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Abra

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Everything posted by Abra

  1. Cool, DEFCON - I'll look you up the next time we're down, since I haven't been to either of those places.
  2. Abra

    Catering

    Please, don't cater as a hobby. Don't have an "underground restaurant" as a hobby. Even if you think the Health Dept. regs (which you can't meet as a hobbyist) are stupid, a LOT of people out there are working hard to comply with them, and your gain is their loss, as their legitimate business goes to you or some other hobbyist who can put out food cheaper. As a former personal chef who played by all the rules, I can't tell you how much business I lost to people who cooked illegally, out of their homes, as a hobby. Don't do it. But catering is really a lot of fun, and if you want to have that fun, get a commercial litchen, even if you have to rent it by the hour.
  3. Abra

    escolar/white tuna

    Emma's got it. No more than 5 oz per person, and 4 to be safe. It's a question of quantity, as opposed to prep method. It's a good fish to serve with something else - a couple of scallops, or some black cod, just to up the portion size without the distress. I love escolar!
  4. Great blog so far, Ah Leung! The opening post has to be one of my favorites ever. Anytime you can get SQL and dumplings on the same page my hat's off to you. I'll guess you're 36.
  5. The "attitude quotient" at Whitehouse Crawford drives me crazy. It's a beautiful space, but I don't eat there. If 26 Brix has re-opened, I think it will be different. The last news I read about them said they were re-thinking their whole concept. I never saw it busy in there, so I think it was too upscale to be sustainable in WW. Right across from the Bumble Abode are the Sweet Basil Pizzeria, for better-than-expected pizza, and the brand new Aloha Sushi. There's also a stupendous vegetarian supermarket, Andy's, in College Place. That's one reason I like to stay at the Bumble, since I can get great groceries right nearby.
  6. You can still smoke at 200, since you want the finished temp of the meat to be 190. It'll take all day, but then, you have all day, right?
  7. I haven't been there since 7 Stars changed hands, but that crab used to rock my world. It's so sad if it's no longer stupendously good.
  8. Megan, does that butt roast seem like something we could copy at home? It's really a nice idea, wrapping it up with an oyster. Any idea of the recipe?
  9. Abra

    Fine Chocolate

    The Chocosphere collection was for my husband, and because of our all-chocolate day yesterday, no one's tasted any of it yet. I'll post about them as we taste them, but as I recall it included Cluizel, Dolfin, Venchi, Pralus, Hachez, Caffe-Tasse, Valor, and Mademoiselle de Margaux goodies.
  10. I am never eating chocolate again! At least, not anytime soon. The soup was followed later in the afternoon by a cup of chocolat chaud and I probably should have stopped right there. But dinner guests were arriving, and the chocolate parade continued. I served the soup again as the first course, and if anything, it tasted better after a few hours' rest. Next up were Alice Medrich's Chicken Livers in a Cocoa-Sherry Pan Sauce on walnut toast. This might have been the most surprising flavor of the day, and I can't see any reason to make chopped liver ever again unless it's like this. If you have the book Bittersweet do yourself a huge favor and try this one right away. I served these with orange cauliflower roasted with cocoa nibs and piment d'Espelette. The nibs were a bit lost as a flavor, but it's hard not to love roasted cauliflower. Next was the roasted pear salad with chocolate dressing that merstar linked to above. Somehow, inexplicably, I managed not to take a picture of the salad. I followed the recipe, except that instead of the chocolate goat cheese component I used the chocolate-dipped Parmigiano that SwissKaese linked to as little croutons. The salad was delicious, and chocolate salad dressing got a lot of oohs and aahs. The croutons were, well, different. Kind of good, kind of too sweet. Then came David Lebovitz's Chocolate Pizza with Spicy Lamb Sausage. This is really good! I think we all had the same experience, first bite: hmmm, ok, not bad, and then better and better with each successive bite. Again, chocolate was an almost subliminal component, and again, the flavor of the cocoa nibs wasn't prominent. And last, even though it wasn't exactly prudent Milk Chocolate Pudding with a praline of cocoa nibs and toasted pecans plus the chocolate goat cheese truffle that jende linked to. This proved to me once and for all what I've been suspecting for a while now - if there's no sugar involved, we really don't recognize the flavors of chocolate. There was a lot of "wow, this has chocolate in it?" going on all day. All in all, a fun and surprising day of cooking and eating.
  11. Abra

    Red Velvet Cake

    Uhm, maraschino cherry has a horrible fake flavor, to me, so that might have been the culprit, as opposed to the coloring.
  12. 26 Brix is closed. I always stay at The Bumble.
  13. Oh yes, all chocolate all day. My Valentine's gift to my husband was a collection of chocolates from around the world, and that was followed by this Mexican Chocolate Soup. This was very interesting. I did tweak up the recipe a bit by adding corn and a little ground chipotle, but the basic recipe wasn't quite like anything else I've had. With my eyes closed, I'm not sure I would have been able to identify the chocolate, but it did have a deep, dark deliciousness that I found tantalizing. This soup, or something based on it, will be putting in an appearance as the first of the five courses for tonight's dinner. We're having two friends over, each of whose spouse is unavoidably far away today, so I'm consoling them with chocolate. Ludja, did you decide to go with the polenta and chocolate? Based on this soup, which just cried out for corn, I'm guessing that would be a nice combination.
  14. We started the day off with these chocolate pancakes. Photogenic they're not, but they were very good. I made them with Pernigotti cocoa, which is very red, and gave them an intense look.
  15. I'd better get with the program here, only two more days! Ok, so maybe Chocolate Pancakes for breakfast, probably without the sauce. Mexican Chocolate Soup for lunch, along with a mole tamale. A great cup of chocolat chaud for an afternoon snack. Some variant of the Roasted Pear and Chocolate Salad, followed by Chocolate Pizza with Spiced Lamb Sausage for dinner. To me a perfect ending would be the chocolate dipped Parmigiano Reggiano and chocolate goat cheese truffles with a good dessert wine. But my husband would probably rather have cake. Hmmm, what to do? It's already sounding like way too much chocolate! And kinda lowbrow, huh?
  16. I like your idea of little mini bites. Even the fullest person can usually get interested in one bite of this, one bite of that. I'd get one or two spicy glazed nuts on each plate, and maybe a little caramelized fresh pineapple.
  17. How about adding a caponata to the appetizer assortment? And maybe a little cheese course? What I always want on the plate with pasta is bitter greens of some sort. Actually, I have to say that want bitter greens on just about every plate. Maybe that Sicilian preparation with currants and pine nuts?
  18. FG, do yourself a favor and get some Rancho Gordo beans. They're so fresh and delicious you never need to soak them no matter how you cook them. I happen to do them in a crockpot overnight on Low, but I've never even thought of soaking them and they're always perfect.
  19. Gee, what's a La Ratte potato? I hate it that we get so few varieties of potato here in the States, and now I see that you can get some I've never seen. I always love that in Europe, all the different potatoes. in the markets. Solo Valentine's Day? An extravagantly good bottle of red wine. A fabulously runny, stinky cheese. Since it's you, a very special salad. Maybe one with thinly sliced rare grilled ribeye and some roasted potato chunks and sauteed mushrooms and a great Cabrales or bleu de Causses. This recipe is wonderful, and when I do it I make the suggested potatoes and mushrooms too. And then, since it would be just for me, I'd have a cup of chocolat chaud made with the most outrageous chocolate I could lay my hands on. Wanna be my Valentine? Have you already told about India and I missed it?
  20. I forgot to take a picture of it but I made some great salt-rising bread for a party a couple of weeks ago. I love the flavor of SRB! Who else makes it and has a picture to post? And if you haven't tried it yet, get the yeast here from King Arthur. It's an experience to make (takes 2-3 days), and doesn't taste like any other bread in the world.
  21. Abra

    Fine Chocolate

    I've never been much of a chocolate person - caramel, ginger, lemon, all used to beat out chocolate any day. Then I decided to start baking with some higher-end chocolates. So for the past couple of years I've baked mainly with Valrhona Noir Amer, Scharffen Berger cocoa and unsweetened, and either of their semi-sweets when I (rarely) happen to need some. I use nibs with the Plantations label, make pain au chocolat with Cacao Barry batons, and my husband brought me a bar of Villars bittersweet that I haven't cracked yet. But really, it's been all about the baking and cooking. I wasn't eating the stuff plain, because I "don't like chocolate." Then one day I started nibbling at the Noir Amer. Wow, chocolate that actually tastes like something. Ling gave me a bite of Amadei Porcelana. I liked that a lot, but felt that it might be too sophisticated for my palate at the time. Chufi sent me some Dolfin minis. Oh yeah, now I'm really starting to get it. I ordered a huge assortment from Chocophere. Wait, that's supposed to be for my husband for Valentine's Day, can't open that yet! Then ChefShop sent me this as a little freebie in a box of other stuff. Wowsers. This isn't like any chocolate I've ever tasted. Instead of bright, fruity, and acid, it's warm and earthy and nutty and tastes of the forest. The label describes the flavor as "mushroom" and I can sort of see that. It's awesome and I could eat it every day. Now I'm working on an all-chocolate Valentine's Day menu, and now I can't wait for him to open "his" Chocosphere box so I can sample some more of the really good stuff. Possibly I'm getting hooked.
  22. Nice to see you blogging again, Megan. I vote you do something outrageously wonderful for yourself for Valentine's Day!
  23. That link doesn't work for me, Pontormo, but chocolate mayo sounds very interesting.
  24. Ok, the cheese course is definitely set! Between the enrobed parmigiano and the goat cheese truffles I'd be an idiot to try to think up anything more exciting. How interesting, the idea to use white chocolate as a sort of mantecare step, instead of cream or butter. I'd never in my life have dreamed that one up. I'm having a (possibly passing) fantasy of a red wine risotto, made with port, using white chocolate at the end, and a scattering of nibs. I'm also leaning hard toward a cocoa pasta course, as well as the chicken livers in chocolate in the Medrich book. Probably not together, though. Although the chocolate pizza with spicy lamb is right in there too. And that pear salad. And something fishy. And oh dear, I suppose ineed dessert too. I'm also starting to think I need to invite another 6 people over, so I can try all these dishes. Hmmm, that might be kind of anti-Valentinical. oh - I wanted to add that I've had some surprisingly delicious combinations of spices with chocolate, thanks to Chufi's having sent me some Dolfin minis. Cumin chocolate and anise chocolate were two wonderful revelations. And now Ludja's given me that far-out idea using tarragon. And fish and tarragon are often a good combination. Maybe a little crust for a pan fried fish scallop of cocoa nibs and tarragon, paired with some sort of broth with a bit of fennel confit and preserved lemon?
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