Smithy

Have you tried marinades? I don't mean the kind that mask the flavor ("It's great! You can't taste the meat at all! ) but the kind that can draw out the gaminess. My favorite is a nearly all-purpose marinade of oil, lemon juice, chopped onions, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, probably a few other things I'm forgetting. Meat marinaded in that and then grilled as in kabobs, or skillet-fried and worked into a pilaf, never tastes gamey to me. (I can post the recipe if it sounds appealing to you.) It seems a shame to cook something you won't eat yourself, if there might be treatments you'd like.

Chris, I'm so glad you made that comment. Teachers get short shrift all too often (not from you, of course) and I get very tired of hearing or reading deprecating remarks about them. I also get very tired of hearing or reading about disinterested teachers who are clearly burned out; they give the rest of us a bad name. It's good to know that an excellent teacher is recognized as such by his students, and that you valued his excellence enough to note it publicly. Your photos are so gorgeous, and the topic so arresting, it pained me to cut them out of this reply. I'm with everyone else: thank you so much for the bakery tour and the J&W tour! I can't decide which I like better. The cooking gear at the museum is great fun, and I really wish I'd known about this museum when I was in Providence. On the other hand...that baking school...the breads...how lovely! A baking lab so you can experiment and learn the effects! Wow! I'm so sorry this blog is almost over - but you'll certainly have earned a rest afterward!

That's fascinating. Thank you for educating us on that point! I googled this: an excerpt from The Book of the American West by Jay Monaghan ← Thank YOU for that excellent link!

I love lamb, but it's taken a while to convince my husband that lamb can be good. I think his family never ate it. My mother says she hates it because, as a little girl, she'd be disappointed when she was expecting pork chops and her mother served lamb chops instead. My paternal grandfather refused to eat lamb or permit it in his house because of the western Range Wars. The prolonged conflict over land use between cattlemen and sheep herders led to a strong prejudice against lamb in a lot of the western United States, and that still holds true in parts of the country. I don't know if I have a favorite cut or treatment. Leg of lamb, roasted; lamb shanks, stewed with tomatoes and potatoes and good red wine; chops or steaks treated with lemon, garlic and oregano; Greek lamb; Moroccan lamb; rack of lamb with rosemary and mustard - it's all good.

This is on my to-do list very very soon....Too bad sorrel is no where to be found now. I was thinking about replacing it with spinach and some extra lemon juice. Any other suggestions? ← Good grief, look at the seasonal differences between Minnesota and Texas. My sorrel plant is huge and I'm trying to work out what to do with it before it freezes (any day now). Think it would keep in a care package? Barring that - spinach with lemon might be a good substitute. You won't get the inimitable army drab of cooked sorrel, but I doubt you'd miss that part anyway. I'd better look at that recipe.

Like Al Forno, the restaurants that we go to most often (Lucky Garden, Haruki in Cranston, the Red Fez, Flo's -- and the dear departed Empire ) are places that we know we like, that have people whose enterprises we want to support, and in which we feel comfortable, well fed, and part of the community. The cuisine, price point, ambiance all vary, but those things remain the same. We also function on a tight family budget. Both of us work in education, and we have the usual family expenses (plus some new ones that are approximately seven months old ), so we don't want to drop $140 to find out that the food quality varies wildly from meal to meal, or that things are skidding downhill after a quick, hype-driven media frenzy, or that the buzz is more about the hipster fish tanks in the entranceway than about the fish that have been removed from the tanks, cooked, and plated. (Just as an example. Ahem.) I know that Providence gets points on the foodie scene when it has new places to trumpet. But those of us who live here, I think, really value places like Al Forno, New Rivers, Neath's, and the like, places that have deservingly stood the test of time. To write them off as dinosaurs visited only by the stodgy few is to miss, entirely, the point. I'll bet that's true for many people in the eGullet Society. I notice, for example, that next week's blogger is going to Tru and not to Alinea -- how untrendy is that? Is it true for you? ← Funny you should mention the restaurant with the fish tanks (ahem). That's the place we went - whatever its name - instead of going to Al Forno on our big night out on the town, on our trip a few years ago. Al Forno had been enthusiastically recommended by an acquaintance on the cooking forum I frequented at the time, but when we saw the price and the wait we decided to go elsewhere. Now that I read what you have to say about Al Forno I'm a bit sorry we didn't get there - but I have to say, in the interests of fairness, we really enjoyed the food at that other place and thought we got our money's worth. We don't much care whether it's trendy, because we're clueless about trends. We do want good food, preferably of a type we can't get out here in the Midwest. What always puzzled me about Felina was that she didn't really seem to care about the guy until he died in her arms.

Thanks a bundle, Chris - I'm skimming because I'm too short on time (but determined to read anyway) and NOW I'm going to go to bed with Marty Robbins singing in my brain. Somehow, though, I always envisioned the faithless Felina (with eyes black as the night) wearing a dancing skirt, not pantalones. I think my question about the difference between linguica and chorice got buried in the flurry of more pertinent questions about food, children and teaching. I'll ask again, how are they different? Carry on! This is a fine read, even skimming! And I'm really enjoying your taste in mid-(last)-century modern stuff.

Happy Anniversary, you two! And what a great surprise! What is the difference between linguica and chorice?

According to this post and related answers upthread and down, if you're going to add stock to hot roux it should be cold stock. Hot roux and hot stock together are likely to yield lumps, clumps and globs unless you add the stock in very small amounts. As to whether the results are different (stock into roux, or roux into stock) I hope one of the experts will answer. I'm a novice. Edited because I answered the wrong question the first time around.

Don't you just LOVE Pineau???? Paula introduced me to it and I am completely addicted although I have yet to have the gumption to COOK with it! <glug-glug> ← I have yet to taste Pineau! I tested the same recipe but used a mix of cognac and chablis, based on Paula's suggestion for a replacement. It tasted wonderful and flamed even better, but I don't know how it would compare to the Pineau de Charentes. I'll look around and see if I still have my notes. Michelle's and David's are much more thorough than mine, so I may not have anything to add except the caution: this flamed really high when I lit it, and the cook should be prepared. Since then I've known to not only stand back, but also to be ready to protect the cabinets above the skillet by having a skillet lid ready to slam down over the pan if the flames get too high. Having said that, I'll say that the flaming step was great fun! My husband heard me whooping in the kitchen and wondered whether he should come investigate, but wisely decided to stay clear until I called him to dinner. I have cooked and served the Chicken Thighs with Pineau des Charentes (with the substitution as noted above) to dinner guests. They loved it as much as I did. This thread is a really great idea. I look forward to working my way through more recipes in good company.

Glad to see you blogging, Chris! I always enjoy reading your posts. I've been in Providence once only, a few years back. I can't remember any specific restaurants where we ate - there was one expensive and good seafood joint on the waterfront - but I vividly remember Federal Hill. If you feel like a virtual tour of that area, I'm good to go. Hey, that looks like a Mel-Mac ™ plate, ca. 1960's vintage, supporting your breakfast? My father worked as a wholesale hardware company representative, and we had a variety of plates with similar patterns when I was growing up. Am I seeing that correctly? I can't begin to guess what's in the Zip-lock bag. However, I'm glad to see someone else of the "stuffed refrigerator" club. I figure a full refrigerator is more energy-efficient than a sparsely-populated one that needs all that air to be kept cool. Finally: I don't know much about Portuguese cuisine, but I do love linguica and kale soup. I second that request to show us how you do it.

This really has been a fun blog, and I applaud both of you. The time zone difference has been especially entertaining. (Mommy, who is Susan and why is she making pasta in the morning? ) Susan, thank you for the extra pasta pointers. I'll keep them in mind next time I try making my own. Kris, thanks for warning me about the smell of durian. And those tug-of-war prizes are really cool! Both of you really are troopers. Here's hoping the sun comes out soon and all children (and their parents!) come through their current crises intact. Bravissima!

Susan, I wished you luck before, but I'll wish you extra luck for good measure. That looks like a standard lime tree. Is it? Or is it a kaffir lime tree? Are the leaves interchangeable for larb purposes?

This is a wonderful blog. I hope to be able to log on before the end, but right now I'm just skimming to catch up. Great job on the pasta, Kristin! Susan, I'm sure yours will go well too - but I'll wish you luck, just in case. A friend of mine uses a hollowed-out pumpkin as a soup tureen. I think she may bake the pumpkin a bit to soften it. At any rate, then she surreptitiously scrapes pumpkin into the soup as she serves it, thereby ensuring that her kids get some vegetables. Good luck! Great blog, both of yez!

...Talking to the husband, listening to the husband, feeding animals, playing tug of war with large dogs... I hear ya.

Waldorf salad! I'm so proud! That brisket looks luscious, Susan. The table with the built-in lazy susan - well, I'd forgotten that story although I devoured your earlier food blog. What a terrific idea that was! Kris, I also want to know about bento boxes. Most of my questions have been asked already. What I want to know is how the heck you find the time to do all those fiddly little bits for each lunch, and make them look so pretty?!? Somehow, I don't think you put those bento boxed together for us - but they look beautiful. When I'm in a hurry, my lunch will look like - oh, a big slice of cheese in one plastic bag, a hard-boiled egg in the shell, and a couple slices of bread in another bag. How do you manage to make it all look so nice? And how much time does that take? And were you already attuned to that before moving to Japan, or did you have to learn, or did you just make it pretty for the photos?

Something I wish I had a photo of is a friend's mother's first attempt at bread. This was waaay back in the early years of her marriage, when the couple had little money. I don't know what went wrong with the bread dough, but it squatted sullenly in the bowl and refused to rise. The Mrs. finally despaired and, since they had little money and she didn't want to show the wasted food to her new husband, buried the evidence in the backyard. Later that afternoon, hubby came home from work and walked in with a puzzled expression. "Honey," he said, "there's the biggest mushroom I've ever seen coming up in our yard. I swear it wasn't there this morning." They went to look together, and there was the blob of dough, finally rising from under the earth.

Where's the fruit in all this? I suggest a Waldorf salad!

Peter's growing into such a cutie! He's going to be a heartbreaker. "No comments, please," you said...but I have one anyway, and a question. First: I remember that I used to love squishy white bread. I'd mash it down until the texture of the baloney/bologna/whatever that processed meat is called could almost be seen through the bread itself. To me, that was heaven. Second, the question: what kind of pickle relish does Peter like in his tuna salad? Me, I'm a dill pickle relish fan.

I went to the M&S in Kansas City a few years ago (2002?) and thought it was terrific. The oysters were my favorite; I haven't had much opportunity to try oysters, and at the time they had a tasting platter with a variety of oysters and an explanation about each one. I've forgotten now which were my favorites, but I thought them all good. I also had, and raved about, the swordfish. (I know, endangered, mercury, etc.) I told the waiter to tell the chef that they'd just changed my mind about restaurant swordfish; I'd nearly given it up as hopeless unless caught and cooked in New Bedford. Theirs was outstanding. Seems to me the wine recommendations were spot-on, too. I'd go back to that M&S in a heartbeat, based on my experiences back then. I hope they haven't gone downhill.

"Blithfully". I like that word! Is that a writing class special? I'll be interested to see what's left of our Farmer's Market this Saturday. Temps down into the 20's for the next two nights. I think I can wave goodby to the tomatoes, and the wonderful bouquets I've been buying, until next year.

Your hobnobs sound like the polish cookies: Delicje. The originals were with the orange jelly but now come in a myriad of flavors. My new favorite is the pear. maggie ← I've never seen Hobnobs in the States, but they're probably available in spectialty stores. They can be found in Egypt. Wonderful. Some of my Brit friends put me onto them.

That sounds like a nice idea, depending on the sophistication of the guests. I have to admit, if I were looking at a mayonnaise, no matter how fancy it appeared, I'd be less inclined to put it on my chicken breast than if I knew it were a sauce. Until now, I wouldn't have thought of mayo spreading on hot meat. (Thanks for the tip!)

I use vermouth frequently as a deglazing liquid, but because it has a different flavor than wine, I don't generally substitute one for the other. To me, vermouth has more of a dry herby flavor than wine does. It's a bit like substituting, oh, lemon juice for lime juice in a recipe. The results are usually good either way, but they're different. I've read that wine can be cooked down almost to a syrup consistency to save space, then frozen. I haven't tried it myself, and I don't know whether it would work as well on white wine - but I can't see why it wouldn't.

Welcome back, highchef. It's good to learn you made out okay too.