Susan in FL

Very nice, thanks. Hearing about such events is a good way to get ideas for pairings. Please keep us posted on any other tastings that you attend. The grilled foie gras with balsamic sauce matched up with Allagash White sounds lovely!

My favorite, and I'm running low on it, is from Old Dominion Brewing Company. Hopefully someone else can recommend other brands as well. I can't even remember what kind I had before this! It might have been Four Monks.

A little picture, and I was more than a little disappointed in this dinner. I didn't even try hard for the photo. The view from the porch was way better than the food, and it was raining! The fish itself was great, but the crust (more like crumby topping) was not crisp enough, and the flavors just didn't come together well. I'll try again another time, and if I make a macadamia crust, maybe another kind of fish would be better than grouper. Anyway, it was macadamia-crusted grouper...

That is so good to know. We are always interested in trying new pairings, and have a few 90-Minute IPAs put away. Thanks also for the link. I bookmarked BeerCook.com. Great site!

Yes, I do like it on battered/fried fish. Thank you for the responses so far!

Last night before dinner, Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale and this morning with breakfast, Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout. Not our favorite oatmeal stout by far, but our supply has dwindled to our least favorites.

I just came back to read your post again, Brooks. For some reason, the print on my computer screen was not coming in real clear last night when I read it. Great post!! I must say, that sounds like the best butt I ever beheld [<---a word?]. Yeah, I agree about the rating of this site, because this abso-F-ing-lutely calls for superlatives. Congratulations. And, when I return our DVDs to Blockbuster, I'll look for Open Range.

Get up at 4:00? As in AM?? Oh goodness, you are committed. As you might have deduced, I'm not real fond of getting up early. The only time I don't object to getting up when it's still dark is when it is to get an early start in traveling on vacation, or to go to the beach and watch the sun rise. So anyway, neither of those happened today, and here was breakfast on the porch. It's a breakfast we often have on weekends, over-easy eggs and potatoes and sliced tomatoes. Today's potatoes were as mentioned cooked in chicken grease saved from last night and I threw some shallots into the fry. Hope you all have a great Sunday!

From looking at the Quicktime movie, I don't think it does a better job than I do with ease. But thanks, that was interesting.

Oh my... There are no words. Except I will say, I want you to come visit me and bake while you're here! I'm not even out of bed yet. I'm propped up, though. I'm using my new laptop, drinking coffee, and watching Sunday Morning on TV. ...Later, potatoes and eggs.

...very good point. We ate after 9 PM tonight and earlier in the summer, it would have given light to photograph. But tonight, not so much.I love picturing the food in the daylight, and that's one of the things that makes this thread, breakfast, appealing. Tonight from dinner we saved chicken fat, and might cook potatoes and eggs in it tomorrow for breakfast. If we do, I'll surely post.

Tell me, how do you account for that? Who boned it for you and how?

I know the feeling! We're visual people... and that's OK. I don't think we are too preoccupied. We really are not preoccupied with photographing food. I've been giving this lots of thought, and I really don't think we are preoccupied with photographing food. In fact I am certain we are not preoccupied with photographing food. Nooooo, we are not preoccupied with photographing food. By the way, that bread and butter with salmon is beautiful! Time to eat... Time to get the camera out.

Whatever I'm growing, it's always hard for me to pinch off and thin out. But your advice is certainly well taken and I will give it a try. Soon we will be having our fall planting season for tomatoes and all, so I'll start it then. Thanks!

Please keep us posted about your idea of opening an all organic restaurant, and your progress if you decide to do it. I'm assuming it would be in Orlando... ? I'm glad you're posting. Our central Florida contingent here is slowly but surely growing!

I've never been to one of Doug Rodriguez's restaurants, but the recipes I've made from his cookbook have been wonderful. For that reason alone, I will probably take an opportunity to go to one when I can! Danny, how close are the Design District and Wynwood to South Beach? To downtown? I'm not very familiar with Miami. I've only been there three or four times, but we are thinking about spending a night or two there on our way to Key West around Christmas or New Years... if we go through with our Key West plans.

I've always kept malt vinegar on hand, and it used to last forever since we put it on homemade fries and that was about it. Lately we've been dribbling it on sliced tomatoes -- just that, or dressing salads with it along with olive oil. So it has me wondering, do you use it in cooking or what other uses are there for it that I've been missing out on?

Andie, can you recommend an easy-to-find variety to grown continuously? We have a tomato plant in our garden that has been growing for over a year, but it's realy straggly. A big part of that is it hasn't had the proper care. Now I'm thinking of taking on the project of planting one, and devoting the time and care to keep it going.

Yes.... I feel more like my usual self now.

Oh, please let me think so. It sounds nice. ← LOL, ditto. "Buggers"? You're lucky to have a garden overflowing with tomatos. I could (and do) eat tomatos every day. My current fave is sliced and served on a half-slice of bread or crisp bread with an anchovy draped across. Some pepper, too. ← I could too, and eating one as a whole piece of fruit is what I often do. ...Leaning over the kitchen sink, of course. I wish tomatoes grown in Florida were better than they are. Heirloom tomatoes or whatever you want to call them are not easy to find here, even at the farmers' markets.

I posted the photos from the last two nights here, on the dinner thread. Thursday night, the best was the pork and yard-long beans and the Jasmine rice, which we had with Thai-style frog legs (they were only so-so). Hot Sour Salty Sweet hardly ever lets me down. Having yard-long beans really makes a difference in the dishes calling for them. I'll definately make this again. For those with the book, it's page 238. The preparation of Jasmine rice is noteworthy. Before I got this interested in Thai cooking, I didn't think it was so important how one cooks rice. I have surely learned that for Jasmine rice and sticky rice it is very important to me. I have used Hot Sour Salty Sweet's directions for Jasmine rice since I got the book, and I love it. Thursday night's was the best yet. I used a different pot, and the lid for this one is more tightly fitting. As always I followed the directions exactly, not taking off the lid until it was serving time. The grains of rice were beautiful and delicious. Last night's dinner was Chilled Thai Melon Soup, adapted from this recipe, followed by Seared Coriander Scallops with Bok Choy and Hoisin. Then we had the Thai BBQ Pork with Lemon Grass, which I mentioned in the last post, and Gai Laan/Chinese Broccoli (recipe page 156, Hot Sour Salty Sweet). The resulting sauce was really good, too. We saved it to use for basting chicken or pork on the grill another time. The marinade is very intense, and I marinated longer than the recipe said. Next time I would follow the directions of 1 to 3 hours. I did not use the whiskey.

Does anyone else have an interest in beers from Denmark? We were first introduced to them when our "Danish son" Morten first came to live with us about 10 years ago as an exchange student. We bought Carlsberg by the case and drank it regulary for that entire year. It pretty much became our everyday beer, as distinguished from the microbrews and homebrewing we were trying at the time. At some point in time, what we bought started coming from Canada, and what a difference it made. ...Not good. Recently, we learned that Carlsberg didn't renew the contract or whatever, and when we can find it now, it is made in Denmark again. We're on the lookout! From the last time Morten was in Denmark he brought us some other Carlsbergs, and we enjoyed tasting these. Still, I think my favorite is the standard that is sold here. Another we are enjoying now is Tuborg, apparently brewed by Carlsberg, especially during the hazy hot and humid daze of Florida summer. I love it. We're finding it pretty regularly in our area. The only problem is that it's often Tuborg Gold, and we don't like that nearly as much. When we were in Denmark, we tasted different kinds, including the Christmas Brew and the Royal Danish Strong. I'll try to remember to write some tasting notes next time.

I love to share recipes! I wish I could take more time for posting in RecipeGullet, in fact. But anyway, for now, this is the recipe I didn't follow. I did use the six cups of melon, but halved the hot chile sauce, and I didn't have any sweet chile sauce in the house. I also cut back on the amount of coconut milk, as I am still slowly, but successfully, acquiring a taste for coconut. I used the good stuff, Chaokoh brand. I was happy to see it turn out pretty pink like that, and it wasn't even planned. Each time I go into that market, I can't resist buying two more of her little bowls, and those were the two I got Thursday. The recipe for the pork and yard-long beans is in Hot Sour Salty Sweet. In case you don't have it: In a wok, add pork, sugar and salt to hot oil and garlic. After the pork changes color add fish sauce, the beans, and he says 1/4 water, but I added 1/4 cup chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook a few more minutes until the beans are done but still crunchy and bright green, and serve garnished with cilantro. I had made dishes like this before, substituting green beans, and they were good; however, wow using the real thing this time, it was better. Russ said Friday night Sci-Fi was good last night. I was restless and couldn't stay put to watch. He LOL'ed during Stargate and Atlantis. To keep this on topic... during Sci-Fi time he had popcorn and I had Breyer's Butter Almond and the new Brownie Mud Pie ice cream.

Asian two nights in a row, after a really good shopping getting lots of good fresh stuff from the Asian market... Tonight: Thai Chilled Melon Soup Coriander Seared Scallops with Bok Choy and Hoisin Thai BBQ Pork with Lemongrass, and Gai Laan (Chinese Broccoli), Thai Style Last night: The Thai style frog legs, cooking, and Khmer Pork with Yard-long Beans, served... We also had Jasmine rice that tasted so good, but was not photogenic.

That's great! I have been slacking off on this thread myself... Seems most of the beers we have on hand are not real compatible with August in Florida. I've enjoyed some lawnmower beers, Danish beers, Dogfish Head Aprihop, a few Christmas beers last month, and some good Bass Ales on tap in local bars. We're due for a trip up north to beer shop, too.