ludja

Is there a map available to link to that shows where the new proposed appellation would lie and some of the geographical features you mention? Is the proposal for all wineries west of 101? Do you have an estimate of how many wineries would be in the new appellation versus in all of Paso Robles? Do you feel this makes sense or is this still a rather arbitrary boundary? You hinted that perhaps there should be more sub-regions even within what would be Paso Robles West. It may be difficult for you to comment on this publicly being owner of one of the wineries involved. I don't know the geography well enough to comment more specifically, although, in general, the terrain and temperature were markedly different between the two regions for the wineries we visited. In general, in my amateur opinion, if it really demarcates areas with different terroir I think it is a good advance for Paso Robles wines and for consumers of wines from that region. Matt Kramer is definately one of the writers who has discussed this, for example, in "Matt Kramer's New California Wine: Making Sense of Napa Valley, Sonoma, Central Coast, and Beyond" (2004). I don't have the book with me now so I can't reread his exact opinions on this. Are there many wineries in the position of having vineyards that are located in what would be the two different appellations? Also, would the wineries in the new appellation be part of Paso Robles West and all the rest would just be Paso Robles? How long is it expected before a decision is made on the application for the new appellation? Sorry for so many questions!

Thanks monavano! I tried the mashed potato version tonight as I had some leftover mashed potatoes. They were great! A different animal than the grated version but I really enjoyed them as well. I added one lightly beaten egg to about 2 cups of seasoned mashed potatoes (these had cream and butter in them from before also), ~ 4-5 Tbs flour and a little milk to make them a little thinner. Cooked them in an iron skillet with canola oil. My skillet is virtually nonstick so it doesn't take much oil. I made them relatively thin, ~ 1/4 inch thick. They got a nice thin crispy coating and maintained a soft creamy interior. I had them with applesauce and sour cream. I must try a sweet potato version as well. And I agree re: the hilarious name. I didn't know that word until this thread, my mom just always calls them "potato pancakes". Maybe there was a good reason she uses the English name!

This recipe has been on my list to try; maybe some other egulleteer has experience with it: (I haven't baked much from this book to date, but I've heard others praise many of the basic cake and bread recipes in the book). "Light-as-a-Dream Hot Rolls" by Shirley Corriher in "Cookwise". Here is her description of the recipe: "These rolls have a real homemade hot roll taste. They are extraordinarily light and tender and very hard to stop eating. This recipe is from Marion, Arkansas, and is my version..." There are two risings; the first is either a few hours or overnight. The second is for ~ 1 1/2 hrs. Melted butter is brushed over the tops before baking. The dough is shaped into balls and baked inside muffin tins or else baked on sheets as Parker House rolls. Thanks for your personal recs, Jaz and Jaybassin. Welcome to egullet, KitchenQueen! Sorry that you lost your recipe; it's a warning for me to secure a few treasured ones that are also just on scraps of paper... Hoping you find a replacement soon.

Last spring a friend and I picked up some cardoons at the farmers' market, just because they were there and looked interesting. We ended up making a composed salad of the cardoons (blanched) and potatoes (boiled) with a white wine vinaigrette with anchovies and lots of garlic. Topped with chopped Kalamata olives and parsley. It was great -- I really liked the cardoons. To me they tasted a lot like artichokes. The recipe we followed is from Vegetables From Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider. It's a great book for ideas on unusual vegetables. ← Along the same lines, I glanced at Chez Panisse Vegetables to see what Waters had to say about cardoons. She gives an interesting recipe for a "Cardoon, Cannellini Bean and Artichoke Ragout". The only fat is some olive oil, a small piece of salt pork or bacon and reggiano parmesan cheese. She recommends this as a dish on its own or as a side dish for a roast pork or lamb.

Albondigas sounds nice. Another soup idea is "Italian Wedding Soup". Some versions use meatballs, carrots, sliced greens, parmagiano and small pasta like orzo or pastina. Here's a recipe: click

On an wine tasting excursion to Paso Robles a few months back one of the most exciting and interesting aspects of the trip was tasting a large number of syrahs in a wide variety of styles--from more restrained to huge and fruity. The stand out wineries with Syrah for the wineries we visited were Tablas Creek and Dover Canyon. Have you explored Paso Robles Syrahs? Any favorites? Here is a recent article in the SJ Mercury News: click The article also discusses some of the climatic and soil differences between East and West Paso Robles (101 being the dviding line) and the impact of Tablas Creek on growing Rhone varietals in the region and propogating Rhone varietal stock imported from France. There are wine notes from some of the following wineries: East: 2002 Clautiere ($24 2003 Bianchi ($18) 2003 Robert Hall ($18) 2003 Niner Bootjack Ranch ($20) 2002 Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard ($20) J. Lohr: 2003 South Ridge ($15), J..Lohr 2002 Cypress Shiraz ($10) West the 2003 Saxum "Broken Stones'' ($35), 2003 Tablas Creek ($35), 2002 Austin Hope ($42), 2003 The Aisling ($30). Adelaida 2002 syrah ($25) Adelaida 2003 Syrah ($26) Adelaida 2002 Viking Estate Reserve ($55) Also: 2001 Nadeau ($18), 2003 Tobin James Rock N Roll ($18), 2003 Gelfand ($22)

A photo of Tejon’s Dobos Torte from the Dessert thread here: here Here also is some discussion regarding the construction of the top caramel layer: click Nice looking Dobos Torte!!! Which recipe did you end up using, Tejon?

One of my favorite recent tips that I picked up from Judy Rodgers in "The Zuni Cookbook" is to initially hold off on adding the vegetables and aromatics to the pot when making stock. It is much easier to skim off the scum in this case. After the skimming is complete I add in the herbs, vegetables, peppercorns, etc. for the rest of the cooking.

Whats wrong with potted shrimps? Just shrimps (prawns) butter and a little nutmeg. A sort of shellfish version of confit, with the same preservation idea. They are delicious on hot toast. Remove the thick butter topping and spread the fishy goodness below... ← I agree with Jackal10... yum. I also think that Shinboners brings up a good point re the potential difference between, say, canned soups then and now. While there may have been 'advances' that help preserve the taste or freshness of a canned ingredient, I would tend to think that financial incentives would have won out in the long run, and not to the benefit of the resulting flavor or nutrition of the final product.

I guess there must be specific requirements regarding service people who can serve on subs, but what about diet restrictions due to allergies or relgious beliefs? It would seem difficult to accomodate many different diet requirements given the relatively limited storage space of the submarine. Also can you discuss the latitude you have in planning meals? Are there 'standard' submarine menus or does it vary quite a bit from sub to sub? I guess there must be minimum (and also maximum?) caloric requirements. Are there other special considerations due to considerations such as lack of exposure to sunlight and restricted physical activity? If there are requirements, do they extend beyond caloric requirements and include percentages of protein and/or other nutrients and vitamins? Thanks in advance for considering our questions, BubbleheadChef. This is a fascinating topic! I grew up in CT but have unfortunately never yet taken the opportunity to visit a sub at the bases there. (My dad always raved about his food in the Navy; this was back in the 50's).

Do the tour lengths vary quite a bit and does the food you serve depend on the tour length? If you can comment, what was the longest tour without any type of re-stocking?

Since pots de creme are usually custard-based as far as I know, I would also tend to go with panna cotta, avoiding egg substitutes and use agar as the thickening agent. I've always used 'regular' gelatin but googling a bit I saw a number of agar-based recipes. Maybe there is also a straightforward way to sub agar for gelatin in any recipe. I also have a recipe for Swedish Cream. It has cream, gelatin, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. If you're interested I'll send it to you. This is often served with fresh fruit or a fruit sauce. edited to add: I like Jason's tofu ideas as well although I haven't tried this at home.

Here's a link with some interesting information on potato pancakes: click Mentioned are: Mashed Potato Types (most common in Britain and US) Grated Potato Types: Hash Browns Rosti (coarsely grated, bacon and onion somtimes added) Bavarian Style (called Kartoffelpuffer) Very finely grated potato, with a small amount of flour, egg and onion. German Style (Reibekuchen, etc) Similar to Bavarian-style but potatoes more coarselly grated. Latkes (Jewish Style): traditionally grated potatoes, eggs, onion and matzo meal and fried in goose fat Also mentioned are: Lefse (Norwegian Potato Pancakes) Buñuelos de papa, Tortitas de papa (Spanish Potato Pancakes)

Here are two other thread re: T-day desserts: Thanksgiving day desserts and Southern Holiday Desserts

In addition to apple pie and Bill Neal's Sweet Potato Pie, I made a new dessert this year, fresh coconut cake. It was incredibly delicious. I combined a number of different recipes and will try to post it on the "best coconut cake' thread. I didn't toast the coconut so the cake was beautifully white. Strudel sounds nice, Ninjai Fanatic...

Rum-flavored marzipan covered with dark chocolate. I think Niederegger (red foil wrapper) from Lubeck, Germany makes a version with rum. Great combination. We used to get little chocolate bottles filled with liqueur but I think the filling was usually a brandy or schapps rather than rum. These were for hanging on the Christmas tree. It was always big fun for the kids to eat these and then pretened they were tipsy. Sadly, the quality of at least some of what is now available has decreased to include cheap waxy chocolate and watered down or fake liqueur...

Glad to see you're blogging, chardgirl. This will be a fun week! The beautiful misty morning photos of the goats eating breakfast brings me right to the coast. If the cardoons are still growing it would be interesting to see a photo of them. I've read that they look like a huge thistle plant but I'm not sure if I've seen one. Alice Waters mentions that sometimes the stalk is covered for part of the growing season to promote tenderness as the plants get larger. Is this something you've seen or tried? Also, can you describe where your stand is up at the Ferry Building (in SF)? Are you in the front or back? It would be fun drop by and visit the next time I'm there buying Rancho Gordo beans among other things!

For a light supper, we just have a soup beforehand and maybe a salad. In this case, we serve them with sour cream and/or applesauce and also with more salt and pepper. I've also served them with a mushroom sauce for a meatless meal. They are also a great sidedish for saucy German/Austrian dishes like sauerbraten. The sauerbraten doesn't need any last minute attention and thus frees up time for making the potato pancakes. The critical question in our family circle regarding potato pancakes is "smooth" or "rough" referring to the size of the potato shreds. My dad's Austrian mother made them smooth (and he always mentions this, ) while my Mom and I use the medium shred obtained from a box grater. My basic recipe: 4 cups grated potatoes Add 2 beaten eggs 1 cup flour 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper 1/4 cup milk (or more if batter is too thick) Sometimes I grate a little onion and add that in as well. Fry up in an iron skillet and serve fresh out of the pan. (They are very tasty fried up in lard, but I'll usually use vegetable shortening).

Storing all grains, flours, rice, beans, bread crumbs, chiles, dried mushrooms, etc in sealed plastic tupperware has worked for me as well. I keep ground chile and paprika in the freezer.

Going for a nice hike today with some friends and then coming back here afterwards for turkey pot pie! A wild mushroom soup beforehand and sauteed brussel sprouts alongside. Grapefruit and pomegranates in port for dessert.

Thank you for posting your menus, everyone, they are a great source of inspiration. Here is what we had this year (for six): Sazerac Cocktails (in honor of New Orleans; these were served over crushed ice for sipping) *Benne wafers *Bacon Horseradish Dip Charleston Shrimp Paste *Olives stuffed with Anchovy Butter Peppered Pecans 2001 Schramsberg Blanc de blancs Brut *Cream of Hatch Green Chile Soup Edna Valley Vineyard 2003 Chardonnay Edna Valley David Bruce 2002 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains Roast Turkey and Gravy Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing Fresh Orange Cranberry Relish Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Black Pepper Lemon Butter and Brown Sugar Brussel Sprouts sauteed in Brown Butter *Homemade Green Bean Casserole Red Grapefruit Sorbet garnished with Campari and Pomegranates Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream or sharp cheddar *Fresh Coconut Cake Bill Neal’s Sweet Potato Pie Assorted after dinner drinks: (Lagavulin Scotch Whiskey, Daron Calvados, Pays D’Auge , Old Krupnik Polish Honey Liqueur) The benne wafers were made from a recipe in the Edna Lewis/Scott Peacock book---I added some cayenne pepper for a little kick. They are made with lard and lots of roasted sesame seeds. They were very nice by themselves or with the dip or shrimp paste. I like the homemade green bean casserole as well. Sauteed mushrooms and onions then cooked with the green beansf and minced garlic in chicken stock; then reduced in heavy cream. I shaved onions and sauteed these in clarified butter until they were brown and crispy to use as a topping. (tastier than the recommended bread crumbs, I reckon). The coconut cake was the first I have made and it was a dream. I modified a few different recipes and will post the recipe into RecipeGullet. This cake is definately a keeper! *new items for me

Thank you for the tip; I have a 19 1/2 pounder this year and will try this out.

Episode Three (links to more restaurant info and the text of the reviews) Isa Contemporary French 3324 Steiner Street (at Lombard) San Francisco, CA 94123 415-567-9588 www.isarestaurant.com recipe: Potato Wrapped Bluenose Sea Bass review summary: “three thumbs up” Antica Trattoria Tuscan trattoria 2400 Polk Street (at Union) San Francisco, CA 94109 415-928-5797 www.anticasf.com recipe: Farro Bolognese review summary: “three thumbs up” Salang Pass Afghan food 37462 Fremont Boulevard Fremont, CA 94536 510-795-9200 Review summary: “three thumbs up” I haven't been to any of these three. Is there agreement with the postive reviews given?

Mine is going to be another autumnal California-inspired centerpiece--persimmons and lemons from a friend's tree.

Mmmm..... Ok, so, how would I make pear ice cream? Would I poach the pears, then puree them and add them to a custard base? What ratio, do you think? Or would I leave the pears in chunks....that seems like they would end up like icy little pockets in the ice cream, though. I found this recipe on epicurious, maybe I could use this as my base: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/1285 ← Here is an adaptation from an excellent recipe by Lindsey Shere in Chez Panisse Desserts. (While this isn't a frozen dessert cookbook persay, there are about 100 excellent ice cream and sorbet recipes in here for chocolate, nuts, liqueurs and many fruits. It's one of the first places I turn for ice cream ideas.) 1 1/2 lbs very ripe pears (Comice, Bosx or Bartlett), peeled, cored and sliced 3 Tbs water 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 5/8 cup sugar 4 egg yolks few drops vanilla extract Cook slices (and their juices) in the water until they are heated through and release juices. Puree and measure out 1 1/2 cups of the puree. Make a thin custard with half the cream, and all the sugar and egg yolks and strain the custard into the pear mixture. Add remaining cream and carefully flavor with vanilla. I sometimes also add a few drops of lemon juice. I've not tried adding some poire williams in there, but it would probably be very nice. The pear ice cream add-ins suggested above sound like great flavor combinations but consider trying this "plain" the first time. The glory of it is really in the pure pear taste which really surprises people. The ice cream is rather pale so one doesn't really know what flavor it is until tasting it. Besides serving it with a pear sorbet as described above, I've also served it alongside a rich, chocolate French gateaux (un-iced). That cake is another reason to buy CP Desserts...