trillium

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I should have added what the seasonings were. They included cognac, port, and white wine, along with herbs, spices, shallots and garlic. The pâte was weighted for 3 days in the fridge after it came to room temp out of the oven, as suggested by the authors of Charcuterie Specialties. I didn't weigh it down right when it came out of the oven, but rather let it cool first. I guess I could try that next time. It was delicious even if it was a bit crumbly in the middle, but the scary part is that I now know how much fat goes into pâtes and terrines! Yikes. regards, trillium

Uh, not love on my part...just saying not all of them are that bad...but it is a fast food joint! regards, trillium

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this here or in the France forum. I made my first serious pâte/terrine recently and I'd appreciate some feedback. I say serious because I tried one years ago from JoC and it was dreadful, and I've done a liver spread out of M. Pepin's book that was fantastic but never went near a terrine. I made a recipe from Saveur's article "Pâte as a Way of Life" or some such title. It involved pig belly, liver, and seasonings. No other binder. The liver was hand minced (by the brave and heroic partner) but I opted to coarsely grind the belly after cubing it and keeping it well chilled. I couldn't bear the thought of that much mincing by hand. I also consulted Charcuterie Specialties because I didn't like how the Saveur recipe had you bake at 375 F the whole time. I opted to go the Charcuterie Specialties route and bake at 375 until the top browns, and then turn down the oven to 190 F. They also have you put a pan of hot water in the oven instead of putting your terrine into a pan of water, which seemed much less fiddly. The only problem was that the top never browned, so I may have kept it at too high temps for too long before I decided to turn down the heat and add the pan of water. Since this pig was one of the fattiest I've worked with, I don't think that the terrine suffered terribly from having a little extra fat render out. So here is what it looked like going into the vessel. I was very annoyed with Saveur (and myself) because most of the recipes in that article result in a 10 c batch, which doesn't fit in the Le Creuset terrine pan that I think would be most common in a home kitchen. No matter, I improvised and used an old enameled cast iron pot that could fit it. Then I tucked it all up and here is what it looked like after baking then it went into the fridge with weights for 3 days. It came out pretty nicely but as you can see, it's a bit crumbly in the middle. That of course, didn't stop us from enjoying it with our home-grown cornichons, good bread and a nice mustardy wild green salad! I felt brave enough to give some to French colleagues, who claim it's as good as anything they've eaten in France, but I'm wondering how much better it could have been. The Charcuterie Specialties book says you must never, ever, use frozen liver because the protein denatures and won't bind the pâte. The American Professional Charcuteries book I also looked at but didn't like as much, sort of encouraged you to freeze the liver to assure yourself that it's as fresh as possible. I didn't really have a choice, the half of pig we bought came frozen, so I went ahead and used frozen liver. My question is if it was the frozen liver or the fact that I didn't hand mince the belly that caused the pate to be a little crumbly in the middle? regards, trillium

I've had Caipirinhas made with lumps of raw, brownish sugar that were fantastic. The caramel and vanilla notes from the rawer sugar complemented the cachaca flavors very well. regards, trillium

Burgervilles tend to vary a lot from place to place, even in the same general location (like Pdx...). Sorry to hear you got a dud. regards, trillium

Just to confuse you further, the "nice" one was formerly sold on QVC. I think that Magefesa just changed styles, and now QVC is carrying the newer models. I don't think you should judge whether or not it's "nice" based on whether or not QVC is selling it. I happened to buy the 8 L and littler one (2 L?) from some guy that was selling QVC salvage (returns mainly) on eBay for I think around $35 bucks (this was at least 5 years ago). Brand new and still in the QVC packaging. regards, trillium

If you can find it, Sciroppo's Orzata is made in the traditional fashion (bitter almond and orange flower (with a touch of vanilla if I had to guess)) and works really well in cocktails. regards, trillium

Did you explain why you wanted the photo? Some people just don't understand food nuts, I guess. regards, trillium

Interesting. All the Cantonese I know say siu yuk, that's where I learned the term. regards, trillium

It doesn't actually require that much patience, but a good strong cleaver and thick chopping block. The problem with leaving the pieces bigger is that the seasoning don't penetrate as well. If you're just not up to chopping, scoring the flesh to the bone helps. regards, trillium

Not true at all. Nitrates are indeed a antimicrobial, and are not just added to prevent discoloration of the meats. They've been used for centuries to prevent growth of bacteria on meats, Clostridium botulinum in particular (botulinum comes from botulus, Latin for sausage). Whether you elect to use it or not, is, of course, your choice, but it should be an informed one. I choose whether or not to use it when I cure meats based mainly on a preference for the taste it imparts (sometimes I want it, sometimes I don't). Since nitrates are present in large amounts in leafy veggie matter, and we've been eating those for even longer than we've been adding nitrates or nitrites to meat products, I tend not to take into consideration any questionable claims about the ill-health resulting from nitrate or nitrite consumption, but just decide based on what I want the final product to taste like, or if I have concerns about microbial growth during the curing. On the pig jowl front, you may have better luck finding them at an Asian grocery store that does it's own hog butchery. You'll pay a lot less too. regards, trillium

I hope you have one of those scoop tools for cookie dough...I use them for portioning meat fillings for dumplings or meat balls and they work really well. I can't imagine doing 80 by hand! regards, trillium

My favorite thing out of the book was the pasta with preserved lemons, capers and tuna confit. It really tastes better than the sum of its parts. It's one of the things she suggest making with leftover or excess raw tuna and she provides a method for seasoning and then cooking the tuna submerged in olive oil over very low heat. I think she also gives a recipe for the preserved lemons, which I didn't use, because I use my own method. I even did the confit with a very lean tuna (albacore) unlike her suggestions, because that is what is abundant and cheaper here. It was great...really great. I also second (or third) the mashed potatoes with buttermilk. Another good one was the beans cooked in the style of sparrows. Anybody done her salted cod? regards, trillium

I'll have to take your word for it. I'm partial to lengua and al pastor over cabeza so I don't order it that often. I know in Chicago they did the steam the head all night deal, but I haven't gone out of my way looking for it here in Pdx. regards, trillium

I hope this doesn't ruin it for you, but tacos de cabeza are usually made from the meat from heads of steers which have been steamed for a really long time. You usually order sesos (brains) seperately though. Gotta love the beef industry. Instead of screening their cattle more carefully they just want to eliminate the bits that if eaten have the highest probability of getting them sued if a mad cow slips through the screening. regards, trillium

How weird. I've been experimenting with a new cocktail for a class I'm giving next month -- it's for a Junior League class, and they've asked for something in along the lines of Cosmopolitans. I saw the Pom Wonderful at the store and thought it was just right. I'm still playing with the exact recipe, but the base is white rum, with lemon (or lime -- can't quite make up my mind) and a splash of triple sec. One version has a touch of orange juice as well. After I get the recipe down (and after the class) I'll post the recipe. But I already have dibs on the name -- it's a Pomeranian. It's kinda funny that everyone is getting back to putting pomegranates in cocktails again (but funny in a good way). Pomegranate juice has played a part in mixing good cocktails for a very long time, it's just recently that what we call grenadine bears little or no resemblance to pomegranates. Since I've had trouble finding a nice dry, pomagranite-based grenadine in the US I've taken to making my own. Here's what I used it in last night. 1.5 oz light rum 1.5 oz sour bergamot orange juice 0.75 oz homemade grenadine 0.5 oz French creme de cacao (you want something not too sweet) Shake over ice, pour into chilled glasses and garnish with a bergamot peel twist. The fragrance and layers of complexity with this drink were amazing. Even if you don't have bergamot sour oranges, I recommend playing around with the pom and cacao together, they really complement each other. If you don't like tart cocktails, you'd want to cut down on the sour orange juice. regards, trillium

Buy one that fits your biggest pot or wok you can use for steaming. You shouldn't have to pay very much for them either. I have a big one you can see in my eGCI course, and then smaller ones that fit on saucpans. I like the big one because pyrex pie plates fit just right inside and their lip prevents spills. I also have a new gadget that is one of those plate grabber things so you can remove the plates from the steamer without tilting them. You don't really need one, but it does make life a little easier. happy cooking, trillium

Brava! Those look good...I wish I hadn't looked before dinner because now I'm super hungry. Thanks for sharing the picture. regards, trillium

Do you know their hours? thanks trillium

Hmmm. A friendly quibble....I would argue that Portland has acceptable Vietnamese food. I'm not sure I'd venture into the realm of incredible. It's good, but not that good. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, I think I'm pickier then Jim, I was underwhelmed with my lunch at Ripe (er..sorry Tommy if you read this...I want something done better then what I can do at home when I go out). I have no idea how things are in NYC, but this is certainly not the best American city I've eaten Vietnamese food in, nor the worst. Ken makes some of the best bread I've eaten, anywhere, including across the pond. I ventured into pate and cornichon making because I knew I had the right bread to eat it with. The other stuff is mostly good (the canneles or the homier stuff like upside-down cakes) but some things (like the éclairs and croissants fer instance) are just not that great. regards, trillium

All good advice, but I have to point out that one person's "tragically limited" parking is another person's "can you believe how abundant and cheap the downtown parking is". This is of course, spoken from the view of someone who doesn't commute and need to be there the whole day, and was used to $20 for three hours in another city. Smart Park rocks for 3 hr visits (0.95/hr) and many shops will validate with a minimum purchase. regards, trillium

That is one of my favorite spots in Rome, you made me hungry to be there. Have you ever tried growing the casalino tomatoes yourself? I've only spotted them once in the US, at the Madison farmer's market. The photo on the cover of Cooking the Roman Way has been taunting me and I'm considering trying to track down seeds for them and puntarelli. regards, trillium

Hmmm. I always assumed it was fresh because it didn't have that tin taste and it spoiled in the refrigerator pretty quickly...I had to use it within 2-3 days or so, and if you went on an off day the water was bubbly, and then I didn't buy any. I can't find anything of the sort here in Portland, so I can't investigate further, but at my favorite SE Asian grocery in Chicago I assumed they were doing the processing themselves or buying from a distributor that did. They tasted somewhere in between what you get in the cans and what you prepare yourself. I suppose it could have been that they were canned and just soaked in a lot of fresh water...or maybe they came from the cryovac type packaging instead of tins. Maybe someone with access can investigate. regards, trillium

If you can't find bamboo fresh, you usually can find it in cryovac packages, which still tastes better then the canned stuff to me. Larger Vietnamese groceries in big cities will frequently have it in different sorts of cuts in tubs of water. I always go for those if they're there, because it gets rid of the peeling and trimming step on the bamboo. regards, trillium

I'd also add to the nice recipe that jo-mel posted that if you can get them, fresh water chestnuts and bamboo are much nicer than canned, and a high grade shaoxing wine (not the "cooking" salted kind!) is preferrable to the sherry, unless of course, you can't find them. Plunk the water chestnuts into water as you peel them, to prevent discoloration. regards, trillium