loiosh

The ice-cream filled popovers are outstanding.

They also do mail order, but they can't import perishable stuff like that -- just shelf-stable stuff and dry goods. Many products containing dairy are not approved for importation by quarantine either.

See, I was sure I could find them, too. I have a look in just about every Coles/Woolies/IGA I've been to lately, and no dice. I keep getting false hope from the red and green cocktail onions in the pickle section, although those would be good for festive Gibsons.

I've looked everywhere and can't find maraschino cherries (the kind you use to garnish drinks, with stems, NOT glace cherries for Christmas cakes). Anyone know where to get these? I'd like to make some Manhattans.

I had a magnetic knife rail, but now I'm living in a rented apartment, so I can't really put holes in the kitchen tiles, alas. I love Alessi, Koziol, and other 'fun' kitchen gadgets, so I was really hoping that 'The Ex' would work out for me. Ah well.

I was going to buy one of these, as I've been on the lookout for a knife block that's reasonably open so gunge doesn't build up in the slots, but was disappointed that it's only available with the knives. The shopgirl was really building up how awesome the included knives are, but I'd prefer to stick with mine, and the cost was a bit too much for me to end up with knives I don't really want or need. Anyone found an open-ish knife block that I can get without buying loads of knives with it?

In Australia, we have smaller appliances on average than those in the US. People do buy huge amounts of stuff at the supermarket, but if you look closely, a lot of it is shelf-stable staples. I think people buy more stuff fresh at the greengrocer or butcher, and more frequently. So I suppose it depends on how often you like to shop. Personally, I don't mind having a small fridge and oven. If you're cooking for one or two, a smaller fridge and oven aren't really anything to worry about. As for my tiny oven, well, the Le Creuset fits in there, so I'm happy.

This is essentially my go-to salsa recipe, though I got it from a 2003 issue of Saveur. I get my cast-iron pan good and hot and roast everything, then I chop everything up (sometimes in the food processor). It's been a hit ever since I made it for poker night once, which is good, because I'm absolute crap at poker and needed something to save my reputation. You can do a similar one using tomatillos, but I haven't seen tomatillos anywhere here.

I'm really amazed that nutritional-yeast-on-popcorn has taken off outside the vegan community, though it is pretty nice. The Red Vic movie theater in San Francisco has a wide variety of popcorn toppings, including butter, yeast, Old Bay and some others. The popcorn is served in wooden salad bowls -- aesthetically-pleasing *and* recyclable.

Hassenpfeffer incorporated!

Exactamundo. I don't eat a lot of meat, so when I do indulge, I want to eat meat that tastes like meat, not like chewy tofu.

The Tony Bourdain seven hour lamb is good as well. I heartily agree regarding Sam Kekovich.

I used to subscribe to Cook's Illustrated, but let my subscription lapse. I shelled out an ungodly amount for the current issue at Borders, just to catch up on things, and what did I see? The magazine's tasters apparently pronounced Aussie and Kiwi lamb 'too gamy' for their tastes, and preferred milder-tasting American lamb, which isn't grass-fed. My partner and I were outraged. Lamb is supposed to taste like lamb! Lamb fat is one of the tastiest substances known to man (or at least me). Later in the recipe they give, they mention "trimming off as much fat as possible" since "Lamb's gamy flavo(u)r comes mostly from the fat". What's going to make all the pumpkin and whatnot you put under your roast taste yummy, then? I ask you. If you'd like to tell these Yanks where to go, email them at notesfromreaders@bcpress.com, referencing the "Rethinking Roasted Leg of Lamb" article in the April 2006 issue. Aussie aussie aussie! Oi oi oi!

There's meant to be parmesan in cassoulet? Most of the ones I've seen don't include it. There's an old-school French joint in Manuka (Canberra), Christophe's, that does cassoulet, but it's a bit too oily and liquid for my tastes. I like it best when it's a bit more solid. No Sydney datapoints yet for me, but I'll make a note to investigate when it gets cooler out. Personally, I like it best at chez moi -- whenever I have extra sausages from a barbeque, some oddments of a lamb roast, and maybe a chicken leg or two in the freezer, I just chuck them all into a pot with some beans (hell, you can use tinned Edgell white beans, they're fine) and tomato (from a tin) and some thyme from the herb garden, and cook very slowly, stirring in the crust on top periodically. I actually use the seasonings from the Julia Child recipe, but the technique from my uber-daggy yet classic Better Homes cookbook. Still, I've gotten rave reviews. If I have leftover duck or goose fat handy, I'll chuck that in as well for added flavour. (I really need to cook a goose again. Last time I did, I was well-stocked for goose fat for a year or two...it keeps well in the fridge if you skim out any odd bits.) Really, the aim of the dish is to use up leftover odds and ends of precooked meat, so if I make it, that's exactly what I do.

And it doesn't have to be a souffle dish, either. I've made great cheese souffles in my Pyrex casserole dish (without the lid on, of course).