zoramargolis

If you ever see a person experience anaphylaxis due to a food allergy...well, that will change your mind. A peanut allergy doesn't make a kid, say, sneeze. It's life-threatening.

As a person with food allergies, I have had some direct experience here--several emergency room visits with anaphalactic reactions included. There are degrees of severity in food allergies in both adults and children, and they often change over time, usually becoming less severe when they do change. I went through a period when I was a kid when I was allergic to peanuts, but all that happened was that I sneezed. One time I got hives all over my body and was sent home from school, but it was unclear what the cause was. The peanut allergy lasted for a fairly brief time. They are no longer a problem. On and off, pistachios make my throat itch, but we are cool at the moment. As an adult, strawberries once occasioned an ER visit, but I no longer have a problem with them. Walnuts caused a major anaphalactic reaction when I was in my early twenties, and I still avoid them--but people have an unfortunate tendency to include them in unlikely dishes. I always ask about cookies, brownies, muffins and sweet breads, but I have had unexpected encounters with walnuts in cranberry sauce and salad. Fortunately, I seem to be no longer severely allergic to them, or haven't eaten enough to cause a problem other than itchiness "around the edges"... Same with apples and apple products like sauce and cider. For a couple of years, I couldn't eat pears. Mercifully, that one disappeared or I wouldn't have any good Fall fruit options.

I am so grateful that my kid didn't inherit my familial allergic trait. It's a pain in the butt.

Me three! And since I made the stuffing, I still have a pile leftover at home, as well as some gifted cranberries and and sweets. Being a white meat fan, I'm thinking of picking up a turkey breast tonight or tomorrow to roast. Anyone have any advice on how to keep that baby moist and tasty? Temps? Flavorings? I've never cooked one before.

Brine or salt it for 24 hours. Rinse, dry with paper towels and let it dry in the fridge for at least 12 hours before cooking. Oil the skin with EVOO or softened butter. Use a meat thermometer and pull it out of the oven when it hits 160 degrees. I like to make a flavored brine with aromatic veg and fresh herbs. Instead, a lot of people like to work a flavored or herb butter under and on the skin prior to roasting. Start the oven high for a short time to brown the skin and turn it way down to roast until done. (Like 425 for 15 or 20 minutes and then down to 300 or 325 until done -- it's impossible to say how long it will take, since the size and weight of a turkey breast will vary considerably).

This gave me pause. While oyster and shiitake mushrooms are widely cultivated, it was my belief that the chanterelle (along with the cepe and the morel) had defied cultivation. A little Googling turned up a lot of stuff about chanterelle cultivation, but it seems to be mostly in the context of scientific literature, and as a work in progress. Does anyone know if chanterelles are being commercially cultivated?

I think these were probably wild-- they were quite clean, but I did wipe out a few pine needles from some. The oysters and shiitakes were cultivated, for sure.

Three Thanksgivings with no turkey. So I'm roasting one tonight. So sue me. I like turkey. At least I like my turkey.

Same here. I was feeling bereft of turkey leftovers and a carcass to make soup out of, since we ate someone else's turkey this year. And then I was at Whole Foods on Saturday, and they had a cute little 8-pounder, free range. Not too expensive. I herb-brined it for two days, and today I smoked it with applewood chips in my Weber kettle. Unstuffed, it took less than 1 1/2 hours to get to the right temperature. And it was delicious, lightly smoky and very juicy, much more so than the one we ate on Thursday. No stuffing. I served it with gravy and:

Roasted, then mashed buttercup squash with maple syrup, fresh ginger, nutmeg and lemon zest

Braised kale and turnip greens

Basmati rice

Lotsa leftovers. Oh yeah!

Last night:

Pan fried skate filet

Remoulade with homemade aioli

Sauteed jerusalem artichokes

Pan-roasted melange of "wild" 'shrooms (chanterelles, oysters and shiitakes)

2005 Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner

Quote of the meal: "Mo-om! Did you put PARSLEY in this sauce? I HATE parsley!"

While I was in NYC, I had a chance to visit with Ann Saxenby, a young woman cheesemonger who sells artisan cheeses in her own little shop within the Essex Market on the Lower East Side--she only sells cheese made by cheesemakers she has met and visited. She turned me onto a couple of cheese blogs that I hadn't heard about. They are worth checking out...

Curdnerds

Cheese by Hand

Home made terrine (no SPAM in this one )

I made a modified version of mdt's Spam terrine, and brought it to a Thanksgiving potluck held at Alias Restaurant on Clinton Street in NYC's Lower East Side. (The owners of the restaurant live in a co-op a block away with my SIL and BIL.) My modification of mdt's recipe consisted of adding a layer of sliced bloc foie gras in the center. I called it "Simultaneously Sublime and Ridiculous Terrine" but did not reveal the secret ingredient. It turned out very well indeed, and was effusively appreciated by all of the dinner guests. After dinner, when a select few of the guests were edifying themselves at the bar over sips of the Willett 22 y.o. rye that I had brought along, I revealed the secret ingredient. Those I let in on the secret were delighted beyond measure--true foodies, but not food snobs. One of the most pleased was a sommelier who had been raised eating Spam by his Dominican mother in San Francisco. It was a huge hit.

Other appetizers I brought were:

Cannellini bean mousse

Roasted eggplant caponata

Medjool dates stuffed with homemade lavender goat cheese, warmed and drizzled with EVOO and fleur de sel.

My contributions to the cheese board:

P'tit Basque

Aged goat blue from Firefly Farms (sourced at Dupont Circle Market)

Vermont Shepherd

Washed rind cheese from Galax, VA (the name of the cheese is escaping me just now)

Fig-sesame cake from Spain and dried apricots

The co-owner of a new Italian restaurant a few doors away on Clinton Street (Falai Ristorante--they also have a fabulous pastry and coffee shop across from Alias) told my husband that he would like to hire me as a chef in his restaurant, but that may have been the 136 proof rye talking...

I have an adorable, yet somewhat overweight cat. I've tried switching his diet to low cal cat food which he is turning his nose up at. More than that, he's started throwing up the food pretty much every morning (we have managed to train him to upchuck on the hardwood floors, at least). .

My cat started doing this several times a day. The vet did some blood work, which came back negative, and then started suggesting various expensive tests (like ultrasound). When I insisted that we discuss less expensive things to try, he suggested feeding a T. of food several times a day instead of allowing her to eat kibble ad lib. She continued to puke up canned food instantly, so we stopped doing that. I switched her to Royal Canin special kibble (for digestive problems), feed her six times a day and the vomiting gradually subsided and has now stopped completely.

A friend of mine sent me an online article about many cats being made ill by the substance used to line the inside of cat food cans. Mine ate only a T. of canned food a day, but she seems to have gotten better now that she no longer eats it.

As far as the poster who accused people who make their own pet food of being hopelessly indulgent; I would like to counter that with my story. My beloved wirehair, "Janis Joplin, the rock and roll terrier" who came into my life when she was 6 weeks old, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 9. She had a mastectomy but no other medical treatment at the time of diagnosis, and I started feeding her what I called the "Puppy Pritikin" diet -- cooked mixed whole grains, steamed fish, garlic, fresh cooked veggies, a teaspoon of oil and brewer's yeast. Her immune system was able to fend off the cancer until she was 16, when she had a recurrence of tumors in her axial lymph nodes and was ultimately in a lot of pain, so we said goodbye. Of course, a skeptic might say that I can't prove that the diet is what did it. But I know that she was a happy, energetic, fun-loving dog who loved life and food until the end.

Every six weeks or so, I cooked up a big pot of brown rice, millet and barley. I bagged it in double portions in ziplock sandwich bags and kept them in the freezer. Every two days, I'd take a bag out to defrost. I would buy a (then) inexpensive fish filet, and cook it briefly with garlic and chopped carrot and celery every day to mix with the grains, oil and brewer's yeast. It really wasn't much work, and I would have done it even if it had been more time-consuming. Call me hopelessly old-fashioned, but I find it satisfying to take good care of those I love in my life. And I loved that dog as much as I've ever loved anyone. She's been dead for twenty years and I still tear up when I talk about her...

Waitaminnit, this is just a newfangled and trendy synonym for suet?

Suet is beef fat.

Last night:

Roasted kabocha squash risotto

Charcoal-grilled, lavender-brined pork tenderloin

(Veggie-teen had a roasted portobello stuffed with fresh fava mousse, mozzarella di bufala and spiced crumbs)

Haricots verts with Meyer lemon-garlic oil

2005 Pillar Box Red

Bosc pear crisp with vanilla ice cream

Tonight:

Gratin of mixed baby kale and four cheeses (comte, cheddar,bufala, and Reggiano)

Not sure what else...

Leaf lard is made from a specific source-- fat from around the kidneys. The lard that is generally available from Eco-Friendly is made from pork belly and other scrap fat. They use the kettling method (I've discussed this with Bev and Bruce). What they do is run the fat through a meat grinder, so it is all the same consistency and size, then they boil it in a kettle of water until the fat melts, and they skim off the cracklin's. It is very pure white and mild in flavor.

I don't know of any local source for lard that is specifically "leaf" lard, which is supposedly the best for pie crusts and savory pastry. But Bev's stuff is just fine--I don't think it is worth the extra trouble to try to source leaf lard. You might be able to get some from D'Artagnan in New Jersey, but you'll pay through the nose if they even have it.

I make oven-rendered lard for cooking beans and tamales--I like the extra, roast-porky flavor you get when you roast the fat. And the oven roasted cracklin's are so good!

My understanding is that very fresh eggs are difficult to peel. Eggs that are two to three weeks old will peel more smoothly and look prettier.

People around me are usually impressed with the amount of food I eat.

but for me the reason for is simple : I exercise . I go to the gym , I play soccer or table tennis .

Plus, you walk eight miles a night while you are at work, no?

I lost 20 pounds when I went to work at BlackSalt, without changing my food intake, for the simple reason that I was constantly in motion. I was not allowed to sit down-- except in the restroom

Unfortunately, when I quit the job, I gained much of it back

We had a splendid dinner last night along with our doctor cousins from Montreal, and pretty much had the dining room to ourselves. There was a crowd in the bar, but only one other table was occupied in the back. I must admit, I enjoyed the undivided attention of the staff and the opportunity to talk to each other across the table without shouting, as is so often the case in busy places.

Since this was my first visit, I insisted that we start with a selection of charcuterie. We ordered boudin rouge, rabbit and foie gras terrine and smoked lamb shoulder, and Chef Jamie gifted us with several chunks of kielbasa, impaled on a skewer with cornichons. This was a big hit, especially the silky smooth terrine. We washed it down with a bottle of dry, tart Australian riesling that even had a bit of petrol in the nose, a worthy accompaniment.

Cousin C and I had the daily special soup--puree of wild mushrooms (sans cream) with a tremblingly delicate white mushroom flan floated in the center of the bowl with a crispy slice of fried prosciutto angling up --very delicious. Jonathan had mussel soup with saffron cream, Nothing subtle about this, the mussels made a bold statement--and might have been better, toned down a bit with cream and fish stock. Cousin E had a martini glass filled with clam fritters and fried calamari rings on a bed of slaw. Nicely fried, crisp and fresh-tasting.

For mains, C had a ballotine of pheasant, thin slices fanned out on the plate, E had venison with chestnut puree, I had a massive slab of a stuffed pork chop with amaretto sauce, and Jonathan had swordfish. He and I swapped plates halfway through, and we tasted the cousins' mains. My favorite was the pheasant. Chef Jamie has a real talent for the charcuterie family, It was delicious. The pork was juicy (and quite rare in the center), but the meat had a pale flavor and I don't believe it had been brined--something of a surprise, given all the flavor that Chef Jamie pumped into the pig for the picnic. The sauce was very good though, and while slightly sweet, did not overwhelm with amaretto flavor. The swordfish was the least successful, it was slightly overcooked for our taste-- not dry, but a shade beyond a point, that state of custardy brininess that swordfish can embody when it is perfectly cooked. And the fish sat on several pieces of kielbasa, which we had eaten as our first course--wonderful with the other meats, but a bit too much garlicky, porky sausage with the delicate-tasting fish. Cousin E was very happy with his venison, which had a bit of mustard in with the sweet chestnut puree, and some cherries in the sauce.

We had 2004 Torbreck Juveniles shiraz-grenache-mataro blend that was medium to full-bodied and had enough complexity to match well with all of our entree flavors.

For dessert, we shared a chocolate-hazlenut mousse--thick triangular slices of creamy chocolate with a crispy nut base with fresh raspberries and vanilla ice cream, and a warm pear charlotte--slices of spiced pear wrapped in buttery pastry with creme anglais. Amazingly delicious --I highly recommend both.

Throughout the meal, the Montreal cousins enjoyed bantering with the waiter in French. The service was friendly, charming and still very precise and professional. Chef Jamie came out to chat after we had finished eating, curious about bits and pieces of our table conversation that the waiter had overheard and mentioned to him. He was unaware that I had any connection to DR.com until then, but we chatted briefly about the picnic.

We left, well fed and happy. A 100% perfect meal?--not quite. But a challenging, interesting and delicious meal, well worth the price. Our sophisticated foodie cousins were very pleased and impressed. And we're looking forward to returning.

As for Harris Teeter, I've never understood the appeal...

Also, the second story in some of them aggravates my vertigo, so I don't go upstairs.

The Harris Teeters that have their wine departments upstairs are just plain stupid. The designer obviously did not consider that heat rises and those wine departments get bakingly hot. The wine bottles are warm to the touch. I'd never buy wine there--guaranteed heat damage.

Dinner for visiting cousins from Canada who are foodies and who fed us lobsters when we visited them in Montreal last summer:

Appetizers - Crostini with fresh fava mousse, chicken liver mousse or caponata; La Quercia prosciutto; Niman Ranch salame; kalamata olives; cucumber slices

2005 Gelsomina Lambrusco Montovano

First - Roasted tomato and poblano soup with creme fraiche, basil chiffonade and Meyer lemon zest

2003 Venica Tocai Friulano

Main - Charcoal roasted herb-brined chicken from Sunnyside Organics; oven roasted farmers' market root veg, cippolini onions and fingerling potatoes with lemon-garlic olive oil

2004 Hartford Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Salad - Mesclun from Heinz's stand at Dupont Market with lemon vinaigrette

Cheese - Old Chatham Hudson Valley sheepmilk camembert; Firefly Farms aged goat blue; Roccolo aged Italian cows' milk; homemade membrillo, dried Mission figs and black grapes

Dessert - Honey-cornmeal cake with spiced, wine-poached Seckel pears, reduced wine jus, creme Chantilly (this was a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's new book she called "Fig Cake for Fall" with wine-poached figs pressed into the top of the cake batter before baking. I had made the seckel pears the day before and was looking for a cake or cookie to accompany them. I combined the two elements - pears and cake - and it turned out fantastically well. It managed to be simultaneously rustic and elegant.

Bttt NV Muscat de Beaumes de Venise

I've had some success brining turkeys. They came our moist, but not with as much flavor as I had hoped. I've gotten better by experimenting with whole chickens and chicken breasts, and am planning to try an apple cider brine this year.

I haven't had the "salty drippings" problem that some other folks have had. The biggest issue for me has been space. If you live in an apartment, depending on the size of the turkey, you may have difficulty finding a way to keep it cold (when I lived in Michigan, it was cold enough that I was able to just stick the derned thing in a tightly covered pot on the porch).

For more flavorful brine, add fresh herbs to the salt/sugar brine when you are making it. Heat enough to melt the salt and sugar and let the herbs steep like tea. This makes a huge difference in the flavor you get in the meat.

Another solution to the refrigerator space problem when brining a turkey is to use your picnic ice chest/food cooler. Get one or two 5 pound bags of ice, put the turkey and brine into a giant ziplock bag or a well-sealed trash bag, and put it in the cooler with the ice. Park it outside somewhere, and it'll be fine.

i have started obsessing about how much i am paying for pits at whole foods.

They charge the same price for pitted olives as for the ones with pits. 'Why pay for pits?', is what I say...

Sauteed chicken livers with mushrooms and bacon

Garlic mashed potatoes

Oven roasted asparagus

2005 Sherwood Pinot Noir

After dinner sweet-- election results...

Fricassee of veal and mushrooms (crimini, shiitake and oyster)

Pan-crisped grits cakes

Green beans with Meyer lemon olive oil

2005 Step Rd. Chardonnay

The pear cake with vanilla creme fraiche and caramel sauce did not turn out as expected. It took a lot longer in the oven than the recipe suggested and came out more like a cobbler. Maybe that's what to expect when you get recipes out of Washingtonian magazine.

And caramel burns if you don't watch it.

I have a recipe originally from Fine Cooking magazine for upside down cake that I've made many times with pears, apricots or plums--I made it last night with pears. It has a simple caramel made with brown sugar and butter and a dense cake made with yogurt. I have tweaked the recipe some--it is supposed to be made with pineapple, and I've added orange zest, nutmeg and cardamom to it. It takes 40 minutes in the oven and has never yet failed. I'll be glad to send you the recipe.

Joe Riley has a bottle of 18 y.o. Sazerac for sale in his shop.

This morning on WAMU, Diane Rehm interviewed the grandson of Irma Rombauer, who has supervised a 75th anniversary edition of _Joy of Cooking_, out just in time for Christmas. Apparently, they have restored many of the classic "Cockaigne" recipes that were eliminated in the 1997 revision, along with the sections on wild game, ice cream, and preserving and canning. Also new are recipes for cooking wild-caught fish.

We've been invited to NYC! Yaay!!! All I have to prepare is some appetizers!

My sister-in-law lives in a semi-collective situation with people who own two restaurants on Clinton Street (72 Clinton Fresh Food and Alibi), near the building where they all live on Rivington Street. Every couple of years, they close Alibi and host a big Thanksgiving bash for family and friends. It's a small place, but so great to have the restaurant's dining room, kitchen, dishes-flatware-glasses, and dishwashing set-up to use. Several people are cooking turkeys at home (including my sil and bil) and bringing them over. Other people are bringing sides and pies and apps. Last time we were invited, there were about 50 people there and enough food to feed an army, some of it excellent, and some so-so. (The restaurant chefs were not involved in this meal.)

If my home-cured olives turn out well, I'll bring them. Maybe stuffed dates with homemade chevre with lavender & fennel pollen. Last time, among other things, I brought devilled eggs, after serious begging from my spouse to make them.Two other people brought them as well, though everyone agreed mine were the best.

Last year, at home, I did an herb-brined heritage turkey from Polyface that I smoke-roasted in the Weber kettle. It was delicious (and very expensive). What with all of the other labor-intensive dishes, not to mention my in-laws staying over in my tiny house and all of the other meals I prepared and refreshments we provided... let's just say, I'm happy not to have to do it again the same way this year.

How about making this a dialectic pizza thread? Jonathan and I were talking about pizza the other day (he thinks 2 Amy's is overpriced and over-rated; I disagree), and he reminded me about the WORST pizza we've ever had. We were driving across country in the mid-70's and pulled off the interstate in a small town in Kansas. We were starving and there weren't many options open, so we ended up at a Pizza Hut--my first and last time. I knew we were in trouble when we ordered "plain pizza" which was the cheapest one on the menu and the waitress asked: "You want cheese on that? It's extra."

Q: You charge extra for cheese?

A: That's a cheese pizza.

Q: What is a plain pizza, then?

A: Crust and tomato sauce.

A couple sat down next to us and ordered a "hamburger pizza" when we were almost ready to leave. As we were paying at the cashier, we watched their pizza being made. A frozen pizza crust was removed from a cold box. The "chef" reached into a container of crumbly cooked hamburger meat, spread it over the crust and slid it into a pizza oven. No tomato sauce. No cheese. That would have been extra, I assume, and specified at the time it was ordered. The waitress didn't ask them if they wanted sauce or cheese. Regular customers, perhaps. But ever since, anytime anyone in our family requests plain pizza, we of course ask: "You want cheese on that?"