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Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
I've never heard of coleslaw on a deli sandwich before, but it sounds genius! I can't wait to try it. I never know what to order in a deli because the usual stuff looks scary, but this sounds so good.
Photo of the Day: Smurf Gelato
That used to be my favorite ice cream when I was a little kid - up until age five or six, I think. Urbino, the town near where I spent my summers, had one ice cream parlor back then and this was the only "manufactured" flavor they had. Heaven.
Eating for Two: Swiss Chard with Tomatoes and Chickpeas
Another amazing sounding recipe from that book. (And just perfect, too, because I have a pile of farro leftover from last night in the fridge.) Are you subtly telling me I need to add it to my collection? :)
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
I've never seen coriander seeds in ratatouille before - sounds delicious. I think part of David's appeal was precisely because the food she wrote about and the way she wrote about it was so entirely different from everything else in England at the time (and for many years to come). It's far from the Jamie Oliver/Nigella Lawson school, but I can sometimes see in their approach the winking of David's influence.
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
I've never heard of coleslaw on a deli sandwich before, but it sounds genius! I can't wait to try it. I never know what to order in a deli because the usual stuff looks scary, but this sounds so good.
Photo of the Day: Smurf Gelato
That used to be my favorite ice cream when I was a little kid - up until age five or six, I think. Urbino, the town near where I spent my summers, had one ice cream parlor back then and this was the only "manufactured" flavor they had. Heaven.
Eating for Two: Swiss Chard with Tomatoes and Chickpeas
Another amazing sounding recipe from that book. (And just perfect, too, because I have a pile of farro leftover from last night in the fridge.) Are you subtly telling me I need to add it to my collection? :)
Essentials: Fish Tacos
I love this book's version of fish tacos - I made them last summer and Ben hasn't stopped requesting them since. (I used tilapia, but since I don't own a nonstick skillet, there were some stickage issues with my stainless steel pan...)
Photo of the Day: Smurf Gelato
Oh man, I had this ice cream while visiting St. Tropez. Amazing, although not as good as natural flavors. I spent the entire trip eating Stroumpf and when I found this ice cream it was the best thing ever. Everyone should try this at least once
Essentials: Fish Tacos
I agree with rosezilla that cilantro and lime is a must in a recipe like this and is what makes these fish tacos so delicious.
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
When reading the original I thought two after dinner coffee cups would mean two demitasse cups which would not be much more than 1/2 cup.
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
I was taught in cooking school that the French like their ratatouille fully cooked, bien cuit. So I don't understand the preference for cooking everything separately a la Julia. I don't go by amounts except by personal bias in having summer tomatoes, eggplants and zucchini. I just start some onions and garlic, add peppers and the rest and stew for at least 1/2 hour, concentrating the juices.
Sorry but I'm having a little mental trouble imagining caraway seeds in there. I serve mine warm the first time, then refrigerate overnight and try to serve at room temperature in following days. It is one of my favorite dishes and my husband will eat it if he can take out the eggplant.
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
@climalene - I could not swallow her English Bread and Yeast Cookery book as anything but something to dip into for reference once in a while.
It seems to me that her prose and style got heavier through the lifetime of her writing - that some of the lightness that did show (even though all of her prose is thicker than most writing styles today) in the earlier works was gone, with a bit more self-conscious studiousness coming in to replace it.
Fantastic for academic research purposes but not something one wants to pick up and play with too much perhaps. :)
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
I made Julia Child's recipe twice over the last few weeks and while it is wonderful, it's as you say, fussy. Extremely time consuming, cooking the eggplant separately, then the zucchini, then the onions and tomatoes, etc. etc.
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
Interesting. I enjoyed the Elizabeth David biography Writing at the Kitchen Table way more than I enjoy actually reading Elizabeth David. I've been trying to get through English Bread and Yeast Cookery for about three consecutive vacations now, and it's not for lack of sufficient nerdiness about dough. But all this makes me want to try one more time.
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
I learned to make ratatouille from Elizabeth David's book. As I remember the recipe was originally published in her French Provincial cookbook - my copy was from a second-hand store, tattered and worn even when I first had it a long time ago.
The coriander seeds are excellent in the recipe - they show an influence of Moorish cooking which sometimes appears in the foods of Provence. The best thing to do is to either wrap them in cheesecloth during the cooking process or to smash them in a mortar to a somewhat smooth consistency before adding. Otherwise their texture can be surprisingly unpleasant when biting into one in the otherwise smooth softness of the vegetable stew.
The original recipe calls for "a few coriander seeds". How many you use depends on how much you like the flavor and how fresh the seeds are . . .
In a time when cooking with fat did not fill minds with terror - except perhaps due to the price of it, for Elizabeth David was writing post-war (WWII) when rationing had so recently been a part of daily life and when things like olive oil or any sort of fat for cooking was still difficult to find and expensive - surprisingly, her original recipe calls for "2 coffee-cups (after-dinner size) of olive oil" (!)
I enjoy the way she wrote recipes, as a narrative rather than as a mathematic/outline structure. It always made the preparation of food seem more organic (organic as in "a part of things" not organic as in "green") - more natural, more seeming-as-if I was learning at someones apron. That the recipe could come out different as each person made it is a good thing - for no recipe is sacrosanct unless we make it so (and to my mind to make a recipe sacrosanct is silly unless one has a predeliction towards worship of it).
I also always thought her relationship with Norman Douglas was innocent of horseplay (so to speak), though it was long-lasting and obviously of depth. (?) I hope so. Learning these things about adored writers can cast certain shades of discomfort upon the whole thing. Women more than men, too (though certainly not "fair", true).
Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille
I need to use exactly 12 coriander seeds?
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
The book says salting the cabbage will draw out a lot of its water before you toss it with the dressing. That way the cabbage will not "weep" water once it's tossed, which creates a watery cole slaw. To me it seemed salting the cabbage also made it a little easier to chew, but that isn't one of the reasons author listed.
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
Why do you let the cabbage sit in salt???
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
I like the idea of doing this with roast beef...especially if you added a little horseradish to the coleslaw...mmm
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
This is one of my favorite sandwiches.
I usually grill the rye bread and get the swiss cheese all melted, then top it with tons of turkey a squirt of thousand island and a heaping amount of cole slaw.
On occasion Ill stick some cole slaw onto a hot dog or plain hamburger as well.
Cole slaw and pineapple suit a grilled chicken breast with teriyaki sauce too, shove that all into a sandwich bun and yum!
And then of course there is pulled pork too.
Im hungry now...
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
oh, yes. always add mustard to the deli sandwiches.
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
I always add cole slaw to my roast turkey sandwiches. I also can't eat hot dogs and corned beef sandwiches without my addition of cole slaw. I've never been to a deli in NYC that won't add (for an extra charge). And, of course, always on pulled pork sandwiches.
Sack Lunch: Turkey and Coleslaw Sandwich
When I lived in north Jersey the delis made a sandwich called a Sloppy Joe, it is the BEST! Turkey, ham, Swiss, coleslaw, and Thousand Island dressing on rye. It's a three napkin sandwich but soooo good!
Eating for Two: Swiss Chard with Tomatoes and Chickpeas
Ahhh...yum. I grew up on a decidedly less vegetarian version of this in our Italian household. This sounds fantastic. And FYI: I have a two year old who eats pretty much everything. All we did was feed her what we ate and didn't make a big deal out of it. I really do think it's "baby see, baby do".
Photo of the Day: Smurf Gelato
I used to love Smurf Ice Cream as a kid. They sell it at Sweet Claude's in Cheshire, CT (or at least they used to). I think it was blue raspberry with marshmallows. Perfect for a seven year old with a high tolerance for SWEET.
Eating for Two: Swiss Chard with Tomatoes and Chickpeas
I make this dish too, but I combine it with another related recipe I once had (and could never find again) from the LA Times. You start by sauteing a paste made from somewhat less garlic, salt and a teaspoon or so of whole coriander seeds that you grind together in a mortar. After the garlic gets fragrant, you add a half a finely chopped onion, let it cook for a minute, and then stir in a wopping dollop of tomato paste - a generous tablespoon or more. (I always use double concentrated paste from Italy) This all makes a sticky, golden orange flavor bomb on the bottom of the pan. Then add 2-3 small diced fresh tomatoes - this is so great in the summer time - and proceed as you mention above with the chard and drained chick peas (no extra liquid though), and once the chard has wilted, you can pretty much stop there. Add the juice of a generous lemon and let sit for 5 minutes or so before serving. It's quite good warm or at room temperature, and is fabulously good with brown rice.
Eating for Two: Swiss Chard with Tomatoes and Chickpeas
I am a huge fan of this book! It has helped me out of many a vegetable rut & almost never disappoints.
Essentials: Fish Tacos
It's all about the cilantro and lime with fish tacos...I've never understood how some people can not like cilantro. The only thing I always add is diced mango and a little extra lime, but then, I add fruit to everything whenever possible.
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I've never seen coriander seeds in ratatouille before - sounds delicious. I think part of David's appeal was precisely because the food she wrote about and the way she wrote about it was so entirely different from everything else in England at the time (and for many years to come). It's far from the Jamie Oliver/Nigella Lawson school, but I can sometimes see in their approach the winking of David's influence.