slbunge

I've made a recipe for a Malaga Almond Gazpacho (Ajo Blanco Malagueño) from Gourmet (look here). Fantastic summer soup. Thinking about it, though, borscht might be more photogenic. There is also a Polish cold beet soup with cucumber and buttermilk (Chlodnik Litewski) classically topped with hard-cooked egg slices. Because of the buttermilk, the soup is a beautiful pink color and looks great with egg to contrast. Not sure you would find it in a restaurant, though.

This is true according to EU guidelines but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I suppose that the concern is controlling the way the fish are caught and killed and addressing world fish stocks. That said, seems to me that some line-caught varieties like Pacific albacore or Alaskan salmon meet the intent of the organic designation.

Hmm...dry-aged, grass-fed, lamb sashimi? Think about it. Back to the cheese...and to my blathering on about Wisconsin. Most of the serious artisinal cheesemakers in Wisconsin are based in, roughly, the bottom third of the state and of those, well over half are south and west of Madison. If I was your travel agent, I would say for the Wisconsin-leg of your midwest tour you could hit a five dairies with very fine cheeses in a single day trip based out of Madison (Roth Kase which I didn't even mention, Chalet, Uplands, Fantome, Bleu Mont). The benefits of this are very scenic drives through the rolling parts of the state, the fantabulous New Glarus Brewery is on the route and shouldn't be missed, and there are few great places in Wisconsin to have a beer and watch the sunset than the UW Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota in Madison. Package prices include deluxe motorcoach transportation and ......

After a discussion about this thread with my wife over lunch I realized that I had forgotten another Wisconsin favorite. Tradelake Cheddar, Lovetree Farms (Grantsburg, WI): sheepsmilk cheddar that is cave aged on cedar and has a subtle cedar or woody flavor. Wonderful snacking cheese. Klink, this might be particularly of interest for you since it seems you travel between the Twin Cities and Duluth regularly. Grantsburg appears to be located along that route and may be worth a visit if you have time. According to their website (here) they also have dry-aged, grass-fed, lamb for sale.

Here are a few of the Wisconsin cheeses that are worth seeking out. Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Uplands Cheese Company (Dodgeville, WI): absolutely fantastic Gruyere-style cheese from pastured cows. Flowery when young and then it gets sort of nutty as it ages. Brick, Widmer's Cheese Cellars (Theresa, WI): one of the best examples of this american-born cheese, smooth and creamy. Each mold still weighted with bricks. Various Goat Cheeses, Fantome Farm (Ridgeway, WI): lots of different types of fresh and aged, French-style goat cheeses from pastured goats. Their fresh goat cheese balls packed in olive oil are terrific as is pretty much everything they make. Various Cows' Milk Cheeses, Bleu Mont Dairy (Blue Mounds, WI): nice versions of young swiss-style cheese from organic milk but the real draw is the fresh curd available at the Madison farmers' market on saturday morning, much higher moisture than the packaged cheese curds available, just very young salty hunks of fresh cheese. Provolone, BelGioioso Provolone (Denmark, WI): pretty much as good as domestic provolone gets. Not as rubbery as the commercial grade provolone because it has been aged far longer, tangy. Fresh Limburger, Chalet Cheese Company (Monroe, WI): I'm constantly trying to get people to taste fresh Limburger from the last dairy in the US that still produces this fine cheese. It does have a sort of intense smell to it but the tastes is very buttery. It's a shame that it has fallen so far out of favor. As a side note, in Steve Jenkins' Cheese Primer, he mentions two MN dairies: Dancing Winds Farm (Kenyon, MN) for goat cheeses and La Paysanne (Hayward, MN) for sheep-milk cheeses. I haven't tried either. By the way, Hope Creamery Butter is amazing. I think it is better than plugra for eating.

I'm not sure how current the information is on the 'real milk' website, but there is a state-by-state listing of where you can buy fresh milk in various states here. In Wisconsin, you have to purchase direct from the farm to get raw milk and most farmers are not inclined to do any retail transactions (hassle, liability concerns, etc.).

The highlight of our one trip to Montreal (I have a feeling we will be back to Quebec many times) were the local cheeses. I can't speak to consistency but I can say that there was a fantastic variety of locally produced, high quality cheese at fromagerie and at restaurants. As an example, at Hamel (Jean-Talon) I asked the cheesemonger to help me select five local, raw-milk cheeses for lunch and he proceeded to spend 30 minutes with me drawing samples and making selections to ensure a solid representation of the local offerings: coastal vs inland, sheep vs goat vs cow, soft vs firm vs hard. At the end of the sampling, there were many in the case of local cheeses that I still hadn't tried. I left for home feeling that the craft of artisinal cheesemaking in Quebec was vibrant and well-rounded. A great asset to those living in the region.

I've always been intrigued by the stovetop waffle maker at Al's Breakfast. Do yours work well? Your post is fabulous. The start of your jeep path must be a bit daunting for the LP delivery truck! I have the same question as Mayhaw Man...any fish? I assume if there were sunfish filets sauteeing in butter you would have snapped a picture.

I cook with greens quite a bit and when sauteeing (as opposed to stewing) I usually wash the greens, spin them in a salad spinner, and then quickly pat them dry. (The nifty pillowcase idea would combine spin and patting dry). I don't spend lots of time patting because I usually start early in the afternoon to me time to let them sit on the counter for an hours or two before cooking. Takes a little planning but it is better than individually drying leaves of kale.

I always can tomatoes and then make sauce through the winter rather than canning the sauce. One of the reasons that I do that is because my Grandmother did the same, and my mother does also. Another reason is that on a cold day there is nothing better than getting the house to smell like a batch of red sauce. The sauce I make is really a base sauce that may be used in all sorts of ways. Sweat an onion and a few (or a fistful) of smashed garlic cloves until soft. Add salt, dried thyme, dried red pepper (either a whole pepper split or flakes) and about a pint of canned tomatoes. Cook over reasonably high heat to promote evaporation. While that is cooking, strain 1 1/2 qt of canned tomatoes (recipe needs 2 qt tomato total, including what is in the skillet) through a food mill. Add 6 oz of tomato paste and bring up to gentle simmer. When most of the liquid in the skillet has evaorated and onions are very soft, strain through a food mill into the simmering tomatoes in the pot. Cook at slow simmer until it reaches desired thickness (I usually go a couple of hours and gauge doneness by waiting until the sauce texture is like velvet and the liquid volume has reduced by 1/3). Another storage technique when we are knee-deep in tomatoes in September is to slice them, dry them in a low oven overnight, and freeze them.

Oh my. Gorp to me has always been peanuts, M&Ms, peanuts, raisins, and peanuts. therefore totally avoidable. You've opened my eyes to a whole Gorp world. I'm going for the almond/orange peel/espresso bean one as soon as the weather clears.

If you want cheese and bread, I would go with a 'hard' cheese like maybe Vella Dry Jack. At 80ish degrees it will have a sheen of oil but will otherwise be intact. It is the cheese I take wilderness camping where there is no cooler and it holds up great. Although it isn't the right time of year, I've done tomato bread salad at picnics on hot days. This time of year, your best bet might be cherry tomatoes. Anyway, toss together tomato, olives, vinegar, olive oil, garlic macerated with salt, and some roughly treated basil leaves and put into an oversized leak-proof container. In a separate bag carry some chunks of baguette. About 5 or 10 minutes before you want to eat, throw the bread chunks in with the tomato, shake, and let sit so the bread soaks up some of the moisture from the tomato mixture. The recipe I start with is at Epicurious website and is called 'tomato bread salad with herbs' (Gourmet, 8/96). I'd link the recipe but their site isn't working right now.

I'm with you...sorta. When it stops raining and the sun breaks before dinner (fingers crossed) I'll have a Hendrick's and tonic.

Had a successful run at making the Martha Stewart recipe posted by Sinclair above. I had initially loaded the batter into an 8" springform but there was far too much. and I quickly buttered and floured at 10" springform. Here is the cheesecake out of the oven, cooling. As you can see, it is short of the lip of a 10" springform but not by much. I Too bad because I think the 10" resulted in a slightly drier than ideal exterior when the center was near perfect. I think the 8" pan with less surface area would have solved this problem. Here is the cake after chilling overnight and then unmolding. Sorry about the uber-dramatic lighting but I couldn't get the flash to work. Final presentation had a few strawberries on top. (I should have taken a picture of a plated slice but it the interior looks exactly what you see on the edge. We found it cut nicely with a hot knife.) In all, the cheesecake was a hit. The sugar, cinnamon and vanilla were well balanced using the recipe proportions exactly (I thought about adding lemon zest to the milk/rice but I held back). The cake was not sweet which is sort of what I was looking for. It had great texture and mouthfeel because of the cooked rice. The color was not unpleasant but not the very smooth off-white of many cheesecakes, it was sort of tinged brown (in person, it is decidedly less yellow than the picture of the cake in the pan above). We served it with sliced strawberries that had been marinated in a bit of sugar and balsamic vinegar. Mother-in-law asked for the recipe which is a decent gauge of success. Thanks for the recipe. I hope you have a chance to give it a try.

Just invite someone who has a nice propane burner and a full tank. When they RSVP and ask if there is anything they can bring, start your reply with "Well, let's see, now that you mention it..."

sinclair: Thanks so much for the recipe, it will be the one I make. In the photo, can you get a sense of the cake's thickness? I have 9"x1" 'cheesecake pans' (lift-out bottom) and I'm thinking that 3lbs of ricotta filling will not fit. That may force me to invest in a new pan. Not the end of the world. If so, do you think I should go with a lift-out bottom version? Seems like either that or a springform would make it much easier to get to a platter for serving. mjc: Thanks for the link to the Batali recipe. Looks interesting but was hoping for something without a crust. Funny comment about it being ugly.

Yes. Please post, I'd like to see it. I looked at her site and didn't get any hits when I searched 'pastiera'. Thanks for thinking of me while combing the recipes.

Yeah, I was a bit vague, wasn't I? I'm looking for a baked cheesecake made with ricotta. Trying to go with something that isn't very sweet and matches well with strawberries. Most recipes I have seen have either lemon or citron. Seems to be a 50/50 split between an anise flavor (usually anisette) or almond, not sure which I would prefer.

Just thought I would resurrect this thread. We're trying to zero in on a decent ricotta cake recipe for mothers' day. Right now, we're leaning toward a recipe from the original Moosewood cookbook. It is crustless and flavored with lemon and almond.

This song is often played during "Buzz's Garage" radio show on WMSE (you can find them here). The show is on (live) Fridays from 12:00p - 3:00p central time. I can't remember how many weeks ago I last heard the song or I would direct you to one of the archived shows. It is a very good song.

I heartily agree with the Montreal recommendation. We were there last November and had a great time. Lots of great restaurants and a really accessible city to explore on foot and via subway. If I had to pick one restaurant that you shouldn't miss, I would say Anise. Don't miss the cheese shops. I asked the cheese monger at Hamel (Jean-Talon location) for some raw-milk Quebecois cheese and I could have stayed for a couple of hours listening and learning. As it was, we took a selection of five with us and bought a bottle of wine for a great lunch.

Count me in as one of the 12. I'm proud to stand with each and every one of you.

Where on Westheimer? I'll be in Houston next week and may need to branch out from where I usually end up eating.

Hopefully you are more confident than we are that it is a worthwhile investment to secure a comfortable lifestyle during your golden years. Back to the food, though... Love the radish/butter/salt. The fresh spring varieties aren't available around here yet but soon. For me, the winter radish varieties that are designed for cold storage are not worth it, I'd rather just eat the butter and salt with a spoon.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (as said upthread, if it qualifies) Bohemia Guiness (draft only) Newcastle Brown Tuborg (wish I could find either green or gold here) Point Special (may not qualify based on production) If I had to pick a big-house, American beer it would be Pabst Blue Ribbon. Good beer for a hot day.