moosnsqrl

Max, not to hijack this but curious if any of you have tried the KA extrudor attachment?

Aren't we all? I'm trying to think of somewhere to have lunch at the moment and so many places are closed. I had to laugh - the menu I picked up says "open six days a week" but neglects to mention which 6. But the restaurant is closed Mondays, as is the market side of the business. Coffee shop is open until noon, apparently.

Adjacent to Bella Napoli Alimentari, in a space previously occupied by The Breadsmith, Jake Imperiale and his family have opened a restaurant. They feature pizza (Napolitano style, of course, using the existing oven), pastas, salads, sides and antipasti. They opened at 11am Saturday and I had to be across town before noon, so I was unable to try it day one, but I'll get back asap and report. Having eaten Jake's cooking and knowing how he revered his mother, I'm confident it will be first rate. Of course the market still has great (mostly Italian) products, including a good variety of salume and cheeses for do-it-yourselfers.

I found this in a weekly Business Journal digest and thought it bizarre. You may be required to login but there is no cost involved.

OK, who invited all of these pesky chefs to our food forum? Doolittle, we know you're out there so come out, come out, wherever you are. Dave C, glad to see you're on-board officially - we've appreciated your previous contributions via Colby's account. Don't worry about the quotes - I don't think any among us can say we haven't struggled with them. They've even driven the generally mild-mannered to swear on occasion!

Pete! Welcome to eG. Glad you are posting. I look forward to engaging in civilized, meaningful dialog. Many, many people in KC revere your cooking. I think we can get past the other 'stuff' and contribute to the vibrant local dining scene. I'm glad you came out of the shadows.

Some great ideas upthread, that I'll have to try. I'm with Jason on the sweet factor so I have to find garlicky, spicy things to do to them too. I have a crinkle cutter (really a garnishing tool) that I use so they have grooves and catch some of whatever seasoning/sauce/butter they're cooked with. If I'm feeling really artistic I'll put grooves length-wise down the sides (~5 around) and slice so they look like little flowers (one of my favorite Asican restaurants did this and I love the look but am most often too lazy to do it). Then there is Copper Penny (which is Cajun or Creole, I'm sure one of our friends from Nawlins can help with that), which I have had warm and cold, with the carrots cooked or not. I don't know if one is more authentic than the other but I like them both ways. And if you've not had maroon carrots they're flavorful and spectacular looking (although cooking diminishes their beauty). Amazing that this is a first for eG, isn't it?

In case you haven't read this week's media digest (shame on you!), there is a link to Lauren Chapin's Wednesday report on CSAs and area farmers (including the mega-CSA Dan May is involved with, Generations). There is another great source of info about where to find food in our area - and you might be surprised at how many and where these are. The organizers of the farm expos the past two weeks, Food Circle of KC, have a series of "food finder" maps on their website that split the metro into sections and list sources. They also have a new and not-yet-highly utilized "harvest hotline" where growers can post what they have available. http://www.kcfoodcircle.org/ While it's great to have the markets open, a lot of the urban growers just have a sign at the end of the driveway and are open (to varying degrees) during the week. I've found some of my best stuff this way and, incredibly in this day and age, many people still leave produce out in their yard on a rickety old table, with a box or jar to put money into, running on the honor system. Whenever I run across one of those, I know I AM in Kansas, Toto.

KC Media Digest for week of April 13-19, 2006 In the Kansas City Star Food Section Lauren Chapin features area CSAs and farms. This week's Healthy Eating features the oft-overlooked heart of palm. Some local experts, who have made literally thousands of them, offer their recipe and expertise for making Lebanese Cabbage Rolls. In The Star Preview Section Lauren Chapin visits Pangea and spotlights the new Sunday suppers at Circe In The Pitch Charles Ferruzza, a Horatio Alger story if ever there were one, goes west. All the way to the west Lawrence suburbs, to find out what all the fuss is about the Westside Deli & Bistro. And if you've grown fond of some Popeye's test items, you'd better get 'em while they're hot. In the KC Business Journal (login required but free) Kudos to one of our wonderful local dairies! Shatto Milk wins a small business award. On the Air (or in the ether) Don't forget the Food Critics are on KCUR-FM (89.3) this Friday morning, 10am. If you have reasonably high-speed web access, you can listen live. ***Whatever holiday you might be celebrating (Easter, Passover or pagan rites of spring), have a great weekend and eat well.*** Edited to add the KCBJ item <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some area media outlets, which do not 'go to press' before we do, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

Jeffrey Steingarten did extensive testing for his column and results are included in his anthology It must've been something I ate. They're rather lengthy to excerpt here but he tried >244 combos of machine, coffee and pod/not pod. My non-cooking friend just bought a house recently and asked what kind of stove she should buy. I suggested a bright, shiny stainless steel box that she could use to store her carryout menus.

At La Table @ O&CO (Marina Dist, SF) they always add some lemon and a couple of cucumber slices to the water pitchers and it was so good and so simple I felt rather silly for never having thought of it before. So refreshing - it turns plain ol' water into, well, a 'beverage'. I once again feel foolish that it had not occurred to me to take the next step and use it as a mixer. The Pimm's Cup has, I think, always been associated with cucumber. Hendrick's Gin also recommends cucumber as a garnish with their product. So I guess I would start there. Having just come from the tabouli thread, mint also comes to mind. Actually I would be happy with a drink that tasted like liquid tabouli and packed a mild punch. Maybe some dry vermouth in it somewhere?

This thread is killing me. I'm not sure I can even make it through to lunch time without at least lemons and parsley, if not the whole thing! The Lebanese woman who taught me to make tabouli (or -eh) always said "you want to show the parsley," but I like some of the other expressions upthread (esp the generosity one, I hadn't heard it before). I tend to be a purist about ingredients although I do like it made with couscous in place of bulgar. Hadn't thought about quinoa but that's worth a try, too. Thanks for solving my dilemma about lunch, though. Only three more hours.

I've never seen indigenous ramps here, although we do have wild onions growing at the lake where I live. I have friends ~15 miles west who have been picking morels for more than a week now. I've been out looking in my usual spot but haven't seen any, nor have I seen them in the markets but expect to this weekend. I have lots of green garlic and many of the farmers at the expos the last two weekends have been selling it. The Brookside market opens this weekend. I made it to the Overland Park market after the northland expo last week but it was pretty thin still. We've had considerably warmer weather this week so I expect great things on Saturday.

I miss St. Julian and didn't even know they were doing a cab franc. Yet another reason to return.

Since this was bumped I will chime in as well. Not bad food, just nothing to crow about. I will say, though, that they may have the best bloody mary I've ever had. We stopped in midday to thaw-out (poorly planned wardrobe and several hours in the wind, out of the sun) and had one at the bar; they must've made 20 of them while we sat there and watching it was almost as enjoyable as drinking mine. Truly world class.

Maybe one of the locals can weigh in on this but I thought the Guadalupe River Meat Company was good. It's in New Braunfel's, just a stone's throw from Gruene Hall and there are a couple of wineries within the 1-2 block area. Dry Comal Creek is the only name I can recall but, again, maybe the locals can elaborate (or tell us that no self-respecting Texan would go there ). If your schedule and interest allows, I've always wanted to learn more about Tito's Vodka. I notice on their website that they no longer allow tours (insurance reasons) but I imagine if you explained who you are and asked nicely you could arrange an interview. That's on my list of things to do next time I'm there.

Most of my cooking is "normal volume" but several times a year we feed 150-200 neighbors and that's when all of the heavy artillery comes in handy. If I'm just doing routine slicing and dicing I prefer the more zen approach of knives. But I've never managed to make gaufrettes with a knife. And your last paragraph made me laugh out loud. That's exactly what I was thinking when I mentioned that the Bron is all self-contained. Where DO all of those things go? At our house "Slow Food" simply means that I am tearing the kitchen and pantry apart, looking for some integral part or piece. I'm glad I'm not alone.

I've only had one so no comparison available, but I've been quite happy with my Bron. The blades are built-in and you just re-arrange or adjust them for thickness and style of cut, so it's efficient and I don't have to keep track of loose parts. I think they sell for around $125 but I can't imagine ever having to replace it, so I didn't think that was too high of price to pay for a liftetime of perfect, effortless gaufrettes, julienne and crinkle-cut vegetables.

I have a brochure for the full-service CSA that Dan is involved with. I also picked up some meat from that supplier. I eyed the grains but knowing that my pantry runneth over already, decided to hold off on that. If anyone is interested in this, kindly PM me with a fax number and I will send it. I can also scan it and try to send it via email, but being a proud Mac user at home and a disgruntled Windoze user at work, I know that isn't always successful, so fax is the more likely to succeed method. The northland expo was nice - smaller and no lectures/programs that I am aware of or noticed, but calmer and more shoppable, in many ways. I was able to empty my pockets in no time!

Ah, I see. In that case, I would probably spill some of the red on him and call it even.

Is there a scenario in which someone could have ordered a different bottle without offense being taken? While your presence here (on this forum) leads me to believe you probably have good taste in wine and didn't buy swill, it is nonetheless a matter of taste. I can see myself quietly ordering a bottle if what was served was counter to my taste enough that I thought the otherwise-enjoyable meal would be compromised. Of course, I would do so having every intention of paying for it myself. You certainly know your colleague better than I and probably rightly guessed his motives, but I'm just playing devil's advocate here (you know the drill - read, chew, discuss). I can think of several reasons someone might do this (sulfite sensitivity being an extreme one; most wine lists today have an organic or natural or whatever you label it offering that doesn't have sulfites).

This has Cato what's-his-name's name written all over it. And maybe Carrot Top and Pauly Shore as well. And what's Geraldo doing these days?

KC Media Digest for week of April 6 - 12, 2006 In the Kansas City Star Food Section Lauren Chapin places some products (pomegranites, local honey); recommends wine (a pinot noir); reviews a book (Sunday Suppers at Lucques) - all while balancing a spinning plate atop a stick. Can we get the poor girl some help, already? In The Star Preview Section You guessed it, renaissance gal Lauren takes another one for the team, going from the concrete jungle (Cupini's downtown) to the wilds of Independence (Tim's Pizza). In The Pitch Charles "Big Bang" Ferruzza checks out the new chain link in town, finding much to like about Bonefish. And then, as if to atone for liking a non-local, he goes on a nostalgic trip on a Trolley (no, it's not named Desire). At eKC Online Mike Taylor visits Cafe Maison, making me kick myself for the many good intentions I've had of doing the same, but without acting upon them. <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some area media outlets, which do not 'go to press' before we do, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

My money is on my hometown boy, Tony Gonzales. He and Warren Moon (then Chief's QB) were sous for a Ready-Set-Cook here in KC several years ago. Warren's family owned a restaurant when he was growing up and he clearly knew his way around the kitchen. Tony, not so much, but he's so pretty who cares if he can cook. Funny, I can't remember who the real chefs were. I guess that speaks volumes about the whole concept. Or me.

Chiming in with kudos and a couple of comments. "It's just a flesh wound!" "I'm not dead yet!" And I really think you should go with these bandages instead, if you don't mind my saying so. Thanks for making The Heartland and the hometown look good.