bloviatrix

Tonight's dinner was completely inspired by egullet: Spicy fish soup Multi-grain bread Poached apricots w/mascarpone mixed with honey and nutmeg

Well, you can always create a scrapbook of credit card slips from extravagances and show it off to your friends and family.

Neil, while I agree with you that cooperation should be obvious, I mentioned that statement because of so many of the frustrations I've read here. Before I started reading eg I never realized how difficult it is for a PC and the dismal state of desserts in so many kitchens. As such, I've become sensitized to your plight.

Ultimately, the reason why "scolds" have a problem with people spending a lot on dining is because they think that food should solely be used for subsistence, and Grimes touches on this. These are the people who view food as an energy source rather than a pleasure source -- they would have a problem with all of us on egullet because our feelings about food offend their beliefs. It's interesting to note that people always use the "children are starving" argument. How come when you hear about someone spending $750 a night on a hotel room you don't hear it's indecent because there are people without shelter?

Wendy, I don't know if you're working from the Yard recipe posted here or the actual book, but Yard says for a richer curd to increase butter by 1/4 pound. She also mentions that you can go with all lemon juice if desired as opposed to the lemon/lime combo.

The July issue of Food & Wine has an article called Pastry Provocateurs about some of the young PCs out there and the work they're doing. Some of the PCs featured include: Jehangir Mehta, Sam Mason, Johnny Iuzzini, and Curtis Duffy. After reading some of the comments here about the challenges you guys face, I found this article interesting. One point they mention is the need for the savory chef and PC to work together. There's also some discussion about the kitchen being built by Grant Achatz (chefg) at his restuarant Alinea and how he's intergrating pastry and savory stations. Unfortunately, F&W doesn't publish their editorial content on-line, but if you have a chance take a look at a copy.

I love this imagery!! Great article.

Wendy, the insignia of Venice is the Winged Lion of St. Mark. Click here for image. You see these lions throughout the city. The Bridge of Signs is another classical Venetian image. Look at this

I have been unable to get the fish soup out of my head. So I picked up all the necessary ingredients and will make it for dinner tonight. You even have me buying bread made with whole grains.

I also adore chilled soups. Some weeks ago I toyed around with an alternate form of borscht which used ginger as a flavoring as opposed to dill and found it worked quite well. When tomatoes are plentiful and over-ripe I make a yellow tomato soup. The recipe was in the NY Times several year's ago and is from Waldy Malouf. In a pot, heat up some olive oil. Then sweat onions and garlic. Add about 6 large yellow tomatoes that have been roughly chopped and saute for about 5 minutes. In a skillet toast some corriander seeds and cumin seeds until fragrant. Add them to tomatoes along with some water. Bring tomato mixture to boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes. When soup cools, puree and strain. Chill the soup until cold. You can serve this with a cilantro-onion relish: red tomato, diced, red onion - finely diced, chopped cilantro, lime juice, evoo and minced jalepeno.

I found it to be a very thoughtful article and he did a great job of taking the air out of the arguments against fine dining. I enjoyed parts of the essay so much, I added a quote to my signature line.

Those dolma look great. I've been wanting to try making them for awhile but never got around to it. Perhaps you've inspired me.

It seems this topic came up during the drasha(sermon) today. (Full disclosure: I didn't make it to shul this morning, so this report is from Blovie) The Gemara makes it clear that if something isn't visible to the eye, to don't have to worry about it. There is no minority opinion on this (as there frequently is). Therefore, all the need for filters is bogus (my word).

Once again I'm blown away by your photos.

I like those cucumbers as well. Plus, they make great pickles. Great photos, btw.

But you don't. Chocolate is definitely allowed (as long as it's 70% cocoa content or higher). Yipee!!! Another excuse to eat the good stuff.

Here is the recipe. It's from the June issue of Food & Wine. I just finished making it, and it's delish. I can already see myself eating it straight from the container with a spoon. The texture is like a smooth applesauce. I've been seeing rhubarb at the farmer's market for a couple of weeks now, and I wanted to use it in a meal before the season ended.

My meal is slowly coming together. Skirt steak rubbed with a mixture of garlic, paprika, black pepper, corriander, cumin, and cinnamon, and olive oil. I'll probably finish it in the grill pan. Rhubarb ketchup New potatoes, roasted with olive oil, sea salt and savory I also picked up my favorite sesame pugliese, so we'll use that instead of challah, plus I have some fresh basil-garlic mayo. Blovie is making spearmint ice tea. And we still have sorbet left. Tomorrow's lunch with be the usual salad with grilled chicken and turkey mortadella (this is imported from a place in Israel that Blovie worked at years ago) I need to run out for some fruit.

Interesting you should post this. This is the thinking behind my diet philosophy. Basically, I try to focus on foods that take a long time for the body to break down, there-by preventing spikes of sugar into the bloodstream. And here I thought I was being so original.

That place has awsome knishes. I haven't been there in years. Comfort Me, there are two types of knishes available: baked and fried. The fried are flat square pillows. The baked tend to be more like squat oval cylinders. The later is type I tried the one time I'm experimented. I used a recipe from Gil Marks. If you're interested, I'll PM you copy.

Here is the recipe from Mother Wonderful for Basic Lime-Almond Cheesecake, in my words. (she provides quantities for both 8" and 10", I'm only giving 10") Preheat oven to 350. Wrap the 10" springform pan in heavy duty aluminum foil. Crust 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, melted 2 cups finely ground cookie crumbs 1/4 cup sugar 1)Combine butter, crumbs and sugar until thoroughly mixed. 2)Press small amounts of the crumb mixture all the way up the sides of the springform. Press the remaining amount into the bottom. It's easiest to this by using a plastic bag as a glove. Filling 2 pounds cream cheese 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice pinch of salt 4 large eggs 1)Cut cream cheese into cubes. Using the paddle, beat at high speed for 5 minutes (you might want to drape the mixer with a towel because cheese sometimes get spit out). 2) Scrape down the sides and add sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. 3) Add lime juiceand salt, mix on slow just to combine 4) With mixer on slow, add eggs one at a time until just combined 5) Pour batter into crust and bake in oven (center rack) for 55 minutes 6)Remove from oven and let cake rest for 10 minutes. Sour Cream Glaze 2 cups sour cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon almond extract 1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl and using a rubber spatula, spread glaze over top of filling. 2)Return to 350 degree oven for 10 minutes 3)Place immediately in fridge to cool When serving don't forget to take cake out a little before so it loses a bit of it's chill. Plus it's easier to remove the sides.

I went into mourning when he was no longer on the Food TV network. His American Game Cooking is wonderful for someone like me who cooks a lot of wild game. From The Earth To The Table not only has a huge number of wonderful recipes, it has tons of good general advice that anyone can use. This new book has so much information for the novice cook that takes so much of the mystery out of preparing some recipes at which most newbies would balk if they looked at a similar recipe in another type of cookbook. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is just starting to venture into cooking. There is plenty for old hands to learn also. Thanks for your opinion. I'll add it to the list. I also loved his show when it was on Food TV. That's what prompted me to pick up From the Earth to the Table.

We just heard about this tonight: Click me

Does this mean I have to lock up my copy? Or have it insured?

I cannot take credit for the photo. I tried to borrow a digital camera from friends but like all best laid plans, it didn't happen.