essvee

Wrap a slice around one of those long French breakfast radishes. Dip the radish into some dilled (or chived) creme fraiche so the salmon will stick. Half bake some small pizza doughs beforehand. Finish them off, smear with aforementioned creme fraiche while still hot, top with gravlax and minced chives and slice. Treat it like real pastrami. Buy some of that mini cocktail rye. Make lil open face reuben-type thingees with some crunchy cabbage slaw. The slaw must be mild-flavored so as not to overwhelm the salmon. Maybe napa cabbage would work? Or fennel, maybe even better? Use a slice of roast potato for a canape, and do the creme fraiche/salmon thing. That's all I got.

What a bee-yoo-tiful chicken. There is a wonderful bit of either Dumas or Brillat-Savarin floating around in my brain where the author is waxing rhapsodic about a chicken, comparing it to various court ladies and exclaiming: "It is as white as M. Broussard, as fat as M. Vouchay, as white and fat as M. Ducard..." Foodman, your chicken is as fat and as white as M. Ducard.

I was going to suggest Paul Bertolli's crab and artichoke salad, but I looked at your profile and I'm guessing you don't have live Dungeness crab where you live. There's a nice Greek dish that's basically poached shrimp tossed with oo, lemon and mint. Crumbled feta optional. Or how about a nice remoulade? Here's a good recipe from my pal Charles who owns the Penny Cluse Cafe in Burlington VT. This is an unemulsified dressing; it's supposed to separate. Charles says his grandma was from New Orleans and this is her recipe. If you are craving a little sweetness, a good glop of chili sauce would be OK. For 30+ biggish shrimp 2 stalks celery, diced fine 1 cup Italian parsley, chopped fine then rinsed and squeezed through a towel 1 bunch of green onions, chopped fine 2 T good strong Dijon type mustard (Creole mustard if you can find it) 2 T prepared horseradish or more to taste 1 T paprika ½ t cayenne Salt 1 cup canola oil Mix all ingredients whisking in oil at the end Make a court bouillon with 4 cups of water 1 cup white wine 2 lemons, halved, squeezed then dropped into the water Pinch of Peppercorns, allspice berries, whole cloves 1 cinnamon stick Some sprigs of parsley Simmer court bouillon then drop in shrimp and cook until just pink. Spoon out into a large colander and put a little ice on to cool slightly. Mix into the sauce and chill in the cooler. Do not overcook shrimp, do not rinse shrimp with cold water to stop the cooking.

Andrew, that's a great idea. A 'pork three ways' type of thing.

I was given the 8 quart dutch oven type pot as a gift. It's awesome, but... it's about 20 pounds, I swear. Me mother in law has the LC one and it feels like the Mario one is twice as heavy. What gives, I wonder?

Ms. Wolfert, thanks so much for your advice. I will surely do just that. I will as well, I think, make the confit with lentils and chorizo from Southwest France. Does chorizo in this case mean Spanish-style, as in something i could get from the Spanish Table? Thanks again!

Thanks, lucky. Anyone else? Bueller? ?

Hey, Anna N., there's a wonderful book by Madeline Kamman called When French Women Cook. There's a recipe for Pineau in there. it takes about a month but it's really worth it. Give it a try.

It is so darn cool that M. Wolfert is a participant here! I'm a big fan, my copy of Southwestern France is very splotchy and stained. My fave dish is salmis of duck legs (the three day version) with le pou. I wasn't going to buy the new edition but I hear it's got 60 new recipes so I will. Loath that I am to give up my old copy. Anyway, a few posts up M. Wolfert mentions buying fresh lard from German or Hungarian butchers. I live in the East Bay (Oakland) and I can recommend Latin American butchers as well. It's wonderful, readily available in Nothern California anyway and has the advantage of being very much cheaper. When I made confit du porc, I bought 2 quarts of the stuff for 4 bucks.

forum. Hi guys. Haven't been around for a long while, but I've been curing some pork confit, made P. Wolfert style (original edition), and I have been racking my brains for something different (read: un-bean-related) to do with it. I got an eGullet email and I figured I'd post a topic here. Only to find that two prominent topics are charcuterie and the new edition of Cooking of Southwest France! Unfortunately, I do not have the stamina to read all 24 pages of these two topics to ferret out any suggestions. I did see M. Ruhlman's suggestion to treat it like a leg of duck confit and saute a good slice of it. Alas, I used country-style spareribs, and I deboned them after poaching to fit them in the pot. So that's right out. Any way, any suggestions? The stuff has been curing since before Christmas so it should be good and confited. I thought of making ravioli (nah) or perhaps some beggars' purse type thingee with chard leaves (mebbe). I'd love to hear what you good people might have up your sleeve. Great to be back, yr humble servant, essvee

I hate margarine almost all the time myself, but if you want the sauce to taste authentic, you gotta use margarine. To me, it doesn't taste right with butter, definitely the only time I would ever say that, ever.

Bizou is one of my faves. Keller's tastes are in sync with mine. I'm not sure what to think about the green beans, beef cheek and vacherin still being on the menu. I ate each one of those dishes there in ... 96 maybe? Then again, I believe many bistros in France have menus that don't necessarily change at all. I'm not crazy for the beans, but the cheeks and the vacherin are truly gorgeous dishes, so even though the "scene" demands a near constant revamping of menus, if a dish is good enough, there's no reason it should stay. I'd be surprised if Delfina didn't still have their signature spaghetti on the menu. (I have the recipe, got it from the Chron, if anyone wants it.) As to Senor M.B., I have difficulty taking him seriously most of the time, in large part because he smokes. Puhleeze! No wonder he's always on about not enough salt! Plus he is one of the main reasons for thewhole menu changing frenzy, I believe. One of his complaints about Bizou might have been about that, I can't remember for sure. Anyway, go to Bizou, have the cheeks, have the vacherin (lick the plate good), and bring a nice little Gigondas or Cote Rotie or Chateauneuf from K&L and skip the corkage! How good is that?

I sure have, melkor. And I've been to five or six truffle dinners over the years. But never have I seen them pull that kind of shit. It's always been X dollars per serving, and the truffles were always shaved by the Kleins or by Chef Paul. That's just lame and bizarre. Last time I went, two years ago, we bought a whole truffle for the table, so I don't know how new this practice is, but I will say I am getting kind of tired of being one of the sole defenders of the place on this board. I love it; it's my very favorite restaurant, and I've been to the French Laundry and other joints like that, but it's funny to remember that whenever someone posts to complain about Olivet, I always charge in to defend it. The behavior described in this post, however, is indefensible. I'm embarrassed for Chef Paul, a chef I respect immensely. He is kind of a cold dude, though. I wonder if his aloof reserve is part of the culture of the restaurant....

Update: I served and ate it raw. It was wicked good!

Aqua, with the incomparable Laurent Manrique, is open Sundays too. I'll bet you can grab a table before seven.

Thanks all for your prompt replies and advice.

I agree with others that Bauer gave it a good review. I also think that he would never give a plain ol' bistro, meaning one that concentrated on only classic dishes, and didn't put a jazzy SF kinda spin on it or do some other "creative" (feh) stuff, more than two stars not matter how superlative it was, and the review makes it sould pretty superlative, which I think sucks. Not enough places pay homage to the old ways as far as I'm concerned. Grumble grumble...

Hi all. Salmon (sake) is my fave sashimi. I'm making sushi Saturday, and although I've done some research, including a search here, I still can't decide whether or not to use fresh salmon. I live in the Bay Area, and my fishmonger will get me some wild king salmon fresh off the boat. I read the UC Davis site, and others, and I can't make out whether there are any other dangers besides the big ol' nematodes, which I've only seen in swordfish anyway. Do the luxe sushi joints do it fresh? I know tuna is generally flash-frozen. Will that creamy sake texture be affected if I use frozen? Thanking you.

Dead flies and dust bunnies. I have a very intense pre-verbal memory of really enjoying the flavor of a dead fly. I also liked to chew on the cedar muntuns and mullions of the windows in my bedroom. I was a strange child, me.

The best taco truck in Fruitvale is Tacos Sinaloa at 22nd and International. The very best carnitas, crunchy and soft and uber-succulent, dripping with luscious pork fat. Don't forget to bite the end off of your pickled jalapeno and drizzle the juice over your tacos. I have spoken. It's funny how the taco trucks in Oakland are miles better than the SF ones. They even smell different. You can smell the corny goodness of the tortillas as you stand outside. Divine, I tell you. Speaking of Walnut Creek, my fave dim sum, Tin's Tea House, has opened a branch there. Reports are that it's smashing good. IrishCream and Grant and I have dined at the Oaktown branch, and I feel like I am not overextending myself by speaking for them in that we all thought it was excellent. My favorite of theirs is the shrimp fried in bean curd skin, served Hong-Kong style with a little dish of Worcestershire sauce. I would risk contracting the Ebola virus for a plate of those. Not that you would catch the Ebola virus at Tin's or anything; it's just a figure of speech. I'm leaving now.

Pizza. Which is truly unfortunate as I live in the CA Bay Area where pizza is an abomination. I have a stone but it's not the same as Modern or Pepe's or Regina or Antonios... Even fair pizza in New England kicks the everlovin crap out of California pizza.

The recipes I have say to make broth with the chix and throw the chix away.

Herrell's, Herrell's, ah say, Herrell's. Best. Ice cream. Ever. Especially the chocolate pudding, lemon mousse, and malted vanilla. I miss me some Herrell's. Snif.

Here's a great P-town Portagee online cookbook. Can't remember how I found it, maybe here even? Anyway, I'm betting the meatless favas are the ones you remember. Enjoy. http://www.capecodaccess.com/cookbook/toc.html

I honestly do not think that you are going to run into any great restaurants in Wormtown or its surroundings. I went to the Struck a few years ago, I worked there in the early 80s and loved the job and the people, but my meal there was not good in any way shape or form. And the Struck has long been considered the fine dining spot of Wormtown. My fave restaurant there is Coney Island Hot Dogs. For serious. The best. As well, the numerous diners on Shrewbury Street are great for what they are. Used to be you could get some decent Italian food on Shrewsbury (the Wonder Bar, anyone?), but I'm not sure about it any more. I'd save your pennies, eat low-end there and drive to Boston for your fine dining. Only an hour away. Or drive to Northampton and eat at my pal Dane's place Circa. Pretty great food. Your opinion may vary, though. Where did you move from? Nice country out there, ain't it?