marie-louise

My favorite Thanksgiving soup is a carrot soup w/ orange juice as part of the liquid, and creme fraiche stirred in at the end to add some tartness.

I have a jones for some new cookbooks-including more of those old Time-Life cookbooks. What are your favorite stores to buy cookbooks?Any secret used bookstores with lots of old cookbooks at bargain prices? I'm especially looking for a place w/ enough comfy chairs to settle in and browse for a good long while. A nice winter afternoon retail therapy experience.

A bit of a tangent. If I wanted to develop a small repertoire of good French Bistro meals at home. what should I perfect? Here's what I have gleaned from this thread so far: Onion Soup "Braised Dishes" I'm assuming this means Coq au Vin and Short Ribs. What else-Beef Bourguignon? Steak Frites (thin or thick or is it my preference?) "Braised Vegetables"-examples, please Roast chicken Salad de Maison (I'm not sure exactly what this is.) Salade Nicoise Chocolate Mousse Suggestions?

Are any of those places that used to deliver meals from a lot of local restaurants still in business-you know, the ones that have all the menus in them (prices raised of course?)

I got 4 duck legs (cryovac but not frozen) labeled Grimaud Farms, California Muscovy. Slightly under 2 pounds, so I'll half the recipe. Question for those of you who've made it-did the vegetables taste greasy from just simmering in the duck fat? I may join in for the Fish Stew, only I will be using ta, da... our fresh crab that's just in season!!!

From a wonderful book, Kitchens for Cooks by Deborah Krasner: "The ideal countertop height can be determined by measuring the distance between your bent elbow and the floor... In general, 3 inches below this bent-elbow distance is the best height for most of your countertops... some tasks, such as kneading or rolling out dough, demand even lower countertop areas. These tasks...are best done on counters that are 3 to 4 inches below a 'normal' counter height, or 6 to 7 inches below bent-elbow level." Unfortunately, no discussion of ideal heights for chopping. I'm 5-7, and my bent elbow measurement is 39. So the standard 36-inch high counter is the correct height for me. We have a 3x5 chopping block/worktable in our kitchen that is 34-inches high, which I find perfect for chopping & general food prep. My husband, who is 6-4, finds working on it unconfortable. His bent elbow measurement is 45, so the correct height for a counter for him is 6 inches higher than me! His ideal kitchen would have 42-inch high counters in general & 39-inches for kneading. Okay, to finally answer your question: He bought a similar John Boos cutting block-his is 3-inches thick and has little legs, for a total height of 6-inches. He LOVES IT. He says it really helps his back not hurt when he is chopping for long periods of time. He loves it so much we are going to replace the worktable w/ a custom island (topped w/ John Boos end grain of course), part of it at 34-inch high for me & part of it at 40-inch high for him. So the answer is, what is your bent elbow measurement & what is the height of this board when it is on your countertop?

When I can't convince them to go to a restaurant so they don't have to go to the trouble to cook, I simply have a large snack right beforehand. I enjoy their company and keep telling myself it's not so bad (or, it's just one meal-depending on just how bad it is!) ...Then we guiltily gossip on the way home.

I'll eat anything. I almost always find my cooking very enjoyable, but I also almost always think of a way it could be better next time. I'm constantly tweaking my master recipes.

Do tell us more.

I, too, adore eating at this restaurant. This Tuesday Paula Wolfert is doing a book signing: Tuesday, November 18 $75 Book signing with Paula Wolfert and her new book The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen Herb jam with olives and lemon, avocado-sardine toast, and leeks simmered in olive oil Turkish red lentil soup with paprika and mint sizzle Elbason tavasi: Turkish-style lamb smothered in yogurt; with parsley salad and potato gratin with dried plums Kabak tatlisi: sweet pumpkin dessert with walnuts and walnut ice cream

A potato primer-be still my heart. I never met a potato I didn't like. These days I eat whatever my CSA delivers to me, mostly small new potaoes of one variety or other, supplemented by some nice organic Russets that are widely available around here. (They are thin-skinned and taste a lot less mealy than most Russets.) I notice that over the course of a week, the taste of the CSA's potatoes declines; they are best the day they are delivered. Jackel, I'm so envious that you can just walk out to your garden and dig yours up for dinner!

In your case, Julia Child recommends using vermouth. I'm not sure how long it is supposed to last; I probably keep mine way too long.

As a salad-sliced thinly, w/ oranges, prosciutto, and shaved Parmesan. Dressing of olive oil & orange juice. I also like adding it to seafood soups. I think I've braised it once or twice. It was good; I should do that more often.

This is the article that made me vow never to eat there. I have a Masters of Science degree, I've taken 3 semesters of physiology, plus nutrition, micro, and a whole slew of research classes. I'm a trained skeptic! So take my comments knowing that I am just a bit more sensitive to these kind of claims: "Eating plant enzymes means the body won't have to use its own limited supply, which leads to a healthier, longer life.... Harrelson was so convincing that the Kleins went to their $9 million Kauai getaway and spent a month eating raw. "We felt so good. We slept two or three hours less a night. We'd go to bed and lay awake for an hour just because we were so energized," Michael Klein says. "At the end of that month we looked at each other and said, how can we eat this way all the time?" You see, the 9 million dollar Kauai "getaway" is what researchers refer to as a confounding variable. Translation: Who the fuck wouldn't feel more energized after a month in Kauai, especially when you are rich enough to own a 9 million dollar getaway? Plus, my husband's a Deadhead. He says Jerry was a vegetarian for about ten minutes. Edited for clarity, plus to say that the article does explain how she creates some of her dishes.

Yes, save that for when your house IS on the market. The smell of chicken stock on a cold winter day should entice people to want to call it home. On a personal note, our beach house is on the market. Tomorrow I am baking an apple pie, timed to come out of the oven right before the house is being shown. I have no shame.

Good parsnips can be hard to find, even out here in the land of all things produce-related. If you can find small ones, I think they're good, but I too hate those big woody ones w/ the hollow core. I would think turnips would be good with duck. But I will TRY and be good and follow the recipe as written. Experiement for me, too, okay?

Do you mean you hate parsnips? There aren't any sweet potatoes in the recipe I thought we were making. I would think just about any winter root vegetable that tastes goes with shallots, garlic and duck would work-either in the braise or served on the side.

We make it all the time. It makes a nice weeknight dinner, assuming you have the energy to stand up for a half-hour before dinner. We usually just hang out in the kitchen, talking and taking turns stirring, while drinking a glass of wine. I always have Marcella Hazen's Basic Meat Broth on hand in the freezer-this stock makes the BEST risotto (and pretty good soup and pan sauces as well.)

I don't think so, I've been careful to follow times and amounts. I've rinsed carefully, and let it dry overnight per Cook's Illustrated. I just really don't like what brining does to the texture. It changes it. But then I absolutely despise deli turkey. If it's not sliced off a turkey carcass, I can't eat it. I know that 99% of people who have tried brining a turkey think it is an improvement; I've only met a few people who agree with me about the processed turkey texture. Fortunately, one of them is my husband, and another is the guy who's house we're going to for dinner this Thanksgiving. I do think that salting the day before (Zuni's and Chez Panisse's Cafe Cookbooks both give instructions for doing this for chickens) with a few herbs under the skin makes a difference. I always do this with my roast chickens, and have settled on this method for my turkeys as well.

Jinmyo, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who doesn't like brined turkey. I've tried it a few times, with a few different recipes, including Alice Water's, one w/ apple cider, and one w/ spices. Last T-day we even went so far as to cook two half breasts side by side: one brined, one not. Same time, same temp, same bird-just had the butcher saw the sucker in half. We both HATED the brined bird-ended up throwing it out. Yes, it's juicy, but I'm sorry, I think it tastes like a bad turkey roll-salty and processed. It no longer has the texture of meat. I, too, like to BBQ my turkey. I have the butcher butterfly it (what's that word you guys love-spatchcock?), rub it w/ limes and dry oregano, and cook it on indirect heat on a Weber.

Here's a link to the Diestel Turkey website. Somewhere in there is their recommendations on the best ways to cook their birds. They sell these year-round at my corner store, including half-breasts, not frozen. They taste terrific. I'm not sure if they do mail-order.

Torakris-That IS a great article. Thanks so much for posting the link.

I've used farmed salmon to make gravlox (only when our wonderful local salmon was out of season and I HAD to have gravlox, honest.) It worked fine. I always rinse off the salmon under running water when I'm done. I use equal parts Kosher salt & sugar, 2 tbsp. each per pound of salmon, along w/ a tbsp. of black pepper, some dill, and a splash of Aquavit. The longer it cures, the drier it gets; I like it after about 48 hours. I've never had a problem with slicing it thinly. I use a 10-inch thin slicing knife and cut it on a diagonal so that my slices are wider while remaining thin.

I'm going to wait until next weekend to do the duck. I took a close look at the recipe, it requires a fair amount of last minute attention. We're cooking for some friends, and can't start cooking until right before they get there, so I think I'll do something else for them. I'm one of those people who'd rather hang out w/ their friends than cook when I invite people over for dinner (and I don't like people loitering in my little kitchen, either.) So I tend to serve things that either can be made ahead and popped into the oven before they arrive, or just require a few minutes of missed conversation, like grilled fish.) Next weekend my husband is working both days. I'll make the duck then; I can putter around in the kitchen to my heart's content and then he can come home to [hopefully] a great dinner. Maybe I'll make duck for both dinners-I still want to try that method Suzanne suggested-and since I've never cooked duck, I want to practice. Seth, if you do it this weekend, please post your results. That way I can learn from your mistakes, uh.. experiences. And tell us what else you've made from the book so far.

My name is Marie and I have a problem with dishes. With that disclaimer, I'd suggest registering for a set of dishes. We didn't register when we got married (it was 1979, and people our my circle rarely even got married, let alone owned CHINA.) My Grandma died a few years later, and my Mom divided up her china among the grandchildren. Looking at her dishes brought back a of flood of memories from holidays past, and I decided that we really did need our own set of "family china." After several painful episodes in the china department-picking china is probably as good a premarital screening test as any-we agreed on a wonderful pattern that's nice, but not so fancy that we can't use it on a regular basis. Over the years, it has come to represent as many wonderful holiday and special dinner party memories as my Grandma's. My latest obsession is Luna Garcia. It costs more than most china, so receiving it as a wedding present would be PERFECT. For the rest of us, they are having a 25% off sale this weekend-call them for details before Friday.