All right then, it's settled. I'll leave this blog up for the foreseeable future, since I actually use it to look stuff up, and who knows who else might do the same. Eventually I'll copy it all into a file and take it down.

For more food (and a lot of other things), I encourage Manor Menu readers to migrate over to the happenin' place known as Ten Signs Like This.

I am thinking of folding this blog into my other blog, on the theory that I shouldn't ghettoize my food. What do you think?

Also, did you know that nutritionally speaking, it is almost possible to exist on just Swiss muesli and plain yogurt?

Last night I tried a recipe from an 1828 cookbook whose goal was to produce lemon meringues with a currant jelly filling. It said to dollop little teaspoonfuls of jelly onto parchment, then cover completely with meringue and partly bake. Then you'd quickly scrape up the filled meringues and attach them bottom to bottom so that they formed a ball with jelly in the middle, and bake the rest of the way.

I didn't have much success with the method as it was printed. There was currant jelly everywhere, not to mention sticky-sweet egg whites in my hair. But having tried it this way, I think I know how to do it better: Make 12 little meringue shells with divots in them, and 12 meringue lids. Bake fully. Fill and assemble. Heat oh-so-slightly to melt the jelly. It's worth doing, because the contrast in flavors is really nice. It'd be great for a fancy reception or a tea.

This salad is insanely good. I served it alongside burgers made from Maverick Ranch extra lean beef (4% fat). The burgers were divine--way juicier and tastier than I expected--but in my opinion it was the salad that really stole the show.

I made up a full recipe of salad, but only assembled and dressed half today, so that the other half would still be fresh later on.

Check this out. Very useful for translating the one tricky word ("chapelure") on the recipe postcard my mother sent me from the French side of St. Martin. It was for a gratin de christophines, which in itself would have been really puzzling if it weren't for the photograph, which showed that the objects to be gratineed were in fact smallish yellow squashes.

After the Superbowl, we got hungry. This recipe is a nice little trick I reserve for times when a serious binge is on the horizon...decadent, yet mostly virtuous.

MERINGUES
2 egg whites
1/3 c. (or more?) powdered sugar, to taste
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 c. semisweet chocolate chips, whirled in a food processor until coarsely ground

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Yes, 250.
Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar (unless you're afraid of salmonella, I'd suggest tasting the mixture to make sure it's as sweet as you want it) and continue beating until stiff.
Add almond extract, vanilla extract, and coarsely ground chocolate chips. Fold everything together gently, being careful not to deflate the egg whites.
Dollop heaping tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto greased cookie sheets. Goofy, spiky shapes are encouraged. Bake 50 minutes.

Note: When they're fresh out of the oven, the meringues will be molten and gooey inside (which some of us like very, very much). If you let them sit for an hour, they'll become hard like the meringues you buy at the grocery store.

"Excellent idea, iffy execution."

That's what I'd like to say to the folks at Gourmet, who came up with the recipe for Aloo Gobhi Stuffing that I found on Epicurious today. What a great concept! This was something that had been missing from my life, even though I'd never known how much I wanted it.

But it wasn't perfect; their version was heavy on bread and even heavier on butter, and at the same time it lacked the special something that would put it over the top. That something turned out to be raisins, an idea suggested by some of the readers who'd tried their version.

Here is my lighter, zingier version of their recipe.

ALOO GOBHI STUFFING
5 c. cubed stale bread (I used part of a 5-grain baguette)
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4-in. dice
3 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-in. dice
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-in. dice
1 medium or 2/3 large head of cauliflower, cut into 1/2- to 1-in. florets
1/3 c. golden raisins
2 1/2 tsp. curry powder (preferably homemade)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
several grinds of coarse black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 c. unsalted raw cashews, broken
1 c. chicken broth (salted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the bread cubes on a large sheet pan and bake 15 minutes, stirring halfway through baking time. Set bread cubes aside.
Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F.
Place butter and oil in a very large skillet or wok pan. Heat over medium or medium-high flame until butter melts. Add onions, carrot, celery, and potatoes and cook, stirring, until softened.
Add cauliflower and raisins. Cook, stirring, until cauliflower is crisp-tender. Add curry powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and continue cooking and stirring for 2 more minutes.
Combine cauliflower mixture with bread cubes in a 9x13-in. baking pan. Toss to combine. Top with cashews and pour broth evenly over everything.
Cover tightly with buttered foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more, until browned and sizzling.

QUICK SHRIMP CURRY
2 servings

7 oz. large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 c. coconut milk
juice of 1/2 lime
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 large jalapeño pepper, minced
dash molasses
2 Tbs. sweetened dried shredded coconut
1 Tbs. curry powder (homemade, if you have it)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 c. cooked rice
2 Tbs. green onion, sliced

Marinate the shrimp in the coconut milk and lime juice for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat and saute the onion for 3 to 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and jalapeño and saute until soft.
Add the molasses, coconut, and curry powder, and stir quickly over the heat. Add the shrimp and its marinade. Reduce the heat and cook gently until the shrimp are pink. Season to taste.
Serve in bowls, over rice. Garnish with green onion.