Jensen

As a kid, I hated bacon (oh hell, let's be honest ... any pork), egg whites, cheese, and lima beans. Sausages weren't too high on my list either. Thanks to the wonders of HP Sauce, I can now tolerate egg whites and some sausages. Bacon and cheese are considered scarfable. Lima beans are just evil.

Pan-roasted, tossed with pine nuts. Mmmmmmm....

Brussel sprouts ... if only my family shared my passion. Unbelievable as it may sound, they've been my favourite veggie since childhood. Must be genetic as the Spawn likes them too (although not as much as she should). Yeah, I think I'm ready for fall ...

Riffing on Alton ... I tried a meal en papillote tonight. I thought there wasn't enough liquid in Alton's version and I was right. Next time I'll trust my instincts. [Delete man-rant] Last night was much better ... pappardelle with sauce bolognese, steamed summer squash, and a quick salad of lemon cucumbers, some heirloom tomatoes, and red bell peppers.

Lots of people use them in making dog food (another food fad, albeit a canine one). As someone said, they add Omega-3 fats to the diet.

Another mum weighing in ... My daughter, now 13, began eating solids at around 4 months old but I don't recall when exactly she had her first meat. Quite a while after that, I'm sure. We've taken her to restaurants since she was a newborn and we never took baby food with us. Most restaurants have potatoes and we'd just order her mashed potatoes and/or vegetables. No problem.

Thank you for the tip on the dough scraper. Your comment about scaling the recipe brings something to mind. The current recipe is in cups (for accessibility by the masses, I know). Can you give it in grams? (Please and thank you)

I have a question about tweaking the recipe. I thought that I'd like to try a longer loaf as I'm somewhat uncoordinated when it comes to knives and a long loaf would likely be safer for me To this end, I went out and bought a French bread pan that holds two loaves and mixed up another batch yesterday. I baked this morning. I also wanted a softer crust so I spritzed the loaves with water before they went in the oven and I also added some water to a pan on the oven floor. I've no idea if my crust method worked or not as the loaves are currently too hot to slice but one of the loaves looks pretty tasty. The other loaf, which I have artfully hidden underneath the good one, was a fair bit smaller than the top one. This is because I didn't divide the dough evenly (see note above regarding knife handling issues). What I'd like to do is increase the recipe somewhat so that I can make two slightly larger loaves (hopefully of even size but one must be realistic!). If I keep the same proportions of starter:flour:water (i.e., 1:3:1), will the recipe still work? Ta!

which cuts of beef? i think it's safe to say that lamb has a "stronger" or at the very least "more gamey" flavor (and i think they're one in the same here) than just about any cut of beef popular in the US. I was thinking of the tougher cuts of beef -- short ribs, pot roast type stuff, even ground beef. I often cannot stand the smell of them but I've never smelled lamb that made me go 'ewww'. I also don't think of lamb as gamey at all. Venison, moose, Dahl sheep, elk, etc. ... those can taste gamey to me. Lamb? no way.

I like duck but haven't had any success in cooking it. Chinese barbecued duck is a must for Christmas Eve dinner at my sister's house. The Guy and the Spawn won't touch it though; they claim it's too greasy. As for goose, it's our traditional Christmas dinner here. Give me goose over turkey any day! I've never had a problem with it.

I'm in Sacramento ... AKA "cow town" I really do think it's what one is used to. When I think of the smell of lamb and compare that to the smell of one of the cheaper cuts of beef, give me lamb any day! Beef has a very strong smell in comparison. If that's the smell you're used to though ... On my last trip home, I had kid for the first time, served roasted with some garlic and rosemary. It was wonderful...much like lamb.

I'm not sure I fully support the strong flavour idea. Lamb has a milder flavour than some cuts of beef. I do know that, growing up on an island where beef cattle were not raised but sheep were (for lamb, not mutton ... blech), we ate more lamb than 1/2 pound per year. Of course, I'm not American but still ... When I first moved to California, the only place I could find lamb was at Trader Joe's. The grocery stores near me just didn't carry it. Five years later, I can find lamb shanks, lamb chops, and leg roasts on a regular basis at my local Raley's.

If I had to guess, I'd say geography. Maybe the overall landscape in North America suits cattle rather than sheep. If true, that would lead to a cultural preference for beef over lamb. That be my wild-assed-three-o'clock-in-the-morning-and-I-can't-sleep guess.

Responding to the original post regarding the article... You're not the only one who was annoyed by it. I lost my patience with all participants in the story and didn't even finish reading it. I think my parting thought was "Gee, maybe you should have showed up a little earlier and done your own bloody shopping."

I used my laundry room. Whenever I needed the temperature to be warmer than the rest of the house, I did a load of laundry (whites, if possible, so that I could use warm water). Between the washer and the dryer, I was able to bring the temperature of the room up to just over 80 degrees. I rested the bowl on top of the appliances so I think it might have been a wee bit warmer there.

I will try the longer final proof next time. I was using my laundry room as the 'proofing room' as it is the warmest area of the house. I know the air conditioning did kick on at one point so maybe it cooled off in there a wee bit. I'm just happy I won't have to soak the bread in milk and feed it to the whippets! (My plan in case the loaf didn't turn out.)

I'm afraid I'm not advanced enough to even know what "peeled" means! I did go and re-read the lesson though and can say with some confidence that I did not peel the dough onto a hot surface. I used a SS cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cold dough on a cold surface. Re: the final prove Had I proofed it longer, does that mean the top wouldn't have split as it did? (edited for clarity)

Let me be the first to offer up my results ... I followed the incorrect recipe and so ended up with a very wet dough. I floured the inside of my basin quite heavily to ensure that the dough wouldn't stick to the cloth (as it had been sticking to the SS bowl in which I mixed the dough). It didn't stick but I did end up with a heavy flour encrustation on top. Oh, I also didn't find the information on the course in time to request starter so I used a purchased starter from Whole Foods Market. I followed the instructions given with the packaged starter a few days before the course started and just left it in the fridge until needed. I don't have an oven thermometer (well, I had one but damned if I could find it!) so I preheated my oven to 500 F this morning and then turned it down to 450 F when I put the dough in the oven. Baked for 25 minutes, then turned it, and baked for another 10. I haven't cut the loaf open yet (I am a model of self-control!); I hope my faux pas in the quantities doesn't affect the crumb too much. Edit: Well, obviously, my estimation of my own self-control is highly inflated. I couldn't wait and so I cut it open on the pretext of taking another photograph. (Realspeak: I wanted to taste it.) Here's the photo: It tasted great. Because I'd used a purchased starter (purportedly of "Gold rush" origins), I thought I might end up with a very sour loaf. I didn't (which suits me just fine, btw). It was moist and chewy and had great flavour. I'm a happy girl.

This may be a really silly question so please bear with me. In the course description, we are directed to the sourdough bread recipe here: Recipe That recipe calls for 2.5 cups of flour and 1.5 cups of water to one cup of starter. Further on in the course description, the recipe is given as 3 cups of flour and 1 cup of water to one cup of starter. Does it matter which recipe is used? (I guess this explains why I had to keep adding a lot of flour though. ) Thanks.

Lakeview Restaurant in Burnaby (on 6th Street, i think, just up from 10th Ave...well, it would be 6th St. in new west. it might change names as it crosses 10th Ave) their pork liver congee was always my favourite. i moved to california five years ago and i still dream about their congee.

Yes, I'm rather paranoid about burnt butter in my roux. If that's the main concern, then it's already something I do. Phew! I had another question about your instructions for the Mousseline sauce. You write to "add half the quantity of whipped cream". Is that half the butter quantity? I can't find what I'm supposed to halve!!! And now, since I've been thinking about cream sauces overnight (I read the lesson last night before I went to bed), I suppose I'll have to think of something interesting with a cream sauce to make for dinner. Croque monsieur, maybe. cheers, jen

I noticed in your pictures for the Bechamel sauce (lovely visual guides, by the way) that you pop the butter and flour in the pot together at the same time. I've always melted the butter first, then added the flour. Does this make a difference in the final product? cheers, jen