Nick

Does anyone know of any chefs/restaurants that are openly serving anything that's been irradiated? Is it running a close second to free range, grass-fed, etc.?

If the packing/slaughter houses would slow down their lines and do ecoli testing there would probably be no need for irradiation. The mindset seems to be - run it through and we'll clean it up later with the nukes. Pretty sorry state of affairs. I wonder how much extra per pound meat would be if they'd slow down the lines - leading to a cleaner environment and and better conditions for the workers. My friends' local slaughter house/meat shop has no ecoli problems (and they test for it.) As far as whether irradiation is safe or not - remember when above ground nuclear bomb testing at the Nevada flats was considered safe? If money's at stake and you've got some scientists and PR people in your corner (pocket?), go for it.

I didn't read the first two pages of this thread so maybe this has already been covered. If not, how do you feel American bread, from small "astisanal" bakeries, compares to that of France or Italy?

Huevos, Thanks for taking the time to write that. Looks like we're about the same age and I've had some times, but not that one. My aunt spent some time in Labrador back in the late forties, early fifties and said the sled dogs (tied up) would get so hungry sometimes they would have eaten a person if they got half a chance. Did you really go twenty miles off-shore in a 14' skiff? That's quite aways. You must have really had some trust in the grandfather.

I never heard of it until I got on the internet. One time though I did get pissed at a cow that was acting up and threw her to the ground. Later on, I felt bad that I'd done it because most of the time she was pretty good.

Y'all must have run into a herd of Holsteins (the black and white ones) or maybe Brown Swiss (the tan ones) - if we're talking about milking critters. When I was a kid, to get to one of our favorite swimming holes we had to go through a fence and and cross a field to get there. Probably a hundred yards. Even if all the cattle (Holsteins) were up at one end of the pasture, we'd run. A couple of those cattle loved to chase down kids and once they started after us, the rest of the crew would follow. Thundering hooves. Eight or nine hundred pounds apiece chasing down us sixty to seventy pound fair game. It was when farmers started getting Holsteins for their greater milk production that this happened. Jerseys and Gurnseys were much more peaceful.

Lima Beans Lima Beans Lima Beans Lima Beans And baked salmon ring that my mother made from canned salmon. Yuk! Other than that, my mother was a great cook and I liked most everything. Also, my sister and I could not leave the table until we'd finished everything - including the creamed lima beans.

If I'm ever lucky enough to come across some I will. The flowers are so pretty.

Is this to say that someone at Denny's is earning pay similar to someone at an upscale joint?

I have a subscription to F&W and some issues are interesting. But, a lot the stuff is like re-treading a tire. As I remember, my mother was getting Gourmet back in the fifties when I was pretty young and maybe it was from that that I learned there was more to cooking and serving than just traditional fare. I looked at an issue of Gourmet a year or so ago and it was a far cry from the issues my mother was getting. As others have pointed out, there is way too much advertising in the cooking magazines of today. And, most of it has nothing to do with cooking. Some good cookbooks and what's happening here are enough for me.

Papaver Somniferum?

Hopleaf, Sorry to take so long getting back to you - the thread disappeared for awhile. I bought an old place years ago that had hops growing out back. They were really pretty and the hops were coming along nicely until maybe late July of August and then they went brown. Don't know the cause and sold the place the next year. So that's the limit of my hop experience. There must be tons of info on the net.

Jaz, You've made two of the most thoughtful posts on cooking since I've been here. I've been sitting here staring at your last post where you came to the cabbage salad and braised beef part. That is such a good idea keeping the winter together. I'm thinking of serving the braised beef on a bed of (or next to) bright winter squash. Thanks.

From my very limited experience in dining - I think that the restaurateur can be as crucial as the chef to the success of the restaurant and to the customers' dining enjoyment. All things being equal. The restaurateur can overcome the shortcomings and lack of imagination of the chef so long as the food is at least very good and the dining experience one that is truly enjoyable and one that will be remembered. I'd much rather go out to eat where a good restaurateur is seeing that the dining experience is all that it can be, while the chef stays in the kitchen seeing that the food is all that it can be. When the chef starts making the rounds out front I always have the feeling that he/she should be back in the kitchen taking care of business rather than talking with (for instance) me. On the other hand, it's almost always been a great pleasure when the restaurateur sits down at the table and we've had a great and wandering conversation covering topics ranging far from food and how well the place is doing.

I could have sworn that my second cousin Charles told me his mother ate only Belted Galloway beef and Hampshire pork.

Torpor? Part of its definition includes, ".. partial or total insensibility." Doesn't that describe NYC?

Get hold of your county extention agent's office - part of your state agriculture department - and see if they have suggestions. Also try to find out if you have any CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) in your area.

These are also my choices and I also use the 10" for bread. And also feel that the 8" no longer quite "cuts" it. Yesterday I was talking with a good customer and he brought up the Wusthof 8" Chefs and 3 1/2" parer I'd sent him, and said how much he liked the Chef's knife (he mentioned he even just liked to take it out and hold it because it had such nice balance.) That's the way I felt when I got my first Wusthof 8", but I had to tell him I'd moved on to the 10". As I said, "You can do some serious work with the 10 inch." I also put my 8" carving knife to work fairly often (nothing beats it for slicing and dicing salt pork among other things). Last year I gave Susie a set of Wusthof and when I'm at her place I've found that I really like the 4 1/2" utility knife.

How did you go about choosing your pits/smokers before you opened? Was there equipment that fit your needs as built, or did you have to have it custom designed and built? Are you happy with it? Thanks, Nick

I think Nickg has summed up things as well as anyone can. Time for the fridge for this topic?

Maybe we could get a little side-tracked and deal with the question of, ""the guests are more important than the food."?

No. This has become a ridiculous thread. If Mario could settle things once and for all, perhaps we wouldn't be so distracted by all this.

Because it's about some joint in NYC that makes skinny pizzas.

First of all, for early sowing, think about the weather (what it's going to be like after planting) and what the soil conditions are. Has it (the soil) warmed up enough for the seeds to germinate? Is it still too wet and the seeds will rot in the ground? Will there be a frost after the seedlings have come up and will they be able to take it? Also, before planting, take note of the depth at which to plant the seeds. And special preparation for some areas for certain vegetables. For instance, where you plant your squash seeds (in a hill) you should dig out a hole and then mix well-rotted cow manure and compost with the soil and fill the hole back in. When you plant the squash seeds, don't plant them too deep and plant them "standing up" with the pointy end down. This is the end the roots come out of. Notice what you're doing so you'll remember what you've done the first year when you go to plant the second year. I've most of the time made a sketch of the garden each year showing where each thing was planted and the date of planting. But, most of all, when you're just getting started - have fun. Remember, when all those little plants are coming up, the weeds will be coming right along with them and then the work begins.

I just got done finishing off the pickled eggs and they're sitting in the wood shed cooling off. First of all, I found out there is no truth to old eggs peel easier than fresh eggs. I took 6 really fresh eggs and 8 two week old eggs and before I knew it I had them all mixed up so there was no hope of differentiating them before boiling. So I cooked them all together figuring if 6 peeled hard and 8 peeled easy, there we'd have it. I took the eggs out of the fridge ahead of time so they were warmed to room temp all the way through before cooking (as I usually do.) Then, I brought water to a light boil and lowered all the eggs into the water, turned down the heat, and gently cooked them for 10-12 minutes. (I don't have a timer, but do have an old [Roman numerals] French mantle clock on top of a bookcase which works pretty well.) When they were done I drained the water out of the pot (All-Clad 4 qt.) and immediately covered the eggs with cold water (fresh out of the hand pump at 45F). Drained that water out (residual heat in the All-Clad) and recovered the eggs with fresh water. Then I "shucked" them. The first egg peeled as nice as could be. Second the same, and then the third. By now I figured I was home free. I couldn't have gotten three "old" eggs in a row. Sure enough, every one of them peeled perfectly. So, I think the main thing is, as soon as your eggs are done, cool them down and peel immediately. Now, I'm exhausted from writing so much and will leave the actual pickling of the eggs for later. Jinmyo asked a question about corn chowder over on the "dinner" thread so I'll try to do that. Nick