Behemoth

vinegar! edited to add -- you can also try more salt. But seriously, vinegar usually really works wonders for me.

The place I first came across Basra limes was in an Iraqi lamb stew. The limes are cooked with the meat before the other ingredients are added. It probably removes some of the less pleasant meat smells. I have also had it as tea -- just break up a lime and steep it in hot water. Oddly enough, I had a similar thing at a Vietnamese restaurant once. I ordered something called "salty lemonde" and it turned out to taste exactly like cold dried-lime tea.

My folks just sent me a jar of homemade pomegranate molasses -- and 5 balls of shankilsh!! Um, not to mention a box of turkish delight, a bag of roasted nuts(??) and five large pita covered in zaa'tar. Oh and some amazing spicy homemade olives (Will share those later in the week.) In the meantime, more fun experiments with Korean food. Octopus Chorim: This is a braised dish. The sauce is an amazing balance of salty, sweet and spicy, and is very addictive.

I just had my dinner and all that stuff STILL looks great. Say, does your company have any use for a math nerd from downstate? (Still sorry I missed the summer eG get-together, still hoping I get invited to another one at some point )

Yup, I think that's true. I got into drinking schnapps/grappa/aquavit after dinner with friends & family in Germany. I rarely like sweet liquors (I would have them instead of dessert, rather than with, and even then we're talking amaretto or limoncello.) -- so I suppose I was already a good candidate for dry schnapps. If you were expecting something sweet when approaching a grappa/schnapps/aquavit you would be in for a rude surprise. But I've always wondered why lots of people around here who consider brandy nice after dinner shun grappa -- the former is certainly no less powerful than the latter, it just has a nicer reputation. Edited to add -- my standard complaint is that Arak has the same lousy "firewater" reputation, even though when done correctly it is essentially the "coeur" of triple-distilled (from grapes, not grain!) aged brandy. And my favorite summer drink...

I'm with you. Have never understood why someone wouldn't like these. Granted, they should be consumed in small sips and from glasses that accentuate the aromas. I'm especially fond of grappa, and was sorry to read Splificator making fun of it in his Esquire book. Bad grappa or eau de vie is no more objectionable than any other bad distilled spirit. ← Me three in support of aquavitae. Some do indeed taste like nail-polish remover, but a good one has all these beautiful complicated smells in the glass, feels smooth and warm as it goes down, and cuts refreshingly through a heavy meal once it's in the stomach. I've mentioned this a few times on eG, but I love Ransom aquavitae, out of Oregon. Reasonable price for very high quality.

Ludja, what is involved in the prune-Armanac tart? I have another dinner party coming up (we owe a lot of invitations...) and I wanted to do some sort of free-form pate brisee with fruit type of thing since the rest of the meal will be fairly hearty (short ribs/root veg). Well, what is good for the career is bad for the stomach, I have been off to a conference and spending a lot of time in the department so I'm practically living on take-away thai/vietnamese noodles. Yesterday I got to make dinner -- even though we were still pressed for time it was nice to build in a little break. We had enchiladas verde (ie tomatillo sauce) stuffed with defrosted roast pork. It was quite good (a Diana Kennedy-derived recipe) but your standard late weeknight dish.

I think any trip to Germany would have Berlin first on the list. I don't have much current restaurant info but I've been to quite a few good ones over the years. But mainly go to see all those famous places in person, to get a sense of the amazing energy of the city. The Mitte district is also nice to walk around in, full of great art galleries and nifty little shops. I haven't been to Munich yet but I have heard it is really beautiful. Avoiding Octoberfest would be a plus in my mind. In December, wherever you are, make sure to drink a few cups of milled wine at a christmas market. I've spent most of my time in Hamburg, a city that I love...for nightlife and overall beauty if not for specific famous sights. (It is a bit off the beaten tourist path, which can be nice). And if you are up North, Luebek is a must see. In Luebek, have a snack at the Niederegger cafe, visit Buddenbrooks, all those churches...I think the oldest was begun in the 13th century? BTW, there is a lot of detailed information on Hamburg from a previous thread, if you google it, or I can try to look for it when I have a little more time. Edited to add this link: Hamburg report vue-de-cuisine, I will need to find out more about your friend's place. We may be visiting Nuernberg in December and possibly moving there in the next few years so I could use some recommendations.

At the risk of really annoying the neighbors, I must admit I planted the purslane deliberately, from my mom's garden. It's not a weed! It just grows like one! The point about weed killer is a very good one. I am extremely careful about that. I love purslane in salads. Try it tossed with beets, or with grapefruit. Use a tangy dressing made with balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molasses. It can take lots of herbs. I recently came across a recipe in a Diana Kennedy cookbook for purslane with pork and tomatillos which I need to try. That only reason that plant is not as fashionable as arugula is because it is too common to cash in on. As for dandelion greens, my typical preparation is blanched, then sauteed in good olive oil then topped with either lemon juice or caramelized onions, sopped up with warm pita bread. I have also foraged wild fennel and oregano, mulberries, blackberries, blueberries (wild ones are incredible)....I would love to learn how to forage mushrooms, but I think people who do that are very protective of their stashes. I generally have to buy my watercress, sorrel (unless my mom sends me some) and lambs quarters... I would love to be able to buy crawfish and wild boar in a supermarket. Maybe an eco dinner of garlic poached crawfish, followed by a wild boar and purslane entree...? Dessert would involve kudzu, definitely. I have fished for my supper, though never for carp. I don't think I could handle skinning my own nutria.

From Audubon Magazine: link I've foraged purslane and dandelions off my lawn a couple of times, but that's about as far as It's gone...

There is a chemical in garlic that turns blue when exposed to acid. If you want some seriously smurfy garlic, put a couple of cloves in vinegar sometime. But putting raw garlic into acidic tomato sauce would be enough to do it too. Neat, huh? As I am a science geek but not specifically a chemistry geek, someone else will have to tell you what that chemical is. FWIW, I have read that the reaction is more pronounced in young garlic.

Nullo, I love radishes braised in butter and white wine. I stumbled across the recipe once when I bought some unbearably peppery radishes. Now I seek out those same radishes especially for braising. Tonight we had pasta with radicchio and gorgonzola. Neither low carb nor low fat, nor particularly photogenic, but quite good. (edited for spelling...)

Do Shape readers cook? How the hell else would you make marinara?? Oh, never mind, it comes out of a jar, fat free with extra sugar.

Anna I am so happy to see you blogging. I think if I were invited to your house and had a look at the kitchen I would become very optimistic, it is laid out in such an efficient "excellent home cook" way. Funny about the open-faced sandwiches... My husband is from the northernmost tip of Germany (near Flensburg), within walking distance of the border. We used to drive to Romo to go swimming Anyway, his mother and aunt spoke Danish at home, and still, whenever we visit his aunt around dinnertime, she lays out a tray of those things. And then we proceed to work through an entire bottle of Hansa rum Grogg... But A. refuses to touch cabbage... Susan, Christmas celebrations are wonderful in that part of the world -- I can hardly wait for my first cup of mulled wine at the Weinachtsmarkt. Let us know how you enjoy it!

It is a lot easier to run a profitable company selling packaged, heavily processed food that has been magically rid of some or other supposedly harmful ingredient. You simply can't get much of a markup on a basic head of lettuce. I spend a lot of time in Europe each year (visiting family) and have lived most of my life abroad, and what always strikes me when I'm shopping abroad is how much less packaged food dominates supermarkets over there -- not to mention that most european (even suburban) neighborhoods are within walking distance to at least a twice-weekly farmers market, bakery,butchers etc. I guess that this is changing now, which is really a shame. It's funny, growing up I always assumed the US had the highest standard of living in the world, but the longer I live here the more I find it to be true on the surface (in terms of house sizes, number of cars) and very untrue once you dig a little deeper (high debt, lack of wide access to good plain foods, public transport, sidewalks, health care, vacation, social life etc...especially as soon as you get out of say, the very largest cities.) I am always wary of the whole "Europe is better" thing: they definitely have their own problems over there, and big ones, too. But I also feel that people take more pleasure in each other's company and in meals and all the little stuff. I hope that doesn't change anytime soon. Let's just say I am really looking forward to christmas...

Susan, It all looks really beautiful, as always. If you want to give it another shot, maybe try the Pad Thai recipe from eCGI? As far as I can tell, it is really similar to the one in the David Thompson cookbook, which has always worked really well for me. (Much better than restuarant!). Last night I made kind of a chili with some of the leftover pork. (Chili was on the mind thanks to percyn's photo). Came out great, had it tonight too, since it is our "get home late" night. Actually, I also made a pit stop at the taqueria/mexican grocery on the way home and picked up a coupla tacos. The place has a gyro-like setup for the meat so everything is slightly charred. Soft tacos, cilantro, onion and the best hot sauce I've had anywhere -- heaven for $1.50 a pop...and sadly I am pretty much the only non-latin person I've ever seen there. Best restaurant in town, hands down as far as I've concerned and nobody I've spoken to seems to have heard of it. Still working up the nerve to order a bowl of Menudo though... A pictorial tribute:

I dunno -- my experience is that they will eat anything, but a lot less of it. designchick -- emailing during lunch?! I am as email obsessed as the next person, but yikes. Welcome to eGullet, btw...

Thanks! It was fun to make. And as much as I love port, what I really want is a bowl of that Guiness turkey chili... The Sinister Hand was recommended by my wine store guy for the cake. It ended up being a very nice match, though port would have been even better, I think.

Another dinner party! Okay, I promise I will not always suck up so much bandwith, but this came out really nicely. Roasted fennel wrapped in Serrano ham and Phyllo: Joao Pires 2002 Muscat White Wine (portugal --awesome stuff) Mussels in saffron broth. I refuse to take photos of my food while guests are around, so here they are hanging out in my vast refrigerated space aka the patio: Sharecropper's Oregon Pinot Noir Roast sirloin of pork (I boned it myself and carved out the filet for later -- I felt like such a badass!), with vinegar glazed pearl onions, mashed celeriac and potatos and sauteed tatsoi with garlic. (mashed celeraic just looks like beige, and tatsoi was last minute, but here's the rest: ) (about 30 minutes from doneness...I had split the slab o' loin in half, put some shallots, garlic, rosmary and thyme on one half, laid the other over it and very inexpertly tied it. It looked pretty "rustic".) 3 cheeses. The favorite was a Delice de Bourgogne... Sinister Hand Oregon Syrah-Grenache. And finally, a rare foray into baking. Flourless espresso chocolate cake, topped with black mission figs. Espresso with, of course. Yeah, had to share some of my german gummi bears later that evening, too

I really wouldn't worry about it. The hard kind is Spanish Chorizo, the crumbly one is Mexican. I like both, but have only been able to find the Spanish one (a brand called Palacios here) at a semi-foofy gourmet shop in Urbana. I have no idea what you could substitute, but since it doesn't need to be refrigerated, you could probably order it fairly easily online, or try a foofy gourmet shop in Madison and stock up.

Or mashed/roasted sweet potatoes (with sage?) if you want color on the plate. Nice blog! I am also in the midwest so it is interesting to see what-all kinds of stuff is available to you. Oh, BTW: our local wal-mart seems to carry a lot of ingredients that I usually otherwise only find in mexican groceries...eg mexican sour cream, which I sometimes use as a nice (cheap!) sub for creme frais, as well as queso fresco, oaxacan string cheese, various chiles, key limes, cliantro, masa...etc. We are really in the middle of nowhere so it might reflect the migrant population. Maybe it is the same for you?

I was able to get the proper cut frozen at my local Korean Market. (They have a whole freezer of meat cut for Bulgogi, Kalbi etc). One thing I"ve been told works is if you ask your butcher to slice a sirloin steak "bacon thin". If you have to do it at home, it might make sense to partially freeze (maybe about 20 minutes in freezer?) your hunk o' meat and then slice it very thin with a very sharp knife (against the grain, natch) like you would do for cheesesteak. I agree about the charcoal griill, but we had some very nice bulgogi made on the grill insert of my stove. You really want the char marks on there, so if nothing else I would use a grill pan.

Freaky, except for the baseball, that's exactly what we had. Last (late) night we had leftover lamb sandwiches, with mustard, arugula from the farmer's mkt, red onion and some slices of hard aged yellow cheese whose name I've forgotten. And pomegranates. Lots and lots of pomegranates. I love autumn...

It was really good -- I had planned to grill the meat outside on a wood fire but the weather was looking uncooperative so I used the grill insert on my stove. Definitely will bemaking that again. Last night tried this Madhur Jaffery leg of lamb recipe. The yogurt marinade looked promising but (duh) curdled while it was roasting. I would normally be very forgiving of a homely-looking dish, but frankly it tasted meh too. Leftovers have been frozen for a future potpie, so all is not lost. Hmm, with the indian spices, maybe a British-style meat pastie instead...? Right now pomegranates are 10 fer $10 so that's all I'm really planning to eat this week. Enjoyed the brisket story, BTW. Transubstantiation of beef...

Hi, if this helps, I very recently came across an epicurious recipe for leg of lamb stuffed with greens and wild mushrooms, and one of the reviewers had successfully added cheese in there. I can't vouch for it personally, but it got 4 forks. I came across it when I was searching for "leg of lamb" and "fall". If nothing else, it will give you some idea of time and temp. I happen to have a bone-in whole leg with an indian yogurt marinade sitting n the fridge right now (Madhur Jaffrey recipe, this one)... must be something in the air