mrbigjas

that IS nice. i've asked for these at dibruno's before and gotten a blank stare. of course that was 18th street.

went back to apamate tonight, and found it distressingly empty. which in one way was fine, since we had a potentially fussy baby with us, but in another way kinda sucked, because i had to wonder: are people patronizing this place enough? i don't want it to close. croquettes were as good as they've always been. the bonito empanada and anchovy pintxos were just great as well. gazpacho had an extra pepper in it--a spicy one, which is interesting because gazpacho usually isn't spicy, but it was damn good, and had a bit of avocado in it as well. braised squid wasn't as tender as it should have been, but the place was empty tonight and i'll give them a break on that one. either way, overall the food is still excellent, and the place is not crowded. head on back, and soon! keep apamate open! hells, call me tomorrow--we'll go back with ya.

bob, i actually made the effort to make a pawpaw recipe this year as well--just a custard, not an ice cream, but the same basic principle.

dude the superfresh at 10th & south carries d'artagnan products. they're in the fridge at the back left, by the door to the back.

sweet. i'll check it out. i did find this one on foodtv's site, but that's baked. and who has time for that when fry calls?

ok wait then, do you have a recipe? is this an on-line or a book recipe? oh the possibilities. deep fried wonderment.

yesterday, i fried the eggplant and made the sauce for this pasta 'ncasciata recipe. i will be boiling the pasta, assembling and baking the dish tonight. looking at that recipe i have to wonder if the sauce is a quick-cook imitation of a full-on ragu, or what. but i press on regardless. anyway, perhaps in the cooking process this evening i'll make some dough for fried calzones as well. can't hurt. there are still tomatoes left...

as usual this piques my predilection for greens.... looks great; what was it stuffed with?

maybe no one's buying it. or, not no one, but very few.

pontormo! wow, i had to dig back nearly 15 years to my intro to poetry classes to try and remember the name of that form... ok i'll admit it: i couldn't remember it and had to look it up. villanelle, for anyone who's interested. huh, some poetry major i was.

what was the verdict on this? did you figure out anything? i wonder if it's something like recipe authors worrying about pans warping or cracking if they're taken directly from the 37F/3C fridge and put on the fire. i've never seen it happen but i reckon it could.

i think dutch country meats carries salt pork. haltemann's carries salted fatback. edited: actually i'm pretty sure i've seen it over in the cured meat part of martin's, too.

i put carrot greens in salads. they taste like carrots, but bitter instead of sweet. radish greens make a great salad. beet greens are good sauteed or in soup, or if they're young in salad too. i've infused vodka with fennel tips. kale stems are indeed good chopped up in soups, or if you're going to braise it practically to mush indian-style, you can chop them up and just cook them with the leaves. chard stems are indeed good for gratins. you can bread and deep fry them, too, and dip them in a nice spicy tomato sauce.

i finally broke one of those riedel restaurant series glasses. it fell from table height, hit the edge of the table as it tipped so it was spinning pretty good, and broke on the floor. however, i knocked another one from coffee table height onto the floor, and it remained intact. so i guess the breakage threshhold is somewhere between 18 inches and 3 feet...

interesting. so even as they're making the pans out of less material AND making them overseas, their prices continue to climb. i don't know why they're still wasting their time making pans, really. i just can't imagine the profit margin can compare to what they must be making on their $40 measuring cups, $50 splatter screens, and $90 colanders. oh and the $120 food mill. ← ...aaaand after writing this today, i get an email from all-clad offering to replace the warped lid on my ten year old pot that i emailed them to ask about because i don't want to pay for a new one. so i feel guilty for badmouthing them. although i do still disapprove.

interesting. so even as they're making the pans out of less material AND making them overseas, their prices continue to climb. i don't know why they're still wasting their time making pans, really. i just can't imagine the profit margin can compare to what they must be making on their $40 measuring cups, $50 splatter screens, and $90 colanders. oh and the $120 food mill.

he might be the only major grower, but i don't think he was the guy who is selling at livengood's.

damn, that's a shame.

when it's in season, livengood's produce carries it. they're at the reading terminal market on saturdays. i'll keep an eye out for it for you, but i'm not sure when the season is--ok i just googled it and it's sometime around now.

haha! i just couldn't resist. excellent. thanks!

ok a quick question that i totally should know the answer to, but i'm wavering about it. i'm probably going to make this recipe for beet/ricotta stuffed pasta tonight. is there any reason i couldn't freeze half of them once made? i know about freezing stuffed pasta in general and have frozen ricotta-stuffed ravioli with no real harm before, but i'm wondering about the egg and butter in the stuffing, and the general state of the mixture. anyone?

definitely not campanian, but you know what makes great fry? wondra. rice flour makes a nice crisp coating too.

yes, i got a half-gallon of cider this week but i'm a little disappointed in it. it's kind of thin, and doesn't have that crazy tangy flavor that it's had in past years; that is the flavor that i feel is destroyed by pasteurization, but i guess it has to be there in the first place! in addition right at the end of each mouthful, i get a flash of this dishwater-y flavor i don't much like. but i know that the composition of the cider changes as the season progresses, and i suspect this is just early season cider that i like less. when the winesaps come in it'll be a little more to my liking. not that that'll stop me from using it (reduced) for a sauce for pork chops later this week...

yeah what was UP with that place yesterday? i didn't see tons of out-of-towners with convention badges and bags, and yet it was as packed as i've seen it in months. months! i don't know why i can't get it together to go in the morning before work and avoid this annoyance; with this baby around i'm up at like six everyday. edited to add: at livengood's this week, both at the terminal and the fairmount farmers market that bob goes to: PAWPAWS. if you see these things again, get them. i got a few on thursday, one i had to let ripen till saturday evening but the other was ready right then. imagine a fruit that has a texture like a soft banana, and tastes somewhere between a banana and a mango maybe, and ... flan. yeah i said flan. it's got a custardy, butterscotchy, almost smoky flavor to it. my god they're good. i keep meaning to buy a couple more and make something out of them, but i've been unable to stop myself from just busting into them and scarfing them down. which is a messy proposition. let them ripen till the skin is mostly brownish grey for best flavor--you'll be able to smell them from ten feet away at that point.

I made this and though I don't think I got it perfect either, it was still mighty good. One thing I didn't do was make the pine nut puree. What is not to like with this dish? ← e. coli!