s'kat

Fresh Baguette Serves 12 as Side. I've made this recipe for quite sometime now. I think it may have come from an old issue of Gourmet or Bon Appetit, but I can't remember. 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons) 1 tsp sugar 1-1/2 c water (105°Ð115° F) 4–4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2-1/2 tsp salt In a large bowl sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups flour until combined. Stir in salt and 2 cups of remaining flour until mixture forms a stiff dough. On a lightly floured surface knead dough with lightly floured hands until smooth and elastic (about 7 minutes), kneading in enough of remaining 1/2 cup flour to keep dough from sticking. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled deep bowl, turning to coat with oil, and let rise (bowl covered with plastic wrap and placed in draft-free area) until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 475-500-degrees. Punch down dough and form into a long slender loaf about 21 inches long and 3 inches wide. You can also form individual mini-loaves. Put loaf diagonally on a lightly greased large or 17- by 14-inch baking sheet and let rise, uncovered, about 30 minutes. (Baguette may be made up to this point 4 hours ahead and chilled.) Make 3 or 4 diagonal slashes on loaf with a razor and lightly brush top with cool water. Bake loaf in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until golden and sounds hollow when tapped, and transfer to a rack to cool. Notes: For a chewy interior and perfect, crusty exterior, place a dutch oven filled with water in oven as it preheats for about an hour. The humid enviroment will ensure the texture comes out right. Baking stones don't hurt either. If you don't want to put water into the oven, you can use a spray mister to keep the enviroment moist. Spritz only during the first half of baking time. Keywords: Bread ( RG324 )

Mediterranean Tuna Sandwich Serves 2 as Main Dish. This is loosely based upon that wonderful street sandwich, the pan bagnat. This one is a bit less fussy, and incredibly delicious. Canned tuna works very well here, but if have some leftover fresh tuna, it's worth using. 1/4 c olive oil salt & pepper, as desired 1/2 c red wine or balsamic vinegar 1 red onion, sliced very thinly 1 can tuna (try to use the whole chunk, not shredded) capers, rinsed, to taste sliced kalamata or green olives, to taste 1 fresh tomato, sliced 1/4-inch thick (or several cherry tomatoes) leafy greens (romaine hearts or spinach work well) fresh bread (I use italian, slightly hollowed out to create a pocket) Using a small bowl, mix olive oil and red wine vinegar together. Place onions in mixture, add s&p, and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. When ready, set out bottom slice of bread, drizzle thinly with the oil-vinegar mixture, and layer onions. Follow with capers and olives, tuna, tomato, leaf greens, drizzled lightly with oil-vinegar mixture and top slice of bread. Squish everything together and let sit for a few minutes while you clean up, bring plenty of napkins, this is one messy sandwich! Note: this can be made several hours ahead, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to allow flavours to mingle. I've never had this much self-control. Keywords: Easy, Main Dish, Fish, Lunch ( RG323 )

It looks like I'll be here next month for a business conference. I'm dragging my husband along with me so that we can have a weekend-long mini-vacation. Any restaurants you would care to recommend.... or 'things-to-do'? Thanks for your input.

Cheese-Wrapped Olives (Bollitas) Serves 7 as Appetizer. These savory little appetizers are geared to please the olive-lover in the crowd. Can be frozen before baking. If doing so, place directly into oven from freezer and extend the baking time by just a few minutes. Recipe from a clipping, author unsourced. 1 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 T unsalted butter, softened 1/4 tsp paprika or cayenne pepper 1/2 c flour 2 4 garlic-jalapeno stuffed olives (or pimento-stuffed green olives) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In bowl of food processor, combine cheese, butter, paprika/cayenne, and flour. Process until smooth. Take about 1 Tablespoon of crumbly dough and place in the palm of your hand. Place one of the olives in middle of dough. Cup your hand to begin fixing dough around olive. Roll between palms of hands until dough is smoothly wrapped around olive. Sometimes the dough gets a little crumbly, rolling faster helps a bit, and you can stick dough onto any'naked' areas and roll until smooth. Repeat until all olives have been wrapped. Place onto oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Due to the amount of cheese in the batter, these will be rather greasy when they emerge from the oven. Remove from baking sheet and place between paper towels to remove excess grease. Note: Upon making these recently, I discovered that the preferred method should be to freeze these on a baking tray for about 3-4 hours before baking. This allows the texture of the 'dough' to remain firm around the balls when baking. Of course if you don't have the time, they are still just as tasty the first way... the balls just don't hold up quite as well in the oven. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Appetizer, Easy ( RG309 )

Brie Stuffed Jacket Potatoes Serves 2 as Side. In an internet quest for the recipe for Brie-mashed potatoes, I came upon these little gems. I was only baking for two, so only used two potatoes, however, I forgot to scale down the remaining ingredients, which were slated to feed four (using 4 potatoes). My husband and I both agreed that these were the best things upon the plate tonight. From igourmet.com. 2 baked potatoes 3 oz brie cheese, de-rinded,room temp 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg yolk 2 oz butter, room temp freshly chopped chives Slice off the top of each potato and scoop out the flesh, leaving behind a potato skin jacket ready for filling. Mix together potato flesh, Brie, salt, egg yolk and butter. Beat until well mixed, and return mixture to potato skins. Place upon a baking sheet, or preferably a baking stone. Put into a 375-degree oven for 15 minutes, or until filling is golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped chives. Keywords: Side, Easy, Potatoes ( RG308 )

Rolled Flank Steak with Green Olives and Oregano Serves 4 as Main Dish. Mario Batali: "This is my variation on the San-whomever-festival staple that is served across the United States wherever there are Italian-American communities. During New York's festa di San Gennaro tens of thousands of paesanos descend on Little Italy to consume mass quantities of food prepared in the Napolitano tradition. Having tasted the real things in Napoli, it's sad to see such poorly prepared food, because the originals are exemplars of Italian cooking." from Simple Italian Food. 3 c basic tomato sauce 1 c green Italian olives (preferably Ascolane) 3 T chopped fresh oregano leaves 1/2 c freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese 1 c finely chopped Italian parsley 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1-3/4 lbs beef flank steak, sliced into 8 thin scallops salt and pepper, to taste flour, for dusting 1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 c dry red wine In a medium saucepan, combine the tomato sauce, olives, and 2Tablespoons of the oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer while you assemble the braciole. In a mixing bowl, mix the cheese, parsley, and nutmeg until well blended. Lay the pieces of steak out on a board and season with salt and pepper. Divide the cheese mixture evenly over the beef, spreading to form a thin layer on top of each piece. Roll up each piece like a jelly roll and tie securely with a piece of butcher's twine. Season with salt and pepper and roll in flour to coat lightly. In a 12-14 inch skillet, heat the olive oil until smoking. Place 4 rolled steak pieces at a time in the skillet and brown evenly, rolling with tongs or a wooden spoon. Transfer to a plate and repeat with 4 remaining rolls. Pour off the cooking oil. Return the skillet to the heat and add the wine, stirring the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Add the simmering tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Add the beef rolls and simmer uncovered 10-15 minutes, until the meat is cooked through. Remove the meat to a heated platter, pour the sauce over, and garnish with the remaining tablespoon of oregano. Keywords: Main Dish, Italian, Intermediate, Beef, Dinner ( RG307 )

Judy's Eggplant Parm Serves 4 as Main Dish. This is my mother-in-law's eggplant parm, and it is incredible. Simple ingredients yield a dish filled with complexity of flavors. While it is easy to prepare, it takes some time to fry all of that eggplant! It is definately worth the results. Serve with some bread or foccacia to soak up those wonderful juices. This dish can also be assembled aheah of time, and refrigerated until ready to pop in the oven. It also freezes well (unbaked). 3 pounds eggplant olive oil flour, spread out on bowl/plate 2 c canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, well-drained and coarsely chopped (or use fresh if in season) 1 T olive oil sea salt 3/4 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced 10 leaves basil, to taste butter, for smearing dish 1/2 c freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese Slice eggplant lengthwise 3/8-inch thick. Salt both sides, and stack upright in colander. Set colander in sink, or set in tray to catch drippings. Let sweat for 30 minutes. Remove and pat eggplant dry. Place olive oil in pan, about 1 1/2 inches worth. Heat until oil is quite hot, but not smoking. Dredge eggplant on both sides in flour. Place in pan, not overlapping, until golden brown. Flip and continue frying until other side is golden brown. Remove, drain, and place on paper towels. Repeat with remaining eggplant. Meanwhile, as eggplant is being fried, place tomatoes, salt and olive oil in another pan. Turn to low, or low-medium, and let simmer as you fry the eggplant. Cook down until tomatoes are reduced by half. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Smear bottom and sides of (approximately 11X7 baking dish, ceramic preferred) baking dish with butter. Place a single layer, overlapping, of eggplant in bottom of dish. Dot with cooked tomato. Cover with layer of mozzarella, sprinkle quite liberally with grated parm, and snip basil leaves across. Repeat process, finishing with a layer of eggplant on top. Sprinkle with remaining parm and place dish in upper third of oven. Check dish after 20 minutes. If there is too much liquid being released, remove excess with spoon. Cook for another 15 minutes. Let rest before serving. Keywords: Intermediate, Dinner, Main Dish, Vegetarian, Cheese, Italian ( RG306 )

...be in too much of a hurry while making up cookie dough. While washing dishes, sorting out my prep work for the next meal, and sweeping up the floor, I was tossing items into my KitchenAid and letting her rip. Unfortunatley, my last toss was a nice little quarter cup of powdered cocoa. I should really know at this point you always start slow, but I slammed the lever back to high... and ended up with a nice dusting of cocoa powder across the walls, cabinets, ceiling, the dishes, myself, the cat...

Mamster, you bad, bad man! That said, I'm pretty sure we have a local, thriving black market for such things. Must investigate this.

Hear, hear: we'll play nice.

When I was a little kid and lived on PB&J's, even I wouldn't touch that stuff. There are some things that just shouldn't live in the same bottle with each other.

Vienna sausages. When my mother was pregnant with my sister, she went through a little phase with these things. To this day, the very memory of that scent just sickens me.

Brilliantly, and comically, done! I have sent this off to a couple of girlfriends, and one guy friend, who will certainly get a giggle from this.

Just in case anybody references this at some future point, Charlottesville is filled to the brim with awesome little casual joints, as well as quality dining. Two cases in point: Sticks, an incredible little kebab shop that uses organic, locally produced foods, and Tastings of Charlottesville, a wine store/wine bar/restaurant that was fabulous. My husband and I had such a great time eating and drinking during our short little journey, that we have already planned a return trip with our dinner-club companions for a weekender 'restaurant vacation'.

I've got 42 cooking books that I have purchased or been given. I wasn't sure if I should add the 4 3-ring binders of print-outs and clippings that seem to accumulate around me.

My first introduction to Sauvignon Blancs was Cloudy Bay, and I've been hooked ever since. Favourites now include Goldwater 2001, Lofthouse 2000, House of Nobilo 2001, Frog's Leap 2000, Alan Scott 2000, Sacred Hill ... I think it was a 2001. That's my short list. I'd have to consult my husband for the long one. *cheers* --->edited to add one more to the list: Spottswoode 2000.

I printed out each and every recipe last weekend with the greatest intentions of making at least one. I was chagrined when I got home from work and discovered that I had left said recipes sitting on my desk. I ended up making a batch of Ghirardhelli brownies, as they kindly put the recipe right on the package. I've made these before, and they're good, but as an acquaintance so rightfully put it, "I'm a brownie floozy". I have also just found a place locally that sells bars of the bittersweet Scharffen Berger chocolate. Yep- its destined for the brownie pan.

When I was a wee, fresh-faced young lass of 18, I had the opportunity to spend three years in the Netherlands. I remember being shocked at the difference in not only meal sizes, but specifically, how small every beverage I ordered seemed. I couldn't believe that these hardy, tall Dutch folks subsisted on 'so little'. It was even more taxing to go through reverse culture-shock when I had to return to the States. I suspiciously eyed the ridiculously enormous supermarkets and super shopping centers with distate. I was very annoyed when I ordered a beverage, and the smallest glass they could come up with was the size of a tennis-ball can. It took me years to get over it. Unfortunately, I did, and now shop at Costco regularly.

My husband feels exactly the same way, and he almost always has leftovers. I've never had a problem with leftovers, or re-using them either the next day or later in the week. I've always been somewhat suspicious of food that has been sitting in the fridge for too long, so I will often freeze my leftovers (if they are freezeable), and have them for a future lunch or dinner.

hjshorter: Oh, I am interested. I'd love to see this recipe, please! stellabella: I had actually printed that out earlier, and have noted the chocolates I'll need on my shopping list. The stores here don't have much variety: I use Ghirardelli for now, but keep hoping to see something more interesting displayed on the shelves one day.

Suvir, I am anxiously awaiting your report.

Beautiful! I had done a search, but obviously not right, as I didn't hit this pot of gold. Thanks!

I have decided that it is absolutely necessary to bake brownies at some point this weekend, but I think I would like to try something new. Who has a great brownie recipe for me?

"Fine Cooking has more of the recipes that might appeal here, in RecipeZaar there's far too much of the "mix cream of crap soup with a bucket of velveeta and decorate with Jell-O" kinda stuff. You've got to mine an awful lot of rock to find a few diamonds." I certainly won't argue with you on that account, but at this point I'm pretty familiar with the more sophisticated chefs. I've just discovered recently that many of them had been (and still do) hang out on Fine Cooking.

I like Fine Cooking(there are recipes linked to the main page, but if you go into the forums and use the search function, you can really find some great stuff), and my first internet recipe experience came from Recipezaar. I still pluck recipes from certain chefs on there.