MatthewB

adoxograph, great post. I have to do that gratin & I hope tonight's creme brulee look as lovely as yours. Speaking of the creme brulee, my SO just reminded me to ask about the orange zest. Recipe for 8 says, "zest of a large orange." Since I did 4, I did half an orange. But the creme brulee is *way* too orangey. I grated with a Microplane grater. Should I have done just one (or more larger) piece(s) for the zest? Anyone else going to talk about their dinner or did I screw up our rhythm by waiting till last night?

Thanks zilla & Malawry. This helps a lot. Round two with creme brulee this evening!

Didn't get to the chard last night but will do that tonight with the leftovers. Thoughts . . . The Beef Bourguignon definitely took some time but it was well worth it. Next time around, I'd shoot for stages over 2 to 3 days. The creme brulee was the tricky one. I picked up a blow-torch at Home Depot. (Thanks, Dave!) Here was the problem . . . The light brown sugar clumped--even after whisking--and the top wasn't as "glassy" & smooth & thin as I aimed for. My SO suggested running the sugar through the food processor next time. Where did I go wrong on the topping? (I made 4 & I'm going to do the remaining two tonight.) BTW, I now think that Pineau des Charentes goes well with creme brulee.

For me, eGullet's search feature is quite good if I have a pretty clear idea concerning how to find the thread. When I don't have a clear search idea, Google usually finds it. If you use Google, be sure to add: site:egullet.com after your search parameters.

This may help.

I've plenty of ideas. Edit: Gee, gosh, golly. Oh, wait. Gee, isn't this thread about El Bulli rather than (. . . left unsaid . . . )?

We finished it off while prepping my lazy dinner last night: skillet beans & kielbasa followed by Ozack pudding--no squirrel brains--with vanilla ice cream.

Cambridge, Mass = home of squirrel brain eaters? Wes Craven missed that one.

Stew has been in the oven for an hour. I'm nearly ready to do the onions & mushrooms. Mashed potatoes & roasted chard w/ grapes at the appropriate time. Sun Ra on stereo & a Manhattan down the gullet. Starter this evening will be: Pineau des Charentes with a foie gras sampler that's new to my favorite local Italian grocery. One ounce each of . . . (Descriptions taken from the package.) Mousse of duck foie gras with port wine Perigord pork & duck pate with its medallion of duck foie gras Block of duck foie gras with armagnac The foie gras will be served on thinly sliced fresh baguette. Why not? Life is short. More later.

A sidenote . . . Anyone picked up Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America? I very briefly looked at it over the weekend. However, I didn't purchase it. But I was very tempted. Looks kind of like the type of book we've been discussing/looking for in this thread.

Day off today. Creme brulee has been in the fridge since 11 am this morning & I'll be starting the stew in about 5 minutes. ETA for dinner is at 8 pm. Am I behind schedule?

I'm assuming everyone else has completed the dinner? I'm doing this today/tonight as yesterday ended up being a lazy recharge day.

Spot on, Irwin. I've had the XO & Single Barrel. Not lucky enough Anno Domini. The XO is my go-to sipping brandy.

I wonder if anyone does this type of farming while stripping away as much of the mysticism as possible. I realize that hard-core adherents would say that it couldn't be done. But similar things has been accomplished (such as Western acceptance of Eastern modes of mediation in cognitive therapy.)

An interesting question here would center on whether or not the methods "work" whilst leaving aside the supernatural trappings. Edit: spelling

Green veggie of choice? I thought we were doing the glazed carrots & turnips. I thought that might be too starchy, and we did a green salad last week. The dessert and stew will be time consuming, so I was going for simplicity in the sides. No problem. What would you suggest instead? (I don't have the J&J book with me.)

FWIW, I just spoke with my wine guy. For the wine in the stew, he recommends Seventh Moon Pinot Noir. Most of the grapes are from Monterey. Under $8/bottle. I'm going to pick up a couple of bottles.

Shall we do a common veggie dish? I'd like to. Suggestions?

Green veggie of choice? I thought we were doing the glazed carrots & turnips.

PM coming your way!

Chad, You interested in a remainder copy of J&J for about $15? (No dust jacket though.)

You'll get no "Chad-enfreude" from me, dude. I looked it up too, and found that most Cotes du Rhone is Southern, not Northern Rhone, as I posited above. And, also news to me, Boujoulais apparently is Burgundy. There's nothing wrong with recommending good Cotes du Rhone-- I only wish other regions, like Burgundy and California, had such affordable good wines. *pssstttt* Languedoc & the Roussillon plus Spain. Search out Mourvedre blends.

Catch-up . . . Yes, Varmint & Priscilla, right on for joining us! (And adoxograph have you been welcomed to eGullet let alone this thread? ) As far as duck, no good local source of which I'm aware. And I need an excuse to order from the Sonoma County farm from which French Laundry, etc. buy their ducks. And, Dave, I'm just not feeling a purchase of that blow-torch. (I think I'd rather save for a chain-saw. The back 40 needs more work.)

A bit off-topic but I've done worse . . . I looked in the Chef's Catalog that appeared in the mailbox recently. Wustof has a cool pair but $140 marked down to $80. Yet the catalog lists a (nearly identical) pair from Chef'sChoice with a sale price of $40. Thoughts?

Please join in, Varmint! The only ground-rules are the unspoken, uncommon sense ones with which you're already familiar & obey without effort. Now if we do creme brulee do I need one of those mini-flame throwers or can last-minute broiling work well? (Also, if we do duck, please aim for two-week notice as I'll have to mail-order. And everyone please do duck confit with me after the roasted duck as I'll order two ducks, etc.)