FrogPrincesse

Dakki and scubadoo97 - thanks for the tips. I want to keep playing with my new tool so I will make sure to try the other stones. What a great invention! It was much easier to use than I thought it would be.

I just got an Apex Edge Pro (kit 3) last week after noticing that my newish knifes were really getting dull and not doing a good job with tomatoes in particular. I had looked at the videos before buying the system. It was very easy to set up and I was able to sharpen my three main knives (8” Foschner chef knife, Global pairing knife, and 8” Messermeister chef knife) in less than an hour. I only used the 220 stone because I was too lazy switching to the 320 for a second pass. Results are great. The Foschner was the easiest to sharpen (the blade felt “softer” especially compared to the Messermeister. Also I was not nervous about damaging it because it was only $30). Knifes are better than new; the system is very safe but I managed to cut my thumb while checking the burr on the Forschner (I know, rookie mistake, I forgot to pull AWAY from the edge which was already razor-sharp by then). I am very pleased with my purchase. I’ve volunteered to sharpen my friends and family’s knifes so I could get a little more practice.

How about sauc? We found that restaurant by accident when the place that we were looking for was closed. We had an outstanding meal that we liked even better than Cinc Sentits.

Chocolate mousse - prepare a large batch and transfer ahead of time into individual dishes (small disposible paper cups work well for that purpose).

I guess I must be lucky with green beans. I have access to extra fine, flash frozen green beans from France and I would have a hard time distinguishing them from fresh. No strings at all, slightly crunchy but not tough at all. I've tried other brands and it's true that some of them can be pretty tough, especially when they are not of the "extra fine" variety.

I only use a couple of canned vegetables: tomatoes for sauces and stews chickpeas for hummus I prefer frozen for peas, green beans and corn mostly because of the texture. Canned veggies tend to have less crunch.

djyee100 - this looks so delicious. I love sorrel. Did you saute before adding it to the clay pot?

Thanks for the idea demo5, that sounds delicious. Now I need to find guanciale! (Yes I could attempt making it but it would take a while). In the meantime, I will experiment. For now I will work under the assumption that lardo can be used in the same manner as pancetta.

Quick report on Bite. Nice large space; suitable for kids. Decoration is somewhat reminiscent of Café W. I am not sure how they are doing business wise. We (my husband, our 4-year old and me) went there last Saturday and it far from being full. A few hits (stuffed squash blossoms, piping hot and perfectly crispy; homemade duck terrine, but need to remove the thick pieces of bacon used for lining; sliders with caramelized onions for the little one) and misses (caramelized onion tart had very little toppings; salad of duck confit, not sure the mango was a good match). The trio of desserts was a hit with panna cotta with strawberries and basil, coffee pot de crème (very rich and smooth, the way it’s supposed to be!) and a walnut cookie. I enjoyed my lychee champagne cocktail. Overall, a fun place, but maybe not as consistent as Café W. Exploring the very long menu may require another visit. Anything I should make sure to try next time?

I just acquired a small piece (1/2 lb) of locally made lardo from Knight Salumi. What is the best way to showcase this ingredient? Thin slices on homemade country bread sounds like a good start. I've never had lardo but have been looking for it since reading about it in Buford’s 'Heat'. I have this idea that I could use it in spaghetti carbonara although this may be too rich - any thoughts? I have some artichokes already braised a la Tom Colicchio (think like a chef), so using them as a building block for spaghetti with lardo and artichokes is also an option.

I am new to this thread. I just bought the book last week and made the French vanilla ice cream. It was quite a change for me as my standard go-to method, which essentially uses the same ingredients, does not require any cooking (yes, the eggs are raw) and only takes 5 minutes before it's poured into the machine (it's the ice cream base recipe #1 from Ben and Jerry). But it was worth the time. The texture was considerably better. It was very creamy, rich and smooth even without the addition of alcohol, which is my standard trick for a smooth ice cream. I used Bourbon vanilla beans and extract, Strauss Creamery organic whole milk and cream. My machine is a standard Cuisinart ICE-20 with freezer bowl that I bought at Costco a few years ago. I think it also helped to keep the custard in the fridge overnight before pouring into the machine - thanks for the tip paulraphael. I have a craving for Gelato Di Crema but did not see a recipe in the book. Maybe I could adapt one of the gelato recipes from the book? I am wondering if it would be too bland. I had an exceptional Gelato Di Crema in Italy two years ago at Grom that I still dream about and would love to replicate. I am very intrigued by the Chartreuse ice cream in the book so will make sure to try it soon. And of course I plan on making ice cream with all the local seasonal fruit - strawberries, peaches, and cantaloupe.

Also Bird Rock Coffee Roasters in La Jolla

Elzoe, I’ve been on a couple of trips to French Polynesia in the past 10 years (the last one about 5 or 6 years ago). My favorite restaurant was Coco’s near Papeete (no relationship to the US chain restaurant). First class French cuisine with local ingredients, beautiful setting near the water with a view of Moorea. Go before sunset, have drink in the garden, then have dinner in the cabana. I still remember the geckos perched on the roof of the cabana and serenading us the whole time. We selected the chef’s tasting menu and had a fantastic meal which included sea urchin ravioli, ecrevisses (crayfish) with vanilla sauce, squab, and many other delicacies. It was not cheap so may not fit your “won’t break the bank” criteria, but it was really truly memorable. In Papeete we also liked “Les 3 brasseurs”. There is nothing Tahitian about this place but it has beer that is brewed on the premises and delicious flammenkuche, the flatbread-type pizza that is typical of Alsace. The typical topping is crème fraiche, bacon and onion. We found it quite funny to be having Alsatian food in Tahiti. Price-wise it’s very reasonable and convenient as it’s located on one of the main streets in Papeete, facing the water. In general, we’ve had good meals in French Polynesia when we ordered anything simple/typical based on local ingredients – we had grilled fish or poisson cru (raw fish from the lagoon marinated in lime juice and coconut) most days, and it was always great. Other food-related highlights for us included visiting a vanilla plantation (and bringing home the freshest, most pungent beans I had ever seen), trying a pineapple drink that was naturally fermented at a juice factory in Moorea, eating the local fruit jams at breakfast, and spending time at the farmer's market in Papeete.

Franci, Rest assured - there is no shortage of farmers markets in San Diego. I frequent the markets in Hillcrest, La Jolla, Little Italy, and Solana Beach, and they all have a great selection of local produce. Some of these markets also have fish, meat, cheese, etc. Little Italy has a very diverse selection which includes fish, meat, cured meats and even live urchins! I don’t think that you should be scared. For fish there are also a few specialized stores such as Point Loma Seafood and Catalina Offshore Products. I think that you will be happy with the food options in San Diego if you decide to relocate.

I really enjoyed reading this. This was a very evocative read and I never realized until I read this piece how white sauce is at the basis of many my favorite comfort foods. White sauce is one of my favorite things in the world. My mom makes a delicious cauliflower gratin with white sauce. Croque-monsieur sandwiches would lose their raison d’etre without the white sauce. And then there is Blanquette de Veau, which is basically a veal stew finished with a white cream sauce. My version is the standard butter/flour base, salt& pepper, with the addition of veal broth (the cooking liquid) that thickens it almost instantly, crème fraiche, lemon juice, an egg yolk, button mushrooms and pearl onions. Now I just realized what makes it so special.

Sounds great, and very similar in concept & atmosphere to Cafe W. I've made a reservation for this weekend. Thanks for posting this review, kalypso!

No experience with Bite. I see that they are located on University Avenue. We used to be regulars at Café W, Chris Walsh’s first restaurant in Hillcrest. I had not realized he had opened a new place (in 2007!). It looks great on paper – maybe someone can report? If not, I will likely try it in the near future.

I ended up spending a few days in Paris two weeks ago and had lunch at l'Avant Gout. I was actually incorrect in my previous post; they have one large table that can accommodate 12 people. My meal there was excellent. I started off with an artichoke and crab soup (accompanied by a house cocktail, a sparkling wine-based concoction with bitter orange and spices, "Cointreau aux épices et Vouvray pétillant"). I followed with their specialty, which is a delicious pork pot au feu that is cooked with a variety of spices (pot au feu de cochon aux epices). It was a very large entree but I did manage to eat it all in no time. In person it looks better than the picture that I've linked. It's served with sweet potatoes, fennel, and a glass of broth on the side. Now I want to try to replicate it at home (I included a link to the recipe). The service was perfect and I really enjoyed my meal. So if you end up giving this restaurant a try, I don't think that you will be disappointed!

I second l'Avant Gout, although they may not be able to accomodate a group of 12 people (it's a fairly small restaurant). Also, make sure you book well in advance. A few additional suggestions in the 13th: L'Ourcine (another bistro which is also small, but excellent). And Le Petit Marguery which is more on the traditional side.

I did some more reading and it appears that Jean-Marie Josselin's restaurant 808 at Caesar Palace has closed! I did not find a formal announcement, but his restaurant is no longer listed on the Caesar Palace website and is listed as closed on the Gayot website. So it looks like he is permanently relocating to Hawaii.

It looks like the Coco Palms Resort project fell through. But I just read that Jean-Marie Josselin is opening a Tapas Bar in Poipu in May! I am really excited since this was by far my favorite restaurant in Kauai. Time to plan my next trip. Jean-Marie Josselin to open Kauai tapas bar

Honey madeleine with an espresso. Croissant or pain au chocolat with a bowl of cafe au lait.

I have quite a backlog of restaurant reviews I have been wanting to post. It looks like this thread has been inactive for a while, so I thought I should reactivate it. So here we go for part 1. Cavaillon We had a great dinner there. My brother and sister in law treated us to a gift certificate. We had not had dinner there in a long time so were not sure what to expect. We had the tasting menu which involved a fantastic foie gras au torchon (very similar to Tapenade’s) served with toasted brioche, delicious seared scallops with vanilla foam and corn risotto, duck breast sous vide (my favorite preparation for duck breast since I’ve tried it at Blanca – tender and pink, perfection), and their specialty for desert, chocolate pastilla. Overall a very enjoyable meal and attentive service. Only one area of improvement that I can suggest– the wine pairing could have been optimized (the white that was paired with the scallops really clashed with the dish as it was way too acidic), and our first glass came a bit late. We ended up spending less than $200 total for the two of us with wine, and I felt it was a great value for the quality of the meal. Café Chloe We had a pre-symphony lunch there with a couple of friends. Service was poor but they did apologize profusely, comped the drinks and gave us an appetizer to compensate for the wait - there had been a mix-up in the kitchen and our order was never fired, which resulted in a > 45 min wait for our meal. The food was great when it finally arrived. I had steak frites and the skirt steak was very tender and “rare” as requested. The fries had been cooked with scallions with gave a them a very nice & interesting taste. My husband had the moules frites – we love the curry sauce that they are served in and use it as a dip for the fries. Our friends loved their croque madame and omelette. The bill was reasonable and we will be back. [to be continued] As a side note, we need to hear about your dining experiences in San Diego! So many restaurants I used to frequent have closed down recently – La Vache, Better Half, Modus, Chive, and my new favorite Crescent Heights, etc. It would be great to have a few new recommendations.

I’ve been participating in the challenge for the past 10 days and we have been eating exceptionally well. My husband was skeptic at first but we are now enjoying the challenge and the associated savings. When we started the challenge, I was very lucky since I happened to have just bought a deboned leg of lamb. I made a big batch of lamb curry (Jamie Oliver’s recipe from Happy Days with the Naked Chef) with rice and some Trader Joe's naans from the freezer. This was enough for a couple of meals and I froze the rest for a third meal. In the freezer, I found some leftover pork belly (All About Braising recipe) which we ate over ice. I also had some leftover 7-hour leg of lamb in the freezer (this was the recipe of “Les Halles”, which, by the way, is fantastic!) that I converted into a ragu by just simmering for 60 minutes and adding some Trader Joe's marinara sauce from the pantry. We ate it over penne. I also had a couple of frozen chicken pot pies that I had made a while back and were just missing a crust. I made a double batch of crust and used the leftovers to make quiche the next day (see below). With a couple of onions, cheese (tomme de Savoie), bacon, cream, and some eggs, I made a quiche which was big enough for two meals (first night as a main dish, second night as an appetizer). I used Alton Brown’s “refrigerator pie” recipe. Another simple meal was lentil salad with bacon and parsley (unfortunately my husband hates lentils so he had another chicken pot pie that night that was not homemade this time). Yesterday we decided to go crazy with short ribs and sampled from 3 different bags of leftover short ribs that the spanned the October 2008 to October 2009 timeframe. Last year I was experimenting a lot with short ribs recipe to find the “ideal” recipe (I must have tried about ½ dozen recipes in that timeframe). That included Marlene’s recipe, Les Halles’ recipe, and a third unknown recipe (all containers were just labeled as “short ribs” so I guess I should be more specific in the future). I served the short ribs with some baby carrots that were at the end of their prime and quickly cooked in a pressure cooker. I should have recorded the source of the meat because there were some very distinct differences between the three batches but now I cannot tell for sure which one is my favorite source (I live in San Diego and have bought them at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, 99 Ranch, and Siesel’s in the past). I guess another controlled experiment is in my future. The funny part with this challenge is that, past the first few days when the task seems really insurmountable and you start to panic as your stash of fresh fruit and vegetable is dwindling, you start getting into “the zone” and more and more ideas of meals that optimize what you have on hand come to mind. We are now about 10 days into the challenge and it would be easy to continue for at least another 3-4 days. Examples of possible future meals include risotto, and more items from my freezer (leftover coq au vin, frozen wild boar, a couple of frozen flammenkuchen, leftover lamb curry, pancakes, etc), pasta, etc. I did restock on a few some basic items during the week: bread, yoghurt, and milk. Other than that, our grocery shopping has been limited to a minimum. The fridge starts to look empty now but the freezer is still quite full. Thank you egullet for organizing this event! This is fun and I am looking forward to the next one.

Maybe British pub food would be appropriate for Peter Grimes? Or you could still follow a Peter Grimes' theme by dining out in Escondido. We don't restrict our search to restaurants that are within walking distance of the opera - just any good restaurant that is open late (after 10 pm) would work for us!