Margaret Pilgrim

Simple but correct plates.

Sloppy editing.

I would get me some buttermilk to have with some of that cornbread for breakfast tomorrow morning. (Warm the cornbread; break into bitesized chunks; cover with cold buttermilk. I don't remember where I heard of this but it is G O O D!

Pino Luongo created a NYC restaurant on this model, Le Madri, some 40 odd years ago. A rotating group of Italian mamas. I don't recall how long it lasted but was popular and memorable.

I'm late to this incredible thread. Thanks, joe, for sharing the feast.

Many, MANY years ago, my husband's secretary gave us a jar of her pickled bell peppers. OMG! We immediately got her recipe and husband brought home a peck of green bells. And we set to it. Very simple procedure, simply washed, quartered, seeded and jarred and covered with boiling brine. BUT bell peppers do not come in standard sizes and shapes. Started after we both got home from work, we finished around quarter to 4am, and made it in to work that day. Well worth the effort. Use your favorite dill pickle brine recipe.

Bom appetit. (I recently read that this was a lower class phrase because food was so poor and lacking in flavor that one needed a good appetit to "enjoy" it ) To cheer you and put your food in perspective, I am entertaining an excruciating sciatic attack. Husband doesn't cook but is a master with leftovers and the microwave. In my current state, I really don't care of quibble. Most important, heal and of good cheer! And thank you much for your excellent "good sense'.

You have to disassociate this salad from your concept of "potato salad". It is what it is, mashy and "sweet". Different but not abhorrent. The first time I was served this, my reaction was "Yucko!" But I learned to appreciate it as a different animal.

@farcego you suggest an interesting paradox. People flock to the ultimate Michelin restaurants to experience their cutting edge dishes. But followers expect to sample their signature dishes. The razor's edge, so to speak.

We've found this to be a very decent product.

Had a yen for tuna noodle casserole. Not sure it needs to go into current rotation. Good enough but perhaps you can’t go home again. Actually, my mother never heard of much less made thus dish.

The photo in your linked article is a sad attempt compared to yours! Well done.

Agreed. We have sublime bottles of homebrew from two wine geek friends. But we reach for the Banyuls or sherry.

I DO!!! We're also fond of red Banyuls vinegar but it's kind of hard to source.

This speaks to my point above. We live in Dungenous crab country. Boiled live crab + homemade mayo with kiss of Coleman's mustard powder is the classic treatment. Of course you can douse it with Louis sauce, but when it is fresh and good, leave it alone and taste nature's magic.

My one Paris cassoulet was some 25 years ago at Chez Maitre Paul. When it came to table, the waiter took two large spoons and removed the crust, setting it on a side plate and taking it away. I was perplexed but didn't say anything. (Today, I would ask him WTH he was doing.) Probably/possibly the kitchen repositioned it on another hot but not crusted casserole, reheated the whole thing and reserved it.

I think that "fish and ..." depends entirely on the quality and variety of the fish. I prefer FRESH fish and shellfish lightly handled and seasoned. Butter and a kiss of lemon are seldom out of order, gentle herbs perhaps. But heavier sauces seem to me better left to meats, poultry and fish of lesser or dubious quality. So, if your fish or shellfish have seen better days, a dose of morel and vin jaune sauce or Bearnaise or Newburg might help out. Otherwise...

I have bought and liked “Knorr stock pot gels”. The veal was excellent but seems discontinued, while chicken and beef are still randomly around. They work for me.

Before the holidays, I was buying organic pastured medium size eggs at Grocery Outlet for $3.99/dozen. Excellent flavor, orange yolks. Mid-December they went up to $4.99, then $5.99, still a value. Haven't seen them in several weeks. Have been buying extra large organics for $5.99/dozen, cheaper than the same quality large size, i.e, supply and demand when most people reach for large eggs.

In case I've sold anyone on (Jacques Pepin's favorite) Peppermate mill, my 45 year old one recently deconstructed and I immediately ordered a new one. The standard price seems to be $39.99 but I snagged this one at substantial discount. Ordered and received white. It came 72 hours after I placed the order. I am delighted.

I believe that New Mai Wah, my neighborhood market, sells fresh pigs ears. They sell most other parts. Half heads, uterus, tails, blood....

IMHO, it is the pork that creates the flavor. I usually simply add an onion and a few garlic cloves and then let the meat do its job. Additional flavor accents are perhaps best left to later garnishes. Most will "cook out" during the long braise.

Ah, I forgot tripe. That was in rotation also. But the pickled or sour kind, and fried. Today, I love it in tacos, but mama didn't cook it Mexican style. ETA, my last comment brought to mind that many of my current favorite meats are in fact offal of one kind or another. Mexican tripas, cabeza, lengua, cesos, or French andouillette, tete de veau, museau, falling in line with my maxim that there are no bad foods, only bad cooks.

Contained chopped pickles and red bell peppers.

In WWII, my mother conserved meat ration tokens by frequently serving odd-bits: tongue, heart, liver, kidney, brains. As I recall, tongue was the easiest to "sell".