FrogPrincesse

I’ve settled on Fish House Punch for Thanksgiving. I’ve never made punch before but the recipe seems straightforward. Since I don’t have peach brandy, I will use the recommended applejack substitution (maybe with some R&W apricot liqueur). I am making a large block of ice in a metal bowl (what a great idea, so much better than ice cubes). We are invited to a party on Sunday and plan on bringing punch as well, maybe a different recipe assuming that I can source the necessary ingredients before then. I looked for Batavia Arrack that some of the other recipes call for, but I haven’t had any success so far. I just went through this thread and started reading David Wondrich’s Punch book, so that’s giving me a lot of ideas!

My 4-year old daughter's list: 1) eggs in any shape or form (soft boiled, hard boiled, poached, scrambled, sunny side up, omelette - she loves them and could eat them everyday). I buy eggs at the farmers market for her so they are super fresh. She even tried duck eggs with me (which she loved). 2) anything served in a tortilla that she can assemble herself (tacos, quesadillas) 3) quiche lorraine (she loves bacon) 4) mac & cheese 5) hamburgers She also loves tempura shrimp with rice, kalbi ribs, fish and chips. As most kids, she is not a big fan of veggies (she prefers carrots and corn). She loves cheese and is willing to try any kind of hard cheese. Overall she is not super adventurous but is more likely to try anything that she helped prepare. She refused to eat pasta for a long time until we made fresh tagliatelle together.

How funny, I just had a version of the Last Word with rhum agricole named Enough Said at Craft and Commerce in San Diego last week. I am not sure what rhum they used, but after a few sips I decided that I still prefer the gin version. I find it more complex and interesting. It might be worth a try with La Favorite though. I love La Favorite blanc. I just ordered a few bottles through Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido and it's disappearing very fast. Favorite uses so far (sorry for the unintentional pun) are Ti Punch (of course!) and El Floridita no.1. La Favorite blanc has such a complex and beautiful flavor (for me it has coconut, pear, and sugar for the finish, without being sweet at all) that it's really hard to go back to other rums. I have no idea what to do now with the rest of my rum collection right now. Thanks to all who recommended this brand (slkinsey and all) by the way. I also acquired Neisson blanc and Neisson XO during a trip to La Martinique a few weeks ago, but I have not opened them yet. I was just shocked to see how cheap rhum agricole was there - less than 10 euros for a 1-liter bottle of the rhum blanc! corrected typo

Chris, I’ve started my planning – we are invited to my parents in law so they are taking care of the bird and most side dishes, but I’ve volunteered for the appetizer and dessert courses. I have to admit that I don’t care much for turkey in general (heresy, I know; my excuse is that I am French and turkey is considered a lower grade meat in France), so I am relieved that I don’t have to prepare it. I tried to convince my in-laws that we should start a cassoulet tradition for Thanksgiving, but they did not buy it. I thought that it was a great idea tough, and we could have made confit turkey legs! In any case, I was thinking along the lines of foie gras au torchon and squash soup for the first courses. There is a good kabocha soup recipe in Sunday Suppers at Lucques that I’ve made before and that would be appropriate for the occasion; it has just the right amount of spice/heat to keep it interesting. Foie gras just because it’s the holiday season and now is the time to be decadent. Last year I had made pate de campagne but I think that I want to “upgrade” this year. Also the days of foie gras in California may be limited – we only have one more year before the ban in 2012. I was going to buy a lobe at our local French grocery and prepare it au torchon per Paula Wolfert’s instructions (just got her book). I’ve never prepared foie gras au torchon but after doing some research and looking at a few tutorials online, I think that this is something I can handle, even the deveining part which sounds intriguing to say the least. Another option would be to combine both courses and make squash soup with seared foie gras – there is a great recipe by Anne Willan in the Country Cooking of France that I’ve made for a dinner party once and was a big hit. But it requires last minute searing which may not be ideal – typically the kitchen is a war zone that day so I prefer dishes that can be prepared in advance. For dessert, last year I had made a chestnut charlotte which had the advantage of being surprisingly light and airy. The recipe was from Les Halles. I am still undecided for this year, but David Lebovitz’s recipe for eggnog ice cream looks good. If I make this, I will need something else to go with it (cookies? a tart? I have not yet decided). Lastly, since Dave Wondrich’s book on punch just came out, most likely we will be having a champagne punch. I just need to remember to order the book though!

I second Marche Moderne in Costa Mesa. I’ve been there about a half dozen times and every meal has been impeccable. Last time I had an outstanding foie gras terrine. On a more casual side, we enjoy the fish tacos Sharky’s. Yes, it’s a chain, but the food is great and it’s perfect for a quick meal.

I spent the weekend in Las Vegas a week ago. I had nice meals at Otto, the Batali restaurant in Venice. The standout was the pasta course. We went there twice and sampled the lamb ragu which was my favorite, and also a great carbonara, and a super rich pork belly ragu (as expected). We also had the cheese & meat boards. The affogato that we finished our meal with was excellent. Overall we felt that the menu was similar to Osteria Mozza in LA, but the execution & service were better at Mozza. Prices were reasonable for Vegas (about $20 for a pasta course). The best meal during our trip was at Sen of Japan, a sushi restaurant off the strip led by a former head chef from Nobu. The restaurant is located in a nondescript shopping mall; the décor is very simple and unremarkable. But everything else was not. The service was impeccable. We had the five course omakase and everything was outstanding. The most memorable courses for me were the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño and crispy garlic, the black cod in miso, the inventive sushi rolls, and the miso soup with clams. We had similar dishes at Nobu before (the preparations for the yellowtail and the black cod were especially familiar), but I felt that the attention to detail was really excellent at Sen of Japan and service was much more engaged and genuinely interested in creating the best experience for us. It was also about half of the price too which does not hurt! The five-course omakase is priced at $55.

Very nice review, et alors. I am glad that you enjoyed your meal at Alan Wong. Your daughter is lucky to be able to experience such a special place at a young age!

Alan Wong (on King Street) for his impeccable and creative Hawaiian fusion cuisine. I only had exceptional meals there.

That's amazing. I recently experienced a horribly bitter taste in my mouth that completely altered my sensations and turned to metallic towards the end. It lasted for 2 very long weeks. I was quite miserable and could not think of any reason until now... Yes, now I realize that it coincided with the use of pine nuts from Whole Foods. Mystery solved.

+1 for me. I got the last (misplaced) copy of Culinaria Italia for $8 at Costco yesterday.

I made the chocolate ice cream last night. I did not have whole milk so I used 2% instead. It took a while to thicken the custard but the result was extremely rich and unctuous. As Rodi said, this is really fantastic, probably the best I ever had. I suppose I could further improve on it by using better quality chocolate (just used the dark 72% chocolate from Trader Joe's), or heavy cream/milk (usually I try to use Strauss Creamery in the glass bottle but I used regular quality this time), but the result was already to die for...

Oh and about the meat falling apart, that is absolutely expected! Carnitas have a texture very similar to pulled pork. Your rendition looks great and very authentic!

Chris, As runwestierun just explained, "butt" = shoulder, with the picnic shoulder being the lower part, and the Boston butt the upper part of the shoulder (or epaule and echine in French, respectively if I am getting this right). I am also having a hard time getting familiar with the various meat cuts and, being a French native, the US terminology (not that I was an expert in France). Recently I did some research on pork shoulder in preparation for a rillette recipe. I found a useful diagram in Alton Brown's I Am Just Here For The Food, and a detailed discussion of pork shoulder in Molly Steven's All About Braising (page 353) that I found very helpful. Molly says both cuts are appropriate for a braise, but she has a preference for the Boston butt which has a lower ratio of bone to meat.

Finally did a count as I started entering my books into EYB (under the name fprincess). 53 books so far, including cookbooks and food-related. I have a few more that are not in the database and have not yet included (older books or French cookbooks that are not available in the US). Most frequently used probably Les Halles (Anthony Bourdain). Most recent acquisitions - How to Pick a Peach (Russ Parsons), The Raw and the Cooked (Jim Harrison), Beach Bum Berry Remixed (Jeff Berry), Larousse des Desserts (Pierre Herme, in French)

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.