Badiane

Now that looks pretty interesting. Maybe this is the next big food trend: sous vide pickled watermelon rind spherification foam. ← I made a double batch of that chutney and jarred it - it's beautiful, looks like jewels in a jar. Just did it the same way I do jam - into a sterile jar with a sterile lid and it sealed itself, no need to process.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...-CHUTNEY-109655 Fantastic!!

I found the July issue in the laundry room of my building... I guess I'm not the demographic anymore, because I thought it was all a bit too arty - what's up with the ugly paintings instead of pictures in one section? Very unappealing. But the thing that I really REALLY noticed was Barbara Fairchild's picture. WTF happened to her? She used to look so normal...now she's barely recognizable. Surgical alteration immediately sprang to mind. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just completely different. Kind of weirded me out.

Around here we make trailer trash pot roast. Put a can of mushroom soup in the slow cooker, stir in a packet of onion soup mix and a glug of worcestershire sauce and drop the roast on top. Turn it on low and go to work. When you come home, cook some potatoes, maybe some green beans, or, if yer feelin' fancy, make a salad. If you don't have any potatoes, serve it over bread. There's nothing wrong with that. It's cheap, filling and stretches enough for leftovers. And after all, isn't that kind of the point if you are buying that cut of meat? And don't get all food snobbie on me about the soup I see those Entemann's donuts in your breadbox and that jar of Cheez Whiz in your fridge

I have made it...but I left out the hair. I love the look of the rabbit, but haven't made it. I did do that mousse wrapped in smoked salmon with the rows of caviar all lined up perfectly and nearly had a mental breakdown. I love the potato bacon thing, too. I've had the book for at least 15 years, and it's still one I page through regularly. Looking forward to some pictures from your dinner!

Check out the picture of the pineapple dessert in the same book. There's a big hair on the plate. Given that oversight, I don't imagine questioning the Robuchon/Wells team would be too terribly gauche....go ahead and add an egg white if you aren't comfortable.

I work with a young woman from Quebec who has come to BC for a couple of years to learn English and have an adventure. She's celebrating her first birthday away from home, and she has no family here, so I want to give her a little piece of home. Yesterday we were talking about Creton...and she was saying how much she misses being able to get it, so I thought I would make her some. I found a few recipes, but I don't know creton from crouton, so if someone could provide me with a home style recipe, that would be great. Also, does anyone know if the creton at Tim Hortons in Quebec has cloves and cinnamon in it? or is it really plain? She mentioned that it was similar to her grandmothers, so I thought maybe someone might be able to tell me. Thanks!

Heat your cream, melt cheese into it. Cool. Form into a ball. Like a cheese ganache. Michael Smith did it on Chef at Home last year. I'm sure the instructions are on foodtv.ca. Should have seen the look on his kids face when he told him it was ice cream and stuck it in his mouth

I'd follow it up with "and I will be happy to pay for it" especially if you will be using any milk or sugar or anything else with it. If you drink it straight, I guess it's no different than a glass of tap water, is it? So I don't see the harm. Doesn't seem the least bit offensive, unless of course you are using the exact same tea they sell in the restaurant, thereby robbing them of the money they are entitled to for selling you a cup of tea... This could be a very interesting discussion.

Hey! I got my wedding ring at Walmart. Seriously. It was like 80 bucks. Real gold and everything!

I totally get what you are saying! To me, certain types of plastic wrap, particularly those bought cheap in huge rolls, leave a nasty aftertaste on everything they touch. I will have to peer over the counter at the deli nearby to see what brand they have, because every single time I buy something there, it tastes like a petroleum product. I have never noticed this issue with Saran, Glad or any other regular kind of supermarket type brand, just with the cheap-o stuff in bulk sizes.

I like Splenda...and it's much more readily available where I live than Nutrasweet. The best tho, is a blend of Splenda and Sugar Twin (but only Canadian made Sugar Twin, it's got cyclamates!) The two form some kind of chemical reaction that allows you to use much less product and mimics a sugar taste that is very close to the real thing. For me personally, it's less about whether something has sugar in it and more about the overall carbohydrate count, however...so a piece of cake or whatever made with Splenda or the suchlike usually doesn't have many less carbs than that made with sugar - in fact, some candy touting itself as sugar free in fact has MORE carbs than that made with sugar. So my real preference would simply be quality over quantity. Better one made with sugar than six made without. But that's me. For someone sensitive to the actual sugar, well, they are just going to be so darn happy someone thought to make them something sugar free they aren't going to care what you made it with.

I just sort of make them up as I go along, I'm afraid. The health food store here has a wonderful selection of kamut flakes and other things, so I just buy random bags. I pour it all in a bowl, add whatever nuts and seeds I have on hand or feel like adding - last time it was sunflower, sesame and hemp seeds. I mix in a pinch of salt as well. I usually have about 6 cups of assorted items in the bowl, maybe a bit more. Then I pour about one cup, maybe a little more, of brown rice syrup and mix it all together with my hands until well coated. I then press it onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake it until it's brown and looks kind of set. I cool it completely and cut it into bars. They aren't that sturdy, but I'm okay with that. If I'm after granola, it's the same process, except I remove it from the oven several times during baking to stir it so it browns quicker and forms clusters instead of bars. Also, with Granola, after it's out of the oven I mix in chopped dried fruits of whatever variety I have on hand. I actually started doing these for my BIL, who, it would appear, subsists on a diet of tree bark, brazil nuts and the occasional hay bale. And kale. Lots and lots of kale. My brother swears he once saw him sucking a pebble from the driveway. He approves completely of both the bars and the granola, so they must be healthy

Soy protein powder is not the same as soy flour. Protein Powder is a nutritional supplement commonly available at health food stores and those places that sell nutritional stuff to weight lifters. Some of it can be great, some is very calorific, so you have to read your labels. If you don't want to bake the bars, perhaps you could use brown rice syrup as a binder...you could perhaps boil the syrup to a soft or medium ball stage and then mix it into the ingredients, press it into a pan and let it cool. I use ancient grains to make both granola and bars. I bind my ingredients with Brown Rice Syrup and bake until brown and not too dried out. Works very well. Let us know what you come up with!

It's the holiday season, you are probably overworked and overtired. It's better to throw it out there and see what people think than agonize over it. Sure would love to see some pictures of the plates!

You're overthinking it. It's a picture in a book, you like the idea, you are going to use it. End of story. If someone comes up to you after and says Wow, where do you get your ideas, you can say 'I read a lot'. Or something to that effect. Or if you really want to, show them the picture and let them marvel at how much better your rendition was. As for being disrespectful in using another dessert, what the heck does that even mean? You got a plating idea from a picture. You can do whatever you want. What, are Tish and Timmy going to come to your event and boohoo all over your plates and then send you a rude note? Of course not! I would have to say that they wrote the book with people like you in mind...the kind of people who can take an idea and run with it and make it thier own! So go! Run! Create! and take all the credit. After all, you did all the work. Trust me, I am an EGullet member.

You are very welcome! Sometimes it pays to have the most boring job on earth...you develop incredible search engine prowess. I also verified with the magazine when I got home- it is indeed the correct recipe. Happy cooking

Is there a prize for finding it? http://home.indy.rr.com/happysnakes/Recipe_KM_33.htm Hope it's the right one...says Bon Appetit April 2005 at the bottom

Sounds like you are off to a good start, research wise. Keep going. Take a Career Decision Making course. There are all kinds of government and private programs you can take advantage of. Take the Strong Interest Inventory or some other such vocational testing. Explore this completely and objectively through a third party, NOT the career counsellor at the cooking school of your choice. They just want your money. Career Decision Making counselling will help you identify your goals and priorities and help you organize and research and set realistic goals for optimal outcome. It will also give you a realistic picture of how your current skill set matches up and meshes with what you might want to do in the future. If I had taken such a course, I would never ever have gone to cooking school. I may have entered the food world in some other capacity, but I never would have gone the chef route. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, will kill your enjoyment of cooking like working in a restaurant. Do you really want to be 35 and working for 10 bucks an hour in a 100 degree room with a bunch of sweaty men who are better and faster than you because they have been in the kitchen since they were 12? And who daily torment you in ways even the CIA would not approve of? Yeah, me either. Good luck!

There's a couple of different styles.. One is as pictured above...kind of a yeasted type of cake. I believe that is more a 'High German' style. The second is Mennonite or 'Low German' style...a rich yellow cake baked in a square pan with a sliced almond and sugar topping, almost like a broiled icing, but actually baked on the cake. It is then either split and filled, or, if you used a jelly roll pan, cut in half and layered with filling in between. Both very tasty indeed. Although being Mennonite, I do have my preference But gfron1 could probably convert me. That looks amazing!

I'm the queen of making the giant list and then paring it down and down and down...I know you didn't ask me, but here is my completely unsolicited opinion and you can take it or leave it, of course But I am professionally trained, I am an 'overfeeder' and I am, of course, an eGulleter I am being completely honest with you when I say that as a trained professional, that would be a very very ambitious menu. You don't need that kind of stress. Okay...bearing in mind that the human stomach can only hold so much food...you need to pare down down down. Yes, you want to impress your friends, but in my experience, when presented with the choice between a devilled egg and ducklava, they will go for the egg every time. Let's talk turkey. Ling and Henry do a beauty, but you've never roasted a chicken, never mind deboned and brined one...don't do that to yourself. Just get your nice heritage bird and drape it with bacon. So for the first course... go with -Tanabutler's Spicy Roasted Herb Nuts -Crostini, Pate, Cornichons, Mustard -Deviled Eggs Save the other things for another time. There's a lot of food still to come. Second course.... Warm kabocha squash salad wth greens, candied bacon, pecorino, pecans and blackened sherry vinegar onions The other things sound lovely, but again, the main event is up ahead. Main Meal... Cornbread Mashed potatoes Pan-roasted balsamic onions (Nigella Lawson) Roasted sweet potatoes or squash with brown sugar and spices Roasted brussels sprouts with pecans Some kind of plain veg, like corn or peas, for the non-sprouters like me You have a lot of flavours going on and something plainer is always good. Sage and sausage dressing or stuffing or whatever it's called when it's cooked outside the bird Cranberry sauce Gravy Hit the traditional holiday highlights...you can't be all things to all people...and while you want a nice selection, if you try to do that many things, you will end up in a weeping heap and you won't have any fun and you will be giving up on things mid stream and kicking yourself for it. Don't even bother with the cheese. Everyone will be so full they won't eat it anyway. Everything else looks made ahead and totally doable. Well, that's what I would do. Of course you have to do what you feel you want to do.

Here's a link to a previous discussion. Some very entertaining stories Deal Breakers

Depends on where in the Valley you are going. Farmhouse Cheese is a must do. My husband and I will be at Cookies Grill on Old Yale Road at 9 am if you want to get a fantastic breakfast for a good price :-)

Nope, but I know where you can liberate some from the confines of the field they are currently being held captive in Does anyone know somewhere outside of Vancouver - like perhaps Langley or Surrey even - that I might find Dodoni feta cheese?

They don't call it Whole Paycheck for nothing. It's $14.95 because it's Whole Foods and they can. So they do.