CtznCane

Perhaps it is most popular for using regualr artichoke hearts, but I use Jerusalem artichokes/aka sunchokes for making Chicken Jerusalem. Frankly, though I"m a regular artichoke fiend, the sunchoke version is tastier. I use boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks, s+P, dredge in flower and saute in butter until browned. Then add the Mushrooms (halved) and the sunchokes (parboiled for about 15 minutes, then into ice water, then cut into bite size pieces). Cover with cream sherry (not dry) and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Add more sherry if it cooks down to much and then add Heavy Cream to finish the sauce. I like to serve it over rice.

It's been near 20 years since I last cooked a goose but I just scored 3 frozen free range (what the hell is that with a goose) gesse at a price that I couldn't resist. The last time I cooked a goose I did it in an oven bag. Now with e-g, food tv, and my own experimenting I"d like to try 3 new ways to cook these fine, formerly feathered friends. What about goose confit? Barbecued goose? Smoked goose? Is there an asian style of cooked goose? Any and all ideas on this one are appreciated.

Just what is the criteria for choosing the winner in the "Chef's point of view" category? Is it a function of the most intricate dishes? Is it a popularity vote on who is perceived to be the best chef or the one that uses the most multi-syllable words? Or is the award based on who does the best job of communicatiing his point of view to everyone, including those who are not professional chefs? Because something is simple, does it make it any less tasty? If the category is the former, then certainly Keller should get the award. If it is the latter I think perhaps John Ash's - Cooking One Onn One might just be the best of the 3 nominated in that category. Maybe I"m just naive in thinking that because someone can communicate in an easy way, provide recipes that at the table provide a memorable feast and that, using words from a Jimmy Buffett song 'it was so simple I could have jitterbugged it plum evaded me' kind of way that it should get the award. Maybe I"m wrong but then again, I thought Spike Lee should have been nominated for 'Do the right thing."

By crossing the line, for me it is the one wine that got me interested in wines and paved the way to my becoming interested. In 1970, right after high school I worked at the liquor store around the corner from where I lived which at the time was one of the best wine shops in Berkeley. Once a week, those who worked there would by a nice bottle of wine and we'd all go back in the store room amidst the cases of wine and liquor and have a glass of wine and discuss it. The first one of these tastings I was at was a bottle of '59 Clos de Vougeot. I don't remember the discussion that day, only that I was impressed by how good it was and it opened my eyes to what a good wine could be. Up to that point the only wines I'd ever had were the old rot gut wines and if you think todays cheap wines are bad they are nothing compared to the ones back then.

I think for me that would have to be about 20 years ago when planning to go out for a special dinner. I called the restaurant and told them the 3 wines I was bringing and told them to create the meal around the wines. They did a spectacular job as well. The 3 wines were a Puligny-Montrachet, '61 Chateau Cheval Blanc, and the desert wine was a Robert Mondave Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. (Pretty sure on the latter.) Of course the Cheval Blanc was the highlight and with that they served a combination of Abalone and Veal Picatta. The restaurant is still one of my favorites, The Sardine Factory in Monterey. While there may have been similar steps this was the definitive one for me.

What a great topic, Mary. Beyond that it solved a long time conflict for me. That conflict being a wine junkie yet being one with great disdain for wine snobs. Wine junkies and wine snobs sort of get grouped together. This delineation between geek and dork solves that problem very well. I'm definitely a geek, full fledged. I'm also vary wary of those that don't like sweet wines.

There seems to be a lot chain haters here. Since this is a site that the participants are interested in food, wine, eating, and culture it comes as no surprise that chain restaurants wouldn't be high up on the list. Personally, I think those on both ends of the spectrum, those that go to no chains, and those that go to nothing but are both abusurd. I think most of us have at least several, and up to a fair amount of chain restaurants we have or would consider going to for a meal. Chain restaruants can also run the gamut from top shelf spots down to last resort. Ruth's Chris is certainly a high end chain (though not my personal favorite.) When I lived in Houston there were the Pappas Restaurants, Pappadeaux and the Bar-B-Q were very good and their Steakhouse is top notch. Pretty soon Emeril will have enough to be considered chain and I've found his restaurants to be exccellent. Mid-level one may find Bennihana's to be a bit gimicky but I think it is fun every so often. I enjoy Tony Roma's both for their ribs and the onion rings. Then again, I remember when I use to go to the original when living in Miami. Out here Claim Jumper is another chain that has caught on and has decent food. On occasion, my s.o. even wants to go to the IHOP of seafood, Red Lobster and tha is okay. Certainly the two most common type of chain restaurant most of us use (my guess) is for pizza. I even plead guilty to the occasional stops at In and Oout Burgers, Jack in the Box, and Taco Bell in a pinch. Beyond the ones I've mentioned there are many more that I'm sure I have or might eat at some point in time. At home, I do all the cooking and while I enjoy it, sometimes due to work or other projects there just isn't the time or inclination. Most of those times going out to dinner is not planned. When it isn't planned, it often comes down to finding something that is good and consistent. I think most of us, when going out to a nice restaruant, whether it is an interesting little place we've discovered or a five star restaruant, want to be mentally fresh, not rushed, and ready to make the most out of the experience and not exhasted, harried, or otherwise out of sorts. When I am in this latter frame of mind, that's the time I'm most likely going to pick a chain restaruant. Simple, straight forward, nothing too fancy, just a no brainer. Whether a small local chain, or a big national chain, there are plenty of good ones out there, and while (esepecially on this site) our druthers would be an interesting, more indiviualistic restaurant, I think those that look condescendingly down at chain restaurants are hoisted a bit high on their own pitard and have their head buried in the sand or some equally dark place.

The problem here (nor cal) is even finding regular grits. I just got mine from the Old Milll at Guilford in North Carolina. I've fixed them with dinner the past 2 nights. Last night along with Chicken Picatta and tonight along with a grilled pork tenderloin with cranberry ketchup. The grits are great, I could eat them every day. My s.o. fed them to our dogs (spoiled mini-schnauzers) and they love them too. Though with the cream and butter they don't get much. I'm sure as I find them I'll get other kind of grits as well. All I need now is more recipes, though the way I did them turned out excellent as it is.

My favorite cook-book and my most used one outside of Joy of Cooking is 'The New Orleans Cookbook' by Rima & Richard Collin. This book was published in 1975. I know Rima Collin has passed away but I believe Richard Collin is still involved with one of the Universities down there and still does some food writing. Beyond wonderful recipes there are some backgrounds, historical notes, and plenty of lagniappe's that have made this book one of my favorites. I agree too about Emeril's Louisianna Reall & Rustic. This too is a book I refer to regularly when I have a hankerin' for some Cajun cuisine.

The Passionate Vegetarian. I have a good number of books here and there are few that I don't use either for general knowledge, ideas or recipes. As much as I like vegetables and would love to eat more of them (their only flaw is they aren't beef) this book doesn't do it. Finishing a close next to last is The German Cookbook by Mimi Sheraton. I love German food but of all the books I've bought this one most disappointed me. I hope to revisit this book again to see if maybe my fisrt impression was wrong. I use to have one of the firs Chez Panisse books and found it totally useless. Since I no lnger have it (gone in a past divorce) I didn't consider that one. If I had, it would have one first-worst hands down.

Here I thought I had it tough until seeing Gary's problem. I did the short rib braise too (though used boneless short ribs) and my s.o. ate them. She doesn't like the fat allegedly due to the textrue. If she can cut around the fat though it is fine.for the most part. Believe it or not though, Rib Eye Steaks are a no-no. Since I like them I buy filet mignon and rib eye then vacuum pack them 1 of each to alleviate that problem. One of my most favorite dishes is oxtails. There I'm on my own so rarely do I get that treat at home. With chicken it is white meat only. At least for the most part it is managelable. Fish is another picky subject. Salmon is fine. Tuna on occasion and once in awhile filet of sole or catfish but again very limited. Vegetable wise it is not too bad though there are some but she isn't keen on rice or risotto both of which I love . As one who is open to eating just about anything and beyond that has only a few things I don't like, any level of restriction is frustrating. In trying to figure out what the roadblocks are, I'd break them down in this order; 1. Perception 2. Visual 3. Texture 4. Taste Perception is the one most difficult to overcome. If she is totally opposed there is no window of opportunity. Visual, with the fat she'll eat around it, but if she doesn't like the looks, it is close to impossible. With texture, at least there is some reason. Not a real good one when one is really picky but at least there is some rational justification. The one valid reason to me is taste and yet when I do get her to try something, this is seldom the reason. After seeing Gary's post I think I'm going to consider myself lucky and at least for awhile not get too torqued when something I fix gets rejected by perception alone.

At different periods throughout time, and in different fields, there are windows of opportunity that spring forth and usually there is someone who will take advantage of that opportunity to some degree. Someone, or perhaps many people. Julia Child was one of these people. She had a strong influence on cooking in America and produce which still carries on to this day. What Julia did was special, yet if Julia hadn't done it, somebody else would have. The difference, and what exponentially increased the impact she had is that Julia was special. When special people do special things the impact can be staggering. Who Julia was, the person, the passion, the unbridled enthusiasm and how she treated people is the difference. The best comparison I can think of to Julia Child is Arnold Palmer in golf. Both are truly ambassadors in their field. Who they are is what magnified the impact of their achivements. Every successful TV Chef/Cookbook Author knows they have her to thank in large part for their monetary success the same as every golf professional knows how much Palmer contributed. My bottom line point is, when special people do special things it has a profound impact. There was only one Julia and she was special.

There are many cookbooks I have that I think are excellent. If you asked, pick your top 5, or even top 3, now then there is some room to really debate the merits. For just one though? No contest. Joy of Cooking. While I can improvise on many things, if I need to know the basics, that is the source.

For a crisp, clean, bright and vibrant SB with wonderful grapefruit tones, I'm still reeling from the 2004 Gary Farrell Sonoma County - Redwood Ranch SB. This one is relatively pale and sees very little oak. I like SB but don't go out of my way for them. Nor do I believe in spending over $20 dollars for one but there, even at $24 I thought it was fantastic. They have it for sale though it isn't showing on their website yet.

I have a tough skin, I was in auto sales/mgmnt for 25+ years, so that I don't mind. I do however want to stimulate peoples thought and participation. I focused on the WOW threads as they seemed to be something people could get a little more involved in, regardless of their level, which in turn would lead to other topics with participation. I am in total agreement that the threads seem to die off more quickly now. I still think the WOW idea is a good one just to get debate going but perhaps it could be changed slightly to a wine & region. Such as an Italian Barolo or a French Red Rhone, a South African Pinotage, or a Paso Robles Zinfandel or an Oregon Pinot Noir and leave which one as open. Again many of us might not be able to participate due to availablitly but I'd be interested in things like Canadian Wines and can at least gather some knowledge if people do participate. A poplular thread on the cooking venue has been what did we fix/have for dinner? Perhaps the wine side should have a What did we drink? and what did we eat with it? thread. I spend very little time on the wine threads any more as they seem at times stagnant. If there are ideas for making things more interesting, regardless of topic within the forum I'm up for it and would try to participate.

There's a lot of things I like about e-g. Not all mind you, but a lot. This however is about the positive. Pehaps it is not my place, but what fuels this type of site is participation. Sharing views. If we didn't care to learn or get something out of it, if only entertainment even, we'd do something else. Other forums on e-g seem to have a lot more participation which to me is sad that the same type of participation doesn't take place here.Why is that? Is it feeling that there is more of a hierarchy here than on other forums? There isn't. More opinionated perhaps, but contrary to a recipe, wine appreciation is more subjective and at least from my viewpoint the only view that is wrong is one that doesn't entitle my opinion to be just as valid. I thought this WOW thread, with a different wine to try and report back on every other week was a great idea. A great idea to get people talking more as well as sharing some interesting wines or wineries. I think the past 2 WOW wines, the Columbia Crest Merlot that Brad chose and the current Cline ZInfandel Jean chose are both excellent choices. I'm more familiar with Cline as I stop by that winery frequently yet both Cline and Columbia Crest produce a variety of wines. For Cline, some of their wines are up there, both in terms of quality and price, yet still good values. I didn't post to the Columbia Crest WOW so shame on me for that one, but it is really a shame to see that 145 people have viewed the post and there have been 2 who comment. What gives? The wine is under 10 bucks, with room to spare and easily found. We don't have to pay to use this site, and heck, for under 10 bucks to get a chance to participate as well as enjoy a good bottle of wine. There is no right or wrong view. No view to simple either. Like it, don't like it, not a need to quantify it. Similarly, there is a wine consumption thread. 45 posts and read by over 1300. Hey, nobody has to participate but I know I'd like to hear the views of others. What gives? Rather than have it be a negative comment, what would make you respond more to posts?

I ordered a Smithfield ham some 21 years ago before the on-line shopping was around. At least at that time it was a llittle over the top for my taste buds though quite enjoyable. It took some getting use to. I'm waiting for a couple of hams I ordered on-line to arrive. A city ham from Burgers which is slated for this Thursday night's dinner and a country one from Scott's. I sort of consider Kentucky and Tennessee the ham areas so Missouri is sure close enough, especially those in the South East. The only ham reccomendations I've had up to recently had come from a cousin I have living down there in Salem. I can't wait to enjoy these hams!

I've only had one Pinotage and I liked it immensely, that Pinotage being from J. Vineyards & Winery. So I have not yet had the chance to try South African Pinotages but I would like to in the near future. Should it be included in wine labeled "Cape Blend?" I would certainly think so. While it need not be the primary grape, it seems that the including of Pinotage in a "Cape Blend' would give the wine more identity and put more of a focus on the region than a blend not containing it would do. With the aloofness shown by many with reference to terms such as Chablis, Champagne, Burgundy, & even Bordeaux Blend and when they can be used and why they shouldn't be used (much of which I disagree with) the inclusion of Pinotage would certainly waylay those who would want to thumb their noses treating it as just another copy.

I'd say we average near a bottle of wine a day. At least saying 'we' rather than I lessens it a little bit. Though we do try to leave room for the beer, gin, vodka, and whiskey. I drink more of the wine but then again, I'll usually have wine while she has her martini/gibson/vesper. As to meal-time, if we don't have wine we have water. Now of course our 'wine' consumption is not counting our port comsumption mind you.

I found the wine yesterday at my local Cost Plus on sale for $6.99 rather than $7.99. At that price I think it represents an excellent value. I didn't find it to be jammy or peppery per se but somewhere inbetween. This doesn't make it distiinctive but certainly it doesn' t take away either. I thought it had a good varietal tone, nice berry flavors with a moderate and pleasant finish. I think at the price point, that if I wanted to introduce someone to Zinfandel and find one that would be pleasant, that this would e a good candidate. Just a straight-forward and pleasant wine.

Oh my goodness, Abalone. I remember as a kid having it and it being commonplace and inexpensive. Now, I'd have to give my right .... oh well let's keep it clean, I just can't get it virtually but that is so delectable. I'd like to throw in a word though for Wall Eye Pike. That is a wonderful fish. May I say too that there are both the native ingredients aspect for this thread as well as the dishes which may well have ingredients which originated elsewhere. That said, let me toss out two other favorite breakfast dishes that are American creations. 1. Egg Foo Yung 2. Hangtown Fry. As to Hamburgers, Fries & a shake, that seems to hit the nail on the head almost for a pure American delight.

It seems so much is made about the foods of different cultures, French, Italian, & Chineese to name a few, as well they should be for they are all outstanding. When it comes to American food though, what epitomizes our culture food wise? What are the best dishes? Perhaps we could have best salad/apetizer, best vegetable, best side dish, best entree, and best desert. What too are the best American ingredients? Perhaps stone ground corn meal from Tennesse, extra sharp cheddar from Wisconsin, Wall Eye Pike from Minnesota, or Dungeness Crab from California? I haven't given it too much thought yet, but shooting from the hip I'll go with: Ingredient - Dungeness Crab - from SF (my hometown choice) Style - Southern Apetizer - boiled peanuts (Georgia) Veggie - Artichokes Castroville, Ca Main course - Ham (unsure of how would be most traditional but it has to be Ham) Desert - Pecan Pie

I don't know when or why but I think the idea of cooking with more expensive wines got somewhat overblown around the mid-eighties. At least that is when I started hearing it mentioned more frequently. At that point too though, the real cheap wines (with the exception of Gallo perhaps) were often less than undesirable. If one goes back a bit further, to say the later '60's when there weren't that many California wines this may have even been more true. Today, there are many pleasant cheap wines. I'll even toss 2 buck chuck into that mix and I usually have a case of that around for casual faire. On occasion, for a sauce I'll step to the plateand use a better wine when only a small amount is needed yet I've cooked with 2 buck chuck for the most part and it has worked out fine. If I find a nicer wine cheap enough I'll certainly use that as well.I found a pleasant Sauvignon Blanc that I got a case of just to have on hand for poaching salmon and other fish. The only costly wine I cook with is L.H. Reisling/Viognier/etc., as in that category there reaally aren't (that I have found at least) any decent cheap ones. The bottom line to me, for the most part is what varietal I choose to cook with and even then usually there are more than one to choose from. I agree that the wine must be drinkable and that is a subjective question. Beyond that I think it comes down to affordability. If price is not an issue then go for it. For me, my thought is I"d usually rather drink that extra glass or two or three or four of good wine. One point I"m very curious about is the wine restaurants use for cooking? I'll bet they aren't using high end wine, even at the top restaurants. Perhaps a little higher quality but not real top shelf wine. Lastly, the grocery store 'cooking wine.' When I see it I usually have this little cringe. I also have a morbid curiosity about it as well. "Cooking wine"? Meaning undrinkable? Maybe there is a warning on the label. 'do not drink raw without cooking'. The one that piques my curiosity most though is the 'cooking sauternes.' Now that one I find scary, yet one of these days, I just gotta plunk down my 3 bucks just to see what sort of abomination it is.

I got mine from Surfas out of L.A. they were very helpful You can find them at surfasonline.com . I've gotten to where my favorite non-drink is a few splashes of peach bitters in club soda.