Richard Kilgore

Great find. Don't hesitate or it will be gone.

Mesquite and hickory wood chunks.

Thanks. What about grilling in a weber kettle. What about using chunk wood for that? I bought a bag of mesquite and of hickory. Pros and cons?

I have always used briquets for both smoking with a water smoker and for grilling, but am interested in understanding the why and how of using chunk charcoal and wood chunks for grilling and smoking. Why would you choose one over the other for each cooking process?

Just wanted to mention that I passed on "Professional Charcuterie" and went for the Time-Life series book. After looking at it, I'll probably pick up the Jane Grigson book and "Head To Tail" looks like it may be of help, too.

Welcome to eGullet and the Mexico Forum, esperanza. I hope you will come often and post frequently.

Anil - I didn't make the trip, so no tales to tell. Perhaps another time.

I am bumping this thread up to se if anyone is familiar with "Professional Charcuterie" by John Kinsella & David Harvey.

I believe the Mexican company is the largest baker in North America.

Thanks, Bux. sdj3 -- welcome to eGullet and to the Texas Forum. It's okay to name newspapers and names names when it comes to critics, also. Do you have a link to the review? That would be interesting and helpful.

I picked up one of these at a local sale. Italian made by Meazza & Masciadri. Perhaps others also use this clever design, but I have not seen it before. The pots will make two different quantities of mokka. Mine is a three or six cup model. They do this with an insert you can put in the 6 cup funnel to reduce it to the 3 cup capacity. Fill the base with half the usual amount of water and that's it. The aluminum pot has a curvelinear design with a "pearl" finish that is similar to the look of 1950s flecked wall paint. I'll take pics in a few days if anyone wants to see.

I got the three molds in, and they are very similar to Gastroflex -- perhaps barely slightly thinner silicon. Rated to 450 degrees F, rather than the 500 F of Gastroflex. From the packaging looks like they may have been made in Italy. With the shipping I think it averages about $14.50 per mold. Not bad, compared to $20+ at most retailers for Gastroflex. I'll post more when I have worked with them a little.

Hello Cranky, and welcome to eGullet. I hope you'll drop by and post often.

Thanks for the report, Sharon. I'll have to stop in Afrah And try the bread and pastries. Sounds great! And congratulations on your reviews. I believe Jasmine is only a couple of months old -- co-owner Abu Jamil Anani told me 67 days when I stopped in on May 19th. Also see my note above on the late night hookah smoking.

That was the situation with my original problem in this thread -- they were clumping up and not dropping through. I did find that if I put only the amount I was going to grind in one session, it works fine with these store beans. It is only if the bean glue has a chance to set overnight.

Another possibility:I was talking to one of the guys at CookWorks in Dallas. He said someone else mentioned this problem and a factory rep for one of the Espresso machines figuerd out that it was condensation from taking frozen beans out of the freezer and grinding them without letting them come to room temp (which I may have done -- not sure). He said a handful of uncooked rice put through the grinder cleaned out the machine and it worked fine.

I was in the neighborhood again and stopped by to try their sandwiches. The chef, smartly dressed in a white chef's coat, offered me a sample of their beef and chicken. Both very good, and I chose the chicken. Out it came in a few minutes, wrapped in a large pita also stuffed with pickles, pickled turnip, a yougurt sauce. Delicious, and it was huge! About 2 1/2" in diameter and 12 - 15 " long, for $3.95. A very good deal, and perhaps enough for two light eaters. The chef tried to explain to me something about a lamb dish he had simmering in a stock pot on the back of the stove for a special the next day, but my attempts at gesturing Arabic were not suficient for us to communicate. Actually, I am sure he was communicating just fine, but my translator had stepped out of the room. At any rate, he was clearly enthusiastic about the lamb special, and I'll have to stop in to try it sometime when they offer it again.

Jasmine Market & Cafe 107 E. Main Street Richardson, Texas 75061 972-437-4522 I spotted this Palestinian cafe tonight and stopped in for a bite. One of the owners, Abu Jamil Anani, has been known as Wally in the hospitality industry for the past 30 years after immigrating to the U.S. Recently retired from hotel management, he is an outoing, enthusiastic and gracious host for this new (open only 67 days) Main Street gathering place for area Arabs. Jasmine is situated in the 100 year old building he and his co-owner nephew rehabilitated. The kitchen is open until 11:00 p.m., but he says customers often stay until 2:00 a.m., hookah smoking on the back patio. I had a lamb Shish Kabob Plate with crusty, flavorful roast lamb, rice, grilled tomatoes and onion, pickled turnip (even Fifi would love it), and Hummus with Pita Bread. The Arabic coffee may be an acquired taste for many-- it's strong stuff, and leaves a finely ground coffee and sugar sludge in the bottom of the two ounce espresso cup. Hot tea is served in small glases that need a little time to cool. Dessert was Burma -- baked cheese and philo topped with pistachio and covered with a warm simple syrup at the last minute, a tasty combination. They bake Burma twice a day, and my serving was just recently out of the oven. Prices are quite reasonable, with Plate dinners for $6.99, sandwiches for $3.99, 12 appetizers from $1.50 for Kibbeh to $4.99 for Falafel, and $1.00 - 1.50 for desserts. The market has a good selection of proccessed foods. A small selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a sign said they also sell meat, but it was not on display. And I noticed some 10 liter pressure cookers that looked very solid. I will return. Anyone else discovered this place?

I have tried storing three days worth of beans in the Rocky, but find that on the second day the machine will not grind. I have to turn the machine upside down and pour the beans out to free the grinding burrs. What is causing this? I have been using *bucks Sulawese beans and wonder if they are the culprit -- either from oilines or bean fragments. Any ideas?

Today I saw a 10 inch Forschner Victornox Chef's knife in a restaurant supply house (ACE) for $31.

Okay, you guys are just too persuasive. The KA is creeping up on my list.

Since I've got 3 inch flan rings for rustic tarts (thanks for the article, Mamster), I am going to experiment with the smallest tarlett size (45mm) for bite size, the 65mm savarin, and the mini Madelline (44 mm). Was there a particular reason you went with 50mm for bite size in the tartlett? I was going to go 50 mm, too, but Fifi pointed out that 50mm looks like a two bite munch. Of course a person who is so wrong about okra could be wrong about anything.

Did you do them in the 70mm molds?

Thanks. Look forward to seeing the pics. The Canadian site has the best prices on these molds I have seen. W-S charges more than twice as much.

Hello Brooks -- This sounds great. Let us know how they turned out. How did you do the crawfish filling?