Dave Hatfield

I'm still envious of the Ken wood. Maybe Santa Clause will get generous or I'll get brave enough to buy a used one on eBAy. One of my favorite sausage recipes also involves fennel, but I pair it with garlic and oregano. I'll try your recipe using my crude rolling method.

I just remembered another reason I don't use the shears that much. I'm left handed! They make left handed scissors, but I've never seen a left handed pair of shears. Any lefty will tell you about the pain of using right handed scissors or shears. Knives are ambidextrous.

Interesting. I use my chef's knife for all of those activities most of the time. I do use the kitchen shears to snip herbs sometimes. Thinking about it I think I use the knife because its out most of the time when I'm cooking and the shears aren't. As I like to keep my work area as uncluttered as possible I tend to keep the number of tools I have out at any time to a minimum. Don't think there's a right or wrong here just a case of personal preferences. It will be interesting to hear other EGulleteers opinions.

I like to lightly coat them with a rub made up of various herbs then cook in a low (250F) oven for about half an hour. Then they go on a hot BBQ and get coated with BBQ sauce, not too much. Coat one side, cook, coat the other side, turn over, cook. That's it. Enjoy.

Nothing to do with anything but I think Rick Stein's 'famous' dog was called Chalkie not Sparkie. You are right, thanks for correcting me. I'm somewhat amazed that nobody else has mentioned Delia Smith. She's been around a long time, but has kept herself pretty much up to date. Gary Rhodes is another pretty good cookbook author in England.

Its important to remember that when you add wine to a dish the first thing that happens is that the alcohol evaporates. Thus so long as you are actually cooking, not just adding wine to a dish that's already cooked, there is no alcohol left in the dish. What remains are the flavor components of the wine which many people feel enhance the flavor of many dishes. A classic example might be Coq au Vin. You can stew a chicken in water or stock and it will taste pretty good, but it won't taste the same or in my opinion nearly as good as a chicken that has been stewed in wine.

Most brands will be OK. Real Sherry only comes from the Jerez area of Spain which is down in the South West corner of the country. The Pedro Ximenez brand is a major one in the sherry industry and would, I think, be a good product. Be careful with sherry vinegar as its strong tasting. Its probably my favorite vinegar, but you do need to be careful.

I would say that probably the most popular English cookbook author in the past few years is Delia Smith. She has written a number of cookbooks including "Delia Smith's Complete Cookery" as well a whole series of others. Here's a link to her very good website. Of course, Jamie Oliver is a huge hit in the UK & has a number of books out. Currently on British TV he's doing a tour of the USA and our cooking. In the latest episode he participated in a BBQ competition in Florida. Yet another popular cookbook author is Rick Stein famous for his restaurant, fish cookery and his dog, Sparky,in his TV series. Then there's Nigella Lawson who's good and famous as the daughter of a British government cabinet minister. I could go on as the British market for cookbooks is very vibrant and there are lots of new titles every year How many of these get published in the USA under a slightly different name is something I don't follow.

I decided to take this a step further and did a search on French Cooking Magazines. Here's a link to a site that lists over 30.fRENCH mAGAZINES Your favorite is listed and it has a website. So do many of the others. Happy reading.

Certainly its a very good publication. The problem in France is that the French are magazine crazy. Go into any French tabac which is where magazines are mainly sold in France and you will be presented with a large array of food oriented magazines. At least 20 different tittles all on a monthly or semi-weekly basis. These are in addition to the columns and recipes that appear in all of the newspapers. So, to answer your question I think the French see it as one of a number of good magazines on the subject of food & wine.

Think you have chosen the right part in saying that you'll use the thigh. Don't think I'd bother with the brining. I'd just 3/4 cook the thighs in a pan in the oven with their seasoning (Herbs de Provence or oregano plus S&P?) inside down. Then turn them skin side up & hold outside the oven until 10 minutes before serving. The only caveat is that this shouldn't happen too far in advance of the final cooking, no more than roughly an hour would be my guess. Too long & you'll get drying. Turn on the top grill on your oven in advance then put the chicken in the 10 minutes before needed. You should get a crispy skin without the danger of burning you suffer from a BBQ.

Jaymes May not use up nearly a peck, but here's a recipe that is one of my "signature dishes: in the sense of the question Fat Guy asked earlier today. Peppers & Brie [1]Cut the Anaheim's in half length wise, Scrape out the seeds and cut out the ribs. [2]Meanwhile cut some Brie into long narrow stripes. [3]Place the peppers, cut side down, on a hot grill. [4]When slightly blackened at the edges turn the peppers over to the other side. [5]Place a strip of Brie into each strip and grill until the Brie melts. Pull off the grill % eat immediately. This is yummy . Try it.

Here's one that most friends ask for again & again. Being lazy I've just copied the recipe over from my blog site. Lots more over there. I'd also say that my cassoulet is a reputation maker. Even our French neighbors ask for it. This post, however, is far simpler. Its about my favorite way to cook a pork loin roast. Tasty and delicious. In fact as I'm writing this after dinner my sister-in-law is still going on about how good the pork was. Nice compliment. Anyway, first you buy your pork. Look for a nice lean loin roast , not the tenderloin, but loin. Once you have that you want to brine it for at least 48 hours, preferably for 72 hours. Just make up a brine with roughly one cup of salt per 2 quarts of water, add about a tablespoon of sugar, then your herbs. The herbs are to your choice, but I use marjoram, thyme, crushed juniper berries, crushed black peppercorns and coriander seeds. Mix the brine well, put the pork roast in making sure its covered and put it in the fridge for the requisite amount of time. Give it a stir every so often. About 3-4 hours before you're going to cook it take the pork out of the fridge and out of the brine and let it rest at room temperature. Set the oven for 150 degrees F, not Centigrade. Now make a paste using lots of Dijon mustard, fresh sage (dry if you can't get fresh) well chopped up, and coarsely ground black peppercorns. Spread this thickly over the top of the roast then place the roast in the pre-heated oven. Roast for one to two hours depending upon the size of the roast or until a thermometer inserted into the middle of the roast reads 135 degrees F. Take the roast out of the oven, scrape the crust off into the roasting pan and set the roast onto a carving board to rest. Place the roasting pan over medium high heat, add a good dollop of dry white wine to the roasting pan and stir around to get all of the crust and baked on bits dissolved. Add one pork stock cube (if you have one. If not its OK, the gravy just won't be quite as rich.) Turn the heat right down and when the mixture quits boiling add a generous amount of cream (the heavier the better, but if you're watching the calories you can use lighter cream or even sour cream), bring back to the boil and stir until it gravy is reduced and of a nice thick consistency. Put the heat on low and carve the roast into nice slices. Don't be panicked if the pork looks red. The brining process cures the meat and its perfectly safe to eat and will be the moistest most tender pork you've ever had. Serve with the gravy and enjoy. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but when I went to use it I discovered that our trusty Nikon's batteries were too low for picture taking. In any case its not a particularly photogenic recipe, but do try it as its absolutely delicious.

Fat Guy Sounds great. What kind.color lentils?

I think Abra was exaggerating a bit by saying that most restaurant brandade comes from cans. As Busboy said, if you choose decent restaurants you will most likely get the real thing. I also have my doubts about a potato less version, but will be interested to read about the results later today hopefully as today is Sunday and that's when the St Antonin market is held. Good luck Abra! By the way, the local salt cod dish is estafinado. Traditionally served around here with a good dollop of walnut oil.

Beef would be best if you can't find the lamb stock.

I agree with most of the advice already given, but nobody has talked about gravy. This is one of the wonderful side benefits of roast lamb. Its simple. Just pour off the fat from the roasting pan. Add some red wine to de glaze the pan ( you're doing this over high heat on the stove top.) Add some lamb stock if you have it then boil to reduce. Turn the heat down then add full heavy cream. Boil until thick and then pour off. You will have a super gravy to pour over your lamb or over you oven roasted potatoes. Enjoy.

I envy your Kenwood. Our last one was 115 volts for the states so didn't make the trip. The one before that was given to my sister-in-law when we moved to the states. Sometimes you just can't win. Maybe I should look on eBay. Echine as Abra suggests is a good cut for sausage making. I don't think I'd use Gorge though. For added fat content any butcher will sell or even give you gras. Or you could even buy good quality lardons to grind, the smoked ones might be good in the right mix. I couldn't stand the waste of using poitrine just to get some fat. Although its an American book if you can find a copy of "Pig by the Tail" it has an excellent chapter on sausage making with some excellent recipes. It you can't find it send me a PM & I should be able to help. Good luck with it.

For general purpose pork sausage making most butchers or supermarket will sell you ready ground pork (char). This makes a good base for simple sausage making. I too make my own sausages and find this works pretty well especially as I don't have a grinder or for that matter a stuffer. I just form my sausages by hand first then wrap them in cling film then roll them to the desired thickness. This works well & has the virtue of simplicity.

As others have said I learned a lot from The Silver Palate Cookbook and it's successor. At the time the recipes were unusual and to me a revelation. The lemon tart recipe is still one of my favorites. Just the other day I posted about the Seafood Salad with Basil puree. I still use the books and, yes, they're pretty dog eared & stained now. RIP Sheila in the knowledge that you helped so many people.

My advice: - Brine it for 48 hours. - Coat the top with a heavy coat of Dijon mustard with chopped sage. (preferably fresh sage, but dried will do.) - Roast it at a fairly low temperature until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F. - When you take it out of the oven scrape off the coating and put the roasting pan over a stove top burner. Add a bit of white wine & boil to reduce. Add full cream and boil some more until the sauce thickens. Turn heat off & carve the roast. - Pour the sauce into a gravy boat or a small bowl. Serve. Full details on my blog.

This is , indeed, a great way to preserve basil. I don't bother with the blanching, but I suppose its right and more hygienic. There is a wonderful recipe in 'The Silver Palate Cookbook' (remember that?) for a seafood salad with basil puree that we're very fond of. Give it a try. As a matter of fact there's a recipe for basil puree in there as well.

There it is, the tacky olive bowl. And, yes, it does say 'pits' & 'toothpick's" on French of course. You have to admit that its practical if nothing else. To tell the truth most olive pits at our house get thrown off of our veranda to the gravel path below since we typically serve them with drinks our there. Maybe someday we'll have an olive tree growing out of the gravel.

All of this recent discussion about garlic inspired me to take some garlic pictures at Caussade market today. Here they are: Now, looking at these how could anyone even contemplate using the pre-prepared stuff. I know some of the response will be that "We just can't find garlic like that here" Maybe, but I suspect that in most places you can if you really look. Wholefoods? Chinese or Korean grocers? Wherever. Even though I don't live in the states I would think it would be good idea if eGulleteers around the country chimed in with their best local source of fresh garlic. Its too important an ingredient to allow poor quality or inferior substitutes to prevail. For a complete pictorial tour of Caussade market go to my website listed below.

Sorry, absolute BS. The glass can certainly affect the nose of a wine. Thus the different shapes to capture the aromas. ( here's a question for you. What is the difference between aroma & nose?) Taste? Give me a break. Try a truly blind tasting. That is literally with a blindfold on. Then tell me how the shape of the glass alters the taste of the wine. I will admit that the shape of the glass can influence the EXPECTATIONS of the experienced wine drinker. Certain shapes are traditionally associated with certain wines, thus serving the wine in that particularly shaped glass can lead the imbiber to anticipate certain tastes. I'm open to argument.