Squeat Mungry

I'll add a couple of suggestions: Find anything by the late great Bill Neal, especially Bill Neal's Southern Cooking and Biscuits, Spoon Bread and Sweet Potato Pie. Also, The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. Cheers, Squeat (expat Tarheel)

So have we got you back for the FM, Carolyn?

I really like beets with duck. I'll often make a red and yellow beet salad with some minced shallots and toasted walnuts tossed with some watercress and blue cheese in an orange vinaigrette and serve that with the crispy-skinned breast. Cheers, Squeat

Ahem. My name is Squeat and I just got Bertolli's Cooking by Hand. [Pours a cuppa, lights a Camel, and sits down.]

A very informative article on the different types of pastas and the flours used in making them can be found here. Cheers, Squeat

Yes, do let us know details as to budget range, styles of restaurants (i.e. "fine dining", casual, cheap-and-quick, etc.), and types of food preferred. San Francisco has a plethora of dining choices and that information will help a lot in pinpointing places you'll enjoy. Cheers, Squeat

Oops! Forgot the best food lyrics in that song: "You give life savour, Bring out its flavour, So, this is clear, dear, You're my Worcestershire, dear!"

These days I do almost all of my cooking in other people's (friends') kitchens. I always take my own knives, but I too have taken up the habit of giving essential kitchen equipment as gifts. One thing almost no one seemed to have was a spider, or indeed any kind of strainer at all! Maybe a colander if I was lucky. I'm also a member of the wooden spatula fan club. I also try to give essential pantry items like good olive oil, spices, etc. Anything I can think of to minimize the stuff I have to lug around. Great thread! Squeat

Despite having read and heard a hundred times that they should go in the back where it's coldest, I can't store my eggs anywhere but the fridge door. Nothing else seems 'right'! Cheers, Squeat

Don't forget red okra. I got some from the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market last year that fried up mighty tasty! Made a fine gumbo, too. Squeat

I couldn't live without my daily ciabatta... or pain de levain... or challah... or sour batard... or... Thank heaven for Acme, though, because I am a seriously lousy baker! Cheers, Squeat

I think maybe Pim is en route to Heidelberg at the moment? Edit: Er, not "Heidelburg"!

From my post to the Cities' Signature Dish thread: Celery Victor (celery stalks immersed in chicken, veal and vegetable stock and served with a topping of salt, black pepper, chervil, tarragon vinegar and olive oil -- invented at The St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco by legendary chef Victor Hertler) Cheers, Squeat

The following recipe was found among the manuscripts left by Vladimir Nabokov, handwritten by him in pencil on a single sheet of paper [N.B. this is not the method I use]: Cheers, Squeat

Another vote for original Bombay. I don't like the Sapphire in a martini, but will occasionally use it in a G&T. Cheers, Squeat

Okay, to continue into the depths of OT, do the Thin Man movies really count as noir? Sure there's the detective(s), corpses, light and shadow, etc., but they always struck me as too light-hearted and just plain funny to really have the noir effect. And back to kinda on topic, was it The Thin Man or one of the others in which much of the action/plot took place in a restaurant in San Francisco's (or was it LA's) chinatown? (It's been too long since I've seen them.) So maybe chop suey or something? That is, if they count as noir. Cheers, Squeat

San Francisco: Food: Cioppino as mentioned Chicken Tetrazzini (invented in San Francisco for Luisa Tetrazzini, an Italian coloratura) Celery Victor (celery stalks immersed in chicken, veal and vegetable stock and served with a topping of salt, black pepper, chervil, tarragon vinegar and olive oil -- invented at The St. Francis by legendary chef Victor Hertler) Crab Louis (invented At Solari's Restaurant In San Francisco) Green Goddess salad dressing (invented at The Palace Hotel at the request of actor George Arliss when he was starring in William Archer's play, "Green Goddess") It's It Ice Cream Sandwich (invented by George Whitney) Beverage: Mai Tai (invented by "Trader Vic" Bergeron) Irish Coffee (developed at Buena Vista Cafe) Martini (some say)

Absolutely!

Great blog, pim -- thanks! I love June Taylor's preserves. My favorite toast spread is a half-and-half combo of her seville orange marmalade and her apricot conserve. Thanks again. Keep up the good work and have a great trip! Cheers, Squeat

This surprises me, because it is the exact opposite of my own experience. There is something invariably off about either the texture, the temperature or both in the restaurant risottos. (I have heard from chef friends that they are notoriously difficult to maintain for service, and my experience bears this out.) I'd much rather do this dish at home and eat it at once when it's just done.

For a fairly balanced and informative read on these topics ("agri-pirates", patent collecting, corporate agribusiness, GM foods, etc.) I'd recommend Peter Pringle's Food, Inc. He's done quite a bit of research and I'm learning a lot reading this book. Squeat

Not that anyone asked me (oh wait -- you did), but the idea of eating a raw potato is freaking me out! That said, I have seen some fairly weird practices in my own family. My mother and her mother and sisters used to eat oranges and even lemons whole -- rind, seeds and everything! Cheers, Squeat

I have had success a few times making a simple rabbit risotto, garnished with pancetta. My favorite rice for risotto is the small-grained Vialone nano, which can be hard to find, so care must be taken to ensure that it is fresh. Cheers, Squeat

Vladimir Nabokov James Beard Dorothy Parker Duke Ellington

Great blog, melkor -- thanks! Did you make a gremolata for the osso buco? If so, did you make that one? I've never heard of a gremolata without garlic! I love osso buco and make it a lot in the fall and winter. Lately I've fallen in love with Lidia Bastianich's recipe in her Lidia's Italian Table. The barley risotto recipe she gives with it is also stellar. Cheers, Squeat