Dave the Cook

Check out Calvin Trillin's Tummy Trilogy. His love for the food of this region is great and apparent; you'll find a number of recommendations.

St. Julia recommends a Crock-Pot. (Actually, so do I, but her advice probably carries a little more weight.)

Such as it is: http://www.mixny.com The Alain Ducasse site doesn't even mention Mix, and barely notes the existence of Spoon.

What have you got to lose? Before throwing it out, try slowly browning two tablespoons tomato paste with one packed tablespoon dark brown sugar (non-stick pan highly recommended). Add the mixture to the stock, starting with a half-teaspoon per quart. After each addition, let it simmer for five or ten minutes to make sure it's thoroughly blended, then taste to see if it's worth proceeding.

Congratulations, Fay Jai. Despite our efforts to confuse you thoroughly, you managed to make something delicious. A couple of clarifications: - I think that Tommy meant for you to roast the shoulder after stuffing. Doesn't really matter, since you were happy with the results. We missed the "rolled" part of your description. If you've got a rolled roast, you can just unroll it (like you did), spread the stuffing on the inside, then roll back up and re-tie. (By all means, get some kitchen twine, or even plain old cotton string.) - There's no need to brine if you're using moist heat; in fact, the brine is one of the reasons you ended up with so much liquid. - Brown the meat for flavor, not for hygiene (I don't know what CI was talking about). Any nasties that might be present will die after a few minutes at 160 F. Whether you use dry or moist heat, the surface of the meat (and that's the part you're worried about, since the interior of muscle meat is virtually sterile) will reach that within a few minutes of cooking. But browning invokes Maillard reactions -- the source of lots of yummy things. - I always wash veggies, and that includes fresh herbs. You might not use pesticides on your plants, but they still pick up dust and even little tiny bugs. Sage, with its fuzzy leaves, must be particularly susceptible, IMO. If you dry them thoroughly, they won't stick to your knife when you chop them. Again, congratulations -- and I hope you don't find all this condescending. Maybe you know most of it already, and if you do, my apologies. If you don't, you'll find no shortage of folks around here willing to offer advice, whether you ask for it or not!

Is there a middle way? Could you brine your beans instead of soaking in plain water?

Mine haven't, though I keep expecting them to. Maybe you just need to stay away from LC, fifi.

I love those things, especially the garlic one and the bell pepper (in green or red!) And for looks, if not utility, I think this is the coolest-looking grill pan on the market. LC has really had their design department in high gear the last few years.

For a grill pan, I don't think it makes sense even on the outside. Something that's heated to extremes is likely to run into differing expansion rates between the materials, isn't it? Is that what you're suggesting? It seems doomed to failure, and I think that's what happened to your pan. Then again, I'm on record elsewhere as saying that grill pans are for tourists . . . Regardless, I think Mottmott's right, some adjustment is in order.

How old is this pan, fifi? I'm wondering if the cracking on your pan was common, and they subsequently switched to the nekkid iron PoorLawyer saw because of it. The thing is, an enameled grill pan really doesn't make a lot of sense to me, especially the way people around here use grill pans -- it's contrary to LC's "nothing higher than medium heat" philosophy.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should add that the deal was that the loser had to wear a dress, but I hadn't packed one, and none of Sam's would fit me. Also: Sam wore nice shoes, but they were untied.

The really funny thing about this is that it's true. I was there. Good, because I'm wearing tennis shoes. And I have to ask about the ladies' jacket: why, Dave, why? Sam won the bet.

Hell, they let me in wearing tennis shoes, a black fedora and a ladies' jacket.

See? I told you he knew what he was talking about.

In that case, go back to your original post. This is a good cut for slow cooking. I would only make two suggestions: add some spice and herbage, and maybe some garlic to the braising liquid; brown it on the stovetop rather than in the oven. Alternatively, you could do Nigella's Shoulder.

. . . or even Jiffy buttermilk biscuit mix . . .

Just out of curiosity, Suzanne, what's your floor made of? Some cleaning agents might not be too friendly to certain materials.

I just throw down more sawdust.

The gravy's prettier on the top, but more practical, and ultimately more satisfying, on the side.

Looks great, fifi. So: brine first, then the spice rub/mojo thing? BTW, 137 F is the magic number for pork -- not for doneness, but for killing trichinae (if you're worried about it).

Not much fat, and not much soluble connective tissue, so it's not really a good candidate for braising. Definitely brine it if you've got the time, then as tommy suggests (don't let him fool you, he knows what he's talking about). Don't overcook it.

That's not entirely true, Holly. You also have to have something for all the crispy bits to hang onto. Really folks, despite its prominence in the name, steak plays a supporting role in the dish.

OK, but then it relates back to just two things, I think: the type of bean, and the age of the bean. Is that right? With experience, we can handle the first. As for the second, we are at the mercy of processors and packagers. Weathering the curious glances of fellow shoppers, I spent some time (an amount, I suspect, that only an eGull would find reasonable) examining bean packages. Most of them did have expiration dates -- including quite a few outdated specimens at Whole Foods -- though they're not easy to find. The smallest (read: boutique) packagers had no dates. The imported brands had straightforward, "Best if used by - - - " nomenclature. The largest brands, meaning Goya and the store labels, used a simple code that employed the day of the year (1 through 365); then a character or two that might be the plant where they were packed, or might be a letter designation for a year; and finally, what was apparently the expiration year. (I have a real example, but I left it at home.) Actually, it's very similar to the code used on fresh eggs. It would be nice if we could simply buy the beans with the most distant expiry, but that depends on the policy of the packer. Beans that expire in January '05 sound good, unless the packer thinks that 18 months is a reasonable shelf life -- they would have been packed in June or July of '03. In that case, a bag of December 04's from a more perspicacious 12-month packer might be more pleasing.

Hmmm. fifi's observation, "typical uncoated iron on the top edge just like on the ovens." along with PoorLawyer's, might be a clue. According to LC, that's not uncoated iron (I thought it was, too). In the section of their site titled "Manufacturing Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron," they say: Maybe the inside of the grill is simply the ground coat without the finish coat?

fifi, I don't read that page as definitive regarding what, if anything, is inside the pan. What they say could easily apply only to the exterior (trust me, I make part of my living out of writing disingenuous and ambiguous crap like this). This is what confuses me: This sounds like seasoning. Since they don't call for seasoning of the rest of their stuff, and enamel is not porous (that's sort of the point of it, isn't it?), why do this, if you're not dealing with nekkid iron?