guajolote

How did yours turn out Dave? Was it too soupy like mine? I followed the recipe pretty closely.

Saute some chopped chorizo, onions, and garlic in a little olive oil. Add a cup of white wine and bring to a boil. After the wine has reduced by half add a couple of pounds of clams or mussels and steam them until they are open. Add a little more olive oil and some parsley at the end and serve with some good bread. Eric Ripert's A return to cooking has lots of recipes which use chorizo.

I will bring a staple gun to tack down any up-turned collars. Thank you Fresser. A turned up collar smells of out east, or at least East Grand Rapids . Now if just a part of the collar is turned up it means you are a slob and will fit right in.

Hmm, I think I see what you're saying and you may be right Chef Fowke. At least we can all agree that tying the bird up like a bowling ball doesn't work. You should take a picture and then we can have Dave do a science experiment.

The VD stew was very good. I had to shorten Dave's cooking times a bit because the family was yelling for dinner. I definately thought the rabbit in the stew tasted better than the chicken, which had most of its flavor cooked out. I also had to season quite a bit at the end, I added about 1.5 Tbs salt and two tsp. of black pepper. After tasting the finished version I added about 2 Tbs. of Sriacha to my bowl, which really made it good, although not too Southern. I served this meal with fresh made biscuits, tomatoes with alst and pepper, and watermelon. Here's how it looked: Many thanks to my sous chef who cleaned the lee-ma beans and the corn, and made the biscuits:

OK, I haven't set up the energy balance differential equation to examine the thermodynamics of this thing but: 1) The thigh takes the longest to cook 2) Trussing the bird decreases the surface area of the thigh/leg. How could trussing it make it cook more evenly? Please offer some scientific explanation, not heresay.

Are giblets the liver, gizzard, and heart? My buther have me the giblets from about 8 different chicken because he knows I like them. I can't imagine that chicken liver in a dish like this would be a bad thing.

I think it's time for some rum now.

I believe trussing is bullshit. I'd like for someone to prove me wrong but I doubt they can.

I bought everything to make the VD stew too, except I'm going to use lightly smoked bacon instead of side meat. I'll report after dinner tomorrow.

There's a new edition coming out soon so I'd wait.

My Mom puts mayo on a hotdog which is even worse. OK, maybe tied. Ketchup on a brat is worse than ketchup on a hot dog. Yes, she puts mayo on a brat too.

You can share it with us, or we can steal it. If you share it, at least you'll get a taste .

Nice. Matthew, will you be making a pate for us with your new charcuterie skills? A foie gras terrine would be nice too, I think I saw a bottle of Sauternes in your cellar.

Since the smoker will be going maybe I'll make some smoked scallops?

Here are the details. I think the actual cooking stuff is on page 3. I used a boneless pork rack (meat part of baby back ribs) because it has more fat, but a loin would work. I butterflied it and stuffed it like a jelly roll. The stuffing was Italian Sausage, sauteed onions and garlic, fresh apricots (I cooked them to get rid of some moisture, dried would be fine), rosemary, an egg, and breadcrumbs. I also basted with a glaze (butter, onions, garlic, rosemary, white wine, and apricots pureed).

I'd chuck it, especially if you're having people over. Consider yourself lucky it wasn't a prime rib. You could probably return it and get your money back.

I think there was a dicsussion about this a couple of months ago pertaining to Chinese food. I believe that others decided that it did tenderize the meat, but also made it mushy.

Fifi, Matthew and I made a pork roast stuffed with Apricots, Sausage, and Rosemary last weekend. Soba suggested the recipe and it was great. We grilled it but I think smoked would have been very good.

Thank you for taking over the planning Matthew and Alex. My only comment is we may want to go some inexpensive place on Friday since people are goping to have to pay for transportation and lodging. Also if people do take the train in it gets to the station at around 10, so we'll want to be there to meet them. What's the current bar scene downtown? I know Matthew has complained about bad drinks before. I'll be bringing some sort of seafood dish. What about the fish ladder?

Pioneer Press is owned by Hollinger International which also owns the Chicago Sun-Times and many newspapers in Canada. I searched for the review but couldn't find it.

If you bring me along I'll be glad to taste anything before you drink to see if it's OK. You didn't ask for advice on whites, but you definately have to try some Vinho Verde. It's a perfect warm weather wine. It's inexpensive, light, low alchohol, and has a few bubbles. Make sure you get the latest vintage.

Has anyone here tasted the humanely raise veal? I've seen pictures of it and it looks much more like beef. Also, does anyone know where you can purchase it? I'd like to try it.

Great pictures Ronnie. I'd especially like someone to identfy the various vegetable dishes. The only one I knew was the gomaei (sp?)

it didn't look like the cinnamon i usually see though. is tamarind pod barky? this was barky, and a bit brittle. if bent, it would basically break. when i ate a bit, it broke up into a coffee-grind like texture, which was unpleasant. kinda barky