Alex

Good to know my memory is still intact, more or less. From p. 243 of Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking: She does recommend using the mushroom soaking liquid. She also says to use water rather than a fish fumet for a seafood risotto.

I agree with the previous posters, but only up to a point. Using the incident for publicity is a great idea, and it's good you made a police report, but a recipe book being stolen (anything else?), as jrshaul wrote, certainly points toward a former (or current) employee -- possibly disgruntled, possibly wanting to start his or her own business, possibly both. Not to mention that breaking and entering is a felony -- a 10-year one here in Michigan -- and I'd hate to see anyone get away with one. However, unless there's not much else crime going on in your area, I suspect that your local police would place a pretty low priority on investigating a B&E where the most valuable stolen item was a recipe book. Still, I'd give them some names and keep my eyes and ears open.

Can you explain your (or Hazan's) thinking on this a little bit? It doesn't really make scientific sense to me but what do I know. It was the author's opinion, but I don't remember whose. I'll see if I can dig out the info for you. It's been a while. (We psychologists call this phenomenon source amnesia -- knowing something but not remembering where it came from.)

Yes, brine. Many years ago I did something like this (but not as elaborate) with a non-brined cut-up bird for my very traditionalist extended family. I used a similar recipe from Bon Appétit or similar mag, braising both the legs and the breast. The wings went into the stock pot, as back then I probably didn't even know what confit was. Several older relatives greeted it with some skepticism and a bit of disappointment (people love to see a whole roasted turkey in all its mahogany splendor), but were quickly won over once they started eating. I don't glue my food, so I can't comment on the "tenderloin." However, what would you think about not gluing them but instead perhaps doing a simple pan roast? That way you could put a compound butter under the skin to add flavor.

If buying some white wine doesn't involve getting your dog sled team together and mushing 30 miles through the recent snowstorm to get to the nearest store, then yes, use a decent dry white, and not too much; a Pinot Grigio would be fine. And don't stir; save that for the stock. And speaking of stock, I agree with faronem -- water it way down, then add some soaking liquid. Early on in my cooking "career" I read -- I think it was from Marcella Hazan -- that too much chicken stock tends to make a bitter risotto.

Ms. Alex will be at the downtown Hilton for four nights and is in the process of deciding where to eat dinner. Although not a stranger to MARTA, for this trip she'd like to be within a reasonable walking distance of the hotel, or very nearly so (maybe walk there, cab back). We came up with six reasonable-sounding candidates. Which of these would you pretty much unequivocably recommend? Would you avoid any of these? Are there any other really good places in downtown that we missed? Thanks. In no particular order, the six are: Lunacy Black Market (a long walk, and no reservations, but cool small plates and on Atlanta magazine's Top 50 list) French American Brasserie (Ms. A is a big fan of skate wing) BLT Steak (or would Morton's be better?) Truva Ray's in the City (she's been there before) Sundial at the Westin Peachtree (ditto)

After I eat shiitake mushrooms, my urine has a skunk-like odor. Does anyone else experience this?

No.

Thanks for the shout-out to your community college culinary program. I suspect that lots of people, even those into fine dining, don't realize how good CC programs can be. Our CC here in Grand Rapids also runs a first-class program (and a terrific restaurant). Schoolcraft College, in suburban Detroit, also is top notch. P.S. Like everyone else here, I'm enjoying your forum immensely. An old acquaintance of mine was a CIA grad and worked at Caesar's in LV. He had lots of stories to tell about both places.

Hey, it worked for Julie/Julia. You're right, though: posting one recipe is fair use; posting all of them is not. Describing them should be fine. I agree with Mjx, though: play safe and ask the authors.

Yes, it's definitely the season. In fact, this coming weekend is the eighth anniversary of the first Heartland Gathering, which inspired this thread.

Ditto. Except maybe Postum over instant coffee.

Cheetos and a Bloody Mary! Tomato, "cheese," and a little savory heat. Brilliant!!

Cheetos do indeed look very weird and therefore should be consumed with beer. But not yogurt. (Would that be sort of like eating fish fingers and custard?) I, too, think that yogurt could work with peanut butter, especially the "natural" or homemade variety. I make a spicy groundnut stew that I suspect wouldn't be harmed, and might be enhanced, by the addition of a little yogurt.

Hey, c'mon over to Grand Rapids for a weekend. There's an interesting food culture growing here. And Meijer Gardens.

Lunch: Big & little's; Naha (Th/Fr); Purple Pig Dinner: Piccolo Sogno (under-the-radar Italian, great patio) It sounds like you've done your Detroit-area research, but you might also want to start a new thread here; I'm sure boagman and others could offer some useful information. And you've gotta know about Zingerman's, right?

I generally don't pay attention to how other people eat their pizza, so no, I can't top it. However... Maybe that's his way of rationalizing to himself that he's on a low-carb diet. Or he could be crust-phobic (it does happen) and wanted his mouth to stay a safe distance away.

Excellent report (imho) in today's The New York Times by Sam Sifton

I don't believe so == can any long-time Heartlanders recall? (For historical and sentimental reasons, is there a way the photos can be restored?) No 2004 Gathering. I guess the GR one was so wonderful, it took two years to work up to the next one. (It actually was indeed highly wonderful, from the smoked prime rib to the incredible array of liquors and wine to my (and many others') first experience with roasted cauliflower.) Unfortunately, I think that most of the pictures (and good ones at that) got trashed when eG switched to a new server or new software or something like that. Pity. Perhaps the Wayback Machine?

Socca is very good, and has the advantage of being walking distance from Wrigley. (Warning: their web site has music; hit the mute button before you click.)

Alex, Have you made the Nutella ice cream from Chocolate & Zucchini before? I tried it a couple of years ago and had disastrous results - a very dense mass that never really froze (no wonder - it's almost 1/2 Nutella by weight!), like a solid version of Nutella. As for the taste, it was so rich that nobody cared for it. Definitely not recommended. On the other hand, my experience so far with all of David Lebovitz's ice cream recipes has been fantastic! Interesting. No, I haven't done a practice batch yet, although I certainly planned to do so before making it part of the trio. Adam Roberts (aka The Amateur Gourmet) also endorsed Clotilde's recipe, so I figured it was OK. Giada D (Hmm, sounds like a rap star) has a more traditional, custard-based recipe on foodnetwork.com. Maybe I should just make a big batch of base and use that for all three.

My latest idea: Tiramisu (David Lebovitz), Nutella (from Chocolate & Zucchini), and Goat Cheese (Lebovitz or Charlie Trotter). It's not as colorful as many of the other combinations in this forum, but I'll bet the flavors will go together spectacularly well.

Las Vegas Sun story What's even sadder is that Ms. Alex is in LV for a conference and had a reservation for tonight (+3 friends). Maybe the rep didn't say anything to the Sun, but the cancellation voice mail message said that they wouldn't be open tonight (nor, apparently, any other night) becaue of the economy.

So, as you know, traveling via Metro is easy. I second what Busboy and weinoo have said. I'll be going to America Eats and Graffiato the first week in August, but of course that's after your trip. Near Union Station, as Busboy said, you can go to Bistro Bis and maybe see Paul Ryan order another $350 bottle of wine. (At least he tips decently.) Here are a few more ideas: I'm a huge fan of the three-course pre-theater menu at Tosca. Bibiana is excellent, too. La Chaumiere, in Georgetown, is a good classic French restaurant for lunch or dinner. The $12 bar menu lunch at Proof is a terrific deal. On the Mall, you ought to check out Mitsitam, although it can get pretty crowded at peak lunch time. The $19.90 three-course lunch at Vidalia is excellent and a great deal. Dinner ain't bad there, either. If you're needing seafood, skip Legal and go to BlackSalt (bus or cab needed).

Lukestar, your request is a rather tall order. As you probably know, DC has become quite a good restaurant city. Please be much more specific about your preferred price range, preferred type(s) of cuisine, what you like to drink with your dinner (and how much you want to spend), willingness to walk or take public transportation vs. taking a cab, etc., etc. Is this your first trip to DC? If not, where have you eaten and how much did you like it?