Dante

Hello there! I had plans to try the steak recipe from Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection" this coming week but someone has borrowed my copy of the book and I just found out that I won't see said person for a few days. Can anyone out there possibly share the method for preparingthe steak itself (that is to say, not the accompaniments, just the method for the steak)? Thank you for your help. Sincerely, Dante

Peet's is nice. My wife the Coffee Fiens is quite fond of Orleans Coffee as well. sincerely, Dante

This past Friday (December 7th), I had the pleasure of dining at Elixir, a fairly new small-plates restaurant in White River Junction with my wife, our housemates and a friend of ours for my Housemate Claudia’s birthday dinner. I do believe we’ve found a new preferred restaurant. The atmosphere maintains a casual, fun-loving-but-still-serious air about it. A converted warehouse building remade in to a restaurant while still leaving enough to make it obvious what the building started out as. Enough neon to give it what my wife refers to as “swank” but not so much that it becomes overdone (difficult to do with neon), a wooden pillar behind the bar with home drilled in to it to hold wine bottles- touches like these give it a special character not normally found in this area but which, to judge by the business they’re doing, has found acceptance by the local populace. The service staff were quite professional and helpful, starting when my wife and I arrived much earlier than we’d intended to (before the time our reservations were for) – they had available table space and set it up right for us even after we said it was OK for us to wait at the bar until everyone else arrived. We started the evening with a couple of drinks and a serving of their “Nuts Over You” spiced nuts- very tasty- spicy enough to be enjoyable but not so much that the spice overwhelmed the natural flavour of the nuts themselves. I had the “Coolidge” martini (Stoli raspberry, blackberry liqueur, sour mix, cranberry juice, whimsically garnished with a Swedish fish candy) while my wife had the “494”- Absolut, cointreau, lime juice, cranberry juice, garnished with a lime wedge)- both quite lovely – well-made and tasty. We’d started on a couple of the local beers they serve when the rest of our party arrived. Pouring over the menus we all had difficulty deciding what to pick- everything looked so inviting. I decided on the “Fish’n’ Chips”(Barramundi with hand-made chips and spicy sauce) and the “Say Cheese” cheese plate -this time including Blue Ledge Farm’s “Lake’s Edge” {a sort of local Humboldt Fog}, another Blue Ledge Farms chevre, Abbe de Belloc and Fourme d'Ambert, accompanied by fig paste, olive tapenade a tomato-basil relish and toasted bread. My wife ordered the “Autumn Biiss Soup” (carrot puree with star anise foam) “Easy sliders” (mini kobe beef burgers with carmelized onions, tomato and local cheddar) with a side of their sweet potato fries with spicy aioli. Our housemate Rick ordered the “Buck Stops Here” (Seared venison with swiss chard and black pepper gastrique) and the “Down East Divers (scallops with black truffle and celeriac puree) Claudia had the Olive Miso, the Easy Sliders and the “Jack-o-Sotto” (roasted pumpkin risotto with wild mushrooms served in a small pumpkin). She also had the “Tip Top Tini” martini (Grey Goose vodka, Chambord, Pineapple Juice and twist of lemon garnish) Our friend Angelica had the “Mary’s Little Lamb” satay (with basmati rice and spinach) the “Down East Divers” and the “Say Cheese” plate. For an accompanying wine we selected a very nice Tempranillo Rioja which proved versatile enough to work for all of us. Naturally, we shared everything we got, and I made a point to taste everything… The fish and chips was positively divine- both my wife and I , completely independently of each other, commented that it “tasted of the sea”. Tender to the point of almost falling apart, light, flakey batter crust, nice, slightly spicy sauce on the side. One of the best pieces of fish I’ve ever had anywhere. The cheese plate, as one would expect from the quality of cheese involved, was exquisite. I’ll admit that I confined the accompaniments to the bread, not wanting to mix the flavours of the cheeses themselves with anything else, so good were they. The Autumn Bliss Soup was quite good, subtle yet flavourful, the anise foam on top (v. nice presentation) accompanying yet not intruding. The Easy Sliders were amazing- nicely tender, the flavour of the beef standing out amongst the accompaniments, each ingredient’s flavour palpably present without impinging on any of the others. As much as I enjoyed my Fish and Chips, I almost regretted not getting the burgers. The fries were a very nice accompaniment- I had to stop myself from snitching too many from my wife’s serving. The venison was tender, and juicy, the gastrique going well with it- strong enough to stand up to the meat without overwhelming or being overwhelmed. The scallops, like the fish, were fresh and tender, just seared enough to qualify as cooked while still retaining their natural texture- the puree going quite well with them. The olive plate was delightful- I noticed less of a citrus flavour in the marinade than there was when we had come there last month- not a complaint against either experience, mind you- just a noticeable difference. The Jack-o-Sotto was delicious- properly sticky, nicely flavoured and I loved the idea of serving it inside a miniature pumpkin. The lamb was good- again- fresh local ingredients prepared in a way as to taste of what they are while still having proper accompaniments. Simple yet elegant. Desserts came next, with my wife ordering the Chocolate soufflé, which she shared with Claudia, Rick had the Espresso custard and Angelica had the cheese plate and me ordering the “Inverted Martini”.. The Inverted Martini seemed a nod towards the area of Molecular Gastronomy pioneered by Ferran Adria and his adherents- cutting-edge cookery not to be found elsewhere in this region, to my knowledge. Dry vermouth with small vodka gelee cubes and a sprinkle of chives, topped with a scoop of house-made banana ice cream surrounded by banana chips. Unique and utterly enjoyable. The soufflé was quite good- chocolatey flavour, good light-but-firm consistency. It was accompanied with a small scoop of ice cream in a lemony-flavoured shell. The espresso custard was tasty, and had a good texture, with an interesting hint of sour cream in the taste and finish. After dessert I got a pleasant surprise the manager came out to say hello and shared with me a bit about the restaurant- it’s philosophy, what they’re doing and what they’re planning to do. A very interesting moment made perfect when we got a scoop of Buddha’s Hand ice cream to sample (he even brought out a Buddha’s Hand to show my dining companions as I was the only one at the table who had seen one before). The service was excellent- our waiter was very attentive and efficient and also displayed a very thorough knowledge of the menu and the ingredients, answering all of our questions in detail, Throughout the meal we had the pleasure of listening to a very good fiddle-and-hammered-dulcimer duet. My wife almost teared up when they started playing “Ashokan Farewell”- an unexpected pleasure dining to one of her favourite songs. So there we have it, Elixir, a focus on fresh, local ingredients, allowed to speak for themselves and a surprising touch of the cutting edge, yet still keeping an eye towards making the food accessible and towards providing a unique, enjoyable dining experience. I can’t recommend it highly enough for the food, the experience and the overall fun factor.

Anyone else feel this way? For most fresh herbs that the food co-op I shop at sells, they have them in bulk, so I just grab as much as I want. But not so with parsley and cilantro, which they seem insistant on bundling up by the metric crapload. Luckily, a few kind words can usually get me a partial bunch, as most of the staff there are quite accomodating. But, yeah, in those cases, I know exactly what you mean. I usually end up contributing at least some rotting cilantro to the compost pile. Sincerely, Dante

Gotcha. Sorry- can't help you, then. If you lived in NH, I could point you in the right direction... Sincerely, Dante

I've tinkered with the ideas of binders with dividers, file cabinets, a journal, and saving them onto the computer. I feel recipe cards, while visually more appealing, don't always give me the space I need to write out long recipes. I keep mine in an accordion folder. entree, salad, side, dessert and beverage first, then subcategories of meat, seafood, grain, fruit/veg, etc. I also keep an accordion folder of information on local food resources and restaurant menus I have a seperate 3-ring-binder notebook where I keep info on past and future events (menus and such), results, favourites and other things (records of the local food co-op's available products in certain departments, data on different topics (stock-making, infused oils, different food traditions tech, meat, cheese, wine, produce, etc), dietary and menu creation guidelines, pantry inventory (what I try to keep stocked at all times, shopping list templates, idea to try out later, reminders of area I tend to neglect, etc), quickie meal ideas that I can make with what I always have on hand (in event of an emergency) and similar related topics. that help any? Sincerely, Dante

So... it's occurred to me that while I like to think that I have a good knowledge of cheeses in general, but it's limited by my personal experience. I only know what I've perconally encountered and/or heard about by other afficionados. so I feel I may need to branch out a bit... if I were to only buy one book on cheese, what would it be? What would my fellow conoisseurs here recommend? Sincerely, Dante

Hmm... Cheese plate at Elixir in White River Junction, Vt- Monte Enebro La Tur triple cream (sheep, cow, goat) Abbe de Belloc and one more that I can't recall off the top of my head. I plan to do a full review of Elixir for the New England forum soon- they had a limited menu when we went and felt it wouldn't be fair to them to do a review under those circumstances. We'll be going there again in Friday. All quite exquisite, which makes sense4 as the chef for Elixir used to be chef for the Canoe Club in Hanover, Nh, which also has an excellent cheese plate. Few evenings ago at home we had some of Lazy Lady Farm's Figaro (goat's milk with fig paste) and Cranberries and Cream (also goat's milk, with additions as the name implies), Blue Ledge Farm's Crottina (an American Cheese Society winner), a lovely, subtle little cheese called Rosemary's Waltz from Quebec, and some unpasteurized Stilton smuggled to me by a friend from England. All quite delightful, expecially the last of those, which was an absolute epiphany. Sincerely, Dante

So I've got a Red Kuri squash sitting on my table, plus a Blue Hubbard and a couple of Delicatas, handed off to me by a co-worker who got them from one of her patients. My squash knowledge lacks somewhat in some areas- anyone got any suggestions onwhat to do with them besides use them as an attractive seasonal centerpiece for the dining room table? Sincerely, Dante

ever considered making your own? Maybe then putting it in a decorative container? Sincerely, Dante

P.S. as to the original question, unless there's a new edition of the LCB book that I haven't seen, I think there's really no comparison between the CIA and LCB books. The CIA book is something like three times as extensive as the LCB book. While the LCB book has nice pictures, it's just not the same category of reference. Gotcha. Given the dwindling space I've got left on the cookbook shelves, I'll give the LCB book a miss. Sincerely, Dante

So, I can do Asian cooking so long as I avoid the noodles- meat, vegetables, nuts, spices- I'm there. But every time I try to cook somen, it comes out as a gelatinous mass. Last night I tried cooking my noodles for half the 3-minute recommended cooking time and still ended up with noodle jello (granted, my wife didn't mind, but still- I find a weak area in my cooking, I need to fix it). Anyone got any good tips for the somen-challenged? Sincerely, Dante

That's something the does upset me. I'm quite in favour of local, organic and sustainable, and am involved with the localvore scene here in the NH/VT area, but one of the prices one has to pay for seeing a movement gaining in popularity is that one has to watch one's terminology become trendy and, by extension, misused, and one has to endure seeing concepts one holds dear become watered down in the name of mass-appeal and (sadly) salability. Sincerely, Dante

Agreed. Infusion implies a very specific process. Now, one can, of course, flavour an ice cream with a tea infusion, or even infuse the milk used to make the ice cream with tea, but if one simply adds tea flavouring to ice cream, one is not, by definition, infusing the ice cream. Sincerely, Dante

I used to hate that one, but I've grown to like it since. The term "Gourmet" tends to get over-used (and carries for me a connotation of limited approach) IMHO, and not that many people in the mainstream world seem to know the term "gourmand". "Foodie", to me, implies a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to the concept of the gourmet. Everything from seeking the best corn-dog to appreciating the finest foie-gras. Sincerely, Dante

I dunno about that one- it can prove useful. Taking apart a recipe and putting it together in to something new can be kind of fun and interesting to me. Sincerely, Dante

Well, I can understand the term if used in conjunction with something that most people don't make at home. Making pasta or sausage, for example, seems fairly uncommon in my experience, so one may want to make that distinction. non-food-related, I make my own shaving cream, so I tend to make that distinction. Sincerely, Dante

"Melted" as in the melted fennel sauce I chose not to try in St. Louis. I asked the waiter how to melt fennel. uummm...normally when a vegetable melts, it means it's been in the fridge for entirely too long... Sincerely, Dante

Veggies I can deal with, "veg" bugs me for some reason (I winced every time I heard the word in Wallace and Grommit's "Curse of the Were Rabbit") another one- although I do have plans to dine at Elixir soon, I can't say I like seeing the word "sexy" used on their menu to describe things like sauteed onions. Maybe my opinion on that will change when I do go there later this month- I don't discount that notion that they may very well cause me to have some sort of food epiphany that will convince me that such things can indeed be sexy, but for now I remain skeptical. Sincerely, Dante

So, last Friday my Lovely Housemates took me out to dinner at Peyton Place in Orford, NH. And it may well have been the best dining out experience of my life. The building itself it oh-so-gorgeous- an old house built in 1773 more details here for those who want it. Amusing barrel full of wine corks in the fireplace in the main dining room, cute occasionally mismatched dinner ware evidently made by a local pottery place. (some pics here. Wine bottles as candle holders. Menu on a blackboard brought to the table (read and described to us by co-owner Heidi Peyton in her magnificent voice). On the way in, a customer standing outside for a smoke-break raved to us about how wonderful everything was tha night, describing it as explosions of flavour. Amuse-bouche was cucumber slices with a sort of Asiago and vegetable mixture on top- quite nice, can't remember all ingredients as it got lost in the shuffle of everything else. Fresh-baked dinner rolls with whipped butter- quite lovely.. My Beautiful Wife started with the spinach salad with bacon and the broiled oysters - I'd never thought it possible to cook oysters and still retain the best elements of them in their raw state but they managed to do it. My Lovely Housemate Claudia has the lobster salad with feta cheese over greens with orange vinaigrette- the lobster has such a wonderful moist delicate texture. My Lovely Housemate Rick has the home-made duck chorizo dumplings poached in soy stock with cilantro yogurt sauce. It was so wonderful- I’d never considered making chorizo with duck before. The seasoning was still very present but it didn't intrude on the flavour of the duck at all. He also had a nice corn chowder on the side. Sadly, I can't comment on this as I was so overwhelmed by the dumplings I forgot to ask for a taste. I thought about getting the Vietnamese Bouillabaisse but as it was a regular offering on the menu, I deferred in favour of the "Purple Haze Shrimp"- broiled shrimp with a habanero/purple cabbage sauce. The shrimp was exquisite- tasting of the flames but also still quite distinctly of itself, and the sauce knocked my socks off. Now, I'm a major chilehead, and few meals at restaurants have ever challenged me, but this one did- so delicious I couldn't stop eating it but hot enough that I had to think twice on occasion (the only meal that's ever had that effect on me before was the Chicken Rico-Rico at Sabang in Wheaton, MD). Everyone concurred on this- dangerous but delicious enough to make it well worth it. Accompanying this my housemate Rick chose a wine called Red Knot Cabernet Sauvignon- good body and flavour (especially as it should have been quite young at the time), still enough to stand up to and compliment the full assortment of appetizers we were having. Then came time for the entrees. My Beautiful Wife chose the Fresh Haddock in potato crust with star-fruit sauce- moist and exquisitely tender, the crust tasting of wonderfully fresh potato. Lovely Housemate Claudia had the Lamb Ravioli- delightfully strong but not too strong lamb flavour with a deep, rich sauce. Lovely Housemate Rick had the Boneless Duck Breast with sun-dried cherry sauce and buckwheat pancake- the texture and flavour was such that I still don’t feel entirely certain is wasn't confitted. I had the Steak Frites- cooked medium rare, like the shrimp stating of flame and itself, accompanied by puree of roasted red pepper, garlic and capers, and what were the best fries I've ever had (and I'm normally not one to rave about fries). Then the desserts came. My Beautiful Wife had the fruit compote in puff pastry with home-made cinnamon ice cream (something I'm normally not keen on but once again, they made an occasionally intrusive flavour perfectly compliment the food). Lovely Housemate Claudia had a nice citrus sorbet (but sadly, I can't recall the flavour right now) and I had an amazing raspberry and ranier cherry sorbet (I'm always a sucker for raspberries). All of the ingredients were as fresh as possible, and locally sourced whenever such was viable (which always wins points with me). They had brochures for their sources (including the pottery) in the lobby as well as a huge stack of cookbooks (I was quite tickled, and unsurprised, to see a copy of McGee's "On Food And Cooking" there) the service was nothing less than excellent- friendly and helpful without being obtrusive in the least. Mrs. Peyton stopped by our table to look in on us several times- her presence always a joy. We're now thinking of who else we can invite and why- partially to share the experience, partially as an excuse to come back again. Peyton Place. Sincerely, Dante

personal. Making mash involves "almost pureeing" the fresh chiles then adding water and salt. Water and salt changes the flavor of the chiles. It increases the shelf life but at a cost. Yeah- I've done fresh chile sauces, but was kind of curious about using mash- just a little test-batch to see for myself what it was like DIY. A co-worker gifted me with an insane amount of chiles, so I've got a lot on my hands and wanted to find new ways to play with them, hence the question. I knew the water-and-salt bit, but didn't know anything about proportions thereof and actual method. Care to share? Sincerely, Dante

Anyone out there know of any good raw oyster bars in the New Hampshire/Vermont area? Sincerely, Dante

A long time chilehead, it’s recently come to my attention that there’s an area where my knowledge is sorely lacking… Does anyone out there know how to make fermented pepper mash- the type one uses as a base for hot sauces? Thank you. Sincerely, Dante

Easy- same as I replied in the "Most Embarrassing Cookbook" thread- The Doctor Who Cookbook Sincerely, Dante

Hmmm...(fights temptation to add more to the list...) Ironically, since I last posted to this thread, one of my housemates brought home a copy of the Williams Sonoma Oils book that his mother had handed off to him, autographed by Chuck Williams, so it seems that my comment on the series invoked Finagle's Law ("The perversity of the universe tends to a maximum") to some extent. sincerely, Dante