SethG

I had to visit the 7th Precinct the other day (it's at Broome and Pitt Streets, hard by the Williamsburg bridge), so I thought I'd stop at Kossar's Bialys on Grand Street and pick up a dozen. On my way there, I happened into a gourmet institution known as the Doughnut Plant. This little storefront had signs ouside touting its organic products with real shaved fresh coconut etc... and I thought, what the heck, may as well try a good donut while I'm here. And you know what? It was a pretty good donut. A little heavier than I prefer, but my beef is not with the quality of the product sold. My problem is with the price. This donut cost me two dollars. I later learned from a Lower East Side local that this shop is a sensation. They have donuts selling at gourmet markets around town, and in the Grand Street store, they regularly run out of donuts in the late morning and close up shop. What is wrong with New Yorkers? Are we insane? We will beat down the doors of an establishment selling admittedly better-than-average but hardly ambrosial donuts for two dollars each? I can understand that one must pay more for "artisinal" products, and I regularly do so for many such products. But I gotta tell ya, when it comes to donuts there's only so much artisinal improvement can do for you. It seems to me from my donut taste test that the diminishing returns come pretty quickly. Kossar's, two doors away, delivers pure bialy satisfaction for only 50 cents. Any improvement one could make in the bialy that would make it cost a lot more would be, to my mind, unjustified. Somebody please, flame me about my bad attitude. Call me a donut (or I should say "doughnut") philistine. But explain this ludicrous store to me in terms I can understand.

Sat nite: continued with my impromptu Penelope Casas weekend. Had veal chops with some sauteed mushrooms, piniento, and ham on top. Had some greenmarket corn along with it. Tasty, yes. But tonight I must make something lighter.

I would strongly recommend going with stainless rather than aluminum. Aluminum (non-anodized, as in the cheapo Chinatown stockpots) is very soft and if you go after it with a scouring pad or use metal implements it will scratch and, worse, turn everything in it gray. For about $8 more you should be able to get a stainless stockpot in the same size and it will be non-reactive and easier to deal with. Have a look at this topic for some discussion of the $30 Chefmate stockpots sold at Target. Oh. Nevermind.

FYI: I was in (Manhattan's) Chinatown yesterday and I stopped into a couple of the restaurant supply shops on Bowery (there's two of them on the west side of Bowery just two or three blocks north of Canal St.). There I found some aluminum 20 Qt. stockpots for about $22, as well as more expensive choices. The $22 model didn't appear to come with a lid, but they may have them-- I didn't buy because I was already loaded down with groceries. I might go back on Monday if I can figure out how I'm going to get the damn thing home.

No, I only have Casas' first book, "Food & Wine of Spain," if that's its name. I've been tempted many times to buy the tapas book and her regional cooking book ("Delicioso!"); I bet the tapas book is perfect for summer. I like the book I have; and the wine appendix is very useful.

Too pathetic to post? Tonight I made fried chicken for the first time in my life. I bought a cast iron skillet a few days ago, and after a few rounds of seasoning the pan, it seemed like frying something was in order. I'd had my eye on this Penelope Casas recipe for chicken that's poached, then coated with a bechamel sauce, and then fried. (It's called "Pollo Villeroy.") So I gave it a try, and everything went quite well until it came time to do the actual frying. I guess I put too much oil in the pan, and also made it too hot before putting in the chicken, because as soon as I put the chicken in the oil the pan started overflowing and the oil started flying everywhere. So I was getting spattered, the front of the oven and the floor in front of the oven were totally covered, and the chicken was browning VERY fast (it was done in seconds), so I could neither clean up nor avoid the flying hot oil. But in the end the dish came out quite nicely. Not the sort of thing I usually make. Very decadent, rich. A creamy bechamel beneath a light, fried, breaded surface. And I was more competent at poaching than at frying so the meat was nice and juicy. Oh, and there was also steamed broccoli and some rice.

I don't own a 16 or a 20 quart pot and I'm not about to go and get one. Do you think it would be practical to make a half batch (8 quarts) of chicken stock? I realize that this will reduce to just one quart, but that's one more quart than I have now. Will I risk too much reduction and burning (or anything else) by cutting the volume in half and leaving it on the stovetop overnight? Also, I happen to have saved up some chicken backs (and a few wings) in my freezer over the past few weeks just for the purpose of making stock. I was going to make it based on a recipe in one cookbook or another-- then I came upon the miracle that is the eGCI. I think I know your answer on this, Carolyn, and it may be different from the Fat Guy's, but I'm wondering if the backs will be sufficient or whether I should go out and buy some other chicken parts (i.e., thighs) if I want a good stock.

I just bought the 12" unseasoned Lodge, rubbed it all over with Crisco, put it in the oven, and THEN I found this thread. Now I wish I'd gone with the pre-seasoned! But since I've made the commitment, I want to benefit from others' experiences. Suzanne F, what was it that made your pan finally work out so well for you? Should I go get some bacon and give my pan a nightly rub-down & bake for a week? And then cook lots of bacon in it? I'm happy to make bacon every weekend for the sake of the pan, if that's what it takes.

God grant me the serenity to accept the bacon that has not been smoked; the courage to smoke the bacon that I can; and the wisdom to ask for seconds.

Last night's dinner: Badaami Murgh-- chicken cut into serving pieces, braised for an hour with Indian spices, tomato, onions and almonds. It was my first time making an almond butter. Simpler than I would have thought. And plain basmati rice.

Thanks for all the suggestions regarding the leftover dill, but after three bowls of cucumber soup in two days, I think I'm dilled out. And Rochelle: thanks for your reply regarding the meat thing. Eating meat but in limited quantities seems to be the most sensible way to go through life. I only wish I had that kind of discipline! I have to think you'll come around to braises eventually. What's not to love? Have you tried a beer braise? Beef, onions, beer and four hours in an oven equal heaven, imho.

Rochelle, just curious: Now that school's over, how has your thinking evolved on eating meat?

Saturday dinner: Had a few friends over. Served a summer meal: A sliced tomato and blue cheese salad A roasted chicken with fresh rosemary, garlic and lemon, allowed to cool to room temperature corn on the cob homemade potato salad (This was from Bobby Flay's show ("Boy Meets Grill"), aired this past Friday night. I was jealous of his grill, his smoker, and his rooftop deck with the Manhattan skyline view, so I made the only thing from the episode I could make, since I have no grill, smoker or rooftop deck. The potato salad was yummy-- has a mustard tang to it. Creamy but not too heavy.) and plain boiled asparagus, sprikled with fresh lemon juice. Sunday: leftovers! Plus a cucumber soup I made yesterday but which didn't seem to fit in anywhere. Edit: can anyone suggest what I should do with a mountain of leftover fresh dill?

Friday's dinner: Thai spicy beef noodles with lime leaf (for those of you reading this in Thailand, that's Gueyteow Pad Ki Mow). I'm trying to overcome my pregnant wife's vegetable aversions, so instead of just steaming some broccoli to go with the beef, I sauteed the broccoli with garlic, tumeric and salt (courtesy of Julie Sahni). I thought it was very tasty, but it was still broccoli, so my wife stopped after one spear.

I will be in the Dordogne region for a week in May with my wife and baby girl (world events notwithstanding), and we plan to spend one night in St. Emilion. Although we plan to drink plenty of wine while we're there, our trip is really designed more for relaxation in the countryside than for touring wine estates. I don't want to pass through Bordeaux and miss the wine buying opportunity of a lifetime, however, if such an opportunity is there. A few years ago we went to Tuscany and found that with a few wine touring guidebooks we could buy excellent wine-- from cheap table wines to relatively expensive Brunellos-- for less than half of what we would pay for such wines in the U.S. And we had a great time tasting the wines in local wine shops; all of the local sellers seemed eager to invite outsiders in to sample what they had and explore the wine in depth before it was bought. I get the impression that the Bordeaux region is not like this. And so I ask you experts (since we are very far from experts)-- is it worth buying wine in Bordeaux? Will we see lower prices there than we would see in the U.S.? If so, are the bargains big enough that it's worth buying a bunch and shipping it home? Are there welcoming places to sample and purchase wines outside of the individual producers themselves? (And please name some of these places.) Or now that I've been doing some reading on the various wines of the region, should I just look for the best bargains on the web here at home?

This review of the Oyster Bar is politely, even regretfully negative. But worst (i.e., most negative) review ever? That's a good question. Anyone who's been around a while will remember how Ruth Reichl savaged the Box Tree after they mishandled her reservation-- and then served her terrible, and terribly expensive, food. It doesn't appear to be on the NY Times site; how I wish I could read it again. Anyone have some enjoyably nasty reviews that can be found (and linked to) on the web?