Ling

mini chocolate cakes

^I get the cornish game hens from Don and Joe's and they're about 2.5 lbs. each.

The prize is my utmost respect for your Googling skills and undying gratitude. THANKS SO MUCH!

Hi everyone! I am looking for the I'O restaurant in Maui's recipe for Thai Asparagus soup. It is for someone's birthday, and that is one of their favourite dishes. I was wondering if anyone had this issue of Bon Appetit kicking around, and if you could post or PM me the recipe. I would be very grateful if someone could help!

I do like the almond croissants at Colville better than Besalu, but Besalu, imo, makes the best morning pastries overall in Seattle. I do love the pain au chocolat at Besalu, but I didn't get one at Colville.

Sorry for the late reply--yes, I believe I did basically follow the Batali recipe (except for things like baking time...I remember it taking quite a bit longer than the time specified in the recipe, and I even pulled it out of the oven when it was still a bit gooey in the center.)

You hit a number of great spots. I'm glad you enjoyed the Peking duck at Master Hung's, and your evening at Mistral!

Joule's grand opening is this Saturday. (Friday is F&F.)

One question: I read online that they're open continuously from lunch til dinner--is this correct? I was hoping to go there in the afternoon sometime so we wouldn't have to wait so long for our food. (Not that I mind, but my friends might mind waiting an hour for their plate.)

Lorna & Henry, are you getting ready for your trip to Las Vegas? Have you decided where you're going to eat?? As for me, I'll be in Las Vegas in mid-Nov. Unfortunately, Payard is scheduled to open one week after I leave, on Nov. 20 ... Please enjoy your time in Las Vegas, with a full report, of course. And photos ... ← We just got back very late last night. To sum up: Jean Phillipe > Lenotre (and the other place in Paris, called La Boulangerie). I didn't even feel tempted to buy anything at Lenotre. The pastries were very sloppy looking (dripping glazes, croissants didn't look particularly flaky) and they were much too large and very dated in presentation. 3 course at Boulud was a pretty good deal. Henry's DB burger was nothing special, but the fish with saffron, grapes and cauliflower was very nice. Appetizers were fine, desserts lacking. Bellagio breakfast/lunch buffet (they turned the food when we were eating, so we got to try both) was pretty decent buffet food, especially since it was only $15/pp for breakfast. L'Atelier was a bit disappointing. 4 of the courses were very good/excellent. The rest was forgettable. Bouchon--service was laughable, the quiche was fantastic, and everything else was OK/good. Mesa Grill--only got 2 apps, but they were fine. Better than I expected. I guess I had low expectations. Guy Savoy bar--the food was very good. I wish we put together a 'small bite' tasting menu here ourselves instead of eating at L'Atelier.

Well, the inspiration came from the caramel nut tart in Suzanne Goin's Sunday dinner at Lucques book, but you're right, I just winged it. So basically, I made some pate sucre, lined the tart pan and weighted it, then baked it at 375 for 15 minutes and then took out the weights and baked it until the bottom was golden brown (another 10 minutes or so.) I caramelized some sugar (about 4 cups? This is for 2 tarts) and then when it becomes a medium golden brown (the recipe says 310 degrees but I'm not sure what mine was, I just kept it on the stove until it looked right), add heavy cream (perhaps 1.5 cups?) and a stick of butter. I reduced it the mixture a bit over low heat. Then, I added several pinches of salt (I just kept tasting it until I thought there was enough.) I sprinkled some salt on the nuts, then toasted them in the oven (about 4.5 cups of nuts, mostly macadamia, pinenuts, and walnuts, plus a few pecans) and stirred that into the caramel. Then I poured the caramel nut mixture into the tart shells. I remember Suzanne's recipe saying you had to refrigerate the tarts, but I didn't and they sliced nice and neatly the next morning. I served them with Valrhona sauce and the vin de noix cream (Abra gave me a lovely bottle she made and I used perhaps a tablespoon or two in the whipped cream.) But the tart is delicious on its own! Some minor differences between what I did and what Suzanne's recipe says to do...she uses more sugar and no butter in her caramel. I had to use the butter to temper the sweetness. I also used more nuts and more salt so the tart was more "nutty" as opposed to super sweet from the caramel. My version is plenty sweet already, though! I apologize I don't have exact proportions for you, but I did have about a 2/3 cup of excess caramelly nuts, which I just spread on the excess pate sucree I baked. Good snack!

Tri2cook: That's a stunning cake! Did you come up with the recipe yourself? Here's a caramel nut tart (pinenuts, macadamia, walnuts, pecans). I'm going to serve it with a Valrhona chocolate sauce and vin de noix cream tonight, although I probably won't have time to take a picture tonight. It's really good...I made an extra tart just for me and I ate 3 pieces today already!

Pille: I can't take credit for the idea! I was inspired by this recipe: foie gras tarte tatin Kim: Everything looks delicious! What are tin roof brownies? I used to love eating tin roof sundae ice-cream and I don't quite remember what was in it...something crunchy, salty, and caramel-y?

It was the dessert at my all-duck dinner. (Previous courses included: Szechuan peppercorn duck prosciutto, duck rillettes, confit of duck gizzards on Puy lentils, Toulouse-style cassoleut.) Yes, that's a piece of foie gras in the picture. Here's a link to a better picture. http://flickr.com/photos/41912613@N00/1456092189/

Mmmm excellent photos! My favourites at that particular lunch was the lardo-wrapped shrimp (last time we got lardo-wrapped grissini...ok, so basically anything with lardo I like ), the onions, and of course the chocolate cake. BTW, you are very lucky you got to skip dinner that day. Our neighbours made us a 10 course dinner that same night and I thought my stomach was going to burst after all that food!

Tonight I served a foie gras tarte tatin with bottles of Chateau Rieussec '03. The sauce is orange blossom honey, white truffle honey, reduced veal stock, and sherry vinegar.

Vessel is a great choice! They had a drink on there I loved called the Widow's Kiss a few months ago, but it wasn't on there the last time I went. scarlett's recommendation of Kingfish is a good choice too, since I don't think there's a restaurant like it in Vancouver. I like the cod/crabcakes, the hushpuppies, and the potato salad is good too. I didn't care too much for their famous fried chicken, though.

Abra, I've been buying this astronomically expensive ($14/lb? or more? I can't remember) French butter from DiLaurenti's. It has a mild, cheesy quality and large chunks of salt crystals...I will take a look at the name today and perhaps you can find it for much cheaper in France!

Someone I know had an excellent meal at Beato last week, although the diner knew the chef or cook in the kitchen so I don't know if her experience was out of the ordinary. I would suggest Lark or Sitka and Spruce. It's been a year since I've eaten at Harvest Vine but I did love my meal there. Cocktails at Zig Zag or Sambar might be a good idea as well. I thought the food at Cremant was pretty decent. Excellent frites, and I like the steak tartare and the pork belly as well. I like the room at Tavolata. The food is reliable and very reasonably priced.

^The wonderful, talented people on EG taught me a lot over the years. Here is the antipasto platter without the prosciutto, parm and balsamic. You can't see the colourful veggies much after I put the prosciutto on top, so I decided to post this picture instead. Just imagine it with rosy slices of prosciutto and a heavy grating of Parm on top! The lighting will be poor for pictures when I do the cotechino and lentils tonight, so they're be no photo of that. I really enjoyed reading through this thread and learned a lot this week. I'll have to study another region in Italy and put together a dinner for that very soon.

^Yes, I've been trying to venture out of my comfort zone lately a bit more because I'm getting more confident in the kitchen. The cheesemonger only said that it was aged a minimum of 18 months, so I don't know the exact age of the cheese, but I'll ask. BTW, I read through your incredible Italy adventure. How I wish I could experience something like that! Pontormo: The castagnaccio just came out of the oven!

I have no time to take pictures before serving dinner, but I took a picture of the ragu bolognese and tagliatelle that I had for lunch (leftovers) just for you. I'll try to take a picture of the antipasto platter before tomorrow's dinner (last night's antipasto platter was heaped oh-so-high with roasted zucchini, asparagus, red peppers, Cerignola olives, Leporati prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano, grilled radicchio and Cherry Gold balsamic vinegar!) Here is what each diner had at their place setting: *** Caché presents the cuisine of Emilia Romagna assorted cured meats from Salumi Prosciutto di Parma with grilled vegetables, Cherry Gold balsamic, and Parmigiano Reggiano Traditional Ragu Bolognese with veal, pork, and pancetta Cotechino con Lenticchie Castagnaccio Oftentimes when cooking for Caché, I lament that there is just not enough time to explain all the research that went into the preparation of the meal before we must urge our diners to begin eating before the food cools. So beginning this week, I will be leaving our diners with a bit of a written explanation for those who are perhaps as food-obsessed as we are. For those who are just here to enjoy the evening, please don’t feel obligated to read further. Since we started Caché in February, it’s been a bit of a personal project for me to expand my cooking horizons. Tonight’s meal is possibly the best example of this, as I had little knowledge of regional Italian cooking. Today’s menu is a product of many hours spent online, sifting through different recipes from native Italian home cooks and professional Italian chefs alike. The prosciutto we are serving tonight has been a home favourite for months. This particular one, from Leporati in Pastorello, Italy, was the winner of our own little blind-taste test. On top is a the Cherry Gold 12 year balsamic that we use as a finishing vinegar at Caché. This particular Parmigiano Reggiano is made from the cows used to make the original cheese (as opposed to other, cheaper Parmigiano Reggianos) and is fruitier with larger salt crystals. These three ingredients are partly why the Emilia Romagna region is regarded to have the best food in Italy. Traditional Bolognese, I learned this week, is not the herb, and tomato-heavy dish that we see so often in Italian-American restaurants. In actuality, none of the more popular recipes I came across featured any herbs whatsoever, and tomatoes (and sometimes tomato paste) are used sparingly. Marcella Hazan’s recipe, arguably the most authentic of the published recipes out there, uses a ratio of two parts ground beef to one part ground pork. I’ve instead decided to use equal parts ground veal and pork for better texture. This dish, like all Italian pastas, is lightly sauced as the tagliatelli (here, an artisan variety air-dried for 56 hours) is the main event. Cotechino con Lenticchie is, according to Mario Batali: “the most traditional dish for New Year’s Eve supper.” Mario’s sister and brother-in-law, Gina and Brian at Salumi, prepared this cotechino. The puy lentils have been simmered with sage and garlic, then dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a red wine vinegar that’s been aged in oak and chestnut barrels. The lentils symbols the coins that will rain on diners who eat this before midnight. Castagnaccio is a dessert from the Emilia Romagna region. The earliest form of this cake was moreso a bread that Roman soldiers carried, and is an acquired taste. This version is more accessible to modern palates, and includes pinenuts, walnuts, candied orange, golden raisins, dried cherries, chestnut honey, and homemade vin de noix. *** wine pairings we provided: antipasto: I Cedri di Villa Pattono '05 ragu and cotechino course: Pain del Ciampolo '04 (90% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo and 5% Colorino grapes) dessert: Felsina Berardenga vin santo '98 Of course, people brought a ton of other wine to serve...I didn't pay much attention to the labels because I was busy cooking, but I liked the La Luna Labrusco.

I found a limited edition bar from Amano at DiLaurenti's in Pike Place if there are any Seattlites reading. (They have the other two bars Amano produces as well.) The limited edition is a Cuyagua bar and it is velvety smooth and very creamy for a 70% bar. Absolutely delicious.

I just finished making an enormous pot of ragu bolognese (6 lbs. veal, 6 lbs. pork!) and I was wondering if I can keep some of the leftovers in the fridge until Sunday (which will be a full 4 days from the day I cooked it.) Or should I freeze the leftovers?

I think I've do just about everything listed in this thread without shame, and on a regular basis too. Except for the Nestle chocolate chips...once, after a night of serious drinking, was enough! Even the alcohol couldn't mask that horrible 'off' flavour. Still sometimes use them for chocolate chip cookies though. My worst is probably Carnation cocoa powder with a spoon. No milk, no hot water. Just the powder. I've always liked the texture, the way it dissolves on your tongue. I can't believe I'm admitting this. It's a childhood thing I never grew out of. Only happens once a month now when I visit my parents, since I don't buy this stuff.