Peter the eater

I'll pre-order a few copies!

That awesome!! And a bit revolting. Thanks for sharing. I once had a dream that I made and ate a giant scotch egg, but I hadn't considered it could be an ostrich egg. I figured it was a giant chicken from HG Wells' "Food of the Gods". I've always wanted to make a basket of spicy wings but use big turkey wings instead of chicken, now I'm thinking Ostrich!

David, you are a gifted cook and storyteller. Among many other things, I love the "showtime chicken"! I take great pleasure when I pull out the George Foreman Grill to do salmon or chicken with skin when we have dinner guests. I look forward to the big finale in Nevada!

great looking food! jende: I've had inconsistent experiences with prosciutto as well - I have pretty much switched to Westphalia ham which is always good at my store. I get them to slice it as thin as they can and its half the price of prosciutto. rwsweet: I have been seeing skate a lot more recently, I think I will get some. shelby: Those dogs are hot, and I think everything tastes better when served in a martini glass. I saw some local lamb sweetbreads for sale and decided to take the plunge. I'm generally pretty good about enjoying the organ meats although I have had some so-so experiences, particularly with dodgy steak-and-kidney pie at the pub. I recalled how good the sweetbreads looked in Chufi's eG foodblog several weeks ago and did a little reading. I soaked them for many hours, poached them briefly in salty water, dumped them into icy water, removed anything unpalatable (membranes and vessels) and finally panfried them in a little butter, after flattening and dusting with flour: I have had sweetbreads before, in France almost 20 years ago, but thats about it. I am pleased with the result today - they were wonderfully delicate and almost creamy inside the slightly crunchy coating. I may not have removed 100% the blood since I could taste a hint of liver, maybe overnight soaking is the answer. I also picked up these beautiful rib chops, possibly from the same lamb as the sweetbreads. I think they will be grilled for dinner tonight with mint and rosemary.

It used to be dairy products, until the babies came along. Now we go through alarming amounts of high fat yogurt (like 6+% milk fat, its called "Balkan style" for some reason) and homo milk (as in homogenized or whole milk). Now its usually hidden leftovers that go dank. I actually like what happens to the white button mushrooms in the crisper - over time they will shrink and get chewy and I find the flavour is more intense (for a button).

Mojoman, please take and post photos of this most worthy journey. Although I am not a "bald physician with a cellphone earring"? I am 41 with an undergrad in biochemistry and have spent a lot of time recently thinking about the MG. It is a totally compelling challenge to the way we perceive food and flavour, and I'm counting on you to provide some useful evidence that will enable me to get more kitchen equipment.

Do you tend to mostly cook foods or recipes that spring from your home culture, or do you tend to mostly cook things from other cultures? 50-50 Where are you from and what is it that attracts you to the things you choose to cook? I'm originally from Toronto, Canada - a very multicultural city - lots of places to sample other food cultures. I am a total omnivore. How long have you been cooking, and has your cooking shifted from that of one culture to another over time? I dabbled in high school and college, but then (1999) married a real food keener/skilled baker. Its been escalating ever since. I'm not really shifting, just building experience in many traditions. How did you learn to cook - from a person, from books, from television, from TV and books has been big, plus a lot of self guided exploring. And magazines! We get Bon Appetit and Fine Cooking. I find FC much better, more practical. What direction would you like to see your cooking go in the future - do you have a "plan" or any ideas as to what focus you would like to take? I'm not so interested in fashionable "food trends", unless its something actually new or important (eg molecular gastronomy has something to offer). I care more about cultural traditions, good nutrition, environmental issues and creativity. And I'm totally into food photography these days. My plan? Acquire knowledge, develop technique, be healthy, have fun. Isn't that why God or Steve or somebody created eGullet?

Leonardo could never have created the Mona Lisa without years of unremarkable painting at the Verrocchio studio. Who knows what people are capable of? Good on mojoman for wanting to know what some of the rules are before trying to break them!

There's a margarine-like product called "Mom's Spread" I bought camping near Lake Placid NY once. Raccoons stole the tub at night and the next day we found it in the woods only partly eaten as if the raccoons couldn't handle any more. There's a squeezable condiment I got in France called "Crudup". I used to work (1988) for a guy in Conway, Massachusetts who had a whole collection of wacky food products. He runs (ran?) a bicycle tour company called Student Hostelling Program so people would travel the world on bike all summer and occasionally bring back weird stuff. Here's a funny site with ontopic stuff.

Dave, thanks for that calendar of harvests for your area, that just the kind of thing I like to read about a place that I have little experience with (I've been to Washington but not Spokane). So whats it like outside your window? Rolling hills, jagged mountains, high arid plateau? Or is exactly like your teaser photo? Do you eat any unusual foodstuffs from the coastal rainforest? Little-known First Nations food?

I hear the Marionbarry jelly from Washington DC is addictive. Sorry, couldn't resist that one. Seriously, I am very glad to hear about food on the left coast. I have never had a huckleberry, friend.

I'm pretty sure I once had greenplumb sauce (as opposed to green plumbsauce) I say start experimenting and report in! With pictures! I would try it like applesauce, just simmer whole in some water for while, put through the food mill, add sugar as necessary. I did this with the quinces from our tree out front, it was pretty good. Get a pack of gelatin and let it set up in a martini glass (everything looks good in a martini glass) Godspeed Soup!

Wow you have been busy! I love the look of that salmon - its like a present ready to be unwrapped. What kind? Fresh poached? I also love the shot of the cake pans by the open window, was the heat coming in or going out? I'm sure you know its tornado season in SW Ontario (my family and I got sunburnt in New Brunswick today but came home to cool fog) Chicken Kiev! Its so famous and I have never had it, this must be remedied. And WRT your quiz, I'll guess a shiny bowl of whipped cream. It may be concealing something, if so I'm going with the also very famous baked Alaska. don't keep us hanging . . .

I bought cherry tomatoes at an enormous supermarket in Toronto once, and feeling peckish on the streetcar home I popped one in my mouth and just about had the foodgasm. In my memory I could actually taste the sun. Hasn't happened since.

I think I just found the next flavour for the ice cream maker!

I love seeing those half price stickers! Well done. Out here on the east coast the grocery store beef is severely underaged when it hits the shelf. So when its reduced for quick sale it actually gets better before it gets worse. I can always find 30% or 50% off lamb too, but not always the cut I want. The thrill of the purchase is greatly enhanced when there's a deal.

The sumac I know is a spindly shrub that grows wild along the road and in open forested areas. Its most remarkable feature is a brilliant red leaf in autumn. Is this the same plant you all are talking about? If so which part - leaf, bark, root, sap?

Susan, we love the pouches! Here's some family salmon in parchment from a few days ago (you might have seen it on the Dinner? thread) Those three thai peppers were too much even for me, so I suggested a round of follow up yogurt beverages. I find teriyaki salmon to be one of the best combos on earth. I have been caught drinking right out of the Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce bottle. We only had soy so I added a bit of sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. And I like daikon raw with a bit of coarse salt rather than cooked as it was here.

Bueno, your meal would command a pretty penny in a restaurant. I love steelhead, I used to catch them with a rod as a kid. The colour on yours is breath-taking. Earlier today I got a 2lb bag of locally farmed steamer clams. We had some left over slender asparagus stems so I shoved them through a "frencher" seen in the bowl below. Some spare button mushroom stems, garlic, onion and two thai peppers went in the pot as well: Clams were rinsed carefully, twice: The veggies got a head start in butter, deglaze the pan, then the clams steamed on top. Here's the result with glass noodles in the mix: I took the actual shells out along with the siphons (they were big and chewy) before mixing in the noodles a tiny bit of light cream. The taste was very good but their was still some residual grittiness - like getting a bit of sand in your food. I never have this problem with mussels, there must be a trick to it. Also, one pepper would have sufficed for heat as those suckers pack a big kick. There were a few grape tomatoes in their too for colour.

Yes the PC stuff is usually very good. PC or President's Choice is indeed the house brand for Loblaw's Co. Ltd. and they are Canada's largest retailer. They are HQ'd near Toronto in Brampton where I went to high school. This company includes a dozen or so different store names, it's Atlantic Superstore out here. More than just groceries you can get a bank account, a mortgage, a cell phone and gasoline. There used to be PC beer but that may be gone. I hear they are opening a Loblaws "hypermart" in Maple leaf Gardens in Toronto (old ice hockey arena). The Gardens is to Toronto what the Colosseum is to Rome, so we'll see how that goes down. Having said all that they are expert retailers and I spend hundreds of dollars there every month. The PC brands are generally excellent and better priced than the multinational brands. I tend not to buy the overly processed "entrees in a box" but I can definitely understand why they're so popular. Today I saw PC Wild Mahi Mahi and PC Lahvash.

C. sapidus: Those beef satays look very inviting. And I'll be on the lookout for applejack. Chufi: I have a glass door there beside my "little yellow kitchen photo studio" corner so its become the go-to spot. I think I should mix it up a bit. BTW I have been reading your Dutch cooking thread - very cool, I'm getting closer to shedding my phobia for eels. Anguilliphobia I am calling it although I just made up that word. No more coffee for me, when over caffeinated I tend to make up my own words. shalmanese: Dude, that's a lot of good food. dockhl: You think that little flounder is cute? As a fish in the larval stage they look pretty normal and symmetrical and upright. When they are around one month in age one eye starts to migrate over to the other side of the head. Next thing you know all the entrails are hidden on one side of the spine. I should have done more research before filleting it.

We had some fish yesterday. I bought a whole flounder for the first time, a small one and very tricky to fillet. In fact I made enough of a mess with it that he went straight into a fish stock once I cleared away the undesirable bits. Next time I clean a flat fish it will be twice that size. Fortunately I had also got some mackerel: It was very good. In the pan was some lemon and onion and a bit of water for steam. I am always amazed at home much oil comes out of the fish in just a few minutes - you can see the droplets of those virtuous omega-3 fatty acids just screaming "eat me".

Those onion rings triggered my "salivation reaction". Its funny though because I never ever order them - unlike french fries. And I am a major consumer of onions and all their relatives (shallots, chives, leeks, garlic, scallions, ramps) So what was wrong with them? What makes a ring?