Margaret Pilgrim

TdeV and Shain, THANK YOU for this recipe! Relying strictly on one recipe I found, you make fresh pasta and indeed fry half of it. I have to wrap my arms more firmly around this, but I will try it! Again, thanks so much!

Midweek dinner party last night. Conscientious use of assorted "planned overs" and easily prepared and/or do ahead dishes made it pretty easy. Pork rillettes, cornichons, baguette slices, homecured olives; sparkling wine Cauliflower (and bacon) soup served with crispy panko crumbed fried oyster on top, drizzle of curry oil Thick cut red snapper, seared, finished in oven, caper salsa, camargue rice, grilled radicchio with balsamic dribble Papillon blue and La Tur cheeses, prune and walnut pate Chocolate sherbet with crushed dried oranges and soft whipped cream DH’s famous fresh mint tea Navarro Gewertztraminer, planned to pair only with the soup, was requested throughout A good time with good friends.

The several times I've made it I used Julia's instructions. I fell in love with her when she wrote (and I paraphrase), at this point it looks all wrong, a mess, but keep going and it will turn out fine. My mantra in so many situations.

From sublime to ridiculous....dinner for granddaughter who is sleeping over tonight. Pork belly, mac and cheese, cauliflower and GREEN GODDESS DRESSING, a new adventure and new favorite food!

We were introduced to brandade many yesrs ago by a friend who was taught by his French grandmother; Not only a dip but a main course. Since then, we've learned to make it also from freshly salted fish, fresh tasting and equally good.

Thanks. The reason I questioned this is that I always precook scallops, prawns and chunks of white fish (halibut, monk) when making a "big fish soup". I stop cooking when they are seared but undercooked, then remove them to a covered ceramic casserole which I leave on the stovetop until serving...the fish added to the broth a couple of minutes before plating. This has worked a charm with guests asking how the fish was so perfectly cooked. When I noticed the CSO "warm" setting and temps a low as 125F, I thought maybe I had an alternative method. But afraid not.

Thanks, Anna and roruts. An honest answer is always appropriate and appreciated.

Stupid question: can I keep grilled fish warm in the CSO? Like an hour? Am thinking I'd slightly undercook it first. Am I flirting with disaster? And overcooked fish?

Absolutely stunning.

Fresh mozz, evoo Iceberg, Green Goddess dressing (Packaged) cheese tortellini in butter sauce

I like your style.

Great idea! I just munch them down. Delicious!

ABC, "anything but chardonnay," became wine snobs chant some years ago, referring to not well made bottles. These same people slurp white Burgundies.....so go figure.

Mimi Thorisson's chicken standby: lightly seared chicken breast, splash of marinara, melting cheese -> oven until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted. Here, with garlicky beet greens. Husband invoked a corollary of the 90's chardonnay invective: ABC....ANYTHING BUT CHICKEN. Sorry, Mimi. Even you can't revive his saturation with this meat.

You might have read how loyal a supporter of BM I've been. I LOVE Carl Jr's Beyond Burger. Its juicy patty, ton of fresh veg, good bun. Only problem they are BIG. Half one with fries on a combo is good for me...and also for husband. So we're driving to the country and starting to plot our lunch stop. Husband suggests splitting a Beyond. Sure. So we walk in and husband spots the promo poster for a Barbequ Beyond. I can't squelch his enthusiasm altho it sounds gross. Wasn't wrong. Soggy bun. Overcooked patty that resembled the typical/worst real burger. NO VEG except for a thick deep fried onion ring. Just about everything I dislike about fast food burgers. It was, in short, awful. Thank God for the fries.

Left a plate of fuyu on the table in order to ask husband what dressing he wanted. He attacked the plate, happy with nature's flavors. ....all gone. Green chili and cheese enchiladas

I kinda learned my lesson in high school. I had a job after school, came home, dashed through the house, pausing at the stove to snag a good looking bite. "Croquettes?", I asked as I scarfed my score. "Brains", she answered. I now wait for plating and service.

Suggest that you make double batches and freeze half. Always wonderful to have on hand when the yen strikes. Just using excellent bacon, and a respectable knob of butter at the end will bring you close enough to the real thing.

Am tremendously interested in this topic. Our two twin, city and country, micros are roughly 40 years old. I mean, in that age range does a half dozen years really matter. No choice of power options. Just on or off. No buttons. Just a dial to choose minutes. Works a charm for steaming vegetables, heating leftovers, cooking a hot dog. We try to preempt appliance failure, but when you walk into an appliance store and describe the "stupid appliance" you are looking for, salesmen's eyes roll. I now have a new dishwasher and dryer that will never be used beyond the simplest factory setting because my life is too short to play 20 questions with something that is supposed to make my life simpler. I hate "gotchas". On and Off are my gods.

Husband asked for naked sliced cucumber which he would address He had designs on Blenheim apricot balsamic and blood orange olive oil brought by recent dinner guests. I didn't get a taste...so I guess it worked. Sausage and pepper pasta. Excellent.

Nuked sliced leftover boiled marble potatoes with leftover porkchop gravy. Husband had freshly baked orange "whomp" Danish. I can't eat them on an empty stomach.

Unexpectedly snowing outside. Hunkered down. Same old, same old short order dinner. Iceberg Pork schnitzel

One of the most predictable items on a bistro menu is "potage du jour", a delicious, often haunting, soup made from rescued kitchen tidbits, costing almost nothing and guaranteed to assuage the diner's hunger without costly ingredients. A staple in French homes as well as a personal stand-by for days when I've not shopped...as well as relief for the vegetable bin. Possibilities are endless. One or two vegetables, something from the onion family, water or broth and a blender plus oddments either dairy,veg or seafood or porky as decoration. This is truly one of my go-tos and is even requested by family. And leftovers = lunch. Les Papilles, a popular Paris bistro/wine bar, includes a tureen of this kind of soup with every meal. You are served a soupplate with a mirepoix of crunchy vegetables and crispy bacon plus a scoop of creme fraiche or fromage blanc in the bottom and you serve yourself soup as you please. Always different, always the same, always a highlight.

Indeed! As a culture, we're heavily "Cal-Med". A little French here, Italian there...

@David Ross This dish has brought me the best compliment about my cooking ever from my husband. I was enjoying this dish (oeufs en meurette) in a classic and famous little bistro in the Cote d'Or. Husband has never like this dish at home so I encouraged him to taste this, "the real thing". He took a spoonful, grimaced and said, "I still don't like it. It tastes just like yours!"