annecros

There's another chain in the Southeast - Maryland Fried Chicken - that's beats 'em all, hands down. Best livers ever.

I'd keep it simple for peppers. Two parts vinegar to one part water and a tablespoon of salt, brought to a boil and poured over the peppers in the jar to overflowing, then capped and allowed to sit for a couple of weeks. Traditional old southern condiment, and found on nearly every kitchen table in Georgia. Use the vinegar to dress greens of any sort, and eat the peppers.

Thanks so much ptpois for coming around! It is great to hear from someone who, I know, has probably prepared this dish more than I have - to say the least. Since you invited questions, I have a couple. Do you normally discard the blanching liquid as several recipes recommend? I feel bad when I do it, and perhaps the skimming it saves is worth it, but would you think I am dumping flavor down the drain? What is the chicken stuffed with in Poule au Pot? Is there absolutely ANY use for the skimmage and all that lovely fat? Is it normally utilized in the home and/or restaurant for any purpose? I feel bad dumping that as well. What is a Breton kig ha farz, and how does it differ? I am intrigued by your comment "structure of the stock" and wish to ask - Is the resulting stock actually the target of this dish? It seems to me, that it was the best part of what I ate out of the pot (well, I was quite fond of the turnip as well, but I am fond of turnips in general), and made anything that it came close to better. It was an amazing thing.

I use the two terms interchangeably, that may not be the correct usage. I think consommé is a broth made with vegetables and meat. I think a stock is made with just meat? That can't be right. Hmmm. I am sure someone will chime in and clarify. Speaking of clarifications, I must admit I discarded the skimmage. It did seem like a waste of beef fat - but wasn't sure what it would be good for? Here was meal number three from the same pot: I ran low on veg, so I diced some potato and tossed a couple of cabbage wedges in the consommé when I warmed it all up. A little minced garlic beneath the cheese on the toast. I really had to resist adding garlic to the pot - counterintuitive for me - but glad I didn't. I think it would have overcome some of the other flavors. Introducing garlic with the toast was a good way of doing that.

Oh my yes. We each had our individual bowls of consommé, and a side of chow-chow that I had canned during the Pickle Cookoff. Came in quite handy. I think the traditional is mustard, cornichons and bread. As well as salt and pepper, of course.

Hehe, yep you really gotta want to eat the food to go there! Scary strip mall. They do put something in the Huancaina that makes it irresistible, and compatible with everything you get on the plate. Hubby takes out a container when we go. Real food, real good.

One of the neatest things was that with just hubby and I, we got three meals out of this pot. After the initial work on day one (about five hours, but mostly passive "walk through the kitchen and check the pot" kind of work) all the other meals take less than 10 minutes to prepare. Heat up the meat and veg in the broth, slice or toast some bread, kinds of things. Here is day three. We split this plate:

Yep, of course. And a boiled dinner would qualify as well. There are so many variations out there, that's why we added the "Simmered Meat and Veg" subtitle.

Heh, I had to read at least a gazillion recipes before I got over that one! Then I had to climb the blanch and discard the water mountain! It works. The resultant broth is so clear, but resonates with so much flavor. If you think really hard when you taste, you can pick out every single flavor component. I could taste the veal behind the beef, I could taste the carrot separately from the turnip and parsnip. I could pick out the clove, the thyme, and the bay. It's an amazing taste from such a clear, delicate appearing broth - so much so that the consommé was the funnest thing to eat out of the whole pot! If you eat it without thinking hard - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I have eaten great consommé in restaurants before - and when I first tasted this I said to myself - "So THAT's how they do THAT!"

It does a very good job of that. When you reheat you pick up the hot little package with tongs, snip off the top, and you have bone in marrow. Some of the recipes (and I am not even sure it came from Mr. Bourdain's book) when calling for oxtails say to wrap in cheesecloth as well. I am certain it helps to keep the broth clearer. This was my first ever in my life Pot-au-feu - so other's may have a better idea.

Recipe loaded into RecipeGullet: Click here. In doing research for this Cookoff, I couldn't believe that I had never attempted one of these. I think I probably just looked at the recipes, said to myself "Aw, that's just pot roast." and went on my merry way thinking I wasn't missing a thing. Turns out, I was missing out on something really fantastic! And, oh, there are so many recipes out there. Some offal based, some poultry based, some that asked for a stewing hen to be thrown into the pot - you name it, and someone has tossed it into a pot with some veg! I guess that should make sense! I settled down, and finally decided to sort of follow a recipe by Tony Bourdain found in "Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook" - but changed some ingredients to mirror what I had available in the fridge, and used some technique I picked up from reading other recipes that differs from Bourdain's. Here's my big "Bowl 'O Cheap Meat": Veal shoulder steak (would have loved to have found a breast or a shank, but Publix let me down), beef shoulder roast, short ribs and some very nice marrow bones bundled up in damp cheesecloth. I would have used oxtails instead of marrow bones, but these looked so nice. Now here's a smart technique that Bourdain directs, and that was found lurking in several other recipes I read. Blanch the meat, dump out the water, wash the pot, rinse the meat, then start over in the pot with fresh water. Here's my "Blanched Bowl 'O Cheap Meat" Saved more skimming than you would believe! The southern cook in me pouted a bit, but Uncle Tony was right. Then simmer, and mean just barely simmer, and skim for an hour or so: Prep the veg: Then dump them in. Simmer and skim for another couple of hours, gently pulling the veg as it tests done to the point of a knife. I set that aside in one bowl, simmered the meat along for another half hour or so, pulling it as it became tender. Then finally, strained the broth through a cheesecloth lined strainer. Total skimmage: Not bad, when you consider that big bowl of meat. Everything went into the fridge overnight. The next day, out comes the broth: A little fat on top, a little sediment on the bottom, not bad either. I warmed up the consommé and dropped in some marrow bones, sliced some bread, and here's lunch: That's Day One and Day Two. Tune in tomorrow for Day Three!

Welcome to the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off! Click here for the Cook-Off index. As the first cool weather manifests itself, the quality of the ambient light changes. It stops us as we slog through the everyday world. The air we breathe takes on that crisp clarity that signals the end of Summer, and there is a mist at sunset. We find ourselves instinctively putting a pot on the fire. In France you would say it very simply: "Pot-au-feu." The simple concept of boiled meat and vegetables has probably been with us as long as people have cooked over a heat source. Each time a parent loads a crockpot with beef and vegetables before leaving for work in the morning, they are paying homage to the Pot-au-feu. The Pot-au-feu nets a wonderful meal and then generously provides a complex, but delicate, consommé (see our eGCI course, "Consomme") to be utilized for sauces and soups throughout the week. Enjoy the boiled meat and vegetables on their own -- a simple, straightforward, way of eating. Then, have a toasted slice of rustic bread, spread with the marrow robbed from the bone, and a bowl of broth. The "Pot on the Fire" is apparent no matter what point on the compass you look. In a traditional restaurant in Spain, you will find a Cocido Madriliano. In Italy, you will perhaps run across a fine Bollito. In the United Kingdom, one signature dish is surely the Scotch Broth. Then, there's the very good, old fashioned Yankee Pot Roast. Wherever you find it, the results of a pot on the fire are invariably described as "good" and "solid." Recipes are plentiful and varied. Every French cookbook dating back to the 1800's includes a variation on the Pot-au-feu. Molly Stevens features a great recipe in her book "All About Braising" that we explored here. Food writers from Escoffier to Julia Child to James Beard to Thomas Keller - all pay tribute to the Pot-au-feu. The ingredients are variable enough that you could probably find one that would be suitable for cleaning out nearly any fridge and freezer. So, let's pull out the stockpot or marmite, brush up on our braising skills in eGullet's eGCI Course and Lab on Braising and put it on the fire!

Pot-au-feu Serves 8 as Main Dish. Adapted from Anthony Bourdain's Recipe from "Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook" 8 Beef Marrow Bones, Sliced 3/4 inches long 1 lb Beef Shoulder Roast 6 Beef Short Ribs 1 lb Veal Shoulder, or Whole Veal Shank 8 Whole Cloves 2 Onions, cut in half 6 Leeks, White Part Only 3 Small Turnips, Quartered 3 Parsnips, Cut into 4 inch lengths 3 Carrots, Cut into 4 inch lengths 1 bouquet garni 2 T Salt Bundle marrow bones in cheesecloth. Bring about a gallon of salted water to a boil. Add all the meat at once, as soon as it returns to a boil, set the meat aside, and discard the blanching water. Wash the pot, rinse the meat. Make a bouquet garni bundle with fresh parsley, fresh thyme and a bay leaf. Return meat to the pot, cover with salted water, and toss in the bouquet garni. Bring pot to a very gentle simmer, simmer meat for one hour, skimming foam as needed. While meat is simmering, cut vegetables, and in each onion half insert two cloves. Add vegetables, and simmer an additional two hours, continuing to skim as needed. Remove vegetables gently as they test done with a knife point. Remove meat as it becomes tender. Finally strain broth through a cheesecloth lined strainer. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Beef ( RG2028 )

First of all, welcome to Florida and welcome to the eG Forums! We are glad to have you. Now, where are you in Florida? We have several members who live in different areas, and who are attracted to different cuisines. What do you like to eat? Florida is so big, and so diverse. Rest assured there is good food everywhere. And, just like anywhere else, there is something new and exciting around every corner.

Interesting topic. I was raised on an old adage by my thoroughly mean grandmother. "If it lives above the ground, cook it uncovered. If it lives below the ground, cover it when you cook it." Not universal, and not my experience, but a reasonable general guide.

Thats the school I attended, however the restaurant had very little to do with the school, basically just shared ingredients, I graduated in 2003 and now own a bakery in my hometown in North Dakota. ← Coolness. I would have been eating there when you were attending. I thought I saw people taking care of the buffet who would be the right age to be in Culinary School. It was right across 45th street from where we worked in Northpoint. Convenient, and the food quality was high enough to impress clients. Kudos on the bakery ownership. We do graduate some successes here in South Florida.

I'm really looking forward to following this along. I would suspect that my German husband would love that bread!

OH, the step mom thing! I was probably the worst cook in the house when I married my present husband. I served him and my stepdaughter this perfectly awful pork chop, canned mushrooms and canned pineapple baked thing. They hated it, but politely ate it, only grousing behind my back, mercifully! Since then, 15 years later, I am a much better cook. She brings her own Tupperware to the house to take home leftovers for her and her husband when she comes over to eat for holidays!

Over in New York, Fat Guy started a Topic to keep tabs on Fairway, the major grocery chain in the area. You can find it here. Recognizing a good thing when I steal it, I thought keeping tabs on Publix would be a great idea. Halloween candy is already coming out, and there's a big Buy One/Get One running on Ronzoni Pasta and Mayo. I stocked up. Got some lovely marrow bones, but had to ask at the meat window. 1.99 per pound. Almost no veal though, and I was looking for a breast and hoping optimistically for a shank. Had to settle for a thickish veal shoulder steak, but was shocked at the price! I am wondering if Rosh Hashannah this week had anything to do with that? The last of the Summer produce is waning, but lovely baby beets are coming in. I had to buy one leek at a time, and they ran around 50 cent a piece! (That's my sticker shock face). How's Publix doing in your area?

Are conchs snails? I've never done my own deconching, but are eyes a snail requirement? I don't think conchs have them. As far as slugs go, I don't think so. Conch chowder is about as adventuresome as I get - although I have done Scungilli and wasn't pleased. I think it is a texture thing for me.

There was a time when I found Mother in my Pickle Jar - alas, unfortunately, I didn't do something right. Mother died. In a nasty, ugly, unforgivable, unphotographable manner. There are other's here who are very adept who will help, I am sure. I wish I could have saved that mother. Of course, I wish more, that I could have been able to buy one of those fancy vinegar jars with the spout and just pour off vinegar as I needed...

It looks like Pineapple to me. A very common, widely grown, heirloom.

The mealy one was probably overripe. You are also demonstrating a slight varietal preference. I'm guessing you would enjoy a well grown Kellogg's Breakfast or an Earl of Edgecomb - both smooth skinned orange tomatoes with a complex, sweet and fruity flavor. The flesh is almost silky.

My college senior daughter and her roommates are planning a "Soviet" party. May not work for your group of hippie heathens, but everyone is to wear red, they have to bring a bottle of vodka but can't drink from their own, and there is a single distribution point for the bread that everyone has to stand in line for. Not exactly politically correct, but one of the co-hosts for the party is Ukranian and it was her idea. They plan on serving potato soup, bliny, borscht, cabbage rolls, and stroganoff. Mom's not invited.

In Key West, you have to work harder to avoid a Steel Drummer than to find one! This guy did my stepdaughter's wedding, and has a couple of regular gigs at Cheeseburger, and the Westin Also, steel drums always feature at the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square. Several food carts, but there are plenty of bars and restaurants convenient to the celebrations, and most of them feature steel drums in one form or another. I know I've seen them round and about Miami as well, have to ask hubby for details.