CaliPoutine

Glad to see you blogging again Kris, I so enjoyed that tempura at the Heartland Gathering in July. Any chance we'll see Tempura again? I have such an irrational fear of frying. Oh and what goodies from Ohio did you bring back to Japan?

I just donated a dinner to my partner's charity golf tournament. It went for 110$ for a dinner for 4. I offered a choice of 2 meals. Zinfandel pot roast, with appropriate starch, composed salad of butter lettuce, blue cheese, roasted pear and carmelized pecans and either a choc. cake or coconut cream pie. Second option was ceasar salad with polenta croutons and sun dried tomatoes, chicken cacciatore and tiramasu. The winner picked the latter. My partner also gave a co-worker a dinner for a xmas gift exchange( last year). I just heard this week that said co-worker( now retired) wants to redeem gift. I'm still waiting on their choice.

You mean by signing up for the credit card? Nope. ← no, not the credit card. if you spend over 125 in housewares, you get 25 off.

peanut butter oatmeal cookies. This recipe was supposed to make 6-8, I got 9 out of it. This was a variation on the oatmeal cookies. Subbed pb chips for the raisins and peanuts for the pecans. They smell so good, havent tasted one yet.

I baked a small batch dulce de leche cheesecake today. I looked at the recipe, but I chose to make my own based on the recipe. I wanted one that was more weight watcher friendly. I found two heart shaped springform pans at TJ Maxx on clearnance for 5 bucks. I used 5 oz of cream cheese, 1 egg, 1tbl flour, 2tbls dulce de leche( the good kind, bought at zingermans.com). 1tsp vanilla. For the crust, I used 2tbls graham cracker crumbs and 1tsp butter plus 1 packet splenda( for each crust). I baked for 25 min at 325. I spread 1 more tsp of dulce de leche on top. For anyone counting points, I figured 11 each cheesecake.

TJMaxx has been carrying "second quality" LC for a couple of years. It is basically real LC with some barely visible fault that keeps it from being sold in a regular store. For example, I got a blue 5.5 qt round oven for $99. It has a barely visible black speck on the inside of the lid. I also got an All-Clad MC2 12 inch skillet for about $50 -- little c-shaped ding where the handle meets the pan. It usually takes me a while to figure out what's wrong with them, and they are always just cosmetic faults. They also carry all the Oxo stuff, and the occasional John Boos cutting board, not damaged at all in this case. All in all, I would strongly recommend them. Then again, why am I sharing this with you? I hope not too many eGulleteers live in central IL. Also: I just bought an off-brand 11" enameled cast iron gratin pan. $2.99. I figure if it falls apart I'm out $2.99. It sure looks nice though! As for the 9 Qt oval, I really don't think it is enameled. What does the inside of a matte black one look like? Is it smooth, or rough? It may be a moot point. I just ordered the 6 3/4 oval and free soup pot from Amazon. If you get them in white it is $139.99 for the pair. ($199 for any other color. Not bad, but not jaw dropping either.) Yeah, they don't match the blue one, but it's not like I'll have them all out at once. I needed something that would accomodate an leg of lamb, and I think the 6 3/4 should be just big enough. ← I got a 6 1/2 qt blue oval at tj maxx for 40 bucks, it had a big ding in the bottom, but it works well. Also, did you get your 25 bucks off as well when you spend 125?

I took this from the amazon website. Product Description Amazon.com Review Beautiful enough to bring to the table yet durable enough to outlive its 101-year warranty against defects, this heavy casserole is perfect for preparing and ceremoniously serving dishes such as choucroute garni and braised lamb shanks. The oval shape is large enough for cooking a whole turkey or big cuts of meat. Use it in the oven or on the stovetop for soups and chili. Made of cast iron, with an exterior and interior clad in two coats of Le Creuset's famous enamel, the casserole holds 9-1/2 quarts. Cast iron is unexcelled for heat distribution and retention, so this casserole cooks foods evenly and gently at low temperatures without hot spots and is suitable for all heat sources. The plastic knob on its heavy, tight-fitting lid is ovenproof to 450 degrees F. This casserole is dishwasher safe and has loop handles for easy lifting. Like all Le Creuset cast-iron products, it is hand cast in a one-of-a-kind sand mold and hand finished at the Le Creuset factory in France. --Fred Brack Product Description 9 1/2 qt. Oval French Oven - Matte Black Im curious as to why tjmaxx would sell this when amazon is still carrying it. Matte black is a fairly new color. Are you sure its Le Creuset?

The pizza looks yummy. What dough recipe did Russ use? Did the pizza suffer from lack of sauce?

Whole ducks! Lucky you! Remember to save some of that duck fat and those duck thighs and legs for duck confit, followed if you wish by cassoulet. Then you can make us drool with even more lovely pictures. ← Better yet you can make a take on Poutine. The Church/Belfry Restaurant in Stratford, Ontario serves Poutine made with Fresh Cut Frites Topped with Chevre, Confit of Rabbit and Sauce Poivrade. Yummy.

Yay, a Florida blog. I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale and Publix( where shopping is a pleasure) is my familys favorite market. My BIL even works for them. We'll be coming to FL next month so this is a nice preview. Do you get a lot of great seafood? Do they still let people drive on the beach? I remember as a child being fascinated by that.

I wish I had somewhere to go. I really miss my family's dinners. I think Im the only jew in this town. Totally frustrating.

Blade and chuck Click ← Marlene, I often see Blade roasts on sale here and they always say " simmering steak" underneath. I gather that this is a good meat to braise. I've made a potroast with it about 2 years ago( before getting into egullet) and the person really enjoyed it( we dont eat red meat). Im definatly going to try one of those loin recipes. They are on sale this week at Independents( 1.99lb)

I have it, I use it, but the consistency is mucousy. I cant describe it any other way. I use it for the bean flecks( this was before I bought the whole whack of beans), and I supplement with vanilla.

I just went back and read the intro pages in the book and she says to " lay the cup on wax paper and spoon the flour in it". I didnt do this, I used the dip and sweep method so I think thats why the white chocolate blondies were a tad dry. I'll try another recipe with the authors method.

I baked these today. White chocolate chip blondies. I did the dip and sweep flour method( next time I'll do spoon and level). The batter was thick, I ended up adding a 2 tsp of milk. Consequently, the blondie was a tad dry. Still had a nice flavor and simple to make.

Hi Seth. I really need to learn restraint because I am diabetic and we're doing weight watchers. 1 cookie was just enough, it filled my sweet tooth and I felt like I wasnt deprived because I had dessert. Robin and I are both of the mindset that if it was sitting there, its hard to resist. Sad to say, but we dont have that much self-control. Baking only 2 cookies is a new thing for me, since I moved to Canada from California, I have baked and baked and baked and given a lot away, but also sampled a lot too. I just baked 7 items last week for a sweet basket I did for my partners charity silent auction. ( and I knew I was giving all those away so it was ok). I'm baking a bunch of stuff to enter into the county fair too. I sure do get my baking in, but for just us, I dont want to bake that much qauntity.

Not sure how to make an approved link, but here it is small batch baking

I saw an episode of Food911 ( Tyler Florence) where he made two kinds of donuts, they looked fab. Check foodtv.com

We're all about portion control these days so I decided to pull out this book and make 1 of the recipes. I chose Big Blast Oatmeal Cookies because the recipe made two. It was odd using 1 1/2 tbls of butter, a few tbls of flour, sugar, etc. I thought the dough was a little wet, so I threw in another tbls of flour and decided to use some whole wheat. I really enjoyed these. I added 1tbls of choc chips too. Anyone baked anything from this book?

Hi Binky, Looking forward to your blog especially after reading your posts on the cheap but not nasty topic. I have fond memories of your city, was there in 1994 for the festival.

I was watching Barefoot Contessa this afternoon and Ina said " you could always use Maytag blue cheese that comes from WI" Any self-proclaimed foodie knows that Maytag comes from Iowa. I like her cooking, but she does rely on a lot of convience foods, she just uses them with a lot of fresh ingredients.

me too... I've had a couple of beans is Vodka since about February (just enough Vodka to cover - though now that I see all of your links, I need to get more beans soon). I haven't checked it in a while - but it's turning into a recognizable form of extract. Smells good too. When I was in university my prof had a bunch of jars going with different liquids - I used the vodka hoping that it would keep the vanilla flavour as pure as possible... but I can see where using a different type might be less harsh. But do you taste bourban or do you taste vanilla? Inquiring minds want to know. ← I honestly cant stand the taste of hard liquor so Ive never tasted it. It just smells a lot less harsh. The alcohol is supposed to burn off anyway, right?

Try making some of your own vanilla extract. I saw Chef at Home( Michael Smith) do it on an episode he did about vanilla. He took a large mason jar, split open( dont know if he split open, but I do) about 20 beans and then filled the jar with a little commerical extract for a starter and then topped with booze. I skipped the commerical extract part and just used some vodka. I also made a couple jars with bourbon for gifts. It takes a few months to cure. I used shmirnoff and i think that was too harsh. I'll stick with the bourbon from now on.

I got my beans too. I thought there were smaller( even the supposed 6-7 inch length) and less plump than other beans Ive bought, but hey, the price is right. I'll just end up using 3 of these instead of 1 of another. What did other think? remember the old adage, "you get what you pay for" that certainly applied here.

Man, I miss Vancouver. I'd move there in a hot second. I spent 1 month at UBC my last summer of law school( 2002). We did a summer( aka vacation) abroad program. We had class till 2pm and the rest of the day free. I loved English bay, my favorite was Kits pool( that was a really hot summer, it rarely rained). I think its time we make a trip back and check out all those great places you're mentioning. Great blog.