Bella S.F.

Kim, We have been on a taco kick. Made http://www.foodpeoplewant.com/tacos-de-barbacoa/ Thought that we would seal and freeze portions so that we could have some good tacos whenever we had the urge. These were so good, we just kept eating them, without getting bored, most of the week. Never got to freeze any. We need to make a bigger batch and freeze them. Then I could have one, like right now, when I want one. Your pork looks really good. You mentioned simmering and pan frying. I take it that you made the dish on the stove and not in the oven. Do you have any trouble regulating the heat on the stovetop? I find that I get better results in the oven. The burners seem to either stop simmering or start boiling too hard. A heat diffuser helps, but I find that I just try to braise in the oven.

We make the Ina Garten Cape Cod Salad often. We really love it. I discovered Pink Lady apples last year and think that they make a big difference. The salad dressing has orange zest and maple syrup in it. Wasn't sure how it would be, but it is really great. We have taken the ingredients for the salad when we go to dinner at people's houses and it is always a big hit. It also pairs really well with a good Pinot Noir.

I am interested in hearing the answers. Really like beets with goat as well as bleu cheeses. Been into beet Napoleans lately. Beets Anna? Why not?

Pilori, Your pasta looks a lot like something we were told translates to "Strangle the Priest". I have the name in Italian somewhere. I will try to find it.

What a great idea! I am looking at my cookbooks and the ever expanding recipe file that I have on our computer. The only thing that I am sure of putting on that list is sticky buns. I have been wanting to make them for years. I just cannot decide what recipe to make. Other than the yeast doughs that I am looking at, Ina Garten makes one using frozen puff pastry dough. She says that it is easy and absolutely delicious, even better than the ones they made from scratch when she had the Barefoot Contessa store. (I know, what would I expect her to say. Although,I should add that I have had trememdous success with many of her recipes.) Perhaps I need to try a few different sticky bun recipes, unless of course, I hit one out of the ballpark right away. Now, I need four more.

djyee100, Great looking and sounding food! I may need to take a look at that cookbook. I have tried different recipes for shrimp, tomatoes, and feta. This one sounds very nice. I like the thought of "carmelized" tomato sauce. I was able to access the recipe from your link, however, I was not able to copy it. Is there a trick that I don't know? I don't really feel like copying everything by hand. Thanks!

Thanks Paul. It looks like I have some good reading ahead of me.

What am I doing wrong? I keep copying and pasting the web address that Paul McMichael wrote about, and I can only find a beef chorizo recipe. Can anyone help please? Thanks.

I just love the English language and the many ways that things can be interpreted. My first reaction to the name of this topic was, meatloaf and mashed potatoes pulled pork, BBQ sauce (a mustard and a chipoltle/tomato version, and cole slaw pork ribs and baked beans Those are things that I need to cook together.

I really love to cook with other people. It is so communal and I often learn something new. Pizza is definitely a great one to do with others. We also really like making pasta with friends.We have had people do everything from hand rolled and cut pasta, to stuffed pasta. We've had people come up with some interesting fillings for ravioli. Years ago, when the movie Timpano (Did I spell that correctly?) was out, friends had a dinner party where you were each sent part of final recipe to make and bring to the party. Then the kitchen loving folks put all of the parts together, while the rest of the people watched the movie. It was a lot of fun. I just realized that I never got to see the movie, but the ragu and the meatballs were really great. I have made them separately quite a few times.

I'm going back a couple of years ago, maybe more, but I had asked for help making fresh chorizo. We love chorizo and eggs as well as other dishes that call for fresh chorizo. We are lucky to have Mexican stores where we can buy the "real thing". The only problem is that once you remove the chorizo from the casings, you have a bit too much fat, as well as unidentifiable clumps of stuff you don't really want to injest. After picking much out of the sausage before cooking it, I figured that we could just make it a bit more healthy by starting with pork butt and going on from there. I did get some responses, which we did try. While what we made was good and definitely seemed healthier, it was still missing something that I couldn't put my finger on. It did not have quite the right spices and it did not drip the right color of fat. If I remember correctly, someone wrote and suggested ?? annato ?? Anyway, I second the plea for a really good fresh chorizo recipe. The "real" stuff we were buying made us think that we could only do it to our bodies every six months or so. It would be great not to ration at all. If anyone has more specifics, I would love to hear them also.

Joyce Goldstein has a recipe for Curried Rice Salad in her book, Back To Square One, that is really wonderful. We have taken it to potlucks and it always disappears right away. If you are taking it somewhere, or just making it ahead of time, do not put the cashews and the greenonions/scallions in until you are going to serve it. I added chicken a couple of times when I wanted it to be more of a main course, but it can also be eaten as a main course without it. I can't think about that recipe without wanting to eat it right now.

Lapin d'Argent, I am so glad that you like the potatoes. When we started making them, I wanted to make them all the time. I actually forgot about them for a while. Thanks for the reminder.

eldereno, Sure enough there it was. Thanks! It sounds so refreshing. Looking forward to trying it.

I have not read all of the entries on this topic, so perhaps this has been touched upon already. I do not think that chefs should be penalized when the equipment that they are using is not "up to snuff". Especially when some of the appliances are made by the companies sponsering the show. If this was a reality situation, where we are watching a chef who has to prepare a meal and make due with what he or she is thrown, it would be one thing. Actually, that could be really interestiing. Here however, there should be a common playing field. If you know that you have certain appliances at your disposal, and create a meal accordingly, one person should not be penalized because what he or she needs to use doesn't work.

eldereno, I do not know if it is just me, but I was not able to find the salad you spoke of. Has anyone found it?

Nice hearing how you vary your's. I have made variations of the potatoes where you just press or squash them. What I really like about the potato masher in the Crash Hot Potato version is that it gives you lots of peaks and valleys. All the more crispies. I do not care if some of them fall apart. To me they are all about the crispy texture. It does seem like there are a lot of us who are potato addicts, and can admit it freely and openly. "Hi, I'm a potatoaholic..."

Michael Chiarello's recipe for "Potatoes "Da Delfina" are another variation on the theme. Like some of mentioned here, they are also done stove-top and are also very delicious. http://www.napastyle.com/recipe/recipe.jsp...bCategoryId=719 (Hope that that works.) What I like so much about the Crash Hot Potatoes is that after you "crash" them, the oven does everything else for you. They are less greasy than the stove-top versions and turn out with much crispier crevasses. I thought that I remembered someone saying that they had problems with the potatoes sticking to the sheet pan, but I cannot find it now. If that is happening, just brush some olive oil on the sheet pan before you put the potatoes on it. Warning: try not to eat all of the potatoes off of the sheet pan before plating them and taking them to the table.

Glad that you got the link to the recipe. I forgot to add it. Saw the comment about duck fat. That is something that we don't have on hand. I think that I will try to use bacon fat sometime when I make them. That is something that we always have in the frig. Actually, they were wonderful using olive oil. I don't know if the taste would be purer without adding another flavor component. (I have never had anything fried in duck fat.) I did sprinkle some with Lawreys' Garlic Salt and others with Kosher salt. Both were great. We were an hour past when we thought that dinner would be served and didn't get to cut any rosemary. I think that I will try chives the next time though. Now I am trying to figure out where I saw the recipe originally. When ever I like something this much, I always thnking that whoever liked this enough to refer to it, must have other good things to check out. It was not the site that the recipe comes from, however. That would be too easy. If any of you try thet recipe, please pose results.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! We made something called Crash Hot Potatoes last night. They are perfection. I can see them replacing just about every type of potato that we make except for mashed and au gratin. They are tender and crispy golden at the same time. No need to turn or worry about burning. I have made something similar where you smash a small cooked potato with your palms and then fry it in a lot of oil in a skillet. These potatoes let the oven do all the work. I can't get over what a winner they are. OMG I want to make them again tonight!

I have some of each series. I thought that I cook more from the "Savoring" than I do from the "Beautiful" series, but looking at them now, I am not sure. I am a big fan of Joyce Goldstein's cookbooks. She happens to be the author of Savoring Spain and Portugal and Mediterranean The Beautiful Cookbook. I have both of those as well as some of the Italian, and the Mexico book from both series. I can sit down with any of those books, open up to any page, and see something that needs to be tried. Now that I think of it, that happens with most cookbooks. However, the photography in these books enhance the craving. Other than having great recipes, the books are beautiful, and wonderful to read. Pour a glass of wine and travel to Europe while curled up in your favorite chair. A few years ago, Costco had both series of books. The prices made it easy to give in to the "I really would like this book." addiction. Note: The Tinga Poblana recipe in Savoring Mexico (P.158) is a real winner. I have tried other recipes for this and nothing has come even close. If you have the book, put it on your "Have to Make" list. Adding extra chorizo is always a good thing.

jon, thanks for explaining that. I think that I will experiment this weekend. I'll report back.

Jon, I don't understand how you find recipes in the "Inside the Book" feature on Amazon. I have found that I can only see the cover flaps, the table of contents, and/or the index of recipes, and perhaps the first few pages of the book. Where do you find the recipes?

the house restaurant in North Beach is wonderful. Asian fusion. The best pork chop I can remember eating. When they can get black cod they have it as a special. It melts in your mouth. It is a must order when it is available. It may be hard to get reservations though. Ask about walk-ins, or you might be able to get an off hour reservation.

joesan, I keep trying new chorizo recipes. I am still in search of one to rival what we can get in the Mexican groceries around here. I will happily add something to the Chorizo thread from a number of years ago when I do. The porchetta continues to amaze us. The next time we make it, I need to find a way to end up with more pan juices. There is far more pork left to the amount of pan juices. I don't want to just "water" them down with stock. Perhaps I will leave more fat on the roast than the amount recommended. Is anyone able to increase the pan drippings and still have the yummy pork taste. I realize that if I did not put the vegetables in the pans with the pork, there would be a lot more sauce. However, I can't trade how the drippings flavor the veggies, even for more sauce.