TicTac

lol @kayb I too have tried tripe and cannot get past a) the texture b) the slight 'off' flavour. sweetbreads - I will never tire of, oh how I love thee!

I can't imagine (because I surely wont try it! ) being able to taste much scallop under Gruyere cheese... Shellfish especially, are delicate. It would be a shame to blanket their (hopefully) fresh flavour with cheese of any sort.

This title is what is often referred to as 'Click Bait' Testicles are very popular in many parts of the world. My grandmother who originally hails from Vienna, but grew up and raised a family in Israel, often regales me of the tales of her enjoying 'Turkey balls' on a skewer in the streets of Tel-Aviv. Like Sweet Breads, if one can get past the idea, they are often delicious (though I have not tried, and quite frankly have no interest in trying a cow's vagina - sorry!).

I don't consider butter and fish 'dairy and fish' to be honest. I pan fry fish in butter often. But as mentioned, things like cream, milk, and certainly cheese do not belong with seafood.

Back to the topic at hand - In the oven are Chicken legs roasted on top of sliced potatoes (A great way to make chicken fat / crunchy taters!), roasted yams, and a new concoction - hearts of palm salad with cilantro and arugula with a sherry vinaigrette.

Very true. I am sure my family's Italian 'heritage' influenced this mindset.

Dairy and seafood do not mix (IMO). Do not get me wrong, I am often in awe of your most unctuous (and amazingly creative) creations - just the (cooked) milk variable threw me for a loop

I must admit - this kind of scares me..... The milk part, that is. Everything else looks great

My re-seasoning (first method was a flawed oven method) came out quite well on my MB 12 inch. 10-12 rounds (I lost track!) of flax seed oil seasoning on stove top, letting it cool 100% before moving on to subsequent rounds. The key I found was to apply a small amount, and then wipe it off with a clean cloth, let it get to smoking and then cool. The minute amount left post wipe is more than sufficient to create the layer for that round.

Indeed - dried goji berries.

Found an amazing new Japanese fish monger who gets shipments three times a week. Unreal selection, everything from Amberjack to various grades of Toro. Tonight I picked up a yellow stripe Sea Bream. Pan fried with a bit of butter, my 3 year old exclaimed that it was his favourite fish ever and tasted almost as sweet as lobster - I had to concur.

Welcome Margie. This is a great place with fantastic and very knowledgeable people who like to have a lot of fun while we all discuss our passion in common.

Oh, let me hop on the Swiss Chalet bashing wagon! My wife convinced me to order from them the other night (first time in years - I have never been huge a fan) and I ordered their ribs, figuring how badly can you screw up ribs.... Well they seemed to want to show me how and managed to overcook the ribs to a point approaching shoe leather, and to boot, a thin piece of what appeared to be either wood or bamboo was on the bottom of the ribs. Needless to say a phone call was made, after an offer to give us a credit for our next meal (hah!), I suggested a full refund instead (unbeknownst to them it will be our last meal - ever - from Swiss Chalet!).

I would be curious if Keller uses raw simply cut potatoes (fries), or pre-fried/coated ones.

Any idea which ones?

You would have to share where you are located, clearly; in order for anyone to offer further assistance...however, here in Toronto there are numerous cheese shops that sell Morbier (and even some mass 'supermarkets').

Ya I have a mat too where I cook, but its more to prevent splatter near the range than for comfort. I find the soft'ish maple floors quite fine. Glad I didnt drop another $10K on floors. Eventually however wood floors in a kitchen will need to either be resurfaced or eventually replaced due to the high traffic/stress, but thats many years down the road. I cant say how envious I am of your fireplace in the kitchen, my dream (and next) kitchen will have a large one where I can cook in it and have a cauldron of bubbling goodness simmering away.

Tried it last night, did the gongfu style (sort of), but a larger amount of water - came out nice, very funky (see; horse barn) aromas, nice flavour.

The argument for stone was when you are standing cooking in a kitchen, some texture is better for your feet and back (we were considering some type of slate) - or so he said... Also easier to heat a stone floor.

Great looking floors. Love that fireplace!!! Curious, our designer tried to convince us to go with stone, especially for the kitchen - as to why you moved away from it.

btbyrd - That's the beaut I got as well. Wasn't pleased with my first attempt at seasoning (I do not like the salt/oil/potato method, nor the oven method) so I did further research and stumbled upon a stove top method - Heat briefly, remove, apply thin layer of flax - wipe off, put back on high heat till oil smokes, wait a few seconds, let cool completely - repeat 8-15 times. A laborious process but thus far I am far more pleased with the result. Would love to see pics of your MB after seasoning.

Chris, What method would you suggest for a Pu-erh? I have two, one a 'Mini tao cha' version, the other 'loose'. The loose is what I will try first...

Interesting, Chris. I will have to try brewing some of these samples at longer temps and see if any discernible difference is noted.

When not able to make my own, one (with a little doctoring) that is suitable is: http://www.gardenfreshgourmet.com/jacks-special-medium-salsa/

Sandpaper also works