HungryChris

It's a little early here in CT, but not too early to make plans and I have decided to start tomatoes, peppers and pickling cukes from seed rather than buying them this year. I have not had much luck in the past, I think because I got started too early and things got spindly before it was time to plant. I will give it another go and try to plan things a little better. The thing I am most excited about is the shishito peppers I want to grow. I have looked high and low and even tried to encourage local plant folks to at least start a few flats, but without luck. I've come to the conclusion that growing them myself is the answer. I bought a few packets of seeds from Kitazawa Seed Co. and my plan is to start them on income tax day with hopes of putting them in the ground the first Saturday in June. We'll see. HC

I have had very good results with the pizza dough I buy at Walmart for about 89 cents. I keep a few in the freezer and take one out in the morning before leaving for work if I think I'll want pizza for dinner. That night the plastic bag will be puffed out like a taught pillow and I remove the dough and toss it out on a floured board. It usually takes about 4 or five sessions of rolling it out, but I just roll it out as much as I can and then let it relax for a few minutes. I can get it as thin as I want using that method. I preheat the oven to 550 (f) with the stone in for about one half hour. If I have not divided the dough I will usually be putting about a 13 or 14 in pizze in the oven, using corn meal as little ball bearings for sliding it onto the stone. It is done in 12 to 13 min. The crust is quite cracker like to the point I have thought about getting a little more chew to it by adding olive oil. HC

I was first introduced to the Royal Trumpet mushroom at a farmers market in La Jolla while on vacation in San Diego. I really love the texture which is much like that of a Porcini. I use them with reconstituted dried Porcini to get the blend of the texture and flavor of the Porcini. At first, I could only find them at Whole Foods for $14.99 a pound. Imagine my surprise to see much bigger and better ones in a newly opened Chinese market near my home for $2.79 a pound. They call them Chicken Thigh mushrooms. I call them fantastic! HC

A good reuben in a restaurant is (in my experience) a never ending quest that is punctuated by tears. I have given up the search and make my own becuase you need everything in its place, not just most of it. It is also, I think, a personal thing. I like the kraut rinsed and cooked until tender for example. I have endless variations that include corned beef, smoked shoulder and even kielbasa, but the other fundimentals are sacred. Open faced, hell no! Italian bread? You have to be kidding! Cole slaw? What kind of place are you people running here? It goes on and on..... HC

I have found some pretty good clips (and recipes) just by searching using the Italian names for the main ingredients. HC

There is a piece of meat in a top sirloin butt that is triangular in shape and usually has decent marbling. It takes a marinade quite well. While I have never braised one, it has always struck me as a good candidate for braising. It is often called top sirloin cap and it might be something you could try. HC

I have been buying the TJ's frozen fried rice for a while now. I think my favorite is the vegetable. It is a fast and tasty foil for many leftovers. As far as just buying frozen rice, I think I can wait for the real thing. HC

Although I have never made them myself, I had the most remarkable walleye fish cakes in MSP at Tavern on Grand last year that I am inclined in that direction. I think that fresh frozen cod or similar white fleshed fish would lend itself well to a good fish cake. HC

I have picked green tomatoes before a frost and wrapped them in newspaper and kept them in a cool place and they (most of of them) continue to ripen through Early December. It must make a difference just how cool or cold they get. HC

On occasion I will have an Evan Williams Black Label old fashioned with a bit of Splenda instead of simple syrup. I reserve a glass from a set inherited from my grandparents for the purpose. HC

The way I understand it, all ice cream exits the manufacturing stage in the form of soft serve ice cream. The so called hard ice cream goes into the deep freeze to be hardened up. So it really does not make much sense to try to distinguish between hard and soft serve, because that plays little or no role in the quality of the product. When I make ice cream, I can tell when I taste it at the soft serve stage, if I am happy with it or not. If I am not pleased with it at the soft serve stage, I can be pretty sure that will not change after the hard freeze. I guess what I am saying is that you either like it or you don't and you should be able to tell the good from the bad regardless of which stage it is in. HC

We go to Warwick, RI on a regular basis and recently two of our frequent stops are Trader Joe's and Five Guys. We each get a small burger. I like lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles and mushrooms on mine. We split an order of fries, wich we both enjoy, but seldom finish. I am usually impressed that when we unwrap the burgers, they are hot and juicy, while the lettuce is still cool, always a good sign. Our absolute favorite burger joint is In & Out Burger, but Five Guys has moved into second place. I will add that I have been to and not liked two other locations for Five Guys. One was in Mystic, CT and the other was on 55th St, Manhattan. We were recently going on a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale and tried the Five Guys there and we were both impressed by how good it was. I rember the price because it comes to one of the few dates in history I have managed to retian, 1066, the Battle of Hastings. HC

Some great sandwiches here indeed! I always celebrate FTD (first tomato day) with a BLT. I greatly enjoy a reuben. My go to sandwich, however, is on a baguette sliced lenghtwise to open, but not completely through. It is then toasted in a hot oven. I will slice cabbage very thin (#1 on a commercial Globe slicer) and season it with good olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a bit of red wine vinegar. I shake that all up in a plastic bag. When the baguette is ready I drizzle it with a bit more oil and line one side with provalone cheese half slices and the other side with cooked salami half slices. The cheese is then covered with tomato slices and the cabbage mixture goes all down the center (heaps of it). This sandwich is then cut in half and served at once while still crusty on the outside. HC

They could be from here. Their oysters are quite good. I have tried oysters from all over, but keep coming back to the Blue Points. The brininess is definitely part of it for me. This operation is getting better and better at what they do. http://ct-oysters.com/ HC

When I buy deli meats they are often put in a plastic bag, but then the price sticker is placed over the closure making it difficult open without destroying the bag. HC

My take on Irish butter vs US butter is that in Ireland the climate is pretty ideal for grasses and that cows in Ireland have fresh grass pretty much year round. That has got to help make great butter. HC

My Kenmore Elite has a high temp setting, a pots and pans setting and a turbo zone setting that I use almost all the time. I am sure that it is not energy eficient in those modes, but frankly, Scarlet, I dont give a damn. I have grown up with the idea that items out of the dishwasher are sterile and dry. I like that. The controls are up in the top of the door so are out of sight when it is closed. It is ultra quiet as well. I guess my only gripe is that when I use those modes the cycle time is loooong. HC

Deb and I were in WS a year or so ago and a British chap came in and when sked if he could be helped, he replied "I'm looking for some pots and pans for my new flat." The response he got was "If you want pots and pans, go to Walmart. We sell cookware." HC

My first experience with pasta with sage brown butter sauce was in Greve, Italy. I was blown away by it. The first few times I tried to create it I was too light handed with the sage leaves and I took them out of the sauce. That was a mstake. They are best left in to crisp up in the sauce to insure the flavor is well infused into the butter and then the texture changes again when introduced into the steaming pasta. Now I AM hungry! HC

CDRF, using plastic gloves makes so much sense once you think about it, and has been, in our experience, common practice in Rome, Florence, all throughout Tuscany, Umbria and in virtually all the surrounding towns we have traveled to. The customer is expected to (put on gloves), weigh the produce, punch in the proper code for it and afix the resulting sticker onto the bag. Common practice or not, it should be universal because it does make so much sense as does the practice of charging extra for bags. Another one of my absolute favorites is the one Euro deposit for grocery carts. That deposit is refunded once you return the cart to its rightful place which goes a long way towards resolving the problem of carts dinging car doors. All those things combined make sense. Maybe I misspoke when I used the term "Europe", but it is a model we should all follow if I were asked. HC

OK, I'll bite. I will admit to shopping at Walmart. One has been built on my way home from work and I stop in there almost every day. I will not buy their beef cuz I just do not like the look of it. There are a few exceptions: beef tongue and beef cheeks can be had for a very reasonable price and I do indulge in those cryovac products. Having been to Italy several times in the last few years, I just cannot get over how differant their approach is to produce. Every time I see people manhandling lettuce or cukes one by one I just have to shake my head. You just do not handle produce in Europe without putting on gloves and the contrast stands out nowhere in the US better than Walmart. Americans just don't get it yet, but I am certain they will in time. HC

King Oscar two layer in olive oil, chopped onion on saltines, please. I also like them on crusty Italian bread with some onion juice made by scraping a half onion with a butter knife and a bit of mayo. HC

I have to speak up for the Compari tomatoes I have been buying in February and March for the past few years here in CT. I too grow tomatoes in the summer and the fresh picked ones just can't be beat, but the Comparis are the next best thing to me. I do not cook with them, but enjoy them in a salad or sliced in half, sprinkled with a little sea salt to start a meal. They have really brought winter tomatoes into a new reality in my mind. HC

The Term "gas' is a generic term that includes propane. If you are wondering how propane would compare with your electric stove top, I can tell you from experience that the heat is comparable. The amount of heat delivered is more determined by the stove top than anything else. Of course, there are some subtle differences between cooking on an electric stove top and a gas one like the fact that with gas, you can see the flame immediately and adjust it easier. There are some drawbacks too, like having the metal handles or spoons hanging over the edges of the pot on a gas stove getting hotter much faster. I have no idea how much experience you have with gas, so I hope I haven't wasted your time explaining the obvious to you. HC

Seeing eggs on the shelves next to canned soup and napkins in Italy did sort of freak us out too. Taking a look at those eggs in the pan though, with the brilliantly colored yolks and the way they yolks rose up so high above the whites speaks more about the differences in the eggs themselves. I don't think it's meaningful to compare how they are stored without also taking into account the differences in how they are produced. HC