GG Mora

Hmmm. Torture us with paradise. Your veranda looks like the ideal antidote to the winter doldrums. Look forward to some blogging from outside the DC area (no disrespect meant to prior bloggers, but, ummm....Johannesburg).

Ha! You think roommates are bad? Just wait til you have kids! Be especially wary if you take the time to develop their palates... ME: "Hey, anybody see the rack of lamb that was left from last night?" 12 YR.-OLD: "Yeah. I took it to school for my lunch." ME: "Oh. How about that half a lemon tart that was in here?" 12 YR.-OLD: "Yeah, I took that, too. It was really good." ME: "You ate half a tart for lunch?" 12 YR.-OLD: "No, I only had one piece. I gave the rest of it to Nat and Jaime. And Ryan".

I have a Matfer that gets used whenever I make a potato gratin. I find the guard – or "pussy handle" as the chef I trained with called it* – makes it more dangerous when the potato is still large, so I hold with my fingertips until the balance of the tater is better, then use the flat of my palm, as someone described upthread, then go for the handle when there's about an inch of potato left. I tried shredding cabbage with it once and came very close to losing a fingertip. I discovered that shredding by hand with a sharp knife is much faster and more efficient. *he never used one and, as far as I could tell, still had all his fingers.

Oh. I would have thought he was the spawn of Tiger Woods and Venus (or Serena) Williams. Dumbest cookbook I ever had (I disposed of it pretty quickly) I can't recall the name of, but it was essentially a guide for eating leftovers from Sunday dinner all week long. I guess it was supposed to appeal to the harried working mother/cook. You know, roast a turkey on Sunday, turkey burritos on Monday, turkey soup on Tuesday, turkey tetrachloride on Wednesday....and so on. I don't know about anybody else, but I generally haven't a clue what I feel like making for dinner on Thursday evening until sometime Thursday afternoon. Somebody upthread slammed "White Trash Cooking". In my house, it's considered a classic.

cheese

See here.

When I first started hanging with my now husband, he was a little intimidated by my kitchen personage and quickly copped to all his bad, wierd eating habits. None of them were particularly horrific, except for this one, learned from a high school pal: the peanut butter and tunafish sandwich. That could have been the deal breaker right there, but instead, I decided to be adventurous and give it a try. Guess what? It's really good. It's even become a house special, with a name: the Mungo Sandwich (don't ask). Sometimes it's just "Mungo" or "some Mungo". As in, "Hey, Hon, want some lunch? I'm gonna whip up some Mungo". It's great pre-ride fuel if you're a cyclist. Don't knock it till you've tried it: mix up the tuna with lotsa mayo and chopped red onion, use crunchy PB and good, sturdy bread. Edited for spulling.

Someone gifted me with a jar of Artichoke Pesto from Trader Joe's. Looked great – mooshed up marinated artichoke with some herbs and stuff. Spread a spoonful on a cracker....Interesting at first, some garlic flavor, a little heavy on the lemon or vinegar, and then there's a hit of something very out of place. It took me a few moments to identify it: dried tarragon. Ick. That shit ought to be banned (dried tarragon, that is).

My sister used to manage a Border's where, in the café, any drink made with decaf and skim milk was called a Why Bother (by the staff, of course).

Thanks. You just gave me some ammo for my argument with those who insist that skim milk makes the best steamed milk. :retch: I'm always sneaking in a little 1/2 & 1/2 at a friend's house – nothing less than full-fat milk crosses the threshold at home.

From McNeil's Brewery in Brattleboro, VT: Big Nose Blond.

Yep, I've had both Brown Cow (my fallback when I can't get Butterworks) and Old Chatham. Both very good, but you gotta try Butterworks. And Erivan. And, um, did anyone mention Ronnybrook's Coconut Creamline? Holy mother'o'what's-his-face.... Ok, I have to try them. Any idea where I can find them? From the Butterworks Farm website: Is their a big and/or well-stocked health food store or co-op nearby? I get Butterworks and Erivan at the Brattleboro Co-op in Brattleboro, VT. Not exactly convenient for you, I'm sure. Ronnybrook products are available around NYC; they used to have their own shop in the Chelsea Market. Hmmm....I feel like I just sort of failed a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is test.

Just to clarify, so's not to look like a total hypocrite: if I met with resistance solely on the basis of gender (and I'm talking about with the date here, not the sommelier or server), the jig was up. If my date knew more about wine than I did (as was frequently the case) I was all over letting them handle it.

Here's another quick and delicious treatment for frozen ravioli: drizzle it with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle it with salt, grind on plenty of black pepper and toss in a handful of grated parmesan. Fast & tasty. If I do use bottled sauce, it's usually Classico. But there's an Italian joint – Bove's – in Burlington VT that bottles their sauce & it's available in my local IGA. A little more expensive, but a little more good, too.

My sentiments exactly. My husband knows next to nothing about wine, except that his wife knows how to pick a decent bottle. When someone tries to hand him a wine list, he usually says something (gently) like "My wife knows better what to do with that than I do". Unless I've already jumped in with "Hey, I'll take that". And he just as gently guides whomever back to me when it comes time to taste. No big deal. This is how we handle it in any restaurant, big or small, expensive or not. Except on our honeymoon in France – he doesn't speak French, so he let the dumb look on his face guide the wine list elsewhere. And he's not at all threatened when I get into lengthy arcane discussions with the server, sommelier, whomever. In fact, I think it's a bit of a turn-on. When I was single and dating, I had no qualms about commandeering the wine list, and generally got no resistance. If I did, it was time to blow the ref's whistle and move on. "Next!".

Star Hill Dairy also makes excellent Mozarella, but I suppose that's another thread.

Years ago I lived with a French professor who had been in the Peace Corps in Tunisia. He turned me on to all kinds of amazing food; my first trip to Paris, we spent making the rounds of Tunisian and Moroccan dives. I still have a weak spot for merguez. He used to make briks from time to time, but he used tuna -- as in canned tuna. But the briks were delicious, and yeah... it's all about the gooey eggy thing.

Yep, I've had both Brown Cow (my fallback when I can't get Butterworks) and Old Chatham. Both very good, but you gotta try Butterworks. And Erivan. And, um, did anyone mention Ronnybrook's Coconut Creamline? Holy mother'o'what's-his-face....

Hey, Sconzo – Your location should allow you to find Butterworks Farm yogurt. Try their Whole Fat Jersey Milk Yogurt with Maple Syrup. It's mighty fine, but only available in New England, and even then only on a limited basis. I'm also a fan of Erivan, which I pick up whenever I'm in Manhattan. But frankly, Butterworks beats all.

I beat the egg whites separately.

No single signature dish, but I'm always asked to bring dessert. Faves seem to be lemon tart, Portuguese almond tart, and my chocolate chip cookies. Or the coconut ones. And the sour cream coffee cake I bring to brunches. Oh, and strawberry rhubarb pie. I've noticed that friends start getting a little solicitous around the holidays; they want to be sure and get on the list for my Xmas goodies, which include macadamia toffee, dulce de leche, several varieties of cookie and a classic fruitcake (yes, I'm familiar with Calvin Trillin's joke about fruitcake). And I'm always the go-to gal for wedding cake (even made my own). I was sort of hoping pulled-pork sandwiches could become a sort of signature dish, what with my homemade sauce, homemade buns and homemade slaw, but when I nearly burned the house down trying to smoke a pork butt on a gas grill (don't ask, but the advice of a drunken husband had something...no, a LOT, to do with it), I decided that might not be such a good idea.

That right there's the big question. This thread is cracking me up.

Lamb, garlic, rosemary. Tequila, lime, Triple Sec.

Which means you'd better be prepared to search long and hard for exactly the chef who can deliver exactly the menu you have in mind, and make damn sure they have the talent and experience not just to prepare delicious food, but to order supplies and direct his/her staff such that YOUR bottom line is always protected, and then pay him/her at least double what you think you'll have to and be prepared to do some serious coddling when he/she is feeling prickly, because without any restaurant experience of your own, you'll be just plain hosed of he/she quits... I think the biggest reason there are so many chef-owned restaurants these days is that it's the only way anyone with talent can really make money, unless they're good enough to work the seriously high-end places with impeccable reputations. A two-star chef is going to run you some serious green. I applaud your chutzpah, and think you're just plain nuts to aim for Manhattan first time out.

I'm guessing there's a sort of corollary between culinary accomplishment and an appreciation for simplicity in the kitchen. Somewhere in a thread on eG, Bourdain confessed that, when cooking at home, it's apt to be a long-simmering one-dish affair... I suspect one gets weary of the parlor tricks...sure I can make a 4-course howyadoin with foie gras, truffles, caviar, foamed 10-inch high sea urchin gelée with rarest whatever, but what I really want is a steaming pot of braised short ribs with some mashed potatoes.