patrickamory

In NYC, I'd be happy to dine at these two restaurants weekly: Fette Sau Raoul's At least I don't think either one has a big name at the top...

Prawncrackers, that first photo is incredible. How did you take it?

Can a pressure canner be used as a pressure cooker? Or to flip the question, can a pressure cooker be used as a canning device?

I think we need to know what kind of food she's into and how dedicated she will be before we make any recommendations...

I always put an open container of baking soda in the fridge and the freezer. The one in the fridge is more important, because it's the smells from there that get into the freezer, I think. I change it every month or two. Where is the evidence that Ziploc bags have a flavor that gets into the food? I've never heard this before. Is it specifically Ziploc (Ziplok?)-brand bags, or any plastic bag? Do we all need to move to glass? But can all kinds of glass can take protracted exposure to freezing temperature? (And then being restored to room temperature, and back to freezing temperature?)

Hi Country, There's actually a four-page eG thread on the Russ Parsons method that you might want to check out: I've done this many times with many different types of beans. I don't have the problems with salting or soaking that some people report in the thread. It's possible that very hard water, altitude or old beans are the culprits (I live in NYC). What works for me, after experimentation: - I start off with about a teaspoon of salt per cup, and adjust the seasoning in the middle and at the end. - The "simmer temperature" in your oven may be higher than 250. For me it's 300 (which actually equates to 300 on an oven thermometer, depending on where it's located in the oven). I'd just check the pot to see if it's at the right simmer 15 minutes into the process. - 75 minutes is usually about right for me, but the Stollards took closer to 2 hours. I add the aromatics about 40 minutes into the process. I notice you live in Midcoast Maine. I go to North Haven every summer. Wonderful part of the world.

Fantastic meal there at the end of November. The fried duck roll was particularly memorable. Great service too. The restaurant was packed and loud - which is part of the point - but might not suit everyone.

As a welcome respite from Christmastime excess, we just had rice and beans tonight. Good Mother Stollards from Rancho Gordo: Cooked via the Russ Parsons method... they needed a good two hours plus though. I added sage, bay leaf, garlic, curry leaves and some chopped poblano about 40 minutes in: The final result: Incredibly meaty and delicious. They were so deep and smoky it almost seemed like I'd put a ham hock in there - but I hadn't! Highly recommended. Served with white rice, chopped jalapenos, red Yucateco hot sauce and... leftover Christmas ham. But I swear I tasted the beans before I added any ham to the plate.

Stollards were a success! Way way better than the pintos. Details in the Dinner thread.

Making the Good Mother Stollards tonight. They smell really nice already. I've added sage, curry leaves, a bit of chopped poblano, a bay leaf and a smashed clove of garlic.

I really like Laurent Perrier Rosé.

Chilaquiles tampiqueños verdes:

So far, a Super Benriner, an iGrill and Neelam Batra's 1000 Indian Recipes.

So this is what I think it's going to be: Spiral-sliced maple-glazed ham Potatoes au gratin Roasted brussels sprouts Gravlax Herring in cream sauce with onions Herring in mustard sauce Herring in curry sauce Baltic black rye bread Paddlefish caviar with melba toast rounds Crack pie Items 4-9 come from Russ & Daughters, item 10 from Momofuku Milk Bar. Wines will be chiefly pinot noir, including a 1999 Maranges 1er Cru and some good Oregons.

Could overfishing of tuna be affecting quality I wonder?

I like Ortiz tuna in the jar... expensive though...

This is so true.

I've found that deep-frying can be an incredible prep for meat that's going into a curry or other sauce or stew-like preparation. I got the idea from David Thompson's recipe for dry red curry of lobster. It works with any food - heat the oil to 360F, and briefly fry pieces of ribeye or chicken until just partly cooked - maybe 30 seconds total, turning once. Remove and drain meat. Reserve some of the beefy or chicken-y oil for the next stage of cooking with the paste or other ingredients. Then return the meat to the curry or stew to finish cooking in the sauce. Similarly, I notice that in his (or her) recipe for red-braised pork Prawncrackers recommends deep-frying the pork belly in the initial phase, and this made an enormous difference to the final result for me. It's a totally different approach from the traditional French method of browning meat to develop a fond and then deglazing, but I've had really delicious results - to the extent that guests exclaim and ask how I possibly achieved such tender, tasty meat. I smile and tell them I deep-fried it. For some reason in this country, we always associate deep-frying with a batter or flour coating, which is of course great, but obviously there's some other reaction with cooking meat (and doubtless other ingredients) via deep-frying that results in particularly toothsome & luscious food. Anyone else using these methods for meat or other ingredient prep? Any food scientists want to weigh in on why it's so effective

Interesting. I got pintos and Good Mother Stollards as well, and the pintos were the first ones I tried - just so I could have something to compare with supermarket beans. I didn't refry - I used the no-soak method, with a small amount of aromatics halfway through (the last of this year's sage, a bay leaf, and a couple crushed garlic cloves). And I found them delicious... but better than the supermarket beans? I'm not so sure. Will try the Stollards next and report back.

I wasn't joking about drinking it, btw... I grew up forced to drink pasteurized skim milk or homogenized pasteurized whole milk. Raw milk was a revelation. But beyond that: ricotta yogurt

For Mexican dishes you don't want want beautifully rendered white leaf lard. You want the brown stuff with the cracklings and bits in it. Go to any Mexican grocer and ask for manteca. If they don't have it, go to the next one. You'll find it eventually.

I've stored tupperware in my oven drawer for years with no ill effects.

If it's less than 2-oz pours it feel stingy, I think. Can't comment on price.

Drink it!

We're doing a ham for Christmas dinner this year for the first time. (We usually do goose, but because we'll be sampling Peking duck at Mr. Chow's for Christmas Even dinner we decided to change the tradition.) Any recommendations for accompaniments to a Christmas spiral-sliced city ham? I'm coming up blank! So far I've decided to get gravadlax from Russ & Daughters. But there must be traditional accompaniments ... besides pineapples... And what are others doing for their Christmas menus this 2012?