Daniel

This stuff is awesome and I have been eating this my whole life.. I think its a PDUTCH thing because my mother always has it around.. This and some oyster filling I am a happy guy,..

I like Trout with Smoke..Either smoked itself, or wrapped in a smokey bacon.. Smoke...

Made the Venison Tartare from the book.. I really enjoyed it.. I had frozen meat so when it was almost defrosted, I took the time to dice it into small cubes.. Yesteday I had started soaking the tartare "spice" as he calls it.. It was excellent.. I had not had it at the restaurant but, I think I might prefer venison to steak.. Its almost like a cross between tuna and beef if thats possible.. The bright red meat is a lot more appealing to me and the meat held its shape.. Great stuff.. I did not throw in the parsley because I served a watercress salad on the side.. Used the how to make the cone instructions also..

I had the cassoulet two weeks ago.. I really enjoyed it too. Actually I will put my review of the restaurant here.. I felt that it was sweeter then any version I have had.. I think he made it really a local dish by perhaps adding maple syrup to his beans.. We started with the Foie Gras Poutine and the APDC Salad.. Hand cut french fries, with cheese curd, a Poutine Sauce with Foie Gras, Eggs, and Cream blended in.. And then topped with this huge chunk of Foie.. I am thinking it weighed somewhere around 3 ounces.. It was the type of thing where we split this dish and we found it difficult to finish the Foie.. And the sauce was just so rich..Mind you I made this dish the Tuesday I got home this week.. The salad was bitter greens with the foot of the pig (meat and cartiledge)mixed with mustard and breaded and fried.. This was something very similiar to a salad I had in France.. I wonder if it was wrapped in Suet.. I have the cookbook so will double check.. But when you cracked opened this hot fried square, the meat and collagen had liquefied and spilled out.. It was delicious.. There were walnuts as well.. However, if I have one criticism, however small, its real.. They put these really sickly looking tomatoes on the plate.. Granted, good luck finding a tomato this time of year, but then dont use them.. I have seen ok looking cherry tomatoes, or find something else.. I didnt eat them.. This is the liquid coming out.. For our main we split the Cassoulet.. Again, there were so many choices, the Duck in the Can, Foie Gras stuffed pigs foot, really, anything from the menu sounded awesome.. Our waiter suggested the Cassoulet, a special that is normally not on the menu.. Mind you, at this point, I was so Foie'd to my Face, I was ready to go to bed.. It was delicious.. Sweeter then I am use to.. I am willing to bet he used maple syrup in the dish.. Making this a truly Canadian dish.. It was really good.. The duck was leg sticking up was perfect.. There was all sorts of really tasty sausage.. The sweetness through me off for a little, but I adjusted quickly.. At this point, we got a new waiter.. The guy who forgot our pre-app left with out saying good bye or just letting us know.. We got a really cool waiter.. In fact, at this point we had ordered coffee and some shots of Jameson.. He brought over a Shaker with three shot glass and decided to take a few shots of this drink he made.. It was really good.. We then went to coffee, whiskey and This was that maple syrup pudding.. Fantastic.. I made this the Tuesday I got home also.. Bite: The place was really great.. I love his food, I love his vision, I love his boldness.. But besides being daring or different, the food is really good.. We sat and had a few more drinks after dinner.. And on our way out we purchased his cookbook.. Which by the way is the most entertaining cook book I have ever seen...It was surreal to think, we woke up in New York this morning, worked almost a full day and here we are in another country with people speaking French all around us by dinner... So cool.. It was now about 130 am.. We went back to the hotel and hung at the bar for a little and read the cookbook we just purchased.

What are you thinking like a pepper jelly or something..

Just unwrap the camambert cut the wheel into fours and wrap in two sheets of phyllo, then fry in butter on all sides..

Jelly Beans and Ketchup. God forbid. I can not even *believe* I have to put these two things in the same sentence, Daniel. It makes my head, heart, and stomach hurt, all at the same time. But excuse me for a moment, I have to go make the kids' lunches for school. Somehow, I forgot to say "just say no" somewhere along the line. ← I also think if you look at Clinton, Jelly Beans and Ketchup is a lot better then Mc Donalds and cigars..

Speaking of bad... Wasn't it the Reagan administration that classified KETCHUP as a vegetable?? ← Great catch-phrase. . .that dinner table thing. . .wonderful to roll around on the tongue and there is such a sense of Family Values that sort of land on one while doing so! Ahhhh. . .wonderful feeling. But to me, it doesnt seem to hold up to close examination. Maybe if they'd added a word or two here or there. . .sort of to prove it. But then again, too much ketchup could have left their brains fried. One never knows. ← I think it says and means a lot.. Definitely better then just say NO.. And you forgot to add that Reagan was all about the Jelly Beans.. I guess thats why I said I dont mind the canned spaghetti, I was more upset about kids eating alone..

Bye the way Bruce.. I watched the episode you are referring to, it was really funny..

I think that this conversation needs to define the age of the children being controlled.. I am sorry but we have a 6 year old and she has no say and no control of anything that goes into her safety, her nutrition, or her welfare.. Sure we take in to account what she likes and we will leave off pepper or spice for her.. But in terms of her not liking a vegetable or something.. Well thats too bad.. The same goes for having to read a book every night after dinner.. Does she want to? Hell no.. In fact she cried non stop the first three nights.. But thats what we have to do, we need to make her do things thats good for her despite it not being the most fun option.. She also has no say in her bed time 730 every night, the same goes for her getting toys, or brushing her teeth, wearing a jacket, crossing the street, and the list goes on.. By the time she is a young adult and as she grows up, this will obviously change.. But you can not treat a 6 year old like a teenager..

Hey thanks Bethala.. Poutine might be the best invention ever.. It takes a Disco or Cheese Fry and Gravy to a new level.. I am already looking forward to the Poutine I am going to make the day after Thanksgiving..

Nice.. I bought a few pigs feet this weekend.. Would love to know if anyone did the stuffed foot yet?

That looks great Chufi.. Whats the cream in the lentil soup? Mondays selection is..... A Return to Coooking by Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman..

It's possible that I've done a very poor job of expressing myself, Daniel, but if you read what I've posted so far, my sympathies indeed have been with the poor as well as with several other groups. But the poor of yesteryear that created some of those great dishes you hint at are not the poor of today, in ways. Those dishes were created for the most part in agricultural economies that produced certain items that certain groups within the economy then had access to. Neccesity being the mother of invention, and human beings being a peculiarly inventive breed, and one of those groups being the woman in the kitchen with what was sitting before her that needed to be made into a meal, some absolute marvels were wrought. I'm not sure that I read in the original article that children were eating canned spaghetti and crap *alone*, but it may be there by inference. What bothers you most about that scenario - the fact of the "canned spaghetti and crap" that is being eaten by kids or the fact that kids are eating alone, or that the parents are eating something else. . .(?) I'm curious to find what seems the worst to you in this picture. . . ← Obviously what bothers me most is, how I interpret it, was the fact that kids are eating alone..I looked at it like they are feading there children, not themselves.. But I could be wrong..I mean canned spaghetti is pretty gross, but for me it shows a break down of a family leaving a kid to eat alone.. Ronald Regan said "All great change in America starts at the dinner table.." I guess this means both bad and good.. I also agree with you about the poor of yester year and the poor of today.. I believe that the poor back in the day of the Depression or in other times in our history did not have opportunities even if they were hard working people.. The poor of today in this country could be considered a lot more lazy and apathetic then the people who legitimately lacked a fair shake to better themselves.. But before I start a fight about how there are some poor people who are hardworking and everything else, I understand, I am speaking in general about the poor.. Considering todays Economy verses ones through out our history, I.E Great Depression, or Racism, Classism, or Discrimination in general the poor of today have chances that the poor of the past would have dreamed of.. For Milagai to say that there isnt good food choices in poor nieghborhoods because the refrigerated space goes to beer (though I do a lot of food shopping in poor neighborhoods).. Says to me, they are stocking beer because there isnt a huge demand for meat.. I blame the customer, not the person providing a product to a willing market..

Now thats funny.

I don't quite "get it" either, Milagai. *But* there are many people to whom food is not something of major importance in their lives - among the working poor, it may be that the time it takes them just to keep body and soul together, and perhaps trying to get an education in order to move forward, sucks up any energy there may be to find out more about different ways with food. Among the middle-class here (this middle class that is enormous in size), there's something going on with status and foodie-ism that has to do with "lifestyle aspirations" sometimes rather than other things that might have to do with the actual food itself. Does that translate into good things or bad things in the long run? Both, it seems to me. I actually have to go do some other things but later I'll post some more from Rachel's article on Culinary Modernism. Interesting stuff to muse upon. ← Lets not pick on the poor.. If it werent for the poor and the starving some of the best dishes in the world would never be.. , My problem with the article is it doesnt seem like the parents are eating this canned spaghetti and crap with there kids.. Its bad enough they have to eat garbage, but they eat it alone.. Thats sad..

Hells yes.. Just heat it up to a boil..

Dinner did go really well, thank you again for all your help.. We started with an apple rutabaga soup with sweet potato, butter nut squash cream and some mape syrup.. This was like Fall in a bowl.. I saw Patrick Connell make this on my favorite cooking show Chefs A Field.. Its really simple and so complex.. Then we moved on to a salad of organic lettuces we purchased at Union Square Market by me in Manhattan.. Served this with Camambert Cheese wrapped in Phyllo and then fried in butter.. Next was homemade beet ravioli served in a butter and poppy seed sauce.. The beet filling was mixed wiith ricotta cheese.. At this point our pregnant guest was full and eagerly awaiting dessert.. This was a duck consume with duck breast and scallions cooked with sambuca.. In the stock I also put in fried duck cracklings.. Here is the dessert plate.. Top left is Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream.. Bottom left is this maple cream cheese cake from the Babbo CookBook.. Bottom right is a Butternut Squash Ice Cream Sandwich on Ginger Cookies rolled in toasted Granola.. Top right is challah bread pudding.. We normally make a whiskey sauce, but we did not this time.. She left with a huge tray of bread pudding.. Thank you again for all your suggestions.. I really appreciate all the help...

Wow.. What a wonderful and detailed write up.. I wish I had seen this before I took my trip.. I will definitely use this as a guide for future visits..

Sorry I havent gotten back to everyone.. Its just that I did not grow up eating Mexican Food.. My limited experience has been in the ChiChi's growing up or several taco's for a dollar at places in college.. I dont think I have ever made a salsa before.. So, it was a bit scary not knowing how the dishes I was making were going to taste.. But I think thats why I wanted to do the roulette.. Its to force yourself to try new things.. I made a chipotle pork taco with this sun dried tomato salasa.. This involved getting chipotle from a can in adobo sauce.. Blending it and rubbing it on flattened out pork loin.. I let it marinate for a day.. The salsa recipe called for soaking sun dried tomatoes in orange juice and then adding olives and onions.. I did not attempt to make tortillas.. Although next time I will.. I also made shrimp in a green almond sauce.. This called for blending radish greens, parsley,cilantro, with almonds chicken stock and peppers.. It cooked on the stove for awhile and I added grilled shrimp to the mixture.. The dish was creamy and spicy.. I really enjoyed it.. For dessert we made the churro dough but were too full to think about deep frying dough.. All in all I am happy I got over my fear of Mexican Cooking.. I look forward to looking through more of his recipes.. I think this book is a keeper..

I forgot to add that I did also try the onion rings.. I was not a big fan.. Mine were not fried well, they were really greasy.. I also did not like the sweetened crust they had.. It was a similar version of the onion rings at the Clover Grill in New Orleans...One thing I did see was the people next to me got the wings.. They look pretty good..

Thanks for the clarification..

Ok.. Just so I have this correct.. A Ham Hock is the same thing as a Ham Shank? A trotter is a pigs foot?

Was at the Market Today some guy is selling this gorgeous Radfichio Treviso and Cardoons..We then purchased some frozen while boar chops from the same guy.. We also purchased some fresh guine hen, some fresh pigs feat and hocks.. Then there was the other guy selling these heirloom as it called it Rutabaga.. He said the strain can be dated back to the civil war...He also had some other really ugly carrots and root vegetables that probably tasted awesome.. They also had this amazing looking ricotta I had to buy...

After going to Union Square Market, we walked over a few blocks to BLT Burger.. We got there a little after noon and we were some of the only patrons.. By the time we left, the place was packed.. I ordered a Classic Burger with Bacon and Cheddar...We also ordered the chili waffle fries, I got a root beer float with carmel sauce and vanilla ice cream (Brown Cow).. The little one ordered a child's grilled cheese which came with fries.. She also ordered a chocolate milkshake.. My overall feeling is that the place is just ok... Its not great, its not bad, its really just average... The chili cheese waffle fries were the least impressive thing.. The chili was almost flavorless ..I also didnt like the fact that there was corn in the chili. The only time there was a good bite was when you added one of the very few sliced pickled jalapenos.. The burger was cooked to my specifications, the bacon was crispy and thin.. The bun was fresh and my favorite part of the sandwich.. But nothing moved me.. My favorite part of the meal was the milkshake and my float.. You can tell there was an emphasis put on the ice cream drinks both adult and regular.. I am with the people who wonder how this will affect the BLT brand name. Its not a classy burger so people coming there thinking its going to be are disappointed.. And by having an average burger place with the same, wont it cheapen the reputation of the higher end places? In the end, I really dont care... I just know If I had to eat in that hood, I would rather grab a burger at Joe Jr a half a block up the street.. And with deeper thought, I am sure a couple of other choices would quickly come to mind.. I think this place is pointless.. Except maybe that burger and shakes for three people came to 50 bucks..