jayt90

At 7 PM I've had 1 glass with a chunk of stinky aged Stilton. The wine is exceptional at the price, although good ones from Ca. and Aus. keep arriving. It does everything Parker suggests, except for the long heady finish. I'll try to get another 6 bottles on Sat., which should be OK for the 5-7 years of maturity promised. It comes from a co-op, but is well made. Subtle scents and deep flavours, rather than the strong hit I would expect from, say a Chateauneuf de Pape.

The Tarragona jug wine was light bodied and harsh, typical of overproduced garnacha. I picked up six bottles of the Montsant 'Mas Donis' 2003 this morning (pre-release, and easy to arrange) and I expect to try one for dinner today, to see whether I should get in the cattle line for more on Sat. AM. I should be able to report here later this evening. I think Parker has a good nose for bargains (his 'sleepers') and his ratings are often more genuine than other critics who cluster in the 87-92 range.

During the recent Canadian election, one of the candidates (Stephen Harper, who won a minority) promised that Canadian patrol ships would arrest foreign fishing vessels in the Grand Banks area for overfishing, or dumping unwanted fish. Significantly, the patrols would be stepped up from the present level, and would go beyond the country's 200 mile limit. It will be interesting to see if Harper can deliver. If he does, it will help the severe overfishing and dumping in the western Atlantic. (I'm hoping this post is newsworthy and informative, rather than political).

Don't know the wine but thanks for the recommendation.One geographical point - Tarragona is a couple hours southwest of Barcelona along the coast, but still in Catalunya and therefore northeast Spain, not the south. Incidentally, I also did a quick search. The wine's from Montsant - a new DO where lots of 'new world' style wines are being made. It's beside the DOC Priorat. ← Thanks Kev. I just checked Hugh J's Pocket Encylopedia, and see that these wines, Montsant, Priorat, and Tarragona are near the Penedes, which has sent a lot of wine here for quite awhile. Hugh says the whole area got an influx of development money when Spain joined E.C. I remember buying Tarragona jug wine from Astor Wines in my student days in N.Y.C. It was priced like a soft drink, and was one of our favourite forms of rotgut.

LCBO Vintages has a lot happening starting Sat. Feb. 4. A sale of overstocked wines, and a new release with a lot to offer. Top on my list would have to be a red wine of the month, Capcanes 'Mas Donis'\ Barrica 2003, $15.95 I believe it is from southern Spain, near Tarragona. It comes with a rave review from Robert Parker: "Amazing fragrance, nobility, complexity, medium to full body, a long, concentrated and heady finish. Score 92." If you want some, talk to a Vintages consultant before Saturday. The last time they offered a low price blockbuster, as a wine of the month, most stores sold out within an hour or two on Saturday morning.

I think of potted as having a jar of meat preserved and sealed with a layer of butter or lard. Elizabeth David mentions this a lot, and I'll have to check whether herring ever got potted in her books.

A Wine Steward might be expected to discuss wines briefly, but this person seems to have been overly involved and backed himself into a corner. I think he was wrong, too, especially if one of the choices was an old vines Zin. No one in the service business should get pushy, or ignorant, or make the buyer look bad. My expectation as a consumer, or as a server, is that 'the customer is always right, even when they're wrong'. (This got me into a lot of hot water on the Pastry Board a few months ago. Someone (Tan) actually called me a troll for being pro-sumer!)

What we are not told, by the press, on the avian flu issue, is that it has been around since the mid nineties and has not mutated. People who get the disease have handled chickens, or lived in the same area as the birds. In fact, some of the living conditions would be appalling to many Americans. The big worry is that it could mutate to a form affecting humans, but it has not demonstrated this at all. By the way, I lived through the Hong Kong Flu in 1968 and was flat on my back for 7 days. I have not had that kind of inflenza since.

You can soak it in coconut milk and dust the whole fish with curry powder, salt and pepper then fry it. ← Even though this fish comes from Asia, it looks like Pompano, from the Atlantic Gulfstream. It hasn't been sold in my area for a few years, but the photo brings back fond memories...

This oil, Canola, is no more industrial garbage than olive oil, which has a periodic habit of adulteration. In fact there is such a thing as "canola". It is a light, tasteless and flavourless oil made from rapeseed with a favourable mix of nutritional properties. These are usually listed on the label. The name "Canola" was developed by the rapeseed oil industry in western Canada when it was found to be more marketable than the name rapeseed. In my nearest market, $2.95 will get 3 litres of Canola.

Boy is all this confusing!!!! or what? the fact remains that the number of cases of both infected animals and more importantly humans getting the disease from BSE is miniscule! between this and bird flu.... by the way, I believe that more people get sick from eating unwashed vegetables that from either BSE or bird flu. " There is a vast difference between getting sick from unwashed vegs, and dying a slow, raging death from BSE, ten years later. But both diseases are preventable.

There is little information other than short radio reports, but apparently Japan is banning all U.S. beef based on a higher likelihood of BSE in a shipment from New York. Canada is not affected by the ban. Does anyone have more information?

The pan may be too light to work well at high heat. A cast iron pan will do the trick, well heated over a flame or hot burner, until the oil moves or shimmers, as suggested above. Spraying the pan with Pam as it heats up, but before oiling, may help in making the flip-over... I always use a thermometer and a finger press to gague doneness. I like it done to a state of hot flakiness, but not overdone, at 140F.

There is a large mustard packing house in Hamilton which grinds, blends and packages many types of mustard flour and seeds, purchased from the Canadian market. Much of it goes to Europe, and I'm not surprised that Coleman's and Keenes is used by Chinese restaurants, though probably not on the mainland. A lot of European mustard starts out in the Hamilton plant.

Thanks, Jack, for your really good summary of what the fresh state of this type of fish should be. I think I know what to look for when it is offered fresh here in the midlands. I have one other question: Is there any truth or meaning to the notion that rounds can be cut from the wing, and presented as scallops, or something similar to scallops?

Jack, one of the issues in the earlier thread was about the freshness and smell of skate. Since you have access to very fresh skate, can you tell us if there is a smell of ammonia from the skin? or does this develop with a few days age? Knowing the awnswer would help me in Ont.

When I google D.E. along with vermiculite, and asbestosis there is plenty of information linking all three. The best advice from these sites is to purchase D.E. that has been certified safe for humans, on the package.

Yams make a good addition to fluffy mashed potatoes, just as parsnips do. Boil all three separately and proceed as for mashed paotatoes, adding a very small amount of cream or milk. I use a potato ricer to eliminate lumps.

Lowering the temp of a wine storage area to to 32-40F is OK if the temperature reduction is slow, over a week or so. My cellar goes down to 40F every winter, and I have good wines back to 1982. I would personally look carefully at diatomaceous earth, sometimes sold as vermiculite. While it has many great properties it is linked to asbestosis and is often found where asbestos was mined. I haven't seen it sold as a powder, like pyrethrin.

Amazingly, there is commercial for CLR (calcium lime remover?) that suggests using this foul smelling chemical to clean deposits from the drip coffemaker. Haven't tried it, and probably won't, as it is slightly oily, and would need a lot of clear water loads afterward.

I made lots of Finnan Haddie chowder as a student. There was a standard milk/onion/potato recipe right on the can from A&P. The cans, from Nova Scotia, and the A&P are long gone, but smoked haddock or smoked cod from the fish market would work. Even salt cod, which could be livened up with a can of red Arctic Clams, also from Nova Scotia.

It's a good use for bad wine!

Both of your posts have been very informative, and I think I will try roasting with a wok, a cover, an oven thermometer, and a whisk, on my patio with a propane burner, when the weather permits. It will take a couple of weeks to travel from my suburban location to downtown Toronto to get a selection of beans, but I'll report to this thread when the quest for fresh coffee is completed, or at least bettered. In the past I have found cast iron woks in Chinese stores, for $15-20. Would this work better than a steel wok?

What size are the can's? Btw, Loblaw's has Pork shoulders( aka boston Butt's in the US) on sale for 99cents a lb, bone in and 1.49 boneless. Chicken thighs are also on sale for 99lb. Randi ← That's the best price I've seen recently for chicken legs or thighs. The combined unit,back attached, used to go for 70-80 cents/lb. but I haven't seen that recently. Many stores are sellng Halal chicken and parts at the same price as regular chicken. I wonder if the additional religious practice produces a better bird, with more guaranteed quality.

I found two good bargains on my weekend shopping. Price Chopper has $1/lb. leg of pork or N.Y. pork shoulder, in cryovac, They are about 20 lb. I got one of each for hand rubbing and smoking in about a month. Costco reduced a stale- dated St. Agur blue cheese (Auvergne) to $16/kg. They are dated Jan. 14 so they'll be withdrawn soon, but I got several to shrink wrap and freeze.