bloviatrix

Right now I'm on an El Rey 70% kick. It has a nice lingering fruitiness on the finish. I HATE milk chocolate. It tastes flabby.

Think of this as incentive to learning to pack more efficiently.

Along those lines, I made a beef stew this weekend with diced carrots, parsnips, and turnips. The vegs kept their shape and tasted very good after the long, slow simmer.

Use a bottle of beer for part of your liquid -- and chicken broth for the remainder. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm Irish, and my people are really picky about their stew. Beer and broth make a fabulous tasting Irish stew. (Don't forget to dredge the meat in flor and brown first!) Oh. Now I want stew. You all are so bad for me. I'm going to weigh 1100 pounds! I took your suggestion and dredged the beef in flour and used beer instead of the usual red wine. No chicken stock (I finished it up making soup). It was really good. And we used lots of challah to mop up the sauce. Plus, there were left-overs. Bonus!!

That's my preferred Haggadah as well. I love all the commentary it includes. (I'm a big fan of ArtScroll's books in general). Scholastic has just published a stunning Passover campanion - a friend of mine worked on it and showed me an advanced copy. Look at it here.

Friday night dinner Butternut Squash Soup Turkey Breast w/Apricot-Ginger sauce Roasted Cauliflower Onion Kugel Pears poached in white wine w/ginger,lemon zest and cardomon pods Ramon Cordova Rioja 2001

Toss them with duck fat and roast.

Matt's Beer Balls. God, I had forgotten about those things.

Pea shoots are problematic if you're strictly ashkenaz -- yet another food in the legume family.

I've been to the Carrier Dome (saw the Rolling Stones in Sept '89).

Just had another thought - what about the cheese latkes. Check the Chanukkah thread for those. Replace the flour with cake meal. If you're lazy, I know you can find passover blintzes.

Drew, if cheese isn't a problem, how about portabello pizzas? Take a couple of portabello mushrooms, place top down and brush w/evoo. Then spread some tomato sauce and sprinkle with mozzerella. Toss in an oven and voila - dinner. That, some greens and slice of matzah should be a filling, reasonably healthy dinner.

I love all the windows in your kitchen. It's a shame there's not much sun in that part of the state. (is Syracuse weather as bad as Ithaca's?)

How about adding some cumin, corriander, and cayenne to the matzah ball mixture?

Wow!! Congratulations on taking the leap. Will you be on-site proprietors? Or will you higher management to run place? The blue sky is gorgeous. A perfect antidote to the crappy weather in NYC.

Will the gf be annoyed if you make fish?

I have a recipe for a pareve Cream of Watercress and Asparagus soup if you're interested (the potato gives the "creaminess). Other thoughts - maybe an artichoke dish? Something with mushrooms? One of the Conde Nast mags did a vegetarian Passover menu a couple of years ago. You should check Epicurious.

On the occasions that I've used them, I get them at the greenmarket. The guys I buy them from grow raise flowers specifically for eating.

Rancho -- is there any way we can convince you to do mail-order your egullet family? Please???? We'll ask nicely?

homemade poundcake with lemon curd

I also use about 10 cups/pound with 1 tsp of salt. Pot was uncovered in the oven. The beans remained submerged, but almost all of the water was absorbed.

I hate to mis-lead a man of the cloth, but I've never used the pastrami ends (I'm not even allowed to touch the colent pot!!). Rather, I was commenting on Comfort Me's recipe. I believe we have some stray potatoes in the pantry, so maybe next week I'll get Blovie to make a "Chi-town" cholent.

Just pulled out the book and compared the photo to the recipe. You're completely right. The photo looks like it's a thin cookie layer with a whipped cream and chocolate top. But the recipe calls for mini tart pans which means in the photo there should be sides to the base. :hmm:

Will you all promise not laugh if I admit to sticking with Kedem grape juice for my 4 cups? Blovie is a real stickler for draining the cup, and I like remaining coherent for the entire evening (plus I don't want to drop any of the food platters). We do break out the real stuff for the meal.

I keep forgetting to mention that I love the idea of putting pastrami butts in a cholent. I bet it adds a nice dimension of flavor. Plus, the melted fat never hurts.