itch22

I don't mean to get off topic, but what is the definition of "gnocchi"? I've seen recipies entitles "gnocchi" that include neither flour nor potato.

I'll go with this idea.

A general consensus was arrived at in the following forum that the best way to roast meat was by browning it with a blow torch and then cooking it for several hours in the oven at 150 to 200F. EDITED to modify link to forum.

Here's a question... Lets say you are browning your roast with a blow torch, and you want to flavour your roast with some herbs - lets say fresh sage and rosemary leaves. You rub the roast down with the herbs, then you blow torch it and incinerate the herbs. If you blow torch it, and then rub it down with the herbs, the meat is seared and it seems to me that the flavour of the herbs cannot penetrate the meat. Your thoughts? EDIT: Please ignore the spelling mistake in the topic's description.

Home made focaccia bread to start. Corsican beef stew, with pasta tossed in a bit of the stew's sauce. For dessert, chocolate bread with marscapone cheese.

Off topic, though pertaining to cooking cured food, the first time I had Chinese sausage I didn't realise I needed to cook them. I ate a whole one raw! I never got sick though...

I hate the damn commercial! It drives me nuts! (As for regional stuff, I see it on CTV all the time.) EDIT: I also can't stand the delisio vs. delevery commercials. If someone argued with me like that I'd throw the f***ing pizza out the window!

It was cured and then cooked? I thought gravlax was served raw?

Soba noodles in a simple soup (dashi stock, mirin, and shoyu) with tempura shrimp, and green tea ice cream for dessert!

What a great site! And they deliver to Canada, you wouldn't believe how rare that is for most .COMs!

Bleudauvergne, I am similar to you, I make several trips to the market (as much as twice a day) for a variety of items. I always buy organic and from farms before I go to rocery stores. I'll even go to several grocery stores to find the freshest produce and highest grade of cheese available. To avoid waste I usually plan a two or three day menu around a paticular item I'm forced to buy a lot of, such as a bushel of organic baby spinach. Day 1 would be a spinach salad, day 2 would be spinach and goat's cheese ravioli, and on day 3 I'd dump any remaining spinach intoa mushroom spinach lasange. When it comes to condiments, I aim for the highest quality of oils and vinigars I can find. In fact I am looking to buy a small 5 or 10 gallon oak barrel for making my own wine vinigar. There are limits though, such as using a $100.00 bottle of port in a pan sauce for steak when, in my opinion, a $20.00 bottle will do. If I am cooking a French recipe that calls for potatos I use Canadian potatos, not ones shipped over from France. Same goes with mushrooms, settling for Canadian ones and not, lets say, portibellos grown in Italy.

And when it is decriminalized we can run an eGCI class, "Cooking With Cannabis!"

The last time I was in Ottawa I went to an Asian restraunt in the market. I had ordered a number 6, which was the chicken. They thought I said 7 (which was the wanton soup). The lady behind me ordered the number 6. When they put her's on the pick up counter, I picked it up thinking it was mine. When they noticed me pick up the chicken, thinking I had ordered the wonton soup, the woman who ran the restraunt ran over to my table and took my lunch away.

I think that's one reason why Quebec is my favourite vacation spot!

There are some good local restruants, but with poor wine lists. I support this!

In a blind taste test I doubt she would notice the difference. I am assuming that knowing she is using Italian bottled water simply alters her perception so she thinks its better. Oh, and SobaAddict70, those are the BASICS!

I was flipping through Ursula Ferrigno's book, Truly Madly Pasta: The Ultimate Book for Pasta Lovers and she mentions that she cooks her pasta in Italian bottled water. She says it makes a difference. Now, I can sort of see how bottled water or even filtered water may make a difference. However, Italian bottled water? Call me cheap but I'll use tap water. What I am curious about is, how extravagant are you are in your kitchen? What are your opinions about extravagance, such as what I mentioned above?

You're right, there are certain people with health issues that could benefit from such a diet. My grandmother has diabetes and my fiance is unable to exercise regularily due to severe asthma. I know how health issues can impact a diet. However, I am simply surprised that so many are on the Atkins band wagon.

Crab and wild mushroom lasange topped with pine nuts and a salad of mixed greens (including baby spinach and dandelions) with a simple lemon juice and grape seed oil dressing. For dessert, a orange chocolate and hazelnut torte with a rasberry coulis and REAL whipped cream (whipped by hand).

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but I am so surprised that there is even one person on eGullet who supports Atkins. I thought the whole premise of being a "foodie" was wanting to enjoy food, you know... "taste the world" or some other cliche like that. I could never give up bread, or any other carb. I did see an interesting news report on CTV (if you're Canadian then you know what I'm talkin' about), where they did a study of carbs in pasta compared to Italy's poor helath and large overweight population. As the report confirmed, lots of past and no health epidemic in Italy. They attribute the carb issue here in North America with our large servings. The suburban family piles into a place like East Side Mario's and orders dinner, a VAT of pasta. In Italy, you'd never recieve such large portions.

Banana leaves work very well for certain styles of food.

Though a I don't drink it, here in Belleville, ON; most people say "pop". However, a lot of people do say "coke" even to refer to non-Coke-a-Cola products...

Vanadium is a metal. Learn about it here. EDITED to correct URL.

I knew it! I tried their organic butter last night in a batch of brown sugar cookies, with a dash of triple sec for a nice orange flavour. The cookies didn't last very long.