Jim Dixon

I'll have to get on my web-lackey's ass...oh, wait, that's me. As I recall, I basically cooked some pancetta, added the leeks and cooked them, then tossed in the shucked favas at the last minute. Since I still have a good-sized chunk of Niman Ranch guanciale, I'll use that instead when I find some more favas. I thought I had a recipe on there for a dish like loufood describes (favas and artichokes...but mine doesn't have thyme...altho' I'm adding it the dish next time I make it). It's really good with the smaller 'chokes, and I've added preserved lemon sometimes, too. Another method of eating favas is raw (remove from pod, but don't shell) with some pecorino cheese, a little salt, and white wine. thanks....I've been making essentially the same recipe with peas instead of favas after tasting it at Park Kitchen, a new cafe in the Pearl District. Leave out the Parmigiano, though. Jim

I've found that about a tablespoon is right for the sorbets I make (I have a little Krups, so the unfrozen quantity of fruit and syrup is usually about 3 cups). It does change the way it freezes, a plus for me. The sorbets are a little less granular because the water doesn't freeze as hard. Jim

I cook a lot and seem to spend a lot of time at the table telling our guests that it isn't really so much work, that I truly enjoy cooking. I think that's another factor in becoming a good cook...does cooking make you feel happy? I also own many cookbooks and love reading through them, but rarely follow any of the recipes closely. I'll use them as a guide or maybe find a combination of ingredients I hadn't thought of before. When I started writing recipes for my site, I realized that the foods I cooked were more improvisational, so I came up with this: Jim

Favas take some time, so I usually do this sitting at the kitchen table...and if any of the boys are around, I make them help. Use your thumbnail or a small a small paring knife to split open the pod and get the beans out. A pound of favas in the pods will give you a cup or so beans (if all the pods are full...I've learned to feel them to make sure I'm getting a full load of beans before I buy). Drop the beans into a pot of boiling water and cook for a minute or two. Drain, rinse with cold water to cool, and slip off the tough outer shell. I use a fingernail to pinch the end open, then squeeze out the bean. If you have really young and tender favas and are planning to eat them whole, you can skip this step. But if you're making a spread I've found that even the young skins mess with the texture of the finished product. The beans are ready to eat or add to a recipe. Here's my fava bean page with a few things I make a lot this time of year. Jim

But did you wear a gold dinner plate around your neck while bellowing? At high-groove local coctail lounge Mint I tasted a rhubarb-gin drink that was very tasty...described as house-made rhubarb syrup, gin, and soda on the rocks. Jim

Rockaway was also made 'famous' in a Hardy boys mystery. It was the only clue, the word Rockaway on a scrap of paper. Frank and Joe consulted a handy atlas, discovered that were two Rockaways, and wisely concluded that the one in Oregon wasn't part of the case. Jim ps...no relation to Hardy boys author Franklin W Dixon, who was actually a committee

Ben, Our favorite little beach town on the north coast is Manzanita, just a few miles south of Cannon Beach. It's not quite as crowded and has a great beach. A good restaurant at the beach is an oxymoron, except for maybe the Otis Cafe. It's a ways south (at Otis Junction, just north of Lincoln City), but the drive is nice, and you could stop at Karla's Krabs in Rockaway (if she's open...always a crapshoot) for some seafood. The best way to eat is to pick up some local crab, shrimp, or other seafood and do your own cooking. We haven't stayed at this place, but it's right on the beach and looks nice. We did rent this tiny little spot (the lighthouse) and it's also on the beach (sorry, couldn't find a web site): The Studio & The Lighthouse, (503) 368-4248 You can find the local State parks and make a reservation here. For just one dinner in Portland, I'd pick either Higgins, Paley's Place, or Bluehour for a more elegant meal. In mid-July Pascal Sauton should be open at his new Parisian bistro Carafe. Either Navarre or Noble Rot (or both...they're about 100 yards apart and both do small plates) are great choices for more informal eating. And we had another great meal at Bastas recently. I have to admit that all of these places are olive oil customers, but that just proves they know good food. Jim

I think you'll get much better results, no matter what flavor you want in the end, if you use grain alcohol instead of vodka. It's been my experience that the nearly pure alcohol is better at getting the flavor out of whatever you're soaking (in my case, citrus peels), and you can dilute it to whatever proof you like. Jim

We ate at the Ruins a few years ago with some well-heeled Seattle friends who live just up the hill. I liked the feel of the place, a nondescript warehouse with a clubby restaurant hidden inside. I don't really remember what we ate, but seem to recall it was good. The idea of paying a substantial membership fee and still forking over for a high-priced dinner rubbed me the wrong way, though. Jim

slowly (sorry, I couldn't resist) Jim

I do fileted salmon sides (half-fish) often. These have the skin on, so I usually cook them using indirect heat on the Weber. Sometimes I'll brush the top with a mixture of soy and brown sugar, sometimes just a little olive oil. Grill skin side down, covered, for about 7-9 minutes or until done. For steaks or smaller filets, I have a grill basket that holds the fish. It makes it easy to turn them and take them off the heat without leaving any chunks behind. For white-fleshed fish, I prefer a simple olive oil rub, then a salsa verde or something similar served at the table. Jim

Carlovski, You should be able to get real Italian guanciale in the UK from Esperya. Jim

Griswold cast iron I don't really "collect" like a true collector, but keep buying skillets (and, if I can find them, waffle irons, Dutch ovens, muffin pans, etc) even though I have about 8 I use every day and another 10 or so in the basement awaiting 'restoration.' Jim

My experience is that un cafe will get smaller and smaller as you move south. I've never ordered anything but a cafe (or cappucino...but only American tourists ask for espresso), and even in Tuscany the standard is pretty small, probably about the 1 oz mentioned above. In Sicily, you get a thick black film at the bottom of the cup. Jim

You can order guanciale from Niman Ranch. A friend sent me some recently, and so far I've only used it in a frittata and for lardons (poached thick chunks, then fried crisp...used pork fat to saute broccoli rabe and added lardons). It's a little different from the piece of illegal Italian guanciale I have in the freezer (carried through customs stuffed down a chef's pants)...more herbs on the outside, a little thinner and more streaky. And the Italian stuff still has a few bristles. Jim

Foraging friends find the feathery fronds of wild asparagus in northeastern Oregon...but I've never been so fortunate. Jim

I have some in my garden, too, and the thing I make most with the oregano is a simple potato salad. I like to use a waxy fingerling spud called le ratte I can get at the farmers market, but any waxy type works (yellow flesh better). Steam the spuds until tender. When just cool enough to handle, peel with fingers and slice about 1/4 inch. Toss immediately with a little wine vinegar or lemon juice (sometimes I skip the acid, but I think the salad is better with it). The warm spuds will really soak it up, so taste as you go. Then add a couple of chopped shallots (or other mild onion family, but not too much), fresh oregano (smaller leaves you can leave whole), and lots of good olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste, eat at room temp. Another option is a couple of tablespoons of capers, whole or chopped, preferably salt-packed (soak them for 20 minutes, changing water a couple of times...if you use capers in brine, rinse them off). I've made this with just spuds, olive oil, oregano, and salt, too. Jim

I cooked them until they were tender, probably about 15 minutes or so. John (at Navarre) says they benefit from a long soak in the olive oil, like several days, but I couldn't wait that long. Jim

Here’s the recipe my mom uses for bread and butter pickles. She told me she got it from my grandmother’s cousin Irma Best, but doesn’t think the “Best” in the recipe title is from Irma’s name. I’ve been eating these as long as I can remember. Company Best Pickles 10 medium pickling cucumbers (Mom likes them on the small side and sometimes uses a dozen) 8 c sugar 2 T mixed pickling spice 5 t salt (pickling salt, a non-iodized granulated salt) 4 c apple cider vinegar wash the cucumbers well, scrubbing to remove the little prickly stubble place in an earthenware crock, plastic bucket, or other non-reactive container and cover with boiling water. leave overnight, drain, and repeat three more times (for a total of 4 soaking cycles) (Mom says she often rinses the cukes since the soaking water can get a little cloudy) on the 5th day, drain, rinse, and slice the cucumbers into half-inch chunks. don’t slice thinly. return to crock combine the other ingredients, bring to a boil, and pour over sliced cukes. use a plate or other weight to make sure all cukes are completely submerged. let soak 2 days spoon the pickles into jars and place the jars in a pan of hot water to heat. bring the pickling brine to a boil, pour over pickles, and seal jars. Mom says she doesn’t process the jars, but check to make sure they seal. Store any that don’t in the refrigerator and eat first. Jim

Besides banned words (“savory” is one of mine), do you have other guidelines for writing about food? For example, I try to avoid writing that a certain dish “works.” I want to convey my sense of what I liked or didn’t without sounding too hifalutin. I think my favorite compliment for one of my articles is that it made the reader hungry. Jim ps..and I'm happy that I was able to use "hifalutin" in this question

I make little fritters from peas by processing them with bread crumbs, egg, parsely, shallot, and Parmigiano, then pan-frying. I finally found some favas at the Wednesday market, so I'll be making crostini with favas and mint. Other seasonal antipasti I like: grilled shiitake caps marinated leeks (got this from Navarre...poach the leeks in water with about 20% rice vinegar, drain, then marinate in good olive oil...they have a subtle acidity and sweetness) Jim

As with pie, for pickles I turn to my Mom who lives just down the street. As long as I can remember she's made an incredible sweet bread-n-butter style pickle. For most of my formative years, these were the only pickles I'd eat. She slices pickling cukes thick, about half-inch, and brines them in an earthenware crock. The rest of the process and recipe is hazy, but the results are amazingly crisp with a sweet-tangy flavor. Probably the best pickle I've ever tasted. I'll ask her for the recipe. Jim

duckduck, welcome to eGullet... I dropped by Powells at about 9, after the reading but in time to get a book signed for my son, who's at the bottom rung of the cooking' ladder. I hadn't been to an author appearance there since they moved them upstairs to the new space, and it looked much more comfortable than when you'd be crammed in between the stacks. Did you try the testicles? I had the sweetbread and morel risotto, not really too daring but it sounded good (and it was). I spent some time with Phillipe Boulot at the kitchen pass through and he showed me a serving of the Rocky Mt Oyster shepherd's pie...lot of cream and Parmiggiano in the potato crust, with slices of tennis-ball-sized balls grilled and placed on top. The rabbit-kidnet salad looked pretty good, too. Tony schmoozed the room nicely, altho' he spent more time in the bar than dining room (and who wouldn't?). The customers with glazed stares were a group of prom dates (from Hillsboro, featured in last week's NYT because budget woes ended the school year 17 days early...they mostly ordered steak frites, no offal). Bourdain also held his own in a rambling conversation with a local wild mushroom purveyor who consistently has the best fungi (he gave TB a few fresh porcini, supposedly available only in the fall, picked near Mt Adams in the Columbia Gorge) but is also a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Tony quoted Lenin and told a story about a farmer who survived the Khmer Rouge only to vote for the man who killed his family. Then he got another beer. Jim

Tony had said he'd been scheduled for a last minute meal with the press as of last week. But then I heard from my editor this week that the meal was open to the public. I called the local publicist to get the menu just this morning. I didn't get all the way through today's Oregonian, so there may have been a mention somewhere. Otherwise I haven't heard anything in the way of promotion. When I called the Heathman for a reservation, I was told that there were several, but it wasn't full. I'm headed over near Powell's, so I may stop by. But readings there tend to be crowded, and today was about 85, so I know it will be hot inside the bookstore with all those rabid fans. Jim

This just in.... Anthony Bourdain Offal Dinner May 24, 2003. The Heathman Restaurant Boulot is Phillipe, the Beard-winning Heathman chef. I'll be peddling oil all day at the farmers market, but if I'm still standing will try to make this. Hope to see you there (use the secret eGullet handshake for identification). Jim