chromedome

I'd learned how to skin a rabbit by the time I was eight. I expect I could figure out a nutria quickly enough, if the need should arise. I'd just have to make sure my daughter wasn't around, or before I could whet my knife the little bugger'd have a name and be living in her bedroom.

So, roughly what size are the pans they use to bake these things? In the picture they look to be about 3" across the top, is that right?

Works for me, I guess, as long as I can find some palatable weeds that haven't got several generations of someone's damned weedkiller built up in their tissues... I like dandelions well enough, but only pick them where I know for sure they haven't been sprayed. As for carp and nutria, well, if I ever spot 'em up here in the frozen North I'll be sure to eat them on your behalf.

Here in Canada, we have a farcical system of "voluntary" labelling of GMO foods. Since polls have us sitting at about 80% "Hell, no!", there has been little or no use of this voluntary system. In practice, of course, since our government has been unwilling to take this on, we eat a whole lot of it without knowing...just like you do. Greenpeace markets a buyer's guide to GMO/non-GMO foods, the Canadian link is here. The short version is, if you're buying major brands you're buying GMO.

In the mid-80's I was the only Caucasian living in an otherwise all-Chinese street in East Vancouver. After a month or two, I came to notice that they all, without exception, used PRB. So that's what I started buying, and I liked it a lot (still do). I've used their light and dark, and their newer "gold" line, and liked them all; haven't tried their mushroom soy. Rooster brand is my fallback; for whatever reason it's easier to find here in Edmonton (or at least my part of Edmonton). Never could adjust to Kikkoman. I guess my palate's attuned to the more robust flavour of the Chinese-style sauce.

At the end of the day, I guess we could say that if your product is of the right consistency and doesn't taste starchy, it's all good.

Karen, this is the restaurant I'm working at. It's been a little bit different for my boss, since she's the chef/owner and hasn't had the situation of working her way up through the ranks. Instead, she's one of that equally rare breed who jumped in with both feet, and made her own rules. Her first restaurant experience (aside from dining) was running one. She's an interesting person to work with. Her degree is in mathematics, her experience in computers and industrial engineering; and let me tell you that this kitchen has good "flow." New menu items will occasionally need to be tweaked to fit our physical capabilities, but mostly not. As for the whole notion of a "fire in the belly," I guess she's got a significant degree of that. Or perhaps just a complete unwillingness to be turned from her course. At any rate, twenty-four years in, she still puts in a work week that would leave me gasping. At two jobs and 55-70 hours/week I'm pushing my limits; she's 15 years older and does more than I. In her spare time she's been re-learning to ride a bicycle, because her dream is to complete a triathlon.

It's very cool stuff, fun to cook with. I used to get paid in kind by my part-time employer in Halifax, which meant literally all the organic grains and produce we could eat. I really enjoyed the opportunity to play with quinoa and other less-common "grains." My kids really got a kick out of the little "snap" texture you get with quinoa, even when it's a little overcooked (easy to do, the first couple of times. Bake with it, if that happens). I found that I really liked it in combination with cornmeal. Soak some cornmeal overnight in milk, add an equal quantity of cooked quinoa, and make waffles. Mmmmmm..... Or use the same proportions in a yeasted bread (use your usual bread recipe, use 20-30% corn/quinoa to flour; add a little fat if you go with the higher number). Soaking the corn overnight keeps the bread from being dry, and the combination of cornmeal and quinoa gives a beautifully crisp crust.

I've got a pork loin roast with the ribs on. I'm thinking that I'll stuff it (dried fruit, most likely). I'm going to put the pot on for some spaetzle in a few minutes; dig up the remaining fingerling potatoes and carrots from my garden; and pull a few of my shallots. I'm thinking maybe a Riesling/mustard sauce of some sort, but I'm enjoying the opportunity to just freewheel in the kitchen for a while so I'm in no hurry to make up my mind. I've already got a challah-style dough started with some saffron in it, I'm going to make braided rolls with that. For dessert, I dunno...maybe a couple of pies, or if the neighbours are home I'll borrow his torch and make some creme brulees. There's a football game this afternoon, but I don't know if I want to watch. Our Eskimos have been pretty shakey all year, and the powerhouse Alouettes will be in a surly mood after losing just their second game of the season last week.

The cake sounds wonderful, Abra. There's a very distinct mid-east feel to it, with the rosewater and pistachios and all. At home a lot of my food has a Middle Eastern influence. And yes, of course I'd be interested in saffron ice cream!

I guess if I ever got my own show I'd irritate the heck out of you. Watching me do the "Snoopy dance" over the taste of a really good sauce is a frequent diversion for the girls across at our coffee bar. (I really, really love what I do...)

A pint is actually 16.7 oz by weight. That's close enough for small-medium batches of pretty much anything, but will cause problems in larger quantities. For those of us in the rest of the world, it's easier, since 1kg is actually defined as the weight of 1 litre of water. At school I was taught to use equal quantities by weight for roux, equal quantities by volume for beurre manie. Dunno why.

I'd been plotting a mushroom/saffron risotto, so I'm happy to learn that this is a well-established combination. One of my neighbours picked a bunch of porcini this fall, and allegedly has intentions of giving me some (I have great neighbours...the one on the other side has promised me all the "spare bits" of the two pigs he's slaughtering soon. When that day comes about, I'll be absolutely certain to try this dish.

Didn't he start at Tribute as a line cook? I know I've read that he put in several years on the "hot side" before re-inventing himself as pastry chef. In any case, I've no doubt that he'll acquit himself well in the competition.

Oh, I don't know...I rather like this tribute to Malevsky and the Constructivists... http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/10973659..._1097367484.jpg (not poking fun at you, joiei...I've just spent too much time with art textbooks...)

As a teenager, engaging in the small-boat gillnet fishery in northern Newfoundland, breakfast was a half-dozen fishcakes, a large plateful of homemade baked beans, half a loaf of bread, and a large quantity of hot, sweet tea. You needed to fuel up pretty well for 20 hours in a 25-foot boat.

She may not rank among the world's great chefs, but my boss at my night job is a mainstay of Alberta's fine-dining scene. We're celebrating 24 years' steady growth this month, certainly many lifetimes for an independantly-owned fine dining restaurant. And our food is pretty damned good.

I make braided challah-style loaves for all the holidays, and here's Canadian Thanksgiving just around the corner...that's going to be one of the first things I try, I think. Thanks, Soba...(and Jackal).

Dry cooking methods such as roasting and sauteeing tend to bring a squash's sugars to the fore. You might want to blanch or par-cook the squash in a little bit of water before sauteeing; that would diminish the sweetness somewhat but allow you to finish the dish in the prescribed fashion. I know that pumpkin ravioli are widespread in northern Italian cuisine. Perhaps Mario deliberately uses the butternut squash alternative to take advantage of the sweeter, dryer vegetable?

Oooooohhhhh...sounds good. I seldom spring for lobster (what can I say, I'm a Nova Scotian...we sell those to the tourists), but I'm thinking it would be damned good on halibut. The Cornish cake sounds interesting, too. Potatoes. Definitely potatoes. And we just happen to have some pretty decent chorizo at work right now (where I get a staff discount on purchases, mwahhahahhaahh...). I always have almonds and cardamom in the house. That sounds really good. I'd assume you steep the saffron in the milk for a time, first? Or is this one of those dishes where the milk is simmered for a while with the aromatics? Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll let you all know what I make, and how it turned out (perhaps even pictures, if I can coax a few decent shots out of my cheesy bottom-end digital camera).

Thanks! I'll see what I can do about tracking down a copy here in the frozen North.

I'm a very happy camper, tonight. A well-connected friend Stateside has sent me a full ounce of quality Spanish saffron. I've been out to the kitchen three times in the last two hours to take off the lid and sniff it and giggle to myself in sheer delight. Sure is great to know a guy who knows a guy, isn't it? Anyway...I frequently make basmati with saffron, one of the few modest indulgences I can budget for. And of course, I'll be off to the Italian Centre in the next day or two for some Carnaroli to make myself a nice risotto; and I'll be combing favourite books and websites for ways to take advantage of this windfall. However, with the Web's finest resource right here in my home away from home, I just gotta ask...what would you folks do with an extravagant quantity of saffron?

Okay, actually I'm all scalp. Anyway, I've just received a most amazing gift from a friend Stateside...a whole ounce of quality saffron. So I'm curious to receive the wisdom of the assembled multitude as it applies to saffron in the bakeshop. I've used it in a shortbread cookie once, and as an accent in a creme anglaise, but that's about it. Anybody got any favourites they'd like to share?

Hi, Peter! I'm a newly-minted cook and baker in Alberta, Canada (hard wheat heartland). Newly-minted in the professional sense, anyway, as I'd been cooking and baking at home for 25 years before settling on a career change. I found a copy of "Apprentice" in the library at my school and absolutely devoured it (I'm a bear for the science underlying it all...read McGee in one marathon session). Anyway... My first loaf came about when I was 15. I'd gone away to university and Mom was just too far away to keep me supplied anymore, so I decided to make my own. After all I'd watched her enough times, hadn't I? I got it pretty much right, except for shortening. I knew she put some into her bread, but I didn't know how much...so I guessed, and put in half a pound for a two-loaf batch. That bread was well and truly shortened, let me tell you! I didn't let that deter me, though, and within a month was baking acceptable bread. Over the years I've continued to expand my knowledge and try different ways of doing things (most recently your adaptation of "pain a l'ancienne," which my family just loves). What's the story of your first loaf? Second question: so far I've only read "Apprentice" and "C&C" (both great reads, btw, above and beyond the sterling information they contain). Which of your earlier books delve into your spiritual underpinnings? I am an adult convert to Christianity (late 20's), but even before that found bread-baking to be a profoundly spiritual experience. Few shared experiences are more human than breaking bread together, after all! I'd be interested to read more of how your spiritual and culinary lives shaped and enriched each other.

As a former consumer of 6-8 litres/day, I could have been their test population all by myself! My habit for some years had been to lay off for a day or two whenever my kidneys bitched at me, and drink lots of water. Back in 1994, though, when I attempted to do this, I ran into a serious withdrawal "thing." For three whole days I was erratic, incoherent, and nauseous. I couldn't phrase a complete sentence to save my life (a bad thing in a commission salesman), I suffered hot and cold flashes, blinding headaches, the whole nine yards. If it has that tight a grip on me, I reasoned, it has to go! So I went cold turkey. I stayed off coffee for two whole years, and re-introduced it very gradually (so hard to socialize in North America without coffee). Today, I generally drink about three or four coffees a day, which I feel to be entirely moderate for a person who works the hours I do. Edited to add: those three or four cups of coffee are balanced by 3-5 litres of cold water/day.