Bill Miller

My hostess this weekend mixed a bottle of Mr. & Mrs. T. with a can of campbells beef broth, a can of vodka, juice of two limes, and a splash of Lee & Perrins---very good. It mixes perfecly in a large vodka bottle.

Several years ago I purchased a Gattinara for around $30---excellent. The vendor referred to it as "poor man's Barolo". Imagine a poor man (or a lot of people I know) spending that much on any wine. I have about 10 bottles of Barolo going back to '96--every bottle is a thrill. I have a small cellar and that's all I can justify.

I think that Pasilla and ancho chilis are more of a main ingredient than the others. Robert del Grande makes a creamy pasilla sauce to serve with a coffee/cocoa incrusted beef tenderloin--usually with creamy grits. Ancho is the lead chili in my Texas beef chili--neither add much heat, but the flavor---real chili flavor that takes the lead.

We keep all the magazines and cookbooks (I have Bon Appetit back to 1978) in date order. We go thru them and the cookbooks recording recipes by catagory if we find one we like. We simpley record the date and page number or the name of the cookbook and page number. We use this as a reference and then go and get the book. Takes up a lot of space but I don't mind. These web sites (Epicurious, etc) don't keep them forever.

For a long time I've had dry martinis with my French onion soup. Try it--really good.

Throw it out.

I was given several of these--very small. Do you bake whole, slice and pound into cutlets, smoke, or grill them? Should they be soaked in milk? They are from small white tailed deer , probably young.

Had lunch there several times--I rate it above DaMarcos even if Alison of the Chronicle doesn't.

No problem, as long as the smell and taste is ok.

I add no water, hot or otherwise. Lemonjuice comes from mashing them with the salt over a period of days--it will finally cover the lemons--I just believe it takes 30 days including a week of mashing down.

When I tried it years ago it was promoted as the original Tanqueray. I found it not to my liking. Very different.

We haven't found good salt pork (my South Carolina wife calls it fat back) in years. I believe it went away when the fat pigs and lard did. Jowls are not a good substitute.

I think you could freeze the bones, thaw and tie back on for roasting.

Yes!!!! It works. The cheesecloth and keeping it under 40 degrees is the secret. I did one for seven days last year---it will be this years Christmas dinner again (not the same roast!) . My 4 1/2 lb roast lost 8 oz's and was wonderful. Edited to add-- Wrap the roast in several layers of cheesecloth--place on a platter in fridge ( under 40 Degrees). In 24 hours--unwrap and rewrap to prevent sticking. Repeat in 24 hours. let it rest 3 to 5 more days. Unwrap--cut off the dried outside and dried fat leaving as much fat as you can--roast to deaiserd doneness.

Jim, have you tried an Anne Amie or a Raptor Ridge Piont Noir from Oregon? Full body, thick for a pinot, rasin, berry--both wonderful.

We spent a week in Napa last year--great time and great food. A day trip thru the Russian River Valley was very tasty. We returned to Napa thru Sonoma and had the best meal of the entire trip at La Haye--sounds like the quality is still there.

That is a beautiful combination. What did you serve it with? You might be interested to know there is similar Tunisian salsa called sauce Kerkennaise. It is served with grilled octopus or shrimp. ← I finished the ingredient list in the original post. Serve with pita chips or toss with pasta and serve as a main dish.

I thought I saw these mentioned here somewhere but I can't find the thread. Now I have a bottle----party gift. Beautiful light red bottle--shaped like a triangle--Mosel river area. Right now it is a beautiful party decoration. Has anyone had one of these? Should I try it or give it the fruitcake treatment and pass it on? It is beautiful.

The new Central Market cookbook has a recipe for a Mediterranean salsa that contains tomatoes, capers, kalamata olives among other things. I added a diced preserved lemon and it was even better! It also contains chopped red onion, garlic, fresh oregano, balsamic, evoo, and salt and pepper. Add toasted pine nutsand crumbled feta just before serving.

Brad--Awhile back we paired a 10 year old rioja with a creamy chanterelle soup. It was out of this world--the wine was still crisp and I can only describe it as "earthy" . It cut thru the richness of the soup and just made for a wonderful experience. I don't know that I've heard of this pairing before, but it worked for me. It was a marriage made in heaven.

Is the datel pepper related to these two. I think it is native to Florida. I use a very flavorfull sauce called Dat'l Do It that is made from them.

On occasion I will have a gin gimlet and my companions will remember them from the dim past. I wonder if they will return? It's really a nice alternative to my usual dry gin martini.

We love grits with cheddar cheese and poblano chilis-- you can get away with this at a fancy dinner.

I like to roast my beef bones before making stock. Once every year or so I stuff a whole fresh ham with vegis, season it and simmer in cheesecloth overnite (Maryland style). The pork is wonderful and you get the most wonderful pork stock (lots of it). Use it in blackeyed peas or any other vegi that needs fat back and a liquid. I've never seen pork stock in the stores--great stuff.

I have giant lemongrass--will it die out and come back? I'm 70 miles NW of Houston.