Ling

^Thanks for typing all that out. I'll try them next week!

^Foie gras AND braised suckling pig in the same dish? You know how to live! But to keep it regional, what was the best dish you had in western Canada this year?

^Yeah... maybe I'm getting old....

Susan: CHOCOLATE black stout? Wow...I don't know much (or anything) about beer, but that sounds interesting! Is it sweet, or does it just have a cocoa flavour? (I've always wondered about scrapple...I'd like to try it one day! The gorgonzola mash, which you've pan-fried, looks great!) Megan: your breakfast gets two thumbs up from me! I had a HUUUGGEEE steak this morning...so huge, I couldn't even finish it and had to give some to my dad. I guess it must've been about 20 oz. I had room for chocolate cookie dough, though! And 2 big mugs of tea.

The picture I posted was of jgarner's recipe. Click on the link for Patrick's picture of his Bittersweet Deception cookies.

^Yeah, that's what I said upthread. Bit less chocolate, bit more butter. Both are good...I think I like the Bittersweet Deception ones a little bit more, b/c they have nuts. I've heard that scaling down sugar may affect the results b/c sugar functions as a liquid ingredient...but I've never had a recipe turn out horribly wrong after I scale down the sugar a bit, so I guess I'll be a rebel and keep doing it...

That bacon brioche pudding looks GOOD! I'm guessing the bacon toffee was a bit salty? Did you salt the caramel or the bacon?

best . thread . EVER. So inspiring to see all the hours and hours of prep work, and the delicious results! (That crispy skin on the pig shoulder...man, I wish I could've snagged an invite! ) So happy that the bacon brioche pudding turned out well! Which was your favourite dish of the night?

This year was an excellent year for me, food-wise. I had the pleasure of enjoying a great many excellent dishes, many due to Egullet events (like the Waiterblog dinners), or based on recommendations here. I don't think I could possibly narrow it down to one dish--it would be a struggle to narrow it down to a Top 3. But I'll think about it tonight, and post tomorrow. Interested in hearing your favourites this year.

I came across an old issue of NUVO today (Summer 2005) and I read an article by Jurgen Goethe. He mentions Egullet (spelled "e-Gullett" in the article) saying that on his "cursory visit" to the website, it appeared that it was full of "people who took the fun out of food" and generally didn't have much going on in their lives. (I am paraphrasing here, as I don't have the article in front of me.) The context was that the chef featured in the article said that someone on Egullet had complained about alphabet pasta in the miso soup he was featuring... Thoughts? I dunno...maybe I have no life, but I think Egullet is pretty fun. Learning can be fun, and I've certainly learned a lot on this board.

Jgarner's recipe: 4 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 9 oz. bittersweet chocolate (70%), coarsely chopped 1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter 4 eggs 3 TBS. instant espresso powder 1 3/4 C. sugar 1/2 C. pastry flour 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks (or use semi-sweet morsels) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Combine eggs, espresso powder and sugar in mixer and mix on low speed until blended, then on high speed until mixture becomes lighter in color and thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Add melted chocolate mixture (do not cool beforehand) and beat on medium speed until just mixed. Add pastry flour, baking powder and salt, scraping down the sides of the mixer as necessary, mixing at medium-low speed, just until combined. Fold in the remaining chocolate chunks. Scoop or spoon one-fourth cup batter per cookie onto parchment. Bake until set, about 15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. I made the following changes with my batch: -scaled the sugar down to 1 1/3 cup -omitted the 3 tbsp espresso powder, and added 3 tbsp Scharffen Berger cocoa nibs -baked for 14 minutes, except I think they would've been better if I took them out at 11-12 minutes (I like my cookies a bit gooey and underdone.)

^CanadianBakin'...could you take a look at the recipe Patrick S posted? I'm assuming the website is perhaps wrong in naming that particular recipe the CIA Mudslide cookie recipe, since you have the book. (The recipes are quite different.) The sugar content in a recipe usually doesn't really matter to me...I can always scale it down to my tastes. I scaled the sugar in the Bittersweet Deception cookies down to 1/3 cup, and only used 1 cup of chopped walnuts. I'll try the recipe you posted next!

^I like the ricotta cheesecake as well. The phyllo "package" is pretty cute.

I am a bit sensitive to honeydew also, so I tend to avoid it. Pineapple doesn't affect me as much. It is not necessary that I brine it before eating, but it does cut down on the irritation I feel at the back of my throat, for some reason.

Here's a link to the recipe that Ruth kindly posted: Bittersweet Deception cookies And here's a link to Patrick's beautiful Chocolate Deception cookies! picture

^Oozing cheese is always good. Damn, what a sandwich!

I like my patty to be seasoned as well. I think all food (even chocolate) benefits from a bit of salt, at the very least.

Hi Patrick, I liked the Bittersweet Deception cookies a bit more--they contain a bit more chocolate. Also, I underbaked them when I made them a few weeks ago, so maybe that's why they seem more chocolate-y to me. The recipe that jgarner posted is very similar to the Bittersweet Deception cookies but with a bit more butter and a bit less chocolate. I baked them for about 14 minutes and when I took them out, they were done all the way through.

^Love the packaging.

Foodie class....wine course....or a pair of Christian Louboutins...decisions, decisions....

(the batter was even yummier than the cookies! )

I made jgarner53's chocolate cookies today. Here's a pic: (The batter is especially good! Perhaps even better than the cookies... ) I made two changes: -lowered the amount of sugar to 1 1/3 cup -omitted the espresso powder and added 3 tbsp of Scharffen Berger cocoa nibs

Well, what are you using the frosting for? A meat cake? Someone in the Vancouver forum posted a picture of a "birthday cake" made of something like five different types of meat, and "frosted" with parsley mashed potatoes.

I had short ribs, Chinese-style. (I don't know the proper name for it--"red-cooked pork?") These were leftovers from last night's dinner. I also had a piece of the chocolate cake I made last night (plain cake, no frosting or filling...I was lazy.)

I think I would be a bit uncomfortable asking for a "taste" of something at a restaurant, but yes, I do think it was a bit odd that you were refused your request. What exactly did the server say was the reason that he was refusing to give you some of the garnish?