Really Nice!

Geez, h☼w could ├ f☼rget that! The name ☼f the place is P. ♫♥₫↨└™שּׁeУд. ↨f course, the locals know it as ™. Just look for the Neon sign flashing in the Уarking lot.

I agree with "T". Find the most economical Brunello di Montalcino and go with it. To find the 'expected' price of a wine, go to www.wine-searcher.com. You don't mention the year so the price of the wine can vary. For example, the price of '97 release will be significantly higher than other vintages. Of course, Principesco Brunello di Montalcino doesn't show up in wine-searcher. By any chance did these people bring the bottle back from Italy? Edit for dangling modifiers.

There's only one place in Seattle that has truly authentic New York pizza. Trust me, I know. If you're coming from north of Seattle take I-5 to the Union Street exit; head west. If you're coming from south of Seattle take I-5 to the Madison St. exit; turn left. Go through the stop light until you hit 6th; turn right and go to Union. Make a left (head west). The following instructions apply no mattër which direction you came from. ProŒed until you get to <ÁëaŒnţdьۃۊ and make a ڻطỬ┘◄ףּ. Go until you see thỆetىheУдďs¶ ign. It's between ¼7¢ڴ۩s├treet and P₫↨└™שּׁ. ♫♥ You'll know it when you see it. By now you should be smelling that indistiguishable aroma that can only mean New York p↨zza! There's a Уarking lot right next door, but ├ don't have to tellУ you that because it's so obvious when you pull up. Tell ﮀﻚ◄●░☼ that Really Nice! sent you. He'll take good care of you. Edited for a typo.

And if you add twice as much diced pork shoulder to the pork fat and follow these instructions, you've got Rillettes! Edit to add: Of course you'll need to add a bay leaf, 10 peppercorns, 10 juniper berries, 3 thyme sprigs, and 3 sage leaves...

This magazine could be so much better if they were to expand their testing to products beyond those that can only be obtained on the east coast. How about a west coast edition?

Yikes! Are we paraphrasing Emeril?

In no particular order Bacon fat Duck fat Foie Gras fat Pork fat Buttah

‘Sideways’ is a knockout Paul Giamatti stars in the best American film so far this year "The middle-aged buddy movie truly comes of age with Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor’s “Sideways,” their fourth winner in a row. ...Payne and Taylor have now created a road movie of remarkable depth and penetrating humor. Although we’ve still got a couple of months to go, “Sideways” may turn out to be the year’s best American film. Who knows???

1.3 billion offered for Mondavi. Robert Mondavi Corp. stock shot up 30 percent Tuesday morning on the news that spirits giant Constellation Brands is the unsolicited bidder for the winemaker, making an offer that is worth an estimated $1.3 billion.

Wonderful thread, and I'm glad someone brought to light the idea of anaerobic bacteria and how they can survive without oxygen. I won't argue the point of how sous vide has been safely used in Europe for the last 20 years, but those of us in professional kitchens here in the U.S. need to manage/document food safety very well to successfully handle inquiries from the health department. Knowing how aerobic bacteria can become anaerobic (aka spores) and what you're doing to diminish their threat will help meet that inquiry. I've been up on Ebay and I'm seeing most small countertop models (2 quarts) selling in the neighborhood of $40. I have this 'buyer beware' anxiety when it comes to Ebay. Am I looking at the right ones? These are analog, not digital. Thanks again for a very informative thread on this topic.

Yes, Seattle's Exotic Meats sells many different cuts of it.

I was married to an Australian at the time. I think it was our second trip (as a couple) down there to visit her family when I announced that I wanted to try kangaroo. My then brother-in-law returned a day later with the SMH story that was about a week old. I was told to tread carefully. As an aside, that's when I first heard about Australia's answer to U.S. television's Lassie was a kangaroo named Skippy.

Usually it's in a butcher's backroom cooler. Larry's carry's them as does Don's in the Market. I've never had a problem walking up unannounced and asking for 4 or 5 pounds. The only time I had to make a special request was at Golden Steer in Redmond when I ordered 60 pounds (to be divided up between 3 people).

I bought one from Williams Sonoma a while back ($35 for 8 ounces). All I can say is you won't need to add salt to your recipe. What's going on November 7 at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, and what time should I be there? If you make your own stock, making a demi glace is not difficult. All you need is time, which is probably a more valuable resource. Make a brown veal stock. Veal bones are about $1.80 a pound--all you need is about 4 pounds and the usual stock ingredients. You'll end up with about 1/2 gallon of stock. Take half of the stock and save it in the fridge. Take the remaining half and make a Sauce Espagnole. This is basically sauteing 8 ounces mirepoix in some butter, adding a bouquet garni, 2 ounces tomato paste, adding the stock that is not in the fridge and stiring in about 4 - 6 tbsp of brown roux. Strain the sauce (a chinois or tamis works best; if you don't have either, strain it through cheesecloth in a strainer). If you Google "Sauce Espagnole recipe" you'll get more accurate measurements. Return the Sauce Espagnole to a clean pot and add the half stock you saved in the refrigerator. Slowly reduce this down to about 25 percent of what you started with (down to 2 cups) and voilà, Demi Glace! It only takes about 12 hours.

Kangaroo is on the menu in many Australian restaurants. It is very lean, only 2 percent fat so it needs to be served rare. Personally, I like the flavor and texture of it. The best way to describe it, I guess, is to say it resembles lamb. Serving kangaroo in Australia very much carries the same conotation that serving foie gras is experiencing here in the States. A small but determined group of people want to see it off the menu. I think it was back in '96 when I was down in Sydney that a group of people pulled up in a car in front of an outdoor cafe that had kangaroo on the menu. They put a dead kangaroo on a chair at an empty table. The words "eat me" were written in blood across the kangaroos chest. It made the front page of the SMH. No small feat.

Sacrilege!

Hey! I spent the week of my 40th birthday there!

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz. It sells for about $17 at our local Costco. Decant it for two hours. Enjoy! Edit to add: Here's Penfolds idea as to which of their wines should be served with lamb.

Not quite. It's true that all fats have 9 calories per gram (alcohol 7, carbs and protein 4). However, water will boil off long before the roux is ready. All you're really doing is is changing the ratio of fat to butter. You can use whole butter for blanc roux, but clarified butter is recommended for blond, brown, and black because the milk solids will burn giving it an off taste. When making a roux, look for viscosity. It should have the texture of wet sand on the beach after a wave. Fanny Farmer. She's the one who is credited for taking a recipe instruction such as "take a chunk of butter the size of an egg and..." and converted to a volume measurement. And a wee bit of history about roux. It was invented by LaVarrenne, 1615-1678. He also is known for diminishing the use of spices and inventing the duxelles preparation of mushrooms. According to Escoffier, the ratio is to use 9 ounces of butter to 8 ounces of fat.

I keep mine on a roledex. Very basic stuff like: How long to cook a chicken at various temperatures using various methods. How long to boil or poach an egg. What goes into a homemade poultry seasoning. (equal parts thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, and 1/4 part black pepper, and nutmeg) Ingredient list for puff pastry (I've read Julia Child's version so many times (8 pages) that I know the steps, I just need to remember the ingredients.) International flavor profiles. Pasta ingredients (flour to egg ratios). The five mother sauces and their derivatives. What goes well with a particular wine varietal. The important thing to make this work (at least for me) is to just list the bullet points. It's sort of a personal version of Le Repertoire de La Cuisine.

I highly recommend this book. It is very much on the level of LaRousse Gastrominique or The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques, and Science of Good Cooking. Her new book is worth looking into. Unfortnately, we can't attend this dinner.

Got this advertisement in my weekly Wine Press Northwest e-mail. October Special: Prix Fix Menu Three Courses w/Wine: $35. Advertisement DULCES LATIN BISTRO WINE RESTAURANT DISCOVERY Located in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood, Dulces is one of Seattle's best kept secrets. Discover its 3,000-bottle wine cellar and see how its wine list earn awards from Wine Spectator and Wine Press Northwest. Get 25% off bottled wines every Wednesday. October Special: Prix Fix Menu Three Courses w/Wine: $35. http://www.dulceslatinbistro.com

As best I can tell, it's not on here in Seattle.

I have never yelled so much at my television than I have when Tyler (How's my hair look?) Florence is on.

Can't wait to see the series. I'm having dinner with him tomorrow night! Well, okay, I'm paying $250 for two and it's a dinner/book signing event at a local restaurant. Dinner will be using recipes from the new book. I agree with the notion "If something tastes good, he says so without getting weak at the knees." He's a class act.