jayt90

I had a look at the site and wondered, (1) What is the the secret fresh white filet and why, or how could they keep it secret? I haven't been there yet, but my guess is farmed tilapia. (2) There is a lot of non-food Scottish memorabilia on the site, so I wonder if the restaurant has a tourist-trap front end? I couldn't find any references to clans or tartans for my name, Wrightman. (3) The menu has good, plain Scottish food, but it is bit stodgy, and not very adventurous. But I'll visit soon, and order the secret white filet, and the haggis.

Fiddleheads, chanterelles, morels, ramps, and plenty of other things are either free or really expensive. I know that we treat wild mushrooms very differently when they're abundant. During the few weeks of the year that porcini are up we put them in everything - the rest of the year we're very careful with how we use what little we've dried. When I used to pay $20/lb at the store for chanterelles I carefully brushed each one and used them very carefully. Now I think nothing of filling a colander with the ones we've foraged, cleaning them quickly under running water and using half a pound to make scrambled eggs. ← What are ramps? When and where would I look for them?

I can't see having enough fond to save, but maybe, in a Food Saver bag.. But the word reminds me of fronds, and they will be available free in April, or as high-priced fiddleheads at the greengrocer in May...mmmmmmmmmm!

GM rice to avoid rickets in third world markets is quite common now, and hard to argue against. There is a lot of scary stuff in your post but undocumented. Getting fresh honey from a local producer should be quite easy for anyone living in an area with fresh markets.

??? I can understand tripe, I'm not a big fan myself -- but as a just-won't-eat? And chicken feet? They're maybe a little troublesome if you don't have nimble teeth, but again hardly a just-won't-eat... ← Funny, I don't have a problem with tripe, especially long-simmered a la mode de Caen. But chicken feet, calve's foot, and pig's feet, will have to be removed from the dish before I get it. I grew up on a farm and know where those feet scampered... I ordered palm of duck in a Chinese restaurant, and got ducks' feet. Couldn't eat them, but they sure were ducky!

Uhh! What is it?

Are there any difference in cooking with raw vs. pasteurized honey? Anything I should look out for when heating it? ← No. If you cook with it, mixing in with other ingredients, and heating it, it would be hard to tell the difference. A strong flavoured honey, such as orange blossom, or buckwheat, would stand out whther pasteurized or not. But clover honey is more delicate, and might be appreciated fresh and drizzled, as compared to pasteurized.

The big producers will also pasteurize their blends. This removes flavour and darkens slightly. Non pasteurized (or raw, as mentioned in another post) will harden into a crystallized mass when stored for a month or two, but a gentle hot water bath will revive it without altering the flavour or colour. Clover honey should be available locally, and very fresh, from May to July, as you go south to north in the U.S. and Canada.

In my student days I worked for a honey producer every summer. In southwestern Ontario. We kept the best clover honey for local customers, because it was light, sweet, and had great taste and scent, nothing excessive. The darker 'weed honey' from late summer and fall, was packed in 70 lb cans and sent to a large honey marketer, "BillyBee" in Toronto. The owner bought honey from all over, mainly Ontario, Alberta (Peace River is the best), the Carribean, and South America. He mixed white honey with darker grades and achieved, just barely, a "White # 1" grade on the the Billy Bee label. When I see large bottles of Billy Bee in Costco today, it looks very dark compared to real clover honey. It is a commercial blend, and hard to reccomend if you can get clover honey from a small producer.

I'm getting lots of good advice from these recent posts. Owen, at this time of year I can cool the beans by putting the wok into some snow! Scuba, what is the stir crazy, convection oven method?

My first batch, about 1/2 lb., of Costa Rican, came out OK but too brittle and dark. I roasted it in a steel wok, over gas, on a cold patio day. I left it 1 minute too long as it was hard to judge in dim light. I'm going at it again in mid week, hopefully a bit quicker and hotter, with lots of spoon movement. I don't expect miracles, as it is below freezing every day on my patio now. But the first results were pleasant enough, just not superior, yet.

Thanks Bill; I still have three of these, and one '92. So it is safe to wait a year or two.

When my fiancee and I had to arrange a pre-nup dinner for twelve, we had a late lunch at a chosen French restaurant, and asked to talk to the chef, who was also the owner. He came to the table when his chores were done, and we discussed a menu for the the proposed date. He even had a private room for us, and prepared several Bretagne specialties. We were pleased, and became regulars. The only hitch was that the late lunch we ordered came with leg of lamb that was past pink, as we were so late into his lunch hour.

I see small rolled and tied pork shoulder roasts in most meat markets, but if you recipe requires a larger roast, with skin on, and for stuffing, then it would be expedient to buy a a butt and remove the bones. It should only take a few minutes, with a flexible boning knife.

Could it be the pans had a no-stick surface reinforced with titanium? This is becoming more common now, and I see it in Nordic and Lagostina wares. Some come with long warranties, but there is usually a disclaimer for abuse or accidental surface damage. When you mention 7" at 2lb or more, the lightness of a titanium alloy is not making a significant weight loss. I would do a lot of comparison shopping before getting something from an exclusive demo show. The mark up, commission, and space rent will all be quite high.

I ended up straining the red sauce out of the tub of chinese cabbage kimchi, and tossing the soggy cabbage. Next I'll try to make my own, in the fridge.

My experience is that outside of very few American establishments this is not the case. And if the population of where you are eating is under say 500,000 you may as well invite Colonel Sanders over for dinner. ← The Colonel was a stickler for quality and detail. He would visit outlets to check on his products: crunchy chicken skin, never overcooked at the bone, and cole slaw that was fresh and crispy, never watery or too sweet. The company went downhill when he sold it. I would invite him to dinner anytime, if he were around.

Just finished. Looks too dark with an espresso smell. Meaning I left it in too long. I found that covering and leaving it alone in the wok was no good, and I had to stir constantly with a large spoon. I think I left it too long, based on poor lighting, and the fact that it continues to roast when removed from the fire. I'll see how it brews tomorrow AM.

No I didn't find any. I just checked Vintages search engine, and there are 12 in Ancaster. Nowhere else. So we have to wait two weeks to get a transfer to a local store. There is quite a bit of Anselmann's Trockenbeerenauslese available, at $35. the half.

I'll be roasting it tomorrow night on my backyard patio, weather permitting. I am going to heat up a wok to smoking level, over a propane fired patio burner. Then 1/2 lb of the Costa Rican beans will go in, covered but with a stir paddle, until they are done, when popping is imminent. There will be some smoke, but I'm hoping the neighbours won't complain. They have never objected to my slow-smoking meat or fish. If this works, I'll adapt it to wok-over-charcoal next spring.

Well, Kates says that Stephen trashes Canadian service standards, worse than U.S. or European.

Whenever I have ventured into Koreatown (in Toronto) I have tended to over-buy, or get things I don't know how to use. The staff are not that helpful (once I asked for dried bonita flakes, which they had, but I was sent to the canned tuna section!). Yesterday I went to the Korean store on Parliament Street. English is not a problem there. I took home a tub of home made Kimchi, but, as a neophyte, I was disappointed. I love the spicy hot sauce, but the preserved chinese cabbage seems too watery, or waterlogged. Should I expect something crispier, or am I being too fussy?

The Saturday papers have mentioned some other bargains: Castello di Nieve Barbaresco 2002 at $22, and Anselmann Gevurztraminer Beerenauslese 2004 (Reinhessen) at $22 the half bottle. That's less than Ontario ice wine, and a superb product that we rarely see here. Beppi likes Ch Fortia (Ch de Pape) but that area has become pricey, for now. Vintages still has a future offering of 2003 Ch Fontenil, at $36. There are lots of others worth looking at this month, a plethora for a change.

Ventured into Toronto today and picked up Kimchi on Parliament St., and green Costa Rican coffee beans at St. L. Market. Both were suggestions from this board. There is no fresh roasted coffee in my area (Pickering) but I have picked up some good advice on home roasting from the coffee board, and am ready to go at it on Sat. The coffee board also educated me in the fine art of grinding, and I found that a simple $50. grinder (say Braun or Cuisinart) would not do. I did not spring for their favoured 'Rocky' at $300. plus, but I am really happy with the $150. KitchenAid. Doesn't take much, does it!

I think it is newsworthy and informative. Policies on fisheries are certainly grist for the mill here. I'd encourage you to start a new topic on this, because I'd like to ask a question but don't want to take this thread off on a tangent. ← Thanks, Pan, I'll start it in the news section, but I haven't really researched it yet.