patrickamory

Just noticed that someone said they had French's yellow mustard at Papaya King. Surely a mistake? Only brown mustard is served with NYC hot dogs, whether you like it or not...

For this purpose, I highly recommend the 1969 book "Great Dinners from Life" [Magazine], by Eleanor Graves. It proposes grand dinner parties divided by season, each one illustrated by a jaw-dropping double-page color photo. Coq au vin, trout amandine, crown roast of pork, quail, fondue and more. Here's a piece about it: http://theculinarycellar.com/aint-life-grand/

Cherry tomatoes are still decent, so I thought I'd do a different version of pasta from Franci's recipe that I tried last weekend. This is from Ruth Rogers and though it may look similar, it could not be more different - butter instead of olive oil (and lots of it), huge amounts of pecorino, and nutmeg. More rib-sticking than fresh and buoyant, but I like both!

Agree fully. The rules for a restaurant website should be: 1. Eliminate splash pages (and music - good god) 2. Hours 3. Address 4. Phone number 5. Reservation link / email address 6. Menus and wine list 7. Photos of the interior All of 2-5 should be clearly and immediately accessible from the home page - ideally listed directly on the home page.

SO much great pizza! And Dejah that photo of the dog is hilarious.

Mitch, what's the difference between the chop and grind functions on the Mini-Prep? And before Blether leaps in, let me recommend what he's going to recommend - the Iwatani Millser.

I love this thread. Some friends made duck à l'orange from Mastering the Art of French Cooking a few years ago. It was stunning - and also a stunning amount of work as I recall. But worth it!

Wow I never thought about this. I usually do the rotating over a gas flame on the cooktop (no grill here alas). Takes forever. What brand of torch do you use?

I don't like it because I find it imparts a chalky texture to the meat, at least in the case of pork and chicken. I dry-brine and love it! Frequently I let the salted meat sit directly on the refrigerator rack so that the cold air can circulate around it.

I'm going to work my way through Franci's pastas as posted in the pasta thread. Here is spaghetti con pomodorini. I had a mildly spicy pepperoncino that I bought in Maine that got minced and added with the garlic, and some fresh sage.

I don't like wet-brined meat.

Andie - I've gotten yellow eye beans from Purcell Mountain Farms and had a good experience. They're the bean I use for baked beans, by the way. Thanks for your comments on the rest. Interesting that you've had so much better luck with the Negro de Arbol - this is my second bag and the same problem. I always pre-salt my beans - perhaps this bean is less forgiving of that than others? Or maybe I've just had bad luck. Anyway, this batch cooked for more than 3 hours and never got perfect texturally. I'll keep an eye out for Snowcap. Are they ever available from anyone else? Edit: I see they're available from Purcell Mountain. I'm going to give them a try.

Made Andie's Jamaican black beans and rice at last! More on the complete meal in the Dinner thread. Andie, it was delicious, but I think I have only limited tolerance for that much coconut milk in one week. I should have remembered that I made this only the previous weekend! It actually smelled extraordinary when just the beans, garlic and allspice were cooking. I may try a non-coconut, non-rice version just for fun. Another point: I'm not a fan of these RG negro de arbol beans. Even after 3 hours they still hadn't really become creamy, and they don't have the depth of flavor of some other turtle beans. Which brings me to another topic - which RG beans do you or don't you like? I think some of them are extraordinary, and some are decidedly pedestrian. Here are my favorites and strike-outs: MY RG FAVORITES: - White cannellini - astoundingly delicious every time - Good Mother Stallard - sui generis, need almost nothing extra in the way of flavoring - Scarlet runner beans - wonderfully creamy and rich - Black Valentine bean - my favorite RG black bean - but do they still produce it? MY RG MISSES: - Pinto - bog standard - maybe I'm just bored by pintos - Garbanzo - substandard, couldn't get them creamy - Whole Foods chickpeas beat 'em - Negro de arbol - see above, chewy and not much flavor even after lots of cooking - Florida butter bean - unfortunately this does not convert me to Lima beans, and I tried - Midnight black bean - just an okay black bean - it's fine, but needs lots of seasoning OTHER RG THOUGHTS: - The Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project, as much as I support it, has not yet delivered me an interesting bean. I've tried Negro de arbor, Ayocote Negro and at least one other. Anyone else? - Eye of the Goat, which is an RG signature bean, I can't remember much about - anyone else? - Borlottis - this didn't make much of an impression on me, could have been my preparation It could be that my "misses" above were off batches (I presume this happens with heirloom beans as with everything else) or just too old, though I usually order directly from RG and use within a year. I've also used all of those more than once. Curious what others' experience is - I'll reiterate that I love RG and they've introduced me to many beans I'd never have encountered before!

Mmmmm Soba and hurray - white adobo, chillied chicken wings - this is the good stuff folks! Silkie, pressure cooked with scallions, garlic, salt, water and a splash of rice wine, laid out for boning: Returned to the broth, added white pepper and a little rice wine vinegar for black chicken soup: Andie's recipe for Jamaican black beans and rice: The ensemble:

Some catching up here.

Ah now I think I remember there's a saffron bun or something, a sweet. Same Art of Eating article!

Nice one Anna! Do I recall l that saffron is an ingredient in Cornish pasty? Or is that in another dish from Cornwall?

Absolutely no problem from the whole tomato - in fact I'd say the beans cooked faster than normal (overnight soak in salted water). This recipe is great, I highly recommend it: http://bitebymichelle.com/2011/10/07/yellow-eyed-beans-tuscan-style-and-our-first-trip-to-italy/ Soaked the beans in salted water overnight, and used the soaking liquid as the cooking liquid. Instead of a heavy bottomed pan I used a glazed earthenware bean pot with a lid. I added some of the olive oil to the cooking mixture instead of only at the end. Tomato went in whole and unpeeled - a nice ripe heirloom. After bringing to a simmer, I cooked the beans in a 250F oven for about 60-75 minutes. I didn't bother removing any scum. Drained and boiled down the broth to about a cup and re-added it. Covered and let sit at room temp for about 15 minutes. Otherwise followed the recipe to a T. As good as cannellinis. A bit subtler, not quite as meaty, but slightly more delicate and pungent. I could have eaten twice as much of it.

Negro de Arbol it is! Soaking now.

Hi Andie! Can't believe I spaced on that. Gonna try it for tomorrow, want to start the soaking now. I don't have any Black Valentine beans in the pantry, but I do have: Ayocote Negro Midnight Black Beans Negro de Arbol of these three, which do you think would be most appropriate for the recipe?

I'm making some yellow eye beans from the farmer's market I visit every summer in Maine. I usually use these for baked beans but am trying them as a sub for cannellinis in an Italian preparation. The source is Beth's for those of you fortunate to live in the Mid-Coast region. These beans are from last year so it's a good test of how long they'll last. In an example of not paying attention to the "too many variables rule," I'm adding a whole tomato from the get-go to see whether the whole no-acidic ingredients thing is a canard or not. Report coming later. (Perhaps much later, if the acidic ingredients thing is correct.)

This question is a parody of itself!

I will plump for toasted cumin seeds.

Kim the chile in that dish is light and easily omitted. The crucial steps of the meal are really, really browning the sausage meat (removed from casing) over fairly high heat, and then the onions and garlic in the sausage and fat for about 30 minutes. Then deglaze with red wine, add de-juiced tomato, cook down until totally dark and brown for 60 minutes. PM me for detailed recipe if you like. It's all about the long, slow, brown cooking c oliver yes as heidi says there is a curry tradition throughout the Caribbean, brought there by Indian immigrants in the 19th century. Local curries tend to use spices roasted whole before grinding. This particular mixture includes whole anise, mustard seed and most importantly allspice in addition to the usual coriander, cumin, methi and turmeric one finds in Pakistani and Indian masalas. The other important addition to the stew is plenty of fresh habanero chiles. CatPoet please do not ever apologize for re-creating school meals. Some of my fondest (as well as awfullest) memories. That one looks particularly delicious.

Anna I'd love to contribute but I have zero expertise in the area - all I know is I love that stuff!