Raoul Duke

Is this raw iron or coated? If it's raw arc welding it may be a solution, high heat, quick weld, less tempering of the material. Got noting to lose do you?

Thanks for the info. I engaged my typing before my brain and failed to search for previous posts on this. I'll try "aging" the eggs before boiling.

We have chickens. Love the little critters. Sit in the evening, with an adult beverage and watch them peck away at mystery bugs. The eggs are great, over easy, scrambled, omelets, all golden yellow and silky. I like 'em hard boiled as well, with cold beer but, I've had the damnedest time getting them to peel without taking a significant part of the white with the shell. Started in cold water with a little salt, brought to a gentle boil and maintained for 20 minutes and finally immersed in cold water. What have I missed? Is it that the eggs are too fresh? Need to cool for days, not hours after cooking? Help me out and hook me up!

Our propane tank was placed 9 years ago and we've camoflauged it with bushes. They now come as a unit that can be placed below the surface. Remember this is Cali, no freeze depth where we live, so your part of the country may prohibit this. I have a Viking 6 burner, griddle, grill, double gas/convection ovens and it heats plenty hot. But let's not get into the Viking quality of delivered product.

Crazy year here in Paso! Week before last we had temps drop into the low 30's and froze my young tomato's, last weekend it jumps into the high 90's. It has started to drop to the mid 70's in the day, low 40's at night. Kind of maddening for a veggie garden but we've been harvesting butter lettuce, radishes and rocket. Leeks, spinach, cilantro, parsley and chard are coming on strong. I haven't heard of planting tomato's in stages. Mine seem to continue to bear throughout the season. Am I missing the tomato boat here? We live over the hill from Windrose Farms so heirloom tomato's are easily accessible.

First, please enjoy this special dinner and have a great birthday! Comment on wine: I think I mentioned this earlier but FYI, the Laundry has been distinguished by what I call a "full-service" sommelier dept. (by analogy to the once-common "full service" US gas stations where employees filled your tank, cleaned windows, checked tire pressure, etc. etc. and you didn't even have to know how to do any of those tasks). So that someone who liked wine but knew little about it could describe tastes and budget, and the sommeliers would come up with something very satisfying. (The sort of service the Master Sommeliers program aims for.) I haven't been to the Laundry lately, but that was a tradition. In many high-end restaurants I've seen food photography, even made into a spectacle by self-absorbed people. One online food poster and former eG participant stubbornly insists that unless other tables raise an issue to his face, he presumes their approval for any photography he wants to do. It's a wonder he doesn't bring in floodlights. (His unusual views ignore diners I've witnessed, muttering their annoyance or offence but unwilling to exacerbate the situation by risking a scene.) Other people, more discreet, can still turn a meal into a studio session, everything subordinated to their photo shots. But still other diners manage to snapshot their plates without making it the point of the whole dinner and without other tables noticing. Who could object? Answer: the restaurant. It pays to phone or ask, because a few high-end places class photography with cell phone calls and prohibit both. ← Thank you for your feedback. I am very much looking forward to a great meal. I figured that I would inquire before snapping away. I was at a place here in my local town that is the equivalent of TFL in Sacramento, called The Kitchen (not quite as exclusive, but for the local area, a place to go) the other night. Many people started taking pictures, left and right using flash, etc. I asked the chef if it is annoying to do something like that and he said absolutely not, they don't mind at all. I was able to take a few pics using my iphone, as their lighting was pretty good. ← I understand there is a new restaurant opening in Sac on the river called "Pearl on the River". Heard anything of this? I'll be there next week and would like to try it.

In the development stages an olive goes from a yellow thru green thru red and on to black, with some being a bit of each. Grading olives for harvest uses color as a guide to insure consistency of ripeness, year to year.

The traditional method of tasting olive oil for sensory evaluation is in pear shaped glasses that are blue in color. This insure that the color has no influence on the tasters decision. There is a large range of colors, other than green, for olive oil, but I've not seen orange colored olive oil.

The tomato flavor is not unlikely in olive oil. On an olive oil tasting wheel created by Richard Gawel, green olives can exhibit the taste and aroma of green tomato, green apple, unripe banana, ripe tomato, olive, green tea, herbal and mint. The University of California at Davis has described in a tasting of Mission cultivar harvested in 11-07 as having low flavor strength of tomato leaf. So the reality is that the taste is out there but, up to you to re-discover the oil that exhibited this charecteristic so prominently toevoke a strong memory. I'd suggest you work on what the cultivar was and go from there. I'd highly suggest you try our California oils in your search.

Iwas ready to talk some stink about da kimchi tacos until I got a look at them. Da MF's looked great!!

I got lucky when the OR was swapping out their old bone saws. They gave them away. You just can't have that mental picture of a surgeon doing the BK (below knee not burger king) amputation. You can also go to Ceballas or other outdoor outfitters for deer saws, as well.

Jim, Thank you for the kind words, I'm one of the lucky one's who gets to farm a crop I love. Nibor, pm me and I'll outline what I produce.

My wife and I finished a WFO this past summer and it's heaven. We constructed a barrel design which differs from most seen on the fornobravo site. The Alan Scott plan sets are OK and the CD from Rado in Australia is very good. We built ours for a variety of cooking methods that required large thermal efficiencies. I generally start by building a fire to 1000 - 1100 degrees and allowing it to back off to 750 degrees, at which time we cook pizza and calazone. I usually do 6 pizza and a dozen calazone, which freeze nicely. I then move the coals to the oven center/front and place a grill inside that is 14" X 14" and 4" tall. When the temp has dropped to 500 degrees +/- I toss in a couple of chickens butterflied and cook approx 40 minutes. A shallow pan below the chickens with onion and potatoes in it will cook from the fat that drips from the chickens. After this is completed we usually bake a couple of loaves of bread for the next week or 2. The key, which I am still learning, is to have complete utilization of the oven if you heat it. I've done braised shart ribs, seared on the grill first then into a cast iron cooker with fluid and vegetables. The best place to score cast iron ware is the Goodwill or thrift stores. I'm stocking up on loads of zinfandel to practice my oven skills this summer. Let me know if I can answer any questions.

As a footnote to Jim Dixon's comments, Connecticut was the first state to enact regulations for olive oils to be considered extra virgin and other classes. California has done the same by Senate bill, defining what qualifies as extra virgin and other grades. Evaluation in California is done by laboratory analysis and taste by an IOOC certified panel.

Syrah Girl on the way out of my driveway this am I noticed across the street they are pruning the head pruned Zin and remembered last year you were looking for Zin grapes. This is a small plot of an otherwise trellised vineyard. Will that be on your agenda this year?

I seem to see lottsa irritated Viking owners out there. ← And Viking doesn't seem to care, as witnessed by there benign neglect!

I bought a Viking 60" range w/6 burners, griddle, grill and dual convection ovens. I'd never buy Viking again, ever. Came with a broken gas manifold that was detected before I started it and smelled gas. the slide out clean catch trays had incomplete spot welds so the handles were loose and finally the oven starters when belly up after 6 years and less than 125 firings. All of this could have been an OK with me and move on, but when I contacted Viking, 3 times, I never, repeat never, got a response. If the VP for customer service wants to come check out my oven I'll be happy to place it where the sun don't shine on him!

IWhen on Guam we used to slice them in quarters, lengthwise, and squeeze them into a large glass of vodka and ice. It's not just about eating!

If you're in the Pismo area a good deli choice is Depalo & Sons in Shell Beach. A local retired doctor makes the fresh mozzarella.

Brigit, If you're interested in seeing an olive farm and talking extra virgin olive oil for an afternoon, let me know. Enjoy your stay on the central coast.

Why not try some California oils? WeOlive, a franchise in California has a large selection and knowledgeable staff to sort out your taste preferences. If you purchase domestically you reduce the carbon footprint of shipping oil and glass from Europe and you support a growing local economy (read farmer). California will require, as of 1 January 2009, that all olive oils labeled extra virgin meet criteria established similar to the IOOC requirements.

Craig Claiborne, The "New" New York Times cookbook. Heat the oven to 500 degrees, for a 4 rib, 11-12 # roast cook 55-60 minutes, turn off oven and leave rost in until the oven is lukewarm. At least 2 hours. DO NOT open the oven during this time. Works every time. This is my go to recipe for the past 12 years.

The San Francisco Chronicle food section has a current recipe for raost pork shoulder with farro-squash stuffing. Looks like they sliced it nicely and the grain/squash combo sounds great, too. www.sfgate.com in the food section.

Picked up the last pressing of olives today and the season ended with the following: Lucca olives - 4,065 pounds harvested and pressed out to 95 gallons. Arbequina olives - 2,475 pounds harvested pressed 55 gallons. Tired, but happy it's in the barrels.

OK I'm back at my daytime gig after another weekend of harvest. Never thought I'd miss my regular job! Yesterday I took 2,300 pounds of Lucca olive to the mill and it pressed out to 53 gallons. I know now how Hugo Chavez feels when he see's that barrel arriving. I gotta tell you olio nuovo is the best, fresh from the spout with a little bread. I never thought I'd be to this point of production, but here we are. We started this in the middle of a neighborhood of vineyards just to be different. We thought that this would put the land to good use and provide us with a retirement project. This coming Friday, and possibly Saturday we will finish the harvest with picking the last of the Arbequina. The crew , 6 mexicans, arrive at 6:15 and work until the sun goes down. We cook them lunch everyday they are here, something big wineries don't do, but we think it's a good thing. We are blessed with plenty and have been lucky in life, so we share. Simple proposition. The label identifies our farm, that it's estate grown, the type of oil, region, and harvest date. It also indicates that it is extra virgin olive oil. California just passed and the Terminator signed a new bill establishing the parameters for olive oil to qualify as extra virgin. Most of the producers have been adhering to these guidelines so it's not a dramatic change. Oleic acid needs to be below 0.05%, international standards are 0.08%, peroxide measured and UV testing if you produced over 50 gallons. I'm pleased to see these standards in place as it protects the public from adulterated oils, and that old crap that's sent by the boatload to the colonies. I'll have more time after harvest to post some pics. And as usual questions/comments are welcome.