weinoo

Yes, I guess. But according to some, refrigeration is the bane of avocados, no? My "experiment" seems to disprove both Cook's Illustrated and McGee. And Dave the Cook!

Maybe I was too quick to throw CI under the bus...perhaps it's McGee who needs to go? Earlier this week, I pulled out one of those still green avocados from the fridge (I didn't throw them away after all, wanting to experiment) and set it on the counter. As of today, I've had these avocados for 2 weeks, so for this particular avo it was about 10 days in the fridge and 4 on the counter. It looks like this on the outside... And when cut in half, it looks like this... Lo and behold, perfectly ripe and creamy and delicious, without even a hint of rotten or dry spots. Who knew?!

Have you looked at John's website?

You see, we're even getting conflicting opinions here - not really a surprise. I am wondering if the different varieties of avos respond in different ways to fluctuations in temperature and/or refrigeration. High-oil content avocados, like the Haas, may dislike refrigeration more than a variety like Fuerte. But, since they're all basically a warm-weather fruit, I'm probably just blowing smoke with this theory.

Isn't controversy what all awards are about?

So Cook's Illustrated should've read McGee, right? Of course, the fruit is never ripe when picked because it doesn't ripen on the tree. And I'm sure they get pretty damn cold on the trip to NYC from Mexico via truck.

Thanks, Charcuterer! From the Cook's Illustrated article, May, 2009: Exactly what I did with my $6 bag of avocados. Down the drain.

Does anyone have the May, 2009 issue of CI and can look at this article?

I know I recently read it - I just don't remember where, and a quick search of my current food mags left me still wondering. Anyway, what I read was that, contrary to popular opinion, the best way to ripen an avocado was in the fridge. The cold temperature allows the avocado to ripen evenly, as opposed to ripening on the counter, where you get air pockets and uneven ripening. (From the sound of this, it must've been CI, but I can't find the reference). So, a week ago I bought a bag of organic Mexican Haas avos (4 in a bag) and stuck them in the fridge. Today, they're still hard as a rock and look exactly like they looked when I put them in there. What gives?

Then if you can, you ought to go to a hardware or kitchenware shop and check out the clay pots!

I'd like to say thanks for all the great ideas. Brunch was this past Saturday. Real plates, real flatware, cloth napkins, the whole nine yards. The menu, as I planned it... Frittata (home made) Potato Pancakes (home made) topped w/Creme Fraiche and Caviar Buttered Pumpernickel topped with Smoked Sturgeon Belly Lox Gaspe Nova Whitefish Salad (Note to Katie Meadow: I don't know if you've ever had the whitefish salad from Russ & Daughters, but...) 3 kinds of cream cheese (home made chive/scallion, home made veggie/horseradish and plain) Health salad (home made) - basically, Jewish cole slaw Pickled herring and herring in cream sauce Olives Sliced tomatoes and red onion Mimosas Stumptown coffee Rugelach (home made) Cookies (home made) Birthday cake from Blackhound Bakery And then I woke up not feeling well on Saturday morning. So, I recruited some of the mispucha and the results can be seen here.

I've definitely seen them larger than the one on Amazon (2.5 quarts) in the Chinatown shops where I've bought them before. But I don't think it's a bad idea to buy a smaller one and experiment with it! Do you have a Chinatown where you live? Welcome to eGullet, by the way.

Of course, clay pot cooking goes farther than either Romertops or cazuelas. I recently purchased (as a replacement for a broken one) a Chinese clay pot, which cost much less than $10 (and wrote about it here). While I don't think it's used for baking bread in China, it definitely works for all the other purposes mentioned; oven, stove-top, for soups, casseroles, roasting, etc.

So it looks like the pork cheeks have actually replaced the pork chop on the menu. They were as delicious as described above. And my dining companion had the bass and devoured every last bite while especially enjoying the charred pickled tomatoes.

That's because Bourdain and his crew are always right on top of the cutting edge places . We've always preferred Sonoma to Napa, probably because it's a tiny bit more off the beaten track and none of the wineries that we've tried in Sonoma charged a fee. I have a different view of the driving and parking situation. Every time we go to San Francisco we rent a car - that allows us to take a drive down the coast if we want (even just out to the Cliff House for the stunning views), or over the Golden Gate Bridge and up into the Marin headlands. And I never have found parking to be a problem or that expensive - but perhaps that's because I live in NYC and compared to that, anything else is a breeze. Since you'll probably be splitting the gas costs, I'd imagine it will all equal out in the end.

Ding dong...

You know what...I'd like to see servers serve from the left. Just sayin...

The James Beard Foundation will now be giving an award which: Congrats to all the nominees, including our own Chris Amirault, as the bar he was/is involved with is a finalist... Providence, R.I. - Cook & Brown Public House

According to the menu on Menu Pages, they offer cracked crab and crab cocktail, as well as crab Louis. Now I'm hungry for one of those!

That's why I recommended Swan Oyster Depot above. They do Dungeness crab as good as anyone (it's my favorite crab also, and even beats out lobster, in my opinion), as do many of the Hong Kong/Cantonese places that have live tanks. As far as coffee goes, I'll beg to differ on the quality of the coffee in just any old coffee place. There is plenty of over-roasted, poorly pulled coffee to be had in North Beach. You'll always have a nice atmosphere, however. We like the La Boulange bakeries for nice pastries and decent, reasonably priced coffee in the mornings.

Looking for the restaurants that people think make the best artichoke dishes in Rome. Both Carciofi alla Giudía and Carciofi alla Romana, please.

Don't forget In-N-Out Burger - near Fisherman's Wharf. I don't know that fish and chips is a particularly San Francisco thing - certainly not at the wharf, where it's generally about overpriced crab and shrimp cocktails.

Yep - mimosas are on the menu too - but these peeps aren't big drinkers and most of them will be driving in from Joisey. Thanks for the b'day wishes, though it's Significant Eater's dad's birthday.

There will be no lutefisk ! There are no loathers - I know all of them pretty well, and I've seen what they do to a platter from Zabar's. Chopped liver at a brunch like this (appetizing) starts to breach a different realm (delicatessen), though they do sell it at Russ & Daughter's...hmmm...

You'd be surprised and it may seem counterintuitive, but those don't really go with a meal like this...to a group like this. A few pumpernickel bagels might be in the mix, but they will be left at the end. We secular Jewish New Yorkers eat sesame bagels, onion bagels, poppy seed bagels, plain bagels, everything (gasp) bagels and bialys (and I may throw a bulka and pletzel into the mix). Now, if I was to make some tuna salad and or some egg salad, it would be a totally different story. Hmmm....