HungryChris

Quickly broiled on the half shell with finely chopped parsley and shallots in garlic butter and some crusty bread to attend to what remains in the shells. Wrapped in wilted spinach, returned to the half shell and drizzeld with a light garlic cream sauce with a dash of cream sherry, dusted with bread crumbs and paprika and briefly baked. What a grand find! HC

When my current home was new it was wired for an electric range, but I opted for a full gas range because it was so rural I wanted to be able to use the stove during power outages. That turned out to be a good thing. I never used the oven, only the cooktop during those outages. I did not like the oven because of uneven heating, slow cooking and poor browning. I was always opening it up during baking to move things around. I recently replaced it with a dual fuel that I like very much. It has a second smaller oven up above the larger convection oven and I have found that I like and use that most of all. It heats up to 550 deg f in 5 min and is great for low profile items. In my case, opting for both gas and electric did not involve running any new lines the second time around. Now that I have used it for almost a year I can say that I couldn't be happier with the ovens. I have baked bread on and off as a practical hobby for about 10 years and I would never go back to a gas oven. The cooktop is a 5 burner one and I don't think the 5th burner has done anything for me. My only complaint is that keeping the black stovetop under the burners clean and pristine looking is a chore, moreso than the stainless front. I hope you find my experience helpful. HC

My favorite comes from Konos Surf Club at the base of Crystal pier in San Diego. It is made with a cheddar omelette sliced breakfast sausages and slices of avocado with a red, mild hot sauce they call pika. It is an awesome combination. Of course, being on vacation helps the flavor a bit. HC

Here is a picture I took there back in the days when they did serve lunch. It was a truly pleasant setting. HC

According to the Up the River website they no longer serve lunch. I hope I am wrong, but this just strikes me as a step on to the road to oblivian. It is never a good sign when a restaurant gets tired. HC

mjr, I had that one, but appreciate the effort. I have the dominate "CP" (cheap pr!<k) gene that makes me want to avoid the shipping cost, but will pull the trigger on it if I find no cash and carry supplier. You guys have been great, keep up the good work! HC

We have tried DiPalo's, Zabar, Fairway, Citarella and the international market on 6th and 55th as well as a few more names that escape me. I remain hopeful that it is there, but just needs to be found. HC

Last fall, on a trip to Italy we bought this Italian condiment. It turned out to be highly addictive and useful in many dishes. It has hot peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, olives and is great on pasta and crusty bread. We have been looking for it ever since. This is what it looks like. (I have come to understand that there are a few companies that make it.) We have searched Manhattan high and low for this item without success.We will be back again on Saturday. If anyone has seen it in Manhattan, please speak up. We would love to hear about it!! Many Thanks, HC edited: I noticed that I misspelled condiment in the subject line, but am unable to correct it. Oh, well.

I make a pork tenderloin piccata and make the pan sauce with capers, white wine, garlic and shallots. It is a quick and inexpensive dish in whch the capers play a nice role. HC

I personally enjoy Tapas at 1150 New Britain Ave. for a great lunch when in the West Hartford area. Everything has always been fresh (they claim to not even have a freezer). Theirs is one of the best Greek salads I have ever had. Their lamb patty lunch entry is one of my faves. They have a downtown location and a place also on New Britain Ave called the Corner Pug that has a good following. When gas was a little more affordable, Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Tapas was a regular West Hartford excursion treat for us. HC

I was thinking more along the lines of making just a small batch of syrup for the occasion, as I agree with the week old observation. Heck, I can't see any reason not to muddle, frankly. I use the nonbusiness end of a wooden spoon to good effect. I also find that gently crushing mint between the fingers and wiping the leaves on the inside of the glass works well, but I wouldn't want to see a bartender do it that way. HC

Make a simple syrup with boiling water, sugar and mint, kind of a mint sweet tea. I have tried the puree and find the pulp annoying. HC

I have worked in a crowded kitchen as a line cook and not had a problem because for the most part we were all of a sole purpose. We knew what was supposed to happen and what we wanted to avoid. Throw in a distracted bystander and we would have all flipped. I don't think it's the fact that you are in a kitchen, but the fact that you got the "bubble people" effect going on. The "bubble people" are those who for whatever reason lose track of the fact that they do share the world. I think we have all been behind the person who walks into a supermarket and stops to read the flyer in the doorway. We can forgive them if we need to, but they drive us all mad. HC

Based upon my own experience with a small stand alone ice cream maker, there need be no special mixture just a good ice cream recipe. When I take ice cream from my machine and pack it into a container, it is essentially soft serve ice cream. When I take it out of the freezer after a hard freeze, it's regular ice cream. So my advice is to just collect some good recipes and source the freshest ingredients. Temperature makes the difference as far as soft serve goes. Soy Lecithen, no way! HC

ghost, I live in a little town called Voluntown which is right near the RI boarder. The road they were on has high traffic for both CT casinos. They were gone by 1 pm which I assume means they were sold out. It seems a bit strange to me too, but i'll not argue and hope they keep coming back. I shelled the 2 lbs during the Pats game half time and had a great meal watching them take their 18th straight win. HC

I was thinking of taking a trip out to Cranston yesterday for some Maine shrimp, but decided against it because I didn't need enough stuff to warrant the expense. Look what showed up not 3 miles from my home today, two guys from Friendship, Maine with some shrimp brought in yesterday. I bought 2 lbs and took them home right away. These are the freshest I have had to date. They smell sweet and fresh as the ocean. I cooked up a few just to be certain and they are wonderful. My little camera isn't much good at close-ups, but here they are. They say they will be back next Sunday and so will I.

Even though my old oven gave out almost three years ago I held off replacing it because the 40" I really wanted would require a remodle. When the old oven came on of it's own accord one night a few weeks ago, after three years of inactivity, I just wanted it out of the house altogether and had to keep the gas shut off. I am not yet ready to remodel so the 40" was out. I found the Jenn Air dual fuel, 5 burner, double oven with both a proofing and convection setting in stainless that I wanted. I have not used it a great deal. It seems quite well made and all five burners have a low setting that was quite hard to achieve on the old (Whirlpool). There is no more squinting at the flame to get it low without it going out. I have used the proof setting and am quite happy with it. I have only baked bread in the larger oven, but have used the smaller oven a little more. It heats up quite fast (550 in about 10 min). The range has a timer for each oven and, so far I have no complaints. I believe the Jenn Air is made by Maytag. I have no experience with down draft, but perhaps, onehsancare, you will find some reassurance from my experience. HC

I have noticed the same thing. It is almost as if they have changed their approach to seafood. There has been a definite drop in the number of seafood items offered in the store near where I work in CT. They still have a fish counter, but the display is more ice that anything else, lately. Then Stop & Shop opened a new store in a nearby town and like you say, no fish counter whatsoever. They just had preportioned fish in a little area devoted to seafood. It is as if they have given up on the concept. I fully expect the fish counter to go away in the older store at some point. I thought they had made great strides in the past few years offering pretty fresh fish. I guess they were not getting the profit margin they were looking for. HC

The first one I tried was Squid brand. It is funny how reluctant I was to use it at first. It took courage to shake out the first few drops into a dish. Over time I have come to depend on it as a staple in a lot of cooking. I now measure it out by the shot glass so it is ready when just when I need it. Based on what I have read, Golden Boy and Tra Chang are on my list of primium brands to try. I have been searching CT, MA and RI for the last few weeks and have not seen any of those brands. I hope to visit A dong's in West Hartford soon and I expect to score at least one there. HC

I wonder if this is anything like the crispy rice in the Lotus of Siam's famous Nam Kao Tod? I am sure I am not alone in wanting to try a hand at making that dish. I was under the impression the rice was cooked to the point of forming a thin brown cake on the bottom of a large skillet. Then scraped up and formed into balls which were cooled and deep fried, drained and broken apart to serve. There is a saltiness to it that I assumed came from fish sauce. The sour sausage and crispy rice are the two great mysteries in that dish. HC

I have a little "cool down" chair out on the deck just outside the kitchen that I use a lot in cold weather for the purpose. I like to use the climate to whatever advantage I can. Once it's as cold as the fridge, in it goes. In the summer I use some cold well water as a "chiller". HC

My 22 year old gas range had an oven that never was any good, even when it was working. I had to keep moving things around to compensate for hot and cool spots. For the past two years the oven has not worked at all. This Christmas, I bought myself a Jenn-Air. 5 burner, dual fuel, double oven range with convection setting. It was hooked up on Christmas Eve. HC

We ended up getting the 4 cup version of the one in your Sur La Table link, weinoo, and what a beauty it is! We got it at Zabar and it came with a free lb of espresso, which was pretty nice. Our thanks to everyone for all the ideas! HC

Although I must confess to never having had a martini, I'm neither shaken nor stirred by this gyzmo. HC

We will be in the city next weekend and are in the market for a stovetop espresso maker. I have a gas range and am happy with the little 3 cupper I got on the internet because I can turn the flame down to just the right size. Deb, however has an electric range which quickly melted the handle off the one I got for her. I was thinking we could look around upstairs at Zabar, but wondered where else we could go in Manhattan for a variety to look at. Thanks, HC