pangloss

We in San Francisco look forward to green garlic every year; it is a harbinger of spring and cooks use it with fava beans, baby artichokes, peas, a classic combination in Italy every year, with variations from Sicily to Venice. Marcella Hazan has a number of this springtime dish although she does not seem to mention green garlic in her books. I am just now cooking in the over about 20 baby artichokes with a sauce of green garlic, Meyer lemon juice, olive oil and tarragon (or thyme). The earliest green garlic is very subtle and one has to use a lot of it in most dishes even for a subtle taste. At this stage I like it raw or lightly sauteed with veggies. It is now strong and much of the crop is being cured for year-round users.

I started making this Belgian national dish many years ago based on Julia Child's Vol 1 ART OF FRENCH COOKING but haven't made it for a long time. Thought I'd inquire if anyone makes this dish and if they'd share a special recipe, technique, or ingredient that they have?

Perhaps because I am always trying to learn new technique and its unique result, I do use books, and articles from the San Francisco Chronicle (the best food section in the country hands down), but what I cook is not something I've tried before. I cook "alone" when I do something that is a staple home meal with which I don't have to stay to the original recipe. My own feeling is too many cooks tamper with ingredients before they know a recipe in its presented format. I am sometimes shocked by some cooks who say they've done it with an ingredient or technique than the recipe without knowing how it should be first. I like the idea of learning the "classic" version of a dish, and I think that's because I learned to cook straight from Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. I had many sets of her 2 volume set, usually from wear, loan, or needing them when I don't have them at hand. I moved to the Bay area in 1969 to go to graduate school but I couldn't even boil water. I spent weekends and other days cooking through Vol I. Ten years later, I had my own restaurant. I never stopped referring to those volumes when stuck with a problem. Today I rely on JOY OF COOKING, Deborah Madison's VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE and her many other books, Marcella Hazan's various Italian cookbooks, and the newly re-released LA BONNE CUISINE DE MADAME SAINT-ANGE, the French version of JOY OF COOKING.

' Sammie ' is a very common term used in New Zealand, Australia and the UK to describe a sandwich. I, for one, am not in the least bit snobbish about the word. Its cute. ← It would sound better if said by a Brit or Aussie (it too is a derivation): like "telly," "ciggie," or the rest. I remember in the last century some said "drinkie pooh" for cocktail. It's baby talk so I get why a mother might "sammy" to her kids.

Are we speaking strictly of blogs, or any internet web site? If the latter, I would nominate Chowhound.com, especially for northern California foodies.

I am fairly new to eG but I cannot get a grip on the site: so many allies to go down, often dead ones at that. I'm not a novice, either as a computer user or foodie, but I just don't get the format. What and where is D'Artagan and the dairy cited in one post? Also, I don't think USA Japanese breed beef is anything special at all.

In the days of cocktail parties, I was helping a friend get ready for a holiday soirée in which French 75s were the libration (lethal stuff: cognac and champagne). He heated the cognac just under simmer in a copper pot and brought the pot to the punch table. When he poured the cognac into the Baccarat punch bowl, the bowl cracked, igniting the draperies on the window next to the bowl. As we're tearing down the curtails, the bell rang. It was the first guests of the evening. Luckily we averted a fire and a dud party. To this day flambé initiates a frisson in me.

New to the list and my brain is swimming with all these test recipes for prime rib. My own preference for roasting comes straight from Barbara Kafka and her ROASTING: high heat (500 for 45 min), then 325 for 12 mins and then 450 for 12 mins should read 325 Can't find real Prime Grade: Bryans on California Street in San Francisco is terrific; this is the same butcher that Chef's Catalog features. They dry age 21 or 24 days.They have the best beef I've had since a kid in the 50s in Chicago where restaurants no matter how lowly offered Chicago Stockyard meat. Most Prime Grade I agree is not all that tasty. Judy Rodgers of San Francisco's Zuni's Cafe has advocated salting a day or two in advance of cooking for just about all meat.....and seafood, a "truc" she learned during her apprenticeships in France. It does not dry out the meat, rather seals in moisture I find, and makes the meat much better in taste and texture. If hesitant, try pork chops or steak first. I've also found that many of the ranches offering grassfed beef are offering a new taste in beef that's not been available for many years. Of course they don't use antiobiotics nor the crappy grain that is fed to most cattle; SF's best restaurants now have a ranch, a soure for the best beef I've ever tasted in 60 years. I can't divulge which grass-fed ranches are best but remember grassfed beef has many grades so one has to try and retry ranches, most of which ship overnight. For example, everyone in SF wants Neiman Ranch meats because they are not non-nitrate and are chemical free but I find their meats tasteless and tough. (Hope I'm not sacrificed at the stake for heresy.)

How does this Missouri ham differ from Honey Baked Ham? I've had Smithfield and other southern hams but, although I soaked them longer than suggested, just did not lose the salt. The first time I made the Smithfield en croute but it was still too salty for us.