Hest88

Just back from a blissful meal at Chez Panisse, featuring dishes from Paula's cookbook. Paula, thank you again for a lovely evening; the dishes were scrumptious though we were unable to take pictures. Would you happen to have any photos of the Chez Panisse dishes?

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, November 16, 2005 SPECIAL THANKSGIVING ISSUE Mix & match feast, Miriam Morgan Take a turkey, then pick your trimmings from a palette of 30 multicultural recipes Don't want to cook?, Rachel Marshall Order dinners to go! TURKEY Chronicle Classic: Best Way Brined Turkey Recipes: Best Way Brined Turkey Gravy for Brined Turkey How to prepare a stuffed turkey: Roasting times for stuffed bird Taster’s Choice, Carol Ness Sparkling Martinelli's apple juices top the list New broths, stocks join lineup, Rachel Marshall "Two new locally produced options for stock and broth are on supermarket shelves for cooks this holiday season." Planning for Thanksgiving, Lynne Char Bennett "This list, while not exactly a step-by-step guide, lays out some basic planning tips and a schedule for getting dinner on the table." Turkey breast for a smaller feast, Amanda Gold "The benefits of cooking a turkey breast are multifaceted." Recipe: Wine-Braised Turkey Breast Tips on buying, storing and stuffing turkey "Here's a short overview of what cooks -- experienced as well as novice -- usually want to know about getting ready for the big meal." DRESSINGS Recipes: Vegetarian Bread Dressing with Apples, Wild Mushrooms & Walnuts Fig & Prosciutto Cornbread Stuffing Muffins Chorizo Dressing Dirty Rice Dressing Tortilla Souffle Dressing CONDIMENTS Recipes: Red Pepper Marmalade Citrus-Cranberry Sauce Fresh Cranberry-Mint Chutney Red Wine Pear & Applesauce Spiced Baked Orange Slices APPETIZERS Recipes: Edamame with Sweet Chile Dipping Sauce Cumin-Spiced Almonds Prosciutto Pinwheels Libyan Spicy Pumpkin Dip Spicy Arugula Salad with Pumpkin-Crusted Brie VEGETABLES Recipes: Brussels Sprouts with Mustard-Caper Butter Winter Vegetable Cobbler Braised Napa Cabbage with Shiitake Mushrooms Acorn Squash Charmoula Broccoli Rabe with Pancetta & Parmesan DESSERTS, Flo Braker Traditional holiday desserts take on a fresh look Recipes: Dried Fruit-Nut Florentine Triangle Cookies Pumpkin Pots de Creme Rustic Pecan Tart with Bourbon Whipped Cream Free-form Apple Pie with Quince Paste Pumpkin Pie Best Way Piecrust POTATOES, ETC. Recipes: Pumpkin Drop Biscuits with Chile-Honey Butter Warm Sweet Potato & Apple Salad Best Way Mashed Potatoes Wild Rice with Dried Cherries & Toasted Pecans Sweet Potato Brulee Best Way Piecrust Wines to grace your Thanksgiving table, W. Blake Gray Wine selections for the Thanksgiving feast. Holiday hot lines "Got a last-minute turkey question or need some fast ideas? Try these hot lines and Web sites..."

Every year for 5-6 years I'd modify the herbs and spices in the brine. I threw in tons of ginger, juniper, cinnamon, star anise, 5 spice, etc. Every year, though, I'd find that the brine pretty much contributed nothing but saltiness and juiciness. So, two years ago I just did a simple salt and sugar brine and relied on the rub to add flavor.

Well...ortolan of course.

Here in San Francisco, the LWL contingent can be found at The Rotunda restaurant at Neiman Marcus. No one I know, of course, has ever been part of that exalted group since, well, all of my acquaintances have to work for a living.

Really? I had no idea. Does that mean if I put half-chewed gum back in my mouth it will taste fine again?

This guy is seriously deluded. Celebrity anythings usually get more people interested in the profession, not less. I suspect Mikeycook's theory is closer to the actual truth. My sister's fiance taught at a Culinary Academy and often spoke of the 2nd career people who, due to a layoff or dotcom stock options, entered culinary school thinking it would be a cool thing to do. The reality of all the hard work and long hours was often quite a blow. He told me he doubted if even a fraction of them would actually end up as chefs. We've had such a booming mainstream interest in food over the last decade that it was bound to peak eventually.

This has always been my conclusion as to why appetizers are frequently more interesting than entrees. I am one of those people who have taken to ordering a few appetizers in lieu of a single entree at many restaurants. If I do order an entree it's often due to the sides as much as the main entree. There are only so many ways to do a slab of protein, given its size, so the supporting players can easily steal the show.

Understood. But in the old days the odds of you having any sort of discussion with someone you were not already acquainted with was pretty slim. At a cocktail party you'd be face to face; written correspondence via post would not be possible unless you had some awareness of the person with whom you were writing. In the Internet age, though, one cannot first vet one's companions in conversation. The lovely thing about it is that I've "met" many people I consider good friends. The downside is that I've also "met" many people who later on made me thankful they lived across the country. I would not trade the stimulating discussion or the instant intimacy of the Internet for anything, but I also recognize that it means I expose myself to people I often know very little about. Hence the anonymity.

It's mainly Chinese food, so that means stir-fried meat on a bed of pretty greens, or extra embellishments such decorative slivers of red pepper of the sort I'd never eat myself. If I cook for company using a Chinese clay pot I'll usually bring that straight to the to table, since the rustic shape looks so nice. My favorite Chinese dish for guests is my dad's catfish steamed with black bean sauce, ginger, and scallions. Easy to make, attractive, but with a wonderful flavor.

As someone who has visited a whole lot of forums in my time, I would really argue against any effort to force individual contributors to post with their real names. It is too easily to look someone up on the Internet, and too easy for one's private interests and Internet discourses to be found by one's real life acquaintances. Plus, given the sometimes heated exchanges on the Internet, it makes it too easy for an online enemy to do real life damage.

Thank you to Daniel Patterson for clarifying his position. I too agree that it was a very well-written piece. I've complained a number of times to my husband that I wished I didn't have to travel to Chicago to eat at a place like Alinea. However, though I think it's easy to blame restaurants for the lack of diversity in the Bay Area, we can't discount the customers. The "innovative" restaurants--such as Antidote in Sausalito--have traditionally done rather poorly. The success of both TFL and Manresa does show that customers are willing to branch out a bit, but still within certain confines of taste. TFL and Manresa both create dishes that *look* different but I wouldn't say they either one challenges the customer's taste buds. What would it take for a more innovative restaurant to succeed?

I find this thread interesting because out here in CA I've been finding that many of the new upscale raw bar/seafood restaurants have been serving what I just thought of as a runny version of New England chowder. I had no idea that broth-based chowder was traditional in RI. I suspect these seafood restaurants think a broth-based clam chowder is more "refined" than a thick New England or a Manhattan.

You must be kidding. I only plate when we have company or for special occasions. Otherwise we eat family style or I just throw the food onto plates. When I make one-dish meals, such as pasta, we just throw the food into big bowls.

Splash pages are evil. There's nothing more annoying than having to sit through one while it loads when all I want is a phone number or directions.

Oh, I was so hoping the news would be better! I'll continue praying for her health.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Was It Something I Ate?, Janet Fletcher What to do if you think a restaurant meal has made you sick What to do if you think you have food poisoning, Janet Fletcher, Kristen Townsend "If you believe you have been sickened by a restaurant meal, health authorities advise alerting the establishment and calling the health department of the county where the restaurant is located; see accompaying phone numbers." FROM SOUTH TO NORTH, Jacqueline Higuera McMahan Bread for the dead Recipe: Day of the Dead Bread Warm up to butternut squash, Morgan Barnes "The transition from summer to fall is made easier by focusing on all delicious fall and winter vegetables coming into season, especially butternut squash." Recipe: Roasted Squash & Poblano Chile Enchiladas What’s New: Pasta sauces with rich payoffs MARKET WATCH / Pears, pumpkins and pomegranates DISCOVERIES / Spices in smaller doses SHOPPING CART / Fresh mozzarella logs Taster’s Choice, Carol Ness Trader Joe's rice crackers pack the right crunch The Working Cook, Tara Duggan Childhood favorites receive quick and simple makeovers Recipes: Pasta with Chickpeas Chickpea Vegetable Stew with Couscous Cake from a can? Start with fruit cocktail, Karola Saekel Recipe: Fruit Cocktail Cake The Inside Scoop, GraceAnn Walden Berkeley's beloved Ozzie's gets a new lease on life...sale of San Francisco's Campton Place...Pizza Antica in Mill Valley...Fish reopening...N.V. Restaurant & Lounge. Medrich offers a can-do approach, Karola Saekel Chocolate Holidays has 50-plus recipes for any and all delicious occasions. Chocolatiers challenge home cooks to be pros, Karola Saekel In their new book, Chocolate Obsession, Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage tell all you ever wanted to know about chocolate, and then some. Benefits Exhibition to focus on family meal Marketplace festival Kitsch-In

Well, there's definitely cultural and regional differences, but if you want broad generalizations I think your wife's comment is closer to the truth when it comes to veggies than with fruit. I'm Cantonese, so traditionally we never eat veggies raw. It always takes a bit for my relatives to learn to like salads or crudites---if they ever do. In comparision to my relatives, Americans defintely eat raw veggies more often. With fruit, though, I think that you'll find that it's eaten as much raw as it is cooked, and I actually suspect that in every day life fruit is eaten MORE often raw than cooked.

Ludja, what a great, evocative report. It was lovely seeing you, even if we didn't get much of a chance to chat!

But did they taste good? ;-)

Like Winesonoma, I bought a heritage turkey last year. I think it was around $12lbs and cost about $50.

I love the taste of ham ha and fu yu, so that's how I do my amaranth and ong choi. I've actually starting using more fu yu than ham ha, mainly because the cleaner taste is becoming more preferable. Whenever I have those veggies without ham ha or fu yu they taste too bland now. My taste buds have just become so corrupted!

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, September 29, 2005 Mama knows best when it comes to kugel, Amanda Gold "Kugel, a baked casserole, generally of noodles, can be sweet or savory, topped with cereal, studded with raisins or other fruit, or as simple as noodles, eggs and butter." Recipes: Gold Family Noodle Pudding Brad Levy's Kugel Jerusalem Peppery Kugel A grand old Grill, Amanda Berne After 155 years, San Francisco's iconic restaurant still packs them in Recipes: Hangtown Fry Fillet of Sole All'Agro THE INSIDE SCOOP, Amanda Berne Paul Bertolli leaves Oliveto THE WORKING COOK, Tara Duggan Greek salad puts a taste of summer on the fall table Recipes: Greek Salad Seared Ahi Tuna Grilled Tuna Steaks Kabochas usher in a new season, Linda Furiya "A kind of pumpkin that is dearest to my heart is a small, squat-shaped Japanese variety called kabocha." Recipe: Savory Japanese pumpkin John Wayne's favorite casserole rides again, Karola Sakel "Last week's request for a green chile and cheese casserole, which Edith Witherspoon recalled as "Duke's Favorite," turns out to be a reputed culinary indulgence of the macho movie idol." Recipe: The Duke's Favorite Cheese Casserole A roundup of where to dine around the Bay Area, Jennifer Tomaro, Carol Ness, Amanda Gold, Dave Murphy Capsules of reviews that ran in recent editions East Bay Life, Marin-Sonoma-Napa Friday and Peninsula Friday. WHAT'S NEW, Amanda Berne, Amanda Gold, Tara Duggan Dinner in bed Benefits More upcoming fundraisers include some benefits for victims of Hurricane Katrina. LETTERS TO FOOD It's-It lover questions original recipe

Thanks for the update, Fistfulla. I continue to hold your wife in my thoughts and hope she makes a full recovery.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, September 14, 2005 FLAVORS OF MOROCCO, Janet Fletcher Mourad Lahlou updates his culture's love affair with September's peppers, eggplant and tomatoes Recipes: Moroccan Eggplant Soup with Za'atar Croutons Smoky Eggplant Mousse with Paprika Moroccan Spiced Tomato Jam Grilled Pepper Salad with Preserved Lemons Moroccan Stuffed Peppers A magnificent melon baller obsession, Marlena Spieler I was rifling through my cutlery drawer recently, searching for the elusive vegetable peeler in a tangle of tools, when suddenly I saw my melon baller. THE INSIDE SCOOP, GraceAnn Walden Rigo expands his empire What's New: * Tiki torches light up SoMa * Shell game * Flights of fromage * You gotta have heart * Maman's siblings Taster's Choice, Carol Ness C&W takes top honors in frozen green bean lineup THE WORKING COOK, Tara Duggan For that great silky texture, slow-roast that salmon fillet Events help hurricane victims Upcoming fundraisers include some benefits for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Culinary Pioneers recipes Because of a production error, several recipes in last Wednesday's "Culinary Pioneers" story were missing. Here are the recipes, including the master recipe for chef Michael Mina's Dover sole that was printed. Recipes: Michael Mina's Dover Sole With Crab Brandade, Beurre Blanc & Haricot Verts Crab Brandade Haricot Verts with Horseradish Cream Dijon Beurre Blanc