ludja

Just took the online poll in the recently posted Trib article. The question: Would you eat foie gras? The answer: 35% yes, 65% no (My answer added one more for 'yes').

Not sure if this is what your were looking for... Yes it is. A 10kg bag (25lbs) averages $35 to $50 and a "brand name" can be twice that. My family uses about 15 kg a month so it can get expensive. Last year because of bad weather the prices shot up so that the cheapest (and not good) rice was over $40 per 10kg ..... ←

Not to knock the suggestion, but in the interests of "marketing" this one might be best if it was offered as part of a choice. Perhaps I am in the solid minority, but there may be enough people like me that would not like the raisins in this situation... Another option on the coleslaw front is to make a non-mayonnaise slaw with more of a tart or maybe even a slightly spice edge (not sweet!) to it. (maybe some fennel, carrots or other vegs in it?). This would be a nice contrast to the sandwich, keeps well and would not be too expensive. I still like the idea of having a choice between salad, slaw or a pickle... (have no idea how this would affect the economics but the pickle and slaw keep well so maybe it wouldn't be too difficult to juggle inventory...?) oh... and I do agree that it would be neat to serve tomato soup in a mug (not as a sub for the salad options but as another item you could order). I can't recall if you are serving soup already in the restaurant.

I would offer a choice of coleslaw, green salad or a pickle. (Personally, I'd prefer the salad you're serving right now). This should decrease the number of uneaten side dishes. I wouldn't get rid of the green salad; 60-80% of your customers seem to be enjoying it just fine.

Excited to see this back; thank you Marlene, melkor, dave the cook, jason, fifi, snowangel, maggiethecat and all others involved!

Heard a too cutesy term today on The Today Show. The guest chef prepared a dish consisting of a boneless chicken leg filled with a stuffing and then wrapped in caul fat and roasted. Al Roker kept asking, "what's this white stuff"? The chef called it; "Nature's Lace"...

There is a thread here where people have started to share their experiences. Hope you do have fun and then post the pics...

I started keeping my paprika in the freezer after this thread... paprika pests

← How very strange that this recipe would omit parsley! But then, in Sicily the oregano is usually fresh and wild and full of flavour. One of my favourites is Pescespada alla Messinese, charcoal grilled swordfish served swimming in salmoriglio. Further North, in Tuscany, we always add plenty of fresh parsley to this sauce - no doubt the flavour of dried oregano is just not the same as in Sicily. ... ← Oh, I didn't mean it as a 'counter example'; on the bottom of the recipe it says that another common variation is parsley instead of oregano... Thanks for the posts; I had never heard of salmoriglio before by name.

recipe

Are there any euphemisms for nutria? I thought that there had been some campaign to encourange eating of these creatures in LA.

Apparantly, my sister never did either. She's been on her own for about 15 years now and that book has been sitting on her old shelf since then. Just this past weekend I was at my parents' house for Easter Sunday and finally decided to take it. Hopefully I can make more use of it, we'll see. But it sure is darn pretty! ← Which one? Chez Panisse Cooking or Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook? My own books that I have not cooked from (and that I bought for myself awhile back) are Alford and Duguid's "Flatbreads and Flavors" and "The 21 Cookbook". In the latter there are not many recipes that exicte me. I *want* to try the flatbread recipes. Looks like good recipes and interesting accompaniements. For some reason there is some sort of threshhold that I haven't breached. I don't bake breads that often so it is probably some subconscious fear of failure... A cookbook I received that I haven't cooked from is Corriher's "Cookwise". I have read the 'cooking science' tutorials on variious topics in the book but the recipes themselves just don't seem to be my style...

head "cheese"...

Thanks for the nice photo essay skchai! I wish they had these out here; could sub in for the KrispyKremes. I'm intrigued by the "double crust" and the filling having more whippd cream than custard sounds good to me. (must be my Austrian roots peaking through...) Does anyone know if there are any in the US besides Hawaii and NYC?

Thanks also for the very nice report. It sounds like they had a memorable and delicous time. Would be fun to hear of their day two!

jgm's suggestion is a good one; if at all possible I do this before buying a new cookbook b/c I am pretty picky about adding new cookbooks to my collection. I have all the CP books and like them alot. Taken together they are almost a tutorial in fresh, simpler California-Mediterranean Cooking. If you consider these you may also want to look at Judy Rodger's "Zuni Cafe Cookbook". How they compare will likely be up to your personal taste and cooking experience, but the CP Vegetable book is very good IMO. Lots of good background information on each vegetable covered and many good ideas for using them. I like the CP Cafe Cookbook as well and have cooked a bunch of things out of it. Depending on what you like to cook, you *might* find some of the dishes esoteric in terms of ingredients and it does not have a huge number of recipes. The cookbook has a nice listing of all the recipes up front so even if you just peruse the book in a bookstore you should quickly get an idea if it's your cup of tea. If I had to rate which of the books I actually use the most often it would be the CP Vegetables, CP Desserts (Lindsey Shere) and CP Cooking (Paul Bertoli). The CP Desserts book is particulaly unique I think among dessert books--it has a heavy emphasis on rather simple desserts--mousses, ice creams, tarts using all kinds of wonderful fruits, nuts and chocolate. CP cooking has more of an Italian bent and is just filled with wonderful recipes. (Again, all the recipes are listed up front in this book). Living in Oakland you surely won't have much trouble in sourcing most of the ingredients, especially the fruits and vegetables, used in all the cookbooks. edited to add: Welcome to egullet Jesse A.

For posterity, here's a choice quote:

The current "Charlie Trotter" thread just reminded me of "trotters" or the English "crubeens" for pig's feet... I guess there is also "chitlins" for pig's small intestines...

Found another funny one googling 'frog legs' here.

True, but I think Daniel was asking for any food 'euphemisms". Sweetbreads can be both pancreas and thymus by the way.

Another quaint term for the aforementioned "prairie oysters" is one I've seen given by Olney: "frivolities". He has a recipe for "frivolity fritters" in his "Simple French Foods". Another old-fashioned terminology for hearts and kidneys is: "variety meats". If all else fails, in the US anyway, one can just use the French or other foreign language terminology to create an air of mystery, at least for your non-French or [insert other language] speaking guests! Cervelles au Beurre Noir anyone? p.s. I love the "hanging steak" description; never heard that before!

Another idea would be to make a variation of a Blitz Torte-- (usually vanilla cake baked in two pans; on top of each is baked a ground almond-meringue mixture). Usually I fill the cakes with whipped cream or sometimes berries.. But maybe you could fill with some type of "toffee-like" filling or brown sugar frosting. I would probably ice the sides with whipped cream and then cover with toasted almond slices. Maybe the brown sugar icing could also go on the sides of the cake but perhaps that would be too sweet. The brown butter-almond combo is also classically captured in French financiers. These are individual 'bars' or little cakes so they might not be what you want here. Also, I make a very good almond tart in which the filling is basically a toffee filling studded with sliced almonds... I also pm'ed you a recipe for "Burnt Almond Cake" that I haven't tried yet. It's iced with a custard whipped cream. Crumbled almond brittle is sprinkled in between the layers and on the sides of the cake.

persillade... I recently made a great parsley soup and discussed the recipe and dish here in the 52 Weeks of Soups thread. Other than taboulleh salads, I've also made straight parsley salads with a mustardy vinagrette containing shallots, capers, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and olive oil. Also--I like a nice parsley vingagrette over slice tomatoes... or I've made a parsley or a parsely/thyme pesto and stuffed it into chicken breasts before grilling them.

Sweet onions like Walla Walla, Maui or Vidalia are another option for use in the raw state... (These all come from the US; Washington/Oregon, Hawaii and Georgia, respectively, not sure if there is a 'down under' equivalent).

What is this interesting looking dish? sweet or savory?