col klink

I like 'em roasted. I dress them in either evoo or duck fat or both. A little salt and pepper and I'm a happy camper. Sometimes I'll top them with goat cheese.

Cool link nightscotsman! Funny, I never thought to check them out online.

Rhubarb Blueberry Fruit Pie Serves 12 as Dessert. This is a simple pie that easily pleases everyone. You can use a single fruit or a blend of frozen fruits. I like to use Nan's piecrust but any will work. 1 lb frozen rhubarb 1 lb frozen blueberries 1/4 c lemon juice 1/4 c sugar 4 T Quick tapioca Pre-heat the oven to 400F. First make the pie crust. While the dough is resting, start on the filling. Drain the fruit and mix it with the lemon juice, sugar and tapioca. The quick tapioca soaks up the excess liquid. Four tablespoons will yield a smooth filling that won't run out as soon as you cut it. If you like a looser pie, use three tablespoons. Roll out the pie dough and add filling. Whisk an egg and use to seal the bottom and top crusts. Crimp the edges and spread the egg wash on the top crust with a brush. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool for 30 to 45 minutes before serving. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Fruit, American ( RG147 )

If I need to finely mince something then I need to stoop over, but that is a rare occasion. When I need to cut through bones the low height allows me to really put my weight over the knife. Until I get a decent cleaver, this is perfect. But really, I don't mind the low height and I rarely find myself stooping.

Cool, they've opened. The guys down at A&J (a block north) were telling me about it, supposedly they have a smoker!

I recently bought an Ikea chopping block sans wheels and I'm absolutely in love with it. Here I am deboning a duck for a turducken: I never knew love until I met my butcher block. I take down large pieces of meat (well, not sides, but pretty large) and it just feels great to have a sturdy block to work on. I use it for mincing, chopping and all of my prep work. Ideally I'd like to be able to bring it under the sink, but obviously that's not possible, but it really isn't that hard to clean up. The only thing I don't use it for is cooked meats since I'm really not keen on cross contamination and more importantly, my cooked meats are always juicy and I need a moat so they don't go on the floor! I also love to hack the hell out of it. I'm hoping in 10 to 15 years it will look like an actual butcher's block; I want the well used look. Who in the hell wants their kitchen to look sterile anyway? I love to cook and I want my kitchen to reflect that.

The pie was a big hit with everyone last night, we almost ate it all after gorging ziti. The crust had a decent texture. Next time I'm going to try 1 cup butter to 1/2 cup crisco for more flavor. Unfortunately I don't have any rendered bear fat! Nightscotsman, I'd love a lesson on crimping. I first tried to pinch the edges but that was going nowhere pretty fast so i just pressed down (lightly) with a fork. What is the eggwash supposed to be? Just yolks? Just whites? I used a mixture because I couldn't remember. Jim, I'm happy to make your mother proud!

Well here's a before picture: And here's a picture after 35 minutes in a 400F oven: There's an extra "free form" pie with the leftover strawberry/blueberry filling. A taste of the filling that dripped out proved to be quite tasty and as about as thick as I would like. I tasted a little bit of the crust off the free form and it was crumbly without too much flavor, but I will save judgement until tasting the pie. I wanted to put more filling in but it was pretty soupy so to be on the safe side, I only filled to the top. If I were making a fresh fruit pie I would've added more filling. I can't wait until after dinner and I can say: "I ated too much pie."

And seasoning the inside of the meat.

All right folks, I'm going for it! I just mixed up my first batch of pie crust batter and it's sitting in the freezer. Now I'm going to work on the innards. I've played around with a rhubarb blueberry crumble that turned out really well. The last one was a bluberry boyenberry and that wasn't half bad. I still have no idea how to make a crumble but it certainly is a lot of fun trying. For the crusts, I used Jim's mother's recipe. I first put the cup of crisco in the flour and mixed until it was consistent. Then I added a stick of cold butter that had been cut up and again with hands, mixed until most of the fats were incorporated. I then added the wet ingredients and put the mix in the freezer. Hmm, I'd like the flour to have a chance to absorb the water so I'm going to move it to the fridge for half an hour. It sure would be nice if this pans out!

I've been a twit all day long. I can't believe I completely forgot! Sorry folks. Hope it was good and everyone enjoyed it!

Brined beef = corned beef. In the next week or two I'm going to corn my first brisket, it's going to be fun!

Why 400? Do you get a deeper crust?

When it comes to pork chops, I like 'em medium rare to medium. Through a week long experiment of six chops prepared in different maners I've found I like to cook them like a steak. Put your cast iron in the oven at 500, when everything's up to temp, throw your chops in and cook 4 1/2 minutes a side. You'll have beautifully tender chops. I only brined mine, but you marinades of garlic, rosemary, evoo, soy sauce and sri racha are pretty tasty. I like to make a pan sauce while the chops are resting. Deglaze with favorite wine, add a clove or two of garlic, maybe some onions and when everything's reduced to almost a paste, I add a ton of butter and/or cream. Damn! Now I need some chops.

Fat Guy, that orange peel in the glass, is that the one that Dale flamed? I've been cutting oval shaped pieces of peel to flame and it seems that the peel in the picture would be difficult to flame.

I'm all a twitter!

First thanks for the article, and discussing it here! The first time I tried a FOG it was with freshly grated nutmeg. Then I went home and made some of my own with nutmeg off the shelf and there is a HUGE difference. You might as well not even go through the trouble of putting nutmeg in the drink. Maybe that means it's time to buy some new nutmeg? Nah, I need whole nutmeg and one of those cool little graters so I can be like the cool people.

Really? I've seen them up in Canada but always went for something else. Tell you what, next time I'm up there, I'll get some. Thanks!

Jaymes, I love you. I just happen to have some (raw) smoked salmon and I'm going to do exactly what you suggested. Have I mentioned that I love you? Oh Jon, props to you to for the initial idea.

I *LOVE* mamster's laugh and I believe he could do a decent radio show. You know, this isn't a bad idea. We could easily get members from around the world to do interviews. I nominate Jaymes, Awbrig and Adam. Hmmm, how do we get this off the ground?

Cool! But Elizabeth neglected to mention that when making your own falernum, use a 1 liter bottle for that recipe. But that was cool how she added Rachel's adaptation.

edit: duplicate

I chop my taters up so that they're no larger than 1/2". I melt 2 tbsp of duck fat (preferably, though bacon fat, evoo and butter also work in order of preference) and saute the taters for 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat in a cast iron skillet. I also like to add 1/2 an onion as well right before they go in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes. I get crispy outsides and light fluffer insides that burn the roof of your mouth. edit: I've directly compared duck fat to smoked and rendered pork fat (it is better than bacon fat) and the duck fat won hands down. Taste the two fats on their own, pork fat wins but none of the smokiness came through whereas you could taste the duck in the taters. Hands down the best roasted taters I've ever had and damn easy to make.

Yeah, no kidding. If your beloved likes the fish overdone, by lower grades of fish because once it's overdone, there isn't a difference between them. This is absolutely no reason to ruin an expensive, beautiful piece of fish if they don't know how to appreciate it. Although your wife will probably be able to tell the difference between cheap tuna and canned! However, if your fish is really sushi grade, then you should be eating it raw! Well, maybe seared on the outside, but raw none the less. For a professional setting, I'm with Seeber. Cash can be exchanged for goods and services and if they want it charred to briquets, let 'em have it.

Polish Easter Soup Serves 6 as Soup. Recipe courtesy: Grandma Skomksi This is an old soup that I grew up with and crave every Easter. When I was 5 it looked like there wouldn't be enough soup for me and I cried my eyes out. Everyone else was kind enough to make sure I had a full bowl, and of course I coudln't finish it! This seems like an odd recipe but it's hearty and very good. 2 lb Polish kielbasa 3/4 gal water 2 raw eggs 10 hardboiled eggs 1 small ham 4 T flour 16 oz sour cream 4 T vinegar The night before serving, simmer the kielbasa for an hour. Remove the kielbasa, cool the broth, and then put both in the frig overnight. In the morning, skim off the hardened fat and then heat the water up on the stove. Turn it off once it boils. In a big bowl, beat lightly two raw eggs and flour until smooth, then stir sour cream. Slowly - 2 tbs at a time - add the hot soup to the sour cream mixture. The sour cream needs to heat up slowly so it doesn't curdle. After you've added quite a bit of soup you can pour the sour cream mixture into the remaining broth in the kettle. Add the vinegar to the broth as well. Bring the soup to barely a boil - just enough to cook the raw eggs and flour so the soup thickens. It never is a thick soup because you don't add that much flour. Turn it off or down really low - you can then add sliced hard boiled eggs, sliced ham, and sliced kielbasa. In my family the soup is served at the table and everyone adds what they'd like to their soup. The hardboiled eggs may be colored or not depending on mood. This soup is also served with bread and butter in the shape of a lamb. My Grandmother always like to put peppercorns in for the eyes. Keywords: Soup, Main Dish, Easy ( RG138 )