Carolyn Tillie

Yeah, I've never de-boned them either. I use quail for Moroccan-style B'stilla but have also pan-fried them with pomegranate molasses glaze. Hmmm... me-thinks I should pick some up for the V-Day as well! This recipe from Epicurious is from Michael Lomonaco and looks good!

That's the one I made this last Christmas -- after having made Julia's, Saveur's, D'Artagnan's, and a few others, Ms. Wolfert's is the one I'll be sticking with... You won't regret it and I think (hope, at least), that you will THOROUGHLY enjoy it. Do report back now, y'hear?

Maybe Wolfert would chime in, she's the expert. But if I had to guess I would say yes: no glaze = more evaporation. Elie I think they were referring to the glaze on the pot, wondering if there is a difference between a pot that is glazed inside vs. not glazed inside - not the crust on the cassoulet.

There is a huge caveat for wine clubs. ...there is a general instruction given to all pourers to sell wine clubs. There is a ton of money in wineries to expand their wine clubs. Heck, last year interviewed with a VERY large, corporate winery for a job that would involve me making cold calls 80% of the time, just to sell wine clubs! (Okay, it was STERLING!) When I pour on weekends, I advise guests that before they join any wine club (from any particular winery), make sure they actually LIKE more than 75% of a winery's offerings. When I first started getting into wine, I joined a bunch of wine clubs. I quickly found out what a huge mistake it was. I might have liked a winery's merlot or cabernet, but then the months' offerings would arrive and I'd get crap. A lot of wineries send out in their club's offerings stuff they can't sell in the tasting rooms. The winery I work for works a bit the opposit: we actually offer the BETTER wines to the club members first, before it hits the tasting room. Lastly, you didn't indicate where you live. There are a number of Pinot-only tasting that occur throughout the state in California. I am like you and appreciate a number of them including Patz & Hall, Schug, Loring, Gundlach Bundschu, and Robert Sinskey.

Absolutely stunning! I'm terribly impressed but wish you'd keep the sifter. Yeah, I know it is a waste, but having part of it be authentic adds a special quality to it. I'll post our meagre cabinet after we're done moving in...

It is kinda funny... I grew up with a Faberware stove-top rotisserie. My parents used to haul it out once a month or so to roast a chicken or do skewers above the coiled heating element. I inherited this ancient piece of technology and when I pulled it out for a pot-luck, everybody wanted one! Way different that they newbie stuff on the market, but I still like my old Faberware... I don't even think mine is made anymore!

I was a huge proponent of reading the Health Department website in Los Angeles and San Diego and following the letter grades given. I was very surprised when I moved up North to discover the letter grades didn't exist up here. In L.A. I would OCCASIONALLY eat at "B" restaurants, but usually if I knew the owners and the happenstance of the grading. It was interesting that when the letter grades were instigated in L.A., Sweet Lady Jane's right off the bat started with a "C" rating. Much of that was apparently due to things like, the distance the sink was to the workstation, etc. It took a while for everyone to come into compliance. There is also a joke that any REAL Chinese restaurant in L.A. isn't worth eating at if its rating is BETTER than a "B"! I also have stories of walking into a deli in Hermosa Beach where the owner was bragging that he got a "C" rating but had STOLEN an "A" placard from another restaurant. I promptly walked out. I would welcome the rating system in NoCal.

Gotta admit - I've never tried a lamb-based cassoulet. Various forms of pork and duck are all I've tried. I might add some caution about getting very fresh lamb, though. Mutton-quality lamb could add an overwhelming gamey taste that might be a tad overpowering.

Oh, I didn't think you were -- I just re-read my post and thought, "what the hell do I think I know anyway????" I was going to try and look for the Houston thread to add as a reference as well and got tied up doing my "real job" so I appreciate you adding it as well.

Glazed on the inside - not on the outside.

True! I didn't mean to sound disparaging about not having the "proper" ingredients when there really are none. (Okay, get folks together from Talouse, Languedoc, and Castelnaudary and watch folks fight about what are PROPER ingredients!)

Here my thread on my Christmas Cassoulet. For years, I used a metal pot and will now not make it in anything but clay. If you must use metal, I would stick to iron but stay away from aluminum. You don't have to use the flageolets, considering the price, but if you consider making it again, mail-order them ahead of time. They are definitely worth it but can understand the frustration at so high a price. I guess if you are getting to a point where you aren't using confit or flageolets, you are making what is similar to cassoulet, but not really cassoulet. It really is worth it to have the confit in it -- it isn't JUST the duck fat that makes the flavor. Mine had the confit, sausage, and three or four cuts of pork. Lastly, as far as wine is concerned, a good hefty red is required. You need it to cut through the fat. I recommend something from Burgundy. Good luck - and let us know how it comes out!

Yeah, I got into a fight with one of my co-workers who took it upon herself to order the Scottish Smoked Salmon for the boss as a Christmas gift and THEN asked everyone to kick-in. $65.00 for a salmon slab that was little over a pound. I proceded to show her a series of websites that offered the same product at a fraction of the price...

Consider making ice-cube "sheets". Ziplok makes a variety of zipping baggies in sizes from "snack" size to quart, gallon, and two-gallon sized bags. A great hint in freezing stock is to put the reduced stock in a number of these various sized bags and lie them down flat. They will freeze thin and can then be stored vertically, buying you tons of space. The other advantage to this over the ice-cube method of using an ice-cube tray is that the sheets are sealed. Once you have made the cubes and you store them in a bag loose, they due tend to get coated with crystals and start to deteriorate (unless used quickly). More than half my freezer is filled with various sheets of stock and sauce...

My father's Hot Toddies were a mixture of hot tea, a teaspoon of honey, a sqeeze of lemon juice, and a judicial splash of bourbon. I was seven years old and thought it tasted nasty - but it somehow seemed to help.... Sleep, little one - and feel better soon!

That's where my mind went as well...

Ooooooh - I just had a childhood flashback! When I was a kid, my Dad would grill slices of bologna (baloney, as a kid). It would be a big production 'cuz I would get to watch it puff up in the middle. My Dad called it "Hat Meat!"

I like a combination of onions - red, shallots, white, yellow... And when Vidalia's are prevalent in the market, I'll lightly sauté them for a last-minute sweet bite (agreeing that their sweetness can get lost).

Just out of curiousity, if you HAD to eat your hat, how would you prepare it and what sauce might you serve it with? Care to discuss sides and wine pairings with said hat?

From the Cheese Lovers of the World: Our sincerest condolences... Then, again, More For Us!

And at Sattui, the grounds are only for paying customers. You have to be eating or drinking stuff you bought there -- I think they don't allow outside food, but could be remembering incorrectly. I don't believe that is correct. They advertise the fact that they are a picnic ground and it is obvious that many people dining there have their own baskets of goodies that weren't purchased inside. Maybe you have to buy their wine or something. I don't remember exactly, I just know there are signs all over the place and that I couldn't eat the lunch I'd brought. Too bad I can't remember what those signs said. Maybe I felt guilty (for bringing a lunch) for nothing! I could be wrong (although I brought MY food and don't remember signs)... I'll drive by and take a look on the way home and report back! Okay, so here's the skinny: There ARE signs posted around the picnic grounds that states ONLY V. Sattui wines can be consumed on the premises. Presumably, if you were to plop down on the grass and try and open a Hall or Franciscan (neighboring wineries), they would ask you to leave. The reason I was able to dine without the Picnic Police harrassing me is that what I was eating looked darned similar to what was being sold inside (crusty bread, pâté, sliced meats, fruit, etc) consumed with some bottled water. They would not have been able to discern if I bought the stuff there or elsewhere so I ate in peace. Does that help?

No ideas or suggestions -- but warmest wishes for a speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with you.

Do you have a Trader Joe's in your neighborhood? They have an amazing dense, decadent Green Tea Gelato -- the same company produces a Ginger Gelato with crystallised ginger bits that knocks my socks off and a Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet that is akin to sex.

In my house, chocolate is a vegetable!! I freebase cocoa!

mojito? or maybe caipirinha? ( had one or two caipirinhas at fonda---they really sneak up!) Mojito is it! Thanks.