ludja

Incanto was also recently reviewed on the new KQED TV program, Check, Please. for the Bay Area. The review by three different diners is in episode one and can be read by scrolling down a bit.

Did anyone happen to go to A16 during their "PIg and Barrel" event? The dinners were on Nov 6 and 7 I just saw the listings today. Pig and a Barrel Menu Starters Escarole salad with pancetta, persimmons and walnuts Beet and pork tongue salad with fennel and black olives Coppa di testa salad with parsley, capers, raisins, pickled onions, and almonds Crispy pork skin with mashed pumpkin and calabrian chiles Minestra maritata with prosciutto brodo and cornbread Potatoes fried in lard with garlic and mint Salumi Housemade country boar terrine Thirteen-month pork prosciutto (cured on premises) Boar and pork lonza (cured on premises) Boar and pork coppa (cured on premises) Boar and pork salami (cured on premises) Pizza Guanciale and gamboni mushroom pizza Pork sausage and roasted pepper pizza Pasta Maccaronara with ragu Napoletano and ricotta salata Gnocchi with porcini and pork polpettini Chestnut and ricotta crespelle with wild boar ragu Spaghetti with wild boar pancetta, onions and black pepper Main courses Wild boar scallopine with wild arugula and lemon Grilled wild boar zampina with chickpea puree Berkshire pork shoulder braised in milk and soffritto Duroc pork mixed grill for two: spare ribs, braised belly and roasted loin

Cool, thanks in advance for sharing this with us.

Hmmm.. hopefully it would pass the spice censors; it sounds very nice. The grapefruit sorbet could also be embellished as: "Texas Ruby Grapefruit Sorbet garnished with Pomegranates and Campari" (a regular on my Thanksgiving Day table) Have you ever made anything similar to the tenderloin description, Bill Miller? It sounds great.

An indifferent clam chowder is one of the saddest things...especially for cream-based versions. That said, your experience gloriously exceeds indifference! Is the default clam chowder in BC, "New England Style" ie with cream and/or milk? Does the dish have older roots in BC or is it a more recent import? Someone mentioned some tomato-based versions above. Are there any clear clam chowder versions? Are pilot crackers usually served with the soup? (For another clam chowder discussion see the recent one on Rhode Island versions and Providence, RI versions here.. It's a seriuos topic for New Englanders!)

quick, savory power breakfast: grapefruit juice peanut butter and sauteed bacon between two slices of toasted rye coffee

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polcyn, Thomas Keller Discussion thread on Charcuterie by Ruhlman, Polcyn and Keller As helena mentioned, the release is scheduled for the end of November.

Thanks PPPans! Sounds like a great idea and special thanks for describing the additional parts of the topping. Your link also led me to the wonderful thread you have going on Filipino cuisine!

Seeing this discussion on how to make Filipino fried chicken skin here reminded me of this older thread. Still would love to hear people's ideas on uses for Krammeln, Gribbenes, etc. That is, when you can manage to have some leftover from eating out of hand...

El Bulli 2003 and 2004 (in Spanish for now) have been released recently. Here is an egullet discussion on the books: click

Hopefully someone with some knowledge in the field of high end chocolates can weigh in on this... I can only offer that he (Michael Recchuitti) is very well known in the SF Bay Area for his high end chocolates... beyond that I don't know. Here is a quote regarding his background provided in the Amazon link to his book: click Also, here's a link to an "in the news" section on the Recchuiti Chocolates website. There are some linked reviews from national publications. click

Thanks JeanneCake. I guess I was asking b/c "apple bread" makes me think of something made in a loaf pan and I had not really heard of that much. I do have a great rustic apple cake recipe; it's baked in a springform pan and is a layer of buttery cake topped with a thick layer of thinly sliced, lemon scented apples. It's an Italian recipe.

Lots of Austrian/Hungarian desserts use finely ground hazelnuts in the cake dough similar to what M.Lucia mentions above or else in a meringue type "japonais" layer or in cookie dough. The ground hazelnuts can also be used to flavor buttercreams. There is also the Linzer Torte. And skimming in Rick Rodger's "Kaffehaus" I see a nice recipe for a Hazelnut Roulade (ground hazelnuts in the spongecake and filled with a mocha creme. Nice hazelnut desserts from Northern Italy as well. I recently made a nice tart with a ground hazelnut and chocolate filling. Thanks for the recipe, M.Lucia! The hazelnut butter cookies sound terrific as well.

An Austrian/Hungarian Dobos Torte is spectacular and delicious. I don't have much experience in freezing cakes so I can't comment on that issue. It is a large cake, but for 20 people you would need two cakes. Here's an egullet thread discussing different recipes and approaches: click Here is a sample photo of one that I found on google photos: This shows the caramel layer on top but the sides look strange in the photo; it should be a dark chocolate buttercream, nice also to cover with chopped, roasted hazelnuts: dobos torte photo Here's a photo of a slice showing the many layers with chocolate buttercream in between: dobos slice Another festive, special big cake would be a Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte. (Black Forest Cake). Here's a recipe that uses three chocolate cake layers, kirsch syrup for soaking layers, sour cherries, a kirsch flavored buttercream and chocolate curls on top for decoration: Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte This is different than the version I've made but it looks good... I've also always been intrigued by Nesselode Pudding--the type that has chestnut puree, glaceed fruits and whipped cream in it and is frozen in a fancy bombe mold. I've not made one yet though.,,

Provenance Vineyards in Rutherford has excellent Cabernets and crsip, non-oaked Sauvignon Blanc. You don't need an appointment here so it may be helpful in padding out your schedule. Have a great time, and report back if you have a chance. It would be interesting to hear your impressions as I have not yet to been to some of the suggestions above.

If mussels are the main course, I usually buy about a pound of mussels for each person. Maybe a little less depending on what else you are serving and people's appetites. This also allows for losing some mussels that don't open, i.e. the dead ones. edited to add: I just cross-posted w/Little Ms. Foodie; looks like we have the same idea!

Hmmm... Interesting ideas! I was also intrigued by the soup described as being recently served at the *non-State* dinner for Prince Charles and Camilla. It was variously described as "celery broth" with crispy shrimp or as a celery root-based soup. Celery and Shrimp sound like a great flavor combination but I can't quite figure out how to combne the two... The flavors also seem like they would fit in well as a start in the Thanksgiving meal.

What is apple bread like? Similar to a banana bread but with apples? What is the form of the apples usally? applesauce, grated?

Another pro-level book on chocolate: Chocolate Obsession: Confections and Treats to Create and Savor by Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage; photography by Maren Caruso (Stewart Tabori & Chang; 199 pages; $35). (Egullet-Amazon link) Review in SF Chronicle:Chocolatiers challenge home cooks to be pros

I also like the Malgieri and Scicolone books. The latter has many nice "spoon desserts", fruit and cookie recipes. There are also chapters on Gelati, Sorbetto and Granite and Semifredidi. Another very nice book is "Patisserie of Italy" by Jeni Wright. Many wonderful recipes. The latest one I made was a delicious chocolate-hazelnut tart. A small but *sweet* book if you can find it is Anna del Conte's "Italian Kitchen: I Dolci". One of my favorite rustic apple cake recipes is from this book.

Two books I have that I like and that are devoted just to breakfasts are: A Real American Breakfast by Cheryl A. Jamison and Bill Jamison. Almost 300 recipes from very traditional to newer in style. Great background on the different recipes as well as variations. The book covers all different styles of breakfasts; some chapters are: Egg, Dairy, Pancakes, Waffles, French Toasts; Meats, Seafood, Hashes, Stratas ad other morning Casseroles, Breakfast Sandwiches, Home made Cereals, Fruit, Breads, Morning Cakes and Cobblers, Smoothies and other Breakfast Drinks. Good Mornings by Michael McLaughlin. Lots of innovative recipes--sweet and savory. This includes a lot of interesting recipes with a SouthWestern flare.

What a meal, Kevin! I love the dishes you paired with the ragu as well, especially the fennel starter and the shaved porcini salad. The homemade pasta looks just perfect. Thanks for the reply re: the other ragus in the book. Many of them are tempting and I just wondered if you could confirm via experience. Sounds like a good project for me to put on my own list, namely to try a few different of the ragu recipes this winter...

Some good threads on pumpkin and squash soups: pumpkin soup butternut squash soup There's some nice discussion and photos of a Creme de Potiron or Autumn Squash Soup with Country Ham and Garlic Croutes soup from Wolfert's new revision of the Cooking of SouthWest France here.

I think it would be great to put the paste through a ricer, fold it gently into some lightly sweetened whipped cream and then fill some small meringue shells with the mixture.

Hi Pan. I glanced at the link above and it looks like they have relatively complete reviews from each of the three diners. They may not be an exact transcript but the text looks pretty close to what I remembered hearing on the show. There are also menus and photos posted from some of the restaurants as well.