jullienne a quantity of zucchinni. Add them to the shallots and stir them around a bit. Add Knorr vegetable boullion disolved in water. Add the fish packets and cook them gently for only a few minutes. Serve with rice. Hope you like it.

Please also consider insurance issues: workmen's compensation. personal injury, liability, etc. It's serious stuff.

Hi. Elizabeth...I just would like to remind you that in the US we have rather severe laws about having people work for no pay. In New York, the penalties are very steep. Just a thought. (Edit note--these posts were pulled from another thread and given its own. By me. Hensonville did not just start this, he followed up on Elizabeth considering a stage.)

I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated this thread. Thankyou all. I want now to post about two men I know. (I'll write about myself another time.) They were born in 1927 in New York, one in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx. Their mothers cooked and ate with the children; the fathers worked late. The boys were skinny. Meat was boiled to capture the blood, and the skinny boys drank this liquid. They drank a great deal of whole milk; after school it was drunk with cupcakes or Twinkies. They ate a pretty steady rotation of liver and onions, overcooked pot roast, baked chicken, and lamb chops. Canned peas and canned peas and carrots were common. A treat was canned spinach mixed with mashed potatoes. Red Jello with canned fruit cocktail in it was big as was Mytifine Chocolate pudding. They had treats from the bakery as well. They went out to Chinese restaurants on Sunday. They drank only a little and early. Manners were important. I write this because I think it so typifies an era and a group experience of New York of that time. Anyone else?