nakji

Ah, that clarifies things somewhat. The really small ones - about how small? (In units of Zhong Xin Hai)

I'm not going to remember it all. There was a duck prosciutto, a bison salami with blueberries, mortadella, a spicy (smoked paprika?) thingey, capicolla (maybe?), a smear of duck mousse and maybe one or two others. Cheers, Geoff Oh, wow. Were the blueberries a part of the sausage? That sounds incredible. I've had water buffalo sausage, but never bison. And you can't go wrong with duck prosciutto.

I do substitutions all the time when I can't find what the recipe calls for, or don't have it on hand. For example, her farm-house green peppers and pork - it calls for pork belly, but I usually use smoked pork. The recipes are so flexible that way.

I have only one variety of potatoes available for me to use, so I'll just be using the market potatoes - but I'm interested to hear what others like. Does anyone ever use red?

Pumpkin fries? Say more. Would these be like sweet potato fries?

It's a great gratin! I don't have that book, but I dug up the recipe online, here. This recipe specifies Yukon Gold potatoes, which I can't get. What are people's thoughts on waxy versus floury potatoes and dauphinois? I favour waxy, myself.

Thanks, Priscilla. A beef noodle shop has opened up next door to the Cold Drink Fridge, and options have gotten even more diverse and delicious in the 'hood.

My mother was raised in Labrador, and salt cod n' brewis was a fairly regular dish. Salt cod and Purity-brand hard tack are fried together and served with fried salt pork fat back.

I use water for the same trick, Andie; mainly since I don't keep milk around the house regularly. It works well, too.

Do tell - I happen to think celeery is much more palatable cooked than raw. What kind of sauce do you use? This sounds incredible. Do you layer the bacon in between the cauliflower, or is it more like bacon bits? Sorry, Chris - I always forget about our Antipodean contingent! Love to see what you're doing with gratins in the height of summer, though. Did you have a look at Fifi's Favourite Eggplant gratin? I'm leaning towards dauphinois myself, for ease. Anyone have any good recipes to recommend?

What I get are definitely not carving pumpkins. They're small squash ranging from the size of a softball to the size of an acorn squash. They're orange-skinned, unlike what I would call a squash. Here's the recipe. Thanks - stuffing it is an idea I hadn't thought of, mainly because I don't run my oven very often. Rather than the cream and cheese she suggests, though, I had a look at the "bonne idee" at the bottom, where she suggests stuffing it with rice and greens - that sounds like a winner!

Welcome to the eGullet Cook-off 54: Gratins. Click here for the Cook-off index. Now that we're all battening down the hatches to wait out winter in our kitchens, it seems like a good time to consider the gratin. It's cold outside; the shops are filled with reasonably-priced root vegetables; and we can still kinda-sorta justify calorie-dense dishes that help us maintain our winter weights. Gratins are not something I knock out much in the kitchen, so I've had a look in my Larousse to get a starting point: Gratins have been discussed before, but we've never done a cook-off to properly get under the "skin" of this dish, if you will. RecipeGullet is full of recipes from our members: Fifi gave us Fifi's Favourite Eggplant Gratin; jackal10 contributed quick potato gratin a la dauphinois; Dave the Cook saw his quick potato gratin and raised it to a Really Simple potato gratin; and even Russ Parson's weighed in with his mushroom and spaghetti squash gratin. Shalmanese has asked about non-soupy cauliflower gratins; Chris Hennes has yearned to know why his gratin broke. Kim Shook just plain feels she's gratin-challenged. There's lots for us to discuss with regards to gratin: meat or vegetables? What kind of cheese? How about breadcrumbs? Do you use cream? Do you have a special gratin dish, or do you just use a casserole? Let's get layering. Allez gratin!

Pumpkins are turning up every week in my CSA bag. They're small ones - about the size of a smallish squash. I've cooked them with olive oil, chili, and garlic with a glug of finishing vinegar as a nice pasta sauce for orecchiete. I've also mixed chunks with spinach and coconut milk for a Malaysian-style curry. I've braised chunks in dashi and finished them with a sweet sesame sauce. I've braised chunks in chicken broth and topped them with a thickened minced chicken and ginger sauce. I've made my favourite squash salad with miso and parmesan. I'm running out of ideas. Help?

Is this a new cooking style in China? Are any other restaurants taking up the modernist cuisine trend and adapting it to Chinese cuisine, I wonder?

Wholemeal, is that Dong Ding more toasty or more floral? I got a small bag for Christmas, and was excited thinking it would be toasty, but it actually reminds me a lot of TGY.

Shelby, that should go in our obscene sandwiches topic. As for edamame, Torakris and Hiroyuki provide excellent ideas and detailed instructions in the edamame topic. For me, it's all about the salt - the more seas salt, the better!

I can never make it to the Heartland, but I always enjoy reading along with these topics; both the planning and the actual event.

According to this sina.com/Xinhua report: Ever helpful, they provide no more details. Has anyone read more about this in the Chinese language press? Anyone tried the dish yet? Interesting that they're touting the health benefits; I imagine that will really appeal to people. You can't tell from the photo what the actual dish is, though.

Glad to hear Black Hoof is still a going concern. What's on their charcuterie plate these days?

I ruined a mini chopper the same way! I have a small blender attachment that I use for spice grinding for curries right now; is there any advantage to investing in a spice grinder?

I was going to ask you - do you ever boil up a bunch for edamame? They make an amazing summer sanck with beer. Or mixed in with rice and a bit of salt. As for the ginger - in the days when I was a kid before fresh gingerroot was commonly available at local supermarkets, my Dad used to use candied ginger to substitute in stir-fries and the like. Not exactly authentic, but "make do and mend" as it were. Your pictures of venison jerky are wonderful - does your husband take it hunting with him? I confess, before I read the whole post as the pictures loaded, I thought I was looking at Korean barbecue.

Me too. I can't find white onions, except at the posh ex-pat supermarket, where they're quite expensive. I just use reds, and if they're too sharp for using raw, I soak them in icewater for 30 minutes to take out the sting. I often just substitute small leeks in place of onion, if it's all I have on hand. Since I don't have a terribly large selection, I've just learnt to substitute and make do.

I don't think I've ever seen trees like that in Nova Scotia - and the stone looks wrong, too. It reminds me of the head of Sydney Harbour, I don't know why. Maybe it's Sydney, Nova Scotia? Snadra?

Wow - is that Australia? (If it actually turns out to be Nova Scotia, consider me embarrassed)

Well, this takes me right back home! I think every Nova Scotian family has a portrait taken in front of that blueberry. And the Tim Ho's there is the best place to stop for coffee, although the bathroom queues can be long. My parents always stop at both the Mastodon Ridge AND the Oxford Tim's - the first stop is for coffee, the second is for the loos. And another coffee. The next time you're heading over "The Island" as it's known in my family (My FIL is an islander), do stop at the Cape Jourimain Nature Centre for a walk and a bite to eat. Local ladies prepare lunches from scratch in the small cafe - my husband and I had an excellent cup of coffee and a chicken salad sandwich while watching the hummingbirds come in to the garden window. So much better than the fare Tim's is flogging these days. Only remember to pack the bug cream if you go for a walk. On the island, Water-Prince Corner shop and lobster pound does an excellent fish n' chips - haddock or halibut, with different batters.