Priscilla

Yes, blanching makes for a whole different trip. Not necessarily BAD, but different. IF they're superultrafresh roasted from raw is superultradelicious. But (IF they're fresh) blanched shocked etc. don't too too much harm and can make them safe for democracy and timider eaters.

Mmmm Brussels sprouts are so good. In the running for fave veg. Halved or quartered and roasted with olive oil, whole trimmed x-cut blanched whole shocked etc. sauteed and then given a dose of brown butter & nutmeg if you like nutmeg I don't sometimes I use mace instead but plenty of people like nutmeg well enough. I recently combined some Brussels sprouts in the Jim Dixon Italo-PNW Roasted Cauliflower, and stirred in some butter at the end, and well, it was good.

Last evening a birthday dinner for a friend. Teeny blini, each with a smear of creme fraiche, and a little American paddlefish caviar on some, a little pile of Oregon bay shrimp with chives on others. Spanish sparkling with a drop of Pechaud bitters all 'round. Risotto with cremini mushrooms, diced, and bay scallops, which are usually so disappointing I rarely chance them anymore; happy to have them back for a good experience. Jim Dixon's Italo-PNW Roasted Cauliflower, in which I also included a big handful of quartered Brussels sprouts, ultra-brown-tingement. Nice fresh Alaskan cod, parsley and crumbs and seasoning, sauteed. The big white plates; risotto in a round with a crescent of the veg along one side, square of cod athwart. LBB French baguette. Cocoa madeleines, miraculously early good strawberries.

Ellen, yes, it's true. And a reason one must ration one's visits! I deeply appreciate the simplicity -- a gift, to me. I have NO interest in becoming an expert on VCRs, you know what I mean? Too several years ago when I was looking to surprise the Consort with his dearest wish (a rechargeable Makita cordless drill) Costco beat everybody else by so much it wasn't even funny. AND provided the little Makita-blue metal snap-lock suitcase, to boot--at the time, a Costco Bonus. God bless the the Costco Bonuses. And I'm innured now, but the outsized shopping carts used to amaze me, you know, like Alice after Drink Me.

I read about this somewhere previous to this citation, can't remember where, but there was mention of a recipe using only Costco SKU numbers in the ingredients, like 1/2 c. #3480387 and 2 lbs. #5576493 and so on. Funny! And somebody earlier cited tires, which I second, with feeling. Buying tires is a travail fraught with fraughtness. A major, major drag. But, at Costco you drive up, the guy tells you which Michelin radial fits your car, and you notice that said Michelin radials are LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE of what they wanted for the same tire at a regular tire shop, and said price INCLUDES EVERYTHING, and then an hour later you come back (with your bale o' salad mix and pallet o' filet mignon and bundle o' La Brea Bakery French baguettes and sixer o' Ravenswood VB Zinfandel) and drive away, no muss, no fuss. Plus, free flat fix and rotation, for life.

Nice souffle au fromage. Salad with the last of the earnest young thing's greens -- with white wine vinegar and the roasty toasty Austrian pumpkin seed oil.

The LA Times' New York correspondent weighed in on the decadent burger issue in Monday's paper. Here's a clickable -- registration requirement seems subject to invisible caprice.

Coupla late-evening pizzas, one with broccoli sauteed with anchovy with caramelized garlic in there, on a thin foundation of whole-milk ricotta, with Pecorino Romano and whole-milk mozzarella. Judicious amounts of all these things. Also a riff on Wolfgang Puck's self-styled "Jewish pizza," a good application for the little bit of smoked salmon that's been kicking around, also serendipitously I happened to have a purple onion, AND creme fraiche. Nice salad from the earnest young thing at the farmer's market dressed with that Austrian pumpkin-seed oil that is so roasty good and a drop or three of aged Balsamic. Inexpensive Australian Merlot brought by an attendant friend which was pretty good, turned out.

Saturday evening, mackeral which had been marinated in sake lees grilled over mesquite. Broccoli with Torakris' sesame sauce. Marinated mung bean sprouts. Nice rice from the cooker.

One-stop shopping indicated ... resulted in a self-styled saltimbocca with chicken, and Serrano ham, and Swiss cheese (sage from the garden). Surprisingly nice Blue Lake green beans, blanched, shocked comma-all-caps SHOCKED, briefly sauteed with Lurpak & garlic together again, copious s & p. Frenchy-French baguette from the Vietnamese baker. And a cheap not-bad Portuguese red wine.

The panko I buy habitually is honey panko ... by Shirakiku. In addition, the label is pink, always a plus, with me, and, right on the bag it says A Good Bargain! which is reassuring.

I have so far used Wondra in a few applications. As Margaret Pilgrim suggested, it worked very very well for dusting a cake pan; easy to shake around for coverage, and easy removal after baking, too. Using it for dredging food to be fried, I have been less happy with the results, mostly due to a subtle but persistent musty or stale flour smell, apparent even with the small amount of flour clinging to the food before cooking. King Arthur Flour, which I normally use, smells so fresh and floury, in contrast. I am theorizing that it's a cooked-flour smell, created during the gelatinizing process Wondra undergoes. Testing ongoing.

Monday West Coast Pork Day? Nah, every day is (potentially) West Coast Pork Day! (Jim do you use loin for that braise?) Pork loin on the rotisserie (having been brined a little while) Sweet potato souffle, so-called -- individual-sized Creamed spinach Homemade rolls

Surprisingly nice fresh Alaskan cod suggested Icelandic fish cakes. Duly prepared. Forwent the trad boiled-potato accompaniment on account of the late hour and having excellent rye bread in the bread box. Jim Dixon's Italo-PNW Roasted Cauliflower. The other trad accompaniment, melted Lurpak, was not forgone.

Wow this is interesting. The Irish stew I have known, cooked, is a blanquette/white construction. Myrtle Allen (the aforereferenced Darina's mother-in-law, I believe) says she traditionally she followed the blanquette method but later came to browning the meat and using stock and so forth. Theodora Fitzgibbon, blanquette, and layers of ingredients, and not too much liquid. Carrots. Searing and deglazing, conventional stew techniques, got nothing against 'em, of course. But the beauty of blanquettes is exactly precisely their mildness. Sometimes I like a blanquette, especially the b. de veau, just to recalibrate my palate for subtle flavors. In fact this is going to send me to the German meat market with the fantastic veal for stew, I just know it.

Little smoked salmon sandwiches, cream cheese, very thin purple onion, very thin tomato, on very good light German rye. American paddlefish caviar, melted butter, Frenchy-French baguette from the Vietnamese baker. Paddlefish caviar verdict: Not bad. Mild, mild mild mild, which can go too far, but is better than half-gone-off too-strong rancidity. Course, just about anything is better than half-gone-off too-strong rancidity, ain't it? Nice bottle of Piper Heidseick brut, in the weird-ass whole-bottle red shrink-wrap.

I wanna use the exact one Dale DeGroff uses -- is that this one?

Yeah yeah Tellicherry...from Penzey's, for years now. Years ago I remember buying them from Cost + Imports and they were absolutely unremarkable. I'm with Margaret on the fruitiness, too. And then a whole new level when I used 'em in a whole-spice rice preparation from Suvir over in India. They really were like fruit! Highly spicy little fruits, but still. And if you should happen to have guests of Dutch origin at your table, I swear, they will empty the grinder in the course of a single meal, if the pepper pops, so be prepared for that.

OK I think this might the coolest thing yet here at eGullet. However, I'm feeling excluded, over here to the Left Coast, and I WANNA MAKE THIS DRINK. Plus, it has just become overweeningly important to have something called Velvet Falernum in my liquor cab.

Wow Ron the non-trad paella sounds sososo good. Last evening, poulet frites, nice Romaine salad with a really mustardy vinaigrette. Frites run through the old deep fryer twice, cut nearly shoestring size, which is how I like 'em in the poulet-frites equation. Teeny tsp. of honey drizzled over chicken near the end to glaze, after a Tommy suggestion of many many years ago when he was just little. Lotsa pan jus poured off into the cute little Le Creuset with a pouring spout to reduce & emulsify, which it did. Important for the frites, I think, but others availed selves of mayonnaise too/instead.

Yes, Ranitidine, we had a very nice Cabernet Sauvignon, 1999 Hamilton Oaks, grown and vinted right around the corner from us, turns out. Planning on another bottle of the same tonight, under the research rubric.

Saturday evening further investigation into home preparation of prime-grade beef. New York strips from the local supermarket, not Certified Angus, unless they're Secret CAB. So, steak frites. Red-wine Bearnaise with sage. Frites run through the old deep-fryer twice. Nice Romaine salad with lovely vinaigrette. I'm prepared to say that prime-grade beef is more tender and flavorful, and, for some reason behaves very very well during cooking, making for an all-'round good steak experience. If you like that sort of thing.

Tommy have you considered a Fontina? Last evening we put some very nice Fontina on a pizza, and I was reminded how nutty it is, just when you think it's all about sweet. Course some Fontinas are majorly sweeter than others. Just a thought. But add in the fruity whatever to the flavor profile and it sounds good to me!

Last evening, the Japanese fried pork cutlet known as tonkatsu, sake-simmered carrots, Vietnamese pickled veg salad (not meaning to Pan-Asianize my meal, but I'd brought it home from a very good takeaway the previous day and it seemed suitable), and spinach with Torakris's Sesame Sauce This was such an improvement over my usual sesame-seasoning method, which is to open the purple-and-silver foil packet and sprinkle and stir. The spinach, the fresh toasted sesame flavor especially, was just so much better than usual. (Although the packet seasoning ain't too bad, and has the same ingredients basically, just in dried form.) Extra toasted sesame strewn artlessly over. Thanks again Torakris for the instruction. Lessee, also rice from the cooker. Beer, made by the Consort, coming right along, fermentation-wise.

Me too, KimWB, I love Romaine's structure, and its minerally flavor. Plus, it's often the best-condition lettuce in the supermarket, and it is quick to rinse and spin, and you can get it very very dry so that you can make a decent salad. Wet greens, can't stand 'em.