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essvee

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Everything posted by essvee

  1. Hats off to you, HungryChris. And aren't the Irish capable of such a grand gesture when they've been drinkin? Flipside of that, of course, is: And aren't the Irish capable of astonishing ugliness when they've been drinkin? Both sides equally true, that, stereotype or no. Sean
  2. essvee

    Creme Fraiche

    Roger Verge's composed salad: haricot vert, cherry tomatoes or tomato concasse, toasted hazelnuts, dressed with creme fraiche and a dash of sherry vinegar. Whoa. Whip it and use it instead whipped cream on some decadent chocolate dessert, or just with berries. Or better yet, creme fraiche gelato (don't use vanilla). Yikes. Make a regular ol risotto with onion and chix stock and butter and finish it with a whopping big load of creme fraiche. Holy Jesus. Serve with sliced magret, or just plain ol roast chix. Yowsah.
  3. essvee

    Daube du Gardian

    Sorry, jackal. Didnt meant to come off as condescending.
  4. essvee

    Daube du Gardian

    I believe that one was traditionally made with bull instead of steer. The long cooking made it palatable. I may be wrong. As to the recipe, almost any good French cookbook has several daube recipes. I'm very fond of Wolfert's The Cooking of SW France. Wells' Bistro Cooking too. Richard Olney and Elizabeth David will provide some serious back in the day recipes. Good luck.
  5. essvee

    Mash Po's

    Russets/Idahos. I peel them and boil them whole to minimize water retention. I know I should boil them in their skins but it annoys me to peel them hot. Drying them out either in oven or back in the pot over low heat is ideal. Ricer is best, (most important when using waxy potatoes, as working them hard makes them gummy), but a regular old masher does the trick quite nicely. It's my opinion that mashies should not be messed with. Lots and lots of butter, and a judicious amount of cream, salt and pepper. Two exceptions: garlic is okay every once in a while. Either simmer six or eight cloves with the cream and strain em out,, or toss a bunch in while the potatoes are boiling. Use more garlic if you go that way. And I once served Pierre Franey's duck stew (it's in Cooking in France; I've made it a lot and it is wicked wicked good) with mashies instead of the white polenta he recommends, and I finished the potatoes with some duck fat along with cream and butter. They were amazing. The mashies carried the toasty roasty flavor of the duck fat in a most sublime manner.
  6. essvee

    Roasting a Chicken

    Arrgh! Cakewalk, the entire point to Marcella's recipe is that cooking the chix breast-side down first bastes the breast and ensures it stays juicy. If sticking is a problem, a little oil or butter rubbed on the breast takes care of it. Chicken with two lemons is one of those perfect recipes that should not be messed with, imo.
  7. Or conversely, try using all bread flour. And always let your dough proof for a long time in the fridge, all pizza joints do that.
  8. Try not using bread flour, just regular old.
  9. essvee

    When Recipes Attack!

    I bought 5 pounds of Concord grapes last weekend for Concord grape pies, two of them. You have to pop the pulp out of the skins and cook the pulp to strain it and get the seeds out. I valiantly popped and popped, saving the skins, all the way through this giant bag of grapes. I then cooked the pulp, ran it through the food mill, added the sugar, flour and lemon, poured the filling into two pie shells I had made (oil crust, 5 minutes and absolutely foolproof and impossibly flaky). Hmm, looks a little low, I thought, and popped them into the oven. I turned to the counter and moved some stuff and saw: another giant bag of grapes. I had used only half the grapes, making the filling twice as sugary. The result was grape jelly pie. I threw them away. D'oh!
  10. Ooooohhh, See's candy. Scotch Kisses, molasses chips, Toffee-ettes, pecan clusters, Scotch Kisses, Scotch Kisses...
  11. Man, Pepperidge Farm white bread tain't embarraskin! I wish I could get some, for toast and for tomato sammiches. Nothjing of the sort exists herer in the Bay Area.
  12. Red Wing makes very comfortable and sturdy lowcut kitchen shoes. Buy two pair and rotate them so they can dry out. Keep em polished and clean and they will last you for years and years. I've had mine for seven.
  13. Use wood, and save one just for chicken. That's what I do. Better for your knives, too.
  14. I have a food-related album cover. "Cognac and Bologna" by Doug and the Slugs. Features a huge stack of baloney dripping with mustard and ketchup flanked by snifters and candlesticks. Funny.
  15. Liverwurst and braunschweiger are made with pork liver.
  16. Coconut Almond Chip. Lord I miss that stuff. Havent thought about Rainbow Crunch in years but I remember liking it. I never ran across The Full Vermonty, which is too bad because I adore maple.
  17. Marcella says don't wrap it in plastic; wrap it first in cheesecloth and then in aluminum foil and put it in the crisper. If the cheese dries out, you can gently moisten the cheesecloth for a while. Plastic is the death of cheese.
  18. Schneier, would you mind sharing how much your wine cost? Sounds as if you and your friends are very knowledgable, and willing to pay for what you want. Did you consider bringing some of your own?
  19. essvee

    VD Stew

    Squirrel. Definitely squirrel.
  20. essvee

    Oliveto

    Your dinner sounds terrific, eddie. Seriously, I've been to the French Laundry, and I would much rather eat at Oliveto. Paul Bertolli is a genius, and his homemade salumi is beyond words. Especially his melt-in-the-mouth mortadella. But you have to, have to, eat some pasta next time you go. Never never skip the pasta course. Absolute heaven. Probably his greatest strength, and Oliveto is the only Italian restaurant I've been to, besides Acquarello (which is also fantastic), that serves pasta the way it's meant to be served. As a small portion, not a main course.
  21. I hate that milky spawning taste enough that I won't eat oysters in the summer. Ugh.
  22. essvee

    Oliveto

    I have never had the level of service there that you folks are talking about. It is my bestest most favorite restaurant in all the world.
  23. The Schnitzel Haus at 9th and Folsom. Deer antler chandeliers, and quiet oompah music, and a lederhosen-wearing drunken owner with a lot of missing teeth, and very good schnitzel and German beer. I love that place. The owner will leave you alone, he mostly sits with a glass of wine in the back and broods. Cheap as hell too.
  24. essvee

    Jojo

    marie-louise, i meant huge in the manner of awe-inspiring, not large. sorry forthe mixup.
  25. Sure, he might be trying to be sarcastic, but in the context of that sentence, I don't see it or get it.
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