Really Nice!

Had dinner tonight at the Fish Club. We found out that Todd English will be coming to visit his business on Tuesday, July 20. He'll be throwing out the first pitch at the Mariner's game (they're playing Boston) and then he'll be presiding over a 5-course prix fix menu, which is $60 (or $65, I forget) a person.

Wow, I just saw him last weekend at Frank's Produce at the Market. He was in good spirits and we had a nice chat, even if it was brief. He had gained about 30 pounds since he was on TV and his voice was a lot huskier. I'll miss seeing him around on his scooter.

But have you tried Canola oil? I'm sure there are some benefits there that are not mentioned in this post.

I prefer a heavier grade. It tends to add a bit more color for the deep-glaze look.

I wouldn't say that we're offering crude cooking advice as much as we are trying to answer your question about saving money on olive oil. If you've never heard of real Italian food being cooked with anything but olive oil, then that's the price paid. It's your money, spend it as you wish, but you're more likely to get the answer you want from this forum by avoiding text such as, "Excuse me Miss, LIKE I SAID......," or "I was NOT asking for some kind of crude cooking lesson."

Have your friend find an international shipper to handle it. It will be a bit of a hassel, and a bit more expensive, but the paper work will be in order, and you'll receive the package. I have a friend who is overseas from time to time and he has tried to ship me wine (unknowingly to me) via USPS and Fedex under the guise of olive oil or books. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't.

Excellent, EXCELLENT SITE!!! Thank you gingerpeach and welcome! Welcome lemony and thanks for asking a great question. I was going to say that up on I-5 somewhere around the 195-205 mile marker there's a place that advertises U-Pick on the east side of the highway. I believe this is north of King County and it's the only place I can reference without researching. To get an idea as to the seasons here in Washington State, start here with the Mount Vernon Research Unit and drill down to... Dang, I can't find where to drill down, but here's the Washington Agricultural Harvest Date Statisitics Web site. Most Washington fruit and vegetables are here except for Old-time Apple Varieties. Good luck! Edit: Changed "it's the only place I can reference with researching" to "it's the only place I can reference without researching." Sheesh!

Crisco?

Perhaps you should consider canola oil. When you heat extra virgin olive oil (which I assume is what you mean by 'great olive oil'), it loses all its subtleties and nuances. The flavors break down from the heat. Or, you can avoid the cost of extra virgin olive oils and go with a lighter olive oil. You may not want to finish a dish with a quality olive oil, but if you do, you'll end up with a greater EVO flavor profile in that item than you would eating something heated in EVO. And give DiLaurenti's a chance. You might actually find something you value. There are some treasures in there. For example, while it's not olive oil, last week I found a 375ml bottle of 1996 Chateau d'Yquem for $129. Two other places have it for $205. I got mine at DiLaurenti's.

Let us know if we're beating this topic to death now that you have your information. The Hardy's box is 3 liters, (equal to 4 750ml bottles). Whole foods on Roosevelt also has it for $16.99.

Moderator Note: These posts about Salumi were submitted almost at the same time, and I thought Mario would enjoy seeing all of them. Three weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to enjoy a Friday evening dinner at Salumi. It was wonderful! Click here for the full details. This week I also joined Armandino's "adopt a proscuitto" program. I can't wait to get that thing home next fall. Now that he's USDA certified, will you be carrying any of his products in your restaurants?

Thanks for all your help. We served it with fried almonds, 5-year old parmesan shavings, and Spanish olives. It had a very stong almond aftertaste and went well with the items above. But we mostly noted a bit of a sourness to it. Is this a preferred characteristic of this wine? Thanks!

I have a friend in the wine business who has been saying for years that the components used to store wine in a box have a better capability to safely age wine than Lafite Rothschild. Fine Wines and Cigars in Redmond Town Center has a few, the only name I can recall is Australian Hardy's. It's about $17 a box. I'm not sure what size the container is. With New Zealand and Australia leading the world in looking for a noncork solution to packaging wine, I think we'll be seeing more quality wines coming in a box in the near future.

"Great anything" and "charge top dollar" are a bit synonymous. Try Spanish Table behind the market on Western. Start on the top floor for a tasting as they always have four bottles out across from the cheese counter. Olive oil is like wine, you're going to have to spend a few bucks before you find something you like. If you want to stretch olive oil, put it in a mister and spray the item to finish the dish before serving.

Not to offend anyone's philosophy or taste in wine, but I thought it to be rather pedestrian. The prices were inline with any other retailer and I thought their selection was rather limited. Even the wines they had in their 'cellar' were not the caliber of wines I'd expect to find there. There is a much better selection at the Roosevelt store. But I'm willing to give them time to develop. My 2¢

Yup! That's exactly it! Thanks!

Yup, it also has to do with the Mediterranean air. People in other places have tried to duplicate what they do in Parma, but they can't. Waverly Root wrote a great book back in the '50sThe Foods of Italy that discusses how the local climate influences prosciutto production. He also wrote another great book The Foods of France. Oh, he said his pigs came from a farm near Mt. Rainier. I didn't ask what their diet was.

Yes. I found more information that it's along the lines of a dry sherry.

I have a bottle of Vino de Alta Calidad de Las Bodegas Toro Albala, S.A. Viejisimo Solera 1922. The only thing I can find on it is it's amber, nutty and bone dry. The alcohol level is 17 percent. What should I serve with it? I'm guessing a Spanish cheese, but what style? Cabrales or Picón?

Just got back from my adoption. It's pretty much as vengroff describes. Mr. Toast and I are sharing one. After going through some initial stuff like naming it, and Armandino offering a quick explanation of HACCP, we went into the back cooler and found five hams sitting on the tables, each weighing between 19.75 pounds and 23.25 pounds. The pigs were slaughtered on Tuesday. Ours weighed 21.75 pounds and we expect to lose about 22 percent in weight when we pick it up 15 months from now. After weighing we then multiplied the weight by 1.5 and divided the product by two. This is the weight (in ounces) of a mixture of nitrate, dextrose, and table salt, that we rubbed into the ham. This took about 15 minutes. The mixture is difficult to rub in, but after a while it starts to get a glaze-like consistency and it sticks quite easily to the ham. We threw the hams into tub where it will sit in a 40F cooler. We return in two weeks to rub more of the mixture in, and then two weeks after that for another rubbing. After that it hangs in the cooler for about 14 months.

How long will these prices last? Umm. I made this up. This was my attempt at humor. Obviously I failed. But seriously folks, I'm here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress.

What they can sell and what they can produce are two different things. "Any wine remaining will be stored pending its sale as bulk wine, or until the CIVB decides conditions have improved." I read this as meaning production will be normal; they just want to drive the prices back up for the first wine of the chateaux. "The price of wine has collapsed in the last three years to almost half what it was." Huh? The 2000 and 2003 are the highest I've seen.

After making an appearance at the Whole Foods grand opening in Bellevue (strange, no one wanted my autograph ) I went Pete's in Bellevue. Found two very good purchases. Luna Vineyards 2000 Merlot, $25.99. Luna is in the Stag's Leap District in Napa Valley and is located on the south end of The Silverado Trail. This wine came to me as a recommendation from someone at work. I've never been able to find it here, but we did see it on the menu at The Grill at Hacienda Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona in April. I liked it so much that I got online and ordered a case of it from Luna that very night. They charged $32 a bottle. The Web site states, "The wine is a meal in itself," and they are right. I'm glad to see a Seattle distributor picked it up here. Ristow, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Quinta de Pedras Vineyard 2000. According to James Laube, Wine Speculator: 91 points - Enticing, floral, spice and cassis scents lead to a rich, supple, elegant yet concentrated wine, with a pretty array of herb, currant and blackberry flavors. Finishes with fine grained tannins and fresh earth and herbal flavors. Best from 2005 through 2012. Wine Spectator Weekly, Internet Only, August 28, 2003. I've been building a vertical of this wine for a couple years now. I first had the 1997 and thought that this was on par with Château Saint Jean Cinq Cépages of the same vintage. That's when I started looking for other vintages. This wine is usually listed around $70 a bottle. Occasionally you'll see it in the low 60s when it is on sale. Pete's has it for $34 a bottle!! This is an incredible steal so get it while you can.

Let the competition begin! Foie gras, $7 lb Osetra caviar, 76¢ ounce White truffles, free with purchase of black truffles, 14¢ lb

Darn, and I drove in today. I should probably wait out the crawl across the bridges tonight. Hmm... where on the eastside shall I wait??? Hmm...