Nick

Other than the daily tablespoon of cod liver oil I had to take when I was young, I remember at around eight or nine going with my parents to a really neat small restaurant somewhere not far from where we lived in NH. Dining was in small private rooms and there was a small, rushing mountain stream that was next to the restaurant and could be seen from the windows in our room. My parents ordered the roast duck with orange sauce. Even though it is now fifty plus years later I remember how good it was. A few years later we were at the summer place of a friend on Grindstone Island, in the middle of the St. Lawrence (Thousand Islands.) Creighton was a superb cook and one night roasted several pheasants. I can't remember the taste from that young age - all I can remember is that I've never had birds done so well. I guess from this one could gather that I gained an appreciation for roasted poultry early on.

We've been having a lot of threads and posts on cookbooks and I got to wondering where people go on the net to find what they're looking for when the "right" recipe isn't in one of the cookbooks you have. If it's not too much trouble, post a link(s) to your favortite site(s).

Great stories, Bratt. Keep'em coming!

I've been using Colavita for a couple of years. It's the best that's on the shelves of the supermarkets here in Maine. I've been using Lucini for better stuff as that's available at a speciality place. I use EVOO for everything except fat frying - use canola for that.

Here's the pic of the sink, finally. The specs are in my last post above. The Moen faucet's stock number is 7385C (*005) in case you want to check one out. The proportions of the sink in the pic didn't come out quite right so I put an oven rack in to give an idea of its size. That's one of the many great things about this sink - soaking oven (or refrigerator) racks. Same with the stove drip pans. That's my hand pump off to the right. I wouldn't be with out it. Fresh cold water right from the well whenever you want it. There's nothing like a glass of cold, fresh water on a hot summer day. Also very handy during power outages.

It might be easier to tear out the whole kitchen and start fresh.

Fortunately, I had a really good carpenter working with me when we put in the kitchen in my (still) unfinished new house last summer. The sheetrock was already up and what he did to mount the wall cabinets was to cut a piece out the sheetrock - about 4" high and nearly as long as the cabinets. He then cut a piece of 1/2" plywood that fit the hole and screwed that to the studs. Then the cabinets were screwed into the plywood, hitting the studs where possible and just the plywood where the ends of the cabinets were between studs. It works!

Hate to say it, but even if you offered me a 30% return, I'd say the same as now. Good luck.

Varmint, the Amana gas range I got last fall has self-cleaning and it works okay. I just used it today. I'm sure you're looking for something a little bigger and more high end than an Amana, but the one I got works pretty good considering the price. If an Amana has a gas self-cleaning oven it would seem that some of the higher end models would also have that feature. Even though this thing I have has a self cleaning oven, I've lately taken to roasting at a lower temp. The results have been good. Awhile back I noticed the rage was roasting chicken at high temps (400-450) and tried it. The smoke just poured out of the oven and fat splattered all over the inside of the oven. I really didn't think the taste was worth the mess. Cooked a duck a little while ago at 325 and it came out great. The skin wasn't as crispy as I like, but the meat was perfect and the oven was clean. I took the skin with the underlying fat (fat-side down) and fried it starting slow and then raising the temp. Heavenly. I'm getting into roasting at lower temps for longer. Maybe brown first and then lower temp. I did that with a small boneless pork loin last week. Started at 450 and then kept lowering temp until finally at around 325. No splattering and it came out browned and exceptionally moist. Just some ideas.

" Business and Alcohol, Do they mix?" Generally, I'd say no. If it's a first time get together, it's fine if all agree. When it gets down to the nuts and bolts of a deal it's better to be absolutely straight. It's better if everyone, including yourself, be very clear about what's going on - and perhaps more important that everyone be able to fully recollect what was said, and when, later on. Some people can't handle even a little alcohol and you don't want that messing things up.

I generally use recipes as a starting point, sometimes sticking fairly close, and sometimes thinking it needs more of "this" or less of "that." The only recipe I can think of that I followed exactly was a couple of years ago when I wanted to make corn chowder. I'd never made it before and I followed the recipe in the Pro Chef exactly, including weighing all the ingredients. It was the best corn chowder I'd ever had and all the people I gave some to thought the same. I still make it by that recipe. More recently I roasted a leg of lamb for Thanksgiving and pretty much followed Judy Rodgers' recipe from Zuni Cafe, including the corkscrew boning technique. I highly recommend it.

Bond Girl, I've got to agree with Bux. I've been in business for over thirty years and I can't imagine taking on the debt and responsibilties on the scale you're proposing without having any experience other than being able to write a business plan. But, I guess the test will come when you try to get some investors. If they want to go for it, what the hell. Give it a ride.

Good editorial from the NYT - Click here.

When's the count down begin so we can track it? My little interior improvement last summer was going to take a month. Then I'd think, well while we're at it we might as well.... Two and a half months later I moved back in.

I was refering to US slaughterhouses, but you're right, we're obviously not going to pay for USDA inspectors in other countries.

To the best of my knowledge, the USDA inspector is paid by the government.

Since these are also banned in the US, it could be a conspiracy to keep North American consumers from tasting a chicken that's been raised right. If French slaughtering practices are a problem, Georges Blanc could just bring along a few live ones and slaughter them in Canada.

Somehow, "...it will most likely affect only animals 30 months and older." is a little confusing. Does this regulation have a time limit intended only to catch older animals from before feed regulations went into effect, or will this go on for years in a way that somehow doesn't make sense? At least to me.

It must have not been cooked well, or was a poor cut. Years ago a friend gave me a piece of a black bear he'd shot. I put it in a marinade of wine vinegar, olive oil, onion, garlic, and S&P. Roasted it the next night and it was tender and DELICIOUS! One of the best meats I've ever had.

Maybe you could tell us how you lifted the top half of the skulls off the live monkeys.

J - Which side of the mountains do you live on?

And actually, maybe we've run this into the ground for all it's worth. Factory chicken anyone?

As far as Canadian regs concerning specified risk materials go, I talked to the Acting Provincial Vet for Alberta, who told me this: The definition of oxtail varies, i.e. how far up the spine does it go? The Canadian SRM regs exclude spinal column from cattle more than 30 months of age. Oxtail from low risk cattle--that, is cattle less than 30 months of age--is still okay for human consumption. I'm not sure how this measures up with the SRM regs in the U.S., especially in regard to the spinal column/oxtail seperation. I guess it'll be one of those things that gets decided as they go along. EDIT: Crap, I forgot the most important part. She said that if you see it in the supermarket/butcher shop/etc. and it's from an inspected facility (and honestly, what isn't?), then it has been approved for human consumption. Disclosure: I work for the communications branch of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. I think there are plenty of small slaughterhouses across the US that have no inspection. They're generally in small towns and/or on back roads. Their stuff probably doesn't get too far into the distribution chain though. Fulton's shop is small. They can kill, split, and hang around 10-12 cattle a day. Or 25-30 lambs. Pigs somewhere in between. Even though it's a small shop, a USDA inspector, a good one, is present five days a week. Maybe that's the key - "a good one." There are USDA inspectors, and there are USDA inspectors. This one takes his job seriously and Fulton wouldn't have it any other way. There's another shop not far away (where I've had chickens killed) and the attitude there is by no means as rigorous as at Fultons. At Fulton's you could literally eat off the floor of the cutting (butchering) room. At the other place you'd probably want to wash off your boots when you left. Both are USDA inspected.

Frozen french fries for export have been hit as well.

John, your link goes to an NYT membership page. The link below goes to the Schlosser article, which is well worth reading. Schlosser.