bleudauvergne

I guess I can accept that. The sommelier brought out an exquisite 2001 Domain de Tours vin de pays de Vaucluse and poured us each a generous glass. The nose on this wine was spectacular. Flowers bloomed just before we fell into a vast open space and we were buoyantly caught in a lingering net which evolved slowly, starting in a reverie of caramel de beurre salé that eventually ended in emotions I hadn’t felt in ages, a certain adolescent shame, even. (really.)

That's what I call livin' large, Tryska. Here's to foreign rommates, mine was from Taiwan. Jenny Li. We called her the Fang. (because her name was Fang but it didn't show up in her western name somehow). She cooked up some good stuff in those days. But the best thing was the tea.

Prunes!! If you haven't tried it, you must. 400F/200C oven, pitted prunes, and bacon, till sizzling. I'd serve them to the most honored of guests.

Ms. Victoria! Spilled sugar is a sign that the most excellent opportunity is about to arise! Keep your eyes open because it will come up any time! Hooray!

Hi Emily - can I ask you what you stuffed them with?

Paul. Consider the simple onion soup, as mentioned in Raffi's bread thread. It raises the humble onion to the status of, of, star of the soup - which is pretty high on my list.

Just wonderful.

So many disasters not enough bandwidth. My college years were all just one big experiment with an old gas stove. My favorite cookbook: 365 Ways to Cook Chicken. Lessons learned: Cucumber cooked with fish does not make it taste fresher. A1 steak sauce in lasagne gives a strange gamey taste. "pasta salad" made with ramen noodles can be used sucessfully as a door stop. Ah, the memories. The hundreds of glasses containing things with mold growing on them, which I insisted were experiments not to be touched. (pride) The innocent subsitutions, resulting in enormous waste. The waste. It was horrible. But what did I subsist on from day to day? Beans, lentils, pasta, oats and tea, and bagels with cream cheese, ketchup, and salt.

And I was worried because he says he rarely cooks these days...

Good night Keifel and Ms. Victoria, thank you ever so much for the photo of the sugars!

We used to have this at home a lot. Nothing better than cheese grits made with New York State XXXsharp Cheddar! I know it sounds odd but I grew up in a southern family that had moved to central New York.

Here in France they've got a person in produce who identifies, weighs it, and marks it in the produce section. I once got in a tiff with one of these people who insisted that I put one apple into a plastic bag to be sealed instead of tagging the apple directly, to avoid me transferring the tag to a more expensive fruit. What kind of criminal did he think I was? The produce workers are sooo paranoid about people trying to get away with porcinis for portabella. It's crazy.

Dear Mighty Quinn, I'm sorry for your loss. However I'm happy to be the 179th person to look at this post and the third let you know. Congratulations on beginning your pasta making adventure. I too was inspired to take the plunge after reading Moby's pasta class. It tastes so much better than store bought, don't you agree? We have been making it with semoule fine to make ours and it's just outa this world.

Hmmm. Washed grey sugar. I'm officially obscessed. edited to ask, can I have a picture? Oh, and don't mind us, Keifel, we are like this all the time. You'll get used to it.

Chinese vinegar is the dark one that is normally used for dipping jiaozi. Boil ribs for one hour with herbs. Marinate for as long as 1 day. Remove the ribs, incorporate corn starch to the marinade, and paint on the ribs while they cook (either under the broiler or on the barbeque) to make a thick brown sweet/sour sauce.

My pleasure. And also a pleasure to see such a great letter and attention to customer service coming from Formagerie Hamel. It gave me a feeling that this world has hope on a Monday afternoon.

I understand where your coming from wanting to divide a recipe so you don't have waste. Honestly I don't think it's a good idea at all, I think you won't be able to judge these recipes properly. When you work with too little or too much in your bowl it does effect quality. Your more likely to over-mix or under-mix, which to a cake recipe, technique can make or break it. Any possiblity you could share your over flow with a neighbor? I've done that and they LOVED getting a gift and wanted to participate in rating them too. Otherwise most cakes freeze very well. Yes, I completely understand, some recipes divide well, and some do not, like cakes. My neighbors have two children so I'm sure they'll love them. I am going to go to get the good eggs (click to see last saturday's lunch where I compared market eggs) for these cakes at the Wednesday night market tomorrow.

Translation: Dear Sir, One of our customers had the kindness to alert us to your dissatisfaction with Époisses that you bought in our shop last March. We are truly sorry. You mention that your cheese was far too mature and, without wanting to question your assertions, I acknowledge you that that astonishes me for two reasons: initially because of the care which we deploy to ensure a very tight quality control of our products and secondly because our advisers are accustomed assuring that the customer receives a cheese adapted to his tastes. It should be also known that Époisses Gaugry is distinguished from Époisses Berthault by certain characteristics. Initially Époisses Berthault is manufactured with pasteurized milk whereas the époisses Gaugry is with uncooked milk. This particular cheese features a darker and wetter crust as well as a more pronounced flavor than the Berthault that you are accustomed to consuming. I think however, judging by your description, that your Époisses has unfortunately slipped through our vigilance and that it was victim of a bad rotation. Whatever happened, the fact that you were dissatisfied still remains. We thus present all our apology to you and ask you to send us your information in order to obtain a refund. Here is my contact information: Ian Picard, vice-président et affineur FROMAGERIE HAMEL 515 272-1161

OK general rating system 1-5. May I divide these recipes in half to make smaller cakes?

Mayonnaise Maison (other recipes may differ): If you have a blender: 1 fresh egg, 1/4 t. dried mustard, 1/2 t. salt, a grind of pepper, and 2 t. vinegar or a mixture of lemon juice and vinegar. Whir in blender for 2 seconds. THen on the lowest speed you can, pour 1/2 cup of oil in a thin stream into the blender while it's going. You should be able to incorporate all of the oil in a matter of a minute or two. I use a mixture of salad oil & evoo, or just evoo. Add chopped herbs by hand afterwards if you are going to do that instead of mixing them in the blender. Add mashed garlic for an aioli, paprika and saffron to put on croutons for fish soup, the possibilities are endless. You'll never go back to the store bought stuff. It's good in the frigo for a few days after that. By hand, use egg yolk only, and whip with a whisk while incorporating the oil. This takes a bit longer than blender method but it gives a very good result. Edited to say when I make the mayo I don't measure the oil anymore, I just pour it in a thin stream until it takes on the consistency I want.

Well about cooking over steam, I made a creme au buerre a l'anglaise (which I'm pretty sure is buttercream) this weekend for a birthday cake and actually put my bowl nesting in the pan, above the boiling water, with the steam hitting it, as discussed. It took about 5 times as long as it normally does and I can see that using this method there is barely any possibility of curdling the custard, that's for sure. Dying of boredome, yes. Although it took a long time, it was fulfilling in a strange sort of way, especially when it was ready. I have ruined custards more than once, now it's foolproof.

Hi Jenny - For the soup, to adapt the recipe you posted above, to accomodate canned beans, I would omit any salt in the recipe, due to whatever's already in the canned beans, or just be really careful seasoning it at the end. For the recipe that you posted, I'd cook everything but the beans in the stock, reducing the liquid to 1/2 it's volume, and then cover and slowly simmer for what's left of 30-40 minutes. I second dlc's idea of pureeing about 1/2 cup of the beans with some stock and adding them at the end, and I would not add the beans, which are already fully cooked, until the last 15 to 20 minutes. In the recipe the 1-1 1/2 hours is essentially cooking time for the beans, but you don't need that if they are canned. The vegetables will be soft within 40 minutes time. Plus just my preference, I'd add a bay leaf, parsley, and sage in a bouquet ball to the soup while simmering and remove just before serving. Hmmm, what is this cranberry and pinto soup you make dlc? Have you put it in the gullet yet?

I will do Samaki's RLB cake w/ modifications and mkFradin's. Do we have a common judgement criteria? This is going to be fun! edit to ask if we can divide these recipes?

I'll document it and report back.

Given the €/$ exchange rate and calculating for the pound from the kilo, asparagus was about $4.35 a pound here this past Saturday. I bought some anyway... The first garlic of the season has arrived baby fennel (we see this only one or two weekends a year), nice in salads