kayb

H'mm. Methinks it's Japan...that appears to be a bullet train....Might it perhaps be Blether?

Can't say I'd miss any of the above. I drink Yuengling Lager when I can get it (I have to bootleg it from Tennessee, the nearest sales point). I like 1554, from the New Belgium brewers. I like Belgian trippels, and some IPAs, long as they're not too hoppy. And Red Stripe is a reasonably decent supermarket beer. I would note I was drinking Dos Equis well before the "most interesting man," and I tend to like the darker Mexican beers -- Negra Modelo, particularly. I like Bohemia as well. When I was in Japan I loved draft Sapporo, but it's not the same here; if I'm in a notion for Japanese beer, it's generally Kirin Ichiban. Oh, and Kingfisher with Indian food.

Kim, I didn't really have a recipe. Sauteed half an onion, some garlic, about 3 or 4 carrots. Threw in a pound of grass-fed ground beef and browned it. Added a little salt and pepper, a little fresh rosemary. Added a splash of red wine out of the glass I was drinking and some beef broth. Let that cook down while I mashed the potatos, some Yukon Golds I'd peeled, cut in chunks and boiled with seasoned salt. Mashed those with butter and a little heavy cream, put in a big plastic bag. Stirred a single serve packet of frozen green peas. Put the ground beef mixture in a pie plate, cut off the corner of the bag and piped the potatos on top, then smoothed them out and baked it. Easy, relatively quick, teenaged son loves it. Me, I'd put some cheese in the potatos, but he disapproves. Go figger.

So what's the character that's cut as a vent into the pie crust? Looks luscious, btw.

Keith W, how does one get on your guest list? Nolnacs, enjoying your blog, though it makes me sad; I was scheduled to be on a plane right NOW headed for Philadelphia, and the Reading Terminal Market was certainly on my list of places to go while I was there. I had to cancel my trip, so I'll enjoy vicariously through your blog. Last night, I made a Sichuan stirfry with zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, carrots, peas and turkey meatballs I'd made and baked earlier. It was awful. Actually, the veggies were pretty good but the meatballs, in which I had used five-spice powder because I thought it would be good, were miserable. We ate the carryout Gyoza and sushi from the Japanese restaurant down the street we'd picked up to go with it. Earlier in the week, and it's a terrible photo, but not reflective of how good the food was, I wanted German comfort food, so I made Austrian red cabbage, German potato salad and bratwurst in mustard cream sauce. It was marvelous. One night this week, it was a shepherd's pie, because the teenaged son had requested it. And last weekend, which I never got around to posting, it was flank steak, chipotle fried corn, zucchini with barley stuffing, and potato skins.

My daughter, now 25, has celiac disease, diagnosed about four years ago. She had had a number of unexplained ailments for some time, including severe gall bladder dysfunction that necessitated removal at age 19 (she weighed 105, was an athlete, had never had a child, i.e., none of the risk factors for gall bladder probs at the time). She had a thyroid problem and had to take supplemental whatever-it-is the thyroid produces. She was extremely anemic -- oral iron supplements did no good, and she had to have IV iron infusions every six months (most people who have to have them find one every two years is enough). She had a great deal of stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. We were at our wits' end trying to figure out what was wrong. We finally went to ANOTHER hematologist, who did the standard blood work, called us in, and told us,"You need to go to a GI specialist, but I'll bet you $100 you're gluten intolerant and have celiac disease." We looked at each other quizzically, because we'd never heard of it. But she had an upper GI which confirmed the guess, and she's been gluten free ever since. It's not a real hardship for her, as she's never been a sandwich person, and she's adapted to GF pizza crust and pasta. She loves vegetables and fruit, and that's 75 percent of her diet, anyway. Now they have a six-month-old and their pediatrician has advised them to feed her GF foods only for the first year, until it's a little easier to watch and see if she has any ill effects from gluten introduced gradually, in small amounts. Her husband is vegan. Cooking dinner for them can be entertaining.

I pride myself on my French toast, and I'm a proponent of the "simpler is better" method. I use challah, heavy cream and eggs. Period. I beat about three eggs in with about 1/2 to 2/3 cup cream in a wide, shallow bowl; slice the challah between 3/4 and an inch thick; lay a slice in the bowl, press it gently all over the surface with the back of a fork, flip it over, repeat the process, and fry it in butter on a medium-hot griddle. If there is anything any better, I don't think I could stand it. I have also discovered I can do the entire loaf on a weekend, put the leftover slices in plastic bags, and the teenaged son can reheat them in the toaster oven through the week.

Jarred maraschino cherries. Straight out of the jar. With a fork.

Just caught up on the blog -- fascinating! Have always wanted to try nopales. Perhaps the salad prep you showed will be my entry point!

I read her blog and enjoy it, but don't watch much FN any more so I likely won't watch her show. I enjoy the "homey-ness" of the blog, and don't really care whether it's fake or not -- I also love mystery thrillers, and they have nothing to do with fact. That said, sometimes I do tend to roll my eyes at the cutesy factor. I've used some of her recipes that I liked, some that I didn't. But there was one recipe for a cherry pudding cake that is an ABSOLUTE keeper and a great quick dessert when you weren't expecting guests, long as you have a can of pie cherries in your pantry!

Suzi, so sorry your birthday dinner was a bust, but I am so happy that your birthday resolutions over the years have turned out positively! For my birthday, I generally cook something I've never made or had, and have been wanting to try. If it's not good, I go out! At work, we have a tradition of picking what kind of cake or pie we want -- as my birthday is at the height of strawberry season, I always pick a strawberry pie or fresh strawberry cake. My kids always get what they want on their birthday, and it's generally the same thing each year. The eldest gets Italian roast chicken and zucchini fritters. The middle child gets red beans and rice. The youngest -- the low maintenance one -- gets chicken pot pie. My new adopted teenaged son gets flank steak or burgers.

Oh, my! Been gone most of August and have neither cooked nor read blogs, so the holiday is a great catch-up for that. mgaretz: That char siu is the first thing I've seen that really makes me wish I had a sous vide set-up. I wonder if I could conduct an experiment and see what temps I get in my slow-cooker.... Genkinonna: The cheddar bacon fritters are enough to make me get over my hatred of deep-frying at home. I see them in our future. Thanks for posting the recipe link. Kim: I have little interest in NFL football and less in fantasy football, but I'd join up just to share that repast. Tell me more about the pintos with chowchow -- cooked with it, served with it, or what? Paul Bacino: Gorgeous caprese; I've been eating a lot of those all summer as well. Is that a cucumber second from top, or just a very coolly colored heirloom? dcarch: Pollock by Pollock is abso-freakin'-lutely genius. You should have those printed and sold in culinary stores. What were the sauces? Norm Matthews: I'm going to try tomatos like that next weekend. It's a mission. Rhonda: Great crab boil. Do you prefer Zatarains brand over Louisiana brand? I've always liked Louisiana better for shrimp, not sure why. David Ross: Beautiful monkfish. Had never thought of it with the Provencal relish. Marvelous idea. In my fridge marinating is a chipotle-honey-garlic flank steak, recipe in this week's NY Times. I'll update with photos later if it's decent. Glad to be home for an eight-week stretch!

Bumping this thread up a notch -- any new recommendations? I have time for three dinners and one lunch in Asheville next week (one is a Monday night). All the recommendations on this page look excellent, except it appears La Caterina Trattoria is closed. I'm thinking Zambra is a must, given my love of Spanish food. Anything new I cannot miss?

Got it! Thanks!

Percyn, I believe that's the finest use to which I've ever seen a leftover crab cake put. It'd be worth making too many, for leftovers the next day. Rhonda, I can't place the restaurant but will most assuredly hunt for it when I'm next there. Where is it from Cafe DuMonde and TuJacques? RobirdsTX, a breakfast taco like that would NOT make me miss the tortilla! Here on the hillside, it was fried cheese grits, an over easy egg, a yeast roll with bacon jam, and a slice of fresh tomato. New batch of bacon jam. I think I got it too sweet. Got to figure out how to add more bacon, I guess, and tone down the sweet. Last weekend,which I never posted, I made cheese biscuits and had the last of the old batch of bacon jam.

Way to go! I'm telling you, I have no idea why the east side of Aisle 9 at Price Chopper doesn't go....ketchup, mustard, relish, BACON JAM, mayo...... this stuff just makes sense as a part of daily life. It sounds decadent, and it is, but you render way more fat out of the bacon than if you were just to fry and eat it. Plus, a little bit goes a LONG way. Total healthy food, lol! Welcome to The Matrix.....you just shifted your reality by making that stuff. I'm telling you. Bacon jam is the duct tape that holds my world together. Try it on a cheese biscuit. Put it on a grilled pork chop or burger. Spread it on a waffle. Eat it on crackers! Kim, glad you liked it. I've been hitting mine pretty heavy of late.

Sigh. I wanna GO!

Warm! I just scoop out what I want to use, put it on what I want to use it on, and run it in the toaster or the microwave. Or you can microwave enough to serve in a container. You don't need it really warm, just enought take the chill off and make it pliable. Let me know what you think. I'll be anxious to hear.

First, I'd peel 'em and salt 'em and let them sit for a half-hour or so, and then rinse off the salt and pat them dry. Then you're ready to try any number of other preparations. I'm of a mind to try Sichuan eggplant, for which I found a recipe recently that looked quite marvelous. If you want to cover it up a bit, do an eggplant cassesrole: Roast your slices of eggplant until they're quite soft. Cut them in chunks. Or cut them in chunks to roast them. Make a bechamel. Put the eggplant and lots of cheese in it. Saute some onions. Throw in whatever else strikes your fancy -- peppers, etc. -- including some Italian bread crumbs. Stir it all up. Sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top and bake it. Call it a gratin, if it makes you feel better. If you still can't abide it, trade it with your neighbors or fellow CSA-ers for something you love that they can't abide. K.

RRO, it's easy enough to have proper pulled pork. My tutorial is here. If you don't have access to a grill on which you can achieve indirect heat, you can achieve a similar result in a low oven (maybe 275) on a rack in a roasting pan. I swear, you'll think you're in Memphis.

Bruce, do you mind sharing your recipe for rendang? I tried to make it once, but not knowing how it was supposed to come out, I didn't do it right. It tasted OK, but it certainly didn't look like yours. dcarch, love the plate, as always. You are such an artist!

Not a cocktail master (wish I was, reading what you folks are drinking). But I often have a drink at home alone, well, except for the sixteen-year-old who is, y'know, not a drinker. Thankfully. Usually it's a Ketel One dirty martini in the summer; a single malt Scotch with two ice cubes, in the winter; if it's really cold, coffee with Bailey's, Jameson's and a grating of good semi-sweet chocolate. Or a glass of red wine, anytime. I'm currently favoring Menage a Trois blended red for my sipping wine.

Leftover pulled pork barbecue, atop a split, buttered and toasted yeast roll, topped with scrambled eggs and a sprinkle of barbecue dry rub. I prefer my eggs over easy, but I broke a yolk (my current supplier of farm eggs for some reason has eggs with REALLY delicate yolks!), so I scrambled 'em.

Wait a minute -- a hot air popcorn popper to roast coffee beans? You can DO that? Where have I been? I need details. And I think my coffee life is about to kick up into another gear. Loved the intro. Gonzo food blogging is a wonderful thing. Anxious to follow you this week!

PC, that is possibly the most artistically condimented (I don't think that's a word, but you get my drift) burger bun I've ever seen! Great looking dinners. SobaAddict, I'm going to make some ricotta gnocchi soon. Made some once with gluten-free flour for my gluten-intolerant daughter; it wasn't bad, but a bit heavy. I think perhaps my ricotta wasn't drained enough, and thus took too much flour. Do you boil before you saute? RRO, a Mexican restaurant here roasts peppers like that and puts them out on the counter as a "help yourself" item. Shameful admission -- I love 'em with queso. Last night, we had steak, which I had cooked a bit overdone; still trying to get used to the new gas grill; grilled yellow squash brushed with truffle oil and sprinkled with sea salt; and a baked sweet potato puree with honey chipotle butter and smoked Gouda. Headed out tomorrow to Tampa for five days, so hoping for some excellent Cuban fare while I'm there.