Kouign Aman

Did I blink or did that guy really get the seal with one shot from a boat? :awe: That was one tidy butchering job too. Granted there's a ways to go, but there is very little mess in that lady's kitchen. Not as tidy as steak tartare or carpaccio, but it doesn't seem categorically different to me. I think I'd have more difficulty eating a chunk of blubber, because of the texture.

That chicken looks delicious! What's festival? And why is it fried?

Someones' using trained civet cats to harvest their poppy seeds I see...

What's the benefit of the oven-fried method? Less spatter to clean up?

They are mildly sweet, very little if any tang. Its a fairly one-dimensional flavor. Very crunchy. Crunchier and dryer than apple, closer to underripe pear in texture (but without the stonecells). The dryness brings mealiness to mind, but its not really mealy, in my experience. It might be interesting to cut them into something like an apple salad for contrast.

Here ya go.pocket conductivity/salinity meter There are many more - search conductivity meter, salinity meter or resistivity meter etc. Or you could browse the Fisher Scientific or VWR catalogs (which is kinda fun).

Beef fat.

I've only made one quiche using a fluted pan with removable bottom. Mine's got some kind of nonstick coating on it and it worked like the magic its advertised to be.

FWIW, Kale can be pre-steamed to render it amenable to short term heat as part of another dish.

I found that buying larger qtys of things that freeze or store well, and then stopping every few days for produce worked pretty well when I was single. Its a sort of mid-model between that of buying it all in bulk and that described by Daniel Rogov. And it keeps one in the most pleasant section of the market/grocery store on the more frequent outings.

Try freezing the bread instead, if its presliced. Its easy to pull slices out, and they thaw very quickly. The bread stays fresher longer. Sausages - cook what you will eat. Freeze the rest.

Thank you very much, such a fun blog!

This goes back to the original example: "molecular" prosciutto & melon vs the classic. The quote is from tupac's report on his dinner at Manresa in Californi This fits in with my feeling that a restaurant can have both traditional and modern/innovative in its menu, as long as the choices are made wisely. Experiment, and if the original still is the best (texture, flavor, scent), have the wisdom to stick to it. List it on the Classics side of the menu. And if some kind of fabulous alginated marinara sauce made with freezer clarified tomato juice, served in a fish foam tastes better and feels better to eat than the original which inspired it, put that on the 'modern' side of the menu. Feed both sides of a person's interest - the tourist and the gastronome.

Is it very strongly flavored? Or is the goal to be able to eat it without noticing it much? I ask because of the size of the pieces of fruit. I suppose one could consider bug-loin a garnish rather than the center event, in which case that must be some mighty tasty watermelon. Spiders and crab are very closely related. Apparently giant tarantuala are quite tasty. Screaming gribblies - precisely described. I'll be borrowing this phrase! Thank you.

Oh my. How many people are still setting their tables now the way they did the first time they posted on this topic? We use inexpensive china, stainless flatwear and brightly colored cloth napkins for daily. Dinner is served family style. The last time I set a fancy table was..... oh never mind.

Interesting thought. Might not work for everyone but a 'bellwether' dish seems to help a lot of us sort out a restaurant where we'll go to the trouble of returning, vs one that we've cut from the list of contenders. Sometimes random chance means the one good dish is ordered, or missed. So be it. If there are a lot of places to go, its not a problem. If the market is smaller, the place may get a second chance with ordering adjusted by what was learned the first time. I've been trying to think what my test order is, and it seems I have one for inexpensive Italian places where I'll get risotto or pasta aglio/olio or something similar first visit. At 'continental' places, its the roast duck (not on purpose to evaluate them, but if they are going to offer it, I'm going to eat it). I wont nix the place on the sauce (too sweet/sticky/sour/whatever) as that is very personal, but if the skin is yuck and the duck is dry, then I wouldnt go back. I used to order szechuan chicken in chinese places but that fell by the wayside at some point.

"spice" - as in spice cake cupcakes. I'm thinking of a spiced napoleon for some reason. Then again, I'm a sucker for napoleons.

That's a very cool reference page. Thanks for taking the trouble to post it. Visuals are wunnerful! Its clear enough to me if we are talking one layer. No sweat. But adding that second layer destabilizes things alot. (At least, in my hands it does). In theory its the same, but in practice...... so I shall be waiting with great interest to see how it all goes!

I have a book that discusses the best way to raise pigeons for the table. Not entirely strange in its own right, but its the strangest one I have.

I really have to learn to eat breakfast before logging on. This looks divine. :drool: The tablecloth is also lovely, and it amazes me to see it in a sandwich shop. It looks like handmade crochet? Or is it a clever plastic copy? As for the Pepsi; Ribena is the same for my mom when she travels to England. She really looks forward to it. Interestingly, we can get it here, but here she doesnt want it. Its part of the experience of 'home'. Will later pix include wedding food? <Fingers crossed>

Other than the hand guard, that's the masher I grew up with. Oh my.

How do you use the rue ?

Let em dry and age a while and see if that helps. I think that might be SOP for many tree nuts.

I hope it survives til we arrive late October or Early November.....

Oh my yes! I was only there the one time, a ...few.... years ago. I dont remember being wild about the food, but the place itself. Oh yes.