bleudauvergne

The first insight I can give you is that as discussed in the other thread, it's really a great idea to continue to seek out other materials too for wrappers and experiment because the wrappers can instill a certain flavor. And I will reiterate that I am not an expert tamale maker. That said, I can say baking parchment works just fine if you're in a fix. You don't need to oil it, because once they're cooked they don't stick, due to the final consistency of the dumpling and the fats incorporated into the dough and consequent sauce that is generally produced by the cooking process. From the roll I'd say I take about 10 inches of paper. Then on the paper, I spread my dough, which is the consistency of a brownie batter, thickly (as thick as a 1/2 inch) in a square smack in the middle, leaving some room on the sides, top, and bottom. On that, I spoon my filling in a line on the center of that rectangle, from top to bottom. I lift the whole thing from the edges on the side,m bring the edges together, and let the sides fold over the filling. I then roll the two joined sides, which I have put together, until the tamale is enclosed into a sort of tube. It does not have to be perfectly cylindrical. I fold one end over several times to seal it, and place the tamale, along with the others, into the steamer basket with the open end up (this is done by loading the steamer while it is laying on its side). Steaming these with the top end open lets them expand. They're done when they don't stick to the paper anymore. They've released some oil and have firmed up a bit, and the paper easily comes from them. I serve them at the table from the basket, still in the paper in the spirit that one might serve a papilotte. Last time, it was nice to watch my friends' rather apprehensive look at being passed these rather ugly little packets to find that once they'd bitten into them the tamale inside, it was beautiful. I think though, that I must do them with corn husks soon since others rave about another certain umph that corn wrappers can give. I appreciate that and will do them with corn soon. I hope that helps you, and that you're not afraid to try them even if you can't find the authentic wrappers. For me tamales fall into the category that they could actually be sublime when done authentically with no subsitutions but extremely fulfilling and delicious and even -cathartic- when done with substitutions for the wrappers. -Lucy

Highlight was the cepes and the cheese plate although we also had a really nice entrecote and a salad too. -a steak (pic didn't come out very well) and salad which I forgot to take a pic of - and Cheese Bonne soiree -Lucy

Wow I love that recipe for shrimp cocktail. Thank you! Hi Lisa, I'm in France, too. I've been obscessed with Mexican recently too, that's so bizarre! Here's a link to a recent discussion where people talked about tamales, when you're ready to do them. The big task would be to find the masa harina. I still can't find it here. -Lucy

Marlena, I simply adore your backsplash and your countertops. Can you tell me more about how your onion confit tasted? Mine didn't come out as rich and dark as yours did. How are you eating it? I found mine was better with anchovies. Thanks for sharing ! -Lucy

I've checked with the walnut grower and he says that the green walnuts come at the end of June. (He specified the Fete de St. Jean, which I think falls in the third week of June.) I'm so excited. Thank you for your kind advice. I will post a vin de noix diary when it's time. -Lucy

It's true, the scenery apart from the food is also very nice on the Quai St. Antoine.

It comes to mind that in dining with these 4 famous people, we are taking part in an intimate affaire, rather than a dinner where several conversations could be running at once. In my fantasy, these people have received an invitation and accepted it. When I made my choice, I took into consideration that certain of my guests already knew who the others were, as well. It's certainly possible that one of my guests' table manners could overshadow the event, or that I might be considered a lowly kitchen wench. Even if that was so, this would merely contribute to the mix.

Have you ever eaten a whole can of refried beans with a large spoon? Straight from the can? This happens to me once every 5 years or so. It makes you very tired.

Varmint - How about crawfish or shrimp! Nearly impossible to mess up and nice and expensive.

Toasted said: That, and the ones that are a gastronomical triumph for two and then you try and do for 10. Inevitably theres some kind of plating complication that forces things to go too slowly and some people end up with cold food. How can you win? Luckily we learn from our mistakes!

Speaking of short ribs, I discovered this new thing to sprinkle brown sugar and a little salt on them after you've sauced them and right before you put them under the grill and it caramelizes. So I had a table full of drooling invites waiting for the second batch - the night was going so well! I don't know what happened, I somehow got cornmeal instead of brown sugar and sprinkled it on, and kind of thickly too, because I wanted to be sticky and good, I didn't put on the overhead light in the kitchen because it was going to ruin the ambiance glaring out at everyone at the table. It came out really bad. Yuck. I just kept waiting for them to be sizzling just right and it seemed to take forever, and the meat dried up. Singed and it absorbed the sauce. But hey, we take these risks every time we do new things for guests.

By the way, I braised the parsnips and they were a little too mushy and a little too sweet. Maybe they're better as chips. -Lucy

Much more picturesque for what Lyon is famous for, Bux. The quenelles, the meat products, the cheese. I once witnessed an African family come in to where I get certain items on my cassoulet list, and pick up three large plastic jugs of pig blood (it was a special order). No where else like it. I get there once every couple of weeks. It is the best and freshest source for the poulets de Bresse and the milk fed veal of the Charrolais. There is much more of a reliable cheese selection there. I can only trust a couple of the fromagiers on the quai (St. Antoine) for impeccably affined cheese (which is really all I need) but can trust all of the fromageries (I would say there are about 15 - I will count next time) at les Halles and find hudreds of varieties. Some are better than others for one cheese or another - for instance there's one place I will not buy my bleudauvergne but I get my fondue cheeses there. The oyster experience is definitely the most complete in the city of Lyon at les halles, with sometimes a dozen varieties in baskets before you, and a guy who will talk to you for as long as you are there (sometimes hours)about his product while shucking them, their history, how certain types are farmed, the flavor differences and what causes them, how size matters, including using his arm to twist into various coast lines and tapping his elbow or the inside of his wrist while explaining. You would be suprised to learn all of the wonderful information you can absorb about oysters along with them, while he keeps filling your glass with a simple cool macon and keeping your basket filled with fresh rye bread smeared with beurre de baratte. For produce, it's more expensive there, but just about everything on earth can be found there imported fresh. If you need a certain Italian cheese like an artisinal ricotta that does not keep, you can tell one italian vendor and he'll pick it up for you on his next run. All herbs, all seasons, fresh and flavorful. Specialty vendors thrive there. Badourian has developed their imports and dry goods epicerie fare at Les Halles a lot over the past three years, although they sometimes don't set freshness standards for dry goods. But where else can I find my pickled turkish seaweed that I once had on the shore of kis kelesi or the sumac that dusts my smoked goat cheese toasts. Before, I had to take a trip to their main hall next to the mosque at guilloterre, now I can usually find what I'm looking for at their stand at Les Halles. St. Antoine is picturesque in that it changes more with the seasons. It's a breathing living market that attracts much local talent. But I would never say it's more picturesque than Les Halles.

Hi Tydel. It seems from your initial post that you are articulate in your ideas and that you have a nicely defined voice. That's refreshing. Your professor will think so too, if you don't say anything you can't prove within the boundaries of your five page frame. How closely are your terms defined for you? What is the exact definition of "Modern Restaurant" - as adressed in class? Have you been guided by his lectures for that to mean "chains" or "dinner houses", or is that an interpretation which you plan to defend in your essay? It seems that your initial 2 ideas, extremely interesting and worth investigating by the way, seem more appropriate to much longer research papers. If I had five pages I'd take it from a broader historical standpoint and push one single point rather than a contemporary economic one that requires a whole lot of specific data to prove. Try to give your professor a breather and entertain him or her. Professors are classic procrastinators and often have hundreds of pages to read in one night. Don't be afraid to read and be inspired by others' work. Quote and poach away, and thoroughly give your sources credit for every single word that inspires and shapes your essay. Use both footnotes and direct citations to avoid a name dropping fest. More original ideas should be reserved for more detailed and exhaustive research. In the 5 page paper bracket, a simple, entertaining essay that is well written and leaves no open ends gets an A every time. Start global. Go to the library and see what the Cambridge World History of Food or the Oxford companion has to say about the history of restaurants, and get some specific sources that interest you from their references. Then for honing in on American trends, you might look to John Mariani's work. It would give you a start. I'm not saying that it's what you should do, but it's what I'd do. Good luck and please consider posting your paper if you come up with something you're proud of. I'd love to read it. -Lucy

I bet that was even better on the second day. Sounds just wonderful.

I have found that a new recipe always turns out great. Because you're concentrating on it, aware of the process. It's the second time that some kind of mishap happens, because you're basking in the glow of it once being a breeze. After the 5th time, no problem, easy. But bewteen 2 and 5, warning. Do this at home, alone.

Although I prefer to invite 8 or more, limited to 4, I would invite François Rabelais, Dave Brubeck, Gottlob Frege, and Confuscious.

Noodle Planet - Westwood L.A.! 5 buck Pho. With tendon.

Hi, Thank you so much for that really nice piece on the use of the kitchen scale, I'll post my question here, knowing that it will be answered some time in the future. The kitchen scale is something I use all the time. Being in France with a large collection of American and British books on food and cooking, I've had to compensate for differences the density and quality of ingredients due to milling processes for flour, etc. through trial and error. I managed to tweak my recipes, with the help of my scale, for the same results each time. It took me some time to get used to it, but now its just indispensible. I know that an dry ounce of something weighs about 33 grams and that a stick of butter is around 130 grams. I convert many of my American recipes from cups to their gram equivalents, and now that I'm cooking from French cookbooks, its indispensible. Here's my question: In my metric recipes, why aren't liquid measurements written in grams too? (They always are written in "ml"s my recipes that feature gram measurements). It seems like it would make sense to just use all grams, since common ingredients have common densities, i.e. oil is oil, water is water, wine is wine, so if you give a gram measurement you should get the same amount coming out every time when reading the recipe. Is it inappropriate to note liquid measurements in grams for a recipe that I plan to share? Any insight on why I see gram weights for dry ingredients and butter and measurements in ml for the liquids? My second question a comment, really. I would like to note for those planning on getting digital scales, that they are wonderful! But one thing that I have noticed with my rather cheapo kitchen scale is that adding ingredients to some digital scales very slowly can cause the scale to sort of skip over and misread the ingredients. It's definitely related to the precision of the scale and it's measurement increments (1, 5, 7 etc). But I'd like to stress that it's important to be aware it can happen for the times when you're trying to be really exact in your measurements. It's best always to add the ingredients as quickly as possible for the most accurate result, and re-measure (very easy) if you are doing something very delicate. Eveyone's scales may differ, however, and it's up to individual experimentation. Thanks again for a really nice rundown on the different kinds of scales available, too. -Lucy

Don't you just love that? Especially for guests, and espcially the unexpected moments of glory, so much more pleasure from it, I mean if you really are determined to get it just right and it comes out well, ok. But it's always much better when things just - meld. Many of my unexpected successes have come from fish. Fillets of wild sea bass that I marinated with slices of grapefruit and evoo on a whim come to mind. I put them skin side down in a hot skillet with clarified butter, dusted with my creole spice mix, and then slid the whole thing under the flames of the broiler for another couple of minutes. That and a hollandais that miraculously whipped into shape while they were under the flames without curdling or taking too long, as if I was doing that every night. It made me really happy to hear the conversation at the table turn to how it's sometimes much better to eat at home with the best and freshest ingredients instead of going out. (Especially coming from a group of our dining-out crowd). Then there was yesterday's hake, which I braised in a cremant de bourgogne brut (a sparkling wine like champagne) with shallots and thyme - delish! We didn't have any guests but it was wonderful anyway... It was one of those fabulous - "I could serve this" - moments. Unfortunately whenever my mother in law comes over I always manage to flub something up. -Lucy

Hi Marlene, I can say it was on high for about 15-20 minutes before I turned it down and left it alone.

Hi Marlena - The people at the market did not hesitate to talk about the parsnips, and recommended that I make parsnip chips - Which I did! But my husband and I both agree that they would we simply marvelous slow braised with some fresh farm butter and sea salt. About the location of the post, I'm just happy to be here and I implicitly trust the good judgement of the hosts here - if they feel my market report is better in the France section, I am just as happy to go there and post there. I think in my first month here, my first impression of the France forum has been that it is quite travel and restaurant oriented and I'm basically writing from home, speaking from the heart about my experiences with food. I felt putting the place name of the market was normal. I completely repect the decision and feel comfortable enough manouvering about in the forums to post anywhere deemed appropriate. And I would like to say that since I joined, I have been really inspired by the wonderful stories, ideas, and appreciation for food that everyone shares here. Thank you so much for welcoming me into this community the way you have. -Lucy

That's excellent advice, Mudbug. When this kind of garlic comes this year, I will have a chat with the people who sell it. Maybe they'll also let me taste it. Thank you for the links to photos. -Lucy

Dear All - I have received a message from Bux that this post was inappropriate in General Foods. Really sorry folks! I invite any of the regular posters in General Foods to come to the France section, where my market photos will be moved. Have a nice rest of weekend! -Lucy