weinoo

He doesn't really care THAT much...any more.

Not for a long time, though we try to visit annually.

Welcome. Where in the Bay Area are you? I lived in San Jose and environs for 16 years, and there are many other (or maybe a few other) Bay Area inhabitants aboard.

It wasn't exactly dinner (maybe supper?), but part of a cauliflower I bought from my street corner guy for $2... Was cooked to death in garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and a little water, which when the cauliflower was mushy got a little stock to enhance. Mezze rigatoni con cavolfiore e pecorino. Lots of black pepper, maybe some parmesan and some of the pasta water.

A friend of mine recently tried this service, and said his knives came back in great condition. Has anyone here used it? Seems like they have tattoos, so they must be good. Knife Aid

This is the Cameron stovetop smoker - essentially the same product.

Tea smoked duck? This is a Burton's unit, it does close quite tightly, so not much smoke leaks out. Surprised at how smokey this little tenderloin was in like 30 minutes in the smoker.

I had this pork tenderloin, which is never the most exciting cut of meat. So I brined it over night, and then climbed a ladder bent down in a closet to find my stove top smoker, something I haven't used in forever. But I figured with the hood on and the windows open, I'd give it a shot. It came out really good. Served with cowpeas (a relative of black-eyed peas), roasted brassicas, and Tortilleria Nixtamal's tortillas.

Throw everything away except the bitters. Then start over. With real booze, which you then shan't keep in either the refrigerator or freezer. In my opinion, it doesn't matter where you store the stuff in your picture.

They let people use the bathrooms??!! How dare them!

I've found that some of the RG beans are so "fresh" that they're pretty much done in about 20 minutes in the IP. Couple of other things I've sorta learned. Pre-soaking just gives a better end product, in my opinion. Soaked in brine, a la an old CI method. Beans cook more evenly, and of course, faster than beans which haven't been soaked.. And if I haven't started soaking the night before, I'll just use the hottest tap water and give the beans an hour or two before cooking. Now, and I know this is heresy...I find the finished product to be so much better when cooked on the stovetop, with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bouquet garni, s & p. So if there's no rush to get the beans done (and here there usually isn't), that's how I do them. This is all just personal preference. Oh, and I cooked some of RG's Royal Corona beans this week. They're huge. And let's just say they, ummmmm, are interesting digestively.

That D'artagnan flash sale is awarding me, as one package of D'artagnan duck legs became... Nontraditional confit. Came out really great, as I let the legs cure for 2 days in the fridge. Last time I made duck legs this way, I only cured them for a few hours - much better like this. Served with cabbage-filled boiled pierogis (thanks to Varenichnaya, in Brighton Beach), and some blanched and sautéed (in duck fat, of course) broccoli and carrots.

I know it's late, but... when one of my favorite butchers was still around, he'd save these - makes the best burgers.

Yes! Though very popular and made well by Bukharan jewish people, from the Emirate of Bukhara, which was an Uzbek state.

With a friend, I took a trip out to Brighton/Sheepshead Bay last week. Said trip included lunch. At Varenichnaya. I think they may have upped their game since my last visit some 5 - 9 years ago. Skewers of both pork and lamb - nicely cooked, nicely properly seasoned. Pelmeni (veal) and vareniki (mushroom/potato) - just great. I now have 50 of each in my freezer, though slightly different fillings. But the thing that got me, that haunted me, the dish that I must make, was this... Known here as Lagman A La Uzbekski, known and served in other places much differently (my research suggested) than at Varenichnaya, it was wonderful on a cold day. The soup itself, rich and delicious, with a nice hint of star anise fennel (?), tender beef, bell peppers, and I don't know about potatoes, but maybe a little turnip or rutabaga. The noodle within? In true cross cultural fashion, actually bucatini, blanched and shocked prior and added to the soup at the last minute. But again, cooked properly - they were still very al dente. I'd go back for this alone. As mentioned above, with any cross cultural dish, many variations of lagman/laghman exist; variations in ingredients and plating, variations in noodle, etc. Evidently, the traditional noodles are hand-pulled. https://silkroadchef...aghman-noodles/ https://valentinascorner.com/uzbek-lagman/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zR5aLXkqog As always, Net Cost Market is still a fascinating place. Anyone ever make this dish at home?

Dawn for Millennials.

Focaccia comes out very nicely in the CSO. And you can always slice it horizontally for sandwiches a la Romana.

Does this help at all? Food Lab's Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Hams Even if it doesn't, it's a good read.

A couple of dinners, a couple of dishes in no discernible order or anything... Roasted red and green peppers, marinated overnight and served with Cantabrian anchovies. Scallops - Wednesday fish vendor (from Montauk) at Union Square. Also had nice looking porgy for $3.99/lb. This was great - white bean soup (cream, stock, mirepoix, pre-cooked Marcella beans from RG). Garnished with D'artagnan crisped ventreche and croutons fried in the renderings of ventreche. Not healthy but delicious.

Do you have control over what pasta you use? Spaghetti vs. bucatini vs. vermicelli, for example? Ziti vs. penne vs. rigatoni?

Yep - it's a nice, little town. Kidding; it's a nice city, with a quite good food scene. We also did a self-guided (i.e. stolen from the 'net) tour around Oak Park, to see the houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, including his. And Milwaukee actually has a very interesting street; Burnham Street. It consists of affordable FLW designed homes; designed to compete with Sears Catalog Homes, for those less well-off perhaps than the people in Oak Park. They were called American System-Built Homes. Did not catch on. Oh, and a Calatrava designed Milwaukee Art Museum!

Our swing through the midwest not only brought us to Chicago, but to both Madison and Milwaukee, for a night or two each. I think there's a certain mentality in those latter two cities, similar to what I remember from dining in Florida, during those many years my parents lived there; and that is, the more stuff you can put on a plate, the better. Except, in the midwest, if it's a vegetable. That said, Rick Bayless's Leña Brava in Chicago was very good. We also ate at what I think is a well-known spot in Chicago, mostly due to the circumstances of our arrival, our location, and the fact that they were lighting the lights and trees along Michigan Avenue, so it was a madhouse around our hotel. That would be The Purple Pig, and sitting at the bar and spotting a full complement of Pappy (at reasonable prices!), how bad could it be? The smoked tongue, house-made mortadella, and other assorted goodies we had were just fine, and it served us well. But is it Chicago without making a stop at one of these places? Duks Red Hots serves up a Vienna beef hot dog, fully loaded, with oh-so-many fries, for like $3.65. The hot dog was good, the less said about the fries the better. In Madison, at Eno Vino, I had what may have been the best roasted tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich I could ever remember eating. I mean, everything else was OK, but this? This, had I ever been served it as a child, would've brought me right back to those days. And maybe I was? The pine nuts added a nice crunch, but in my opinion were superfluous. Milwaukee's food, at least that which we consumed, was OK. Actually, Sanford was very nice. There's also a fine reboot of their whole public market area, including a newer indoor market that reminded me a bit of our new Essex Market, with tables and chairs upstairs, surrounding and overlooking the whole shebang. Back to Chicago for our final night, we very much enjoyed The Publican. The half platter of charcuterie might've made a whole meal, and they have a great beer list too. There's head cheese, pork pie, salami, sausage, paté, and a bunch pickled goodies on that half platter. Great bread went along. Recommended. We stayed in a lovely property our last night in Chicago - The Robey in Wicker Park, and it was good to get away from the madness of S. Michigan Avenue. It also provided a nice, classic view... of both the El and the bottle of Jeppson's Malort (much better now, I was assured, since it's being made right in town) I had purchased down the block.

Scottadito!

Totally agree and it sucks. The Norwegian stuff is good quality, as is Scottish. Perhaps you can find some smoked, and use it like you would "novie!"

I also wonder if I'm better off buying frozen wild Alaskan salmon - usually it's sockeye or Coho, not my favorites as they can also dry out very quickly in cooking.