Really Nice!

This isn't hard to do at The Harvest Vine in Seattle. It's a Spanish tapas-style place. Going through the menu is easy for a group of three or four, and it is expensive. $11 for grilled asparagus. (There were about 11 spears) $15 for foie gras. About the square inchage(?) of a credit card, maybe 3/8-inch thick. $16 for a squab breast. (Yes, 'a', as in half of the whole) $13 for a double-rib rack of lamb (2 riblets.) Bill came to about $450 for seven with two 375ml bottles of wine and one 750ml. These wines were on the econimical side. Considering it was my first time at this highly revered place, I'm not sure what to make of it. We were told the wait would be a 15-minute wait. 25 minutes later we were told it would be another 15 minutes. 15 minutes later we were told another 15 minutes... grr. Finally sat down in the basement and waited 20 minutes for service to begin. They weren't that busy. One basement wall stored their wine with a nice looking wine rack. I'm guessing there were about 300-400 bottles. Some were quite pricey. I noticed a thermometer on one of the shelves. As we got up to leave at 10:30pm on a somewhat cool day in Seattle, I snuck a peak at the termometer. 76°F

huh?

Because salt is first and foremost a perservative. It contains fantastic drying properties. The simple ingredients in the dough don't require it to dry the product to have a 'decent' shelf life. If salt were added to the dough it would be extremely brittle and pretty much unusable in a very short period of time. Slightly off topic, when you look at the ingredients on a package that says "No Preservatives" and salt is the number one ingredient, it has preservatives that our forefathers, or mothers, used to preserve their food.

I picked it up at the CIA in St. Helena after my lunch at The French Laundry back in April. I haven't read it yet, though. It sounds like I made a good purchase.

So are you saying that you should grind the sea salt?!? This goes completely against what others believe. Personally, I go for flavor first, texture second.

I got it in downtown Seattle at a place called DiLaurenti's. If you're a local, you know the place. If you're coming in from out of town, just go left of the fish flying at 30MPH and you'll find it. The label says: Sal Del Mar (Smoked Sea Salt) Matiz Mediterraneo It's $8.99 for 4.4 ounces, and is packaged in a little plastic jar. It has an incredible hickory smoked flavor that matches perfectly with grilled dishes. Great texture, flavor, and aroma.

This is strange?

Here's what my inventory currently has: Maldon Sea Salt – England Hickory Smoked Sea Salt – Spain Mediterranean Sea Salt – Spain Mediterranean Sea Salt – Italy Fleur de Sel – Brittany, France Atlantic Grey Sea Salt – France Sea Salt – Brittany, France Juassic Era Mineral Salt – Utah, U.S. Hawaiian ‘Alaea Sea Salt – Hilo, Hawaii Diamon Crystal Kosher Salt Unfortunately, I have a very low tolerance for salt. My bp shoots up if I use the same quantity most people use.

This makes sense if you've ever had to live with someone who had a broken jaw.

Oops, I wasn't referring to mineral content. It wasn't clear in my post, but I was referring to the different flavors that the minerals provide in each. And, yes, I'm aware that component-wise, sea salt and mined salt are the same thing.

Agreed. Try and find a hickory-smoked Spanish sea salt. The flavor is incredible. Other salts that I like with meat include Hawaiian pink salt, which contains 'Alaea (red clay that makes it pink), and a mineral sea salt, mined from a Jurassic-era sea bed in Utah. Both are high in minerals and heighten the flavor of beef.

Welcome Mise en Place! I can understand how you/they felt. The first thing I wrote in my culinary school notes after tasting and analyzing: Buffalo Mozzarella; Havarti; Gruyere; Brie; Cambazola; Smoked Gouda; Camembert de Normandie; Limburger; Gorgonzola; Stilton; Epoisses de Bourgogne; Roquefort; Roaring 40's Blue; and Livarot, was: "It’s two hours after class and I still feel sick."

I like to do this often as it keeps my knife skills up, but I cheat a little. Peel the potato, cut it in half vertically and place both halves cut side down on a cutting board. Take an apple slicer that slices an apple into 8 pieces, and push it down on each half. This should give you eight pieces per half. Now take your tournee knife and make your seven cuts into each piece. The cuts might not be consistent, but you'll start with an even-sized potato each time. Who is Hanon?

I happen to have some Livarot in my fridge! I also like Limburger.

What are the details: that thread is too long to just glance over... who is coming from Chicago? Well, I'm from Park Ridge and have been known to travel back home from time to time... Where is this going to take place? Although I'm limited on employment, I'm big on frequent flyer miles. Shall I bring some appropriate sauces? What's the date, time, location................................?

I have on a couple of occasions. My first was a wedding in Wenatchee Washington. They had six different sauces, supposedly you were to make an intelligent decision based on the meat you were eating. No one knew that you were to have a bbq sauce with the pork butt, and the honey-mustard sauce with the ham. They didn't know one end of the pig from the other. Butt (), honestly, if you were to point at a section of a whole cooked pig such as the Boston Butt and ask, "What part is this?" I don't think someone would answer with, "It's the Boston butt that you use to make bbq'd shredded pork; can I have it with bbq sauce and a couple slices of bread so I can eat it as a sandwich?" I guess this makes me a BBQ snob.

Mmm... beer.

slowly (sorry, I couldn't resist) Jim With a fork? Hey, remember that guy a few years back in Indiana who ate an entire pig and then died from inhaling the expelled gasses from his own body? Or should this be posted on a different BBS? Anyway... A pig, just like any other animal is best utilized when you separate it at the primal cuts. And meat packers have a number for each cut of each animal which I'll provide for you. Starting from the head: Boston Butt -- NAMP (North American Meat Processors) #406: This is the shoulder of the pig. Don't ask why it's called a butt. This is what you use to make bbq'd shredded pork; cook it low and slow because it's a tough cut of meat (as are all shoulders of animals). Serve it with bbq sauce and serve as a sandwich. Arm/shoulder AKA Picnic Shoulder -- NAMP #405: These are the front legs of the pig. This is best when smoked or made into choucroute or cassoulet. Loin -- NAMP #410-416: This is the top half of the pig between the boston butt and the leg. This is the source of many things; ribs, tenderloin, chops... Usually a dry heat method is best for this area of the pig. Ribs should be served with a bbq sauce, tenderloin and chops with a strained, classical sauce. Side, or belley -- NAMP #408: Bacon! Serve with eggs over easy, ketchup, and hashbrowns. Leg: AKA Ham NAMP #402. This too is great with the dry heat method and basted. Serve with a mustard- and honey-based sauce. Now, if you're cooking the entire thing, just put out as many condiments as you can (as mentioned above), and let the individuals make their own sauce selection. Source for NAMP numbering: The Meat Buyers Guide, by the north american meat processors association, © 1997. Unfortunately, according to Amazon, it's out of print. If you have another source, the ISBN number is 1-878154-00-1. I think this cost me $50.

So I'm doing a little Internet research on this topic because I like to broaden my horizons, regardless of whether something is 'in' or 'not.' It doesn't matter to me because what was in yesterday, is not today, but will return tomorrow; plus, what we learned yesterday is what we do today, which is what we build upon tomorrow. I've heard about foams for a couple of years now, but I've never seen it on a plate. Not in my four visits to The French Laundry, three visits to CIA (cutting edge?), two visits to Chez Panisse, La Toque, nor in my visits to Rovers and the Herb Farm in Seattle. But that doesn't keep me from experimenting with it. Who knows, I might build upon this and come up with next "new thing." Through Google I found a Web site talking about using espresso machines to whip up a foam as opposed to buying another gadget. Using espresso machines, chefs whip up all kinds of foams and sauces. Check out the date. Chef Spencer, you crack me up.

My jury is still out on this issue, but I have been interested in it. How much foam does this make? I'm thinking anything more than 2 tablespoons of volume (3.5 cubic inches?) would look excessive on a plate. And unless you're having a big dinner party, I'm guessing a lot will go to waste, no? Just curious...

I went to see him on the last day of his book-signing tour which he spent here in Seattle. He talked for about 30-40 minutes about some of the highlights in the book. He mentioned how frugal he and his family had to be when he first started out. He carried that thought to when he moved to America, and married an American, and how she would throw everything out, or she would go grocery shopping and buy new ingredients before using up what was already at home. He said after 38 years of marriage he was proud that he taught her how to be more economical... "either that, or she throws everything away before I get home." He also discussed the PBS series he's done over the years, and how much he's enjoyed them. He said at first it was difficult because of all the work he did in preparing for them (months of writing, developing and testing recipes) and then suddenly the funding would fall through. One November in the early 80s he was given an opportunity to film an 13-part series the following July. He forgot all about it until his wife reminded him in April. He decided to forget about it rather than spending the time to work on the recipes when he got a call in May saysing they got the funding. So he had to rush on his recipe development. Ever since that series aired, they always had the funding. He liked doing the shows. Each was 27.5 minutes long. As the end of the program neared, someone behind camera would hold up a card... 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 90 seconds, 30 seconds... and when he worked alone, he always finished on time. He said he was very proud of that. When he worked the series with his daughter, he said she'd be working on something and the person would flash the 2 minute card, so he'd push her out of the way to get the program done on time. When he and Julia did their cooking specials on stage together, they decided that the show needed to be edited around the cooking; not cook around the editing. Their one-hour specials actually took 5 hours. They didn't use that "through-the-magic-of-television" oven. One last thing, he's going to be making another 13-part series with his daughter this summer in San Francisco.

Smoked turkey and alcohol. I want to party with you!

Nothing.

Heyjude, I'm sorry to hear that the food was that poor for any restaurant. I'd think that since they're advertising they'd have their act together. I liked your comment regarding "ladies" vs. "you guys." Having been an editor in a past life my 'ear' was always sensitive to this gender basing. I'm still astonished when watching the news and an on-the-scene reporter (usually a woman) returns the news back to the the two anchorwomen with, "back to you guys."

Oh, I thought that was a given.