Toliver

I'm not sure if this has been previously discussed but has anyone purchased any Lodge Enamel cookware? There aren't any customers reviews on this piece. I was curious as to how it compares to Le Creuset.

I completely agree. A different thread for each dish but titled basically the same. In fact, there was a previous "cook off" about a year or so ago (I think it was titled "Make me a better Cook" or something like that) where everyone got the same cookbook and made the same recipe from the cookbook. I can see this as a continuous learning/cooking process on eGullet.

Lucy, That looks fabulous! I am insanely hungry for breakfast now (where is that drool icon?!). That's a great photo of a very American classic. How is such a meal received by the French? Do they do something similar or is this totally foreign to them? I am glad the hash browns worked out for you!

Bon Appétit Magazine Digest – February 2005 – “Great Winter Food” issue Great cover photo of a veal chop with roasted shallots, arugula and soft polenta! Comfort food abounds within this month’s issue. Contributors in this issue: Chef Judy Rogers of Zuni Café; author Sondra Bernstein, owner of Sonoma’s The Girl and the Fig & the Glen Ellen The Fig Café & Winebar; travel writer Bob Morris; cookbook author Annebel Langbein. Starters – “Quick Bites from the World of Bon Appétit” by Hugh Garvey “We ‘heart” (love) Cocktails – Three to try for Valentine’s Day” Recipes: “Rose Royale”, “Pomegranate Mojito” (from the Beverly Hills Four Seasons), “Anno 1960” “The Empowered Entertainer” – How to make a perfect plateau de fruits de mer with step-by-step instructions. “At Table with Robert Osborne” – It’s a quick pre-Oscars Q&A with the Hollywood Reporter columnist-author-TV Host. “A Perfect Day in Singapore” – Some suggestions on where to dine for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Asian city. “The Essential Bon Appétit” – They have a new cookbook out: “The Flavors of Bon Appétit 2005” – $22.95 www.bonappetitbooks.com “Wine Ahoy” - Would you believe wines issued by cruise lines? Try the Julie McCoy Cabernet. R.S.V.P. – Readers’ Favorite Restaurant Recipes Recipes: “Veal Chops with Roasted Shallots, Arugula and Soft Polenta”, “Soft Polenta” (COVER RECIPE – Loaves & Fishes – Sagaponack, NY); “Whipped Hot Chocolate” (The Village Pub – Woodside, CA); “Pan Fried Rib-Eye Steaks with Spicy Herb Butter” (Oloroso - Edinburgh, Scotland); “Beet and Tangerine Salad” (Café Azul – Portland, Oregon); “Chicken Provençale with Star Anise” (Three Clock Inn – South Londonderry, Vermont). Entertaining – “It’s Saturday Night” by Judy Rogers of Zuni Café Judy offers up a modern take on comfort foods. Recipes: “Seared Sea Scallops with Banyuls Vinegar and Chicory Slaw”, “Herb-Brined Pork Prime Rib Roast”, “Apple, Potato and Onion Gratin”, “Braised Red Cabbage” A side bar suggests a dessert made up of sliced oranges and mascarpone cheese-stuffed Medjool or Khadrawl dates topped with chopped walnuts and drizzled with saba. At the Market - “Meyer Lemons” by Monica Parcell Slightly sweet with a hint of orange flavor, Meyer Lemons are enjoying a new popularity in more than desserts. Recipes: “Meyer Lemon and Vanilla Bean Marmalade”, “Roasted Carrots, Parsnips and Meyer Lemon”, “Lamb Chops with Minted Meyer Lemon Compote” A side bar offers more ways to use Meyer Lemons, from pancakes to sole fillets. Restaurants – Hot Seat – Jacques Torres - Chocolate Haven, NY, NY. Top Tables – “The Restaurant Reporter” by Tanya Wenman Steel A special edition reporting on the best spots around the country for a romantic winter dinner out beyond city limits. Pocantico Hills, NY: Blue Hill at Stone Barns - Westchester County. www.bluehillstonebarns.com Middleburg, VA: Market Salamander – Salamander Inn and Spa. www.market-salamander.com Littleton, CO: Opus. Scottsdale, AZ: Sassi – Pinnacle Peak. www.sassi.biz Kiawah Island, SC: Ocean Room at the Sanctuary. www.thesanctuary.com Camas, WA: Roots Restaurant & Bar. www.rootsrestaurantandbar.com Malibu, CA: The Sunset Restaurant. www.thesunsetrestaurant.com West Chester, PA: Gilmore’s. www.gilmoresrestaurant.com Going Out – “Caribbean Update” by Bob Morris Fly south for the winter to the islands in the sun for that tropical dining experience. Puerto Rico: Dragonfly Too; The Fish Market St. Martin/St. Maarten: Temptation; Le Montmartre; Hidden Forest Café Nevis: Montpelier Plantation Inn St. Lucia: Kai Manje Barbados: Sassafras Wine Bar & Grill; The Restaurant at Southsea Bon Vivant – “What’s New. What’s Hot. What’s Good.” By Laurie Glenn Buckle A chocolate cake delivered in a tweed-covered hat box – Lilyfield $160. www.lilyfieldcakes.com An elegant Elsa Peretti-designed Tiffany ice cream scoop - $195. www.tiffany.com A Ted Muehling-designed Steuben crystal double old-fashioned cocktail glass - $140 www.steuben.com A collection of Richart chocolates “Je T’Aime Passionnément” - $128. www.richart.com A pink & white Paris tea set with an Eiffel Tower teapot and floral cups with French poodle designs on the saucers - $33. www.surlatable.com An exotic sampler of Fauchon salts from around the world - $45. www.fauchon.com Bath “bombs” in honey, lavender, orange and sage – About $5 each. www.lush.com Etched “Amour” drink glasses by Kiss That Frog - $9 each. From Columbine. Pink dish washing gloves with a sponge in the “handprint” – About $10 a pair from Lush Life. “Dinner by the Fire” by Annebel Langbein, great photos by Brian Leatart Cozy up to the fire with these comfort food entreés. Recipes: “Thai-Curried Game Hens”, “Roasted Monkfish with Saffron Tomato Sauce and Celeriac Mash”, “Celeriac Mash”, “Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Blue Cheese Risotto”, “Moroccan Slow-Cooked Lamb”, “Chicken and Mushroom Pie with Phyllo-Parmesan Crust” “Simply Romantic” by Sondra Bernstein, great photos by Pornchai Mittongtare It’s a menu for two designed to make that special someone swoon while leaving you time to spend together. Recipes: “Roasted Beet Soup wth Crème Fraîche”, “Oven-Roasted Dungeness Crab”, “Chocolate-Orange Pots de Crème with Candied Orange Peel” A side bar suggests some romantic CD’s for the stereo. “Centerpieces 101” by Laurie Gleen Buckle, great photos by Leo Gong This isn’t your mother’s centerpiece. It’s a two centerpieces designed by two at-the-moment experts in how to mix elegance and whimsy, originality and tradition in unexpected ways…All without a vase in sight. “When French Women Bake” by Dorie Greenspan, great photos by Brian Leatart Dorie, after living in Paris for seven years, discovers the secret that French women use when baking…keep it simple. Recipes: “Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze”, “Pear and Almond Tart”, “Kouglof” (a sweet brioche/coffee cake), “”Floating Islands” (poached meringue floating in custard), “Far Breton” (a custardy pudding cake similar to clafouti but more flan-like in texture) “Earl Grey Tea Madeleines with Honey” “Snow Day” by Mara Papatheodorou After a day on the slopes, comfort food is the just what the doctor ordered. Recipes: “Mulled Cranberry, Apple and Rum Cider”, “Wild Mushroom-Pecan Crostini”, “Black Bean and Kielbasa Chili”, “Jalapeño and Honey Cornbread”, “Mixed Greens with Oranges, Watercress and Onion”, “Chocolate-Brandy Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Whipped Cream” “True Hollywood Story” by Nancy Rommelmann Nancy knows where the old-school eateries and classic watering holes can be found. Think Musso & Frank Grill, the Roosevelt and the Formosa Café. Recipe: “Bull Shot” from Musso & Frank Grill described as a Bloody Mary without the tomato juice. “Fast. Easy. Fresh.” – Quick Dishes for Every-Night Cooking” Recipes: “Feta, Garbanzo Bean and Eggplant Pita Sandwiches”, “Radicchio and Endive Caesar with Ciabatta Crisps”, “Glazed Raspberry Heart Scones”, “Castellane Pasta with Sausage, Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes and Marjoram”, “Mahi-Mahi with Blood Orange, Avocado and Red Onion Salsa” “Smart Carbs” by Marie Simmons Marie offers recipes that feature smart carbs…carbs that are good for you. Recipes: “Barley and Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard”, “Spicy Stir-Fried Brown Rice with Broccolini and Scallops”, “Whole Wheat Bran Muffins with Figs and Pecans” “Readers’ Timesaving Recipes” From reader Anitra Earle of Yonkers, NY: “Linguine with Clams and Fresh Herbs”, “Irish Soda Bread with Raisins” From reader Bev Heinecke of San Anselmo, CA: “Hannah’s Pancakes”, “Chocolate Macaroons” End Page Q&A with actor Chris Roth. The back cover features an ad for the new Chantico drinking chocolate from Starbucks.

Thanks for pointing this out, Jason, as I never realized until now that different parts of the country get different versions of the magazine. Since I am on the left coast, we get the "Western Insider" section so there was no mention of Monica in my issue.

This has been asked before in a previous discussion, but is there a simple/easy way of peeling shallots? Sometimes they are a royal pain to peel, especially when you get those nested cloves/bulbs and there's suddenly more peel to peel in the middle of them.

Where the filet of sole takes on a new meaning.

The D70 also got a great review on megapixel.net. I wish I could afford a camera like that! It looks awesome. fifi, as for regular Photoshop, I'd bypass it for now. It'd be overkill for you anyways. It does have a scan & crop feature that's cool, but you won't need it if you go straight from the camera to the hard drive and don't need to scan photos. There's also a "stitch" feature where you can take three photos from left to right and then Photoshop will "stitch" the three photos into one panorama photo. But how often do you need to do that? There is a cool feature called "Shadow/Highlight" that will brighten foreground subjects in front of a bright background. It can rescue some photos. But it's not worth buying the entire program just to get that. I am looking forward to seeing your pictures!

A high school friend once showed me how to make homemade hash browns. She started by frying up bacon in a cast iron skillet. While the bacon was frying she shredded a raw potato (no need to peel). She removed the bacon to drain, left the bacon fat in the pan and cranked the heat under the pan up to high. When the bacon fat was hot enough she dumped in the shredded potatoes. She flattened them out with a spatula and added salt & pepper. When the bottom of the potatoes was brown and crispy, she easily flipped them over as one giant hash brown patty and fried the other side. They were crisp and crunchy on the outside and steamed potato-ey (from the high heat) on the inside. It's fast and I've since learned there's a fine line between brown and crispy versus brown and burnt. I also add some diced onion, like fifi, to my own hash browns. The bacon fat adds a layer of flavor that Crisco (or what have you) doesn't provide. As for "home fries" (didn't we have this discussion before?), leftover baked potatoes make the best. Just cube them up, peel and all, and brown them to your hearts desire. They're more "potato-ey" than hash browns and certainly have their place at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table.

Two things: 1) Adding bacon would take care of the salt problem while adding great flavor but would also present a moral dilemma in regards to a vegetarian soup. 2) Where in the world are you getting Vidalias in January?!?!?! I would kill for a bag of Vidalias but we don't see them around here until at least the end of March. I am so jealous...

Store them in a netting-type bag (so the air can circulate around the shallots) in a cool, dry place. The netting-type bag is needed because if you keep them in a plastic bag, for example, they may develope mold and then there goes your great purchase. As for uses, you can use them in many recipes in place of an onion. They offer a more subtle onion flavor. Use them in any savory dish that starts out with a saute pan & butter....a little garlic tossed in would be great, too. Let your imagination take you from there...

A quasi-"Scallops Fettucine Alfredo". It's often requested by my brothers for their birthday dinners. I have no idea how I came up with the recipe. I think I had been inspired by my oldest brother (aka to my family as the Black Sheep Gourmet) who has the uncanny talent of making gourmet meals out of whatever he finds in the cupboards or refrigerator. So I just experimented and came up with a winner.

I second that suggestion! I was hoping that when eGCI was back up and running that andiesenji would do a condiments class. andiesenji, thanks for taking the time to document and post this!

And it's nothing more than a fancy-schmancy version of the original Vegomatic.

I had a similar experience with Monk Fish. My brother used to work at a seafood restaurant and swore that the broiled Monk Fish on the menu tasted just like lobster but was a heckuva llot cheaper. So I bought some and I broiled it at home. It came out smelling like dog poo and tasting even worse (where is that green sick smilie when you need it?). I had invited a good friend over for dinner and he was an unfortunate witness to the entire travesty. It ticked me off royally and I've never bought Monk Fish since nor have I ordered it in a restaurant. I'd still like to know what went wrong....

There are retractable screen doors (they add a guide track on the floor). My mom has one on her mobile home's breezeway door that had no room for a normal swinging screen-type door and it works great. I haven't found anything similar for non-screen doors, though. There are, of course, folding doors (check out the image library on the web site) but they aren't good for much other than hiding something visually (sound still goes through). edited to clarify

Take a look at Malawry's post (#4) earlier in this discussion. As long as the soup is no hotter than 170 degrees, the cheese shouldn't split/break. Too cool and it won't integrate into the soup, as you found out. Thinking optimistically, let's say it's not a mistake...you just invented an new kind of soup. You know how French Onion soup has the melted cheese on top? Yours was just inverted. Sell the idea to Ferran Adria as deconstructed cheese and broccoli soup and make a buck or two. Procedurally, I wonder if you could make a sort of white sauce with the cream, add the cheese to that to melt it, then put that into the soup. It's an extra step but would guarantee success.

Yes, it should melt. Sounds like it either didn't get hot enough to melt (so it dissolves into the soup) or perhaps it got too hot and broke and that's what settled to the bottom. Hmmm.... edited to trim verbosity

I haven't read the other linked-to thread but this down-sizing screws up recipes, as well. Good ole Aunt Fanny's dessert recipe that used a small box of instant pudding doesn't taste quite the same since the pudding maker quietly downsized the amount of pudding in the box. Can you imagine how many hand-me-down recipes are impacted by this under-handed downright sneaky down-sizing?

You can always put a new front plate on it to match the rest of the kitchen.

I look forward to voyueristically (is that even a word?) following your trials and tribulations. Thanks for starting this follow-up discussion. And the Magic Corner rocks!

Don't go to Corvette Diner in San Diego. It's kind of like Ed Debevik's (sp?). Sometimes the waiters or waitresses will sit down with the customers as part of their "in-character schtick": "Haul it over, honey, my dogs are barkin' and Mama needs to sit." Or something like that...

Until this gets merged with the Gardening thread, I'll add a suggestion here to grow your herbs in pots instead of in your garden. Some herbs spread like weeds and can takeover a garden if you're not vigilant. Pots work better at containing them.

I remember the commercial where the Dad talked his son into eating Malt-o-Meal by convincing the boy's invisible friend, Maynard, that "It's some good stuff, Maynard." A phrase that has slipped ever so quietly into my own daily vernacular. My mom couldn't make lumpless Cream of Wheat to save her life so I never became a fan of the stuff. Oatmeal became the favorite amongst us kids. I still eat it during the Winter months. I was shocked to find out that if I want to lower my cholesterol, though, I need to eat one & a half servings of it! From the Quaker Oats FAQ web page: [sHAGGY] Zoinks! [/sHAGGY] edited to add hot link

With the remnants, you could make tortilla soup or cut them up and fry them into tortilla chips to eat with salsa...