Jon Savage

funny that this thread got bumped. I grabbed a bunch of Quail eggs last week and have been playing with them. The cutest and tastiest sunny side up eggs ever! Was thinking about making deviled eggs with them and of course this thread has encouraged me to do just that. The possibilities are endless .

28.3 grams ish to an ounce FWIW.

They certainly look like Thai Peppers to me. Bird's Eye Chiles Maybe Thai ornamental further down the page linked to above since those in your pic appear to be growing upward.

I use homemade almost exclusively. YMMV

I had one of the Angus burgers. It was in a word... gross. Ever since McDs stopped cooking their burgers on a flattop griddle onsite and opted for a weird airline/steam tray holding setup + microwave their quality has declined drastically on the burger front. I know it was never haute cuisine but in my youth ('70s) it was at least an unpretentious decent burger. Now it just leaves a lump in my belly and buyer's remorse. Adding insult to injury the fries have been missing a certain something (tallow?) for some time now.

Great stuff so far. I was telling my wife earlier that we have to go to San Sebastian. Pinxo is right up our alley and after seeing the pics she heartily agrees.

There's no reason why you could not braise panchetta. Its just cured pork belly after all. Now that you have me thinking about that I may need to braise some. I've got a couple pounds in the fridge and was planning on curing a few more bellies anyway since I'm almost out. Myself I generally prefer it as slightly crispy but not browned lardons or just sliced thinly and raw.

all I ever use to bind is eggs. Sometimes I just use whites as well. I mix the egg with my seasoned fish mixture first and then add some bread crumbs but not too much.

Dust the pasta with flour, toss make 'lil round nests of pasta (about 1 portion each). Leave out a few hours on a dish towel or similar until just a little dry, freeze on a sheet pan then bag. I usually just freeze pasta dough in dinner for two sized balls. When I want some fresh pasta for dinner I just put it on the counter to thaw when I leave for work. Then roll, cut etc. just prior to the pot's coming to a boil.

I was at one of the larger Asian Supermarkets in little Saigon the other day (off of Beach IIRC). They did have Spot Prawns for $18.95 /lb (same price as at Pearson's) but they had been caught in Canada. I'll stick with Pearson's. In any case I was there to purchase ducks. I stopped in @ Pearson's Port today and picked up some lovely Yellowtail. Very fresh, locally caught and fairly inexpensive at less than $5 /lb. I filleted one side for sashimi the rest will be hitting the grill shortly. The stray bits I ate while prepping the sashimi (gotta have QC) were sublime. --post dinner edit - both the grilled fish and the sashmi were outstanding.

Use it in Pho.

Bryan I'm enjoying this blog tremendously. Thanks so far

Homemade mayo definitely makes a difference. It is one of those things where a minimal amount of time and effort pays huge dividends. As for non mayo potato salad- Sliced waxy potatoes, thinly sliced (red) onions, a little paprika, S&P, wine vinagar and (Austrian) pumpkin seed oil has been a favorite of mine for a long time.

I recently discovered a miso that already has dashi included in it. It may be sacrilegious but a gob of this, a bowl of hot hot hot water veg and protein to taste makes a mighty fine quick miso IMHO.

I have a similar unit from Sunpentown. I purchased it to use the top for roasting coffee (whit it does admirably well) but have since started roasting chickens in the ting as well. Tasty and does not heat up the kitchen a decided plus in the summer months.

I'd venture to guess there is also a touch of Dashi in the mix as well.

(unscented) bleach water or an Iodophor solution work wonders on sponges IMHO. I'm generally a towel kind of person though.

Also I regularly haunt the Asian markets both in Long Beach (little Cambodia) and in Orange County (Little Saigon) and have never seen this quality there. My wife, a marine biologist by trade, just chimed in as well "Never seen this quality/freshness elsewhere". Seriously. These were stunningly good no thanks to my skills but rather to the excellent critters w/o any help from me.

Good to know, I am probably going to get some this weekend. Did you just split them live and throw them right on the grill? Any sauce or anything? ← I just split them live grilled brushed with a little EVOO/minced Garlic/Lime (touch of sea salt) Marinade. I snoozed them a bit on the freezer prior to splitting them - hard to split them when they are trying to flee the knife . I bought 4 prawns yesterday which equated to 7/10 lb. Enough for two with the ribeye for surf and turf. Anyway I'd rather have a little of a really nice ingredient than a dollop of something mediocre. Grilled them less than 1.5 minutes a side on a hot hot (charcoal) grill. Sublime. Why not just go buy some at an asian supermarket? At almost $20 a pound, the spot prawns at Pearsons sounds expensive when you can find them at a lower pricepoint at an asian supermarket. And, its been my experience that seafood at these asian supermarkets tend to be fresher than what you'd find at other supermarkets. ← I might be able to find them cheaper agreed. I prefer, however, to give a little more money directly to the guy who caught them. Just my .02

I received my first order from Ranchp Gordo yesterday afternoon. I did a pound of Black Calypso beans (no soak). Just rendered a little bacon; sweated some mirpoix added a few cloves worth of minced garlic, and a couple fresh bay leaves from the garden. maybe 1.5 tsp salt from the outset. 1.5 hours later these were done to my liking. I then added a little pepper a bit of smoked cayenne and a can of muir glen organic chopped tomatoes. Really, really tasty.

Stopped by there just now, the prawns are beautiful. My new friends were distinctly unamused by the drive home. I'm not sure they'll be all that thrilled when I introduce them to Mr. BBQ later this afternoon. They should be wonderful split lengthwise and grilled. --edit the prawns were freaking tasty and a great counterpoint to the ribeye. --Well worth the price and happy to support a local resource.

You are correct, they share a lot with an RV Park and Kayak Rental Shop. The shop is literally on the water. Go give 'em some money and support a great local resource! ← Oh I will. Work has not taken me that way yet this week but probably will later this week. Gas prices being what they are recreational driving is out for me but I'm down that way a time or three a week anyway workwise. I'll post back once we have some goodies .

I know the book advocates starting with the Saucisson Sec but it was a similar disaster for me when I tried it as my first time out with dried sausage. I've had much better luck with tuscan salami, soppresata, and pepperone using the F-RM-52 product as well as a surface application of M-EK-4 when it goes in to hang to get the nice while mould happening. I also find they need more drying time then is generally called for in the book. I'm not happy with the texture until it gets down to 50-55% of original weight. I wouldn't give up on your batch quite yet though. Give it another week or so and see what happens. ← Our Saucisson Sec came out splendidly. Beginners luck no doubt. Must make more since we just ate the last of that batch; lasted close to a year nice white mold and tasty.

According to Marco White, he kept Harveys afloat during the recession of the 80's by raising his prices, instead of lowering them or changing portion sizes (something he claims all his competitors were quickly doing) because he said rich people are still rich in a recession, and they can afford price increases, and they are going to NOW be ones target market. By lowering prices or changing portion size, in a way you are trying to deceive the customer/devalue your food, and anyone with half a brain will see right through that, but if you raise the prices people will see that as an honest response to a tough economy, especially coupled with a rising food crisis. Anyway he coasted successfully through those years, and as most chefs know Marco White is something of a restaurant genius. ← I'm looking at this from a US perspective where many if not most restaurants that are not in the high end fine dining class tend to radically over portion IMHO.

Talking to the manager about the 5% discrepancy in the mandatory "gratuity" as stated on the menu vs. the amount actually charged would have been a good thing. Informing the management of the lackadaisical service would also have been a good idea. Not paying even a little of the check without having done the above is unacceptable IMHO. 87 cents.... Sheesh.