phlawless

Tart Dough 10 oz butter 2/3 c powdered sugar pinch o' salt 2 yolks 3 T heavy cream 3 c flour In a food processor, combine cubed butter with salt and powdered sugar, pulse till size of peppercorns, add heavy cream and yolks, pulse till butter is moistened, add flour and pulse till dough comes together...knead lightly on floured board and divide into about 12 small discs. Keywords: Dessert, Tart ( RG826 )

Tart Dough 10 oz butter 2/3 c powdered sugar pinch o' salt 2 yolks 3 T heavy cream 3 c flour In a food processor, combine cubed butter with salt and powdered sugar, pulse till size of peppercorns, add heavy cream and yolks, pulse till butter is moistened, add flour and pulse till dough comes together...knead lightly on floured board and divide into about 12 small discs. Keywords: Dessert, Tart ( RG826 )

I thought I might have some folks with me, but I haven't recieved confirmation from anyone yet. So, I was thinking of doing the beef cheek rav en brodo...will that conflict?

so with 12 we could have quite a feast...how do you want to organize this? and should we set courses now? Maybe we could have some small plates sans pasta; antipasti, then move to four different pasta courses, then dessert...how does this sound?

I love my three inch pans, but you have to modify most recipes to use them. Rose Levy has a couple of useful tables in the cake bible.

I've been doing cakes for almost ten years...and my one piece of advice is to stay away from fondant. It took me a good 4 cakes before I got it looking like it should. I'm not a fan of the flavor, either. A classic Italian meringue buttercream is really far superior in taste and texture, and can add another flavor component to the overall cake. Fondant might look spectacular in magazines, but it's pretty frustrating to deal with (unless you're practiced) and an overall disappointment to eat.

so...I think we need to get moving on this thing especially if there are out of towners planning to attend. Who's still interested?

so have we settled on a date yet?

I found out Cliff's does have cheeks, I'll take care of getting those. Varmint is correct in assuming that I wouldn't be all that enthusiastic about eating at Mag Grill, though you should by all means go. If I hadn't had dinner there a few weeks back I would have considered it, but I'm not inclined to spend more than the obligatory 9 hours a day if I don't have to.

The way I've done it before is by using a pastry cream, with genoise layers: two cream three cake with a relatively thin chocolate glaze.

At the State Farmer's Market in NC I recently bought some kudzu jelly, and to tell you the truth, it wasn't exceptional: kinda tasted like apple.

I've started saving all the stems from my fresh herbs to use in stews, stocks, and sauces. Another thing that I think is actually kinda cool is I saved peanut shells, soaked them, and used to 'smoke' some grill roasted chicken.

So it turns out because of the mad cow scare, certain beef/veal products are becoming scarce. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the cheeks, but I'm going to check around and see if maybe Cliff's or Whole Food's can special order them for me. Anyone have any suggestions of where I might be able to find these?

I will be in Asheville in March and need some info about the dining scene. Although I grew up in the area, it's been quite a while since I've been back, and I know nothing of what's going on with the food scene. Anyone have any suggestions? Any hotel recommendations would be appreciated as well.

Listen, if the 14th is the only viable night for all who want to come can, then I'll concede. I don't want to be the stickler.

the only problem being is I work on the fourteenth: how romantic can it be when I have to get up at 4:30 Sat a.m.? And it's one of the few occasions when Mr. phlawless cooks for me. I don't think the other 'tourists' I know who are interested in attending would be able to make it either. (We're all unjaded DINC's who still believe in love!)

I'm willing to make up a bunch of dough as well, and with the inherent heaviness of the main courses, my suggestion would be to have VERY simple desserts, i.e. fruit, some spiced nuts, a couple of traditional italian cookies, espresso...I could also have the opportunity to show off my grappa collection...I'm usually alone in my appreciation of italian brandies, and would love to have some willing tasters. I have no problem with picking Al Dente up, it's about two blocks from my house.

I appreciate the concern herbacidal, but my schedule is pretty organized: I work only days so my nights are free, for the most part. Funny that we're planning this pasta feast, today Mr. phlawless challenged me to make the best lasagna in the world ( we had pretty crappy stuff this week-end) and I just stuck it in the oven a few minutes ago. I have to say, it's going to be pretty damn good: veal and pork meat sauce with caramelized fennel and roasted red pepps, 4 cheeses, and fresh pasta I rolled out only an hour ago. It will be served with a traditional caesar, a decent sangiovese, and anise panna cotta with poached grapefruit segs. Yummy!

I'm good with the 7th, or the 21st, I just need a week to get ingredients from work. So are we just going to do pasta? And are we going to limit it to fresh? Do we want to have a set number of courses and assign them to those willing to cook? Should we think about antipasti? I'm willing to host, but I live in the 'hood, and my table will only accomodate about 8. I also think rolling out dough during the dinner will turn it into an all night affair. Sorry to bombard you guys with all the questions... I've got at least one other person interested in participating, might have a couple more.

it contains a certain percentage of baking powder

you can buy self rising flour still, white lily is a great brand...what's the recipe?

I woke up this morning to a hellishly dirty house: hosted a New Years Eve potluck that turned rowdy...skittles is great fun with a crowd of sh*tfaced thirty-somethings(I won eight bucks!) with four bottles of 'champagne' barely touched, never mind the dozen that we did finish, never mind how my head feels...how long will they last in my fridge? Should I invite them all over again for mimosas?

February is good, but I'm one of those saps who does celebrate V-day. How many people are we talking about?

I've done a beef cheek ravioli that was heavenly...and I can get the cheeks through work. Would gnocchi be considered as well? Jesus, there goes my atkins resolution........

it's not Becks, it begins with an M, maybe...near the Fox and Hound...I'm going into work later today so I'll find out the name.