A Patric

Anyone know about Jina Yoo's Asian Bistro on Forum? It isn't open yet, but I found this: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-160074042.html which notes that it should open in May. There isn't much more info. though. Changing the subject, has anyone been to Glenn's Cafe Cupp since it has opened in Booneville, and if so, do you know when it is open. There is no information (either hours or phone number) on-line. I never had the opportunity to eat al the first Glenn's, but I have heard many good things about it. Thanks, Alan

Marlene, How were those ribs?

Thank you to both of you. That is very helpful. Alan

Hi Robert, Well this is definitely quite close. Without trying out the recipe I wouldn't fully be able to say how close, but something tells me that the whipped cream would make it quite a bit lighter than the item that I am thinking of. On the other hand, the fact that this has pureed foie definitely makes it more similar than the terrines de foie gras that I have been finding. I wonder if there is a common foie preparation that consists of pureed foie, and the basic aromatics/flavoring/preparation that your recipe outlines, but without the final incorporation of whipped cream. Or rather, I am quite sure that such a thing exists, but would like to know the traditional French name for it. Either way, I'm sure I can use your recipe as a jumping-off point. Thanks for taking the time to type it out. Best, Alan

One correction: I decided to go back to Escoffier (Complete guid to the art of modern cookery), and search in the pate section. Before, I looked only for foie gras, and after finding many, many hot and cold recipes, it didn't occur to me to also look int he pate section. However, upon just looking, he does have a recipe for it. However, the liver is kept whole, there is quite a bit of pork forcemeat, and there is a crust as well. So, this does not quite fit in with the item that I had in Lyon/Beaujolais, which consisted of a finely chopped or ground foie (I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference), some mild flavoring, and a thin layer of hardened goose fat on the surface, all in a very small ramekin, to be spread on baguette. Again, it was firm and cold, but spreadable. I did look into mousse de foie gras, but it seems like that would be much lighter. I am surprised that no one knows what this is called. I imagined that it was pate de foie gras, but it is certainly nothing like Escoffier's recipe. I am certainly admitting ignorance here.

Yes, but the problem with Google is that it is hard to know if someone's ideas about authenticity are rooted in reality. This is complicated by the fact that the general usage of the word pate in English in the US is quite different than the French usage. So, due to both of these issues, I figured that it would be much better to hear back from some experts here at E-Gullet. edited to say: I have no doubt that a product called pate de foie gras can be found in the US, but my real question is regarding the name of the item that I often found in France (as described above), whether it is indeed called "pate de foie gras," or something else, in France, and then what types of ingredients would be used to make it in addition to the foie. Armagnac? Truffles? Garlic? Stock? I really don't know as none of my go-to books on French cuisine even mention it, which is another thing that I find particularly odd.

For some reason I didn't think of this earlier, but I just sifted through Escoffier too, and though he does mention a few recipes that almost seem like what I had, he doesn't mention any item that is exactly what I had. Most of the time his recipes call for whole foie, or sliced foie, but there are a couple that called for fork-mashed, or pureed foie too.

Hi all, While spending about a year in Lyon and the Beaujolais region of France, I often came across delicately seasoned little ramekins of cool and firm, but spreadable, foie gras "paste" that were served with baguette prior to the meal. I always assumed that these were pate (accent aigu) de foie gras, but recently upon searching for a recipe in Larousse de la Cuisine, Larousse Gastronomique, Charcuterie, and Les Halles, I have had no luck finding such a recipe. I have found plenty of examples of terrine de foie gras, but not "pate" de foie gras. It seems to me that the difference would be that in a terrine, the foie is in large pieces, or even whole, whereas in the pate, it would be chopped very finely or ground. Can anyone with experience in traditional French foie gras preparation confirm or deny any of this for me? Best, Alan

Hi Sandy, You might want to try a Texas-style sauce. There is a great recipe in the "Smoke and Spice" book that I've mentioned in the cookbooks section. Compared to KC sauces it has very little sweetness, less tomato, more vinegar, and a lot more spice. I'm actually making the recipe this morning that is called something like "BBQ Ranch Sauce" and obviously has nothing to do with Ranch dressing. If you like spice, and dislike sweet sauce, then you'd probably like this. Best, Alan

Anyone working from the book yet? Tomorrow will be: -Smoked brisket, with an eye on the amazing burnt end recipe from the book which takes the top part of a packer-cut brisket and smokes it again! (the best burnt ends I have ever had are because of this recipe), and then smoked-brisket hash for breakfast Sunday morning, which I have yet to try. -Smoked hamburgers with hand-chopped beef and just a slight sprinkling of a texas rub -Home-made ranch-style texas sauce (this has nothing to do with ranch dressing) -Home-made strawberry shortcake using the buttermilk biscuit recipe from the book -Peach-mango salsa using a combination of a family salsa recipe and the peach-jalapeno BBQ sauce from the book. All of these recipes are from the book, or are influenced by the book, which is quick becoming one of my top three or four favorites.

Dear Kerry, Fair enough; and I'm sure that I would be very happy to try anything that you create with it! Best, Alan

Hi all, Let me preface my comment by saying that I am sure that I am prejudiced: Is it really the case that fine dark chocolate is only an ingredient? Unlike a raw product such as an orange which is what is is until used in a recipe, (though it can certainly be impacted by the climate, unusual weather patterns, harvest timing etc.), fine dark chocolate is based on a combination of at least two raw products, at least one of which being handled in very particular and complex ways by someone who ostensibly has put a lot of time and effort into understanding this multifaceted process. Not only does climate, weather and harvest time/method impact the end chocolate, but so does the method and length of fermentation of the cacao, drying manner and length, roasting, refining and conching, as well as different decisions regarding percentage of ingredients in a particular formulation. Of course there is also the choice of the chocolate maker regarding what type of cacao or cacaos to use in the first place. So, in my opinion, a finished piece of fine dark chocolate has just as much thought put into it by the chocolate-maker, who one might indeed call the chef in this case, as any truffle has. I think that a better way to put it is that with fine dark chocolate, it is a work of culinary art with which one may build even more complex works of art, such as truffles. However, I do not think that complex automatically makes something better. As with anything, it will come down to a necessarily subjective preference, and mine lies squarely on the pure chocolate side of the fence. However, I have no problems making friends with a nice enrobed ganache, so I'm not all bad. Best, Alan --edited to remove redundant signature--

I've commented on it time and time again, but Hayward's has the best beef burnt ends that I've ever had in any restaurant. Their service was also excellent, and the place was nice, relaxed and clean. On top of that, the food was inexpensive and copious. I'm surprised that I haven't seen this place mentioned in any threads here. It is truly great! No Wonder bread either...Texas toast instead.

Do you know if this is like the "fry jack" that they have in Belize, or is it altogether different?

You'll be happy you did!

I have the book, but we do not (yet) have a real smoker. The Jamisons take a purist approach to smoking, so I will probably not use the book until we have the proper equipment. We have been approximating with a propane grill, smoke pellets, etc. I have my eye on a Weber Smoky Mountain, though, so I will be reading this thread with considerable interest. The Jamisons' book came out in 1994, so that could also be a factor in lack of responses. Is Smoke & Spice still in print? Barbecue tradition is probably a factor. We are on the northern fringes of barbecue country. There are a number of chains in town, but trailer smokers appear in parking lots and at outdoor events during warm-weather weekends. ← Hi C, Well, it looks like there was a recently published new edition that is updated and expanded with 100 new recipes (do I sound like an advertisement?), and it was published in 2003. Smoke and Spice It is over 500 pages now. One of the great things about this book, in addition to the excellent recipes and the fact that it tries to give equal space to traditions from every barbeque region, is that there are always "liner notes" about different restaurants where one can try excellent barbeque that is an example of a certain style. I have learned about restaurants that were practically in my backyard, but with which I wasn't yet familiar For example, there is a blurb about Hayward's in Kansas City with a statement that they make some of the best beef burnt ends in the country. Just recently I tried them out, and indeed, they were better than any restaurant burnt ends that I'd ever had...by far, and they were quite inexpensive too. In fact, the only better ones that I have tried were made by me, using a recipe from Smoke and Spice where you use a whole packer-cut brisket, then after hours and hours of smoking, separate the top layer of meat from the bottom and then smoke the top one even longer. By the time it is done, it is so black that it does look literally burnt, but in actuality is so meltingly tender and flavorful that I cannot even come close to putting the experience in words. That recipe, IMO, with its special rub and particular timing and method is worth the price of the book alone. I hope that you get to try out some of the recipes with your smoker-to-be, because so many of them are amazing. Alan

Since this book is a James Beard award winner I am surprised that no one has it. Do you think it is a case of the majority of the US not being in areas with a prolific barbeque tradition? To be honest, I haven't really paid much attention when travelling around the country regarding whether barbeque restaurants even exist to any large extent in places on the east and west coast. Perhaps chains more than anything else? Any thoughts?

While I'm sure that smoking of some sort does take place in Nova Scotia, I don't know if there is any type of cuisine there that approximates the traditional smoked meat barbeque that has many forms in many southern states of the US, and in Missouri as well. Bascially the technique is hot-smoking, as opposed to cold-smoking that might be used for uncooked sausages, salmon and other fish, and sometimes other raw pork products that will later be cooked. Hot-smoking, rather, actually cooks the meat while adding smoke flavor (usually from Hickory, apple, cherry, or other hardwoods). The meats, prior to smoking, are generally subjected to a "rub" of a mixture of salt and spices, and/or a marinade, and then sometimes are basted with a flavored "mop" during the cooking process. The temperature is kept quite low at about 200-225F on average, and generally the meat takes many hours to fully cook as the collagen breaks down and the resulting meat becomes quite tender and flavorful. Then, of course, there are a wide range of side-dish traditions that include multiple types of bread or bread-type items, vegetable dishes, bean dishes, cole slaw, special desserts, etc. Beer is the common drink of choice. "Smoke and Spice" covers a wide variety of food preparations of this barbeque tradition. What I will be doing is smoking some meats and making some traditional barbeque side-dishes. I was hoping that some people who are familiar with the book would have favorite recipes to share. Unfortunately I won't have the time to take photos and post them, but there are many excellent photos of hot and cold-smoked meats here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=25900 http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=79195 The first is about hot-smoking pork shoulder, and the second is about many different items, many of which are smoked. Enjoy!

Hi all, I have owned this book for some time now and absolutely love many of the recipes. However, I find that the ones that I have tried are so good that I keep going back to them without trying new ones. What are some of your favorite recipes from this book and why? Maybe hearing about them will be the push I need to try others. Tomorrow I'll be smoking spare ribs, tenderloin, sausage, and pineapple. I'll be making the peach-jalapeno sauce, and the KC baked beans along with corn on the cob and smoked/roasted garlic for a nice baguette. So what do you like to make out of the book?

Sutton's is still in business. I tracked it down yesterday and tried a burnt ends sandwich. It was pretty darn good. However, he said that he will be moving to another location soon, so it might be closed again for a while. Also, the place was pretty dirty. I had to not think about the cleanliness of the place while eating. Great sandwich though.

Well, by the way, I went to try and find Rooten tooten BBQ, and it doesn't appear to exist anymore. I'll try and track down Sutton's, which seems like it might still be around. Thanks!

So has anyone found any good barbeque in Columbia yet? Overall I like Bandana's even though it is a chain. The only thing that I have tried at Smokin' Chick's was a pulled pork sandwich that was really soggy and not particularly flavorful. It didn't make me want to go back. Buckingham's was OK, but not that convincing, though I only had the opportunity to try a few items. Then there is someplace downtown right on the edge of campus that is mainly a sports bar, but is supposed to have good ribs. The name starts with an 'S' I believe, but I can't think of it. Finally, as I was just searching around I found a listing on Google for this place: Rooten Tooten Bar B Que 19H N 5th St Columbia, MO 65201 (573) 443-6620 Anyone ever heard of it? Either it is new, out of business, or I have simply been blind. Any other thoughts on Columbia barbeque, and/or what the name of the ribs place I mentioned above is, and whether it is actually good?

Looks great! What type of olive oil did you use? I assume it was evoo, but was it fruity, spicy...? I have an olive oil cake recipe in an an excellent olive oil cookery book but still haven't tried it. It is the type of thing that intrigues me and seems questionable at the same time since olive oil has such a strong presence. Seeing that photo though has just about pushed me over the edge into trying it.

A nice article on Caribbean black cake: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-57429438.html

Well according to Shirley Corriher's notes on leavening in Cookwise, it seems that 4 tsp of baking powder is more in the range of what we are looking for than 1 tsp. This seems to especially be the case due to the fact that there is so much heavy chopped fruit in the cake. I'd still be interested to see what amount the experts in this thread add to their recipes.