mukki

I really got into jam making when I bought a copy of Christine Ferber's book a few years ago. Her basic method is too let the fruit and sugar sit for a bit, then bring to a simmer and leave overnight in the fridge before boiling down the mixture the next day. I usually do a very minimal hot water bath in my Weck canning jars. Probably my favorite is the apricot (I use local Bleneheims or Royals), with the addition of vanilla bean. I'll also be making boysenberry (I planted a vine last year) and plum. I'm working on some cherry jam right now; I haven't found sour cherries here in Southern California, so sweet will have to suffice. I'm also interested in trying black/Persian mulberry this year. I have a small tree in a pot on the patio, but I don't think it will produce enough for me to preserve my own berries, which is too bad since a small container sells for $10 at the farmer's market! I believe that Ms. Ferber said that she does invert her jars to seal sometimes. I tried that with my Weck jars, though, and the jam leaked out. I think you need the screw top jars. Like I said, I don't process the jars very long. I thought about not doing it, but I figured I'd rather do a short boil in case I didn't get the jars clean enough in the first place. I've never had a problem with spoiled jam; even after I open a jar, it can sit in the fridge for many weeks, if not months.

The cookies I buy most of the time are Kelley's Kookies melting moments (basically pecan butterballs), chocolate chip cookies and macadamia shortbread. They're made locally and don't have any preservatives, so they taste homemade. The little chocolate chip cookies are cripsy and remind me of the way Famous Amos cookies used to taste a long time ago.

Here is a photo report of our dinner at The Fat Duck on April 26, 2006. In general, the meal provided a great deal of intellectual stimulation, but lacked one, key ingredient: truly delicious food. With the exception of the foie gras and the hot/cold tea, there was very little that I would ever crave. Other great restaurants, like the French Laundry or El Bulli, generally have several, fantastic dishes. That being said, I still enjoyed the meal and creative, if sometimes bizarre, combinations. The entrance Nitro-Green Tea and Lime Mousse This was prepared tableside and intended to clean your palate. It was theatrical, but in a good way. Oyster, Passion Fruit Jelly, Horseradish Cream, Lavender A pleasant oyster and I almost always enjoy passion fruit. The horseradish added an enjoyable kick. Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream, Red Cabbage Gazpacho A bit odd, but really quite good. The ice cream/sorbet dishes after this would all be disappointing. The cool, icy mustard in this dish really worked well, though. Jelly of Quail, Langoustine Cream, Parfait of Foie Gras Probably my favorite dish. Everything was soft, and the flavors came together. Snail Porridge, Joselito Ham, Shaved Fennel Tasty, but no depth or complexity. The porridge was nicely cooked with some texture left. Not a stand out. Roast Foie Gras, Almond Fluid Gel, Cherry and Chamomile A nice foie gras dish -- great combination of flavors. The little gelee cubes were a nice textural component. Sardine on Toast Sorbet, Ballotine of Mackerel "Invertebrate", Marinated Daikon This had an interesting dish with the taste of the sea in the background. At the end of the day, though, it just wasn't that good. Fishy sorbet doesn't work for me. The marinated daikon, however, did add a very pleasant component to the dish. Salmon Poached with Liquorice, Asparagus, Pink Grapefruit, "Manni" Olive Oil By far, the worst dish of the night. I admit that I don't like licorice, but the whole dish was unpleasant. The salmon had an almost mushy consistency and the licorice sort of crept up on you out of nowhere and ended up overwhelming the palate. The vanilla bean mayonnaise was simply oily tasting. Poached Breast of Anjou Pigeon Pancetta, Pastilla of its Leg, Pistachio, Cocoa and Quatre Epices A slightly more successful dish. The pigeon was well cooked and a relief after the last dish. I particularly liked the cocoa nibs. The pastilla was greasy and tasteless, though. Mrs. Marshall's Margaret Cornet Cute presentation, but forgettable in terms of taste. Basically, a small ice cream cone with little flavor. Parsnip Cereal with Milk I really liked this one. I'm not sure if the dehydrated parsnip flakes were sweetened, but they were quite tasty. Pine Sherbet Fountain Our picture didn't turn out so well. This is the vanilla bean dipped in a tangy powder -- similar to a "Fun Dip" from childhood. Good, but no culinary achievement. Mango and Douglas Fir Puree, Bavarois of Lychee and Mango, Blackcurrant Sorbet A very disappointing dessert. Boring and too subtle, except for the blackcurrant sorbet. The mango and lychee were barely noticeable and the douglas fir nonexistent. Carrot and Orange Tuile, Beetroot Jelly These were simple and tasty. Not much more than that. Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream, Pain Perdu and Tea Jelly This, of course, is a play on breakfast for dessert. One of the least successful dishes. The bacon and egg ice cream was decidedly unpleasant, and the pain perdu and salted caramel didn't mitigate that. I pretty much ate all the caramel and left the rest. The tea jelly was wonderful, but half of our table didn't care for it. Hot and Cold Tea A very intriguing concept that worked well. If you look closely, there's a fine line cutting through the middle of the tea. As you drink the tea (which is slightly thickened), you get the sensation of cool and warm teas commingling in your mouth. Violet Tarts and Chocolates Chocolates were fine, the tarts were sweet, sticky and tasty.

After trying some River Cottage yogurt in the UK last month, I was inspired to try making yogurt at home again. My first attempts, about 1 year ago, weren't that good, with the last one resulting in a weird, viscous yogurt. I was using the Yogotherm (which is essentially a styrofoam cooler that is more expensive that it needs to be) and "sweet" yogurt starter from The New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. This time, I used their Bulgarian yogurt starter and the Yogotherm. I used TJ's organic whole milk, heated it to 180, let it cool to 110 and whisked in the culture. I only incubated 4.5 hours (I had been letting it sit much longer before). The results have been great: slightly firm yogurt with a light tang. When I recultured from the first batch, the result was even more firm and it only took 4 hours. Anyway, I'm pretty happy at this point. Thinking about trying out the creme fraiche and sour cream starters, too. Hilary

Fantes has a good price on a basic version. See the third product at this link.

We really enjoyed our meal at Stonehill Tavern in April; I think it's definitely the best restaurant (high-end, that is) in OC. The duck trio appetizer and pork belly main dish were delicious. I appreciated the fact that our waitress was honest about what she liked and didn't like on the menu, even though she said management would be upset about her being so.

Looking back, there is a lot of foam, but it didn't bother me at all. The meal was certainly a value for the money: the price was in the same ballpark as other 3 star meals I've had and I was introduced to some excellent dishes and preparations I had never experienced before. I was actually surprised that the middle courses felt as substantial as they did considering all I had read about foam, airs and vapors. In fact, I was a little disappointed that I wasn't served any dishes based on the latter two (like the vaporized pound cake or the Parmigiano-Reggiano air I've heard about). The meal turned out to be less about theatrics than I had anticipated. Well, I wouldn't say that they can't cook fish, as I haven't heard anyone else report the same problem. I think my mussel dish was particularly bad since my SO's was only mildly strong; when I gave him the rest of mine, he took one bite and refused the rest. It was disappointing, but, like I said, I could have said something, but didn't.

I'm also interested in "Passion for Ice Cream". I just discovered Ana Sortun's "Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean". She's the chef/owner of Oleana in Cambridge, MA, which has an interesting menu based on mediterranean flavors.

Our receipt shows that the tasting meu was 165 euros per person. In addition to that: 2 waters = 6 euros; 2 cavas = 20 euros; 1 bottle wine = 65 euros; and 2 teas = 7 euros. Hilary

I thought I'd add a photo report of our lunch at Cinc Sentits on May 2, 2006, which we really enjoyed. Actually, we enjoyed it a lot more than our meal a few days earlier at The Fat Duck, but I suppose that's a different topic. Amelia was a wonderful hostess, very easy to talk to, and recommended some excellent wines. Shot of warm maple syrup, cream, cava sabayon and rock salt. An excellent combination of flavors. I'd love to have this again. Foie gras terrine, passion fruit marmalade and crushed carquinyolis. I almost always enjoy foie gras at higher-end restaurants and this was no exception. My companion's foie gras was a little strong, however. Salt cod espuma, romesco dust, potato with fumet reduction. All I can say is that this was tasty; I couldn't really differentiate any of the flavors (which was too bad), but it came together well. Galician diver scallop, sunchoke puree, sweet onion escalivada. Wine pairing: pazo pineiro albarino (d.o. rias baixas, spain). Wild mediterranean red mullet, false black risotto and parsley oil. The only somewhat disappointing dish. I'm not a fan of any sort of risotto concotion and I don't tend to care for squid ink, so I'm partially to "blame", I suppose. Parsley oil was completely lost. Paired with marcel deiss riesling (alsace, france). Iberian pork belly with braised lentils, calamares a la plancha. A very tasty pork dish, but probably could have a used a bit more salt. However, it couldn't hold a candle to the next dish. Paired with senorio de valdehermoso roble 2004 (d.o. ribera del duero, spain). Iberian suckling pig, apple in two textures, priorat and honey glaze. We asked to substitute this into the tasting menu and I am so glad we did. One of the more amazing dishes I had on our trip. The pork was crispy and succulent and paired perfectly with the apples. Served with closa batllet 2002 (d.o.q. priorat, spain). Artisan spanish cheeses: arzua-ulloa with walnut crisp, sierra de cazorla with tomato marmalade and valdeon with medjool date. The cheeses were all good, but, even better, was what they were paired with. The tomato marmalade and medjool date really complemented the flavors of the cheeses well. Served with barbara fores dolc 2003 (d.o. terra alta, spain). Lemon cake, curd, espuma and cream with vodka granizado. The lemon cake was fairly simple, but the other elements and textures really stood out. The vodka went well with the overall lemon flavor. Paired with grey goose vodka. Xixona turron parfait, espresso granissat, vanilla bean cream and chocolate cake. I fell in love with turron during our stay in Barcelona, so it was interesting to see a dessert incorporating it. I usually like my desserts a bit sweeter, but this was a very nice finish. Paired with NOE pedro ximenez (d.o. jerez-xeres-sherry, spain).

I heard that the kouign aman is no more. Boule has supposedly removed all viennoiserie to make room for other items, although I haven't confirmed that in person. Very sad.

On May 3, 2006, we had the pleasure of dining at El Bulli. Needless to say, it was an excellent meal, which ranks up with the French Laundry and Pierre Gagnaire in my experience. Highlights of the meal were probably the brioche-mozzarella-rose foam, Iberico ham and potato course and the cheese course. The seafood dishes, however, were very disappointing, as all of mine had strong "fishy" tastes, which I found surprising. Details are below. (Note that I've listed the courses in Spanish from the menu, but have tried to provide some sort of translation based on what I remembered and with the help of an online translation service). Here is El Bulli from the "camping" hotel next door, where we stayed. As you can see, they are a short walk from one another, which is quite convenient. Kitchen in full swing. First course: "fresas/mandarina campari" (strawberry/mandarin campari). The strawberries were infused with tangerine flavor and the liquid tasted of strawberries. This was merely ok. The texture of the berries was a bit flabby. "Aceitunas verdes sfericas": they tell you they're olives, but, if you've done your research, you know they're more than that. The essence of an olive encased in a thin, gelatinous sphere that bursts when you bite into it. Very good. Starting at the bottom left corner: "croquanter de guanabana", "waffles de olive negra", "serpiente", "corteza de salmon" and "parma/passion". I'm not sure if the "serpiente" and "corteza de salmon" descriptions are right; I recall the green twigs being some sort of crisp seaweed and the next dish looks like squid. The "parma/passion" was absolutely delicious. What a great flavor combination -- shaved parma in a passion fruit tuile. "Galletas heladas": we were told these were butter cookies. Some sort of frozen butter concotion, merely ok as they weren't too flavorful. "Esencia de mandarina": tasty essence of mandarin. "Nitro-fresas, parmegiano": frozen strawberry and parmegiano. "Caviar sferico de melon": melon caviar. Interesting play of textures, included passion fruit seeds. One of the standouts: "bricohe al vapor de mozzarella al perfume de rosas". This was basically a very light brioche bun, filled with warm, gooey mozzarella and topped with rose foam. I could eat this every morning for breakfast. "Deshielo": I don't remember all that was in this dish, but there is some peanut powder. "Migas de almendra, tomate raff, sauco y gele de almen": tomatoes with almond flowers and foam. "Esparragos en escabeche": asparagus five ways. "Guisantes al jamon con ravioli cremoso a la menta fresca y aire de eucalipto": Peas and jamon with little bits of a cream jelly. The flavors of mint and eucalyptus were also worked in. Delicious. "Mejillones sferificados con sopa de patata al bacon y crema doble": mussels in spheres with a potato bacon essence and cream. The potato bacon essence/soup was amazing -- the perfect distillation of those two flavors. My mussels, however, were very fishy. I couldn't even finish them, which was a shame. I probably should have said something, but I didn't feel as comfortable doing so since I don't speak Spanish. "Ventresca de salmon con encurtidos": salmon belly with various items, including pickles. Some of the salmon was a bit fishy, but the dish was pretty good, with all sorts of interesting bits of flavor. "Ostras con panceta iberica ahumada, sopa montada con su grasa": I think I have the right description here. These were oysters and, again, mine were very strong. I didn't finish this dish, either. "Perrechicos escaldados": I don't know what mushrooms these are, but the dish was extremely tasty. The yellow balls are spheres, but I can't remember what they were filled with. "Colmenillas a la crema": I think I have the right description off the menu. Morels in foam. Very intense. "Virutas ibericas con pure de patatas": shaved Iberico ham with potato puree. How bad could that be? Delicious and a generous serving, I might add! "Patas de pollo crispy": crispy chicken feet with seaweed. The feet had been deboned. Nice and crispy, but not terribly flavorful. "Torta canarejal con merengue de miel": excellent cheese, perfectly ripened and served with honey meringues. One of the highlights of the meal. "Liquid de melocoton": peach liquid "Helado de coco con merengue ligero de zanahoria": coconut ice cream with carrot meringue. A sort of raspberry bar. We also ordered an excellent tea. "Galletas": crisp wafers in various flavors. At the end of service, they set down these three bowls covered with inflated white gloves that are supposed to be waving "goodbye". Seemed a little silly to me, but there was a present in one of the bowls (see next photo). Passion fruit chocolates -- delicious! As far as logisitcs, we rented a car at the Barcelona airport and drove up to Roses. We decided to stay at Ciudad de Vacances, the camping hotel next door. It's very basic and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, EXCEPT for the fact that it is very convenient. Hilary

I ordered one of the Kurobuta hams from Snake River Farms for the holidays last year and it was the best ham I've ever had the pleasure of eating. It was succulent, flavorful and juicy and looked more like real meat than the usual ham. Everyone was in awe. I'll definitely be ordering again.

I ordered one in crema yesterday from Amazon and used the March $25 coupon (ordered some bowls, too). Looks like it's now shipping from cooking.com, so the coupon no longer works with it. One of the sales people at Sur La Table I spoke to recommended the MB pot over LC. She said the quality was just as good for a much better price.

The food sounds wonderful. We have reservations for next week; from your description, I'll make sure to order the pork.

Great pictures! I wish I'd been in Paris during the Ispahan Festival.

This probably doesn't count as authentic Tuscan white bean soup, but Marcella Hazan's cannellini bean soup is outstanding (in my opinion, anyway) and very easy to make. It's just olive oil, garlic, canned beans, s/p, stock and parsley. I always add more garlic than the recipe calls for. It's in her Essentials cookbook and can also be found on the web.

I haven't been to the area yet, but for our May trip to El Bulli, I've planned on staying at Cala Montjoi, which has been mentioned here. What appealed to me was the fact that we could walk along the beach to and from El Bulli. The rate I was given is 100 euros a night. I've explored whether we should take the bus from Barcelona to Roses (which I believe Louisa recommended) or rent a car and the latter option seems to be winning so far. The buses back to Barcelona are either early morning (ugh) or late afternoon and we're planning on flying out of Barcelona to Sevilla that same day. A car leaves more room for flexibility. Hilary

I made Evelyn's melamakarona this morning (from the recipezaar site) and they are excellent. I adore these cookies and usually only get them once a year at my local Greek festival. There are so many variations in recipes out there ~ the semolina seems to provide the texture I've always enjoyed.

That's good to hear. I ordered one a few days ago in the satin color. I've been punishing myself for years using the Zassenhaus grinder I bought from Penzey's. I've really come to hate it ~ it doesn't hold much pepper (unfortunately, I bought the small size) and grinding happens in fits and starts. Grinding more than 1/2 t. of pepper is a PIA. Hilary

Residence Versailles was very nice, particularly considering the price (55 euros ~ which balanced out all of our expensive meals). Our room had tall French windows that overlooked the valley and a wonderful breakfast was served each morning, which seems to be a hallmark of a good French B&B. No dinner, though. An even better B&B that we've stayed at is Le Vieux Figuier, located in Provence (Seguret, to be exact) and surrounded by vineyards.

Andie, what do spittle bugs look like? I've had what look like little white flies on my rosemary - kept indoor for the winter - and in some years they've clustered almost as heavily as on Curlz's photo above. This year when I spotted them I used a food-safe bug spray, and judicious washing, and seem to have gotten them to go away. I'd still like to know what they are. ← I'm obviously not Andie, but I've had spittle bugs on my rosemary. It basically looks like a little wad of foamy spittle attached to a stalk. If you wash off the spittle, you'll find a bug or bugs inside. I had a few one year and washed them off with the hose and they never returned. Hilary

Yes! It was by far the most delicious mashed potatoes (if you can call it that) that I've ever had the pleasure of eating.

Since I just started learning how to post pictures here, I thought I'd post a brief report on the trip we took to Bordeaux, the Dordogne and Paris last October/November. After landing in Paris, we took a 4 hour (!) TGV ride (I didn't realize this is the route with several stops along the way) to Bordeaux, where we rented a car and stopped for a night in St. Emilion. Since it was my birthday, we had dinner at the Hostellerie de Plaisance (where we also stayed), which hosts a Michelin 1 star restaurant. Hostellerie de Plaisance: Dinner included the house specialty: lasagne of foie gras with wild mushrooms and truffle emulsion (I'm quoting Michelin here). Some other highlights included an oyster: Lobster in an Asian-inspired broth: Cheese course: Mignardises (canneles, coffee-based dessert, and passionfruit caramel): The next day we wandered around St. Emilion, which is often called the prettiest village in Bordeaux. We bought some wine to be shipped home (at a surprisingly reasonable price) and ate some canneles. We then drove to the Dordogne, where we stayed near the medieval village of Beynac in a B&B called Residence Versailles: Beynac, with the Dordogne River in the distance: Saturday was market day in Sarlat, where we bought walnut cake, walnut oil, and other regional products. In Beynac, we had some delicious duck confit, which I had *never* had before. I was floored by how good it was: crispy, juicy (but not fatty, of course), with a hint of garlic and parsley. (No picture, unfortunately.) At the restaurant Le Presidal in Sarlat, we had cassoulet (disappointing) and confit-stuffed escargot. Le Presidal: We went canoeing down the Dordogne: After visiting the prehistoric cave paintings at Font de Gaume, we stopped by the village of Leon, where we had lunch at Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe. Lunch included cidre, walnut beer (very tasty), a tomato salad and a tartine. Lunch was delicious, except for odd intrusion of lavender in both dishes. It was then on to Paris, where we stayed in an apartment in the 7th for a week. Every morning we picked up croissants from Poujauran. We had a wonderful, if overly filling, lunch at Pierre Gagnaire, but no photos are allowed. We also had lunch at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Highlights included -- Gazpacho: L'Oeuf: And the L'Agneau de Lait with the famous pommes puree: Also included was a stop by L'As du Fallafel for a fallafel speciale, which contains, among other things, hummus, eggplant, cabbage slaw and more: Last, but not least, a shot for those cat lovers out there. Here is Enzo, who was on vacation from Paris at our B&B in Beynac: Hilary

I so wanted to try the mini-kougelhopf, but I waited till our last day, and all were gone when we got there. Here are the interiors of two favorites: Ispahan and a chocolate-yuzu creation. And just in case that last one looks a little scary (it brings back delicious memories for me), here they are in full form: