The Food Sleuth is watching you eat. A 4-course meal for $18. How to make the most refreshing drink. And the most amazing bread you'll ever give your friends.
Oh how I’ve missed you, Ruth! Love this idea. Especially now when we are so hungry for anything nourishing and positive. Loved the Dengler article. He should become a contributor - would be fascinating.
Great to see Roy's recommended. We were introduced to his delicate puffs last year when a generous friend dropped off a quarter each flavor. This year, without knowing it, my husband and I each ordered two of Roy's panettone on pre-sale. I will never, ever doubt whether I married the right man.
How fascinating! I wonder how much this might have changed over the years, and what our food says about us now, especially with the proliferation of more diverse recipes and ingredients. I desperately want someone to analyze my Thanksgiving dinner now.
Let's work on that. I have a bunch. Even from my dad's diner in NY. I'm new here so have no idea how this works. LOL BTW I'll never forget you used to come in to eat when I was at Champagne. You'd order two cassoulets. One for there and one to go. I made the cassoulet at Champagne and that was the best compliment I could have. :)
I'm new here too, but I'll figure out how to do it. Stay tuned. And that cassoulet at Champagne: SO great. I also have some incredible taped interviews from those days with the chefs Patrick and Sophie brought from France: Ducasse, Verge... even Bocuse.
Patrick was your typical difficult Chef to work for. When he left Collette I was "happy" but when he called and asked me to be his Sous at Champagne? What an honor. I learned so much from him. All those classic long braised dishes. His bistro menu was my favorite to cook. I have some incredible stories. I semi-retire next year and want to do a podcast with all the anecdotes from the LA Culinary trenches. LOL
There is a nice book of old Los Angeles menus by Josh Kuhn entitled "To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus and the Making of the Modern City/From the Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library".
The From Roy's panettone is delicious. The ingredients are top rate and they are very well made, but the additional factor that differentiates these panettoni is that they arrive fresh. There is a reason that bakeries sell day old bread at a discount and the panettone consumers typically get in the U.S. from Italy is weeks if not months old. We took delivery of a pumpkin maple pecan panettone From Roy yesterday and when we opened it up after dinner it was moist, sticky and smelled of fresh, yeasty bread. Our favorite flavors are the classic candied fruit and the chocolate (the chocolate is reminiscent of a good pain au chocolat). If there is any left and it gets a little dry, it makes a really nice French toast for brunch the Sunday following delivery. To make it extra decadent without too much effort, cut the Panettone thick, cut a small slice to make a hole in the thin side, stuff it with good ricotta cheese (if available, the Bellwether Farms sheep ricotta is great )(https://bellwetherfarms.com/product/sheep-ricotta/) and top it with warm Luxardo cherries.
Update: I ordered panettone from them for Thanksgiving and New Years' Eve. Both arrived late and the one for Thankgiving arrived without a box. The quality was not what it was before. Nothing wrong with it, but something not the same. Cannot recommend anymore. Way too expensive for it not to have proper packaging, arrive on time and not be of the best quality.
Oh, what a laugh I had reading this article. I was especially reading about Ian Dengler. I have to say that in our home, we made tamales with turkey or braised it with chile. When you wrote that article, it was our five-year celebration of a Thanksgiving dinner. I never saw any of the dishes Dengler describes in any Mexican-American home. I guess the ones I knew were stuck with a more traditional Mexican meal and made mole with turkey, which is the meat used.
Now one question for Mr. Dengler would have been when the green bean casserole became a part of the Thanksgiving dinner.
Another thing I do the same as Ian did with that African restaurant, but I do it with a Mexican restaurant. But I am reminded by my son that it needs to appeal to the American people, which is not acceptable to me.
A former housemate introduced me to Greens on a surprise expedition to discover yet the unknown parts of San Francisco that any local resident must not just know of, but experience. I was flabbergasted by the creative and reasonably priced menu in a sanctuary of windows and ambience of peace and unity. Greens became my favorite lunch date restaurant. That savory summer roulade listed above makes my mouth water. Freshness and decadence is my favorite combination!
RUTH! glad to see you in print again. I was a new Food writer when you let me take a picture of us in Chicago in Publisher's Row when you did a cooking demo. I asked you a question about food trends and you said we vote with our dollars and our demands for quality. Will never forget that. Just started consulting with a group where I explain this VERY THING I studied in grad school with Food and Social Capital. This was a welcome addition to my Inbox this morning. SUBSCRIBED.
Oh how I’ve missed you, Ruth! Love this idea. Especially now when we are so hungry for anything nourishing and positive. Loved the Dengler article. He should become a contributor - would be fascinating.
Great to see Roy's recommended. We were introduced to his delicate puffs last year when a generous friend dropped off a quarter each flavor. This year, without knowing it, my husband and I each ordered two of Roy's panettone on pre-sale. I will never, ever doubt whether I married the right man.
How fascinating! I wonder how much this might have changed over the years, and what our food says about us now, especially with the proliferation of more diverse recipes and ingredients. I desperately want someone to analyze my Thanksgiving dinner now.
I'm hoping to hear from Ian. If he's still around, I bet he has a lot to tell us.
I cooked at places like Ma Maison, Nicky Blair's, Collette and Champagne in the 80's. I have old menus from those places if you're interested
Jim, how great! Next week let's do a menu swap, and see what other people have to share. What a great idea.
Let's work on that. I have a bunch. Even from my dad's diner in NY. I'm new here so have no idea how this works. LOL BTW I'll never forget you used to come in to eat when I was at Champagne. You'd order two cassoulets. One for there and one to go. I made the cassoulet at Champagne and that was the best compliment I could have. :)
I'm new here too, but I'll figure out how to do it. Stay tuned. And that cassoulet at Champagne: SO great. I also have some incredible taped interviews from those days with the chefs Patrick and Sophie brought from France: Ducasse, Verge... even Bocuse.
Patrick was your typical difficult Chef to work for. When he left Collette I was "happy" but when he called and asked me to be his Sous at Champagne? What an honor. I learned so much from him. All those classic long braised dishes. His bistro menu was my favorite to cook. I have some incredible stories. I semi-retire next year and want to do a podcast with all the anecdotes from the LA Culinary trenches. LOL
Oh and my wife and I both attended the CIA in NY. It's where we met 40 years ago. We donated most of our menus to them.
It seems as if I should follow you. On Instagram too.😊
Not sure if this was for me or Ruth
For you.
I don't post on Instagram. Maybe I should start. :)
There is a nice book of old Los Angeles menus by Josh Kuhn entitled "To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus and the Making of the Modern City/From the Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library".
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1626400288/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
From looking at some of these old menus from the beginning of the last century, I learned what an alligator pear is.
The From Roy's panettone is delicious. The ingredients are top rate and they are very well made, but the additional factor that differentiates these panettoni is that they arrive fresh. There is a reason that bakeries sell day old bread at a discount and the panettone consumers typically get in the U.S. from Italy is weeks if not months old. We took delivery of a pumpkin maple pecan panettone From Roy yesterday and when we opened it up after dinner it was moist, sticky and smelled of fresh, yeasty bread. Our favorite flavors are the classic candied fruit and the chocolate (the chocolate is reminiscent of a good pain au chocolat). If there is any left and it gets a little dry, it makes a really nice French toast for brunch the Sunday following delivery. To make it extra decadent without too much effort, cut the Panettone thick, cut a small slice to make a hole in the thin side, stuff it with good ricotta cheese (if available, the Bellwether Farms sheep ricotta is great )(https://bellwetherfarms.com/product/sheep-ricotta/) and top it with warm Luxardo cherries.
You're absolutely right! Nancy Silverton is in love with the banana version (that Roy no longer makes....)
Update: I ordered panettone from them for Thanksgiving and New Years' Eve. Both arrived late and the one for Thankgiving arrived without a box. The quality was not what it was before. Nothing wrong with it, but something not the same. Cannot recommend anymore. Way too expensive for it not to have proper packaging, arrive on time and not be of the best quality.
Thanks to you, Brad, Walker and I are obsessed with Roy's. It got me through the last leg of pregnancy for certain!
I love lemonade all year round! I've been using a simple syrup but am very happy to learn how to properly use the zest.
P.S. I love your memoirs and novel, Delicious.
Oh, what a laugh I had reading this article. I was especially reading about Ian Dengler. I have to say that in our home, we made tamales with turkey or braised it with chile. When you wrote that article, it was our five-year celebration of a Thanksgiving dinner. I never saw any of the dishes Dengler describes in any Mexican-American home. I guess the ones I knew were stuck with a more traditional Mexican meal and made mole with turkey, which is the meat used.
Now one question for Mr. Dengler would have been when the green bean casserole became a part of the Thanksgiving dinner.
Another thing I do the same as Ian did with that African restaurant, but I do it with a Mexican restaurant. But I am reminded by my son that it needs to appeal to the American people, which is not acceptable to me.
I sure hope you reconnect with the Food Sleuth. What a great read.
A former housemate introduced me to Greens on a surprise expedition to discover yet the unknown parts of San Francisco that any local resident must not just know of, but experience. I was flabbergasted by the creative and reasonably priced menu in a sanctuary of windows and ambience of peace and unity. Greens became my favorite lunch date restaurant. That savory summer roulade listed above makes my mouth water. Freshness and decadence is my favorite combination!
RUTH! glad to see you in print again. I was a new Food writer when you let me take a picture of us in Chicago in Publisher's Row when you did a cooking demo. I asked you a question about food trends and you said we vote with our dollars and our demands for quality. Will never forget that. Just started consulting with a group where I explain this VERY THING I studied in grad school with Food and Social Capital. This was a welcome addition to my Inbox this morning. SUBSCRIBED.
Lemons! onion roulade!
I love lemons