Peter the eater

A little more than that even. I bought these from a farmer at the Greenmarket, so I assume they were pretty fresh. What worked for me was to crack them, start peeling, and then you can feel the membrane between the shell and the white. Tear the membrane with your fingers, or I suppose you might use a needle or something, and let some water run between the membrane and the white, and it will slip off with the shell more easily. I think a certain number of broken eggs is inevitable. I think I got 20 halves from a dozen eggs (you can count the eggs in the picture and check me on that). ← Thanks David, that makes sense. Have you tried deviled duck eggs? Very rich, very yellow, very delish. I've never tried ostrich . . . maybe one day.

I've recently tried to devil quail eggs and it was not pretty. I assumed the whites stuck to the shell because they were so fresh, like what you'd expect with really fresh chicken eggs. Are you suggesting a crack in the cold water will help with the separation? That doesn't sound so bad.

It's so easy to make a good dinner this time of year. Most of the stuff below stuff came from my own garden -- the potatoes, rainbow chard, peas, dill and mint. The lamb and cauliflower is from a farm not thirty minutes away. The butter is from Tatamagouche. A dinner like this is not really traditional, although it should be, one day.

Everybody should eat more Mexican food. This weekend we made shrimp enchiladas with poblano-tomatillo sauce from the cover of bon appetit June 2009: I couldn't find fresh tomatillos so they came from a can, and jalapeños subbed for poblanos. This one was a winner.

I'd go to a Gathering in TO, my home town. I don't live there anymore so I couldn't do much more than attend.

Are customers required to show a card or can anyone shop there?

I respect your minimalism. Slaw is one of things I never make the same way twice. I'm all about the trumpery, particularly with the vinegars. I love the surprise of low pH, cider, rice wine, malt, etc.

Very nice, Chris. Regarding the Yoko apron, Jith was right to turn the other cheek.

Ikea offers good design and decent value. I've installed a few kitchens containing their cabinets and it was quite painless. I can't speak to durability, but I can say it looks good, it's easy to install, and the price is right. Plastic laminate is more or less the same wherever you go -- make sure you get decent hardware, it bears the brunt of daily living. Ikea carries some unusual appliances aimed at compact condo living. Although cool, some are barely code compliant even if installed by a licensed electrician.

Nobody has mentioned salmon on a stick! The skewer is a good place for those small irregular cuts of salmon meat, as in what's left over after the steaks and fillets are removed. In this case, chunks of fish are skewered along with onion and bell pepper pieces then brushed with oil and fish sauce before gas-grilling. Served with the new potatoes and minty peas from my garden, grilled crusty bread, and mushroom caps containing Quebec Camembert. Cracked black pepper and flaky sea salt, of course.

The cover recipe for August 2009 is "The Ultimate Turkey Burger". I like to try non-beef burgers from time to time, and turkey's a good substitute as long as it doesn't get too dry. This one has a smoky aioli on the bun and in the patty. Not bad, I like the toasted cumin and coriander, very Moroccan.

Martin, that thing is awesome! I often buy Northumberland lamb from the Barrington Street SuperStore but in much smaller amounts. I've never been disappointed, and that particular store often has the 50%-off-cook-today-or-freeze sticker on lamb cuts. Have you been to W.G. Oulton & Sons Farm in Windsor? That's were I'd go for a whole lamb (or steer, boar, hog, goat, goose, duck, pheasant, quail, emu, ostrich, rabbit, deer, elk, etc.) Their website sucks but they supply some of the best restaurants around. It's 40 minutes from Halifax at the foot of Martock ski hill. Your wedding guests are in for a big treat -- congratulations.

I regard goat and lamb as being very similar. In fact, my grocery store slaps big red stickers with the word GOAT so the lamb lovers don't bring home a surprise. Fresh goat is a very nice alternative to lamb -- it's cheaper, lighter in color and more neutral in flavor. I cook both the same way, certainly when it comes to shanks. 4 to 6 hours in a slow cooker works well.

What kind of apparatus is required?

I'm wondering, as I flip through my very sad and old Mr. Boston, which is the least popular letter? Looks like there are many cues but only two exes -- Xerxes Cocktail and X.Y.Z.

Great stuff, Bryan. I'm still stuck on those sparrows. I'm totally on board with the control/enjoyment of small birds, I just can't bring myself to preparing them complete with skeletons and beaks, etc. Seriously, somebody should design the equivalent of a juicer for small birds.

I was quite disgusted when I heard that news today. Shame on KFC, McDonald's, Kellogg, Nestlé, Burger King and Subway for having such inconsistent standards. I look forward to their public responses. I guess most processed foods are still a crap shoot.

Veseys has mizuna.

I don't think I've posted here before -- I have checked in many times for encouragement and info. I'm with Mayhaw Man on this: I'm in a zone 5a/5b and the garden is around 100 metres from the Atlantic Ocean, which means lots of fog. That's why we put up a greenhouse this spring for tomatoes and peppers. It's starting to pay off: Outside, we're lucky to have a place where poultry was raised for fifty years. A half century of chicken sh*t = very, very nice black soil. In the ground we've got plenty of other stuff including potatoes, beets, radish, peas, beans, chard, mesclun mix, rhubarb, herbs, etc. Leeks do well here, maybe next year.

Get a lamb or goat shank and slow cook it whole -- you could pass it off as feline.

Ooooo, never thought of that. Wild land mammals that get eaten in Eastern Canada: deer, moose, caribou, rabbit, squirrel, porcupine, raccoon, beaver . . . no carnivores there. Bears? No, they're omnivores, don't count. Fox, wolf, coyote, fisher, lynx, bobcat . . . all carnivores, nobody eats them. Interesting.

phan1, this question has been on my mind. I love steamed fish with a brown sauce, or poached bird breasts with something fond-based. Or anything sv with real gravy. I see it as a healthful way to cook the protein while getting just the right accompaniment. For salmon, I like poaching the skinless fillet and offering the sauce on the side, made from skin and tail in the skillet.

Thanks for those links Janet. Red gazpacho (tomato, onion, bell peppers, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, bread, smoked paprika, salt) and green gazpacho (cucumber, basil, cumin, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, bread, salt) served in glass shooters with sour cream, bell pepper garnish: Easy and awesome in the hot weather. Around a half ounce of cold pourable soup worked best.

The flip is necessary, one ought not have bread toasted one side, never mind the egg.

One year later . . . I'm planning to make some cold soups for a backyard birthday party this weekend. I'm liking the idea of two gazpacho-like soups, one red and the other green. The challenge is to make them different but complementary, and both extremely delicious. What's the key to a nice gazpacho? Must true gazpacho incorporate bread and stock?