RobertCollins

I buy the baby backs that have been mentioned and the cryopak pork loins. Make great Canadian Bacon. I think their meat is very good. I avoid their seafood as why would I want farmed atlantic salmon when I live in Seattle? I tried their scallops and they were wet not dry so I gave up on their seafood I have found their Coleman brand organic whole chickens are out standing. That is what I use to make my stock from now. About $20 for 7-8 qts of chicken stock. I've not tried their Basalmic but I will now, thanks. their EVOO is along with 365 brand from whole paycheck, my goto everyday oil. I usually buy my spices from Pensey's but maybe I will take a look at Costco. Safeway grocery in our area has gas stations that seem to be the same price sometimes better and are much closer and available so I use which ever works at the time.

When I was growing up what you call Hush Puppies were called Corn Fritters by both my Ky. family and my Missouri German in laws. My folks called a [usually about 3" round] corn meal pancake a Hush Puppy but insisted that to be a proper Hush Puppy, it must be fried in the left over grease that the fish were fried in. Mom used lard back then and I loved the pancakes or Hush Puppies. Haven't ever cooked them myself.

Actually, I question whether Copper River Salmon is worth the price since Yukon River runs follow after and they to my taste are even oilier [=better]. The salmon apparently don't eat on their way up river to spawn so they have to store energy to swim all the way to where ever on the river they breed. The Copper and Yukon are two of the longest salmon rivers so lots of stored energy in the form of fat/oil. I actually prefer the Sockeye to the King in Copper river Runs even though I don't think Sockeye have as much oil. In Seattle last night I saw Columbia River Sockeye for $9 per pound, whole fish and $11 for the fillet.

[\quote] If you find the recipe for the ricotta cheese, please share it with us. Thanks, Zoe ←

I use tongs. I too do not like holes although I don't know why.

If there is a Whole Foods in Chicago, I found Duck Fat at one in Seattle. So maybe...

I freeze all the grain and flour that comes into our house. A couple weeks in the freezer will kill the moth larva. I once wrote Lundberg Rice company and they sent me a bunch of lit on the India Grain moth [i working off memory so that may or maynot be the correct name]. After weeks in the freezer is hardly any inconvenience. The lack of moths flying about the pantry is wonderful. Another trick I used for a while that seemed to work was to put some dried Bay Leaf in the container with the grain or flower. I like the square restaurant containers as they stack in the fridge or shelf nicely.

I use WF for a few things exclusively, although I have backups. They have the best greens I've found in Seattle, all winter long. I buy some of their 365 brand items for basic staples. EV olive oil for instance. They actually have some nice "real" Basalmics cheaper than most others. But that said, they bought their own fish wholesaler and since I'm in Seattle, I can usually buy fresher at other places. The price will be mostly the same. Meat is good quality and the price I think competitive. Back to produce, I think that they tend to run higher than other places with what I think are the same items. I can't buy pancetta there and have been told by 20 something clerks that I should be happy they have the good American pancetta rather than that foreign stuff. Oh yeah, once I had to have some for a recipe that I was serving and didn't have time to go where I knew to get the real deal, I was told that the Deli section would not cut any for me as they didn't want to have to clean their slicer after cutting dirty raw food. I think I'll use them but I can't imagine them lowering prices on the things I buy there. I would love it if they would have well trained people to sell me the high quality things I want with out the burden of their fundimintalist approach to eating.

I just went to the site. It looks cool but it doesn't work. Somebody saw those folks coming.

I can see there are many geographic ideas of what grilling is and how its done. When I think of grilling, I think of on my Weber[gas grill] or charcoal grill or even on a plank in a camp fire but some how directly exposed to the heat-sans pan. On my grill, I haven't nor can I figure a need for a basket. Fillet's, I lay-skin side down and most I pull off when the firmness is slightly past rare. For salmon- I live in the N. American Pacific NW- that to me is a center temperature of 120°F. I never turn them. As suggested above, I mostly add salt and pepper, then take them off the grill with a couple spatulas leaving the skin behind. Serve. Tuna I like seared on all sides and served-there are many good suggestions for how. On a hot grill- at least 400° grill, I find most fish take about 7 to 8 minutes to the inch of max thickness. To point out that none of my methods are grilled with firm rules, one of the best grilled fish I ever had was some sort of blue colored fish I spear gunned off what is now Cancun, Mex. It we cooked on an Hibachi over the husk of coconuts started to coals with gasoline siphoned from our VW Microbus. It tasted like fresh mild beef but much more tender. It was so good, so was life, in the summer of '72...

I answered as best I could over here. This person was having the same problem in Uruguay. I'm sure you can buy the raw salts--yes, from my long ago memory of college chem, they are all salts we are talking about. The best of luck and eat well!

Pink salt, #1 is by memory, 6.0% Sodium nitrite and the rest NaCL, [that is 1 oz. sodium nitrite to 1 pound NaCl per the CIA Garde Marche book] but do check your book. Salt petre is Potassium nitrate and as said, used in Europe. In the US we have Sodium Nitrate. I don't remember which but have read that They taste different. I believe the difference to be minor as I love to eat all the sausages I've ever found in Europe and the Americas. I can't say which is better. According to Great Sausage Recipes And Meat Curing, 3rd ed. by Rytek Kutas, Insta Cure #2 is 1 oz of sodium nitrite plus 64/100 oz of sodium nitrate plus a pound of salt. This book is published by Sausage Maker Inc. www.sausagemaker.com I think Kutsas founded the company. I hope this helps but urge anybody to do their own look-ups. EDIT: oz is ounce or 1/16 pound - I won't try to remember how many grams to the ounce

I had to go down to Tacoma last thursday and if you had only posted sooner.... I do thank you for this tip though. As a Seattelite, we urban snobs tend to forget that there is life outside our traffic jams. Athough the drive down I-5 is enoughto make you want to forget.

I really must defer to the answers above but would add to their comments that wrapping in a bit of plastic and leaving it in the reefer could stop much of this moldy/rot. Humidity has much to do with keeping. Rubbermaid/ Tupperware are not products that help us with this sort of stuff, sausage, pate, chacuterie....

I have a TREAGER smoker/ Grill. It does a great job. I make a bit of Canadian bacon on it . I have made real Lox on it and a lot of ribs and pork butts. As a grill, it will get up to 400°F+, It adds a fine flavor and does a decent job of grilling. We use our Weber Genesis for grilling though because, it is easier and not always do we want smoke. Oh yes, the gas Weber is hella faster. As an hot smoker, it does a great job. It is consistent in temp, and holds the smoke right there too. I have purchased and added a cold smoker box and hate to admit it but; I do not have enough experience to discuss my escapades. [although I will admit that for some reason I do know, now, not to put a two pound block of Tillamook Aged Cheddar right on the grates and leave it for the night with the fish. [Pain to clean up]. It uses Pellets. They are expensive but; The temp is consistent which means that my times should be both plannable and I hope , cheaper. For most things I prefer fruit wood and only occasionally use other. I think Mesquite is fine for grilling only and so if I when I have it here in the NW, I use it to burn the garbage. God, it is acrid, and more so if used for any long term smoking!

1C fresh sugared sliced strawberries ,juice too 1/4-1/2 cup of wheat germ 1c heavy cream In a bowl add a cup of coffee and you have my favorite before bed snack when I was 24 or 25. And then my cholesterol was 120. 30+ years later, I'd be afraid to share the room with that snack.

I like to keep mine at -10°F. Better keeping and only a pain if you want to scoop ice cream from that freezer. For those who want to make dry cured sausage, according to M. Ruhlman in Charcuterie quoting from CDC; 5° will kill Trichinosis Larvae in 20 days, -10 in 12 days, -20 in six! So in two weeks its sausage time. As for putting a lot of not frozen product in at once that really isn't hard. Pick up a block of dry ice and put it in with the product or maybe better, a while before. At -40° F or C, the numbers are the same at this intersection temp, a 5 or 10 pound block will suck a ton of heat out of that hog Chris wants.

Last Saturday, we roasted a butt and picnic of a Mangalitsa Hog. We served Stinging Nettles and polenta and roasted Delacotta Squash along side. The nettles were simply dumped in a pot with a bit of boiling water much like spinach. About 5 minutes with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Done.. What a hell of a meal! Heat takes the sting out of the leaf almost instantly. Nice different fresh flavor.

I got mine at Chef Shop.com but it is a bit spendy. Think I'll go see if Trader Joe's is at least half as good since its more than half price. I use it in brines like for canadian bacon and such.

Take a flash light and look to see if the glass cover is stuck on with food or grease. if so use something like ammonia and water to loosen. If that doesn't do it go to the dealer and get them to show you how. Do you still have the owners manual?

Wow, I've now read the whole 308 posts and must say I am impressed. That a group would show such dedication to this task is remarkable, not to mention how the food photos inspire. I ordered the book by post 25 and can't wait for WED. Amazon had it for $23 and change. Ever notice that so many books that would be bought as a one off are priced just a buck and change below the $25 free shipping limit. No fools they.

We have two sinks both with disposals in our kitchen. We almost never use them and , truth be told, when we do it is of sheer laziness. In Seattle there is a recycle program that is quite liberal in its wants. It allows us to recycle most everything from our kitchen, so long as we do it right. The rules are quite reasonable though. Even I can, most times, get it right. Our veggie stuff goes with our fall leaves and spring grass clippings to be what is called, compost. It ain't the best for your veggie garden but it sure is good for most other things. The best part is almost everybody that bothers to send to the composting system takes away less than they contribute so the rest of us pay nearly nothing for the plenty they provide. I have read a number for the water usage per pound of disposal waste and, while I do not remember the gallons per pound, it is WOW, huge. Small containers to use as "garbage bowls" are simple and cheap, Why would anyone need to use a disposal? I have sold a bunch of buildings that have no disposals, none of which were slum buildings, no one has looked.

Wow, I have learned so much from this thread. When I was at MU -early seventies- the GI bill didn't cover a lot of eating out so that was mostly reserved for Sunday when my wife and I would take the laundry and go have Sunday dinner with my in-laws in Boonville. The food was always great. After they passed we kept the house and the family uses it as a vacation home so I will make notes of this thread before we head there this spring. Coming there from Seattle usually leaves me a bit challenged for good food stores so the listing of sources is beyond helpful.

I had them as a boy in Missouri at my uncles farm. I remember my aunt frying them in butter and that they tasted like chicken gizzards. Since Uncle Oliver really loved them, I saw no need to take them from him again. I did, however, spend my share of time in the summer castrating pigs. It still amazes me that the pigs started squealing when you picked them from the pen and the pitch didn't changed at all as you cut and pulled the testes out and cut the cord.

My experience is that all ovens should be calibrated. The new electronic ones are even easier than the old analog control units so it is really a less than 30 minute affair in either case. In the new electronic units you'll find the instructions in the user manual and while I doubt in the old units it requires only an oven thermo and a # 0 Phillips screw driver. Now I am not going to tell yo0u that these several thousand dollars ovens have good quality controls with fine band-width, most do not. plus or minus 15 to 25 degrees F is not uncommon. That is why my ovens have stones, to even the temperature swings. Good luck