johnnyd

That's a great article, thanks LindaK! I never knew this... ...which, besides the obvious ramifications of character , explains why every shrimp in the bag have roe: they are coming in-shore to release eggs. When I was a diver for sea urchins, we would sometimes hunt along the shallows in-shore and find patches of eelgrass. When disturbed as we floated through, thousands of small creatures would scurry out of the patch in a cloud. Once when I took the time to really look, I realized that they were tiny shrimp, I mean really tiny like a flea. After that I never had a problem with the numbers, there are millions of shrimp out there... which is what we said about the sea urchin population ten years ago...

B, I'm still working through Sam's amazing menu. Cauliflower soup w/curry oil went over well the other day... I worked hard weaning my SO off bottled salad dressings, using less and less sugar in whatever I whisked up until the sharp character of the vinegar was no longer a problem. One night, not long after dinner, she went for a bowl of cereal which collided with my balsamic head-on. Up came the whole thing and she wouldn't even sniff any kind of vinegar for months, no way. Only lately have I tricked her with a sauce or two and I think I'm making some headway!

Wow! Two days of auctions yielded over 71,000 lbs of fresh shrimp! Prices averaged about 60 cents per pound so thats $42k for some hard working fishermen, or "a good day's pay" as the saying goes. 2/14 - 38,456lbs - 9 boats Low price: $0.56 Average: 0.59 High: 0.63 2/16 - 32,307lbs - 10 boats Low price: $0.57 Average: 0.59 High: 0.64 Created something yesterday that was inspired by Chufi's Amsterdam Foodblog last week. Made a melange of chorizo, onion, garlic, thyme, tomato and chickpeas, then added some shrimp I had poached in EVOO, garlic and paprika. Tasty! Still trying to get the hang of my new Canon A85 so I can hit the docks and document the Gulf of Maine Shrimp story. Stay tuned!

My choices of "terrine" is also limited. I want to go small-batch until I get the hang of it then use my pyrex "loaf" dish when called on for a party. So far, I'll I've done for the project was buy a bit of gelatin!

9to5, Would you mind writing a quick play-by-play of your terrine adventure at some point? I have been intrigued by these and have finally decided to try one. Your marinade sounds grand. JohnnyD

Saw the Walnut Inn show. The food was infinitely better here than the other episodes. I agree w/previous posts that it has a better chance of surviving than the others. A brilliant move to invite the previous owners for the 40th Bday affair, and possibly stave off ruin. Gordon really took it to heart that these two were about to go down the toilet and made that kitchen feel that their heads will be on a stake in the town square if they don't get it together. The long wait for the family dinner had me in fits. More.More.More!

Had sushi for Valentine's day and ordered one of my faves: Ika with shiso leaf!

Man, what a show! I couldn't keep up, it was a whirlwind! The show was really well executed. I realized quickly that the comedy of the original japanese version was removed and in it's place was a true, down-to-the-wire contest rivaling any one-on-one sporting event like tennis. Sure I missed the nutty translations but this version raised the standard for me. I really was blown away by the action! I was going in thinking Michael was a shoo-in, but Marios creations slowly built into some pretty interesting dishes. I kept waiting for a mole to materialize, but no! Then take into account the failure of the sheet setting, enforcing the "anything can happen" atmosphere, and you have one hell of a close call. Much praise for both contestants, the producers and I hope to see more of these.

Owing to the large volume harvested recently the price of cleaned headless fresh shrimp dropped to $2.99 from $3.99 over the weekend. I noticed the count is lower per pound because shrimp are indeed larger now. I get fewer "crumbly" ones if you have the water at a rolling boil, then flash some cold water in the collander when draining. Also the fewer you cook up, the better chance of firm shrimp in the shell. The whole, head-on shrimp tend to yield a mushier meat, probably because the head area holds more fluid, affecting the texture. Made a bow-tie pasta, shrimp, peas and proshoot dish with an instant bernaise from a McCormicks envelope last night. Pinot Grigio and baguette rounded it out. Delish!

An oldie but goodie: Hors d'euvres: "Horses Dovers"! d'oh!

Yes, that is how I have always pronounced it. See how easy this is?? ← But in the UK, isn't it "KonCH"? and how about "Pho"? Pronounced "fuh" someone said someone in the Pho thread... I hear "Prosciutto" get hammered at a supermarket deli line all the time. this is going to be good!

Hilarious "review" of Masa in this week's New Yorker

As a former diver in Maine waters, I can report that lobsters are known among the underwater cognoscenti as "the cockroaches of the briny deep". They eat anything, they exhibit no remorse in the heat of battle, they think nothing of sacrificing a limb and don't seem to even notice when a claw dislocates. They are not very bright. In summer when they run into shore to shed you see them in swarms, thus the nickname "bugs". Lobstermen string traps along narrow canyons to collect them as they swim through and a few invariably get tempted by bait bags of mackeral or leather strips (see? not that bright). Once I witnessed a swarm proceeding through a shallow channel, right over a trap-string. There must have been dozens flapping their tail (thus facing backwards) all going in one direction. I managed to count one lobster in the string of four pots. "How inefficient," I thought to myself, "All those lobsters and only one dumb enough to take the bait." That explains why the fishery does so well since traps are the only allowable way by law to harvest lobsters. Another time, we heard Mary Tyler Moore or somebody "rescued" a giant lobster in Texas and brought it all the way to Kennebunkport and released it on the rocks by the river entrance. We happened to be diving around there the next day and found this monster. One of the divers cut into the carapace trying to get it into his net-bag, and when we hoisted it on deck, we didn't hear anything... not a single peep, in spite of the gaping hole right behind the eyes. That beast must have been 75 years old. We threw it back and every so often, ran into it off the point where we were collecting sea urchins. It really looked like it didn't give a shit about anything.

They are indeed sharp little thingies around the head area that you have to watch out for and the antennae keep showing up in the nooks of my kitchen! The trick is to cook 'em whole, then snap the head piece off at a right-angle to remove. then hold the back, legs facing you, grab legs, transfer your hold to the tail, then peel around the back to remove mid-section-shell. Squeeze tail, and into your mouth goes the tasty morsel. Yum! Simmer heads and shells for stock, never mind that it looks grey and nasty! They are naturally pink so the red stuff is not artificial - I know, hard to believe. The soy wasabi sauce was for raw shrimp, yes. They are the ama-ebi sushi one sees on the east coast - sweet as candy. You'll have to consider how far away from Maine you are before I'd recommend eating them this way. If there is any hint of iodine, pass. Whole Maine Shrimp retails for $1.49 down at the docks. I guess this is why Whole Foods is doing so well! Thanks for the feedback folks! I was wondering if my one-man crusade to promote these delicious little critters was making me look a little odd! ...not that that's too far off the mark...

I hope to see lots of pictures of scantily-clad, samba-school ladies holding swords of simmering churrasco. If any are in focus you clearly haven't had enough cachaça. Welcome home!

Oh, man! Cream cheese of the sea. We have it sashimi style with ponzu. Aji is also a favorite. Shiro Maguro was also until they pulled it off the menu around here. Something about bothering too many stomachs. Bah!

This year's Shrimp season ends on March 25, earlier than past years to allow females to hatch their young. More about the Maine Shrimp Season and it's fishermen here. Recent Auction Action: February 7: 5 boats and 4 trucks consigned 21,419lbs. All were sold: Low Price: $0.64 Avg Price: $0.71 High Price: $0.76 February 8: 7 boats and 2 trucks consigned 24,229lbs. All were sold: Low Price: $0.60 Avg Price: $0.73 High Price: $0.75 I called the auction house and asked what became of the fresh shrimp after the auction and was told by a very chatty receptionist that about 80% are "processed" (be-headed, cleaned and frozen), by three local concerns. The rest are sold to retailers and restaurants. He didn't know if much made it out of state. He said the volume is picking up (see above). Average auction is 12klbs but this week was almost twice that. The stretch of good fishing weather ends tomorrow when a nor'easter starts blowing. I have received permission to attend an auction and take pictures sometime in the weeks ahead. I'll start a new thread when that happens. Flash boiled a couple handful last night with bay leaves and peppercorn, two minutes at the most. Spritzed a meyer lemon on 'em and called it dinner. Yum!

Damn, I miss Europe!!! Terrific Blog Chufi, thank you. May we revisit the herring stand in June? I hope so!

Absolutely mind-boggling feast! I'd heard Chinese New Year was quite a culinary occasion, now I get a chance to see it! Thank you Shalmanese, and Happy New Year!

This is my favourite tea. I ordered it at a tea house in Montreux once and it was served VERY strong with about a 1:1 cream and buttloads of demerara. I don't drink it any other way now.

Fantastic photos! Great recipe break-down as well, Bravo! You are clearly in your element and I bet the students are thrilled. Once I tried to poach a few quail eggs to surprise my better half and got stuck at the start just opening the little things. Have you a secret for opening their tough shells?

Now THIS is the way to have uni. Maine's urchin season is in full swing so now is the time to order it, with or without the animal on hand, but you can't go wrong when the chef goes the distance like this. Bravo!

Oh. My. Those rolls look good. A long time ago I had a spicy roe that was excellent but I never knew the name of it. Last year, I narrowed it down to Mentaiko (spiced Cod or Pollack roe). Thrilled to see it on a menu, I've been ordering it everytime since. Caution: not for the squeamish!

Hmmmmmmm....!!!

Yes Yes Yes! I finally saw it too, yaay! Indeed a nightmare! I could just see the money getting flushed down the bog! Poor lady-owner got snowed by that twat! I hope he's getting his ass kicked as a "junior" chef down the street. Imagine serving that trash to his family on TV? How embarrassing! You got to think he's going to be a better chef after getting dragged through the manure like he did on this show. Bravo Gordo!!!