olivina

Does anyone please know how to clean a pheasant or know of a good book/website that will instruct us?

I couldn't resist and got into my batch of nocino this week. I'm happy to report that it is pretty good. I've been offering it alone as digestivo or in a shot of espresso for a kind of caffe corretto and people are liking it lots. I'd infused it with a vanilla bean (Trillium's suggestion) instead of the spices, so I think it works with espresso because of that. Has anyone else tried their nocino yet this year?

Ummm, ok. Bring it on. The pressure! Carla

Do you mean any Italian restaurant in Italy?

All the best NYC pizza I ever ate was from coal fired ovens. Like the original John's pizza in the Village. The coal oven gives it that delicious char on the bottom. We are not going to find a coal oven here in Seattle. I used to eat a LOT of street pizza sold by the slice on every other street corner in NY. It was really good, but thicker crusted than coal fired and very oily from the fake cheese. Its the kind of pizza you fold in half legnthwise in order to keep the oil from dripping while walking down the street frantically trying to get to your job on time.

I've made the apple cake twice and it is unbelievably good! My kids are apple pie freaks and they love this cake, which is easier than pie (haha) to make. Those photos in Scott's book are beautiful.

Doesn't the logo on the Rainbow Cafe place look like the Rainbow Grocery logo? I could be totally wrong, of course.. Does anyone know what happened to Zooties? I kind of liked that reuben.

Knee-oh-key. except say it really fast, like you are saying neokey. except give the "n" a slightly longer naselly sound. like nnn and the "key" is less emphasized. and make it sound happy. so do i make myself clear? I'll ask Jordi about 1/2 bottles. Thanks to all for the nice compliments! Carla

Thanks tsquare. I made a lot of pizzas to pay for that stove! Carla

A couple days ago my sweet husband bought some king boletes for me from a guy who said he finds them in eastern Washington. They are really, really good, as good as the porcini from the old country. I've been having handmade papardelle with a simple chicken stock and porcini sauce and it has improved my attitude about everything tremendously. If the guy comes back with more, we'll serve them at Lago, but this batch I'm afraid I was too greedy with...

Dave, this is just the common sense advise I've been hoping for. Thank you very much! Last Monday I used plastic and lost a few lbs of chanterelles due to the bag. The rest sure were good in risotto and in pasta and in scrambled eggs. Gotta get back out there. Carla

Are there any experienced mushroom foragers out there willing to give my novice attempts at chanterelle hunting a little advice? I'm pretty good at finding them but don't know if I should: Use a knife and cut at ground level? Or as my Russian pal says, lift them out of the ground with your fingers? Should I carry a wicker basket? Seems bulky, but the mushrooms won't get as crowded? Help please, not much time left in the season, I imagine...

Thank you so much, jbonne. I don't mean to hog this thread with Cafe Lago so I will stop here while I'm ahead but I will be in tonight after 6, it looked busy on the books so I decided to help out in the kitchen. Please come up and say hi if you'd like. Carla

jbonne, Thank you for being specific about the way you were treated at my place. I really do apologize and hope you will give us another chance. Please let me clarify a few things. We have never closed the kitchen before the restaurant is closed. In fact it is my intention to accept customers up to 15 minutes after closing, unless we have had such a dead night that the kitchen has packed it up by closing. But we would never turn someone away before the specified closing time. I wish I knew who told you such a mean spirited thing, but I'll make sure it is never said again. I hate to see hungry people turned away at night. It makes me sad. And it hurts my pocketbook. Lago has accepted reservations for almost four years now....It is rare to have to wait for a table more than 10 minutes if you have a res. Sorry someone tried to correct your pronunciation, thats a definite no-no. I always tell my waitstaff that the Tuscans pronounce things different from the Milanese from the Sardinians, so on, so honor the spirit and don't be a snob. I stand behind my current waitstaff, I feel they are all very kind and smart. Sometimes Lago is too busy and we are not prepared, so they may seem hurried and the kitchen can be slow, which leaves us open to fair criticism. Try us again, we are doing the 20 dollar "Dinner at 8" neighborhood restaurant deal, guarenteed to be a really busy September. Make a reservation and please come up to the pizza oven to introduce yourself. I work Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sat and Sunday. Best, Carla

jbonne, please, I can take it, ( I think..) describe what you find pretentious about Lago's vibe, and if its fixable, I will fix it. Work with me. Carla

That all seems like basic stuff. Why do you think it doesn't happen enough in Seattle restaurants and is par for the course in NYC? Clueless owners?

Foodie-Girl, can you please give examples of how service at NYC restaurants is much better than Seattle's "better restaurants"? Is it food knowledge, table service or attitude? What makes a good server in your opinion?

I used food service gloves while choppin' my nuts and avoided the fearsome walnut stains. Kind of goofy advice, but I figured I should add a little something I learned after all the knowledge from Jim and Trillium. Thank you so much! Cheers in December, Carla

There is an amazing photo in the Zuni cookbook of a granita with whipped cream. I look at that and have to make granita right away. I never really understood food porn until I saw that photo.

Jim, My walnuts just arrived and I am charmed by their smell. They have like a green pear skin backed by a deeper walnut base. I noticed in your last nocino recipe, you didn't use spices. I like the idea of just the nuts and alcohol if it makes the nocino taste more pure, less distracting. Is that why you skip the spices? Looks like I'll have to use vodka, Everclear is not in my near future and I need to get these guys in the sun before we lose the sun in Seattle.

I ordered green walnuts from Mt. Lassen like Rien. I was a little late for their official harvest but they were so nice to go back out and harvest a few more for me. I don't know if its way too late now for California but you might try calling them at 530 839-2178. Good luck! Please let us know if you find a Washington/Oregon walnut farm willing to sell the green ones. Are any of you really nice Oregon residents coming up to Seattle in the next few weeks? I could use more walnuts and maybe some of that bread from Ken's. Am willing to trade or maybe even cash....

Next June I'll make a trip to Portland and pick my own. It does make me sad to think of abandoned walnut trees. A walnut tree is such a treasure, don't you think? Are hazelnuts prickly? The ones I remember are smooth, a wrap like a soft geen glove? Could there be a different kind of hazelnut? I even remember eating green hazelnuts without much difficulty as a child. Maybe a tummy ache after too many.

That is such a cool story about the Italian friends in Houston using pecans instead of walnuts. I love the idea of using fresh and local ingredients and adapting them to traditional Italian recipes. It is so hard to replicate food eaten in Italy, so why not adapt the methods and work with ingredients at hand? We grow a lot of hazelnuts in the Pacific Northwest, hmmm.. I wonder if I've missed the green hazelnut season...

Hi Trillium, Thank you so much for your advise on the spices. I would much rather have a nuttier spirit than a spicy one. Good luck with your apertif. Sounds great! Carla

I just ordered green walnuts from California so I can try making nocino. I've never tried making it and am planning on using the recipe from Artusi. I was wondering if anyone has tried making it and which recipes you have used. The green walnut season is so short and the nocino takes 6 months, so if I don't get it right I have to wait for next year. A long learning process for someone who needs instant gratification! I think I'll have to use vodka as the base since Everclear is not available in Washington State. I wonder if I should prolong the steepng time as in the eGullet advice for limoncello? I have 4 lbs of green walnuts, so I can't experiment with several recipes, and of course it takes 6 months to concoct...