weinoo

One of the older bread baking books (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) in my collection came from one of my favorite bakeries in San Francisco (this was a pre-hipster bakery). It was the bakery at the original Il Fornaio Restaurant (sadly closed for a number of years now)... Published in 1993 (the restaurant and its adjacent bakery opened in or around 1988), it was the first place I remember learning about biga. To this day, it's still one of the best focaccia recipes I've made. And there are other recipes in the book which are based on the focaccia dough, which is Genovese in this case, as many of the first wave of Italian immigrants settling in the San Francisco Bay Area were from Liguria.

This is for @rotuts - probably not exactly what you're looking for, but... Crab Cakes Baltimore-Style

Really nice temp on that steak. Whole meal looks lovely.

If they're both on the menu (as they are now), I'll order them next time! Just satisfying food, at a reasonable price. Same with the wines. And very lovely service.

Les routiers were at one time the roadside truck stop restaurants, located all around France; they may still exist, but since I haven't been a truck driver in France (unless maybe in a previous life), I can't confirm. But what I can guess is that just as the classic diners of America have gone by the wayside, the routiers have been slowly disappearing as well. However, all is not lost, as a number of restaurants literally with the imprimatur of Les Routiers, are catering to Parisians who miss them...or perhaps what they stood for. At least 3 are open and thriving in the city of lights. We like the one in the 11th, walking distance from where we stay. I have a hunch @Steve R. may have eaten here as well. Aux Bons Crus Our 2nd trip to Aux Bons Crus, because we liked it last time, though last time was quite some time ago. The food may not be the most photogenic, but it's delicious. Oeufs. Stuffed cabbage. Oh - Chou Farci, if you insist. Mine! With (I think) one of @Margaret Pilgrim's favorites: An Alsatian Riesling to drink with that choucroute. Recommended. And budget friendly.

Made a surprisingly delicious soup last night, with precooked white beans, a leftover steamed (large) globe artichoke, and a quart of roasted chicken stock made last week. Scraping all the good stuff off the artichoke leaves was the hardest part, but then sautéed an onion, garlic and celery in olive oil, added the stock, beans and a little of the bean cooking liquid, along with the artichoke flesh and heart. Simmered for 20 minutes, then hit it with the stick blender. Really great first course. Followed with: \ Favorite winter bitter greens salad and penne in a simple, chunky marinara sauce.

Is Shoprite a country?

I think this is quite forgiving; but if I had to guess - 2:1 breadcrumbs to parm.

Hmmm. I cooked the beans earlier in the day. What I do is sauté some garlic in olive oil in the cazuela, add beans (drained, but leave a little liquid), some herbs of your choice, some olive oil, parmesan, pepper. Then topped with bread crumbs and more parmesan, baked at 350℉ for a good 30 minutes.

Since the oven being on yesterday served multiple purposes, I decided to make a batch of some sort of emergency dough - though I don't remember if it was the artisanal emergency or the NY emergency. Or maybe neither. My plan was for both a pan thing and a classic pizza. Decided to do a half and half - so pizza rossa on half, and herbs, salt and olive oil on the other half. And a classic (to me, at least)... Had to have something to go along; baked some white beans, with bread crumbs and parmesan...

Got a little industrious yesterday, and since it was freezing, turning on the oven served double duty. The scones may not look beautiful, but they sure tasted fine.

Yes, I'm possibly referring to the general overall price hikes. Cheeses in the cheese shop, fruit and veg in the grocery, an espresso or filter coffee out, cocktails - you know, like everything here, they've all gone up. I also think finding places like Le Bistrot du Maquis has become a bit harder. On further reflection, prices have not risen as dramatically as, let's say here in New York City. We're not people who eat a ton of street food. But we were walking back to the apartment in the drizzling rain one day, and there was a tiny street market. \ With some nice, and some weird, products. And, there was a lady making these; we couldn't resist... One for each of us, and they were quite good.

Yeah - but it has to be ordered like 2 days in advance; when we go back, it's on my list!

Another night, after I'd spied a recommendation to someone else from an acquaintance (of someone else), we ventured a little further afield, deep into the 18th. Really like this neighborhood. Le Bistrot du Maquis When the menu comes out like this, we are happy people... 2 courses - 37€ ; 3 courses 42€ My gorgeous galantine,...(I had a hard time deciding between this and the langue de veau) This came.,.. And my main, also a chicken course... Also, very good. A cheese, and then dessert were also consumed... If you're there, go here.

I just put one on hold for me...we'll be in Provincetown late April, and I know just where to get it.

This is what I've been seeing: People had said birds are from the Cook's Venture venture. I can't verify.

Sure enough, @rotuts. Wash the bird and make sure all the muck is out of the inside. This bird was fairly clean, and had neither giblets nor neck (I LIKE THE NECK). Dry very well - salt and pepper inside and out (did this 4-6 hours earlier) and into the roasting pan, covered and back into the fridge. Take the bird out of the fridge while preheating the oven, so it's out of the fridge a minimum of 1/2 hour - 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 400℉ (and take bird out of fridge) like 2 - 2.5 hours before you want to have dinner. I usually give my oven a good 45 minutes to preheat properly, hence starting 2 or so hours ahead of dinner time. Prep veg pretty simple - cut onions into wedges leaving a bit of the root end attached. Red potatoes into quarters the long way. A few carrots also split the long way. Toss all the vegetables with salt and pepper and 2 T of (ahem) duck fat (or olive oil). Quantities depend on how long you want to keep eating leftovers (actually, the roasted onions and carrots go to making some stock - which I'll get to in a minute). Toss vegetables into roasting pan with the bird, which gets started on its side. Roast 25 minutes, take pan out of oven, turn bird onto its opposite side, stir the vegetables around ( a wooden flat bladed spatula and silicon tipped tongs come in handy) and roaSt another 25 minutes. Now the bird gets turned breast up for the final 20 minutes or so (and the veggies get moved around some more. If shit is burning, a cup or two of water in the pan won't hurt). Cook the bird until it's done, as I was taught. I've been finding the birds I've been roasting lately do take about an hour and 10-15 minutes for a 3.5 lb. bird, but everyone's oven is different and every bird is different (as you well know). Also, here in this apartment, one of us likes more done than the other one, so that's who gets the breast meat while I nosh on the wings and leg or thigh. Take the bird out of oven (I let it rest on the back of the stove, it's warm enough there) but don't cover it, which will only muck up the skin with steam. Remove veg and keep them warm somehow - (OH THE WARMING FUNCTION IN THE STEAM GIRL!). 10 - 15 minutes rest is good and then I pick that bird up and let the juices run out (theoretically, they run clear) into the pan which is getting deglazed with a little wine, stock, etc. for a nice pan sauce. Since it's just the Mrs. and me (I don't think I've ever roasted a chicken for guests), I carve her some breast meat, and take what I'm going to eat - usually the oysters, the wings, and maybe other pickings from the back, or a leg. All the rest of the meat get picked off and I make stock with the bones, skin, leftover onions and carrots - I can get a decent enough quart of stock. I'm most likely going to reheat the picked dark meat in a secondary prep - like ramen, Japanese curry, chicken soup...or something. With the leftover breast, I like to make chicken salad.

That's what I call - Inventory Control!

I saw some kids (okay, probably mid-20s) yesterday at my favorite, little local shop: Formaggio Essex. They carry a nice selection of canned (and jarred) seafoods, as well as a ton of other stuff. Female says to male, and I paraphrase: "I'd heard tinned fish were so over. They are so NOT over!"

My fingers, wrists, AND shoulders all hurt just from watching that video.

This is the chicken that I've now tried for the 2nd time... Roasted with some potatoes, onions, carrots. It's the Heritage chicken, from Trader Joe's, which they sell for $4/lb. Not a bad bird.

Obviously, the peppers get seeded. I believe I used canned diced tomatoes in my recent prep, which are probably diced with the seeds.

I really can't complain, but I'l note that I'd say a 20 - 30% increase across the board (for food) is not uncommon (compared to our last trip, pre-pandemic, in February, 2020). Wine prices are probably more stable than food prices, at least when drinking French wines.

An oft repeated story!

Certainly not as affordable as eating in Florence!