halland

Can someone explain the process of frenching to me, as applied to chicken? Recently I've seen where the lower joint of the chicken leg was cut off and then the tendon and skin were scraped clear of the bone and then pushed up to plump the leg. I think there is also a way to bone the wing but leave it attached to the breast, or something like that. Anyone familiar with these techniques or have a link you can post? Hal

I did a batch of 6 pizzas over the weekend. I'm using unglazed quarry tiles (four 8"x8" tiles, about 5/8" thick). I have the tiles on the oven rack in the very bottom level. I then have another layer of tiles on a rack set about 4" above the bottom rack. I've noticed two things about my oven. If I turn the temp knob past 550 I can go a little bit more before the temp cuts out and goes over to the Clean setting. In this position, and with 2 1/2 hours of pre-heating at this setting I can get my oven up to 600F! I started baking the pizzas about 1.5 hours into the heating cycle, and the first few pizzas (all Naples style) were still a bit floppy in the center. The last 3 (this is after 2.5 hours) were perfectly crisp and had the same degree of char on the bottom as on the crust. Baking time is about 6 minutes. All ingredients are at room temp. I should also mention I got the tiles from a recycled home materials store, and paid $0.60 each for the tiles. Hal

Last night was a lightly fried egg, leftover pizza sauce, and fresh mozz grilled in olive oil. YUM! H

If you're feeling daring, and have good insurance, try the famous Feemsters Vegetable Slicer. Hal

I'll second the rec for Filibertos, if nothing else, the atmosphere is outstanding. I kept waiting for DiNiro to come out of the bathroom with the pistol hidden behind the toilet. You should also check out Burien's winery, EB Foote. This link lists their visiting hours, address, etc. Decent wine, very interesting location and story. Hal

I don't know why this works but it does for me. This is a tip from a good friend of mine. When chopping onions, hold a small chunk of bread in your mouth. Not a whole slice, just a small piece that will fit into your closed mouth. Try it, let me know if it works for you. Hal

Go to Parkside. The website is http://www.parksiderestaurant.ca/. Has to be one of the best price/value dinners I've had in BC. Edited Addition: I meant to add that while Parkside is not in your neighborhood, my experience is that taxis in Vancouver are very cheap and certainly are worthwhile for getting where you need to get -- expecially back to my hotel after too much food and wine! Hal

I woudn't use teflon in the broiler, you don't want to get Teflon Flu. See this link for the dangers of teflon over 500 deg F. Hal

You can order a jowl from the Nieman Ranch website. I'll be doing this this winter. Hal

I've been taking my bruised, cut, 1/2 eaten, and marginal tomatoes from my garden, sprinkling them with minced garlic, EVOO, S&P and roasting them in the oven. I then puree, put in jars and freeze for this winter. I got this idea from the River Cottage website. While I don't know what I'll do with roasted tomato puree yet, it beats composting the bad tomatoes. H

Is this Bladesmith the same guy as the one who used to be down next to the kingdome? H

Ok, so after the successful roasting of a pig in my homemade caja china I've got about 20 pounds of leftover pork to use up. Most of it is in the freezer because I knew I wouldn't have the time to eat all the leftovers before they spoil. I'm planning on making tamales but that won't really use up that much of the pork, even if I make and freeze 50+ tamales. I'm making pulled pork for sandwiches and experimenting with bbq sauces on a weekly basis. What else can I do with all this leftover pork? With all this caja china discussion, I can't be the only one with loads of leftovers. Hal

I have the Super Benriner, I think it was around $45, and its held up well. I've been using it for a little over 2 years now with no depreciable change in the sharpness of the blade. Hal

I stopped by Frites last night and I'll be the dissenting voice here and say that I was disappointed. Yeah they have lots of dipping sauces, and they're good enough, but the frites themselves were not good. I was reminded of the mealy, flavorless fries I used to get at the cafeteria in college. Are these really made from freshly sliced potatoes or are the a frozen, prepackaged, foodservice item? Now Sambar, they got some good frites, don't even need a dipping sauce.

Sunday: Cherry tomato and goat cheese tart with cornmeal crust. Poussin (brined, pan seared, and then finished in the oven) on a bed of le puy lentils with poussin jus Salad of mixed greens with hard cooked egg and bacon vinagrette German plum tart with hazelnut streusel.

Kids are 2 and 4. They may or may not want to pull out the car for lunches and the like.

I'm going to have some friends in town later this week. They'll be staying at the Sheraton on 6th. They are 2 adults and 2 small children. Where would people recommend for reasonably priced family dining that isn't national chain food (eg. Cheesecake factory, olive garden, etc) and also isn't high end (Union, Brasa, etc)? Hal -- Yes I live in Seattle, but I just don't pay attention to these kinds of places when I'm downtown

The Food Lover's Guide to Seattle lists where to get goat, but I don't have the book with me right now. I'd try one of the Halal butchers on 99 or down in the CD.

I'm reading Food Politics and on p. 16 Marion Nestle states: "Despite contentions that the French are protected from heart disease by their wine consumption (a phenomenon known as the French Paradox), they are getting fatter by the day and experiencing increased rates of diabetes and other health consequences of overeating and overweight" This was a shocking statement to me, as I still want to faithfully believe in the French Paradox. Unfortunately she does not reference a source for this claim. I will say that after a week in Paris the contrast in body types was shocking -- coming through O'Hare the line through the terminal faced a large glass window enclosing a Chi Chi's. 90% of the diners in that Chi Chi's weighed at least 50% more than everyone we saw in Paris.

Its certainly possible that Parkside has gotten good press, and I'm glad to hear this is the case. I don't always do as good a job of keeping on top of what's hot outside Seattle as I should. Hal

One of the main reasons why I love EG is that the restaurant recommendations often take one off the beaten path and away from the regular tourist destinations. This last weekend, while visiting Vancouver with my wife and in-laws, we made the rounds for a few bites, some old standbys, some recommendations by fellow 'Gulleteers, and maybe even a few new contributions. Piccolo Mondo The first night took us to Piccolo Mondo, a place we've been before, but that we found dissapointing this time around. If you've ever been to PM you know that it is very formal in a traditional sort of way. The atmosphere is nice -- dim lighting, well set tables, and lots and lots of wine decorations. Generally after giving the menu a quick glance I'll immediately dive into the wine list and think about how to put together my meal (app, entree, beverage). In my opinion PM's list is too heavily weighted on the expensive side -- I felt like I was handed the reserve list at first glance. The majority of the wine list fell into the over $100/bottle price range, with only a small handful of bottles under $50, and quite a few wines in the $300+ range. They do offer a few wines by the glass and also by the 1/2 L. but a good wine list really should offer a broader range of values. The 4 of us all ordered a salad or appetizer and an entree. I didn't take copious notes on this menu but among the items ordered was foie gras with melon, a tomato and mozzarella salad, a pasta dish with shrimps, osso bucco with saffron risotto, and a risotto with frog legs. Of all these dishes none was executed better than barely acceptable and a few elements were downright bad. The foie gras had not been cleaned of all the membrane which made cutting it a bit of a challenge, the tomatoes in the salad were not very flavorful and borderline underripe, the shrimp in the pasta tasted of iodine/chlorine, and the saffron risotto was undersalted and had entirely too much saffron to the point of making the risotto inedible, and the rice in the frog risotto was undercooked for my taste with a still slightly crunchy center. Had any one of the above element arose in an otherwise perfect meal I would have chalked it up to an overstressed kitchen or just an accident, but together they just don't inspire confidence in the kitchen. I should mention that the restaurant was all but dead and for some reason I find that food quality sometimes suffers in a slow kitchen. For dessert we had a pistachio cake with poached pears, a marsala sabayon, and chantilly cream. This was the best element of the meal. My only complaint would be that there was just too much going on and the flavors, while all complimentary to each other, were lost in the mix. Additionally, to echo another post here, I found the inter-course service to be sloppy with silverware dropped rather than set onto the table. All in all, not a great meal. Cafe Artigiano I learned about Cafe Artigiano on CoffeeGeek.com and was excited to get to try it on this trip. Their setup is impressive, and the place was packed. Cafe Artigiano's claim-to-fame is their artistic latte foam, but really the things to impress are what goes on behind the scenes. These comments apply to the Hornby St. location. First off, the machine is a 5-group La Marzocco. This is a BIG machine, one of only 4 in the world and the only one in North America. There was a small sign taped to the back of the machine listing some of the improvements they are making. These included: PID regulation of water temperatures, adding mineral content to harden Vancouver's soft water and restriction of water flow at the grouphead (there were two other elements I don't remember). One of the things I noticed that Artigiano does differently is that they have 2 barista teams working to build drinks. One person pulls shots, one person makes foam. This ensures that the shots are still hot when the foam gets added and also ensures that the foam is perfectly done. The shot puller adds the prepared foam/milk to the drink. I should also mention that Artigiano pulls ristretto shots which are lower volume, higher concentration shots, and this results in a very strong brew, that I thought was fantastic and other in my group though were a little too strong. Szechuan Chongqing Seafood Restaurant We wound up here on Saturday morning looking for an early lunch. We pulled over because we saw the banner proclaiming them the #1 Szechuan restaurant in Vancouver and we were all starving. Its up on the second floor at #205-1668 W. Broadway. We came into pandemonium, the place was packed, the foyer was packed, and everyone was crowded up to the front clamoring for a table. It seemed like they'd never fit us all but we were seated quickly and then realized that they were only offering Dim Sum service. Unfortunately I'm not a Dim Sum expert. I can recognize the dishes by sight but I don't know the names of all the dishes. I can tell you that everything we ate was great! Of note were the taro balls, soft tofu rolls, sticky rice, short ribs, and salt and pepper spot prawns. My in-laws had never had dim sum before and my father-in-law is not a huge fan of chinese cuisine, but we ate everything in sight and they loved it all. At the end of the meal I looked up and saw a sign informing me that from 9-3 all Dim Sum items are $2! Get there, this place is great!!! Parkside on Haro St. I'd heard about Parkside here on EG and then when I casually mentioned that we were going to a friend in the biz she told me that they had their best meal ever in Vancouver at Parkside. Parkside is located on a quiet side street off Robson that feels like its in a completely different world. Its located in the (daylight) basement of a small hotel, and I knew as soon as I entered that this would be a memorable meal. The room is very chic, with soft lighting, dark wood furniture, and windows opened out onto lush green garden. For starters we had a jerusalem artichoke, cauliflower, and celery root soup. It did not say on the menu, but this was served with a splash of truffle oil. Outside of a veloute I had in Paris once, this was the best soup I've ever tasted. Watching diners around the room, you could see when they took their first taste of the soup: their eyes would close, lips purse, and a long contented exhale could be seen. Salad of organic beets and their greens, orange and spiced almonds. This was simply exectued with first rate ingredients. Imagine perfect beets and you're approaching this dish. Prosciutto with melon, fresh mint, and olive oil. I did not try this but the person who did was at first suspicious because 1) the melon was diced and set upon a circle of prosciutto and 2) the melon was honeydew which is usually not good. Every last bit was eaten, and the melon, I hear, was perfect. Duck rillettes on toasted country bread, baby frisee salad, bacon vinagrette. I had this as the start of a duck-centric meal. It was generous with three quenelle-sized portions of a very well done rillette. The softness of the duck was well balanced by the smoky bacon and peppery frisee. Pumpkin and mascarpone tortelline with cashews and sage. Baked Boston bluefish, braised greens, warm chorizo, artichoke and rock shrimp vinagrette. This was served in a large black earthenware casserole and looked very good. Wild sockeye salmon, crushed purple potatoes, stuffed zucchini blossom, lemon & herb beurre blanc. Slow roast duck breast, sour cherry sauce, savoy cabbabe roll, fondant potato, sweet onion puree. I had this and was amazed at the generosity of this and all the other portions. The sour cherry sauce pulled the entire plate together with a very meaty but still fruity sauce. For dessert we had the tiramisu, which I know seems kind of boring, but by this point we were all quite stuffed. Everything done at Parkside has an eye to the aesthetic. The service managed to be professional and friendly at the same time. Dishes were placed on the table so that the plate would be properly oriented. When we asked for 4 forks for the dessert, they were brought laid out on a napkin on a black rectangular ceramic plate. I don't know why this place isn't getting more coverage, its every bit on par with the caliber of Harvest Vine or Lark in Seattle, albeit a slightly different style of service. If I lived in Vancouver, this would be a regular stop, especially given the outrageously low prices. Hal

One thing to comment on is your statement that: In some ways this isn't really how many Parisians restaurants are set up. Most of the places we at at had prix fixe menus of 3-4 courses. There are ala carte menus, but I think you'll find that the price for 2 plats plus a salade and a dessert will be about the same as for the prix fixe menu. There are lots of cheap eats in Paris, especially if you stick to the bistros. Pick up a copy of Patricia Wells' Food Lovers Guide to Paris if you want, and definately search through the archives here, there are a ton of older links on inexpensive foods. Having said all that, when we were there in January we could find good 3-4 course prix fixe menus with a bottle of wine for $65-$75 for the two of us. If you avoid the expensive petit dejuner at the cafes and just get a pastry at the patisserie for breakfast and have a crepe or some other light lunch you'll easily stay within budget AND have great dinners. Hal

It was my wife's birthday weekend and she wanted a party. For some reason, which I will never fully appreciate, she suggested that I roast a pig. I did this once before, for my bachelor party, on a spit, and she wanted nothing to do with the pig or the process at all (and not just because it was a bachelor party). She can't even stand to look at the photos. Not wanting to question her wisdom I agreed that this was a fine idea and began researching how best to cook a small porker. I was seriously considering a full on Hawaiian style Imu but I really wasn't relishing the prospect of digging a large hole in my very, very hard backyard. Not to mention the fact that I had no rocks, and I live in a residential Seattle neighborhood that might not appreciate a very large fire. I also considered making a cinderblock pit and roasting it over apple wood coals like this EGCI class. About this time the Washington Post article on the Caja China came out and EG's very own Mayhaw Man wrote this article on his family's homemade Caja China. I chatted with him briefly about his cooker and decided that this was certainly something I could do. My only caveat was that I wanted to spend less money than what I would have spent for the firewood and supplies to cook the pig in an Imu or over coals -- about $100. The Caja China: I managed to do this with not too much running around and a bit of wheeling and dealing. I'll detail this briefly: Lid/Coal Tray, $7.50 from Boeing Surplus. Measured 30" x 48". Plywood for sides and bottom, $Free from construction scrap piles and friends. 2x4 for lid frame and box bracing, $15 at home depot. 2 rolls of 15" x 10' Aluminum Roof Flashing, $40 at home depot. Metal Grill, from two scraps at Ballard Sheet Metal, traded for 12 pack of Bud Light (show up 1 hour before closing on a hot Friday and see if this doesn't work!). Total including the beer about $65. The Pig: I ordered the pig (64 pounds) from my friendly local butcher at a price of $2.59/pound. I could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere but I really try to support them for these sorts of projects; they find them as fun and interesting as I do and I get to participate a little more in the process than I would if I ordered the pig from the grocery. This is the butterflied pig. Unfortunately the butcher ended up splitting the skull instead of leaving it whole like I wanted. I think the next time I'll have them carve around the collar and try to leave it whole -- the tongue and brain dried out a bit too much for my tastes. The night before the cooking I invited some friends over, drank a nice rose, and we injected the pig with 1 1/2 cups of a brine/marinade solution based on a mojo criollo cut to 50% strength with a seawater-salty brine. In some places the flavor was very prominent and in other places there was no flavor at all. We also rubbed about 1 cup of coarse salt into the belly of the pig. Here you can see the pig in the cooker. We layered some banana leaves around the pig for extra aroma and moisture and also loosely covered the pig with more banana leaves before cooking. Before cooking the pig I left it out to come up to room temperature for about 4 hours. Here is the Caja China about half-way through the cooking process (2 hours in). I was worried that the wood frame around the lid might catch fire, but by keeping the coals away from the edges we didn't have any problems at all. Following the cooking instructions on the Caja China website I started with about 15 pounds of charcoals, and then added another 8-10 pounds for the next 2 hours, and then a larger batch just prior to flipping the pig at the 3 hour mark. Flipping the pig was a bit of a hassle, and in this department the manufactured Caja wins hands down. We carefully lifted one side of the pig, got a piece of plywood under him, and managed to slide him the rest of the way over onto the plywood board. After some debate we finally decided to just count to 3 and quickly flip the pig over onto the grill -- a risky but successful venture. Once flipped we sliced the skin, sprinkled it with a little salt, and returned it to the cooker. I should mention that while the pig was out of the box, I returned the lid onto the cooker to maintain the temperature inside the box. The oven thermometer you see in the previous photo ready 280 deg. farenheit. At this point meat temps ranged from about 140 to 170 depending on the thickness. After about another hour of frequent peeking under the lid we finally decided to call it good. Temps were a consistend 170 degrees and the pig was nicely browned. We dumped the coals out, hosed out the lid to cool it down, lined it with foil and then slid the pig off onto the lid for cutting. Here it is just before the ravenous hordes tore it apart. Every bit of this pig was deliciously moist and tender. Friends, some restaurant professionals even, were all suitably impressed. My brother in-law and his friend, both Hawaii natives, felt this method was good enough to forgo the extra work that Imu cooking requires. Most of the pork that was eaten was simply shredded off with a fork and mixed with a little kosher salt. Luckily our party turnout was a little low so I've got about 20 pounds of leftover pork for leftovers. Yesterday I made a big batch of pulled pork in an Eastern NC style BBQ sauce. I'll probably also make a 100 tamales or so. Any other ideas?

Last night we were late heading to Sambar and were unable to get a seat anywhere, so we decided to head into Fremont to try out Nectar. I have to say that we all agreed that THESE WERE THE WORST DRINKS WE'D EVER HAD. We ordered a Cosmopolitan, a French 75, a Whiskey Sour, and one of their signature drinks a Nectarini. First off, the only drink that even hinted at having any alcohol was the Whiskey Sour and that was only because you could smell the whiskey. Second, other than the French 75 all of the drinks were much too sweet and tasted (literally) like sugar free Kool Aid. Third, these drinks were all completely watery. I'm not sure how long our teeth would have lasted had they not been watered down and we got the full sugar syrup hit. Two of us didn't even finish the drinks, and we left a little note telling them how bad everything was. Luckily the George and Dragon was nearby and we were able to wash out the sweetness with a few pints. Hal

If you don't mind trekking up to the 18th, Aux Negociants is worth the trip. Its at: 27, rue Lambert - Paris 75018. Tel: 01 46 06 15 11, Subway: Château Rouge / Lamarck I was there for lunch and we were the only non-Parisians in the place. Everything we ate was delicious, but if you see the choucroute on the menu I'd recommend it -- it looked fantastic, though we were too stuffed to order it. Aux Negociants is also profiled in Patricia Wells' Food Lovers Guide to Paris.