Anna Friedman Herlihy

Did a bit more research---according to a MA red tide publication, you're not ever supposed to eat the tomalley, red tide or not. See link: MA Red Tide site Is this really true? Or have all of us who eat the stuff often being risking our lives...

Noticed no one replied...thought I'd update with where we went. So we went to the Lobster Shanty. And though it was not Maddie's, I had some perfectly respectable fried clams, as did my brother, and his girfriend had a good lobster roll. Certainly not the ambiance of Maddie's (it's basically a bar with some tables outside), but at least there's somewhere decent to go that's not a half hour drive.

Hi all, Read in the Chicago Tribune's food blog this morning about the FDA issuing a warning about eating lobster tomalley from any American (Maine) lobsters. I know you shouldn't eat it during or shortly after a red tide, but ever??? I grew up eating tons of the delicious stuff (and just recently ate some when I was home in Marblehead), and never got sick (nor do I ever remember hearing of someone who got sick from it). Anyone know the history behind this warning? Did a bunch of people get sick? Did someone die? Link to article: Trib article on FDA tomalley warning Thanks much for any info, as I love the stuff and don't want to be worried every time I eat it (not that an FDA warning will keep me from eating it...). Thanks, Anna

Hello all, Wondering if anyone might have a suggestion to replace the dearly departed Maddie's Sail Loft in Marblehead as a place for seafood in or very near to Marblehead. I'm visiting home for the first time in a while and craving proper fried clams, but the elderly mother doesn't want to make the drive to Essex or Ipswich (not bringing her is not an option...if you know what I mean). Possible options: Red Rock Bistro in Swampscott Lobster Shanty in Salem The Barnacle in M'head Dube's is out as my brother ate there recently and said it was awful. Thanks for any suggestions! Anna PS-also a bonus if it's a place where we can get some bluefish since it's in season right now!

Hey thanks guys, some interesting options. I think I'm definitely going to have to try a variation on the spaghetti with cantaloupe and chilis (without the tomatoes, as I'm allergic), with the addition of some meat (pancetta?). Perhaps even tonight, as I have all the ingredients handy. Also beef and cantaloupe stir-fry sounds great. Don't know why I was thinking the melon had to stay uncooked....plenty of other fruits take well to cooking (recently have done pork with dried cherry sauce and mango-glazed ribs, and tomorrow I think will be game hens with tangerine sauce). Keep the ideas coming!

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same thing, or had friends/family experiencing the same thing. After many years of being "lactose intolerant", I've found that I can eat rBGH-free dairy products with no side effects, but even a tiny bit of big ag milk gives me cramps, gas, and the hershey squirts (please excuse the graphicness, but anyone with the problem can relate) within several hours. I've tried to be "scientific" about this, and it really does seem that the culprit is rBGH (or perhaps some other industrial chemical--it's also possible that the problem is with some antibiotic or something similar). For example: I have no problems with "organic" milk, and our local Oberweis milk (which is rBGH- and antibiotic-free, but not organic) is also fine. Same for cheese products imported from countries that have banned rBGH. In the past year I spent two blissful months in England on research eating whatever I wanted with no problems. But I ate one (ONE) christmas cookie made with regular supermarket brand-name butter (will not mention the name for fear of corporate reprisal) at a family Christmas gathering this year, and spent the last hour of the gathering in and out of the toilet (no one else had any problems, so not food poisoning). I became American cow-dairy intolerant (can eat goat and sheep with no problem) when I was in grad school for the first time, so around 1995. Coincidentally (or perhaps not coincidentally) Monsanto introduced rBGH into the food supply in 1994. Is there a connection? My brother also became cow-dairy intolerant around the same time. He discovered he could eat dairy again during a year-long fellowship in Italy. I decided to experiment with organics and foreign products after his experience. Granted my family has a long history with allergies, so I am more sensitive to such things than most humans. But, I"m wondering, is there anyone out there on egullet with the same or similar experiences with dairy???

After years of not flying out of Midway, and a recent spate of business trips on Southwest out of Midway, I've been pleasantly surprised by the excellent eating options! A SuperDawg in terminal B! Greek pastries from one of the Greektown restaurants. Can't get much better than that, but they have many of Chicagoland's classic restaurants in outposts. Much, much better than O'Hare. Previously, my fave airport eating was Heathrow's BA terminal for the Pret a Manger in particular. Fun thread. Glad it got bumped up!

Hi all, Trying to eat more fruit lately (rarely eat it, and trying to be more varied in my diet lately). However, not very many good options in the winter. Cantaloupe is a decent option, but I'm kind of bored with it at this point. I love melon paired with prosciutto (or even just some regular old ham cold cuts). Which got me thinking--what other convenience meats might be well paired to cantaloupe? I've done cantaloupe and chicken salad to good effect. But chicken salad is not something I usually buy from the store to have on hand, rather I make it from scratch after a roast chicken. Or even any other salty/savory/sweet melon ideas? (Cheese? Cottage cheese comes to mind, but what about goat cheese or a hard cheese?) Thanks for ideas!

Hi all, Didn't see any posts on this, so I thought I'd make one. Today (Jan 23) is National Pie Day (http://www.piecouncil.org/national.htm). I love these silly "holidays". Anyone else "celebrating"? I'm currently trying to decide between making individual steak 'n' stout pies or shepherd's pies for dinner (or maybe some empanadas or other turnover-like meat pie). And I think it will have to be hubby's favorite crumble-top apple pie for dessert. On a snowy Chicago day, I can't think of anything better for dinner than flaky crust surrounding steaming hot morsels of meat! Maybe paired with a cup of broth-based soup and a bitter-green salad. Please share your pie ideas (especially savory ones--always like to hear about those).

The smoked liver is very easy to do, if you're set up for smoking. It's just a simple spice rub for a few hours, wiped off, and then hot smoked for half an hour. But my guess would be you could easily improvise a smoker for something that small. The lemon-celery mousse is my spin on a Maida Heatter recipe which in turn is someone else's recipe. I just replace 2/3 of the lemon juice with celery juice, made by puréeing about five stalks of celery in the Cuisinart and then squeezing the juice out using a cheescloth bag (two layers). The lemon and celery combine in an unforeseen way to taste like neither lemon nor celery, but a very good taste.

I just got my first half a pig this summer (Berkshire as well). I butchered it myself. Loads of fun (although I have done deer, lambs, half a cow previous to the pig). For the past year I've been buying my meat farm-direct in half and whole animals (slaughtered first, though). I highly recommend freezing and then vacuum-sealing the cuts. Freeze first, then vacuum-seal (so you don't squeeze out a bunch of liquid from the meat). I also weighed out parcels of shoulder, fat, and the like for the various sausage recipes that I was interested in making and labeled them as for such, so no confusion when I go to make the recipes (not that I can't change my mind and use the parts for other things). I cut the belly into several pieces for bacon, salt pork, and roasting (so I didn't have to defrost the whole thing at once). Save some nice thick pieces of back fat for lardo. Save any scraps of fat for rendering into lard. Don't forget about the leaf lard and caul fat. Don't forget about the spleen. I cut the ham in half, as a whole ham just seemed too big. I already brined and smoked one of the ham halves for a party and it was fabulous. I cut a variety of roasts and chops. Chops were individually vacuum-sealed, so as to make it easy to cook for one, two, three, or more, depending on who is around (also defrost easier as singles). Most of the organ meats freeze well--for liver, cut it into a couple of pieces, unless you're planning a huge liver fest or giant paté. Eat the kidneys right away (Fergus Henderson's lamb kidney's recipes work great for pork-but soak them first). You said the butcher's taking the head, but see if you can get the jowls off the head (or at least one jowl). If you can get the blood, make blood sausage (one of my favorite things in the world, and unfortunately the slaughterhouse here would not release the blood). Absolutely get Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat Cookbook. It is my new favorite cookbook. Hope that helps!

As someone with a couple of food allergies (but also a very adventurous eater), I full well expect to not necessarily be able to eat certain things at people's houses. If I have enough advance notice, I will let them know (but also let them know that I'm happy to enjoy their company even if I can't eat a dish or two...or more--I do not want special accommodations made if it is even a remote hassle). I always have granola bars in my purse just in case I really can't eat anything! That said, I'm happy to try to accommodate true food allergies for my dinner guests given proper notice (in my book, that means at least four days). But I won't change a recipe, I'll just make something extra that's simple and not very time- or resource-consuming. I would only expect the same for myself. As for just picky eaters and (sorry to all of you who fit this category) vegetarians--screw them. As many have said, they are not invited for small parties, or at bigger gatherings, they just must fend for themselves (we explicitly let vegetarians know to bring their own tofu dogs and veggie burgers to our bbqs, because we refuse to buy them). Humans are biologically meant to be omnivores. Yes I have a pet peeve about vegetarians. It's interesting that I have had many a vegetarian eat my pies with complete and full disclosure that I make lard crusts, just because everyone else has raved about them. Similarly, I've gotten lots of people to eat liver in my patés because of the comments by others. Not pandering to pickiness may just open those people's minds and palates to other things.

As someone who regularly throws elaborate, multi-course dinner parties, my advice would be: Don't worry so much about what's classic, but rather make sure the courses progress in a manner that makes sense (I know that's a bit vague--someone had mentioned light to heavy, but also bland to spicy, sweet to salty or vice versa, etc. need to be considered), and that varies textures, colors, and ingredients. I also do very much agree with the big course, small course, big course, small course, and so on, that someone previous had suggested. It gives the guests time to breathe. Having just cooked a complicated 10 course-r this past Sunday, variety is the key. And include plenty of "refreshers" (i.e palate cleansers)--but these can take unusual forms. not just sorbets but things like crisp raw veggies as an accompaniment to a small course. As for wine, depending on how formal the party is (or your guests are), it is perfectly acceptable in my book to put one white and one red glass on the table, and have them re-used for different wines (I know...blasphemy!). This is what I did this past Sunday, and no one complained, nor did the wines suffer from having a drop of their predecessor in the glass. [Also, if you are lucky, one of your friends might volunteer--or be conned into volunteering--to play sommelier for the evening, freeing you from announcing and pouring wine for everyone.] And I very much liked Shaimanese's post.

Second that. I loooove bitter drinks and drinks with bitters. Don't know why I never thought to add to food (and I'm always raiding the bar for cooking ingredients). Just picked up a chicken to roast today, so maybe I will try some in the sauce and report back. We have Angostura and Peychaud's in the house right now. Fabulous post!

There's a pic of the finished plate as well as one of the sous-vide pig's ear after being sliced in my post about the dinner I served them at: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=108479