Abra

I think I'm a test case for forgetfulness in spirit play. I've made vin de noix for several years now, but last summer I had so many walnuts that I also started some nocino. Started, neglected, rediscovered, one year of soaking the nuts in vodka left an inky brew that I was sure I'd have to toss. Just on a whim I tasted a tiny bit. Hmmm, not at all terrible, just as it was. Then, because we're about to go for a stay in France and I'm trying to use things up, I took a bottle of dark maple syrup and started adding it to the filtered vodka until it tasted as luscious as a Maple Walnut Pancake in a Glass. Now if only I could sneak a litte butter flavor in there!

Last year I filled a jar with fresh red currants and dumped in a bottle of vodka. This week I found it waaaay in the back of a basement shelf. Once decanted it was a pale, delicate pink. Interestingly, since the currants themselves were very tart, it only needed a dash of simple syrup to be quite good, in a ladylike way.

The one I'm totally addicted to: roasted cauliflower. I wish I could be more original here! Another one I use often: Jackal's quince paste.

I'm sure Paula will be along to give a definitive answer, but bear in mnd that "long, slow" cooking when it comes to fish is probably not more than one hour. I agree with Smithy that if you use a tight-grained fish like tuna or swordfish or mahi and keep the heat very low it'll hold together just fine. I wouldn't use snapper or any flaky fish, unless you want to end up with a more homogeneous dish with a stew-like texture, which could also be delicious. ANd personally, I think preserved lemons and olives are wonderful with tuna.

This has been a real eye-opener and fun all the way. But what the heck is a zarzuela, in music? To me it's a complex and delicious seafood stew!

I smoke first then finish in the oven, when necessary. If you smoke meat to at least 140, then wrap it in foil tightly and put it in a very low oven, maybe 200 degrees, you can let it slowly cook for quite a long time without worrying about it. Or, you can get it cooked through on the smoker, wrap tightly, and pop it into a cooler (no ice!) to keep it warm for a couple of hours.

Tell us about tapas etiquette. When a group of you go and order several dishes, do you have small plates and serve yourselves a portion, or does everyone just share from the main dish? Oh, and what did you sing?

Please please please get that lentejas recipe for us!

Asturianos looks fabulous, especially the patatas con Cabrales and the favas with morcilla. I'd go there every week too! Except, is it an absolute requirement that one has to be young and gorgeous to get in?

Ok, I'll bite. What the heck are blackberry tamales?

I will never look at a Brussels sprout the same way again!

Very cool! What a great resource this will be when you get it done. A few markers are out in the ocean, mysteriously.

Wow, membrillo sin azucar, now there's something I never imagined. Is it just astonishingly sour, or does Spain go in for artificial sweeteners? That's a cute video clip, even though you're a bit drowned out by the piano. At least we get to see you stagger around!

Kathleen, that is totally awesome! Making it as a singer is something to be really really proud of, and I'm really proud of you! If you come to Nice in September promise you'll come to Uzès, where I'll be spending the year. If not, I'm totally going to come hear you sing somewhere, sometime.

I'm fascinated by all the blue water shots. We've barely seen the sun this "summer" and our water has been relentlessly gray. The lobster looks pretty good too.

You know, when I think the words "Casco Bay" I think of wool, because of those beautiful eponymous woven capes. Yet I don't recall seeing sheep in your last blog, and you don't seem to eat a lot of lamb. So, what's up with that?

Hey there, nice to see you blogging again!

Great blog, and so fun to see such a different view of Amsterdam! I'm really looking forward to meeting you. Thanks for a delicious week!

This is getting more interesting all the time! I too was wondering, along with Sharon, about couscous, which I believe to be a national dish in France these days. When my husband sees those shoarma and lahmacun pictures he's going to be agitating to visit Amsterdam post haste. But wait, since you're talking of time running out, you've never explained wtf you're actually doing there!

That seroendeng sounds like just my thing, but what it looks like is a handful of mealworms and sawdust like you'd feed a pet lizard. Urp. I'll have to come to Kwakoe next summer, it looks delicious.

Wow, thanks for that, Vinotas. We'll be passing near there on our way to Espelette from Uzès, and if they're open for lunch it will make a perfect stop. Do you think the menu for a group such as yours was reflective of what the rest of us could expect to get?

Spekkoek, yum! Several of us have made it at home, but mine sure wasn't as beautiful as the one you had.

This is off to a fun start, Mark. You seem to like lots of the same kinds of foods I do, only you can get them and I can't, so I'm totally jealous. And I think you win the prize for "most unusual living arrangement by a blogger." I'll be visiting Chufi later this year, and you can bet I'm coming to your neighborhood sometime to eat!

There are canneles and kouign aman in Walla Walla now? You have got to be kidding. The best pastries of your life in Walla Walla? That is too far out!

Saffron's new since my last visit and now I'm really looking forward to trying it.