guajolote

Funny Japanese English reminded me of this site, www.engrish.com Here's an example of a restaurant:

picture of paw paw

It's a relative of the cherimoya, and also called a custard apple. Attempts to cultivate them haven't benn too successful. I'm dying to try one. I think they grow in Ohio, too . There's a town in Michigan named Paw Paw. More about Paw Paws

Thanks equals Mark. I'll report back on how it tastes, it's looking damn good.

I also have to thank everyone. After eating Klink's pulled pork I had to try to make one myself. I put it on at 7:30 this morning and now the internal temperature is at 185. I'm afraid it's going to be done before dinner. Should I wrap it up and put it in a low oven to keep it warm? Or pull it now and reheat it for dinner? Thanks

I've commonly seen apples added. Dried fruit wouldn't add much moisture. Stone's smaltz idea is great. I've never seen smaltz in a store either but you can make it by taking chicken skin and all the fat from the outside of the chicken and putting in a pan over low heat. Cook it until the skin crips up.

A typical sausage has a lot of fat in it, over 30%, while ground turkey is very low in fat (10%?). The problem you get with making a low-fat sausage is it will dry out. Have you thought about buying turkey or chicken thighs and grinding the meat yourself (you can do it in a food processor). I've seen people add fruit to poultry sausages to keep them moist. Typical seasonings for a breakfasrt sausage are salt, pepper, sage, mace, and thyme.

This farmer's market is great. I make sure to get there everytime I'm in town. The most amazing thing is the price of the vegetables. People in Chicago shop at farmer's markets for the quality, in Grand Rapids they do because it's cheaper than the grocery stores. The selection isn't quite as big, but in the last few years there has been more variety - baby squashes, arugala, purple potataoes etc. They also have great prices for perrenials. Whenever I'm canning I do my shopping there. There's a great wine shop in Grand Rapids, Martha's Vineyard (can't find the address - it's in Heritage Hill). Make sure you ask to go upstairs. This place has some of the best service ever. I also really like Russo's. We've had some good meals at The Sierra Room and Gibson's (the bar).

I'll have to ask my wife about the Africa thing, she took a class in Michoacan about African influences in the area. One really interesting thing we saw was at a museum in Morelia which showed a chart which had what you would call people if they were: 1/4 African, 1/4 Spanish, 1/2 indiginous. It was quite incedible, they had different names for people down to 1/32 of their blood line. When I visited her there we saw numerous people with kinky black hair who obviously were part African. I'm no anthropologist but there must have been some culinary infuences? Maximillian of France was Emporer of Mexico for a short time. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Mexican army's defeat of the French in Puebla. I neglected to talk about the Germans, who created many of the breweries in Mexico (and brought the accordian, which is prominently featured in Norteno polka songs). A major beer in Mexico is Bohemia, and Negra Modelo is one of the few Viennese lagers in the world which is still being made. I'll try to do some more research on this.

Add France and Africa to the mix. I'm going to wait until I see the issue to comment more. The thing used to grind corn (soaked in lime - the chemical, not the fruit) is called a metate. I've also seen it used to grind chilies, etc. picture of metate

Thanks Matthew, I talked to chefg about working at Cygnus (in the Awmay hotel with 1913) and he said he spent two 3-month periods there and learned a lot. I'm going to 1913 this summer so I'll give a report then. Never heard of the place in Holland, I'll ask my parents if they've been there. I thought Holland was better known for the Tulip Festival than the beaches. Happy Birthday early.

Hop - average frost date in Chicago is May 15 (saw it on http://www.chicagobotanic.org/, a great gardening resource, especially the plant finder). We live close to the lake so I took a big gamble and planted tomatoes and herbs yesterday. Thank God for the rain today.

I bet that Velvet Falernum would make an interesting variety of gimlet.

The "gayest" restaurant in Chicago I can think of is Tomboy in Andersonville, run by a pair of lesbian partners. When I ate there a couple of years ago the food was really good, but our waiter "popped" the champagne cork (it's BYOB). It landed on a table on the other side of the restaurant:laugh:. They also run the Room, on North Broadway (never been there).

Valois is great (have you read the book about it - Slim's Table?) - but it most definately is not a diner! A diner must at least have waitresses.

I always try to get to Rosie's Diner whenver I'm in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They actually have 3 diners in a row. One's a diner, one's a art studio, and one's a "upscale" restaurant (this one is closed). At Rosie's they have this great breakfast which consists of hash browns, grilled onions, sausage, eggs, and cheese with sausage gravy over top of it all. http://www.dinercity.com/ is a great diner website. Whenever I'm traveling I try to get to a local diner to satisfy my stainless steel fetish.

Tapas - The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas is a great Tapas cookbook. I've made over 20 recipes from this book and loved them all.

What did you make beef boy?

OK A.W. invited me to Mr. Beef today. I had a great time, but forgot to take the obligatory picture of Emory. The Good News: This was the best Italian Beef Sandwich I have ever had. Good moist beef with a good roll, the hot peppers were tasty. I loved the dining room at Mr. Beef - one 60 foot long picnic table. They also had very good fries. The Bad News: The Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich is not world-class. Ggive me a Chicago hot dog, Detrit Coney Island, Philly Cheese Steak, or New York Pastrami sandwich any day. My main complaint is lack of contrast. I would have liked to have some mustard, onions, or pickles on this sandwich. Also, I don't know what cut of beef they use but it's not a ribeye like a Philly Cheesesteak. The beef was kind of bland. All in all, however, I had a really good time and enjoyed the company. If I were ever in the neighborhood I would go again, especially since they have a parking lot (value: $1,000,000?). Let the flogging proceed.

cut 1 spear into 5 different pieces. Make a different sauce for each piece. should be easy

I had my daughter leave out prosciutto, gorgonzola, a baguette, and port for Santa this year. I hope she turns out like you, Jaymes. My favorite port is 1977 Warres. Save those 1990s for at least 10 more years Marlene.

Not my pictures or kitchen Those earthenware pots are available all over Mexico. They are dirt cheap, and each town has it's own pattern. At a museum in Uruapan (in Michoacan) we had a guy take us through a pottery musuem and he described the patterns and how they developed in various towns. Some of the patterns were over 1000 years old, some were influenced by African slaves, etc. My favorite pattern is from Tzintzuntzan which is close to Patzcuaro. I'll take a picture of my pottery some day. There's an interesting thing about corn meal and Masa in the McGee book. When corn was first grown in Europe many people died because the corn didn't contain the right kind of amino acids. However, when lime (the chemical, not the fruit) is added to corn these amino acids are produced in the chemical reaction. Hopleaf - make posole with that hominy. I think there's a recipe in the Egra that looked good.

Here's the comal I was talking about. Maybe it's really called something else. Sorry about not explaining the masa/corn tortilla thing better. The quesadillas I like are made from raw masa (limed corn which has been ground into dough). The thickness of the corn layer is about twice as thick as a tortilla. Here's a picture of them (on the blue plate), from Japan:huh: You can also make quesadillas from corn tortillas

Actually, Dean, this is absolutely brilliant. Verge? A third the way down the shelf. "Joy?" Right at the top. New Eric Ripert/Ruhlman? On the coffee table until it hits a lower shelf. One's life, chronologically, through cookbooks. But then, you are a cook/engineer/writer. The combination to find the right solution. I may have to reorganize right now! I got this idea from Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. The guy in the book is constantly reorganizing his record collection, and this was one way he did it. My records/Cds are organized by date of original release.

Date of Purchase Think about it, it makes sense (kinda)