FrogPrincesse

Your questions are way beyond my ken, but I did catch the 'lead contamination' bit. Three of my crockpots are old and I'd like to know where they stand in this issue. Please. Don't leave us all hanging. Thanks. Here is a link with detailed information about the Rival crock pot recall. I just realized mine was affected. http://www.rivalrecall.com/

Last night's dinner: Linguine with Clams

Buffalo Trace is a good choice (great in cocktails too!). Here we can get it for ~ $20 a bottle.

It's a nice book; I don't think that you will regret your purchase. Some recipes use esoteric ingredients but there are a lot of cocktails that are accessible too. This is what I made last night: May Daisy cocktail with Cognac, Chartreuse, lemon, and simple. I was almost tempted to grate some nutmeg on top. It tasted like a very fancy punch. There is a good amount of Chartreuse in it, but it was really toned down by the Cognac. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not (I love Chartreuse so I would rather taste it!). Anyway, it was a very enjoyable cocktail.

Last night's dinner, inspired by the low temperatures and rain in San Diego: roasted chicken with Ozette potatoes from my CSA. I used the method from Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef for the chicken: brown on its side in an oven-proof skillet on the stove, then transfer to the oven and baste a few times.

Thanks rotuts, I am glad that you enjoy reading this. The Galette des Rois is actually pretty simple to make if you use purchased puff pastry, which I did. Maybe not quite as photogenic as the Galette, here is a dish I made a couple of days ago with the Sauce Bordelaise à la Crème (shallot sauce with white wine and cream) from page 217. I was looking for a twist on the classic beurre blanc that I enjoy with fish a lot. With Sauce Bordelaise, red wine is what first comes to mind. This version is made with cream and white wine. Compared to beurre blanc, it's much more robust since it contains flour. A big advantage is its stability. It may not be as refined as beurre blanc, but it is a very good option for a winter meal. The fish was black rock cod served with pencil asparagus from my CSA. The recipe is visible here on Google books.

Here is a link to the piece on KPBS with Anthony Schmidt.

I also made a classic Bijou using the exact recommendations from PDT: Tanqueray, Dolin rouge, Chartreuse, orange bitters. I really enjoyed it. I had tried the Bijou before with a different gin/sweet vermouth combo (same ratios) and thought that it was too heavy on the Charteuse. With these ingredients, this cocktail really came to life for me.

Here are a few other cocktails from the PDT Cocktail Book that I made in the past couple of weeks. Left Hand cocktail: bourbon, sweet vermouth, Campari, mole bitters. An excellent Manhattan variation. Talbott Leaf. That one had an intriguing ingredient list: bourbon, lemon, Chartreuse, Cynar, mint, strawberry preserves (!). It was actually delicious. There is only a touch of the preserves so you can't really tell that they are there. But they blend nicely with the other ingredients, especially the mint and Chartreuse. Harvest Moon: rye, Lillet, Chartreuse, apple brandy, bitters. It was very good and smooth. I am not a big fan of the apple brandy, but there was only enough to add some interesting background notes without dominating the drink. Applejack Rabbit: bonded apple brandy, orange & lemon juices, maple syrup. Very nicely balanced and the apple brandy paired well with the maple syrup. I liked it (despite the apple brandy!). Hanky Panky (based on Harry Craddock): Tanqueray, Carpano Antica, Fernet I was not completely sold on that one. Despite loving all things bitter (Campari, Cynar, etc), I have a hard time with the intense herbal notes in Fernet. I much prefer a classic Negroni. The last one I did not care for at all. South Slope : gin, Aperol, Lillet blanc, curacao, lemon. The combination of Lillet and Aperol which works in the Unusual Negroni, for example, didn't work here for me at all. It was very sweet and strange, almost like a bad piece of candy. And the color didn't help for sure!

A Water Lily. Gin, violette, Cointreau, and lemon juice. The books calls for equal parts of each ingredient; I used double the amount of gin in error. It was very good and reminded me of the Aviation with the gin/lemon/violette combo. I used Bombay Sapphire but I imagine that a more floral gin like Henrick's would work well too.

A little late, here is the traditional Pithiviers, aka Galette des Rois, which is traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany in France. It is made of two disks of puff pastry which are filled with frangipane, a filling made from ground almonds and little bit of rum. The galette is egg-washed and decorated by scoring the top with a knife and crimping the edges with a fork. At the end of baking, the galette is brushed with a sugar solution for shine. Of course, to qualify as Galette des Rois, you have to remember to hide "la fève", a bean or a little trinket, inside the galette. Spiral pattern Ear of wheat pattern The galette is best eaten warm (and goes very well with champagne!).

Here are some ideas that come to mind: Marinated olives Garlic soup Mushrooms escabeche Roasted bell peppers Patatas bravas Blood sausage (homemade if you are brave!) Chorizo, Serrano Boquerones Some type of shellfish a la plancha - could be clams, razor clams, squid... Gambas Cheese such as a good manchego Iberico de Bellota would be great too but may not be an option for 20 people! And plenty of sangria too...

Although not currently seasonal, here is another salad from the book that I made for my Foodblog last summer: Summer Fruit Salad with Arugula and Marcona Almonds. I used peaches, but any stone fruit such as nectarines or plums would work too. For the berries I used raspberries. The dressing is made with olive oil, sherry vinegar, shallots. Similar to the roasted pear salad, she incorporates some of the fruit into the dressing as a puree. I love Marcona almonds. I discovered them at a restaurant last year and was very excited when I found them at Trader Joe's! Recipe here.

I have a bunch of them that I purchased last summer. I am still using them even though they have been open for more than 30 days. I cannot detect any change in their quality.

Just a quick note that it was nice to see Bird Rock Coffee Roasters recognized with the 2012 Micro Roaster of the Year award (link to the press release here). It's definitely worth checking out this place if you are a coffee lover (and as a plus, since the coffee is roasted on the premises, the smell in the shop is divine!).

I am seeing a citrus tree as well. The mango trees that I've seen were much larger than the tree in the picture.

Another salad from Sunday Suppers at Lucques that we really enjoyed is the Roasted Pear Salad with Endive, Hazelnuts and St. Agur. In typical fashion for this book, the instructions and attention to detail for this recipe are almost extreme. It's only a salad but it is a fairly involved/lengthy procedure requiring toasting the hazelnuts; roasting the pears in butter and thyme until golden brown; incorporating a portion of the roasted pears into the dressing together with a combination she uses in other salad recipes (see above): shallots, sherry and rice vinegars, grapeseed and hazelnut oils; etc. She even describes how and in what order to arrange the various ingredients to compose the final salad. The result is that each step is designed to maximize the flavors and in the end it is really worth the effort. Here is a picture. I really enjoyed the combination of arugula, endive, pear, hazelnuts and blue cheese. The St Agur works very well with the roasted pears as it is a little less assertive than Roquefort that is often paired with endive. This creation can be seen as a twist on the classic French salad of endive, Roquefort and walnuts.

Prices in $, so it's not Greece. I see schnitzel so I still think it's Australia where it seems to be quite a popular dish. It is not the US because the prices are per kg instead of pounds.

It looks like a very nice menu that does not require special equipment. I am tempted to try some of the recipes.

Umami boosters. Could this be someone from Australia? The jar in the middle with the hidden label looks like vegemite.

Beautiful Pork and Chicken Terrine, Jmahl! The condiments are a nice touch (are these pickled red onions?). I made another version of terrine de campagne for the holidays using the recipe from the Régalade restaurant in Paris (I found the recipe in French here): Terrine de campagne de la Régalade. The recipe is characterized by a large amount of pork liver, which seems to be traditional for a rustic terrine de campagne, and the inclusion of cream that the Baron had recommended upthread for texture. The meat to liver ratio is similar to that of the Les Halles recipe that I tried some time ago (2.5:1 compared to 2:1 for Les Halles). The recipe calls for pork throat (gorge) which I was not able to find. But I used a very fatty shoulder that I decided to use as is (with no additional fat). I was very disappointed not to find pork liver at my butcher shop but 99 Ranch had plenty of it (and it was fresh too, not frozen). The seasoning is very basic with just some (raw) onion and garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. I used plastic film instead of the caul fat that can be hard to find. I almost doubled the recipe which produced a huge amount. But when I realized I could just slice the terrine and freeze the leftovers, I was very happy with my decision - semi-instant pâté for cocktail parties! Here is a picture of the terrines going into the oven. I didn't bother to use a waterbath that some recipes call for, as a low-temperature oven works great and is much less hassle. After a couple of hours, the terrine is ready. Charcuterie plate, with some homemade saucisson sec and cornichons. The terrine tasted quite livery the day after it was made (maybe partially because I knew how much liver had gone into it?). I found that the flavors started to blend and mellow after 4-5 days at which point I felt it tasted best. This recipe is a keeper!

Any clues about the next blogger? It's been while since Lior's excellent blog.

Moving on to salads. My favorite salad of the moment is the Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad with Arugula and Hazelnuts. I've become addicted to persimmons thanks to this recipe (and so has my family). They are a wonderful surprise in this salad. She uses a mix of shallots, hazelnut and olive oils, rice and sherry vinegars for a very flavorful dressing. The pomegranate seeds and toasted hazelnuts add texture. The flavor is a mix of sweet (persimmon), tart (pomegranate), peppery (arugula). It's a wonderful winter salad. I can't get enough of it. Recipe link.

Honkman, I have never experienced the problems you described in any of the many times I've been there. I also found chef Knibb's Jamaican-infused dishes to be creative and inspired. We will just have to agree to disagree.

How funny, we had that one tonight as well. I used Laird's bonded applejack which I am not a big fan of and took me at least a year to track down. I much prefer a nice Calvados. Anyway, we really liked this cocktail. The maple seemed to round the rough edges the applejack, while not making itself noticed. A really good cocktail.