mtigges

You've got to be kidding me. What beer was it if you don't mind me asking?

Mead Jamboree? Can't wait. We don't have to sing camp fire songs though do we?

I wouldn't use blackstrap though. Fancy, if you're going to use molasses.

Leaving on the ferry to my parents shortly. We will celebrate one day early. Normally, we gather at their place and eat and drink too much. My mom is an excellent cook, aren't everybodies? And I love her turkey, but her roast goose (xmas) is better. Unfortunately, this year is not normal. While they were in Argentina in Febuary, some a$$hat decided to try and burn their house down. It's in the middle of the rebuild, and we will be trying to somehow fit a turkey in the tiny oven in an RV. We'll see. I thought we should dig a pit and fire roast it on a spit, but she didn't go for that. Should be fun regardless. Happy Tryptophan Day!

Now that y'all know I have no taste in beer, for a non-beer drinker, which would you recommend: Guinness or Kilkenny? Those will be my only two choices, and I feel I must choose one. Either that, or go for water, and I'm in the mood to stretch my horizons. Are either Guinness or Kilkenny low on biterness but heavy on malty aftertaste? ← Both of those beers are among the lowest bittered beers you can find (at all, not just for the style). But neither is a particularly good example of the style. (Caveat if you're in Dublin drinking real Guiness.) I would suggest to try both, since they are not at all alike. Kilkenny is a malty pale ale usually served with nitrogen, some people consider Kilkenny an Irish Red Ale, but I am unsure if that style has a good enough definition. Guiness is a stout and is almost always served with nitrogen. So, how about the bitterness? As I said, both are quite low in bittering. Kilkenny is perhaps a bit higher, but it will not likely seem so. The reason for that is that being a stout, Guiness shows some roasted flavours. So, it gets some bitterness from the black malt, and roast malt that is in it's grist. Think the kind of bittering that you get in coffee. The bittering in Kilkenny is solely from the addition of hops early in the boil. Guiness also has a bittering hop addition, but it is not predominant in the style. One more thing, you will likely be told that Guiness is a heavy beer. Despite the name stout this is completely untrue. There are many different versions of Guiness available all over the world. Some are heavy, most are not. You will likely get a version that is very light. Think Michelobe extra. Most Guiness available in north america is brewed by Labatts, and is around 3.5% and is in fact quite dry. It definitely qualifies as a low carb beer. The predominance of stout flavour though makes it a much more satisfying experience than gagging down a some of the other diet beers. After all that, Kilkenny is definitely higher in malty after taste. If you're only after pure advocacy, I would always choose an unchallenging fresh locally made beer over anything that was produced in a factory. Typically, women will like wheat beers (Hefeweizen, Weisse, Wit), or fruit lambics like Kriek, and men will like something that is close enough to macroswill - just with more taste, like Kolsch, Marzen, Pale Ale, Dort Export.

Is it out of line to ask you to let us know when it happens? Hopefully Daddy-A won't mind if you bring this thread topside when you have it in. My wife owes me a dinner, and I can't think of a better place to return to.

I'm a homebrewer and beer afficionado, as such, the quality of beer that a restaurant stocks attracts me in the way that a wine lover is attracted to a good list. That said if I knew you had mead I would order it.

Definitely Oyama, and a heads up for a couple of months from now. They have garlic chicken leg confit around christmas time. It's amazing.

Why the slice? I've never braised a brisket before. And I've never heard of braise where this is done. What is the reason? Would it just take longer without the slices? Mark.

I can appreciate trying Tojo's. As a visitor you want to try the best, and he is certainly heralded as the best. But I have to concur with other comments up thread. We did a $400 omikaze (200 each) and had to order another dish. The food was certainly excellent no question about it. But nevertheless it didn't seem worth it. Plus the ambience is not so good. The celebrity pictures lining the dining room (are they still there?) make it seem a diner. If you go, make sure you sit at the bar. I would recommend Wabi Sabi over Tojo. A small notch lower in refinment and a huge notch lower in price with a much nicer atmosphere. Regards, Mark.

It is traditional to serve goose for christmas in german household. Look for german recipes for roast goose. http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/...achtsgans1.html the above isn't quite as my Mom makes it. She uses dried fruit. Dried apples and prunes. or any savory type of dried fruit. On occasion she will cook a duck the same way, and it's delicious. Just make sure to remove the rendered fat relatively often.

Actually, I do want a similar kind of device. The one they gave is actually quite good. It's quite large, has temperature control, and a lid. Unfortunately, it's way too shallow. It's only about a inch and a half deep. No doubt it could be used to great effect on a number of dishes. But it's just too large to justify keeping for being a poor braiser. It's essentially only a skillet. I will give it to S.A. and eventually buy myself a really good slow cooker. One that the pot comes out and can be used on the stove top. Granted, no sukiyaki at the table, but this was non-stick too, so I wouldn't want people digging in. Moreover, the finish means poor sears on many items. Mark.

You win. Hands down. I will never complain again! I would have killed them and used the vicodin in my insanity plea.

Heh. Priceless. I would never buy one, but I must say that both of my grandmothers used one to full effect in the 1970's. Fried potatoes, braised cube steak in gravy. I suppose it's a decent tool for a busy cook that's not too fussy. Perhaps you can "re-gift" it to someone, or feature it in a future yard sale. Or, make it into an ironic found-object art sculpture. Eh? Eh? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink... ← I looked at it yesterday. It's pretty obviously regifted. I don't regift. I think it's rude and obnoxious. Hmmmm. Before I said anything about it, my wife said, "we don't have to keep that" ... she's a keeper. I believe that this will find its way to the salivation army (that's what my Mom calls them - it's her accent).

Wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of fun. Only one of the twins showed up, the other went to go pick their dad up from the airport who had unexpectantly arrived from Asia. Anyways, I braised about 20 short ribs on Friday, let them rest in the braising liquid overnight. Removed the congealed fat and shredded the meat. The amount of interstitial fat and the rendered fat came to a pretty big mound which seemed to put off the guests a little. It was amusing. Anyways, after I got the stew warming, I served canapes of smoked tuna and salmon. Read, "got them out of the kitchen". Then started some roasting of sweet potatoes, shallots, yellow carrots and garlic with rosemary. Unfortunately, there were so many veggies that they steamed themselves and didn't get a very good roast going, but they were still yummy. Salad of stuff from our garden. (I elected for the canapes instead of a noodle salad.) The stew was served over quickie egg noodles, it would have been nice to make spaetzle, but such is life. We had fun, and everybody loved it. The only poblem was that the braising liquid was VERY gelatinous (I used a great stock from the soup guy down at the lonsdale quay) so I mistakenly convinced myself that I wouldn't need a thickener. I'm not very bright sometimes. I should have made a rous or the very least used some corn starch. Next time. Oh, this is the worst part. They brought a housewarming gift. An electric skillet. Aaaargh. Thanks for all the help everybody.

For the record, the seven siblings of my wife are 4 sisters, then three brothers. Then my wife. Consequently the SIL who wants to bring her twin daughters is sufficiently old that the daughters are university aged. I don't have to worry about young children. Moreover, I am doing the reno myself, and the largest jobs are done. For instance, the baseboards in the kitchen are done, but no paint, backsplash isn't done yet either. So it's not a construction zone, just not really a home yet. And since we don't like children, we don't have any, hence the backyard is basically a produce production zone - no picnicing. Thanks so much for all the suggestions. It's very helpful to come here and bounce my thoughts off others. I think I will definitely go with short ribs braised on friday. Shredded into a ghoulash served over egg noodles. My in-laws are cantonese and do not eat too many potatoes, so the egg noodles is a fantastic idea. I might make spaetzle, but I'm just not sure I want to deal with the gooey mess after working a farmers market all day. A big green salad to go with it, and a pasta salad or bean salad prepared the day before will complete. I'm personally against inviting people over and serving them takeout. The whole point, and I was happy to do it, was to feed my two brothers in law, and my mother in law. It just got a little out of hand. I might mention casually to my wife that it would be nice if someone brought dessert! I will definitely check in and let you all know if I survive.

I have to make our in reno house some semblance of an organized home, not doing so would be infinitely more costly in the glances and veiled comments than the day of work.

Well, we won't talk about the cryptorchidism , but "what he said". ← I had to look that up on dictionary.com. Thanks for not talking about my defect! lol.

Actually, I like this stew A LOT. Mainly the reason I was backing away from lamb shanks, is they're something you need to sit down with with a knife and fork. And since there's going ten people (I think) and we only have room for six at our table, people will obviously be milling around. I might see about borrowing the neighbours patio table. Anyway, the stew is great, because I can make it the night before, and shred the shanks (or at this point I will move to short ribs, they stand up better to resting and reheating), let them rest in the sieved braising liquid. Then add back some carrots, onions etc and reheat. This can be eaten with a fork alone while standing. You Smithy, are a genius! As for the green salad, we have ten tomatoe plants, pea sprouts, and lot's of mesclun salad growing in our back yard. Even some green peppers for snap. So that one is a given. Can anyone point me to a killer pasta salad (light on mayo please)? There's an orzo one I love, but I've brought it to too many potlucks. These relatives have had it too often. Just writing it out and venting a bit and getting feedback has calmed me immensely. Thanks everyone.

Here's the situation. My wife is the youngest of a family of eight children. There is currently a family reunion of sorts going on. Two of the brothers are here now, staying with their sister and their elderly mother. That sister and her daughter are going away on a sight seeing trip, leaving the brothers and the elderly mother to fend for themselves. My inlaws find it intensely amusing that I do the majority of the cooking for my wife and I. So, I invited the brothers and the mother for dinner Saturday. I can't manage anything special because 1) my wife and I are artisans and are hocking our wares all day Saturday. The earliest I can get to the kitchen is 4. 2) We're sort of in the middle of renovations, it's not that organized in our house. I was just going to get around 1.5 lamb shanks per person, braise in wine etc, and roast some veggies. I would run home while selling to start the oven (after prepping in the morning). Get home, roast the veggies, and serve family style. Easy. It's never easy with inlaws. Her overbearing sister has invited herself and her husband and her twin daughters over as well. This is far more than can sit at our six seat table. Clearly changes are in order. It sounds like I need to grow a pair and tell them they can't come, it wasn't the point, but they invited us to their country club tonight ... neigther of us want to go. You know how it is. Clearly I do need to grow a pair. Anyways. I need ideas for what to serve. I was thinking a huge ham. I've done that before for my divorce party. (Obviously not my current wife.) It was pretty good. People can just slice off little bits. The roast veggies are still a go. Maybe a bean salad beside it or something. I'm thinking of taking Friday off to prepare (and clean the house). Any great ideas here? What was meant to be a simple dinner with the visiting brothers in law has turned into a stressfull brouhaha. I don't even want that family in my house, but oh well.

Really? I'll have to make another visit. I have to admit that I didn't spend that much time there. It just dripped pretention and it bugged me. At WF, I'm left alone, and I like that. Visit the guy in North Van that I mentioned, he's almost like the fictioutous soup nazi, and I really like that. Not so much surly, but doesn't necessarily feels like he needs to help you. It's say what you want ... get what you want. The way I like it.

Be very careful of bottle bombs. Brett can ferment to 1.0 SG which depending what the FG was can be dangerous. When it tastes good get the bottles in a fridge, or at least below 10C.

I want to chime in a provide a second hearty recommendation for Kaide. It is truly an excellent restaurant. The location kind of sucks, but it is great. I haven't been to a better Japanese restaurant at that price point.

There is a very good shop in North Van. It is across the street from Capilano mall, nearest the liquour store. I don't know the name, sorry, so I can't give an address, but it's not hard to find. There is also a newish store in Park Royal. I won't tell you where it is because it's horrible. They are all about style. It's so pretentious it made me nauseous. Whole Foods near them is by far preferred by me anyway.

That story warms my heart. I'm having quite a bit of trouble on our vegetarian, but I will break him.