FoodMan

not what I was hoping to hear. Thought maybe it was some grain or other that creates a thick creamy Guiness-like head. Oh well.

clue: Jam for stamps Sauteed Potatoes, not in butter but in Margarin

I've tried this same recipe from Paula's book before. It is very good! I even went the extra step and peeled the chickpeas (well most of them). Did you do that or just left them on?

Awsome pictures Chris! It does look wonderful. I'll have to report on my latest Summer Ale result once I take and post a couple of pics. Speaking of beers that hold a head, how is that achieved exactly? I recently tried a beer called Old Speckled Hen (Click here for Website) at a local pub. It was delicious, with a nice dark golden color and slighlty bitter. What attracted me most is the creamy long lasting head. Almost like Guinness (you know how the 'foam; seems to slowly cascade down into bottom) but of course this was no Stout. I'd love to try something similar at home. Any ideas?

Hmmmm...I like their fries too. When you say not hand-cut, do you mean frozen? Or that they use a cutter to do the work for them? I'd love to see what you think of T'afia. Last time we were there a few weeks ago (before the Seinfeld concert) we went with the market tasting menu. At $45 for 5 courses it is a great bargain and the chef does not mind at all if you substitute a dish from the regular menu for one in the tasting. Our menu included: flat bread with goat cheese and fig marmalade carrot ginger soup corn and shellfish salad pork tenderloin with polenta peach crumble and cream My wife really wanted fish and asked to have the arctic char isntea dof pork. It was no problem at all and she actually got the full size portion of the fish rather than the smaller tasting portions. Good for me cause I got to finish her dish too. I also tried two of her seasonal homemade ratafias (fortified wines). A Peach one mixed with champagne, and a tomato one on the rocks. Try some of these instead of wine. Tangent: Michael Chiarello (sp?) from Food Network and a blond was there having dinner with another couple and ordered waht seemed like the whole menu. too bad it was not Alton Brown....that would've been cool.

While it was not a shock it is still very very sad news. I knew Fifi personally and through eGullet. Her mentoring in my early days as host were invalueable. I even owe Fifi credit to all the pictures I post here since I had purchased this camera from her. She was down to earth and modest and loved life and food. She is already sorely missed. I'd like to think she is eating sausage and cream gravy on biscuits right now. That would be heaven to her. Rest in peace Linda.

After a long absence, we went to Cafe Rabelais in the village this past Friday. I've said it before in some thread or another, but this place is one of my favorites in town. I have never been dissapointed and I was not this past Friday either. The blackboard bistro menu is always interesting and not a single menu item (not even one) has a 'seared chicken breast'. Instead we have venison, black cod, amberjack, Char, pork tenderloin, duck, pheasant prepared two ways (seared breast and slow cooked leg), clams, veal cheeks, just to name a few. The most pricy item costs 23.99. i had to get the veal cheeks, cooked till meltingly soft and served with crispy fluffy sweet breads, a small gratin of potatoes, roasted tomato and asparagus. Absolutly delightful. My wife and her sister shared the balck cod with lemon butter and loved it. Their mussles are fantastic as well and the sauce is perfect to sop uo with crusty bread. We drank a nice very affordable bordeaux. Minor drawback: the desserts are usually never changed. We've tried a few over the past years and all were good. I just wish they apply the same freshness of menu to the desserts. Some might think the size of the place (10 tables maybe) is a drawback. I think it's very warm and welcoming with the nice French owner (forgot her name) helping to serve and making sure everything is perfect. Give it a try....especially if you're not into the new and trendy .

Better late than never. An Itian American Sopranos dinner: Baked Ziti, only I thought I had Ziti but instead it was Rigatoni. I guess it's good Livia's no longer with us or I could've been in trouble for messing with her dish. Actually this awsome recipe is from Naples at Table. Chicken Parm, served American style with the pasta on the side. Cannoli, homemade shells of course.

I certainly used it as a guide when I was researching how to make them. But what a production! 4 hours nonstop! Granted, it was 18 lbs of sausage, but still . . . ← wow. 18lbs!! yeah 4 hours (especially if it includes cleaning) is reasonable and the ends result looks great.

Sorry...been away for a few days. Kevin that is a meal 'Mel would envy. Looks great. (and homemade sausage??? Did u pick up a new hobby like the rest of us in the Charcuterie thread? LOL) I also made an Italian-American dinner to eat while watching the brilliant Sopranos finale. Will post it -albeit late- once I have some time. hint: KEvin stole my thunder with one of the dishes...

I did smoke the duck this past weekend using the suggestion from David as a starting point. So here's what I did: 1- Butterflied the bird 2- Rubbed it with Seville orange salt and molasses and let it rest in the fridge all night 3- Made a glaze (based on the Emeril duck I had at NOLA) with espresso, Nocino, honey and some Worcestershire sauce and reduced till thick 4- Smoked the duck for about 2.5 hours (right along with a pork shoulder) and then brushed it with the glaze and cooked it in the oven at 375 for another hour. I glazed it again halfway through the hour and finished it under the broiler for extra crispy skin. You'd think with all that cooking the bird would be dry. Actually this ranked high up there with the best duck I've had. It was juicy, smoky, salty and sweet. Even my wife who does not care for duck ate her piece including the skin and loved it. I am planning to make this again and smoke more than one duck this time. Like I said I also smoked a pork shoulder that day too. I served the duck on top of a very good roasted corn colby spoon bread, and the pork on top of cole slaw.

Hey! Wasn't that me? ← and you know I would've taken credit for it too . Very tasty looking dish. Love that thick chop.

This weekend I made another batch of the Saison-Style Summer ale from the class with a few modifications. The main change really is the hopping schedule. I had all these hops lying around from previous brews and I wanted to use them and make a nice hoppy ale...almost IPA I guess. I also doubled all the grains and made a 5 gallon batch. Here is what I ended up with 3.75 lbs Belgian Pale Malt, crushed 1.25 lb flaked wheat 1.25 lb flaked rye 1.25 lb Belgian Munich malt, crushed .75 lb flaked oats 3 lb light liquid malt extract 1.25 lb table sugar White Labs yeast #565 (Saison Ale Yeast) Hop additions 0.5 oz Kent Golding 0.25 oz Northdown 0.25 oz Styrian boiled for 60 mins. 0.25 oz Goldings (5.1 AA) 0.5 oz Styrian boiled for 30 mins. 0.25 oz Styrian 0.25 oz Cascade 1 Tbsp crushed coriander zest of 1 orange zest of 1 lemon 5 pieces crystalized ginger At flame out and let steep 15 minutes I parked the airlocked bucket in my warm garage (80F or more, Saison likes heat, right?) and I had it gurgling 5 or six hours later. I also tasted a small cup of the cooled brew. Very tasty, hoppy, spicy and has an almost reddish brown color. Looks like it might be a but hazy too probly due to the oats in there. Looking forward to see how this one settles and tastes.

Very nice David! I might give it a shot this weekend. Based on your result I plan to skip brining, but maybe do a rub of sorts on the duck. I like that you ended up with a nice crisp skin.

For the dough recipe, the book only says "Bread dough made with 4 cups flour" then kneads in 7 Tbsp of lard. So, here is how I did my version: - 4 Cups flour - 1 tsp instant yeast - 1/2 cup lard, soft - 2 tsp salt - about 1.5 cups water Mixed it in a food processor. I let is rise at room temp until almost doubled. I knew you'd know the names! I like to roll mine. It looks attractive and gives me a better way to spice it up well. Since it is rolled, the spices remain contained.

I am so glad to have managed to make this before the month is over since I'd been eyeing it from the beginning. I am talking about the Pizza Calabrese from Ada Boni's book. This is basically a tuna pie filled with good quality canned tuna, tomatoes, few anchovies, olives and capers. I decided to cook a base of onions also before adding the tomatoes since it just seemed natural to me and it went great with the filling. The dough is a yeasted bread dough enriched with 1/2 cup lard. I am really loving these larded yeast breads and see many of them in my future. The lard makes the bread tender, light and a bit flaky. At the same time it gives it an elusive heavenly savory taste that is just remarkable. Instead of one big pie baked in a baking dish, I made two stand alone pies. The reason for that is of course my dear wife who will not eat olives, capers or chile flakes. So, one for me and one for her. Baked Sliced. This is mine...she was already munching on hers I really cannot say enough good things about this pie. The spicy, tangy and fishy filling against the tender, flaky porky dough is perfect. It tasted great warm and cold as a ...errr...late night snack. I am sure it'll taste great for lunch at the office too.

These pictures are sp gorgeous and mouthwatering..they are worth quoting again! We should have a hall of fame pics thread from this series and put these in. They sure look better than mine, but I am glad to inspire and that you seem to have enjoyed the pasta as much as we did (shhh....we ate that pasta for almost a week afterwards. Heats up great) Wheat berries are basically the wheat kernels. The ones that are dried and ground to make flour. That's all. You can buy them peeled or unpeeled. I always buy the peeled ones since they are much easier to cook. CLICK HERE to see how they look like. They are used in Lebanese cooking often. Hathor !!! What do you mean 'In Italy'???!!! We all know that the country is made up of 20 regions and each is different and treats their food -and cured meat- differently and so on and so forth . On a serious note, I am not sure I know. I definitly heard Mario say more than once on his show that both types are found in Italy and they actually have different names, but I forget what (something along the lines of 'Rolled Pancetta' and 'Flat Pancetta'). Kevin? Any ideas?

Susan, if I recall correctly, you're a big fan of not letting the meat come up to room temp when you smoke. Am I remembering correctly? ← me neither. Not for smoking. I learned that from the Col Klink eGCI class on smoking. A cold meat takes a bit longer to cook and takes on more smoke and flavor. In any other instant, like direct heat grilling steaks or chicken..., I always let it come to room temp.

PECAN Lenox Biscotti. I was out of almonds! These are excellent cookies and I already have a request to make them again for this Friday for my mother in law.

It never ceases to amaze me how lovely the Paves come out. This has to be one of my all time favorite decadent chcocolate cakes! great job.

Very nice thick chops Kevin. For eggplant parm. Do you not bake them at all after grilling and topping?

I had some dough left from making baguettes so I made this Calabrian (or maybe Basilicata) inspired focaccia topped with homemade pancetta, capers, chile flakes, oregano and onions. Quiet delicious.

'Had the energy'?? Oh, c'mon...u know it's fun . I always have dried fava beans on hand (for falafel mainly). So, what do they use them for in Basilicata?

Pontormo- I used about 75% regular AP flour and the rest semolina flour. Maybe not 100% authentic, but like I said, the result was excellent. After May, we can definitly keep on adding to existing threads. Liguria (fava bean sauced paste is fantastic Shaya), Campania and Sicily are three regions I'm definitly going back too every so often.

My dinner was from Basilicata as well. Strangolapreti alla potentina based on this recipe here. The recipe is pretty badly written but it can be used as a good base. I used sliced pork cutlets rather than a whole piece. Apparently Strangolapreti in Basilicata are pretty much Puglia's Orecchiette. Making the meat rolls Pasta ready to cook Pasta course dressed with the meat cooking liquid and topped with pecorino. This was by far the highlight of the meal. These were tender, soft and deliciouse with a deep flavor from the sauce. I served the meat rolls with a contorno of baby broccoli and asparagus cooked with anchovies and garlic and lemon juice. Overall a very good meal.