Rouxbe

I made this dish for family and guests last night at the cottage, and it was a huge success. I have to say, as I was cooking, I wondered where, exactly, the Mediterranean flavour would come from. There was nothing exotic about the ingredients. I threw in an extra pinch of chili flakes because I like some spice, and added some shrimp at the last minute, and the end result was fantastic. The flavour was subtle at first, but halfway through, my mouth was filled with this incredible taste. Even the kids gobbled it up. I'll make this one again.

Can I use a glass baking dish on the stovetop (gas)?

This would be, say, to deglaze the dish after baking, say, some pork chops. I know the heavy glass dish can handle the heat, since it's oven-ready, but I'm not sure what the open flame would do to the glass. Turn it black? Cause it to crack? Should I just transfer those baking juices to a skillet?

Thanks in advance.

I have a Katana chef's knife, and was told by the Calphalon dealer that I should not use the steel on this blade, but should only sharpen it, once it's dull. I got an OZITECH sharpener, recommended by Peter Hertzman and Toronto's The Healthy Butcher. I've only used it once, but it seems to work really well. Not sure what it will do to the blade in the long run. And I wanted to remind other novices like me that a sharp blade is critical for safety. Always keep the knives sharp.

Hey Joe,

I made this on Saturday, threw it on the bbq for the last half hour that the ribs were roasting. My daughter had four pieces of the bread and left the yummy organic beef back ribs to rot on her plate. Even my wife had two huge slabs. Nice one.

Mike

I have a recipe ready to post for my homework assignment. Except I don't have any photos of the dish, and I'm not sure I will be able to make the dish again before the homework deadline. I have a temporary image of a soup bowl that I downloaded from the internet (royalty-free site). Is this okay? It's a fairly generic representation of what the soup would look like, and I can't post the recipe without an image.

Patricia, I've just uploaded a recipe in the Test Kitchen for lobster bisque. It's an adaptation of my mother's recipe, which is the best I've ever tasted. I've also done the same recipe with shrimp, which is so much cheaper. You should definitely use canned lobster. I've heard this many times from the professionals, and my mother. Don't use fresh. You can leave out the creme fraische. It's a bit of a frill.

This year, instead of a traditional turkey, I decided to make a rijstaffel for my Dutch/Indonesian in-laws, and the feature dish was your beef rendang. It was an 8-course menu, and the beef rendang was the clear hit of the dinner. I'll make it again for sure, maybe with fewer courses to go with it (whew!). Thanks for the great recipe.