[Sca-cooks] Thanksgiving feasts

[phoenissa at netscape.net]

"Mark.S Harris" <mark.s.harris at motorola.com> wrote:

>Vittoria said:
>> Chanterelle mushrooms cooked with onions, chestnuts, and fresh
>>thyme: these were absolutely fantastic, and by far the most
>>delectable dish at the table.
>
>Sounds wonderful. Did you just saute these together Or was there more
>to this than that? I've still got my two pounds of chestnuts and
>some onions and I can get the rest...

Well, you cook the onions first, then saute the mushrooms, add the chestnuts and herbs, and finish it in the oven.  There was already a request for the recipe - I don't have the exact one, but I posted a more elaborate description to the list this morning :-)  If you didn't see it, let me know and I'll send it to you again.

>
>> Green salad with toasted pecans, "blue" Gouda cheese (sounds weird,
>>but it's excellent), and shallot vinaigrette
>
>I've still got some of the shallots I bought to use in my stuffing.
>More details please on how you made the shallot vinaigrette.

Well, actually my mom made it and I wasn't in the ktchen when she did it. :-(  I think you simply mince the shallots very fine and add them to balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  I don't think there was anything else in it, but I can ask her.

I've also seen warm dressings where you saute shallots or onions in a bit of olive oil, then add vinegar etc.  This could go on a mixed salad (eg, lots of mixed veggies and not much lettuce), or a spinach salad where it's ok if the greens wilt/cook a little bit :-)

>
>> The marzipan was decidedly rose-y, but still good; my dad said it
>>reminded him of Sicilian marzipan, which is flavored with rose and
>>orange-blossom water.  Both my parents have been using
>>storebought marzipan for years, but I think I convinced them to
>>let me make it from scratch this Christmas.  I have a month to
>>perfect the technique... ;-)
>
>I've put a lot of the suggestions and techniques detailed by
>Olwen recently in this file in the FOOD-SWEETS section of the
>Florilegium, just in case you didn't save some of this. I
>think there is some info from others as well. Also I have a
>bunch more to add and if you are interested, let me know and
>I'll get this file updated and online as soon as I can.
>marzipan-msg      (53K) 10/10/01    Use of marzipan (almond paste) in
>sotelties.
>http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/marzipan-msg.html
>
>Although, it sounds like you may have this marzipan stuff down
>pretty well.
>

Well, it's one of the things I've been wanting to try for a long time, but it always seemed like it would be tricky.  So I've looked at lots of recipes and read lots of peoples' commentary and advice (on this list & others), and only now have I worked up the nerve to actually do it myself :-)  But the help from the folks here has been invaluable - definitely go ahead and update the marzipan files if you have time, I doubt I'm the only one who would find it useful! :-)

Vittoria

PS In Latin class a couple weeks ago we got a brief description of exactly what a florilegium is for and what the name means.  Apparently it was a big thing during the Carolingian period.
--




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