Jensen

Over the past several weeks, I've been reading a fair bit about cassoulet here. Before Christmas, I'd found some local cranberry beans at the farmer's market downtown and used them to make my own version of the classic dish. I bought some tiger eye beans at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and have tried them in the dish too. Beans have never really been a big hit with me but these varieties are really quite good. Who knew? At any rate, here's what I did with them today... First, I put 250g of beans in a pot, covered with cold water, and brought it to a boil. Once it was boiling, I turned the gas off and just let them soak until I was ready to use them. I also blanched some sliced salt pork. Shortly before 4:00 this afternoon, I drained the beans: I browned some chicken thighs and got the other ingredients (minced garlic and 125g strained tomatoes) ready: Once that was all together, I combined it all in my Calphalon pan. When I've made this before, I've used chicken broth (Swanson's low sodium) as my liquid. I felt like Old Mother Hubbard when I went to my cupboard this afternoon and found none there. Instead, I used some red wine and some "potato water" (i.e., water in which I'd boiled potatoes) that I'd saved for making bread. I covered the pan and put it in the oven (350 F) for about 90 minutes. Then I took the lid off for another 30 minutes to let a crust form. Here's the final result: Okay, there's no duck confit, I didn't use flageolets, and I cooked it in a metal pan. I'm calling this my anti-cassoulet. Whatever you want to call it, it was pretty damn tasty ...

I'm starting to think that this is more about expectations. I'll confess that I can't remember the last time I went to a McDonald's or a Wendy's. I just don't get around to them very much. That being said, when I do go to one, I expect the staff to be surly, slack-assed, or stupid. Right or wrong, that is my perception of the type of people that work in fast food joints. (For some reason, In'n'Out Burger employees are exempt from my stereotype.) It sounds to me like your expectations are quite different. You expect civility and manners. Unfortunately, I don't think your expectations are going to be fulfilled any time soon. It's a pity but I think it's true.

I had a salmon last spring that was absolutely fabulous. We were on a racing tour and we stopped in Bellingham WA to visit a friend of my travel buddy. Let's call this friend Yvonne (which is especially a propos since that is her name). Yvonne bought large fillet of wild Pacific salmon; it was pretty much half the fish (hey, do you think that fish was spatchcocked?). She laid it skin-side down on a double thickness of aluminum foil, sprinkled it with lemon pepper and salt, and then covered it entirely (and I do mean entirely) with slices of lemon. Then she sealed it up in the foil and popped it on the grill (skin-side down) for 25 minutes. Then it was flipped over and cooked for another 5 to 10 minutes. It was absolutely wonderful....the flavour was just salmon and lemon. Yum!

Sacramento County has their inspection reports online: FOOD FACILITY INSPECTIONS It's entirely possible that other counties do as well.

Another option would be to find a restaurant that does take-out and fax your order in to them, along with a pick-up time. Or, you could have a little card made up that reads as follows: "Hello. I am profoundly deaf. Please fill the following order exactly as written: [insert order here]." Or, do what I've done in the past ... double up on your meds.

In another industry, we used to call that "upselling"; it's a cornerstone of sales. What I don't understand is this: you have been told by "more than one shift supervisor" that this is a required practice at various fast food outlets. It obviously is something that bothers you, seemingly enough to make an issue out of it at every occurrence, and yet you continue to put yourself in what is clearly a confrontational situation for you. Why don't you just stop patronising these restaurants? They're not going to stop asking if you want fries with that. They're not going to stop verifying whether you want cheese on your burger. These aren't insults. They're sales techniques. The obvious solution is to either accept it or stop going there! Simple...

Oh, those are easy to remember. The male has the arrow shooting up in the air; that's because guys can pee over the fence. The female has the cross hanging down; that's because we can't.

Are you my long-lost twin? You just described me ... except for the trip to Europe. My cheese epiphany happened before that.

Oh my! I see next time I will have to deliver them in person (staying for dinner, naturally).

I should probably say that I am willing to send some lemons to eGulleteers if they have their own shipping accounts. This offer will last until I get tired of shipping them out ...

carnitas

Taking a break from my race preparations ... After the preserved lemons, I made a Greek chicken dish--chicken pieces baked with lemon, olive oil, and oregano. Yesterday, I made a batch of lemon cheese, using a Bon Appetit recipe. I put most of it in a jar, which will be taken to the potluck at the races tomorrow, along with some scones. I had some leftover so I baked half a dozen tart shells and filled them; they didn't last too long. I've got the vodka for making limoncello but haven't got round to it yet.

Now that sounds like reverse snobbism to me. I don't like lima beans either ... so sue me!

I like to think that it was the rummies who did it ... sort of revenge for Expo.

Creamed corn is one of those things that The Guy buys and I send to school with the Spawn when they're doing a food drive for the needy. Blech.

My house ...

Another vote for Epicurious. I always read all the reviews as well, to see if there are any good ideas or tips for tweaking the recipe.

10 down: 9,999,990 to go I took pictures of my adventure in preserving lemons but, as luck would have it, I had some sort of write error on my Flash card and none of them were recorded. So, all I've got is a photo of the finished product: I used 10 lemons: 5 quartered and 5 juiced. Lots of salt. The lids I had on hand didn't have a waxed finish so I put a piece of plastic wrap over the jar before sealing it.

I usually have two types of olive oil: Bariani and Colavita. The Colavita is the "second line" oil, while the Bariani is my favourite. It's not terribly expensive (around $50 for a gallon) and, although it is available at some stores, we buy it at the local farmer's market. I don't know how it compares to "good" olive oils but I love the taste of it.

I made 'Silver Shred' the first year I moved to Sacramento; I could find it only in the British store and the bottle labelled 99p cost $7.00!!! I don't think the picking party would go over very well. Everybody knows somebody with a lemon tree; you can't give them away! I will try the preserved lemons though. I looked at a recipe for them last year and pondered it.

What are some uses for preserved lemons? I did make some limoncello last year. I could probably do that again. Good idea ... (Edited to add URL)

This photo should give some idea of my predicament: This tree yields Meyer lemons almost year-round so juicing and freezing isn't really necessary. In the past, I've made my own version of Silver Shred but I'm the only one who eats it so it's a wee bit wasteful. The same goes for lemon cheese. Help!

As if being tasteless and colourless wasn't enough, now it's toxic too!

Hamburger Pizza Pie. Hamburger pressed into a pie plate, covered with tomato sauce (not particularly seasoned, just tomato), and topped with sliced black olives (tinned, of course) and cheddar cheese. Baked until vomitous. Blech.

Canadian bacon (called back bacon in Canada)