fiftydollars

Hello, I recently purchased some salt-packed anchovies from the good folks at Molinari's in North Beach (San Francisco). They did not have them refrigerated, so when I brought them home I put them directly in the pantry. Now that I need to use them, I notice that the label says refrigeration is required... Should I toss 'em? Here is a photo of the huge can of anchovies:

I like ham and cheese... especially Bayonne and Emmentaler.

Good luck with this topic. I have tried to crack the Italian Beef code before, but have had limited success.

It is, unless you happen to have a really good source for milk fat. I use manufacturing cream from Berkeley Farms, which I can usually get for about $4-$5/half gallon. That's a lot more expensive than typical butter and close to the cost of the fancy-pants brands. But it gives me something to do, I guess. Hobbies can be expensive. ← Is the Berkeley farms manufacturing cream ultra-pasteurized? I started making butter because the milkman brings us milk and cream every week and it's easier to make butter, creme fraiche, and buttermilk when we get behind than it is to remember to call and change our order. ← Berkeley Farms' manufacturing cream is only pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized. I also make butter to get rid of excess cream. I like the manufacturing cream because it is not ultra-pasteurized and thickens nicely when combined with Straus' Bavarian buttermilk.

It is, unless you happen to have a really good source for milk fat. I use manufacturing cream from Berkeley Farms, which I can usually get for about $4-$5/half gallon. That's a lot more expensive than typical butter and close to the cost of the fancy-pants brands. But it gives me something to do, I guess. Hobbies can be expensive.

I love their fermented tea leaf salad.

There is a place here in San Francisco, Yoogo, that makes a Budweiser gelato. I've sampled it and it's pretty interesting...

America by Paul Simon

Very interesting. I have used Baker's, especially the unsweetened, many times because it's cheap, available, and usually just what the recipe called for. Maybe I'll have to rethink this a bit.

We still get some large abalone up here, but you have to do a little swimming.

Bad boy San Francisco Super Chef, Roland Passot, makes an awesome Fondue Savoyard that has a lot of goat in it. It also has blue cheese along with brie or camembert. Anyway... it is EFFIN AWESOME!! Since trying it a while back I have had no fear of making fondue with whatever kind of cheese is on hand. Alton Brown also did a show on cheese that included a recipe for a cheese spread or cheese ball. The ingredients are wine, garlic, and a pound of whatever cheese you might have in your refrigerator. Well I've done some experimentation and I am prepared to announce that when melted, this makes a damned good base for a fondue (just needs some more wine... and maybe kirschwasser...if you're into that).

Absolutely - the pick-a-size is the most ingenious paper towel ever invented. Saves a ton of paper and absorption isn't too bad either. ← I am not really a fan of the pick-a-size concept because I inevitably seem to "pick" the wrong size. I always seem to pull too little or too much. Often instead of getting two sheets, which would make a regular size sheet, I pull three resulting in about 50% more towel than I need.

Another good stop in the Mission is Mi Lindo Peru on Mission between Valencia and 29th. This place has some solid Peruvian food and fast, friendly service. They also have a fancy-pants outpost in the Marina, but I prefer the original. They have lomo/pollo saltado, various ceviches, a soup whos name I cannot recall but which has some seafood in a cilantro flavored broth that is very good, and other Peruvian specialties. Of course, if you want to try Peruvian in the Mission you could also go to fancier, more famous places like a certain one at Valencia and 16th that gets a lot of attention, but often delivers poorly albeit in a very trendy space often filled with techno music.

El Castillito is great! I often go to the one in the Civic Center, which is near the intersection of Larkin and Golden Gate.

As one who has long lived by the taco code, I would recommend a visit to the Mission and, specifically, a visit to La Taqueria near 25th and Mission.

Maybe this is not your idea of fun, but I would go to The (legendary) Berkeley Bowl. I still get choked up when I talk about it and maybe someday I will move back to the East Bay just to be closer. They have the most awesome produce section I have ever seen at any supermarket-type place. Need garlic? They probably have at least 5 differen types. Mushrooms? They often have fancy-pants varieties like chanterelles and morels for under $15/lb (that's dirt cheap 'round these parts). They also sell wine, cheese, bread, and have a decent fish and meat counter. Anyway, I guess visiting grocery stores is not for everyone. But I can't be the only one here that always goes to a grocery store (at least one...) at any city I visit.

or or That's not even a sentence.It's such a shame -- Bourdain is a talented, witty, sharp writer when he tries. I guess he didn't feel the need to try. ← He's no William Safire, but Big Tone is definitely not phoning it in. You may want to consult your sources, but unless there has been some editing since you first read the post, the grammar and spelling are not bad. His usage of punctuation, italics, and odd tenses are part of what makes him so fun to read... well, that and the constant references to various forms of sodomy and McFunsters.

Is this stuff off the market? I had noticed that I couldn't find it the last time I looked.

It is meant to kill bacteria and destroy enzymes in the milk that might have an effect on the recipe. With pasteurized milk it is not necessary. One thing that it will still do is help in the extraction of flavors; a vanilla bean is just one example. ← Don't you also sometimes scald the milk (or cream) so that you can temper the eggs when making a custard? ← The reason for tempering the eggs is because after scalding, the milk is presumably hot enough to curdle them. If you don't heat the milk before you add the eggs, you can dump them into the milk all at once and there should be no reason to temper them.

I hate to admit that I learned something useful from Martha Stewart, but I started making vanilla extract after she showed me how on her FoodTV program (pre-prison). She just said to add a couple of beans to good vodka and wait 6 months (agitating occasionally). Well my first batch with just two was a disappointment as an extract (weak, bad color), but it was great in cocktails. Anyway, now I still use good vodka, but I add a lot more beans. The extract is suitable for baking, but it really shines as a cocktail ingredient. As far as decently priced vanilla extract, I go to Trader Joe's or Costco. I wish TJ still sold Massey-Nielsen. They now carry two or three different flavors along with some vanilla paste and other vanilla products and they are not all so good. There is one that I like, but I have to sniff at it to know which one that is. Costco's is pretty good... and sort of cheap.

Yes... Even in the food processor it can take 4-5 minutes for the cream to separate into actual butter and whey. You can't whip cream into butter without putting in some serious effort far beyond what is needed to make whipped cream. And I would argue that you can't really do it with your average whisk and bowl setup without the aid of performance enhancing drugs.

At $3.99 for shallots at a regular store, I'll take the Asian market shallots any day.

If you are looking for an alternative to Le Creuset, Staub is a good option. I wish I had looked into it before I bought too much LC. It has way better handles and the dark interiors, while a little harder to clean, brown better and don't stain like LC's cream-colored interiors do.

I agree with adding the yolk. It makes a big difference. Not enough to risk exposing a bunch of pregnant women to salmonella, but enough to warrant buying pasteurized eggs or pasteurizing your own. I'm not surprised that Ina Garten is lifting recipes. I've always suspected her of as much... and I also think Jeffrey is cheating.

I love this! It's a great move from TK. It almost makes up for the ridiculous method he advocates for making risotto. I eat risotto by itself although I have been known to put in a little lobster in it or steaming hot globs of seared foie gras just to gussy it up a bit.