Timh

Try peeling, cutting into smaller pieces, putting in a blender,add a little water, and blend, then strain in cheesecloth. The blender will pulverize better than the robo. Or just go to Wholefoods.

Like scorchedpalate, I would forsake all of my other cookbooks to save my 4 volumes of recipes and notes from my professional career. Just about everything I've ever cooked , I jotted down notes about. While apprenticing in Japan, I logged everything, and in Paris, the same. They are my culinary soul.

if I understand right, "creme de poulet" would fit the bill. Poach any meat in the stock, add the cream . puree and sieve(or not). result= ultra rich chicken cream, yum yum.

Its the one with the photos of the pour designs on the walls. I heard that the Starbucks there now are going to automated machines, just press a button.

A comment I've heard more than once by (NY)4 star and (Euro)3 star chefs is that the 1and 2 star(3) are pushing the envelope to reach another level, while the 4 and 3 star chefs are just trying to maintain their rating.

I think so, there was a little market on one side and a teriyaki place on the other. What's with all the teriyaki? I wanted to find out for myself, but I literally couldn't squeeze in the time, as I was busy eating .I was staying at my brothers house, 83rd and Freemont, so I was on Greenwood daily. I forgot to mention that the PCC market is a decnt alternative to Wholefoods in a pinch, and that the oyster guy at the farmers market in the old town in Ballard has great oysters(we had pacifics, kumamotos, and a east coast variety he started farming) And another thing, a used bookstore(again, on Greenwood) has a great selection of cookbooks. You see? I'm crazy about your town, and KEXP! I could just go on and......

Exactly. Everything there was perfect, the quiches, croissants, the pain au chocolate and brioches. And him just behind the counter busting out tarts etc. was inspiring. There was a constant line when we went and even when we drove by.

You folks have it good there in Seattle I have to say. A family visit brought my wife and I and our two little girls out to your fair town and man did we eat and drink good. A few of the highlights: a nondiscript Pakistani place in Greenwood Gorditos Ray's (the apps were great, the entree's average, the view fantastic) Nishino (great sushi, great sake selection, imaginative chef selections, service, the whole works) Whole Foods (really inspiring, much better than the one here in Bellingham, MA) any coffee shop but especially that on on capital hill that my brother only refers to as "the temple" and Diva in Greenwood and Cafe Fiore in Ballard and a bakery that (next to Tall Grass in Ballard) that I can't recall the name of. Lots of great microbrews and wines not available here in the east. You folks are sooo lucky. Tim

Folks who show up late to my house for a dinner are hopefully shamed when they walk in and find the dinner in progress. Depending on what was served, they may get the courses missed, or they will just get what is down when they arrive. I find lateness for dinner parties particularly rude. Tim

In sort of a zen(y) way,I get juiced when that 400th preparation still tastes as vibrant as the first time. If I find myself bored or non interested at any time, i'll deconstruct it ,examine the parts, and see what energy I can infuse to make it "bright" again, without changing the concept of the dish. Tim

I have done a a savory bread pudding with left overs. Included Tasso and mushrooms. Does require a little soaking in the custard before baking.

That was just possibly the most entertaining commercial I've ever seen(The canned salmon, bear fight was pretty funny). Tim

Im in on this also, as a southerner I feel it is my duty.

Raw quail eggs are common in japanese cuisine. As a topping for sushi(salmon roe), as a slurry w/ shoyu, and just folded into rice. All wonderfull. And the other nite while having the tasting menu at CLIO here in Beantown, one course was a spoon w/ a quail yolk, uni, and ossetra(raw,raw,raw) yummy, and another dish was a kummamoto oyster, uni, and ossetra, w/ ponzu. delicious also. Tim

The TYPE of tuna can also dictate the preparation. Blue fin and Yellowfin are great raw all the way to fully cooked. Albacore, on the other hand , while some may eat it raw, is I think far better off being cooked to MR at the least, medium more so. The whole seared rare fashion is relatively new phenom in the west.

I thought the frosting for Red Velvet was cream cheese base, or sourcream?! Marscapone even, but the point is a slight tartness. Maybe its just a southern thing. edited to add: sorry for the cross posting. Tim

Cooter Browns, uptown at the bend, has the largest, (that is not an adequate description) of beer, period. Its collegy but still good.

Nah, just a happy , loaded ,beginning restaurant couple.

Really? he sounded quite confrontational to me, hmmmm ← Confrontational with those extreme customers yes. But I didn't get the impression that that's his usual style. Maybe, I'm used to all the jokes about French chefs. ← Greetings Chefs, et al I'll work like crazy to make the guest happy, and take constructive, knowledgeable criticisms seriously and thoughtfully. But when there's nothing you can do, what then? Give away the store? I lilke to think I approach these seldom occurances with a sense of humor(to me?). On the flip side, still in N.O., my girlfriend(now wife) and I were celebrating my taking over the kitchen(someone elses downfall nonethe less) at Bayona and after a great meal and alot of wine, we aparently were having too much fun. So a desert comes from the kitchen, a chocolate something, but written in chocolate across the bottom half of the rim, "GO HOME!" Tim The kitchen I inherited was some no name place, we were just celebrating at Bayona.

In my experiences as a chef I've got a few golden moments concerning unhappy guests. (New Orleans, Vino wine bar-bistro), one customer sent back a beef dish complaining of glass in it, it was fleur de sel my waitstaff explained, she wasn't satisfied so I went out with her returned plate, cut a piece of her steak and ate it(w/extra fd'sel) and offered her a new entree. Another guest repeatedly remarked that the potato puree was too smooth to be real, must be from a box. I invited her back to the kitchen, she refused, so I came out to her table and commented that while she was wrong, I was impressed with her knowledge of powdered potatoes. These examples were extreme in that there was nothing I could have done to please them, they wanted a whipping boy , and I'll be damned if it was gonna be me, IN MY RESTAURANT.

To me a vegetable is either cooked or its crudite. A properly cooked vegetable does not neccesarily mean washed out either. So , if its "al dente" then its not fully cooked yet. I serve pork tenderloin medium(slight pink) and loin/chops either medium or low and slow braise. Tim

There is a Mobil gas station in Houma that serves homemade crawfish, or shrimp, or regular boudin. Made by a local family and just amazing. I want to cry.

For a Sunday Brunch, I really like The Blue Room in Cambridge, interesting take on it. And Summershack is a good alternative. Tim

Well. in the neighborhood of Liuzza's(fobourg St. John) Two restaurants across from each other are great, Lolas for spanish paella and other great food, and Gabriellas for modern New Orleans. Go to Ugelsiches' before it closes! And Casamentos on magazine. All right, Tim