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Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. As many of us in North America slog through the last bit of winter, time for a hearty and warming dish -- Feijoada. Reseach indicates that this is a Brazilian and Portugese dish of black beans and various pork products, although an old issue of Saveur (the Jan/Feb 2005 Top 100 issue) refers to a Feijoada de Polvo, an octopus stew. There are a few topics on eG about feijoada -- one is here and another one here. And, johnnyd made some beautiful looking feijoada during his foodblog. Scroll down in his blog to see the feijoda-making in progress, as well as the accompanying salad and cocktails. Get out those pots, start sourcing the appropriate black beans and pork products and let's make feijoada!

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. Tis the season for croquettes! Perhaps you never noticed that these breaded and fried bundles of minced or mashed food, bound with egg or thick sauce, were utterly cross-cultural. Though invented by the French, who lend transliterated variations of the term "croquette" to Dutch ("kroket") and Spanish ("croqeta"), they hail from a number of other countries/traditions, including Philipino, American Southern, and NY Jewish -- or so we surmise from this topic on salmon croquettes. They can be filled with anything from vegetables to ham to salmon, so dietary constraints aren't an issue. Finally, since we're hitting holidays (and the holiday party season), they make for great seasonal appetizers when the crowds arrive. As always, we're raising a pretty big tent here at the eG Cook-Off. As far as we're concerned, New England cod cakes and German "Meat Cakes" both qualify. Our quick snoop through the recipes suggest that two different binding agents -- a thick white sauce on the one hand, or potatoes on the other -- dominate, but we're eager to learn more. So what are you molding, breading, and frying?

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. It's getting cold in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, and with the cold weather comes the craving for comfort food. So this time, we're going to try our hands at stuffed cabbage rolls. This is one of those dishes that my grandmother would say takes a lot of 'patskying' -- playing around. But it's worth the effort. RecipeGullet offers two recipes -- Russian Stuffed Cabbage and Holishkes aka Stuffed Cabbage. And there's a Stuffed Cabbage topic here. So, if you've always wanted to make stuffed cabbage rolls, now is your chance. What do you stuff it with? Lots of ground beef or pork, or just a little to season the rice? I want to know whether you steam your cabbage or do you toss it in the freezer? Are you in favour of raisins in the sauce? What about gingersnaps? Canned tomato soup or crushed tomatoes? Let's get rolling!

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. As the first cool weather manifests itself, the quality of the ambient light changes. It stops us as we slog through the everyday world. The air we breathe takes on that crisp clarity that signals the end of Summer, and there is a mist at sunset. We find ourselves instinctively putting a pot on the fire. In France you would say it very simply: "Pot-au-feu." The simple concept of boiled meat and vegetables has probably been with us as long as people have cooked over a heat source. Each time a parent loads a crockpot with beef and vegetables before leaving for work in the morning, they are paying homage to the Pot-au-feu. The Pot-au-feu nets a wonderful meal and then generously provides a complex, but delicate, consommé (see our eGCI course, "Consomme") to be utilized for sauces and soups throughout the week. Enjoy the boiled meat and vegetables on their own -- a simple, straightforward, way of eating. Then, have a toasted slice of rustic bread, spread with the marrow robbed from the bone, and a bowl of broth. The "Pot on the Fire" is apparent no matter what point on the compass you look. In a traditional restaurant in Spain, you will find a Cocido Madriliano. In Italy, you will perhaps run across a fine Bollito. In the United Kingdom, one signature dish is surely the Scotch Broth. Then, there's the very good, old fashioned Yankee Pot Roast. Wherever you find it, the results of a pot on the fire are invariably described as "good" and "solid." Recipes are plentiful and varied. Every French cookbook dating back to the 1800's includes a variation on the Pot-au-feu. Molly Stevens features a great recipe in her book "All About Braising" that we explored here. Food writers from Escoffier to Julia Child to James Beard to Thomas Keller - all pay tribute to the Pot-au-feu. The ingredients are variable enough that you could probably find one that would be suitable for cleaning out nearly any fridge and freezer. So, let's pull out the stockpot or marmite, brush up on our braising skills in eGullet's eGCI Course and Lab on Braising and put it on the fire!

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. It's still warm in the hemisphere in which the vast majority of our members reside, and so we turn, again, to a cool dish from down south: ceviche, the marinated seafood dish from Peru. It may be a popular item these days, having made appearances on Top Chef and prompting a Food Traditions & Culture topic here, but I've gotta say that I've never found a solid home recipe. That's too bad, because when they're good -- and the octopus ceviche I had at Ken Oringer's Toro in Boston last weekend was very, very good -- they're transcendent, balancing acid (usually citrus, with some help from vinegar in certain recipes), capiscum heat, salt, allium, and seafood flesh. We've got a topic or two in eG Forums (click here, e.g.) on the subject, but we've a dearth of recipes and techniques. Traditionalists, how do you find the balance in this world of lame limes and flabby fish? Innovators, how do you honor that balance with your yuzu, szechuan peppercorns, and lemongrass? Let's see what you've got!

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. This time, we're focusing on cold noodles, suggested by Society Member "Hiroyuki" as a great way to beat the Summer heat. Some version of a cold noodle dish can be found in virtually any cusine in the world. Whether you've wanted to try your hand at Somen (Japanese cold noodles), Nang Myung (Korean), or Aunt Irene's Cold Pasta Salad let's go for it! Let's talk about the various types of noodles and each one's virtues! Homemade vs. dried? Dressings and additions? Nosing around the forums brought up several topics: "Pasta Salad" the topic "Cold Noodles w/ Szechuan v. Dan Dan Mein" "Pasta Salad for Father's Day" "Pasta Salad lacking Nuance" "Nyang Mun (Naengmyun) Korean cold noodle dish" RecipeGullet offers these great looking recipes: "Cold Peanut Noodles" "Orzo Salad with Apricots" "Curried Macaroni Salad" I am not familar with anything other than cold pasta salad with ranch dressing dumped on it (I know, I know, but my kids consider it the required side dish for BBQ) - so I am looking for cookbooks that can help me out. I am considering the following: "The Noodle Cook Book: Delicious Recipes for Crispy, Stir-Fried, Boiled, Sweet, Spicy, Hot and Cold Noodles" by Hayto Kunumi "Noodle" by Terry Durack and Geoff Lung "James McNair's Cold Pasta" by James McNair "Garde Manger, The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen" by The Cuinary Institute of America Any other good cookbook suggestions out there? Who's up for some cold comfort in July?

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. This time, we're focusing on pickles. Pickling is a preservation method that uses vinegar or a brine and versions of pickled vegetables, fruit, fish and meat can be found throughout the world. Whether you've wanted to try your hand at tsukemono (Japanese pickles), kimchi (Korean), Moroccan preserved lemons, pickled watermelon, good old kosher dills, or any other pickle, now is the time to do it! There are no restrictions here - let's talk about refrigerator versus 'canning' in a hot water bath. Let's argue the merits of vinegar versus salt. Whatever we do, let's help me figure out how to make my grandmother's dill pickles! There are a few topics on pickles/pickling, including a topic about half and full sours, one on pickle terminology, this topic looked for perfect pickle preparations, and this one introduced a new, quick pickling technique, and most recently, we've had some pickle chat in the Cradle of Flavor cooking topic. If that's not enough inspiration for you, reading Fruit of the Brine, a Tangy Memoir may be just the trick. And don't forget to check the 13 recipes in RecipeGullet! One last thing. If, like me, you haven't pickled anything since you were five, I've asked for and received a few book recommendations: Quick Pickles by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby Ball Blue Book of Preserving The New Preserves : Pickles, Jams, and Jellies by Anne V. Nelson Pickled: Vegetables, Fruits, Roots, More--Preserving a World of Tastes and Traditions by Lucy Norris and Elizabeth Watt Who's in?

Welcome to this edition of the eG Cook-Off! Click here for the eG Cook-Off index. This time around, paella is going to be on the table. I've had it but once or twice, and this eG Cook-Off now a bit about preparing it -- what to include, what to exclude, what kind of rice to use, and the appropriate cookware. There is a bit of stuff floating around here on making paella, including the Paella topic, one on fideua (a noodle paella) and a couple on paella pans (one on carbon steel vs. stainless steel and another on smooth vs. pebbley interiors). There's also a recipe in RecipeGullet for Rice with Salt Cod, Chickpeas and Red Peppers and one for a Seafood Paella. Then, there are books about paella. The first one that came to mind was one I saw at the library a few days ago: Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain by Penelope Casas. There's also La Paella: Deliciously Authentic Rice Dishes from Spain's Mediterranean Coast by Jeff Koehler. I know nothing about cooking paella, just that I like it! For starters, do I really need to buy a paella pan for something I won't cook very often? Are there absolutely required ingredients?

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. This cook-off focuses on felafel. I've enjoyed fine felafel here in the US and overseas, but I have literally no idea how to make this, the national street food of at least a handful of Middle Eastern countries. Several people who have recommended this cook-off did so because, while they felt they had some clues, they didn't really have a consistently successful recipe or method. Sounds like a good cook-off topic, eh? There are a few topics on the felafel matter, including this one on tips and tricks, an older topic that finds more woes than techniques, and this preparation topic, How Do You Like Your Falafel? I also found this recipe by Joan Nathan, which seems like it might be useful. But what do I know? Not much, I'll tell you. Time to chime in, you!

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. This cook-off: posole or pozole, the Mexican stew with hominy corn (the posole for which the dish is named). At the base of most posole is, of course, the corn itself, broth, and meat, usually pork. From there, well, the possibilities expand greatly. The pickin's on eG Forums are pretty slight: one discussion on dried vs fresh posole can be found here, there's a short topic here in the Mexico forum, and another asking questions here in Cooking. There are, however, two posole recipes in Recipe Gullet: fifi's barbeque posole and, well, my mother-in-law's fantastic recipe, which I'm calling Castañeda posole. Finally, our own rancho_gordo sells the remarkable stuff in the image above at his Rancho Gordo website. Posole is in my family's regular dinner rotation. Perhaps it is in yours -- or ought to be?

Welcome to this second anniversary eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. A click on that index shows that, while the Cook-Offs have ventured throughout the globe, but they've never stopped in Africa. One could say we've passed through -- gumbo, for example, is widely acknowledged to have roots in Africa, among other places. So, for the first Cook-Off rooted in African cuisine, we'll be cooking up mafé, otherwise known as peanut or groundnut stew. Mafé is a traditional west African dish that can be found in the kitchens of Senegal and Mali. It's often served with a starch of some sort (rice, most often) to soak up the nutty stew juices, or, alternately, the starch is part of the stew itself, resulting in a drier braise. While there are a few mentions of mafé in eG Forums, there are no discussions of actually preparing it that I can find except this brief post by yours truly. There are a few recipes elsewhere, including this stew-like one and this more braise-y one, both of which are from the Food Network. Mafé is a forgiving cold-weather dish, and one that, like most stews, benefits from reheating (read: swell as leftovers). I'm convinced that mafé is one of the great one-pot dishes in global cuisine, built on a solid base of sautéed onions, peanut-thickened stock, and hearty meat. Like other classics such as gumbo, cassoulet, and bibimbap, it affords tremendous variation within those guides; it would be hard to find very many vegetables that haven't made an appearance in a mafé pot somewhere, and there are lots of possibilities concerning herbs and spices. (I like to increase the heat quite a bit with cayenne, which I think plays off the silk of the nut oil just perfectly, for example.) Finally, it's a pleasant surprise if you've never had a savory peanut dish before, and kids in particular tend to think it is the bee's knees. The kitchen fills with a heady aroma -- browned onion, ground peanuts -- that's hard to describe and resist. So: who's up for mafé?

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. With the weather turning cold in the northern hemispere and the Cook-Off having avoided French cuisine for a little while, it's time to dabble with daubes. There are few things as restoring as a daube, the classic French braised meat stew (usually beef, though not always) that has as many recipes as adults in France. It also helps to develop several crucial braising techniques that will come in handy over the next few months for many of us, and if you develop a lovely relationship with your butcher in preparation for same, all the better. I've found two daube recipes quite wonderful: a fairly straightforward one from Saveur Cooks Authentic French and the other, "Daube of Beef in the Style of Gascony," from our own redoubtable Paula Wolfert and her Cooking of Southwest France. That multiday recipe was the cooking highlight of my holidays last year, and the best beef that my guests had ever eaten. (click here for the link to a discussion of my experience with that recipe.) Wolfert also kindly placed this recipe for oxtail daube into RecipeGullet; you can also click here for snowangel's prep and execution of the dish. There aren't hundreds of posts on daube around here, but there are quite a few interesting topics, such as one that considers Catalan Tuna Daube and another that asks the question, "Daube with veal?" Variationson the traditional beef daube can be found here and there, including in this topic on Daube de Gardian.

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index.. Oh, those little dumpling pillows filled with broth! They are a favorite at dim sum places, and it's time we tried our hand at making them. There are many topics on where to get the best ones in different cities and a few on making your own (and there seem to be many different spellings on these lucious dumplings): Xiao Lun Bao/ Soup Dumpling Recipes Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Tang Bao) Xiaolong Bao Little Steamed Juicy Buns Let's talk filling, technique, wrappers, and just how to get those perfect topnots, and then let's eat!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our silver anniversary Cook-Off, we're making tamales. It's true that All Saint's Day and Christmas are months away, but the weather has turned cold suddenly here in New England, and my thoughts have turned to the green corn tamales that I enjoyed a year ago on a trip to Tucson and Bisbee, Arizona. Early fall may also be the right time to start not only because high corn season approaches in the north (for those using fresh corn in their dough), but also because this may end up being a long process for some of us. You see, I've resisted this cook-off because of my futile attempts to get fresh masa (chronicled here). In the meanwhile, I've been gathering good pork fat for freshly rendered lard using Fifi's RecipeGullet method, have several good filling recipes ready to test, and even have stockpiled a few packages of excellent corn husks for the cause. What to do about this masa problem, however, is an open question. Should I give Maseca masa harina, the only brand I've seen recommended, a try? Or perhaps I should see what Rick Bayless's combination of quick-cooking grits and masa harina produces. I've even grabbed a bag of lime in case I'm forced to soak and grind my own masa from field corn. (Of course, if someone out there can find a source for mail-order fresh masa, I'm going to give that a try!) There are quite a few lively topics around here on the subject of tamales, including a general one on making tamales, one on tamales with duck fat, another on tamales without lard, even one on the proper corn husks for tamales. This ain't the composed salad cook-off; most of us can't make a quick trip to the store, grab a few things, and prep, cook, and serve the dish within an hour. So let's start talking about prep, materials, fillings -- and what to do about that masa problem!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our twenty-fourth Cook-Off, we're making kebabs, satays, and skewers. For a while, we toyed with the idea of calling the topic by the more generic and descriptive name, "Meat on a Stick." But we went with three possible interpretations of meat on a stick instead -- to which, of course, you should add your own. snowangel was kind enough to dig out a few jillion related topics here on eG Forums, including: Grub's Seekh Kebab Demo Lamb Kebabs ala Monica Bhide Seekh Kebabs Authentic Chicken Kebab recipe I Love Kebabs Fish Kebabs Shish Kebab Beef Satay Satay -- anyone have a real good, authentic recipe? So, techniques? Skewer styles? Seasonings? Favorite meats? Sauces? Let's see 'em all!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our twenty-third Cook-Off, we're making crêpes. There's been an intense push for a crepe cook-off for many months, and we've finally arrived! While usually considered to be French, crêpes have made their way into lots of other cuisines and, in some cases, were there long before the French ever showed up. A definition from wikipedia, s'il vous plait: In addition, there are banh xeo, the Vietnamese crêpe, banh chiao, the Khmer version, dosas from India -- heck, I think you could make the argument that injera is something of a crepe. So far on eG Forums, we've got a General topic devoted to crêpe fillings, a Pastry & Baking topic devoted to crêpe technique, a topic on Japanese crêpes (which are pretty eclectic, let me tell you), another on injera, and a topic and recipe devoted to mille crêpes. I also found this charming pictorial how-to, which would suggest that you need neither a fancy crêpe pan nor one of those T-thingies to push the batter around. Let's see some crêpes, folks!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our twenty-second Cook-Off, we're making that familiar non-sushi Japanese restaurant stand-by, tempura. Reading up on tempura for this cook-off, I've learned a few things that surprised me. Apparently tempura is an early version of east-west fusion, in that the dish is often credited as having origins in the Spanish and Portuguese missions of the 16th century. Of course, the dipping sauce and the shredded daikon were uniquely Japanese touches. Having had mediocre tempura many times, I ate one meal at a tempura specialty restaurant in Tokyo many years ago, and instantly realized -- of course -- that my tastes were bastardized by poor imitations here in the U.S. Though I ate many wonderful deep-fried courses, I also drank far too many wonderful Asahi Dry beers at the prompting of my hosts, so don't remember too much about the preparation save for the huge caldrons of oil, the constant grating of daikon, and the surprisingly small bowls of batter. In his brilliant, encyclopedic, essential Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, Shizuo Tsuji explains in typically perfect prose that the proper batter is, indeed, crucial: Carefully chosen, fresh ingredients, some hot fry oil, and lumpy batter: sounds like a perfect dish for the cook-off novice and veteran alike! Unless I'm missing something (always a possibility), there's not a lot going on here on eGullet involving tempura. There are a couple of Cooking topics here and here, and there's a brief discussion of the origin of the term "tempura" in the Japan forum here. So I think we'll be forging new ground, folks. Who's going to start us off?

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our twenty-first Cook-Off, we're making risotto. Up here in the northern hemisphere, it's a great time for risotto with spring vegetables arriving daily -- asparagus, morels -- and it's also time for the last few weeks of good lobster. But risotto is a great dish that allows for remarkable variation no matter the season. It's also a dish that relies upon some fundamentals (a fantastic stock pays great dividends) and that rewards tradition and experimentation both. Finally, for reasons that I've never quite understood, it tends to terrorize some first-timers -- which makes it perfect for the supportive atmosphere of the cook-offs. Thanks to Craig Camp's excellent Risotto Course and the Q&A that followed, we've already got a good base for our cook-off. In addition, you'll be able to read up on vegan risotto, vanilla risotto, the scientific issues related to risotto stirring (very complex reading, I warn you), and the different rices used. So get stirrin', folks!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our twentieth Cook-Off, we're making chowdah. However, most of the world is sadly located outside of New England, and thus erroneously spells and pronounces the dish chowder. In a magnanimous gesture to promote national, even global, harmony, I'll follow suit. (In this post.) Of course, spellings and pronunciations are just the tip of the contentious iceberg, friend. Take a good working definition of the dish. I'd like to say that chowder is a milk-based soup -- but that'd be wrong (think manhattan or red clam chowder). I'd like to say that chowder must include fish or shellfish -- but that'd be wrong, too (think corn chowder). And how about this fascinating disagreement: though many would argue it's a definitively American dish, is it east coast or west coast? Here's wikipedia on chowder: However, the contentious Australians at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Center offer this brief definition: I of course believe that wikipedia is certainly right. But who's to say? Perhaps chowder exists precisely to provoke these tiffs. Look, for example, at this snit between me, menton1, and a few others over the definition of Providence chowder. Grown men, I'm telling you, nearly coming to blows over the subject. Surely we can provoke that sort of heated debate here in the cook-off -- some real cassoulet- or gumbo-worthy arguments. Check out our own Sara Moulton's RecipeGullet recipe for oven baked chowder, lovebenton0's hearty scallop chowder, or Chef Matt's "Fat Guy" lobster chowder. And while there are eGS cooking threads here and here , but, honestly, there's not much around here. Yet. So get cookin', you chowdaheads!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our nineteenth Cook-Off, we're making eggs, beaten, with stuff in them. All right, all right, so the name sucks. Feel free to pick your own favorite from among the other suggestions: "Souffles, Frittatas, Omelettes," my best shot but too European for my tastes; "Eggs, Filled, Folded, Fluffed," snowangel's variation on the one I went with; "Eggstravaganza!" -- a name we'll have to save for the Broadway musical adaptation of this cook-off. What we're talking about here are egg dishes that require beating the eggs -- either en masse a la the omelette or yolk and white separately then combined a la the soufflé -- and then combining them with other ingredients. This is an admittedly wide berth, but you probably get the drift. Frittata? Yes. Deviled eggs? No (not beaten). It seems to me like a good cook-off idea because eggs, beaten, with stuff in them appear throughout the cuisines of the world. We've got the eGCI course on omelettes here and the Q&A here. There are at least two solid threads on Italian frittatas here and here. Check out the chawanmushi in this tamago thread. My initial attempts at searching suggest that we're still in need of a definitive Bindae-dduk recipe (the Korean omelette), and I think that we may see a few egg foo yungs before the cook-off is over. So fire up the skillets, people, and get out those whisks. This promises to be eggcellent! Ok, I couldn't resist.

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our eighteenth Cook-Off, we're making Asian noodle soups. We're talking about Vietnamese pho, bun bo hue, and hu tieu, Chinese niu rou mian, Phillipino mami, Japanese tonkotsu and miso ramen, Korean kuksu... and dozens more. If it's Asian soup and it has noodles in it, then you've got a Cook-Off dish! If you ask me, it's taken a bit too long for the Cook-Off to get here, given that there's a movie devoted to the subject (Tampopo), that the dish of pho is likely one of the big eGullet go-to foods (see, for example, the adopted comfort foods thread, where pho makes regular appearances), and that a noodle soup, well prepared, is a thing of beauty, care, and warmth. (Of course, if you're like me, you've also had a lot of noodle soups, poorly prepared -- but gussying up your Sapporo Ichiban is a subject for this thread, and not our Cook-Off, deal? ) When preparing Asian noodle soups, there are three distinct and crucial components: the stock or broth; the noodles themselves; the accompaniments or other ingredients. I'm hoping we can share strategies and tips for the first and the last here -- but if there are any noodle makers out there, please do chime in, as we all would find that art fascinating. No surprise that other Society members have paved the way for our efforts here. There are threads devoted to Ramen and to Tonkotsu Ramen broth, ruminations about pho, Chinese beef noodle soup (Niu Rou Mian), and guppymo's Vietnamese cooking, which starts off with Bun Bo Hue. Those approaching stock making with trepidation will find calmer nerves after perusing the eGCI stock course -- and Ah Leung (hzrt8w)'s directions for soup bone stock here are very useful for a Cantonese method. Time to find some big bones and meat, some lemon grass and ginger, some rice or wheat noodles, and get cooking!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our seventeenth Cook-Off, we're making sausages. Wait! Come back!! I think sausages get a lousy rap. There are many, many bad sausages around, ones that include animal body parts that even Fergus Henderson won't eat, and as a result a lot of folks here probably don't incorporate them into their diet regularly. But they're perfect for a cook-off, and here's why. Your effort is rewarded amply, because you can make a huge batch of sausages in roughly the same amount of time it takes to make a small batch, and most sausages freeze with ease. You don't really need any fancy equipment; indeed, you can make patties instead of links and "grind" the meat with a chef's knife or cleaver. Of course, there are more kinds of sausages than you can shake a link at. If you look at the list below, you'll see that there's a wide variety of pork-based European (and some Chinese) sausages explored in the eGullet Society forums. However, there are many kinds of sausages that aren't made with pork and that come from other cuisines. For example, I'm looking forward to making a new batch of sai oua, Thai sausage, in the next week or two, and I might take a crack at lobster sausages for a new years eve treat. Finally, sausages are one of the world's great foods. The snap of the casing, the flavor of the meat, the aroma of the seasonings, the lovely coating of fat on your tongue... once you start making your own, you'll begin to realize that there really is not limit to what you can make into sausages. Sausage fans should certainly check out Klink's sausage diary, days one, two, three, four, five, and (no typo) twenty four. There's also a great newer thread devoted mainly to cured European sausages here. There are other threads devoted to fat ratios in sausage, fresh Chinese pork sausages, a boudin making, equipment, sweet Italian sausage recipes, Nullo Modo's sausage-making party, and homemade sausage. There's even a previous sausage cook-off in the China forum. Finally, folks are cooking from eGullet's own Michael Ruhlman's new Charcuterie book here. So, all you sausage-phobes out there, remember that the purpose of a cook-off is to try to make something that you've never made before. As far as I can tell, sausage making is a bit precarious, but all the more fun because of that; I stress out about air pockets, while the gang curing their own get to worry about maggots and botulism. It's all part of what makes a cook-off great, though, imposing your anxieties on willing chums, right? Trust me: if you take a crack at making sausages from scratch, you'll never look back. Of course, we then need to discuss dishes in which to use them, so if you'd rather start on the bunny slope using storebought sausages, have at it! Let's get to grindin' and stuffin', folks!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our sweet sixteenth Cook-Off, we're making potato pancakes. Sure, many of you make potato pancakes now and then, and you may be thinking that this is not a very special dish. Allow me to disagree! First, let's admit that we haven't had any Jewish cooking here in the cook-off before, and as Chanukah approaches (Dec. 25, 2005 to Jan. 2, 2006 this year) we have a natural opportunity to share latke recipes for that holiday staple. In addition, many folks get out the grater for holiday brunches and New Years Eve parties, since the potato pancake is a great party food as well. Finally, there are many versions of the potato pancake to be found throughout the spud-eating world, including Belarusian draniki, Boxti Irish pancakes, Swedish potato lefse, Polish kartoflane placki... the list goes on and on! Finally and as always, the eGullet Society has some folks ready to share ideas and recipes for this dish. Start by clicking here for a titanic latke thread, started by our own Steven Shaw, who has in fact been crowned as a latke king. You can also click here for a controversial discussion about whether latkes require potatoes. Truth be told, I'm not finding much on the others -- so we've got some work to do! Get your graters, skillets, and fats out, people!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our fifteenth Cook-Off, we're making chili. I'll admit that most cook-off dishes are inspired by compelling tales from eGulleteers, or particularly memorable dishes, or somesuch. This time around, it was the What is wrong with this chili thread that did it. In that thread lurks a recipe so utterly defiling that it forced me to do a cook-off to erase the Frankenchili from memory. Click, ye who dare. But chili seems a good cook-off dish for a lot of reasons. There's lots of secret tricks (peanut butter, cinnamon, baby arugula and fig jam ) to share; cuts of meat must be discussed; the great bean debate can be commenced, as can those devoted to rice, cheese, onions, sour cream, chocolate chips (I'm not kidding), and other toppings. Who knows: someone might actually post a vegetarian chili and risk ridicule from a Lone Star Stater! Finally and as always, the eGullet Society is boiling over with experts ready to share ideas and recipes for this dish. Start by clicking here,here,here,and here.We've also got RecipeGullet recipes here,here,here,here (purists beware),here (ditto),and here (double ditto). You got a beef about how chili must be made? Let's hear it! Get out the dutch ovens and crock pots, people! And if anyone wants to take a crack at the Frankenchili, we're all dying to know!

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index. For our fourteenth Cook-Off, we're making bibimbap. Aficionados of Korean food and cooking are well aware of this famous dish, but many who have not had the pleasure might find this a surprising cook-off selection. Folks, I'm here to tell you that everyone should bring this remarkable dish into their repertoire. What is bibimbap, you ask? In a previous thread devoted to the subject, Jinmyo offered this typically inimitable explanation: True, some ingredients (the pickles known as kimchee and the red pepper paste known as gojuchang) may be a bit tricky for you to find, but we can summon up some possible substitutes. No special equipment is absolutely necessary, though if you have one of the stone or metal cook bowls known as dolsots, you'll want to use that. Like cassoulet, bibimbap inspires many debates about authenticity and regionalism, which means that the neophyte can experiment with great flexibility and still claim some amount of technical merit! Finally and as always, the eGullet Society is chock-a-block full of experts ready to share ideas and recipes for the various components of this dish, not only on the thread referenced above (click the little pink box in the quotation) but also here, here, and here, with a kimchee thread here and a kochuchang thread here. So turn on your rice cookers and get your beef a-marinating -- and if you have any soju handy, get it damned cold!