mktye

Not a bad idea, but I have a difficult enough of a time getting rwtye to take one of these in his briefcase.

I find the "dairy-free" and "egg-less" much more disturbing.

I just do the bookkeeping. The real thanks goes the 1500+ members. Currently, the three most common responses to the question we ask all new registrants -- How did you hear about DonRockwell.com? -- are: 1. An internet search engine 2. Linked/mentioned on another a food blog/forum 3. From a friend/member Without you all, word would not spread and we'd not be drawing in the new people who keep the membership growing. So thank you to those who post about your dining experiences, cooking adventures, favorite beverages, out-of-town eating and so on. Without your posts, the googlebot and its ilk would have nothing to record and DR.com would not show up in web searches. And thank you to those who write about DR.com on your blogs, personal web pages and other forums. Links to nearly all of those can be found here. Last but not least, thank you to those who talk about DR.com with your friends, colleagues and acquaintances. The relationships and interactions between members are what make this site something special and more than just a big database. If any of you are wondering what actually goes on during the member registration process, here is a quick (well, as quick as I can make it ) run-down: Register here to enter your choice of log-in name, display name and email address. This information then goes to create an account and you are listed as "Validating" in the registration queue. The password you enter always remains completely private and none of the administrators ever have access to it (which is why, if you forget your password, we need to reset it to something else). Daily (usually around mid-morning), I send out validation letters to all of those who have registered in the last 24 hours. One of the main purposes of this letter is to show that the email address you gave when registering is a valid, working email address. We also ask for your first and last names, city of residence, how you found DR.com and if you are in the food industry (food writer, chef/cook, server, sommelier, food educator, food chemist, food/dining-related business owner and so on). This information is kept strictly private and only available to Don Rockwell and the site's membership administrators. [If you have registered and do not receive a validation letter within 24 hours, please, please, please check your email's spam repository!!! ] Once I receive a response to the validation letter at the membership account address (the validation letters are sent from the main donrockwell.com email account -- if you simply hit the reply button and respond to that address, there will most likely be a delay before your response reaches the membership account), I enter your personal information in the membership spreadsheet and validate your account so you will be a "Member" and have full access to the board. You can then begin posting, search the site and access the Restaurant Guide. At that point, I stop bugging you. However, if you ever do have any questions about your account, forget your log-in/password, want to change your display/log-in name, update your email address, or just have a question about the site, I am here. Just contact me via email or PM and I'll be happy to do whatever I can to be of assistance. And for those who've read this far... a few fun statistics about the membership as it stands today: 37% of members live in DC 36% of members live in VA 20% of members live in MD 7% of members live outside of the area 24% of members are industry professionals (given our rather loose definition) The most popular first letter for a display name is "M" with 148 members (yay "M"!) and the least used, with 4 for each, are "Q", "X" and those starting with a number.

I used feel the same way and had 10+ years of Bon Appetit residing on the bottom shelf of a bookcase. But after dragging them back and forth across the country a couple of times, I have taken to tearing and tossing. Same for Gourmet, Food & Wine and Sunset. The only ones spared are the Cook's Illustrated. Why? No good reason, mainly just because they are thin and don't take up too much room, but once they outgrow their allotted shelf-space... If a magazine has a searchable on-line database, I have no qualms. All the information is still there without it cluttering up my house. And, for the recipes I tear out, I tend to print out new copies from the website (so the recipe is contained on one page instead of strewn across multiple pages as they tend to be in the magazine) to file in my recipe binders. At least a couple of months. I just looked at the ~2'-tall pile of cooking magazines and it is as I feared: issues dating as far back as June. Basically, when the pile starts to fall over with regularity when rwtye plops his feet on it while watching television, I know it is time to clean it up.

Almond Angel Food Cake topped with Lemon Curd and Crème Anglaise.

They are also excellent made with the Macadamia/Cashew butter found at Trader Joe's.

The recipe from The Best Recipe is also my "go-to" lemon bar recipe (actually, I first started using it when it appeared in an issue of CI). I suspect one of the main reasons they changed it was because, if you don't cook the bars long enough, the lemon layer will thin upon sitting. For a party, my sister cooked three pans of The Best Recipe lemon bars, carefully watched them so they would not over-cook, removed them just as they were set, cooled them, put them in the refrigerator, took them out the next day to cut them and found she had lemon bar soup. Like with pastry creams and other such eggy-starch-added-custards, there is an enzyme in the egg yolks (alpha amylase) that can degrade the starch in the cooked custard and cause it to thin over time. Enough time (a couple of minutes) at a sufficient temperature (a low boil) will break down the enzyme so it is inactive, but if it is not cooked enough... you have a mess. I like the ease of not having to pre-cook the lemon-layer, so I am sticking with this recipe. I just make sure to err on the side of well-done when baking. Because of the starch involved in the thicking, you don't have to worry quite so much about it becoming rubbery as you would with a non-starch custard (which are nearly always cooked in a water bath). That said, you can overcook the custard layer if you are determined, but an extra five minutes or so is not a problem.

But what can be used in its place to describe cakes and similar baked-goods that have a mouth-pleasing abundance of hydration? Wet? Damp? Clammy? Humid? Non-dry? Optimally balanced ratio of liquid to solid?

They probably won't be of much help.

A special celebration deserves a special dinner at a special restaurant. And 2941 did not disappoint. We started with an amuse of roasted pepper soup and a bite of crab salad. I am normally not a big fan of bell peppers, but that soup had me wishing for another sip. Or two. Or three. From there we got a taste of the house-cured wild salmon with osetra caviar and kaffir lime/chive crème fraiche, topped by a rice tuile. A perfect combination of smooth creaminess, acidity, saltiness and salmony goodness. Next, I had the “Love Letters” – pasta handkerchiefs filled with mascarpone and topped with white truffle foam. There were three on my plate. I think I could have eaten 3 dozen (at least, hmm... 4 dozen?). The name is not an exaggeration, they are pure warmth and comfort. My main was sautéed watercress spaetzle with turnips and glazed carrots and taro root “risotto” with mushrooms. While my dining companions were thrilled with their adeptly prepared fish, venison and lamb (rwtye declared it the best lamb he’s ever had in the US), I was amazed at Chef Krinn’s scope as evidenced by my meatless entrée. The spaetlze was a burst of nearly spring-like greenness and the “risotto” was pure winter coziness. Served side by side in little matching Staub La Cocottes, they made a completely statisfying and balanced dish. But not that I didn't have room for dessert... special for that night – a butterscotch custard with a demerara sugar cake and rum-raisin ice cream. The custard was simply perfect. I also had a good portion of the carrot cake which was made even more delicious by the addition of honey (something I’ll have to remember the next time I make carrot cake at home). Overall, a wonderful evening. Attentive service, great food and exemplary company. And don't forget about the fantastic and abundant bread! Lastly, I simply do not have enough praise for 2941’s sommelier, Kathryn Morgan. Not only did she steer us to a great bottle of champagne to start our celebration. But helped find an inspired wine (a Barbera d'Alba) that went with the table’s array of firsts and mains, and oh-so-patiently, sincerely and knowledgeably answered all our crazy (and numerous) questions. My only regret of the evening – it had been over a year since we last ate at 2941. A mistake I do not intend to repeat.

Forgot to add that my sis in California sent us some Roundman's thick-cut bacon. On Christmas morning, we did a side-by-side comparison with Niman Ranch bacon and it blew it out of the water.

A Gourmet Whip.

Lunch. The Dairy Godmother. Today. 1300-ish. Gift of the Magi: Saffron custard with candied cranberries and roasted salted pistachios.

An easy-to-make (and it holds well so you can make it whenever you have bit of spare time) suggestion for one cake:OLD-FASHIONED GINGERBREAD CAKE Serves 8, Makes one 9”x9” cake This is old-fashioned gingerbread that is actually a cake. Although there is a bit of a laundry-list of ingredients, this recipe goes together very quickly and also makes a nice snack (or breakfast!) during the holidays. I usually just top it with some powdered sugar, but a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting would also be delicious. 2¼ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted ¾ cup unsulphured molasses ¾ cup sugar ½ cup buttermilk ½ cup milk 1 large egg ¾ cup dried cranberries ¼ cup candied ginger powdered sugar Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 9”x9” pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cocoa. Set aside. Beat the butter, molasses, sugar, buttermilk, milk, and egg in the bowl of your mixer on low speed. Add the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until the batter is smooth and thick, ~1 minute. Be careful not to over mix or you’ll end up with tough gingerbread. Fold in the cranberries and candied ginger. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the over for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched and the edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature with a dusting of powdered sugar.

It should be just fine (and delicious!). If it had yeast in it, it could have been an issue, but traditional puff pastry relies only on the water in the butter for the puff. No harm done.

Option #3: Bleached AP flour (such as Pillbury or Gold Medal). Not as low-protein as White Lily (which is also bleached), but lower than unbleached AP (especially KA, which is higher in protein than most unbleached AP flours). Bleached AP is what I use in nearly all the time for biscuits, pie crusts and crisp/tender-type cookies.My second choice would be a mix of the KA unbleached AP and cake flour. I'd be very interested in hearing if anyone tries/uses all cake flour in a biscuit recipe. My concern is that the biscuits would come out a bit pasty (esp. if using bleached cake flour, which most are). But I've never tried it, so... ??? Perhaps after the holidays, we can have a biscuit flour taste test.

As posted before, I am still having issues with saving sent copies of PMs:

Clarification: If you look at Mike20878's profile (which is available to all members), you will see he registered on 24-Sep-06. He completed the same registration process as everyone else here and waited over two months before posting. His choice of screen name is solely his business. And, as to his motivation for joining DR.com, only Mike20878 can answer that with certainty.

If we go anywhere on Wednesday, it will be here. See you next year.

Perhaps you could import it from South Africa. Click. On a semi-related, but totally unhelpful, note -- Roberto Donna was telling us at the DR.com Bebo dinner that someone has been stealing the wood he bought for his pizza oven (which is still awaiting permit approval). Whoever is taking the wood is very sly... a little bit from one end of the pile, a little bit from the other end, a little bit from the middle, but it is definitely disappearing.

Just wanted to add that some of the FF issues are apparently dependent on the version. I use FF 1.5.0.8 (Windows) and all those things work fine (the last time I looked and I guess I'd better not update my version of FF!). Still no spell check though...One problem I do have is saving copies of sent PMs. I get a message that my storage limit is exceeded and it most certainly is not. The funny part is that it only happens when I try to save messages sent to certain members. With other members, the function works fine.

A big Thank You to hillvalley and Alysa for setting up tonight's wonderful DR.com dinner at Bebo Trattoria!!! Also, lots of thanks to our waiters, Sema & Giovanni, and the rest of the fantastic waitstaff (the service was excellent), DonRocks for the tasty prosecco and, last, but not least, thank you Chef Donna for not only preparing our delicious dinner, but taking the time to come out and chat with us. The Menu: Chestnut Soup served with Pig’s Ears filled with Sausage, Sweetbreads and Pancetta Ravioli del Plin filled with Fonduta Cheese served in a Butter and Sage Sauce Risotto with White Truffle and Fried Mushrooms Seared Nantucket Bay Scallops served with Fresh Porcini Mushrooms and a Parsley Sauce Roasted Breast of Partridge served with Tempura Fried Partridge Leg and Pomegranate Sauce Trio of: Bomboloni, Bicerin & Roasted Figs with a Port Reduction As can be seen in the last picture of that series, I really enjoyed the soup (there was serious consideration at our end of the table regarding the licking of bowls). My other favorites were the risotto and the pairing of the parsley sauce with the scallops. And if I am ever sent to jail ( ), I'd be happy to subsist on that heavenly fried bread and water. Or maybe the bomboloni and water... mmm, fried dough. It was great to meet some new people, see old friends and have the opportunity to talk with you all!

Truthfully, if I didn't have a W-S gift certificate that I had to spend, I would still be doing the aaack-the-Cuisinart-is-overflowing-with-soup cha-cha-cha. I never thought I needed a stick blender, let alone a $100 one. But the only electrical appliances I use more are my mixers. I actually wish I would not have waited so long to get one. No, that's the companion book for the battery-operated model.

What do you consider reasonably priced? For ~$100 you can get one like this. Mine is similar (two speeds, re-branded for Williams-Sonoma -- but W-S stopped carrying it at least a year ago), purees as finely as my blender (a plain old Waring, not a Vitamix) and I've been quite pleased with it.I just noticed that the model of my stick blender is "Magic Wand" and apparently there is a companion book that will help me get the most out of my Magic Wand.

Try here.