gus_tatory

bushey--i don't know what you mean by 'light'--i.e., light in colour, low fat, non-filling, etc. having said that, i'd go for the simplest most elegant route and just reduce some french shallots, tarragon, white wine, almost to dry, and then reduce some 15% cream in that until velvety. pinch of nutmeg? small splash of Pernod-Ricard? you decide... :-)

absolutely, KatieLoeb~! i too have noticed these side benefits of flaxseed oil--no more split and cracking nails, heals winter dry scalp, etc. i also take salmon oil and borage oil for omega 3s. i use flaxseed in cooking by adding 1-2 TBLSP to my buckwheat waffles recipe, same amount to a bread-machine loaf, and the baked goods acquire this wonderful nutty smell as they finish up cooking. good stuff~!

i don't know about the olives/lead thing, sorry, but as someone unfamiliar with Californian/American food labelling, are they--in your opinion--doing this to avoid litigation or because they are wildly over-sensitive? perhaps both...

wow--so are the Kiwis total afficionados of the butter and brandy school of cooking? because if so i'm moving there. now. i also remember him as being the first "tv chef" who i saw put an unfinished plate into a bottom oven, then magically (i was about 7-8 years old, okay?), he'd take a finished plate out of the top oven. that was showmanship.

oh thank goodness! when i first saw this topic i thought he had shuffled off this mortal coil. Graham Kerr was the first cooking show i ever watched, as a 7-year-old boy, and whoa, was he debonair. from dumping prodigious quantities of wine/cognac/whatever into nearly eveything he prepared, to his (just short of) lecherous eye when inviting the ladies from the crowd to sample the cuisine, the Galloping Gourmet is etched into my food-related consciousness. i saw him a few years ago, promoting (i suppose it was inevitable) lower fat and lower sodium cooking, on another show perhaps. and while this is admirable and a sign of the times, i prefer to remember him drenching everything in butter and brandy, like in the good old days.

i would certainly hope that the inherent good in the fruits & veg would out-weigh the bad of the pesticides? but to echo FabulousFoodBabe above, there's a saying in Quebec French: "il faut ben mourrir de quelque chose"--> you've gotta die of something...

OK, i guess i have to talk my friend out of eating there for his 40th birthday. it sounds dismal lately... maybe i'll just direct him to this thread...

hi honeye22 and welcome to eGullet~! i have only tried lychees either fresh or in cans as well, but you got me thinking! i bet you they would be delightful in something bland and milky, like a baked custard or a creme brulee--and you could add lychee liqueur... mmm...

have you tried the soupe soup outlets, either on st-viateur or duluth? they have good seasonal soups, but it may be, well it is, too early for fresh local tomatoes...

and what kind of way would that be?

"acid refluxily yours" best. signoff. ever.

(blushes; has never been called a mensch before. thanks! it's just consideration...) OK, so say i'm planning a dinner party, and i've gauged the degree of 'observancy' of my kosher-keeping friends. what are some of my first decisions, re: menu planning? --i have to decide if it's a dairy or meat meal, because it can't be both. so if i make courgette-potato latkes w/ sour cream, there can be no meat in the meal? --but i could maybe serve like a wine-poached salmon (oh wait: is wine kosher?)... umm, got any tips on dinner party planning for kosher-keepers?

finally, a thread where i can ask forum members to answer my goyim questions re: feeding my kosher-keeping friends. what a relief. --do some people tend to view mayonnaise as dairy or treyf? why is this, as there is no dairy in it? --why are bagels ok for some, even though they are leavened, for shabat? --is pita bread (unleavened?) kosher? --how would you define pareve and treyf? i know "pareve" generally means safe, right? but "treyf" can even be something like picking a flower on shabat. or a roasting chicken with one wing missing, no? all i want to achieve is a nice meal on friday night for observant friends... maybe in my kitchen it can't be done...

slightly off topic, but germane to conversation i think: what do you call (in Cantonese or Mandarine) that fresh, hot, soft tofu that is served at the end of dimsum with warm ginger syrup on it? dao-fu ___? thanks in advance...

nope Soba, you're not weird for liking ketchup. i'm with Pan in the "ingredient in a sauce" camp. i don't dislike it so much, it's just that alone, it's too sweet, like tomato jam, and one-note tasting. if you made it thicker, chunkier, with much less sugar and much more peppers and veg (and here i am describing chili sauce or chutney, hehe), i would subscribe to that. so i guess for me it's that if ketchup were the same and yet totally different, i would be all over it. edit to say: and yeah, if you added some basil or flat-leaf parsley, it would be even better.

MaeveH-- if the kids like Chinese food--and i'm sure you can find SOMEthing they'll eat--kids are really well tolerated/treated at Beijing in Chinatown. you could also take them for dim sum on the weekend at Ruby Rouge or Kam Fung: that's enough of a pandemonium already that a few unruly kids would fit right in... good luck!

Gifted-- check Rachel perlow's recipe for goi cuon: here...

Excellent article; thanks Elie! This short quote sums up why i asked the question in the first place: "Enzyme" is one of those words that people toss around without knowing what it means. Put down this newspaper for a moment and ask the person nearest you what an enzyme is. (I'll wait.) Odds are that you'll hear something vague, like "one of those tiny little things that keep us healthy."

this surprises me too. i mean it's a food magazine. at the news stand. that costs about 5$. and some people here obviously take great pleasure in dissing it. i don't get it.

i have a friend who is insisting on having a 40th birthday meal there. is it getting better, i hope? maybe the summer seafood menu will be featured... fingers crossed, indeed.

Spinach, Fennel Bulb & Mussel Cream Soup A gorgeous and subtle soup that can: --be finished/altered in any number of ways, and --can make a complete meal with, say, a rye bread and brie grilled cheese. 1 pkg fresh spinach (about 4 cups, pressed) 1 kg cultivated mussels (1 mesh bag, or about 2.5 lbs.) 1/4 c butter 1 c water 1 T flour 1 c 35% cream 1/4 c Pernod 1 c white wine 3 garlic 1 T fennel or anise seeds (*not* star anise) 1 bulb fennel 1 onion 1/4 c olive oil In large skillet/marmite over medium-high, heat olive oil. Add onions and garlic and sweat them, avoid browning. Add bulb fennel, chopped, and anise seed/fennel seed. When onions transluscent, add spinach and cover for 5-7 mins, turning heat down to low. Remove cooked fennel bulb/spinach and seasonings to a bowl. In same pot, add water and white wine over high heat. Pick through mussels to eliminate open ones that don't close when tapped on counter. When liquid boils, add mussels and cover for 10 minutes. Remove mussels to bowl and turn heat off broth. Reserve and strain mussel broth to eliminate sand/shells. In same pot, add butter and flour over medium heat and stir for about 5 minutes, to make a blonde roux. Add cream and whisk until thick and smooth. Add shelled mussels and spinach mixture, stirring. Add Pernod and stir 2-3 minutes. Puree partially, totally, or not at all, as desired. If too thick, thin with bottled clam juice. Serve sprinkled with flat leaf parsley or basil oil. Keywords: Soup, Blender, Seafood, Healthy Choices, Easy ( RG1278 )

Spinach, Fennel Bulb & Mussel Cream Soup A gorgeous and subtle soup that can: --be finished/altered in any number of ways, and --can make a complete meal with, say, a rye bread and brie grilled cheese. 1 pkg fresh spinach (about 4 cups, pressed) 1 kg cultivated mussels (1 mesh bag, or about 2.5 lbs.) 1/4 c butter 1 c water 1 T flour 1 c 35% cream 1/4 c Pernod 1 c white wine 3 garlic 1 T fennel or anise seeds (*not* star anise) 1 bulb fennel 1 onion 1/4 c olive oil In large skillet/marmite over medium-high, heat olive oil. Add onions and garlic and sweat them, avoid browning. Add bulb fennel, chopped, and anise seed/fennel seed. When onions transluscent, add spinach and cover for 5-7 mins, turning heat down to low. Remove cooked fennel bulb/spinach and seasonings to a bowl. In same pot, add water and white wine over high heat. Pick through mussels to eliminate open ones that don't close when tapped on counter. When liquid boils, add mussels and cover for 10 minutes. Remove mussels to bowl and turn heat off broth. Reserve and strain mussel broth to eliminate sand/shells. In same pot, add butter and flour over medium heat and stir for about 5 minutes, to make a blonde roux. Add cream and whisk until thick and smooth. Add shelled mussels and spinach mixture, stirring. Add Pernod and stir 2-3 minutes. Puree partially, totally, or not at all, as desired. If too thick, thin with bottled clam juice. Serve sprinkled with flat leaf parsley or basil oil. Keywords: Soup, Blender, Seafood, Healthy Choices, Easy ( RG1278 )

wow--thanks folks. this information only motivates me to learn more. fascinating...

it seems we routinely hear such things in regular 'foodie' conversation, such as: --if the food supply starts to become more irradiated (for shelf life purposes) our food will have fewer enzymes; --'raw' food is better because it has more active enzymes; --if you brew green tea with too hot water, or microwave veggies, you will lose their beneficial enzymes; --the further market veggies are harvested from your house, the fewer enzymes they will have. ('living' food.) i have re-read my McGee (On Food & Cooking) and my Larousse Gastronomique under several headings (bread, beer, carbohydrates) in search of these elusive enzymes. several are fairly obvious, like papain (the papaya enzyme used to tenderize meat) and lutein. but what are these enzymes (literal translation: 'in yeast'), and what is it that kills them (over-processing)? i ask in the spirit of curiousity and learning, but also because i am getting tired of certain proponents telling me my food may be 'dead', or enzyme-free by the time i get it. my apologies for starting a food-science nerd discussion, but i find this interesting. what is this enzyme business? anyone with food-chemistry background--or not--is warmly welcomed to this thread...

i already said this on another thread, but the fish carpaccio there is a sheer delight. and sf&m: please report back if/when you get to Jun i--i am looking forward to trying the place!