Sentiamo

For me Bollito Misto ( and I get to use the broth for a risotto or soup the next day ) Curried Pumpkin soup made with some coconut milk and heaps of coriander. Indian bread on the side. Liver and Onions with a giant serving of potato mash. Oh, and the liver HAS to be cooked with white wine and sage. Hot self saucing chocolate fudge pudding with pouring cream or a golden syrup steamed pudding with ditto. Oh yeah!

Fresh mussel fritters for lunch which I flavoured with onion, chilli, and coriander. A squeeze of lime juice and they were heavenly. I did cheat a little....added a packet of commercial seafood soup mix which lifted those babies to heavens height. Or maybe it was the MSG!

And when all your olives are beautifully cured, try smoking the black ones and/or making an olive/orange/date relish. I have recently tried both from a local producer and have fallen in love with them all over again. Its a good thing.

If it were me (and I am a foreigner!) I would love some: Chipotle in Adobo ( can only get intermittently..sadly) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (ok..I know! ) Dried Cranberries American specific BBQ Sauce ( not Tabasco, it is universal nowadays) Californian Wine ( can get also but there is sure to be a special vintage or two!) Some Arepa flour would go down well for me but its not Nth American. Good luck, and Im sure you will have heaps of ideas.

Well this sure is interesting! I have just posted a new topic on scallop roe and now find this post on another roe. And, this is equally intriguing not least because the roe featured in the photo is not at all like the roe we find in our local crayfish ( read..local lobster). Hmmmmm. Our ' lobsters' are clean. Their roe is contained in a sac and not distributed all through the tail like the pictured lobster! It is waxy and firm just as someone above has mentioned, and is very tasty. But the tomalley..oh yes the tomalley! Sigh.... I use it as butter on my breadroll which I then cover with slices of just steamed crayfish and some mayo and lemon juice and HEAPS of black pepper. And Heaven calls.

I am intrigued that so many scallop dishes I see from Nth America do not leave the roe attached to scallops or even include them in a sauce. Is this common? Personally, I cant recall the last time I had a dish featuring these exquisite wee things sans roe! Just a terrible waste if discarded IMO , they add a wonderful dimension of flavour with a slight bitterness that enhances the whole dish. So...what do you do with your roe?

We can buy cans of already caramelised condensed milk here, Nestle produces them. Hmmmm, Im surprised they obviously dont supply the USA. They are a real convenience but most likely dont live up to the real thing.

I am assuming that everyone concerned about using raw eggs in Tiramisu do NOT eat homemade mayo either?? I use the raw egg method and always have a sign beside the dish saying it contains uncooked eggs. I would advise pregnant women and anybody with a compromised immune sysyem to take no chances but for the rest of us....go for it I say!

I have Meyer lemons comin' outta my ears because we have 2 tree's and I just adore those babies....but I never use them for lemon curd. If you want the best curd use something like Lisbon or Eureka. They will make all the difference to your tarts IMO.

"All wines from Australia and New Zealand come from grapes that originated elsewhere." Doc, the above is taken from one of your posts on the previous page re your latest visit to Alinea. Lovely report BTW and I drool at those photo's! Damn living at the bottom of the World. What disturbs me though is the comment above. God forbid that a prestigious establishment such as Alinea, would consider stocking a wine that we here in New Zealand consider ' chateau cardboard' wine......the kind that comes in precisely that. Cardboard! I know of three producers here that buy in grapes from outside NZ ( mainly Argentina and South Africa) to add to a mix that is sold mostly to brown baggers! Ghastly stuff and I cannot imagine it being exported anywhere! It is dirt cheap and tastes it. Please tell me you were mistaken. I hope Alinea has their Wine selection listed at their site as that is where Im heading about now. Cheers, Lyn

I believe Racheld has Blue Plate on the top shelf of her refrigerator! Hellmans ( Best Foods) mayo has been available here in New Zealand for a few years now. And Im grateful for it. Use it commercially for sandwiches/rolls/dressed salads etc and only make our own if it is for guests to spoon themselves or a flavoured one such as avocado or smoked paprika. There is a visual difference IMO and I dont want my customers knowing I cheat. And cheat I do. Thanks Hellmans, you have no peer on the supermarket shelves here.

Pesto means ' crushed' in Italian so any combination of foods prepared that way, particularly with a mortar and pestle, is a pesto. We are all too familiar with basil pesto, meaning the main ingredient is basil, but I buy/make many kinds of pesto. Rocket...Roasted Bell Pepper...Coriander....Watercress....Asian Mint...Dill etc. Happily buy/make them and, they are all pestos. Well actually they are being naughty borrowing an Italian name but hey!! Now when we are talking flavour, yeah. A basil pesto sans garlic or with walnuts I may complain about. Edited to add: Prasantrin, the best basil in Italy is grown in Liguria so the Genovese have much pride in their basil pesto. I agree with them, its the best I ever tasted so they will understandably be VERY parocchial about that product and not readily accept the same method could be used with another herb! But bear in mind that Italians do not face change with food habits as easily as we do. A pesto made of dill would be definitely be scorned at. In many 1/4s at least. Hey, I had trouble convincing family to grill leftover polenta or to go eat out somewhere where there was no pizza/pasta or steak.

Katie, Im not sure about the climate in Philadelphia but I live in a city where we get to -2 to 4 degrees in winter and +32 to 36 degrees in summer ( thats celsius) and have my own Kaffir Lime tree in a pot. I keep it under the eaves of the house in winter, and in the sun during summer. It supplies me with leaves for home use all year, no need to freeze. Now for my work kitchen....I need that tree full every day!

There are some GORGEOUS preserves here and its times like this that I wished we in New Zealand were not so isolated! But...here is a recipe, kinda, that will sort your raspberries out come summer/autumn. I promise that this jam is the brightest coloured, tastiest jam ever. Oh, and the easiest. But you can only use raspberries, no other types. Simply use equal weights of granulated sugar and raspberries ( works with frozen also) in seperate oven proof bowls. Heat in 150 deg oven until juice runs from fresh berries, or frozen are VERY hot, and the sugar is very hot to touch. Beat together with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolved. Pot into sterilised, hot jars and cover when cold. Store in refrigerator and use within 6 months or so. This jam is thinner than a cooked one, but the colour and taste more than makes up for that.

Cali....THANK YOU for enlightening me about this book and this bread! I have ordered it and will have to be veeeeeeeeeery patient as it can take up to 8 weeks to reach the bottom of the world. Zoe, I will have 1/2 of New Zealand kitchens with buckets of your dough in their fridges, in no time. Your book up for reprint yet??

Tins of caramelised condensed milk are perfect when I need a sugar hit. And if there is a banana in the house, even more perfect!

As it is summer here in New Zealand, we are drinking lots of Sav Blanc right now! Most often it is paired with seafood, salads and poultry dishes at our house. If you can get hold of some NZ green lipped mussels, steam them with some Asian flavours and serve with the wine...a great match! Just dont overdo the chilli and do add coriander. Its lovely with salmon especially. Try serving with citrus/garlic based sauced food. And risotto...oh yes! Divine with lemon risotto. Had some last night with asparagus added, and enriched at the end with cream and eggs. We had a Wither Hills 2007 Sav Blanc with that....just went and hauled the bottle out of the rubbish bin to check which one we demolished.

Can I just add to what everyone else has said, and say that it is imperative your husband visits a Doctor and has the appropriate ' samples' taken so that a proper diagnosis is arrived at. If it is food poisoning and the roast chicken appears to be the culprit after eliminating the other suspects, then I would definitely be in touch with the restaurant. I have a catering company and although it would be unpleasant, would much prefer to know if any of our food has been mishandled by staff. A year or so ago we had a couple who became violently ill after eating our food at the Hotel. They accused my business of poisoning them and they would not accept our stand that they had both eaten different meals. It was later discovered they had caught Norovirus the day before arriving in our city. It was so bad, the housemaid who cleaned their room contracted it a day later! We never received an apology from them either.

I am poking my head to to say how very much I enjoy this thread. You are all so danged clever and obviously possess patience in bucket loads. When I have time away from regular catering, I sure am going to be trying heaps of things I have noted here. Thanks all! BTW, just ordered some smoked chocolates and some tequila/lime/salt truffles. I cannot wait.

http://www.nzvenison.com/english/recipes/contents_right.asp I discovered this page for a friend a few days ago....so many wonderful recipes there that I might take up hunting myself.

They are wonderful stuffed with fresh marzipan, flavoured however you like, and chocolate dipped.

Chufi...if you would like some savoury chutney/relish recipes from Downunder, PM me and I will get some to you! A favourite dessert from my childhood was Apple Gingerbread Pudding and seems appropriate for your part of the world.

Here in New Zealand we make a variety of Ceviche which is a national dish from Tahiti and called by the French name, Poisson Cru. There is the usual lime juice/scallions/coconut cream with the addition of finely sliced celery, tomato and finely diced red and green capsicum ( bell pepper). Some also add carrot to the mix. The difference here is that the fish ( most often pristine fresh tuna) is marinated very briefly in the lime juice then it is drained off and other ingredients added. The fish then, needs to be very fresh indeed and frozen, as someone upthread mentioned, just would not do. Spring has nearly sprung so this popular dish will be consumed in vast quantities again very soon!

Hello everyone...I poke my head in here fairly often and must get my camera sorted so I can join in! This is a wonderful thread. I have just posted my favourite Thai Shrimp salad with tamarind dressing recipe at RecipeGullet so anyone with a glut of cilantro and mint, and experiencing a scorcher of a day, would maybe like to give it a try. You wont be disappointed!

Thai Shrimp Salad with Tamarind Dresing This salad is truly exquisite...just the thing for a hot summers day. I have not listed number of servings as it is obvious by prawn size and numbers how much you would plate. Dressing: 3 Tbsps each: grated palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice 1 Tbsp tamarind puree Shrimp Salad: 20 Cooked and peeled large shrimp 4 Shallots diced 3 Stalks lemongrass grated, or 2 Tbsps lemongrass paste 3 Kaffir lime leaves finely sliced 4 Tbsps finely julienned fresh ginger 1 or 2 fresh red chillies, seeded and diced 1 Cup coriander leaves roughly chopped 1 Cup mint leaves ( I chop just before serving to avoid browning) Dissolve palm sugar in fish sauce then add lime juice. Refrigerate until needed. Mix all other ingredients gently in a large bowl. Just before serving add dressing and toss gently. Serve on a bed of crunchy leaves. ( I used iceberg with some cucumber chunks also) Keywords: Appetizer, Easy, Thai, Main Dish, Shrimp, Salad, Lunch, Seafood, Dinner ( RG2011 )