jayt90

I have to say thanks, and congrats to eSkillet for bringing student groups here, at some expense, rather than Quebec City, Montreal, Boston or even New York. Our local and national media have been negative,recently, but this is a shot in the arm. It is good to catch the spirit of the city, especially where ethnic interest is appreciated. This will influence our cuisine in the future.

Looks interesting. The other thing you need to remember about Cumbrae's beef is that Cumbrae's dry ages their beef, which may account for some of the increase in price. I don't see that beef connections does. In any event, there isn't a drop off point close enough to me to try this for now. ←

Good point! When I order I"ll try to get thicker cuts, but I may not order enough to get preference (not much freezer space at this time.) I remember the type of meat cutting available in small towns, but I imagine beefconnections is willing to accomodate urban tastes. As Marlene points out the beef is not dry aged like Cumbrae's, but it is a real opportunity for us to get grass fed Ontario beef, and actually communicate with the grower.

This is interesting: beefconnections.ca It is a co-op of farmers and butchers in central Ontario (Listowel) selling their beef, pork, sausages etc direct to the public, at reasonable prices, and they deliver. Well almost. You can get information about breeds and raising practices on the site, and place an order, and it will be delivered packaged and frozen on a specific day to a location ranging from Grand Bend to Toronto to Owen Sound. The next delivery to Toronto is Dec. 2, and the truck will be at Bloor and Euclid. They sell 25 lb samplers of beef for $125. 50 lb is $100 more. I am going to try one of these, and maybe some summer sausage (in cloth) before I commit to a half beef or pork. The site is friendly, and it looks like a real connection to the grower can be achieved. We can get the same connection from Cumbrae's and other sources, but the price is a lot higher. I'd say this is worth a shot.

Simon, I haven't looked at this board for a few days, but I would have to recommend Costco, at the moment, as they have a Rosco board made from end pieces (Quebec maple) for $38. I bought one of these a couple of years ago and it has been excellent. I also have a chinese round board, purchased years ago for $16, but it is subject to small splits, as is cut from a stump. It also leeches small amounts of red stain when cleaned. The maple board from end pieces is much better. You may also find laminated bamboo boards in Chinese stores; they are a good value but thinner than most of us would like.

Go easy on the 300x stone. It has a lot more grinding power than the 1000x.

It is so hard to get really good information. Fifteen years ago the cod fishery on the Grand Banks was wiped out by apparent overfishing, with much unemployment, and little sign of recovery; yet fresh and salted cod have been just as available all these years, and the price is comparable to other wild, white fleshed fish. But the methods used (dragging, trawling, throwing away unwanted dead species) is surely cause for alarm, and the seas are wide open to unlawful pilferage and damage. All we can hope for is sensible and rational improvement.

The strength of flavour can depend on how much fat has been trimmed off, and that makes comparisons difficult. If you find a local product, try to determine the breed, the farm location, and the feeding practices. A few butcher shops will co-operate.

I've tasted bues with a bit of red and/or wet surface (slime to some). The taste is OK, very strong, but then there is a slight burn on the roof of the mouth , or throat, which is not pleasant. That's when I toss it, or see if the dog is interested. No ill effects for either of us

I checked ideasinfood and couldn't find anything on this. Nor could I get their Google search device to work. I wonder if you mean alum, which will precipitate and clear wine, juice and broth. I don't think it is used much now because of aluminum content. Egg whites are used as a wine clarifying agent in France. Some traditional first growth vineyards will not depart from this method, and still make rich omelets the next day for the staff with the yolks. I have never heard a critic describing a wine as eggy. I have used beaten egg whites to clarify stock, or consomme, and found that it works well if there is no trace of fat on the surface. The whites coagulate and carry particles to the bottom. The clear broth can be poured off, and I have never detected an eggy flavour.

It was after remodeling that my Costco threw out the rotisserie. Beany, my area of Toronto is west Durham, Pickering, Scarborough. The easy way to check on your stores is to look at the ovens, usually easy to see: The fancy convection/steamer has five or six horizontal racks, behind a glass door. The birds behind the glass will not move! The steam vent is at the rear, left side, and will belch vapor two or three times a minute. Marlene, Bruno's still has a lot of integrity, and they can probably get a better price than the bi chains.

It should be possible to discern cider or vinegar by smelling it. The second fermentation is probably malolactic, where the yeast feed on malic acid, and the taste is more mellow as a result. If you want to determine if there is any substantial alcohol there, you can make applejack: put the container (not glass) in the coldest part of a deep freezer, and wait a day or two. The alcohol will separate and become slushy, in the center, while apple pulp will stay frozen around the edge.

There lots of foods used to get people through the winter, not always obvious to us. Such as: Lutefish, saltfish, kimchi, sauerkraut, pemmican, Chinese cabbage, root vegs, oatmeal, and any number of canned, fermented, smoked, dried, and pressed foods, many unique to each country with a winter. We can easily expand our cold weather options, wihout leaning so heavily on warmer climates.

I didn't have enough ingredients for this, but kept it in mind for my adaptation: the pork slices were dredged in hot garlicky paprika-like powder from P.A.T., then placed on the cool side of a Weber, drenched in soy sauce, and left to hot smoke for an hour. Then served wrapped in arrugula, tomato, mayo-mustard and chopped sage. The slices of pork belly look like they could be brined and seasoned for pancetta; that's what is on my agenda after the next visit to the store.

e.d. Smith uses Northern Spy apples: website. Retail product under the e.d. Smith brand is available in Canada. Although they do do private label work for U.S. Supermarkets, including Wakefern (Shop Rite) and Wegman's, they limit this to salad dressings and marinades. Couldn't tell from website whether the pie filling is available in U.S., but although Northern Spy is hard to find as a fresh apple, except at the stands of orchards which grow them, they are a big canning apple, much favored by processors. Not only in canned apple ie filling, but for frozen apple pies. Although their website doesn't specify the variety, I would suspect Comstock uses Northern Spy, too. ← Thanks for the information on E.D. Smith and the use of Spies by canners. It reinforces my basic faith in an old, mature industry. I believe Smith has a plant i n Western N.Y. as well as Ontario.

Maybe I'm from Missouri, but I wonder if cow manure, holding ponds, and straw piles with manure can be irradiated? It may not help on a grazing ranch (we should be glad the cattle are eating grass) but how is radiation applied?

Sorry for the loaded language, but it looks like my Oct. 13 report has been verified. It is too early to know what is going on; the Times reports a large cattle operation (my words, but the number of acres is substantial) surrounding spinach fields, yet the spinach farmers do not know about this. Sure, "things happen", but this scary, and not over yet.

Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2005 has hit the shelves at $15. There is a good review in the Globe today, but the supply seems to be quite good, for a few days at least. Use the Vintages.com search engine to see if it is still available.

Any part of GTA? There is a good Hakka place at Brimley and Ellesmere.

Rotisserie chicken to take home is almost a thing of the past in my local supermarkets and Costco. Too bad, it was great while we had it. Most of the outlets got rid of their rotisseries and have installed convection/steam ovens dedicated to chicken. It is not nearly as good; the bursts of steam tend to stew the outside, and the front part of the bird is often pale compared to the back end. The skin can break and pull back, on the breast and legs. I asked an employee why they did this. He said sales dropped off intially but they are building up again, as people forget about the rotisserie chicken. The raw birds are sprayed with Sprite, mixed with salt. No special spice or herb mixtures are used, though they used to. The convection/steam ovens produce more birds in less time, and the savings are significant, almost 50% in time and energy. In addition the ovens are somewhat easier to clean up at the end of the day than the rotisseries. Well, that's progress... I can still find rotisserie take out in one smaller supermarket near me, a Price Chopper. And there are large chicken restaurant chains with gas fired rotisseries for take out, such as Swiss Chalet, St. Huberts, etc. But it's a dying breed.

About 1 year ago, I picked up a large granite mortar and pestle, $30, Canadian made, at my Korean store, P.A.T., 1973 Lawrence Av. East, Scarboro. They still have it, and I have seen much higher prices elsewhere. I believe thay have locations in th Annex and Miss. as well. I also got nice looking pork belly slices there but am not sure what to do with them.

I miss the tin trays, Swansons@ 350, too. They cost about $1. and my dad made sure they were around when the parents were away at lunch time. Turkey was my favourite, but they didn't really give us very much. The big spread made up for it.

we had that story too, but i don't remember seeing those specific words. our story said cattle grazing in fields nearby, which conjures up a different impression. sometimes, bad stuff just happens. i'm afraid that every once in a while something like that is going to happen. ← Russ, you didn't get much of the story. From The Toronto Star, Oct. 13, 2006: The strain of E.coli behind a recent outbreak has been linked to a cattle ranch next to the spinach fields in California's Salinas Valley, state and federal investigarors said yesterday. The strain of pathogenic E. coli 0157:H7 was found in three cattle manure samples collected at one of four ranches under investigation, the officials said. The ranch is within 1.5 kilometres of he produce fields. "We do not have a definitive cause-and-effect here. We do have a very important finding," said Dr. Kevin Reilly, deputy director of the Prevention Services Division of the California Department of Health Services. Investigators still did not know how the feces could have contaminated the spinach implicated in the bacterial outbreak.

This morning I read a news report that food inspectors have found e coli 157 bacteria i cattle manure at a large cattle operation about a mile away from the source of suspect spinach. There is no causal link, yet, but the association is strong. I'm sure we will find out more very soon.

Just checked Ashton Green online, and they are ambiguous, at best, about warranty on broken knives. They won't cover prying or bone damage. They offer a five year warranty on manufacturing defects, and while they do not exclude dropping, I doubt if that is included.