MikeHartnett

Chris, I made stresa quite successfully on a rack in the fridge without cheesecloth. In the old thread, someone said there's no noticeable difference between this and stresa air-dried. Tasted delicious. No mold. Good luck.

The second to last sentence in the first paragraph of the directions: "...the red wine and tomatoes, two umami superstars." Red wine seem like an odd addition, but then again, so do tomatoes. Who knows?

Sriracha and ketchup is delicious on fries. Sriracha and mustard is good too.

September's not a good month for tourism. I'm sure there are reasons, but I am not privy to them. Cross your fingers and hope that New Orleanians and tourists ignore the doomsday media and keep right on going...

Please, please knock on wood after saying that. Iris is one of my absolute favorites. I'll be devastated if they start going downhill.

I understand that, but considering it was closed for only a short time while they were moving, wouldn't at least a note indicating this be in order? It's one thing if the restaurant wasn't yet open, or was closed indefinitely. Iris closed for a short time, with an intent to reopen as soon as they moved. It just seems unfair to preclude such a fantastic restaurant unnecessarily.

I'm not terribly concerned. Bywater isn't a fantastic location for supporting a fine dining establishment, and regardless of personal feelings on the issue, being attached to a clothing-optional gay pool likely doesn't help business.

Do hit Stella! It's fantastic. Regarding the top ten, I think it's a good list, but it's missing both MiLa and Iris. Also, I haven't heard good things about Bayona in quite a while, though admittedly, I haven't been there in a while.

sear it.

I agree. I don't see the difference between cooking a steak this way and cooking mushrooms. I realize that doesn't really answer the question, but I think they have the same answer, when it's reached.

I just got a couple from Whole Foods to compare with the farmer's market specimens. I'll do a side-by-side comparison. These were grown in Plaquemines.

Satsumas coming to the Crescent City market this week!

The confirmation does say it was shipped yesterday, though. There's hope!

Agree completely on Brennan's. Jacques-Imo's just isn't that great. Probably worth looking into something else.

I think I used reduced mushroom stock instead of truffle juice and oyster mushrooms instead of the sliced truffles. ← Cool. Thanks. I might try this soon.

AEK, what did you sub for the truffles?

Sort of how I feel, but the flip side of the coin is that we get a signed copy with a special jacket. Collector's edition. It's like waiting to buy a deluxe album. You could get the cheaper version sooner, and you can in this case also.

On the mosaic site, I think I read that they're hoping to ship them out around Monday.

I'm not implying anything is wrong with it. I guess I'm really asking whether the flavor would be the same or similar with a shorter brine time.

Pickling anything tends to make it good. I support it. Maybe I'll try it. ...Although I do have a question- why brine it for 2 weeks? Seems a bit excessive...

← Exactly. It isn't guanciale if it's made with belly. Just unsmoked bacon, correct? ← the spices are the same as guanciale ,just the base flesh is diffferent, Probably otta be "pork belly in the style of guanciale" Bud ← As I understand it, though, it's not the spices so much as the part of the pig. It's like saying "chicken wing in the style of chicken leg."

Thanks. That's what I thought.

← Exactly. It isn't guanciale if it's made with belly. Just unsmoked bacon, correct?

Recipe in the NYT Dining section for "Pork Belly Guanciale." Why would they call it that? Why not bacon? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/dining/0...html?ref=dining

I completely agree. MiLa is fantastic. While Cochon and Herbsaint are very good, MiLa takes the cake for me.