Nick

I usually just dice the meat and vegetables, put it all in an oiled pan, add a little Worcestershire Sauce, mix and mash to a hash consistency, and flatten out. Cook until nicely-browned. Nothing fancy, but it's good. If anyone's got suggestions for improvements, I'd like to try them.

Yes. Yes. Yay for corned beef hash. Now I'm going to have to go over to my friends' meat shop and get a piece of their excellent (made on site) corned beef. Then I'll cook it with some carrots, turnips (rutabagas), potatoes, and onions along with a bay leaf or two, a few cloves, and many peppercorns. I'll have that for dinner and then I'll freeze some, and then I'll make hash out of the rest. Thanks DTHEASH1 for reminding me to do this! For those of you that haven't cooked corned beef before - it takes 4-5 hours to get tender meat out of a brisket. So simmer it (actually a high simmer or a very very slow boil) for quite awhile with the spices and then add the vegetables toward the end.

No green grass or buds on trees here either. But I haven't been so desperate as to measure daffodils - yet. Now I'm going to have to go out and cast about for signs of daffodils and crocus. But, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

Duck fat. I love duck fat. My favorite is the fat that sticks to the skin after roasting. I saved all the rendered fat from the last duck I roasted thinking I'd just use it for a gravy base for other poultry (with less fat) later on - or just make a gravy to put over pilaf. But now with this thread, I see the possibilties are many.

You have my vote. Same here. And I'd almost drink dishwater than Sam Adams. But, maybe it's gotten better in the ten years since I last tried it..

Here's a link to a photo of what I use. It's not a great photo, but the only one I could find on the net in a quick search. It's a Wusthof "in drawer knife tray" that holds 7 knives, three up to 10" and 4 shorter ones. I really only consistently use six knives. 10" Chef's, 8' carver, 6" flexible boning, 2 1/2" trimmer, and two 3 1/2" paring. All Wusthof Classic. And of those, I just use the Chef's and paring knives everyday. I don't keep it in a drawer. It's at the head of the cutting board and is very handy. Much better than a block to my mind, and easy to clean.

If you're planting lettuce, definitely try some "Buttercrunch." Susie started planting it four or five years ago and neither of us have had such good lettuce. It's a semi-heading variety and many seasons after it bolts in the fall and goes to seed, it comes up the next spring just as fine as ever. Before posting I did a search on it (to make sure it's not too obscure) and came up with this great link.

Robert, Sorry to take so long to get back to this. Today I went looking for Creighton's book - thought I knew just where it was - but, alas, it wasn't where I thought it was. I think Creighton was fairly well respected for his views on French wines and it would have been interesting to post his way of describing them here.

Sounds like you're raising him right.

Robert, This may be a bit too off topic to post, but I thought I'd pass it along. Jim Hightower, the Texas populist, has short commentaries which we hear each day on our community radio station (WERU) and last week he commented on the military research going into using bad odors ("malodors") as weapons. In his commentary he included the following which, when I heard it, reminded me so much of some of the descriptions of wines that we hear and read today. ..... Courageous journalists at the Los Angeles Times sniffed out this story and filed this first hand report: "Bathroom Malodor had a strongly fecal smell, with sharp notes of spoiled eggs and an undertone of rotting rodent." The full story can be found here . On a more serious note, an old family friend, Creighton Churchill, for many years selected and wrote on French wines - this back in the fifties and sixties. I have a copy of his "A notebook for the Wines of France" put away somewhere. I'll see if I can dig it out and post some of his descriptions here.

Dave, I second that. I think you may find your compost getting out of balance. Just to throw something out there..... I think it might be important to feed your compost pile (and yourself) with stuff that's more native to your area. All the worms and little "bugs" have been working on whatever has been available to them locally and lo-and-behold, they have coffee grounds and citrus peels? In a northern climate? It's sort of like trying be a honey bee these days. There you are working on blueberries and clover getting ready for winter and the next thing you know you're in Florida working the crops there.

Sparrow - Try Stuttgarter onion sets. They're a fairly mild onion and keep very well. I've had them keep until the middle of June. In order to get them (or any other onion) to keep well, pull them at the end of the season and then dry them for at least a week. I've done this on decks, low pitch porch roofs (or is it rooves?), and in attics that are hot (on sunny days) in the fall. After they've dried cut the tops off, put them in onion bags, and keep in a cool dry place. As the months go on, sort through the onions once in awhile and remove any that are getting soft and getting ready to rot. Same with the ones that are starting to sprout. I don't know as I'd get potatoes for seed from a grocery store. Hard to tell what you might be getting. Jackal - rub it in. We've still got a foot and a half of snow around here and this morning it was 5 degrees.

Whether you're renting or have your own place you should definitely call a gas repairman tomorrow. In the meanwhile, check to see if some breeze (air current) might have blown out the pilot light. If you're in Canada it's not likely you have any open windows that would do it, but a swinging door could.

If we're going push along on this issue maybe one of the first things to find out is whether the shareholders had taken out substantial life insurance policies on Loiseau. It would have seemed a reasonable precaution in view of his importance to the continuing operation and it's my understanding that this is a common practice in corporations when the CEO is unusally valuable.

I'm not really sure a "respectful period of time" has elapsed. And I agree with Basildog's comment above. It's an interesting question that you've brought up Robert, but it does seem a bit like vultures settling in on the carrion. However, I did go to the website you linked to above .bernard-loiseau and while I cannot read, write, nor speak French, I found moving my cursor around the opening page with all the "e"s following like so many birds a happy distraction to the sad event. Try it.

From the article - " I have no doubt that in conjunction with good teaching, the material in The Professional Chef can turn someone into a competent cook for a mid-level restaurant or country club. But for a home cook, working alone, no." Suzanne, I've got to disagree with you on this one. I'm a home cook and have had the Pro Chef for going on a year now. It has become my favorite cookbook as I stumble my way (hopefully) into better cooking. While much could have been left out - particularly the many pages on identification of cuts of meat, fish, spices, etc. - when you get to page 234, one starts getting down to the nitty-gritty. For those of us that haven't had the opportunity to cook professionally, much can be learned from that page on. For instance, on page 239 a photo is shown of roux at its proper consistancy (in addition to the instructions for making it.) I'd say that photo would be helpful to people that had never made a roux before. Ah yes, you can see the bottom of the pan as you stir it and it gets to its proper consistancy. Then on page 328 we have a photo of broth garnished with julienned vegetables which beneath notes, "Broth garnished with julienne of the right length for the spoon." That's something to think about. And I challenge anyone to make a better corn chowder than what you'll get by following the recipe on page 341. All in all, I have been really happy that I bought the Pro Chef. And I think that while it is a bit disorganized, particularly the index, it's a worthwhile addition to the kitchen of any serious home cook.

Take the eggs out of the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature - this prevents cracking when lowering into boiling water. Bring water to a boil and lower them in. If they're average sized eggs, cook at a slow boil for 10-12 minutes. Pour off the hot water and immediately cover the eggs with cold water. Maybe pour that water off and cover with more cold water (the idea is to cool the eggs rapidly so they peel easily.) Peel right away.

That would be great, Nickn. Thanks. I'll get hold of a couple of friends and we'll see what happens. The friend I'd really like to have get in here doesn't have computer or connection as far as I know. Last I heard he's living in an old bunk house in MT cooking on a one or two burner electric hot plate - when he cooks. I've also heard he's eating stuff out of a can cold. He went to culinary school probably thirty years ago and has followed a wandering path since. But, everyone that's cooked with him or eaten his cooking says he's the best. A couple of months ago he did up a buffalo roast and roasted it in a soapstone wood-fired oven. Since I heard about it here in Maine, I guess it was pretty good. I'll see if Jerry can drag him into town and get him to write something. In the meanwhile, I'll get hold of Marcia Olenych and see if she'll write something. FG - beside making dampers for ovens, I've been designing and making wood-fired stuff since 1975. Been cooking and heating with wood since '68.

Yep, that makes sense. Heat is transfered from warmer to cooler by conduction, convection, and radiation. The use of the skillet to illustrate conduction was good. Heat is just heat when measured by temperature alone. But, there are also qualities to heat. For instance, when you come into a house out of the cold just coming into the warmer air of the house feels good, but if there is a fire going in a stove or fireplace the radiant heat from the fire feels even better. Radiant heat whether warming ones-self or cooking food has a quality that is distinctly different. To this is added the ability of various materials to conduct and/or store heat aside from mass. This why (all other things equal) an oven made of one material will perform differently than that of another material. The same is true of pots and pans.

A couple of days ago I got an Omessi "E-Z-Rol" garlic peeler. It works GREAT! Put a clove (haven't tried it with more than one) in the roll, roll it on the table or cutting board under your palm, and PRESTO... a perfectly peeled clove. More info at Epinion.

No.

The fire in a separate firebox is more easily controlled, particularly if there is a grate allowing under-fire air (and its regulation) as well as over-fire air - and its regulation. These, combined with a good firebox design and construction, good wood, and a good damper pretty much ensure success once you get the hang of it. As far as the temperature in the oven with a separate firebox - that's a different matter. Then it depends on the .......... I give up. I've been doing this for awhile and I just got lost in thought as I began to consider the whole thing. When you attempt to have an efficient transfer of heat from the flue gases to the oven there are lots of variables. It's impossible for me to try to explain here. Also, one has to consider having a good cook top at the same time as having a good oven. Mainly, you try to get an oven that will have as even a temperature as possible throughout. Even then, in the baking of something you'll probably have to take it out and turn it around at some point because some parts of the oven will be hotter than others. In the case of a pie, you'll have to rotate it. You also try for an oven that maintains an even heat with fluctuations in the output of the firebox; but that is responsive if the fire gets too low and has to be built up. (I'm here speaking of say a 2-3 plus hours of cooking time.) Considering all this, it's probably easier to bake or roast in a heavy masonry oven (a "white oven") that you build the fire in - once you get the hang of it. And yes, I think (though I have no direct experience) that it's easier to cook foods requiring progressively lower temperatures in a masonry oven that's been fired from within. The mass is there and you'll have a much slower and subtler decline in temp than in an oven of lighter construction that is separately fired. In looking over some of the recipes and ways of cooking from France and Scandanavia, so much of their present ways are reflections of their past when various things were done as the heat slowly diminished in the mass that surrounded the oven. On my own range, there are times when I'll finish cooking something on the stove top over a "dying fire." If anyone has an interest in learning to cook with masonry ovens that are fired internally, I'll see if I can get one of my friends to write something here.

The high temperature probably does make a difference. But, I think the significant difference comes from the radiant heat that the surrounding masonry provides to what is being cooked. Rather than the food simply being surrounded by air that is of a certain heat, radiant heat is being provided from the fire that has (previously) heated the the surrounding mass. In an oven that is getting it's heat from a gas fire for instance, the air is being heated and from that, the food is cooked. The same could be said for an electric heat source or, for that matter, coal which is being burned outside the oven and is merely heating the air that passes through the oven. I think that it's the flow of radiant heat from a hot surface to the food that makes the difference. The same can be said of cooking in the oven of a wood range where the hot gases are passing by on the outside of the oven, losing their heat to the oven, which in turn provides radiant heat from its surfaces to that which is being cooked inside.

I lived in Royalton back in '71 and there was a pretty decent farm supply and feed store in S. Royalton. That and Vermont Law School were about it back then. But, I'm sure it's changed. Seriously, I-89 is right there and it's not far to Woodstock, Norwich, and Hanover (NH) where some good places to eat can be found. Also, for food shopping, there's the Hanover Coop.

"The dining room, with its original plank floors, post and beam construction, and expansive glass windows, overlooks a panorama of dense woods, manicured lawns, and delightful flower, herb and vegetable gardens." It's not even on the water! Considering the menu and the prices there must be some place closer to you, that doesn't entail a six or seven hour drive, with the same country ambiance and a similar menu (and prices.) But, if your mother really wants to go..........