FoodMan

yeap, I am right, from the Clay Coyote website:

Abra- I think the resources pages in both books lists some. If I am not mistaken and working from memory here, I believe Clay Coyote is one of them.

Chris- You are mostly right. It is a pyrex dish that I baked the potatoes in, the ceramic one had the onions in it. I really wanted it to cook longer so that less liquid is left in the dish. However, and you can see my long list of dishes for that dinner in the dinner thread, I HAD to remove it after two hours because everything else was ready. So it was not as creamy as I would've liked (make no mistake though, it was all gone that night ). Like Paula said, another 30 minutes would've helped the pyrex dish a lot.

I got a Braun for Xmas a few days ago and so far I love it . I used it so far to make a smoothy and to make an amzingly frothy hot chocolate. I will be using it for all kinds of other stuff, like purreing soups, suces and vinaigrettes it is pretty powerful. I like the idea of using it for Hummous and I will try that for sure. To answer the original question, I would say if these are the only uses you need it for then, YES. Although I do not quiet understand this What do you mean?

Melkor, that looks great! and I love your "smoker". Gives me a great idea how to create my own cold-smoker. So, thanks.

Thanks Abra! Really the onions are worth it (my father in law loved them so much that he took all 3 that were left home with him). Also it is not that hard to make at all. It does have several steps, but it's pretty straight forward and needs no special skills. Just make sure to buy the largest onions you could find and try and get them as "football-shaped" as possible, rather than squat.

C'mon Kent...more details ! What was the tasting menu?

Friday night: -Braciole (sp?), rolled flank steak stuffed with spinach and cheese and braised in tomato sauce -Potato gnocchi Xmas Eve dinner: Sorry about the no pics, but I was a little busy - Homemade sourdough bread in several shapes - Spinach and three cheese dip (no pic) - Les Halles Mushroom soup with creme fraiche (no pic) - Roasted Duck roulade from Charcuterie - Homemade Turkey-cherry sausage and Marjoram Kielbasa from Charcuterie - Duck leg and prune ragout from The Cooking of SW France (no pic) - Stuffed Onions from The Cooking of SW France - Potato gratin from The Cooking of SW France - Salad of roasted beets, pearl onions and oranges (no pic) - Bouch De Noel, fille dwith orange bavaroix and covered with ganache. - Alton Brown's excellent fruit cake, served with his eggnog ice cream (no pic) - Sable Cookies and other cookies.

All dishes worked out great fon Xmas eve. The roulade was a big success and not salty at all. It looks pretty damn impressive as well. The other two recipes I made for that dinner were the Turkey-cherry sausage and the Marjoram Kielbasa. Both were hits (Too many things going on and a couple of them split due to my lack of attention), but especially the Kielbasa. That margoram taste really makes it special and distinctive. the top three are turkey, the rest are the Kielbasa.

Unfortunatly the Bresaola did not work out. A couple of days ago all was well, but today it has three kinds of mold, mostly the powdery harmless stuff, but also the shaggy and the green variety . I am thinking next time I will be drying it in the fridge instead.

For Xmas eve dinner, I had several dishes from this book. - Duck leg ragout with prunes (i did not use the pearl onions since one of the side dishes we had used pearl onions). Too many things going on and I actually forgot to take a picture of the finished dish. It is the one in the background of the gratin picture below though, the one with the carrots behind the roulade. It was very good and the sauce it made went well with other dishes we had. I also love smearing the cooked prunes on crusty bread - Potato gratin Auvergne style. Since no on ebut me likes blue cheese i had to omit it...maybe now it should be called something else. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. These crispy potatoes on top are the best ones - Michel Bras Stuffed Onions. This one was such a big hit and so good that it could be a meal on its own. If you have not tried it yet, do so as soon as possible. It really is outstanding with a deep and complex flavor. I used duck giblets since we were serving duck legs and duck roulade for dinner.

yeap, the skin is on and it is a little tough, but not inedible.

Sure, why not? They make a great mezza contributor.

prepared the Duck rollade today and it is ready to be roasted for Xmas eve dinner. I twas time consuming to remove the skin intact, but after 45 minutes of surgical knife work It came off all in one piece and with no holes in it. "scraping the fat off" the partially frozed skin was no easy feat either. It was more like cutting the fat off, and I did not get as much as I expected too. My only concern is that when I tasted the filling using the quenelle method (wrap a small piece in plastic wrap and poach it), it tasted a little oversalted. I am hoping this will not be a problem tomorrow, maybe the large chunks of breast mixed in will offset the saltiness. Will report more later after trying everything. Naked Duck

The leftover Trout from the night before became last night's dinner : Trout and potato cakes mixed with parsley and little onion, dredged in breadcrumbs and fried in oilve oil and butter. Served topped with creme fraiche and a celery leaf salad.

Trout with Serrano ham and garlic. Served it with sauteed beet greens Dessert: Orange pudding cake.

Thanks for the tip chris, I'll make sure to ask for it. Believe it or not Whole Foods is also my source for Pork fat back for sausage. They throw away tons of the stuff and are usually happy to give it to me.

Collagen casings are edible casings that can be stored at room temperature and cook up very nicely. They are simpler to work with than natural (no cleaning, soaking, foul smell...) for a beginner sausage maker. they actually feel like parchment paper and keep forever in a drawer. Click for more info The downside is that they are not as "flexible" so, they need to be tied with butcher twine because they do not stay twisted. See, the natural casings are very elastic and remain more or less closed where there is no filling. These ones retain their diameter, even when not filled. I am planning on trying natural casings soon to see the difference for myself.

Like I mentioned you could use canned. The Lebanese brand CORTAS makes pretty good "Foul Medammas", your middle eastern grocery store should have it. With this one it is already cooked and ready to be heated and dressed. Here is a website that sells the Cortas brand. Scroll to the middle of the page to see the Foul Medammas.

Well, not really. Hummus has tahini in it and is a dip with no whole beans. This one is a bean dish, with whole fava beans. Although, to your point, most "Fool" joints in Lebanon serve both dishes for breakfast. So, you would ask for "Fool Wa Hummus" and get two dishes with tons of garnishes. BTW, if the mixture is a little on the dry side, add some of the cooking water to the dressing to get it noce an loose. Let us know how it turns out.

Of course you can buy the canned version and dress it up, but if you have access to a middle eastern store try the real thing, it is simple. Buy dried fool (fava beans), the small kind no bigger than a marble and has a brown skin. Ask someone who works at the store and they should be able to help. Soak the beans overnight. This is breakfast food so in the morning boil them in lots of water till tender and cooked through and ALMOST mushy (I actually like to mush some up, but leave most whole) . Drain them and now the dish is ready to go. Dress the beans heavily with good olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste as well as some mashed garlic, lemon juice and if you like a pinch of cumin and fresh minced parsley. This is it. Serve it very warm. Of course what makes this dish are the accompaniments. Here are the traditional ones: -olives -fresh mint leaves -pickled turnips -pickled cucumbers -fresh or pickled chilies -raw sweet onions Eat with fresh warm pita bread and small glasses of hot sweet tea!

It definitly does look good but not like any Mortadella I have seen. Does the recipe call for saltpeter or Sodium Nitrate? Maybe that is why.

This thread is just in time! I will be serving two different kinds of homemade sausage for Xmas eve dinner this saturday, both are from "Charcuterie". click here for more info.

After it's cooled overnight, rewrap it well and it will be good for several days in the fridge. ← Oh, sorry for the confusion, I actually meant can I stuff it and keep it well wrapped uncooked in the fridge? I want to roast it and serve it on Saturday.

Patrick- This looks awsome, is the dough more or less a sort of sweet tart dough? I love the Classic Hot Chocolate recipe, it is thick, rich and lovely. I never add more sugar to it since I like my chocolate a little less sweet.