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Continuing the masculine aspect of this thread; I don't know where salad and quiche aquired feminine conotations either. (maybe from the French language?) Since I usually don't eat much for lunch, I'll often order salad at a restaurant, especially if they have good bread to go with it! If I trust the place I'll have a Ceasar Salad, and if not I figure they can't screw up a Chef's Salad too badly? (I have been proven wrong about that however) I also love quiche. My favorite is my own recipe, made with egg, condensed milk, diced ham or crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, and leftover wild rice in a short crust. SB (and I'm a real rough, tough, buff and sexy kind of guy )(not that there's anything wrong with not being that )

It does seem to be the answer to a question nobody asked? The single review pretty much seems to verify my initial impression, ie: "Overall rating: would use as a steamer only." SB (or maybe for making baby food?)

I prefer to be seated in a restaurant with my back to a wall and a clear view of the enterance and exits. SB (old habits die hard ) BTW: Do Coney Island restaurants advertise their bullet-proof windows, or does the guy send somebody out in advance to fire off a few shots to find out?

It's not exclusively a "girly" thing. I'm also "fairly fastidious and never order anything messy in a restaurant" out of consideration for my luxuriant mustache. SB (hasn't eaten an ice cream cone in 25 years )

Did you catch this episode of Iron Chef America? "Chef Joey Campanaro's Venison Menu included, Dijon & Rosemary Roasted Rack of Venison with Parsnip Puree, Grilled Persimmon, Braised Beet Tops, Quince, and Pomegranate Barolo Sauce." SB (a twofer recipe!)

Can't you just see a couple of new-age kiddies in an upscale suburban neighborhood setting up a stand to sell this on a hot summer day? SB (I don't know why there couldn't be organic kool-aid if they have organic umbrellas? )

BRAVO, O'Foodie! Having viewed Janet's blog, I'm sure this book will prove to be a definitive work on the subject of pie. SB (likes pie, will buy)

What does "field dressing" consist of? ← Bleeding and removing the guts. It's important to cool the carcass as rapidly as possible, and this is where the problem often begins. Around here during deer season the temperature can range from below zero to nearly 60 degrees. SB (hasn't personally dressed a deer, but has seen it done)

Although I don't hunt, or eat game that often, my brother, sister and brother-in-law are avid hunters and cooks. I've had venison ranging from a young crop-fed Mississippi doe to Northern Minnesota swamp buck. The venison from these deer didn't resemble each other any more than either tasted like beef, but they both had a certain component that would be called "gamey", subtle in the former, and very pronounced in the latter. Maybe a definition of "gamey" would be; as venison is to beef, X is to Y? SB (Actually, I think maybe the identification has as much to do with smell as taste? )

It's almost like interactive television! SB (great fun!)

I think there are a few factors that come into play. How old is the deer? A young deer is generally less gamey. What were the weather conditions like the winter before? The past couple of winters have been "easier" here, so the deer have more to eat, which leads to a less gamey taste. Was it properly and promptly field dressed? If not, it will probably taste gamier. The two deer that my MIL got for me last year were young and properly field dressed, so I can't really say they taste gamey. Slightly different from beef, though. ← I suspect that through a few thousand years of selective breeding and controlling virtually every aspect of domestic livestock's lives in the quest for a standardized and more easily marketed product we have managed to remove what we perceive as the inherent "gamey" taste from their flesh In addition, the variations in the slaughtering and meat handling process serve to accentuate the unique wild flavor, for better or worse. This strength of this gamy taste also depends on what the animal has eaten, and becomes more pronounced the older the it becomes. The meat of very old domestic animals has an off flavor similar to gaminess. In other words, wild game tastes like animals, domesticly raised livestock tastes like meat. SB (prefers his game mixed with "meat" and made into sausage)

I just had to check this out. The Lewis/Mola model PH2000 can catch up to 150 chickens per minute! Maybe raising chickens is one of those things like making laws and sausages; the less we know about the process, the better? SB

Kabobs!

Maybe three or four segments per episode would be better than an hour show? Even another 2-3 minutes at each location could squeeze in a lot more information. But I suppose the segments are edited to coincide with commercial breaks. btw: Just maybe your toe was over the line when you threw that strick? SB (and where was the obligatory cop guest shot? The guys at the station were bashful?)

Here's a long thread with lots of good ideas! SB (likes to make mini quick breads because there's so many varieties)

You got it right. Miso shiru. Any type of miso, red like Shinshu miso or white like Kyo miso. I prefer red to white because white miso is too sweet for my taste. ← Thanks! I'm going to try using some red miso shiru for cooking a good old American Pot Roast! SB

If all the apples eaten in New York were home grown, what would the increased orchard space have displaced? SB (wasn't Straw Man in the Wizard of Oz? )

Introduction: I have really great expectations for this "home town" episode! Segment #1. I think that guy eating at the Fish Market stole one of your shirts! Segment #2. At least alligator doesn't "taste like chicken"? Segment #3. Looks like you've done a bit of bowling? No Spam? Segment #4. Those were some mighty fine looking tacos, unlike anything I've ever seen before! (although I'm one of those who thinks cilantro tastes like soap ) Segment #5. Nice toss! It really is like riding a bike? I'm gonna steal that cut up bread stick idea too! (with due credit given) Conclusion: Either the segments have to be cut back to three, or the show needs to be lengthened to 60 minutes. THANX SB

The chickens still lay eggs, or you can kill the chickens and eat them. The cows still give milk, or you can kill the cows and eat them. The pigs, well, you can just kill them and eat them. There's plenty of delicious food all year round, even in New Jersey. ← People usually wouldn't kill the chicken until it stopped laying eggs, or the cow when it stopped giving milk. Unfortunately this coincided with their lowpoint as a desirable food product. Also, while chickens may only eat "chickenfeed", it costs something, as does hay. Pigs eat scraps, and I don't know how they decided when to butcher them, but I suspect it had more to do with bulk than succulence? And remember, once you've killed and eaten your animal it was gone forever, and had to be replaced. The agrarian economy was historically crude and brutal for the vast majority, and still is in many parts of the world. We're lucky to have missed it, or, if we wish to, and are wealthy enough, to be able to create a romantic facsimile of it if. SB

Who pays the "real cost" for our food now? I'd like to thank them. SB

I've thought about this subject a lot while watching Iron Chef. Do you think misoshiru (did I get that right?) would make a good braising liquid? Which type of miso would you use with beef, pork, or chicken? SB (knows next to nothing about Japanese foood and cooking)

Oh, I'm sure it can be done. But eating locally through a Vermont winter, having had adequate time to plan and prepare, is somewhat different than trying to provide for a family, year after year, totally at the mercy of the elements. My Grandfather was born in Harding County, South Dakota. (the poorest part of SD, and that's saying something!) When my family had the old farmstead appraised in the 50's its agricultural potential was stated as "maybe suitable for grazing horses." My Grandfather liked to tell his story about bananas. They were available once a year. One time his Dad bought a whole stalk, and everyone ate so many they all got sick. My Grandfather never ate bananas again in his life. They "subsisted" all right, but there was nothing romantic or noble about it. SB (no thanks )

Just out of curiosity, how much farmland is needed to feed the population of the Greater New York Metropolitan Area? Somebody must be able to do that computation. Is it more or less farmland than exists in New Jersey, Connecticut and the Hudson River Valley? Or would it be possible to pull it off, just in terms of the raw calories needed for survival and leaving aside issues of what would be available when? ← Estimates very wildly, depending more on politics than any combination of scientific, agricultural and medical data, but if you figure on 1/8 hectare per person for sustainable subsistence living, you'll get some rough idea. SB

I'm with you 100% on that one! A friend of mine was a delivery man for a local bottled water company. The company bottles water directly from the town's well: "The water comes from an underground aquifer that's 700 or 1,000 feet deep, depending on who you ask. The city has been drawing water from the aquifer since 1901, and selling it for close to 20 years." Lots of people paid to have the same water delivered that they could get from their own tap! SB (go figure? )

Waste, gratuitous or otherwise, will sooner or later catch up with any system, and will need to be accounted for in cost/price calculations. Wise use of resources, natural or otherwise, is efficient, and ultimately profitable. There will always be instances of misappropriation, exploitation, and beauracratic bungling that upset the equation, but in general anything that advances the prospect of greater selection for the largest number of consumers wouldn't be considered "gratuitously wasteful" if one considers human beings our greatest "natural resource"? SB (naturally resourceful )