kermie

If you're cooking at home and want to rest your meat, keep it warm but not let it keep cooking how do you do this - WHILE keeping the skin/crackling crispy. If you cover it, it goes soggy. If you don't it gets cold. Is this really obvious and I'm missing something?

pretty much anything that you would finish with salt. Very good with mushroom dishes, ie mushroom risotto, - but again towards the end. Anything eggs, pasta, scallops, roast chicken. It's pretty much all been said - I'm just reaffirming its yumminess.

Having been to Scandinavia a few times I think vancouver would be perfect for a scandinavian restaurant. The fish dishes, especially salmon and all the roe. I think it is really misrepresented and it can be very interesting indeed. Also from what I can remember there was only 1 first nations restaurant that has long since closed down - is that still the case. First nations would be a great idea.

As a tecky I love to get certain info off the net fast. For a quick overview of a particular dish, or ideas for an ingredient I do a general scout on the net. Then I think, hmmm, yes that sounds good I think I have a recipe for that in xyz book. If not I have already saved the ones that looked best from my scout to refer to if I need to. Also I collect cookbooks, when I travle and especially obscure, and strange vintage ones. Just the act of searching for a lovely cookbook in a second hand bookshop - the treasure hunt and the oh my god I can't believe this is here - is fun. Also, there is nothing better than lying in bed/or by the garden on a sunday morning with coffee/tea, reading cookbooks. ps. its interesting to note that when I do find a recipe off the net that I like I too print it off, put it in a sleeve and it goes into a binder. The more I use a computer, the more I cook and garden.

Potentially stupid question - but how does one keep the liquid temperature constant during the cooking time?

also a must for my eggnog now is captain morgans spiced rum - adds a great flavour. and yes leaving your eggnog a few days does help it - even without the alcohol.

In fact, I live in the Uk now and have to make my eggnog from scratch. We had a party the other night - no one had ever had it before and most people thought it was advocaat. How strange. They didn't even know what candy canes were though. So after I get them reaquainted with their very own 'halloween' i'll reintroduce them to eggnog.

Hi, I used to live there, what would you like to know? You can't go wrong with wines in this area. Really good. Gnocchi and risotti are the thing to eat here as well as some local specialities. If you're into truffles then pop over to slovenia for some of the cheapest, best truffle dishes ever - also excellent seafood. So close we used to go there for gas. Also sorbetti are my favourite things in this region - melon or lemon ice cream with vodka - a sort of a drink but super yummy and only here are they called this otherwise you get normal 'sorbet'. Trieste is also the home of Illy cafe (he used to be the mayor maybe still is), so you will get very good coffee and specialty illy cups (every year they do a special design). You'll also get some of the local hungarian/austrian cuisine combos - I can't remember what they're called but they'll tell you. If you can book early enough there is a guy - in udine i think- who does dinner out of his home 3 or 4 months of the year - it's booked way ahead of time but super. Sorry I can't remember the names of these places as my ex who was a super wine and food snob and very wealthy used to take me to all these places - we would even drive to venice for dinner - so eating out so much has all become a blur now. I do remember the champagne risotto at the elefante bianco in trieste though. we used to go so often they would open wine for us in the afternoon for when we arrived in the evening. I'll try to remember more. Let me know if there's anything specific.

Also because I know how difficult they can be to find that is exactly why i snabbed them and put them in the freezer. They look quite weird in there i have to say.

Thanks everyone - interesting ideas. Still not sure which to try. I have about 6 which the fishmonger recommended for 2 people - I listen and try. Might try them this weekend - am leaning towards japanese style because that's what i'm familiar with but would like to try the dutch way too. *Chufi - I got them at my local fish monger in badhoevedorp. Another local one in nieuwe sloten has a bunch of them live right now. I can give you the details if you want. Do you have any specifics to your recipe - how long do you braise it for? My problem is that I don't know what is considered a small eel or a big one so I will have to guess and wing it. Will keep you updated. But let me knowif you have other ideas.

I got some fresh eels - that i've since put in the freezer cause i had no idea what to do with them. Apart from unagi does anyone have any ideas? Have never cooked with them so any tips would be great. thanks

Actually as a negroni drinker - started while living in Italy - all the italians (who i've asked in various places throughout the country) make it this way: 1/3 gin 1/3 campari 1/3 martini rossi thats it.

Thanks for letting me know. It seems such a shame that we still live in the middle ages.

I find that a very strange argument for the environment. Unless I missed it, it seems that the whole point of recycling has been missed. What will happen to all those boxes as opposed to the glass bottles. If they are actually recyclable then I can see the point, but if not aren't they just shifting the focus from one issue to another to make it seem more current? I even prefer milk in bottles though.

Most of my Italian cookbooks are in Italian - so I as I do read Italian - I am curious what you would be recommending.