johnnyd

Anchovies rock. I as well roast my own red peppers but I just cannot even wait until they are cool before I lay a couple anchovies on 'em. A topping for sliced baguette starts many a picnic for me. One of my favorite pairings of all time. Someone is brining them locally(Portland ME), I think. They are sold in plastic deli 1/2-heights and are white. Milder than canned varieties. Must be what you guys are picking up at your local deli too, no? From the Basque Country Anchovy adventure: WHOA!!!

Actually, a bowl of Caldo Verde w/poached egg and chorizo bits is one of my favourite breakfasts in cold weather. Hit's all the buttons and everything's fresh and honest. I wouldn't add the chili unless the Chorizo is from a package as fresh-made usually has a good piquancy on it's own. Now I'm getting hungry....

This is really close to the traditional portuguese "Caldo Verde", (Green Soup). - Simmer chopped Onion in olive oil, - Add cubed potatos and saute til glassy, a little garlic here works too - Add chicken stock or water, cook til potatos soft - In another pan, saute chorizo cubes, - Take Kale leaves and roll into TIGHT cigar and shave chiffonade style into a big pile - bring soup to boil and add Kale and Chorizo - Soup turns emerald green Serve immediately w/sliced baguette and drizzled EVOO. Sometimes I put a poached egg in the middle. Yum

I was a oyster/clam shucker for three years. When we got slammed, people didn't seem to mind waiting when I was backed up cuz when super-fresh, they are worth waiting for. The owner was absolutely against pre-opening any shelfish in spite of my whining, so I learned some tricks and cut the shuck-time in half. I went to a place here in Portland ME and was horrified to see several dozen open oysters sitting on a bed of slush, picking up the kitchen smell and cigarettes. Our party ordered some anyway and they were putrid. I was so pissed off I opened my own oyster bar on a lobster boat for the summer months.

I'd cater the oer'dourves for any of George Plimptons parties in the sixties. I'd bartend for the Algonquin Round Table I'd prepare a beach fire as Ernest Hemingway steps off the boat with a big fish, grill the sucker while we drink rum and beer, and pontificate 'til we pass out in the sand, under the stars...

Daniel, you're gonna make me cry! I miss the Vineyard big-time!

More Fridge Follies: I worked for a spell as one half of a demolition/clean-up team on fire and water damaged properties. My first week we started on a vacation home that had burned inside and was mired in insurance company bickering for four months. I made the mistake of opening the fridge (it was a kitchen fire) and got slapped by the most disgusting smell imaginable. The contents must have been affected by the heat of the fire than sat for four months... I gag thinking about it. My courageous colleague and I wrapped some heavy line around the thing and dragged it towards the exit, and the dumpster outside. At a certain point we had to "walk" the thing over an obstacle, corner by corner. A terrible odor hit our nostrils... The freaking thing was leaking some gawd-awful goo all over us and the floor. I grabbed some duct tape and tightly wrapped the bottom part of the door hoping to create a better seal, and almost died doing it as the smell was mighty bad. Finally we couldn't stand it and the smoke residue was not helpful so we muscled our fridge down some back steps. This is when it really started pouring out of the cracks since the angle of the steps had stressed the door hinges. The dumpster was one of those big container size ones but the delivery guy placed it so the door couldn't open more than about a foot. We had to lift this putrid, leaky, two hundred pound beast up over a six foot steel wall. It was really just the beginning 'cuz the door cracked as it hit the bottom and the vile, brown ooze was everywhere. Never before had I preferred the odor of charred, smoky wreckage over this olfactorial hell which we endured for another two days before we got a new dumpster. From then on we tied up the things with commercial fishing rope and taped the doors without even thinking twice, then hand-cart their asses out of there. Whew!

Also one of the most dangerous. While diving in Jonesport years ago, a colleague got a nasty bite almost through his forearm in a drysuit. It had no intention of letting go so it was quite a struggle. We identified holes in the rocks where they lived by the piles of mangled crabs, urchins and fish debris strewn around it. Nasty!

The picnic spread at Chez Perlow inspired me to make souvlaki and tzadziki. I used to waiter at a greek restaurant and I found myself waxing nostalgic for relative cuisine. I've never heard of Zataar so before I tried to cobble together a no doubt crappy replica, I decided to scour the international section of our local Hannaford market. To my glee and surprise, there was a pound of it in a celo bag by ZIYAD in Illinois for $3.99! it wasn't very fragrant, so it was probably old, but after a half a lemon, some chopped greek oregano from the garden and a healthy amount of EVOO, it turned into something magical. I couldn't stop dipping my fingers into it. There was no ASTOR greek yogurt so I decided on a goat milk yogurt from Redwood Hill farm in CA. I salted my eurocuke for an hour and squoze out all the moisture, added mint and parsley from the garden, mixed 'em all up and set aside to chill. After marinating the bone-in chops for an hour (my wife and I engaged in an intense cribbage match while we waited) I put 'em on med-high heat until bubbly, reduced to med-low covered for a total of 15 min, removed and let sit for 10min. I fried up a little eggplant and heated some conventional pita. Served with a plate of greek olives and dates for desert, we had a fabulous dinner thanks to this thread. The only thing missing was Retsina... next time... tomorrow?!!

Hey, that sounds tasty! I love those things. I go one of two ways in a non-grill situation. Either bake or poach, it works. 1. lemon slices and vidalia slices with lots of parsley on the stem, stuffed in the gut and strewn around it - a splash each of dry white wine and chix stock. 2. julienned fresh ginger, scallions stuffed in cavity - splash each of soy sauce, mirin, chix stock. I either wrap 'em up in foil for the oven or grill, or lay the fish in a 10" pyrex, on top of thick cut onion to keep it away from poaching liquid, then cover w/tight foil. When will it be ready? I'll get on my bike...

I've subscribed to Saveur since issue #7 and they are in their own bookshelf, tattered, sticky, a few have swollen up from spills and dried to a crazy jumble of paper kept together with paperclips and rubberbands. I always find at least one recipe per issue to try and it's always great!

The problem with TUMS related products that include Calcium Carbonate is that you need to have a certain amount of acid available for Calcium to be properly absorbed into the system. This makes Anti-acids with calcium a big joke. The best calcium supplement is usually a dissolvable powder with ascorbic acid, cacium gluconate and magnesium carbonate (2:1, calc to magn is best). This is an orange flavored drink powder, available in some drugstores. As far as indigestion, every year you lose a certain percentage of enzymes that help digest foods (amylase, protease, etc) making some big dinners a real drag the older you get. I've been taking an enzyme supplement for five years and I haven't had a problem since... Okay, two pots of coffee at a stretch does not help anything, nor does ten pints of micro-brew ale in a row, but you get the picture.

I am suspicious of bottled dressings because they seem to have a lot of non-nutritional filler and sugar. My wife likes 'em anyway, mostly because my dressings tend to be strong vinagrettes that make her wince. Adding superfine sugar to my vinegar of choice that day seems to be winning her over.

The tradition in Vermont is to get together at the town church around the time sugaring is winding down and have "Sugar on Snow" parties. Also served are dill pickles and plain doughnuts. I thought it was the nuttiest collection of flavours until a VT-born girlfriend of mine dragged me to one on a chilly sunday morning in early April. It was pretty good! Lots of good coffee capped it off. It's hardly tourist season, but if anyone happens to be up there and you see a hand-made sign announcing the "Annual Sugar on Snow" in one of the many villages, do go... the local folks love company!

I put in over oatmeal and certain other cold cereals like granola. Your milk eventually gets maply - a very good thing.

The coverage on OLN was spectacular yesterday, and came on the heels of praise by the venerable George Vecsey, sports writer for the NYTimes. Lances interview after the race included concern about all the people who had camped out for a week by the steep switchbacks. What if they'd been drinking all day and they fell in the path of a racer? I concur but think what a festive community that would be! I'd expect an intrepid baguette maker to sell out by the halfway point. Vendors of food and ice must ply the route. Has anyone here camped out for the Tour like this? Is it a nightmare???

Cashews grow at the end of the Cashew fruit, which is juiced and used in a number of things like ice cream and deserts. "Suco de Caju" mixed w/ Cachaca, like the "Suco do Maracuja", passionfruit juice, are available at bars and at stores for making at home. This could be what they meant. I had a friend bring a bottle of "Flor do Brasil" back from Brazil and it was pretty good. Simple green bottle with red/black design on plain white label. Please check back often! I have "Saudades" (nostalgia) ...

Pears with Balsamic ...blew my mind the other day

Beans: The Fulminator should be illegal... Viva: Brasil every month... how cool is that? Every town makes their own "Pinga" and claim supremacy over the others so you have your work (if you can call it that) cut out for you. Personally, I like the older ones because they are mellower, but the younger whites are a fine match for lime, sugar and a hot day on the beach. I think you should buy two different bottles per visit and sample until you find a fave. Then send the ones you don't like to johnnyd, beans and bacchant036...

Other than sipping shots of the older varieties and the occasional marinade duty... nope!

Absolute Faves: Ankimo - Monkfish liver Mentaiko - Codfish roe (spicy!) Kazunoko - Herring Roe Very high on the list: Ika w/shiso Aji - horse mackeral Amaebi - when in season ...and of course: Toro Mirugai Shiro Maguro Hamachi Saba... ...oh, hell. I like 'em all but I still struggle w/natto and things w/ume, but I'm winning that battle. UNI above all because I used to dive for the little bastards.

Yup! Agave affects people, and probably other animals, in that peculiar way that science has yet to explain fully. Sure, it's a chemistry thing: the agave cactus pulp has compounds that do this and that to your brain, blah, blah, stifled yawn - etc. Same with Juniper and others. That's why we drink! If it makes you crazy, don't do it... at least in public please. ...now where did I put my Herradura??

I spent most of my teen years in the Algarve and we had Octopus at least twice a week. Never saw a cork go in the pot and I was in the kitchen a lot. We stuffed the little guys mostly... ... And all those cork trees, sheesh! The mystery deepens...

I happened ask our esteemed guest, Mario Batali, the exact same question last week. He says the trick works, but didn't come up with a source or why, just do it!

I've been on a papaya kick for a few months. Those big Miradols last a week. I'll cut a ring off, slice it in half, dispose of most but not all seeds (they are extremely good for you) then squeeze some lime all over it and Voila. That, a slice of bread if it's fresh and a zillion cups of Green Mountain Dark Magic makes my morning.