guajolote

thank you michael, you are a lucky guy. I bet your fishmonger has realized over the years that this is a good way to do business.

my butcher (bornhofens in chicago) will always set aside some veal bones for me whenever he gets veal in. he also gives me free chicken bones for stock, and gives my kids a piece of ham when they are shopping with me (it helps keep them quiet ) any other stories of goodwill from your food suppliers?

here's a good cheap wine thread

it kind of looks like a mummy head

I used a blender and it worked great. i used four red peppers, and there was only about 1/4 cup of pulp left in the strainer. i think a blender works better for this than a food processor because the blade in a blender spins much faster. did you add the wine to the food processor bowl? i added 5 cloves of garlic to the potato water while cooking then put them through the ricer. it's a different taste than roasted but the potaoes still were garlicky . if i make this sauce again it will be in the summer when red peppers are 5 for $1, not $2.79/lb.

would this be the infamous "hoffa chili"?

you could always hedge and buy Euro call options for the time of your vacation.

any magazine with paris hilton on the cover.

neil (or anyone else), do you think it would work if i used half the batter for cupcakes and baked the other half as a cake? I'm trying to kill 2 birds w/ one stone for an upcoming birthday.

the fish was really good. I ended up only adding 2 Tbs. of butter, and they were good. I liked the buttermilk flavor and will do that again. I also didn't roast the garlic, i just threw 5 cloves in the water w/ the potatoes and then put them through the ricer. I forgot to add that I served this with an inexpensive vouvray, and it was a good match.

i kind of screwed this meal up. i was stressed because my son knocked over the x-mas tree 30 minutes after it went up and broke a bunch of glass ornaments. i really like the red pepper sauce. it had a "bright", fresh flavor. i think it would be really good on some grilled meat. i also liked the buttermilk mashed potatoes, except i used 3 varieties of potatoes to make them, some were overcooked and some undercooked. if you look close at the potatoes you can see the crunchy bits. the leeks were good but i think they were a little old. they had some great looking leeks at the farmer's market this morning but i had bought some yesterday. once i peeled off the outside layers they were tasty.

i'm about to start. i bought swordfish, because it was on sale and very fresh. I'll try to take some pictures.

you may think different if your neighbor decides to open a live poultry store.

yes, they are very popular in chicago, especially at the meat markets that cater to blacks.

2 large american grocery chains are owned by european companies; the dutch company royal ahold owns giant and stop and shop (as well as the peapod grocery delivery company), and ALDI is a french company i believe. some of these big corporations also deliver stylish kitchenware for a great price, target and ikea come to mind immediately.

i have a tall canning jar, of course, but no immersion blender .

G, go see Lizz Fields. robert is sleeping and the ladies are at a ballet

i went o borders to look at the recipe and i see it calls for a juicer. i was going to put the peppers in my blender w/ some of the wine, then strain it. does anyone have a better idea? I already know that i'm going to taste the potatoes and then add about 4 more Tbs. of butter.

damn, what a good meal. i loved the flavor of the steak diane, but i have to say i'd have a hard time doing this to a ny strip the way beef prices have been lately. the celeriac was also very good, but no one else in the family liked it. i especially liked it with a little bit of the sauce from the steak on it. i served it with some snow peas and butter, italian bread, and a red cotes de luberon.

this means i get to play "mashed potatoes" during dinner again, and do the dance . my son robert will also be very happy.

seth, that sounds like a great menu to me. maybe i'll do back to back autodidact dinners. what kind of fish do they suggest? i've been seeing some great californian halibut at my fishmonger.

it was some sort of columbian bean. it's not as good as regular, but i agree that it is better than a lot of regular coffee.

if you have a drill bit for glass, and a rubber seal, , and a few miscallaneous pieces of hardware, you could make a nifty bong out of either of them.

i'm making this celery root and apple puree recipe

yes please. i've been enjoying buffalo trace lately, and i think the new jim beam black is a great bargain.