Alex

wonderful! we have fresh sea scallops this week, too! I've tried cooking them, and I always get a little confused as to how to tell when they are done. ← Tips: 1) Pat them as dry as possible before sautéeing. 2) I use a 1:1 mixture of butter and oil over medium-high heat. 3) Cooking time depends on the size of the scallops. For large ones (e.g., U-8), I do about 2½ minutes on the first side and about 1½ minutes on the other side. Press on one with your finger before cooking so you'll have something for comparison. When they're done, there should be more resistance than when they're raw, but should still feel a little squishy. 4) After the scallops are done, and while you're preparing the sauce, place them on a wire cake rack or similar over a pan or a large piece of foil in a 200F oven. This allows the cloudy liquid to drip out and makes for a much, much nicer presentation. (This is a Paula Wolfert tip.) ← Tee Hee!! Thanks for the bi-weekly correction. Yup, every Tuesday and Saturday. Also Thursdays for big sale items. And you are correct- I'm stationed at the Teeter. I'm a transplant from the Wal Mart seafood department. HUGE difference. I'll be on the look-out for your MIL. And thanks for the scallop tips. I use the fingertip resistance test with steak, and it works wonderfully. We are selling 10-20 count scallops right now, but we have as large as U-6 frozen. Do you have any experience with Cobia? ← Only eating it (at a restaurant). My MIL isn't moving very well nowadays (hip replacement + arthritis), so it'll be just my wife stopping by.

wonderful! we have fresh sea scallops this week, too! I've tried cooking them, and I always get a little confused as to how to tell when they are done. ← Tips: 1) Pat them as dry as possible before sautéeing. 2) I use a 1:1 mixture of butter and oil over medium-high heat. 3) Cooking time depends on the size of the scallops. For large ones (e.g., U-8), I do about 2½ minutes on the first side and about 1½ minutes on the other side. Press on one with your finger before cooking so you'll have something for comparison. When they're done, there should be more resistance than when they're raw, but should still feel a little squishy. 4) After the scallops are done, and while you're preparing the sauce, place them on a wire cake rack or similar over a pan or a large piece of foil in a 200F oven. This allows the cloudy liquid to drip out and makes for a much, much nicer presentation. (This is a Paula Wolfert tip.)

Welcome to eGullet, Suzy! Let me guess -- Harris Teeter? (My MIL lives in New Bern. Ms. Alex will be there for a visit in a couple of weeks. She often shops at HT when she's in town, so I'll ask her to stop by the seafood counter and say hi to you.) First thought: Given that customers frequently ask you how to cook fish, they're knowledge is rather limited, so your standard response is probably a pretty good one. The keys, as it appears you already know, are, "Keep it simple" and "Don't overcook it." Otherwise, you might suggest they season with herbs like dill or tarragon. For thicker fish like salmon or halibut, a dipping sauce of soy sauce, lime juice, and grated ginger is good. Here's an interesting recipe from The Surreal Gourmet. Make sure it's real maple syrup and freshly ground pepper. I also cook this at 400, not 500; I'd probably recommend 350 to your customers. Of course I can't locate the post that talked about this, even having used both search engines, but one of the best salmon preparations I've ever had involved (iirc) patting a mixture of lemon zest, sugar, and salt on the filet, covering it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerating it for a couple of hours, rinsing off the rub, then cooking the filet very slowly (150F, maybe). I hope someone else remembers where this was. For a narrower search, you can take a look at RecipeGullet. Epicurious.com is worth a look, too. BTW, I assume you meant that your seafood arrives semi-weekly (twice a week), not bi-weekly (every two weeks).

A Potbelly with live lunchtime music?! Cool. Where's it at? What kind of music?

My feelings exactly! I still enjoy a good Spätlese out on the deck on a warm summer's evening, but that's about it sans food. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding beer, though. Are you referring to American beers in general or just the mass-market ones? Up until a few years ago, I thought of cocktails as the beverage of my father's generation and therefore studiously avoided them. (You'd think I would have been over that by 50+ years old, but I'm afraid not.) However, MatthewB's sidecar from the 2003 Heartland Gathering was a revelation. My repertoire still is pitifully small, but the attitude has changed.

How to eats lots of it and not gain weight?

My reaction exactly. Anyhow, I second Terragusto. Bonsoirée has an Italian feel to it, even if it's not Italian per se. Here's Bonsoirée's Valentine's menu. It's $105 pp, but corkage is only $5 a bottle.

Ms. Alex and I are fans of brunch at Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, right on Dupont Circle. We had an outrageous amount of good food there on New Year's Day. Expect a wait, but things move along relatively quickly, plus you can browse the books while you wait. You also might want to consider brunch at Jaleo, right at Crystal City.

Perhaps it's a strategy to get potential new readers to unconsciously associate this magazine with the well-liked Oprah. The accent aigu also is the same color as the "o," so I think it's simply supposed to be an eye-catching design.

Those monthly "Please come back to us and get 4 books for $1 plus your first purchase at half price" emails from The Good Cook finally bludgeoned me into submission. Well, that, along with a desire to both own The Elements of Cooking and to get one as a present for a friend. I have to buy only one more over the next year, at the club price, so that's not bad at all. The damages: The Elements of Cooking Chocolate & Zucchini What's a Cook to Do? Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two (for Ms. Alex)

You know, perhaps, that Jiffy's headquarters is just down the road from The Common Grill? Maybe you could stop by the next time you're in the area and see if you could become their Canadian distributor.

Culinary Artistry, Dornenburg and Page. I got one for some friends as a Festivus present, and of course I had to buy one for myself as well.

At least so far, it looks like August 8-10 is the weekend for those who have a preference. Ronnie, are we OK with starting to move toward those dates? (In my thoughts I was gently pulling for August 1-3 so that we could celebrate Lughnasadh together on the first, but I'm perfectly fine with the following weekend.) FYI, from Wikipedia:

I wanted to give this thread a bump, as some of us may already be making summer plans and commitments. Ronnie, is there any further facility-related information? From the feedback we have so far, August 1-3 or 8-10 are the most likely dates. Does that sound right?

I just couldn't resist a remaindered copy of Ripert/Ruhlman's A Return to Cooking. Sigh.

A Return to Cooking has been remaindered, and it's available at local discount stores here in New England. (For those in MA and RI, check out your local Building 19.) ← Yes, I recently picked up a copy at Bargain Books here in GR for $19.99.

back at you!

I don't use nonstick anymore because the coating either needs to be babied or it doesn't last. Maybe others have more luck with it, but I don't feel good about using it. So I just use nice stainless pans even for delicate things like omelets and fish. ← I use an non-stick, slope-sided Analon Titanium pan that works perfectly and doesn't need to be babied (dishwasher safe and OK to 500F in the oven).

7½ pounds??!! Yowza. Must be from that Three Mile Island herd. I've always browned the outside in a large skillet, then finished in the oven at 350. Works fine, and less chance of overcooking.

The Skin of Our Knuckles, in which an family pursues a never-ending quest for a latke that's perfect in every way, only to be plagued by one kitchen disaster after another.

Yes, it's on p. 411 of the paperback version of The Man Who Ate Everything.

Given that maize is the cash crop of the Midwest, does this surprise you? ← Actually, maize and blue is the cash crop here in Michigan. (clicky) ------------------------------- That looks like an amusing book. I just checked our library system's online catalogue to see if was on a shelf somewhere. Alas, it wasn't, but I did discover these other gems: Latkes and hamentashen (CD) -- "Holiday treats for all ages" / songs by Jackie Cytrynbaum, sung by Fran Avni. Laughing latkes, by M. B. Goffstein The latke who couldn't stop screaming: a Christmas story, by Lemony Snicket ------------------- Latkes are funnier than hamentaschen. (Remember the sitcom "Taxi?" Andy Kaufman's character was named Latka Gravas, not Hamentaschen Gravas.) However, it wasn't the Maccabees' supply of spuds that lasted for eight days, so latkes have no symbolic connection to the story of Chanukah other than being fried in oil. We could just as easily have wound up with falafel or corn dogs (kosher, of course). Hamentaschen, on the other hand, are more directly symbolic of the story of Pesach. However, they're less tasty, imho -- basically a poor substitute for a good Danish or chocolate babka. ---------------- The debate continues....

How about this appetizer from The Heritage Restaurant, run by our local (Grand Rapids Community College) culinary/hospitality program: Last year -- and I may not be remembering all the ingredients correctly -- they did it with shrimp, scallions, vodka, Cointreau, orange segments, and a dash of Tabasco or some other hot sauce.

Yes, Gibb's is definitely in business (web site). After I moved to Detroit in the early 70s I frequented their original location on Gratiot near I-94. Larry Shade always made the right recommendation for this poor and naive graduate student (as he did in the 80s for a slightly less poor and slightly less naive psychologist). I'm even more impressed that he still remembers me even though I see him maybe once every four or five years, at their Moross location.