NYT > Dining & Wine
Wed Dec 17 17:00:47 EST 2008
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Butter Holds the Secret to Cookies That Sing - When baking cookies, the most common mistakes made by home bakers, professionals say, have to do with the care and handling of butter.



Taking Heat for Not Cooking - Rocco DiSpirito has, for a segment of the gastronomic elite, come to embody the talented chef who squanders his gifts in the scattershot pursuit of fame and fortune.



In Successful Paris Restaurant, Jewish Roots - Daniel Rose, whose tiny Paris restaurant is a runaway hit, reimagined some of the dishes on his menu as recipes for Hanukkah.



Restaurants: The Menu? It’s a Long Story - David Bouley’s Secession, which replaced Danube, has an epic and indefinable menu that comes across as slapdash and undisciplined.



The Pour: A Good Read Before You Sip - No matter the condition of the economy, the state of the world or the weather, the annual holiday flood of books on wine gushes forth unimpeded.



The Minimalist: Sweet and Pretty, and Lighter Than Air - If you bake at this time of year, it’s almost impossible not to have a surfeit of egg whites. When you do, think meringues.



A Good Appetite: Humble Dish, Humbler Meat - The brawny cut known as flanken produces pot roast that is meltingly tender and profoundly beefy.



Good for the Goose: An English Christmas - In “Elizabeth David’s Christmas,” recipe after recipe looks to France, Italy, Spain and even North Africa for inspiration.



G. Franco Romagnoli, 82, Italian Chef, Dies - With his wife, Margaret, Mr. Romagnoli helped introduce Americans to authentic Italian home cooking on the 1970s PBS series “The Romagnolis’ Table” and in a series of best-selling cookbooks.



Dining Briefs | Recently Opened: Lebanese Cuisine Hits Right Notes at Naya - It is not only the shiny spaceship-to-SoHo d�cor that sets Naya apart from other Lebanese restaurants in New York.



Dining Briefs | Bars: Continental Comforts at Brooklyn’s Eurotrip - This gastro-bar in Brooklyn serves Mittel-European comfort food in what might be called recession-era portions.



Food Stuff: Alaskan Catch for the Holiday Table - Smoked Bering cisco is available for sale at Acme Smoked Fish in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.



Food Stuff: The Foil Pie Pan Goes Platinum - The humble foil pie pan has been refashioned by Italian artisans, just in time to tickle the fancy of a cook on your gift list — one with a sense of humor.



Food Stuff: From Italy, Rum Cakes Personal or Party Size - Bindi, a dessert company in Milan with a plant in Totowa, N.J., has introduced a panettone for a party, dolled up with a vanilla-cream filling.



Letters: The Lobster Trap - The Lobster Trap.



Ílhavo Journal: A Portuguese Tradition Faces a Frozen Future - As frozen bacalhau — a salted, cured and dried cod — replaces its fresh counterpart in the marketplace, some mourn the shift as a loss of part of the country’s culture.



So Your Kitchen Is Tiny. So What? - All you need is a stove, a sink, a refrigerator, some pots and pans, a knife and some serving spoons.



Recipes for Health: Risotto With Roasted Winter Squash - Roasted winter squash adds sweetness and color to this risotto.



Off the Menu - Restaurant openings, closings and chefs on the move.



Dining Calendar - Holiday wine tastings, where to find latkes, medieval food workshops and a tour of the Food Network’s studio.



Bitten: No Grill, No Vent, No Problem - It is possible to cook a steak with a nice crust without risking a kitchen fire.



Diner’s Journal: Restaurants Feel the Downturn - Restaurants are feeling the affects of the economy, and sometimes they show it.



Well: Are Nut Bans Promoting Hysteria? - An essay in the British Medical Journal argues that widespread efforts to ban nuts do more harm than good.



Bitten: Deep-Fried Olives - Perfect snack: deep-fried olives.



City Room: Would Obesity Tax Curb High-Calorie Drinks? - Also in Morning Buzz: the governor's criticism of a "Saturday Night Life" skit mocking his blindness; the shuttering of another Broadway show; and other headlines from local papers.