B Edulis

That must have been the one I saw last year, if there's only one been made. It was charmless, I thought. Too many special graphic effects and overbearing announcers and off-topic asides! I did think William Shatner was a brilliant choice, tho.

I love sour cherries. You can only get 'em for a coupla weeks in June, but they're the best for cooking, I think (tho' I haven't tried any cherries in other lands). They also freeze very well and are great to have in the dark days of winter. I don't know of any savory recipes that use them, but they'd be good infused in vinegar, or the juice used in place of that of a sour, acidic fruit, like the citruses. I'll have to think about it this year......

Gee, I think razor clams are kinda cute (it's that lolling business, I guess).... BTW, the stove with the pot of color-changing green stock is not the same stove my ex-roommate urinated into (see Striving for Imperfection thread, if you must). And I'm still wondering. I know that horseshoe crabs have green blood because it's copper-based. But I thought everything else had iron-based blood. Whether this has anything to do with the stock changing to green is an open question.

The razor clams I've eaten have mostly been lolling pornographically out of their shells, and it's easy to see that they're alive. I think this is why they aren't more popular, 'cause they sure are delicious...... But what's with the green stock?

I'm just dying to try Matsutakemushrooms precisely because of seeing them on Iron Chef. Has anyone seen them in NYC? I saw some for sale at the Japanese shopping center in NJ called, mmmmm, Mitsua? The one near Rivers' Edge. Anyway, they were, literally, about $100 a pound. I've never had one. They're supposed to grow all over North America from August thru November. They're related to honey mushrooms (Armellaria) which are more numerous around these parts, and which are delicious. BTW, lobster mushrooms are actually a combination of 2 fungi. They are the usually unpalatable lactarius or russula mushrooms with a parasitic bright red mold growing on them. Technically, the mold could parasitize a poisonous species, but it's never been known to happen, as far as I know. But the field guides give fair warning. Oh those tricky fungi -- they really keep you guessing.

Isn't it an old-fashioned school glue? Sounds like something you'd use to stick your dentures in.

Well, I had checked the lobster section in Bittman's Fish book and it didn't say anything about the live/dead issue. Last night, I remembered to look at introductory chapter under the general shellfish section. There, he sez that shellfish viscera has a tendency to contaminate the meat shortly after death. This is why dead scallops are okay -- the meat is cut away from the viscera, and why dead clams (in the shell) are not. Here's another twist. I had left the steaming liquid in the stainless steel pan until I found out whether the lobster was edible (it smelled good, didn't want to waste it). When I got back to it several hours later, it had turned green! I thought stainless steel was non-reactive. Am I wrong?

Food poisoning? It's history. And thanks for letting me know. But do you know why? Same reason as clams and oysters and mussels, maybe. But not shrimp. Inquiring minds want to know.....

So I got a lobster at the greenmarket on Saturday and tossed it on the bottom shelf of my fridge and checked it out this morning and it was dead. I just steamed it and chilled it. Can I eat it?

I usually bring a guide, notebook, and knife with my basket. The small guides tend to be not so useful, but Audubon has been doing a series of mini guides you might check out, don't know if they have one on mushrooms. I have one on trees, which are also important to learn if you're serious about mushroom hunting. When I'm on walks with a club, I find myself using my notebook more than my guidebook, because other members have info worth remembering. BTW, mushroomers say that you can sometimes identify a mushroom site because the previous hunter forgot their knife on the ground Chicken mushrooms (sulfur shelf) often grow when it's too dry for other mushrooms. They're good if you get them young. But Otherwise, I'm not familiar with that particular piece of land.......

Sounds like fun! The best info I've found on making up ice cream recipes is from the classic On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. He explains how the crystals form and how much sugar or alcohol you need to keep the result from getting too hard. He goes into great detail. I can't give you any favorite recipes, but a housemate of mine once made a smoked tomato gazpatcho served with a dip of avocado ice sour cream that was in-f*cking-credible. The possiblities are limitless. If you need a taste-tester, I'm there for you!

At the risk of his overhearing, I've gotta say that Anthony Bordain is up there on my list. His face ranges from broodingly handsome to nerdishly goofball, and his attitude from haughty and arrogant to self-effacing and humble. And I like the way he walks.....

Okay, here's a really weird one. It involves other bodily fluids. If you're squeamish, now's the time to skip the rest of this post. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and I turned on the oven to warm up some leftovers for dinner. Pretty soon I noticed a smell, a very familiar odor to anyone who's had mice traipsing through their stove, or who's walked past an alley on a baking hot NYC day: the smell of steaming urine. I opened the bottom door and pulled out the broiling pan and discovered the source of the smell, and lots of it. The culprit was definitely human. There were three people living in my loft at the time -- me, my significant other, and a wonderful roommate. I started hopping around about the incident and neither of them would admit that it was even urine -- which I also thought was really strange. It was really a mystery, but I pieced together what I think had happened. Our roommate was a lovely guy, and he only occasionally over-imbibed. But when he did, he was prone to strange behavior. He is an American Indian, he had told me that alcohol had unusual effects on many of his relatives. One morning we found him sound asleep in the bathtub -- with all his clothes on. I think that in the middle of the night he got up, headed for some white porcelain with a hinged cover, and did what came naturally. I never said anything to him -- it was obvious he didn't remember it, and it wasn't like it, or anything like it ever happened before or again. Of course, I was the one who cleaned it up -- yechhhh. But it was one of the most bizarre kitchen catastrophes I've ever experienced.

Thanx all for the tips! Now I have an excuse to make some deep-fried things this weekend. Did anyone see the bit in the NY Times about the fish and chips cook's tradition of deep-frying everything? The current fave was deep-fried twinkie. Don't think I'll go there. (The article has passed into premium land, but if you gotta read it, search on "twinkie")

Speaking as an amateur, I thought the article was okay, and I plan to try the fool, tho' with other fruits. And I like her casual hand, the graph near the end about the ingredient amounts as guidance, not law, was something I wish I had read 25 years ago, instead of figuring out 15 years ago. There's one thing I love about Nigella, and I suspect other women do, too -- she's carries some weight. Sure, great breasts. And I bet she wears a waist cincher of some sort. But she's Rubenesque -- what a contrast to that boney-looking Hesser! And that flesh is sexy. She's one of a few attractive women prominent in the media who's not a size 8 -- or less. Let's hope she starts a trend!

So I've got a little deep fryer that I like to get out every now and then, but the breading procedure has me stumped. You dip the item in flour (or not), then in egg, then in breading. But my fingers get the same treatment. After about 3 items I've got these crumb lollypop fingers. I've tried utensils, chop stix, to no avail. Anybody have a foolproof method?

Yes, the chap at Dehillerin tried to sell me a guard, but I pooh-poohed the idea. The only reason I haven't chucked the guard for my mandoline is that I like what it's called: the "chariot." Makes it all seem very Roman....

D Ray, very interesting..... since monk liver is sometimes called the foie gras of the sea...... mmmmmmmm.

Ditto, those hairs! Just like a man's jaw the morning after....

Liza, I had the same experience with posole -- soaked overnight, three hours of cooking and still hard like rock. I've have the rest of it in my cupboard for a couple of years -- I'm throwin' it out now. It's canned posole for me.

Tommy, I hope you do, but you need to bring something! How about flowers? Or did your post mean that you don't want to eat? I'd like to see how long that would last!

Jaybee -- looks like a great site, I plan to explore it further when I get the time. Rachel, which walk are you refering to? I'm up for sharing rides. (Mushroomers are not the most punctual people in the world btw.) Also, club members do generously help newcomers -- to a point. You should have your own guidebook and make attempts at identification, but at the end of a walk, we usually find a place to spread out all the specimens and help each other id them. Also, starting in August, there are Monday night id sessions at a member's home, so you can bring your weekend finds. Helena, I'm really careful when I gather mushrooms, and the morels we picked didn't have any grit. You can brush them off with a soft brush, like a makeup brush or a paintbrush, or you can dunk them in cool water -- but don't let them soak. In general, when you gather mushrooms, it helps to place them in your basket right side up so that the gills don't capture dirt. Mushroom and asparagus risotto, mmmmmmmmmm......

Stefany and I spoke last night, and we need to firm up the menu for the pot luck -- so it's last call to join us! If you're planning to attend, please send stefanyb a list of dishes you could contribute. We'll work together to decide what would be most harmonious and let know know early next week which of your dishes you should bring. There will be serving utensils and a variety of bowls and platters, etc., microwave, oven, 4 burners. And lots of fun and too many cooks in the kitchen, no doubt!

You can get monkfish liver from Alex's Blue Moon at the farmart -- Tribeca on Saturdays and Union Square on Wednesdays. I think it's delicious!

Jaybee, morels like to grow under old apple trees and dying elms, with not too many conifers around and limey soil. They have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of elms and apples and it's species specific, so I'm told. Rachel, there are lots of mushrooms out in July, at least if we don't have a dry summer again. The easiest to identify are oyster mushrooms, black trumpets, puffballs, and chicken mushrooms. You'll notice that none of these are the standard gilled mushroom shape. That's because the 4 deadly mushrooms that grow here in the northeast are all of the central stalk, gilled type. (There are others of different types that will only make you sick.) So you need to be more careful with these. But of the gilled mushrooms there are different types of agaricus (button and portobella are agaricus), there are the lactarius (milky) mushrooms. The one gilled mushroom I'd say a beginner could identify is the shaggy mane, also in the agaricales family. The porcini types (boletes) appear later in the summer. So, if there's been rain, you're going to see a lot of fungus, some of it the fun kind. The important thing is to get yourself an authoritative guide (Audubon is good) which will be enough to id the easy ones I mentioned above. If you're serious get yourself a couple more guides as back ups. When I was learning (before I joined the Society), our house rules before we ate a mushroom previously unidentified were: 1) must id it in three reference books 2) that there were no poisonous look-alikes 3) that we cook and eat one teaspoon and wait twenty-four hours. You also need to keep some of the mushroom uncooked in case something happens and you need to re-id it. Sometimes we fought to be the one who tried it. And sometimes we bent a rule or two if it seemed safe. So, take a basket and a knife and some small brown or wax paper bags for individual specimens. You need the base of the mushroom to id it, but for food purposes, it's better to cut it off to keep them cleaner in the basket. You're not hurting the fungus itself, by the way, you're just picking the fruitbodies. My god, Blue Heron, that sounds good! Crab and morels, mmmmmmmm. In the midwest they always deep-fry their morels and they really are good that way, tho' perhaps with a lighter, tempura-like batter. Very nutty! Re: your omelet, cheese and mushrooms are a difficult combo, I think. The cheese is usually too strong. Cream, however, is another matter. But lucky you, having a mushroom-hunting mate!