Recoil Rob

Actually it is quite legal to hunt mountain lion in a few western states, when I was in AZ javelina hunting they were giving out free lion tags because they feel the population has grown too much. I recall reading that the Lewis & Clark expedition ate up to 9lbs of meat per man, per day. Mountain lion was one of their favorites. I myself have had bobcat "balsamic" stew a few times at a local game dinner, the meat is quite similar to good pork, one of my favorites. I think if you gt a piece of well marbled pork and cut it into chunks you wouldn't be far off.

OK, thanks I'll give it a try next time.

That's them! I'll give your method a try, does it make it easy to pull the coating off the necks and out from around the rim?

Ipswich calms are soft shell calms, steamers, piss clams. they're the ones you dig in the mud flats at low tide and are used for steamimg or frying. I believe you are speaking of hard shell clams, quahogs, littlenecks, cherrystones, etc. These are used for clams on the half shell, stuffed clams and chowders.

Found a great place to dig for soft shells here in CT and I had my fill of steamers this week so I want to try frying them clam shack style. I'm quite adept at shucking hard shells and oysters so getting the soft shells open is no problem. But what does one do about the dirty, coating on the neck and around the perimeter? I tried peeling a few and it works but to be quite honest it's very labor intensive, is there a faster way? Partially steaming them perhaps? thanks, Rob

I found a mistake in another recipe from his book, they're not well edited. Similar to Batali's but without the blanch.

I followed the recipe exactly, I didn't add any extra liquid.

...and cut cake. Absolutely, decadent, rich, luxurious! There were four of us and we couldn't finish 1/4 of the cake, it will easily satiate 16 for dessert. The actual cake part is actually fairly light without being crumbly, the ganache is over the top. Would definitely make it again. Be careful with the amount of 1c of sugar, it's a bit misleading. 1/4 cup in the eggwhites, 3/4c in the syrup. I'm also not sure if the 1/4c of flour used for dusting the pan is supposed to come from the total 1-1/2c listed. They did the sugar that way but the flour is confusing. I used an additional 1/4c.

I've alway's believed that anyone who can read, follow directions and has enough manual dexterity to have sex could follow a recipe and cook. Baking is a whole different ball game. The cake and ganache both came out perfect but the devil is in the details. I have a new found respect for cake decorating. I went out and bought a piece of dowel to use as guides for dividing my cake into 3 even layers, I place one on either side and tried to keep my knife flat on the dowels. The first layer came out OK but the knife I was useing (my smoked fish slicer) was not rigid enough and the second layer was very uneven. I indexed all 3 layers so went they were stacked they would give a flat top and bottom. The ganache was a bit tough to spread, especially with the rum syrup soaking the cake, but I managed. I tried to get some nice detail going on on the sides drawing from my experience as an amateur potter. The toughest part was the chocolate shavings. The chunk I had left to shave just wasn't cooperating. It was coming of very dry ad then melting in my hands. In the end it was down to taking handfuls of shavings and throwing them at the cake. The dog got a bit on the floor, but he's a trooper, he's done it before. Still, it came out OK, I'm sure it's going to taste great, each component by itself (cake, ganache and syrup) was wonderful. I'll get a photo once it's cut later Rob

I assumed the 24oz. of chocolate was by weight, I melted it and used 3c of heavy cream. It's been in the fridge for about and hour and is just beginning to thicken. I think it's going to take longer than 2 hours to get to peanut butter consistency so it will be done about 4 hours before dessert time. We'll keep it covered in the garage, about 55˚ thanks, rob

Thanks for the advice, I was more concerned about the ganache getting too soft and running than I was spoilage. It definitely won't be around long enough for that. I will write a review when done, both here and on Saveurs website. Thanks, Rob

So far , so good, cake is made, ganache is chilling, syrup, is done, just awaiting assembly. By the way, the chocolate turned out to be Callebaut. A question, the recipe makes no mention if the finished cake must be kept chilled when assembled. It will be done about 7-8 hours before we eat it, will the ganache keep at room temperature or should it be kept refrigerated ? Thanks, Rob

Thanks to all for the quick reply. I imagine it's a blend, it was bulk chocolate from Teitels on Arthur Avenue. It passed the quick taste test. I will report back after makig the cake. Thanks again, Rob

This weekend I going to attempt the Chocolate Truffle cake in the new issue of SAVEUR. It calls for semi-sweet chocolate 54% . While shopping today my purveyor only had 58%, he said there's no practical difference it would make on my cake. I know baking is pretty much chemistry, do I need to worry about the outcome of my cake being affected by 4%?

I use a hand crank Atlas, have for 20 years, it's made more pasta than I care to think about. I have 4 different cutters for it, some make two shapes , others only one but I have stranded pasta covered from angel hair to papperdelle. Mine is too old to adapt directly to a motor but they sell an adapter kit I may try. As far as extruded pasta machines, there's only one I want... Bigoli Press

I live nearby JA Henckells US headquarters and every year around Xmas they have a warehouseeverything at least 50% off. They must be the importers for Staub because this year there were racks of the stuff there. I found a Staub "Chicken Roaster" in red which I gave to my girlfriend for Valentines Day. It has the small "computer designed" spikes on the underside of the lid for basting. That weekend we used it to braise a pheasant in the oven at about 250˚. I pulled the cover off it a few time while braising to check on it, at no time was there any condensed liquid on the lid. I suspect that in the oven the lid heats up to the same temperature as the rest of the pot keeping liquid from condensing. We're going to try it again this weekend but this time will use the stoveto.

I have gotten dozens of cast iron pans, dutch ovens, gem pans, griddles etc, over the years at tag sales. I clean them and give the as gifts if I don't already have them, someof the rarer pieces get sold on Ebay. My local library has a rummage sale every year and there are tables of cookware and kitchen items. But my best score was a barely used 1960's era Kitchenaid mixer, lovely creme color, with an extra bowl, a glass bowl, a grain mill and a meat grinder for $10.

I use the recipe in the Zuni cookbook, they seem to last forever. I have a jar from last summer in the fridge that taste as good as the day I made them.

Good for you! Make sure to call and ask for the 5# pail, it's not listed on the website. While you're at it (and as long as you're already paying the shipping) order a magret breast and make duck prosciutto, very easy and delicious. Rob

I get mine from the Hudson Valley Fois Gras Farm. http://www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com/. Call and ask for the five pound pail of duck fat, it's about a gallon and runs about $35 including shipping by UPS ground which is fine for the NY area, it comes in one day. Just don't order on Friday or it will be at UPS over the weekend.

Perhaps some would be interested in an update. I took my girlfriend to Tarry Lodge last night for her birthday, reservations were made in advance, online through Open Table and I was asked if there were any special considerations I would like. I noted it was to be a birthday dinner. We arrived last night, a Thursday around 7:20pm, about 1/2 hour before our reservation and sat at the bar for a few minutes before they had a table. Unlike Babbo or any of Danny Meyer's restaurants, I was never asked about the birthday, if I wanted something special done, no mention was made at all. We were shown to a table for two at the junction of the bar/kitchen entrance/kitchen exit. The restaurant was crowded at 7:30, a few large parties waiting and the bar was full. It was my mistake to accept the table I should have asked for another right away. I didn't and it was the loudest dining experience I've had in 10 years. They really need to "86" table 43, if you go be sure to tell them "anywhere but table 43". They have a message at the bottom of the menu that asks diners to bear with them while they work on their 'Noise attenuation". I guess they know it's loud and don't know what to do yet. We were given a tray of olives and two pieces of stale focaccia which was surprising because the Parmesan bread sticks at the bar were quite good. We ordered and appetizers were brought about 10 minutes later. I ordered the Baccala Montecato. I love salted cod in all forms , I make brandade several times a year. The montecato was served with a spoon in a ramekin, ice cold, very bland. Perhaps room temperature would have served it better, it actually needed salt. My girlfriend had been anticipating the Guanciale/black truffle/sunnyside egg pizza for the weeks leading up to our dinner, it was featured on the cover of a local magazine and mentioned in a few reviews. It was passable, the crust was underdone, really nothing special. I suspect the 6-8 small pieces of guanciale and truffle weren't enough flavor component to stand up to the mozerella on a 12" pie. After about another ten minutes my girlfriends branzino arrived. I must say I was impressed, a perfectly grilled fish was placed in front of her, crisp skin, golden brown. It was then whisked away to a side board without consulting us. It sat on the side board for 5 minutes before a woman, whom I assume was the maitre'd, came over and started working on it. Meanwhile my entree, the beef braised in barolo was brought out. I patiently waited for the branzino to be brought back which finally made it reappearance at the table about 12 minutes from the time it was initially brought out. It arrived taken off the bone, no crispy skin, completely cold, not even on a heated plate. To top it off, it still had bones in it. My braised beef was good, very tender, perhaps a touch dry, and could have used more than the teaspoon of sauce that came on the polenta. I never tasted any of the advertised horseradish. Our side order of Tarry greens was escarole that was under cooked and tough. After the entrees were cleared we were treated to the floor show of a waiter dragging a full size plastic garbage pail, full of garbage, out from behind the bar, down the aisle between our table and the next, and into the kitchen area. Now there's something you don't see in Babbo or Esca.... We ordered some biscotti, which we thought were no better than the Nonni's you see wrapped in plastic at the 7-11, more like tiny shortcakes, and got tepid espressos. The bill was brought with the coffee, it was not asked for. There were empty tables at the time. Taste and quality of the food, the kitchen's execution of the chefs menu, is a judgement call, my judgement is I wasn't impressed. I will say that they staff was very nice and did their best, I feel the mistakes made were more in the area of management style and the restaurant concept rather than execution. Don't bother to ask me if I have a special request if you're going to ignore it. If I order a whole fish I would expect to be asked if I wanted it deboned, I prefer to wrestle with my own. If you are going to take it upon yourself to debone a customers fish, it should be done tableside and kept warm. Apparently it's acceptable to drag the garbage past the diners because a floor manager was right there while it happened. If I'm sitting too long and you need the table, then explain that to me otherwise don't bring me the bill until I ask for it. Portions are larger and prices are smaller than B&B's NYC restaurants but that doesn't entitle them to dumb down the service. I would have been happy to pay NYC prices for the same care we receive at Babbo. I would have liked to send this direct to the management of Bastianich & Batali but none of there websites have an email address to send such issues. I suppose snail mail will have to do.

I generally usually use 2#'s of raw meat to 2#s dry black beans but again, it's not crucial. I found the "chili primer" I wrote up for a friend in 1996, wrote it by hand so I'm not going to transcribe it here and I don't have a scanner but if you pm me a fax# I'd be glad to send it to you.

First off, those loins, much better off searing them whole, finish in the oven no more than med. rare and saucing after they're cut into slices 1/2 - 3/4" . I like taking some olive oil and heating in a small sauce pan with fresh herbs and red pepper and then drizzling over the meat, Florentine style! For year I've made a venison black bean chili that get high praise from all. It's fairly free form but basics are I trim the meat and cut into a small dice rather than grind it. I brown the cubes and then add some chopped onion and fresh anchos, garlic, bay leaf, spices, etc. When all that is cooked up I add my chili powder. I make my own from ground roasted chili's, and let it cook in the fat from the meat, then I add some canned tomatoes. I add liquid which usually contains some black coffee (decaf) at least one bottle of dark beer, and the pre-soaked black beans, this all simmers for at least 4 hours. Then I add one cup of cider vinegar, stir it in and let it sit overnight. I know this is rather free form but chili should be. The end result is quite refined, the black beans smooth it out.

New Years Eve, Cotecchino and Lentils.

I did, I followed the Babbo recipe exactly, cork & all. I braised it a day before and the right before serving I heated it up on the grill and gave it a slight char. Perfectly tender but still had that chewy texture, the tangerine dressing was a great accent. We all loved it and would make it again. Rob