SethG

I vote for the gourmet food products at Williams-Sonoma.

Cookie update: these cookies are really very tasty. We had some friends over this morning, and we've been devouring them. Last night, I was thinking that glorified Fig Newtons ain't worth the trouble, but today I'm wishing I had the fortitude to see all 5 dozen cookies through to completion. Maybe I'll make the rest in a few weeks. Edit: we've been devouring the cookies, not the friends!

Oh, I'm not sorry I tried them! One of the fun things abut this little project is that you get turned on to things you might never try on your own. I tried vainly to emulate your cookie presentation, arbuclo.

Ugh, I don't think I'm a cookie kind of guy. These cookies came out fine, but God what a pain. Rolling, shaping, cutting, section after section, cookie after cookie, I couldn't take it any more! Into the freezer went slightly less than half the dough and the filling. They taste good.

Here and here. That should get you most all of them.

I think it's the only brownie recipe in the book, right? Best Brownies Ever, or something like that? If I can get some dried figs today, I'll be trying to knock out some cookies this evening. Not sure when I'll do the brownies.

This thread is one of those examples of exactly why eGullet is such a fabulous place. I'm going to make paprika chicken tonight, a la Fifi's Crock Pot technique. I'm going to get some new paprika just for the occasion, too. A question: About how long did you leave it on high, Fifi?

This description really made me laugh. Is it common opera-speak?

I topped some focaccia dough with a heaping pile of my onion confit last night. So good. Thanks again, people.

I just looked at amazon.com and pbs.org, and it seems the shows are not for sale. Brownies sound good to me. Should that be next? Maybe brownies and X cookies? Arbuclo's picture makes me really want to try them out.

Confit! Thanks to all of you for this recipe. It was my new crock pot's maiden voyage. I used about 3 pounds onions; half a stick of butter; 1/4 cup EVOO, 3 tablespoons of cheap port, and five or six ice cubes of reduced beef stock I made a couple weeks ago. I cranked the pot up to high at midnight last night and never looked back. It was done late this morning, reduced to about a pint of onions with little liquid left in the pot. I have mixed feelings about the use of beef stock/demi glace. On the one hand, the beefy flavor it imparts makes the confit less versatile. I don't know if I would use these onions for an alsatian tart or with pork chops. On the other hand, the aroma that filled my Brooklyn apartment today was out of this world. I took my daughter to preschool in the morning, a fifteen minute walk from our place, and I swear I could still smell that confit cooking when we arrived at her school. And on bread... I can't describe it. Really good. Edited to add the port.

No steam, sorry. That's some kind of wierd reflection on the lens. I think I got too close to the loaves-- the egg wash created such a glossy shine! They were great, though, thanks. Especially as French toast. Fantastic as French toast. Those muffins look perfect.

Two new books for me: Mexico One Plate At a Time, Rick Bayless; and Paris Sweets, Dorie Greenspan.

Those potato loaves look tremendous! I thought about doing all sorts of fancy things with my brioche dough, but this morning I just got lazy and baked 'em in loaves. They were great. We gobbled one up and tomorrow the other one will become French toast. I know that today's loaves don't really discharge my brioche obligations, but I froze 1/3 of the dough, and when I'm feeling ambitious I'll defrost it and bake it twice.

I haven't had a bowl of either Progresso or Campbell's soup for a while. Is GG Mora right? Does anyone else agree that Progresso's soups don't taste like they used to? I don't really care if they're better or worse. I'm just amazed that either Progresso or Campbell's soups might have changed. I think of these products as being like... Heinz ketchup, tabasco sauce, or Coca-Cola (now that one's changed over the years, but you get the point).

I'm looking forward to seeing the potato loaves. I'm sure you guys will get better torpedo shapes than I did. I want to try again and see if I can get closer to the football shape in the pictures in the book. I made some brioche dough tonight. It's in the fridge now, and I guess I'll make some twice baked brioche. Or I might just bake a plain brioche loaf. And I'm thinking about freezing some of the dough, or making some savory brioche pockets (p. 421). Between the brioche and the potato loaves, I've given my mixer a workout this week, but it seems to have handled it okay. And Kirsten, I admire you for trying the cheesecake again! Looks good.

Arbuclo: I'm speechless.

FatTony, you may have made history. Is this our first thread about grilling?

Rhea, your "major disaster" looks pretty appetizing! Your creative fixes seem to have worked miracles. The potato loaves are still fair game as far as I'm concerned. Don't skip it because I went ahead already. Maybe I'll finally catch up on brioche this weekend. Somebody other than me should decide what the consensus is.

Um, I believe there's a little town called Mainz, Germany that has permanent rights to that title.

Sorry, Kirsten. That sucks. I made the cheesecake, and it tastes great-- but I did have a problem. The recipe calls for you to bake and cool, then flip the sucker over onto its top and put the crumbs on the bottom, and then flip it once again onto its bottom. This procedure is fraught with peril. I don't know what I did wrong-- maybe I didn't cool it long enough (?)-- but the top of my cake stuck to the board onto which I flipped it. I found this out when I flipped it back onto its bottom, and a few pieces from the top broke off my cake and stayed with the board. So I lost my smooth, shiny top. This had no effect on the taste, and I stuck the pieces back on, but it still pissed me off royally. I forgot to take a pic when the cake was whole, although it's just as well. It's tough to take a good picture of a chocolate cheesecake. Some of you may prove me wrong. Here's a pic of the partially eaten cheesecake: Forget the picture, it tasted great, although (and this is just me) I prefer plain New York cheesecake to any flavored cheesecake I've ever tried. Give me none of that fruit syrup, either. I just want that wonderful, creamy white cake. Just like they make it at Junior's. I'll be glad to take any of you baking buddies there if you make a trip to Brooklyn! I also cheated, and made the rustic potato loaves yesterday: Now these were a great success. They expand a lot in no time, and look very impressive when done. They taste good too, although the "rustic" in the name is really just the look. This is a very quick-rise white bread with some potato in it. The flavor is given depth by the potatoes, but otherwise it tastes pretty much like white sandwich bread. I think this would be a good bread to do a little experimenting with. Maybe add some rye or whole wheat flour, or use a little sourdough starter for flavor-- this would make it a more convincing faux-artisanal bread. I'm just rambling on. The potato loaves were great. Tremendous results given the really minimal time involved.

I always try new recipes on guests/family. I'm always learning and trying new things (in my case, until a couple years ago everything was new), and I love sharing them with people. I've never had it completely blow up in my face. Sometimes I end up in the kitchen more and for longer than I'd planned.

Gosh, Rhea, what do you do for a living? It seems odd to have a "professional" title and yet have such rigid requirements regarding your time on the clock, breaks, and such. P.S. I'm glad someone else is in on the cheesecake.

So, what do you guys think-- cheesecake, or something else?

Kirsten, chocolate was your suggestion-- and you called it first!-- so my belief is we should do the cheesecake. The cake looks pretty simple, for a cheesecake. No fussy crumbs or toppings to contend with. And it looks really tasty. So I'd be in for the cheesecake. I happen to have an eight inch springform, but it's actually 3.5 inches high! It will still work, right? I like the fact that the cake can be frozen-- I may make the cake, then freeze half of it for later. Also, I would caution anyone who hasn't put a springform pan into a water bath before: wrap the outside of the pan in a double layer of foil. Otherwise water may seep into your pan. This ought to be mentioned in the recipe, but it isn't.