mrbigjas

OK I finally looked at that link, and as near as I can tell those are the steel pans I bought at Dehillerins--specifically the carbone plus line. They're really amazingly good for omelettes, among other things.

Wow.

Now that I look, yeah, you right. They definitely had some stuff on sale at the store itself last week, though. I can probably look again this weekend and price some stuff if anyone's interested.

Two things: 1. for steaming whole fish, I generally set up my big cheap roasting pan over two burners. It has a flat rack with four "feet" that I set up on shot glasses. 3/4 of an inch of water/tea/whatever and the fish goes on the rack, the (domed) lid shut, etc. It works well. 2. Re: copper cookware, I was at Fante's here in Philadelphia last weekend, and they have some stuff on sale. And I have nothing to do with them professionally or anything--it just seems cheaper than what folks have posted so far. If I weren't in fast reply I'd remember how to put the URL in, but it's here http://fantes.com/copper_cookware.htm

I don't have a recommendation, sorry, except that if you go to that store in Paris, there are a billion of them and they're cheap. And they're definitely gray.

I just want to revive this thread for long enough to say that I picked up two steel omelette pans for about 10 euros each at E. Dehillerin while I was in Paris--I was going to buy something fancy, but for various reasons I stuck with the cheap stuff. Pretty neat. I love me some cheap functional stuff.

And their chocolate mint flavor tastes like the spearmint you grow in your garden, not like york peppermint patty or something. Excellent stuff.

When I was there on Saturday, the individual pastries were running $4-$5.75 or so. I might could check again on my way home today. Any specifics?

If only it were that easy--the guy who brought that stuff flew in from Saskatchewan. He also brought a 2000 Latour-Martillac blanc which was real nice, and the other guy who came in brought a 1999 Setti Ponti Crognolo which kinda sucked. The next night we moved on to the 1995 Bollinger Grand Annee, the 2001 Martinelli Jackass Zin, and a bunch of other less memorable stuff. Oh and a couple of different Inniskillin ice wines. Probably the best wine weekend of my life, and that wasn't even why we were getting together, originally.

To me, tripe tastes kinda like old dishwater. And the chewiness of it all sometimes really gets to me. And yet I get it (and tendon) every sunday morning that we go for pho. And I order menudo for lunches in Mexican places. And I ask for patsa when I go to Greek restaurants, even when it's not on the menu. I just keep eating it and eating it even though I don't think I really like it that much. I don't know why. It's kind of a compulsion. Sometimes a stringy piece kinda makes me gag, and yet I keep on eating it. When I was in Paris last month I didn't get an andouillette plate anywhere, for fear that I just wouldn't be able to handle it like that. The best tripe I've ever had, though, was in a little bar off the main square in Cordoba, Spain. The bartenders spoke no english, our book didn't have a translation of "callos," but they assured us it was deliciosa, and it was only about $2.50 for a serving so we ordered it. Now that was some great tripe--it wasn't too chewy/stringy; it was cut into small enough pieces that even if it were, you could kinda swallow it anyway; it was served in a small crock in a slightly greasy, spicy, long-simmered deeply flavored sauce... man oh man that was good. (Now that I'm looking around for a recipe, which for some reason I've never done before, it looks like it might have been plain ol' callos a la madrilena. Damn that was good stuff.)

I was there on 11/21. Had a scallop in pistachio pate type of thing that was quite good. One of our other diners had a venison dish which was amazing. I can get more details on what I don't remember if you'd like. In a way we were more focused on the wines, which included a 1982 Mouton Rothschild and a 1985 Sassicaia.

You better believe I will. There's not many things in the world I like more than green tea.

oh man. croissants... apple turnovers.... palmier after palmier after palmier after gateaus after mille feuilles after tortes after... man I'm not even much of a dessert person but good god.

What caught my eye at the Foodery today: Grotten Brown, from the "Pierre Celis Signature Collection." Good god, what a great brown ale, drier than most, with a real floral, almost soapy smell, and that kind of caramel-y bitterness in the back of your mouth. It's $9.95 for a 750ml bottle and totally worth it--but be sure to let it warm up from refrigerator temp, because that's when it really takes off. Wow. (Rich, I know you might say that I should post this to the beer forum, but I figure folks over there probably already know about it, and after all this was a discovery in town here).

I mean to Paris Hilton's house. What did you think I meant?

I had a cassoulet in Paris last week that was delicious. What a great concept cassoulet is -- a dish that's so heavy you don't need to eat for two days afterward.

Good luck with all this. These kindsa things suck for everyone.

He might be referring to the place at 17th & Chestnut, across from Daffy's. Tokyo Lunchbox? Something like that. I've never eaten there, but have heard good things about it.

The meal I had at Lacroix was exquisite. The only thing I didn't like was the markup on the wines, which I thought was a little excessive. But the food I had was great. Especially the sweetbreads, foie gras, and lentil veloute dish.

Tell you what, when I was in Rome it really caught me off guard to hear them say pasta e fagioli, and actually pronounce the "e" and the "i".

I do! oh wait, you mean for a restaurant.... nevermind

Don't forget "Eat Steak" by the Rev. Horton Heat. Lyrics here

I know some about seasoning cast iron, but not about the specifics. What I do know is I heat the shit out of my pan and it's all black inside, but I suspect that's probably not "seasoning," per se, but a built-up layer of carbonized whatever. Doesn't come out with a regular scourer, though, and doesn't smoke much when I heat it up. And nothing sticks to it but fish sometimes. The reason I like the lodge better than others is the depth of the "grill" ridges. I had a couple other grill pans over the years, and often the ridges were just kinda bumps--a piece of chicken would mold itself right over them, and then what's the point of a grill pan?

oh, duh, you're right, of course. I was picturing around the bar area, rather than over on the wall where they are.

Not at Monks or Fergies or Nodding Head or Standard Tap. No TVs there... well there might be one upstairs at Standard Tap, I don't remember. Ten Stone has TVs, but they're usually on sports. Same with Tangier, same with Copa. Royal has a TV but it's not always on; when it is, it's on sports in my experience.