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Potage Crecy (French carrot soup) was one of the first things we made in culinary school after practicing the various knife cuts on giant horse carrots lol!

Since lunch was on the light side, a welcome early dinner came in a typical German autumn fashion at Augutinerkeller … Seasonal menu (for @rotuts) … We opted for the venison “medailons”, which were too thin, but quite tasty and tender. Served with hazelnut Spätzle, an idea I need to replicate at home. Much better was the classic roast duck, which is always on the menu and never disappoints. All chased by the Willi Wutz, made from pear schnapps (Williams), pear juice and a ball of pickled pear (hiding in the cloudy goodness). No complaints and a pretty good sleep afterwards, too 🤗

That I get. But the curly-ness of tiny sprouts from the grain, sorry for lack of a better word seems like it’s not rice to me. I have had what has been called black rice and it looked very much like white rice, but a dark purple.

Most types of black rice turn purple-ish when cooked.

They are illegal in the US & still I can buy them on Amazon. I've seen them on fine dining menus around town, whatever laws there are don't seem to be strictly enforced. It doesn't seem to be dangerous in the amounts used in pastry/ desserts. @tralfaz I don't have an answer for you but I would be inclined to use enough that you really know it's there and stands up to the chocolate you are using. If you are going to use a special ingredient use enough so it pops. That would be my inclination anyway.

I see thing such as the picture I’m adding below often. I’ve never had black rice that looks like that, only quinoa. Am I mistaken? It’s a common thing, pictures of food for delivery on the various apps that comes delivered looking totally different. I find it frustrating

Orecchiette Pugliese from an older Gourmet Traveller Magazine - you cook broccoli stems and florets until tender and puree them in the food processor. Using a bolillo roll you make fresh breadcrumbs in the oven, sauté them with garlic, fresno chili and lemon zest until brown and once cooled add grated pecorino. You saute gunaciale, garlic and another fresno chili until slightly browned, add the cooked orecchiette, broccoli puree and some pasta water. Finished with the bread crumbs mixture

Yes, I've had it many times but never used it myself. It is tasteless and valued only for its texture, something important to Chinese 'tastes'. There are many such foods.

@Smithy’s wilted spinach was hugely popular here in California in the 80’s, if remember my decade correctly

I was a car hop at A&W in high school, short skirts and white go-go boots. Tips were great. Due to a staffing shortage, I worked the grill and was very good at it. I had years of cooking practice from my Betty Crocker cookbook for Boys and Girls😂. Anyway, loved it but went on to a long career in insurance and only cooked at home since.

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college I worked at a little foody boutique with an attached restaurant. I roasted coffee, sold bougie wine and beer, and made up sample trays of products we sold. And got thrown into waiting tables one afternoon when the restaurant was short. Didn't take long to realize I never wanted to wait tables again.

steelhead is farm raised in the ocean, in a mostly identical way than Atlantic salmon. I have never fish a steelhead in a river (or in the ocean, if that matters) so I have never have to take a decision. I have had it both in Norway and in Australia. The flesh is firmer than the salmon, then, better for making a tartar, for example. Both fishes (steelhead and salmon), to my taste, are better when the less you do to them. Raw > marinated > cured> cold smoked > hot smoked > steamed.... It is of course a personal preference.

I understand that there are concerns with eating raw freshwater fish. Is a sea-run rainbow (ie steelhead) a fresh or a salt water fish? Probably more salt than fresh, I guess.

Oh that sounds good Smithy! My mom's version was iceberg, bacon and a hot dressing of white vinegar and sugar with some bacon grease. I do hers but with romaine, add onion and a grainy mustard in the dressing with little to no sugar.

For me, steelhead is better than salmon for eating raw.

Hi, I have gone again trough all the thread, always nice, and always something to learn, and you have mentioned at least twice the fish bladder. However, I didn't see your opinion on it. I have had it a couple of times while travelling trough Spain but I didn't like it at all. It was cooked, let's say, in a stew fashion, chopped in small bites in a dense sauce, but my regret was mostly because of the texture. Maybe it is the texture what Chinese like after all, but it was not really pleasant. Have you cooked at home or tried it in your local restaurants?

Sorry, I don't have much to offer in terms of help. But, are you in the US? I've been under the impression that tonka beans aren't allowed in the US but are ok elsewhere in the world.

Wow, Carrol’s - that’s a blast from the past! There were two in my little Northern NY burg, well before McD’s came to town. I believe both locations are still Burger Kings. First food-adjacent job was really a babysitting gig for a couple who had a seasonal (summer) lakefront restaurant. When the kids were put to bed, I’d go help out in the kitchen with little stuff like salads and desserts. Other times, I’d get called over to be a spare pair of hands when the kitchen was in the weeds. I also worked as a dishwasher at the local golf course restaurant where I also helped out with plating, etc when they were catering for group lunches or dinners. Then I did my own fast food stint at McD’s. I continued to work there even when I was in college because they were happy to give me as many hours as I wanted and work around my schedule. They have corporate processes, training materials and templates for everything and we had a manager who wasn’t the sharpest crayon in the box and happy to turn tasks over to someone else so I volunteered and learned how to do the ordering, rotate stock, calculate waste & reject, man-hours and scheduling. I also did tours for school kids and scout troops, arranged birthday parties and donations to local nonprofits with insatiable thirsts for McD's orange drink. I also learned to do arithmetic in my head really fast so I could total things up while stuffing the bags, add the sales tax (I used to know 6.5% of anything without looking) and calculate the Canadian exchange for our guests who wanted to pay in CDN. Then I graduated, moved to California, and worked in labs where we weighed our ingredients but didn’t produce anything edible!

I'm starting... I think my first job in the world of food was in about 1969-1970. At a fast food hamburger joint called Carrol's. No inside seating, from what I can remember. In the idyllic town of Franklin Square, on Long Island. Carrol's became Burger King, and though Carrol's itself petered out, Burger King's parent company is called Carrol's Restaurant Group, which is now owned by Restaurant Brands International. Perhaps had I stuck around I'd now be a big macher...but I didn't, as that job was short-lived. When I worked in that ill-fated Carrol's, on Franklin Avenue in Franklin Square, one could buy a burger, fries and shake...and get change from $1!!! I moved on to work in the various food departments for the Hills Supermarket Chain - also no longer extant. But I worked in the butcher department ( those days called the meat department) which had real butchers and counter service if necessary, the fish department, which also had a counter for service and the deli department, which had the same. I was a "floater" going to stores which were opening or needed help. I worked in various Hills, located in, yes, Franklin Square, Malverne, Lawrence, Island Park, and maybe one or two others - all on Long Island, and all serving the demographics of their local population. Like in Lawrence, a heavily Jewish neighborhood, the deli counter had all sorts of smoked fish, and I learned to slice lox/smoked salmon there. That was the job I held until leaving for college - which didn't last that long. Moved to Miami for 8 - 10 months, where I got in a job in a classic Jewish deli on South Beach. Finally saved enough, after moving back and driving a cab in NYC, to move out to Santa Barbara and go back to school. I worked in another deli, as well as a 7-11, which was probably (still) the worst job I ever had, because the clientele on my overnight shift was somewhat scary. No more food jobs until I moved back to NYC, after 18 years in California, and went to cooking school.

It would be good if stores didn't thaw the flash frozen fish. I suppose they do it because most people think "fresh" is better

I remember the $3 hamburger as if it were...1972 all over again!

One of my favorite methods for swordfish is to brine in 1 quart water with 1/4 cup coarse kosher salt for 1 hour no more, no less. SV for 45 minutes at your desired doneness temp, then sear in a cast iron pan with brown butter for a min or two on each side. Plate, and pour the brown butter on top. I think its called blackened swordfish, although there is probably variations that use seasonings, but in my opinion salt and browned butter is all that is needed to let the swordfish shine.

same sort of dinner as yesterday , but w red wine : Motif from Tj's , @ about $ 5.00 0r so a bottle. dry-ish , big mouth feel , no Benzene [ flavors from duPont , not from the grape ] its my current Tj's table wine. delicious . I might have added a bit more wondra to firm up the sauce , next time. Im very pleased ( a bit surprised too ) that this dark meat chicken is Sooooo tender . no hint of tendons . a serious keeper. next time S&S has CkDrums on sale , Ill make more , and might start them in the IDS for an hour or two before SV.

yuppers - that's the good stuff... our Costco packs it in both 1 filet and 2 filets per package. two is a bit much . . . altho even with one side I divide it into 3 or 4 "meal size" pcs, freezing what we don't eat 'that day' ....which is why I don't buy their huge qty of salmon - it's not tasty to re-freeze previously frozen . . . .

@Smithy, I'm still a a hard-core Zinfandel fan. Can I ask what wineries were on your old list? Edited to add: I know you've gone off hard-core Zin, but I see Sunce does lots of Zin. Sacrilege, I know, but can you tell me what you used to think about their Zins?