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It's true they're hard to find in the Winter; but, come Summer Long Beans are plentiful and cheap at the farmers' markets, at least here. Especially, if you go kind of late in the day, the sellers practically pay you to take them, so they don't have to pack them back up and cart them back home. Once I got three huge bunches for a dollar or so. They were even the nifty red ones.

Yes, thanks for another useful pictorial! I have to admit, though, that while I like dry fried green beans, I much prefer dry fried long beans. -Erik

I'm a bit depressed, as it looks like I lost one of my lavenders this winter, too, to the excessive rain. On the positive side, I plucked a couple of the Nintoku Giant fava bean pods, briefly blanched them, peeled, and served them dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Oh, my gosh, they are the tastiest fava beans I have ever had in my life! Really looking forward to making more with these beans.

Is it available in the US? PS. Just to be clear, Marie Brizard Apry is an apricot liqueur, not a true apricot brandy/Eau de Vie.

I haven't had a chance to compare this yet to any of the Germain-Robin products head to head; but as a $30-$40 spirit this is a lovely complex entry. Some white pepper and heat in the initial taste yet mellow and complex going down. I keep coming back to the empty glass, appreciating the aroma, and thinking, "Wow!". This is really beautiful stuff. edit - fix repetitive usage.

Are there any Swedish Punsches available in the US? I don't think I've ever seen them, at least here in CA. Substitutions? I'm reading the Waldorf Astoria book, myself, and it's fascinating how different the ratios are, even in that more recent book, from modern recipes. I guess Americans have always had a sweet tooth.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Thursday, April 13, 2006 The Great Quake 1906-2006: A new Wine Country rose from the ruins, W. Blake Gray The Great Quake 1906-2006: A brand renewed, W. Blake Gray Letters to Wine: Corkage fees annoy readers Pairings: Asian salad's fine flavors and texture aren't lost in translation, Lynne Char Bennett Recipe: Avocado & Tofu Salad The Cheese Course: Old methods endure in Lancashire, Janet Fletcher The Chronicle's Wine Selections: Miscellaneous California White Wines, Linda Murphy The Great Quake 1906-2006: Liquid smoke?, W. Blake Gray The Cocktailian: A homegrown martini for shaky times, or shaky cities, Gary Regan Recipe: Trembling Martini Adapted from a recipe created by Steven Izzo, beverage manager at One Market, San Francisco. 96 Hours Bargain Bite: Sofrito, Carol Ness CRITICS' PICKS: Surf & Turf, Amanda Berne "What steakhouse menu didn't have surf 'n' turf at one point in its existence? The Basques and Greeks were the first to realize that land and sea combinations could go beyond a hunk of meat, and often stuff squid with sausage to be tossed on the grill. Now, Bay Area chefs are snubbing the typical lobster and filet mignon for more creative options, including skate, pork belly, foie gras and squid." Restaurant Roundup: STAY NOURISHED IN STYLE Dining Update: Acme Chophouse, Michael Bauer

A lot of people don't like them, though. They seed copiously, sucker freely, drop a lot of leaves and bark, and are nearly impossible to kill. Reminds me of Totoro, though.

Beware of the demon chicken, El Pollo Diablo!

Why not infuse vodka, instead of water? I thought this drink from molto e's trip to Ame here in SF looked nice. Hiro-tini The Vodka is infused with cucumber & ginger, and the cocktail includes sake.

I'm sure you can google as well as I can; but, this company in Colorado offers a number of potato varieties including some with red (well pinkish) flesh. Check out 'Huckleberry' and 'All Red'. Milk Ranch Potatoes They are well rated by Garden Watchdog. Seed Savers Exchange also has a number of heirloom potato varieties including red, blue, and purple.

I dunno what the deal is, either. I've asked at nearly every liquor store in San Francisco, and no one seems to know if the product has been discontinued or if they are just not sending it to the US anymore. Of the various Apricot flavored brandies available, the Bols, if you can find it, seems the most likely to have involved actual Apricots at some point in its creation. Quite a few French companies (Massenez, Mathilde...) make a high quality creme de peche, which actually might be a better choice than crap Apricot Brandy. Also be sure to look for Liqueur d'Abricot from these same companies. clear something up.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, April 12, 2006 Cooking in Common: Egged On, Rachel Marshall Recipes: Bitter Melon Omelet, Chef Sophina Uong of Berkeley Sweet Chile Sauce Spring Asparagus & Crab Quiche Speedy Cheese Souffle, freelance writer Casey Ellis Lupa Frittata with Goat Cheese and Vegetables, Pomelo in San Francisco Potato Tortilla, Jacqueline Higuera McMahan Gruyere Omelet with Mushrooms & Shallot Confit, Dennis Leary of Canteen The Roving Feast: Hail to the S.F. chefs, Marlene Spieler Recipe: Goat Cheese-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers The Great Quake 1906-2006: Quake cuisine, Karola Saekel Recipes: Shrimp Salad Kidney Saute Italian Spaghetti Taster’s Choice: Calabro wins praise for whole-milk ricotta, Carol Ness What’s New: * Easter is near -- hop to it * DISCOVERIES -- Savory East Bay tortas * OPENINGS -- A Modern teahouse * EARTHQUAKE MENUS -- Dine like it's 1906 The Baker: Butterscotch buns sweeten Easter breakfast, Flo Baker Recipe: Grandma Minnie's Overnight Butterscotch Buns The Great Quake 1906-2006: Food, water and other essentials, Stacey Wickman Cooking in Common: Beyond chicken eggs, Carlissa Remitz Benefits Horatio's reels in diners with fresh fish, local produce, Karola Saekel The Inside Scoop: Kuleto's Tomales Bay project enters home stretch, Amanda Berne Kuleto's Nick's Cave nears opening...Epic Roasthouse and Waterbar on the SF waterfront also opening soon...Paul Bertoli's handcrafted cured meats soon to market...Peter McNee new chef at Poggio...Greens opens new dining room... Easter Recipes Passover Recipes

Eric Asimov's new beverage blog covered cocktails for the first time earlier this week with a version of the Sidecar made with Bourbon. Tweaking a Classic He uses a very old fashioned 1/1/1 ratio for liquor/liqueur/lemon. Usually favor something like 2 oz of liquor and 1/2 oz of liqueur and lemon, myself; but, nice to see him covering cocktails along with the wine and beer.

This one was a bit more of an adventure for me. I've never tried making a clay pot before, and to my knowledge, never had Sa Cha Sauce. But, the dish looked good, and seemed like it would make a nice fast weeknight dinner. Unfortunately, the closest Asian specialty store was closed (Sign in window saying "Spring Break"!?), which forced me a bit further afield to find Sa Cha Sauce. So, at lunch, I took the N to 19th and Judah, figuring I could find something there. And indeed I found a very nice Asian grocery which even had the Bullhead Brand of Sa Cha sauce. Thanks to Ah Leung's wonderful pictures and notes, preparation was no problem, though I made do with a dutch oven instead of springing for a clay pot. The fishy flavor of the sauce wasn't really a surprise, since I'd read the ingredients; but, it was interesting, since I'd never had Chinese food that used these sorts of flavors before. Definitely something I'll make again. One question, though. I don't remember seeing recipes which use white pepper in the Chinese cookbooks I've used. Is this a personal touch? -Erik

hzrt8w, Your delicious Beef with Sa Cha Sauce Clay Pot, of course! ;-) I hadn't thought about Sa Cha's applications for burritos or sandwiches. Actually, with a touch more vinegar, it might not make a bad sandwich sauce on a sort of asian style steak sandwich.

2005 Thread 2004 Thread Huh, Manresa got dropped this year. I'm also puzzled why some restaurants are listed by city and others by country.

This list is organized by a UK based "industry oriented" magazine called "Restaurant". Restaurant Magazine Website There was a very long thread last year with similar concerns to pontormo's, but, I will be darned if I can find it.

World's 50 Best Restaurants 2006 Again, the San Francisco Bay Area is only represented by Chez Panisse and The French Laundry. My wife and I have only been to 3 of these, so not much to say...

I recently read Charles C. Mann's "1491", so the Peru episode might have had a little extra resonance for me; but, man, it was a good episode. Pacing was right on, a good mix of natural beauty and food, humor and pathos. For me it's right up there with the New Jersey episode as one of the most successful examples of what can be done with this sort of travel/memoir show. My wife was a little grossed out by the cassava beer, too, even after I explained to her that that was one of the most ancient ways of inoculating a beverage to be fermented, practised in many cultures. She also had to leave the room during the Guinea Pig feast.

Trying to avoid this rant...but, man I hate Subway. I was running a bit long on my lunch hour after some compulsive shopping (Woo! Sa Cha BBQ Sauce!) at an asian market near work, so I decided I would pick up a sandwich on the way back. Subway is there between the elevator and the door to my work, so it was convenient. OK, $4 gets you a 6" sandwich. What do you really get, though? What must be less than a combination of an 1/8th of a pound of meat and cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, 2 slices of plastic tomato, 2 slices of pickle, and a sprinkling of pepperoncini arranged on a piece of bread that could generously be described as card board. The total food cost for it has to be less than .75 cents, especially since it all comes sealed in plastic from some factory in the central valley. Avoid Sysco like the plague. If you want your food to stand out, make as much of your menu from scratch as is possible, and have as much hand in the selection of ingredients as you can stand. Drive to produce wholesalers, and purchase your specialty produce yourself. Drive to Latin wholesale places and buy your tortillas, beans and chiles. Establish relationships with local suppliers, produce companies, and even farmers. The food service companies want to be your one stop shop. They want you to buy your canned tomatoes, produce, beans, styrofoam trays, and everything else from them. And they will undercut the prices of any other suppliers you choose to do business with to get your business. And the prices will be low, at least for a while. Then the prices will creep up, and you will realize you've been paying 10% more than the market rate for the convenience of ordering everything from the same spigot.

Hi Janet, There are community gardens all over San Francisco. There are 5 or 6 in Bernal Heights alone. Not sure about Noe Valley; but, I'm pretty sure there are some in Glenn Park. I belong to the Ogden Terrace Garden, which is on Ogden Street, overlooking the Alemany Farmers' Market. Herbs, Garlic, and Tomatoes have been my real successes so far. Here are a couple links: San Francisco Garden Resource Organization SF Rec and Park Garden Website

How do you usually do that? I believe I would get annoyed sifting through them with my fingers. I was thinking maybe a colander with holes larger than the seeds but smaller than the husks?

Made hzrt8w's Ma Po tofu this last weekend with Sichuan Peppercorns. I was a little unclear about whether to try to divide the seeds from the husks before roasting and grinding, so didn't. While the dish was incredibly tasty, the texture was a bit gritty from the peppercorn seeds. Any suggestions for avoiding this?

After having a Jasmine that wasn't to my taste out at a bar last year, I put off making one for myself. However, I was in the mood for a Campari cocktail on Saturday, so I gave it a second chance, and found it delicious. My only comment would be, I found the recipe in Harrington's book, with 3/4 ounce fresh lemon, a bit sharp. Perhaps I had a very sour lemon. In any case, Robert's formulation above, with 1/2 oz lemon, seems right on.