bloviatrix

Duck

Stay away from the Malgieri book. I read through it and was extremely disappointed.

I'm so with you on the canned salmon. I remember my mom feeding it to me as a kid and hating it with a passion.

Do you keep decaf around? Is that an option for you? I'll admit, I didn't use brewed coffee -- I went with espresso powder.

Since you have to avoid alcohol, what about short ribs braised in coffee ancho chili sauce? I made these two weeks ago and they were outrageously good.

When I think of Budapest and desserts, my mind automatically goes to the apple strudel. I can't remember the name of the cafe but the room had a belle epoque feel. I remember the warm apple strudel with a dollop of cold vanilla bean flecked ice cream. I sat there and was transported to another time.

Turns out I've been invited for both meals this shabbat. Therefore, I'm putting off the experiment until next week.

So, B, was this a true sorbet or a mango ice? Details will be appreciated - we are fully into summer soft fruits over here and mangos abound. It's a true sorbet - made of mango puree and a star anise infused sugar syrup. I'll enter the recipe in recipeGullet.

What about a large platter of crudite with jicama, carrots, peppers and green beans. My experience is that people LOVE jicama sticks. You can serve this with assorted salsas and dips. One of my faves is Cowboy Caviar.

Back in our Super Bowl party days we would do a big pot of chili which everyone seemed to enjoy.

I get nervous whenever I entertain. Especially if I'm trying a new recipe or I know one of my guests is a really cook. I will admit that I was really nervous on sunday at the potluck. I was afraid the sorbets would bomb.

January's issue of Travel and Leisure has an article on Manhattan's "newest neighborhood" aka Columbus Circle. There's mention of the restaurants opening at Time Warner if you're will to wade through. Click here to read.

Beef stew.

The expiration date was nearing on the farmers cheese and Blovie asked nicely, so I decided to attempt the cheese latkes tonight. I will admit they were somewhat of a disaster. I made the batter in the blender - it was like a very thick cheesecake batter but still quite viscous, so I could probably use more flour next time. Anyway, Blovie decided that he wanted to help. So first, we tried the non-stick pan with a bit of oil. Not good. Had a lot of problems flipping them over. So, I pulled out the regular skillet and decided that I would use lots of oil and see what would happen. Still not great. But they flipped. They absorbed a lot of oil, though. It tasted really good - kind of like fried cheesecake. I'm afraid to know what they did to my arteries. I think I feel them hardening as I type. Maybe I'll try this again next year. If I do, the spouse ISN'T allowed in the kitchen.

On a lighter note, there's Calvin Trillin's Tepper Isn't Going Out which has some very funny writing on smoked fish.

I keep a stock of Barilla on hand for when I'm lazy. In the pantry I have one jar of the Victoria vodka sauce that I haven't gotten around to using yet. I bought it out of shear curiousity.

As I sit and type, I'm trying to get a nasty taste out of my mouth. A couple of months ago, while in Gourmet Garage, I saw what looked like an interesting snack. It was called Pete's Tofu 2 Go and contained tofu patties and dipping sauce. Since I'm always on the hunt for foods rich in protein, I decided to keep in mind for a future purchase. Well, stay away from it!! I bought the Thai Tango Tofu with Mango-Wasabi dipping sauce and it's nasty. The texture is kind of like sweetbreads, but in a bad way and without the dipping sauce tastes like flavored cardboard. The sauce is ok -- sweet and hot, but does nothing to mask the patties. I'm thoroughly disgusted. Now I need to figure out how to toss it with out getting the "wasting food" lecture. We all have mistakes -- what are yours?

This reminds me of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, where he feeds Tamora a meat pie made of the blood and bones of her sons Chiron and Demetrious. In this case, it was to avenge the rape of his daughter.

Is Happy Burger the place on Broadway between 92nd and 93rd?

You just brought back a memory. Although I never ran into to the snow to try it, I always wanted to. Wow.

Back pain. Yuck. Glad to see it doesn't affect your typing. Hope you feel better.

I've added the strawberry-balsamic sorbet to recipeGullet. Here it is.

Dinner tonight is a single pot meal - cauliflower and chicken curry from a Mark Bittman column that appeared in the Times years ago. I wish I could the sapture the smell of the cumin seeds and curry powder when they hit the pan with the browned onions and include it here. There's something comforting about it - I just stuck my nose over the pan and inhaled.

In honor of this thread, I'm making a curry tonight with cumin seed.

I do the same exact thing. I find the idea of "frying" the spices is common in indian and middle eastern cuisines.