gus_tatory

yeah, you managed to spell "favourite" correctly--for an American! my fave roast chicken: in a bowl put juice of 1-2 lemons (save lemon shells for inside chicken), rock salt, cracked black pepper, generous glob butter, some fresh rosemary, few cloves smashed garlic. and, if you're feeling "kinky": anchovies, black olives, and/or capers. i just realized this is kinda like "chicken puttanesca"!? roast 350 for 1.25 hours. edit to add: spelling comment entirely not meant to cause offense, simply to point out varying spellings in different parts of the world.

Las Vegas = 99-cent shrimp cocktail

eggs on film: there's that scene from "Angel Heart" where Robert DeNiro (cast loosely as Satan) is eating a hard-boiled egg. creepy. i'm guessing that in this context, the egg symbolizes the beginning of things... and of course, in "Fargo", Frances McDormand and her husband's character have at least 2 eggs apiece every morning, even though she has morning sickness.

i don't know how "incredibly strange" this is, but i was feeling iron-depleted last night. i needed raw beef. i ended up having venison tartare, which was awesome. and not something i eat daily... edit: fixed spelling.

in Montreal, we are served usually the garnish platters that Jason shows above. that is, mung bean sprouts, Thai or Holy basil (but that looks like coriander in his 1st photo), lime wedges, and bird chilis. my understanding is, from a really good recipe i found here--do a search for soupe tonkinoise (it's flash: i can't provide the direct link, sorry) is that since the coriander stems (and possibly the roots too), are already in the soup, you don't get more coriander. i could be wrong. but plum sauce?! yeah, i think she meant hoisin sauce. edit to add: oh never mind, there's basil in the 2nd photo...

Jinmyo-- would you mind sharing the recipe, here or at Recipe Gullet, for those? are they like blini, or buckwheat gallettes? dinner sounded amazing!

i wonder if i can ask eGulleters: --by the time garlic is growing greens from the top of the bulb, is it too late to use it for cooking? i.e., is it bitter? --when you cook for yourself at home, do you remove the little green centre of the garlic clove, or not? thanks!

Oh wait. Now I can't pick between cheese, which is what I put, and beer. OK Beer. is beer a food now? beer... or bacon, prosciutto, serrano ham, but i'm only allowed one word, right?

cinghiale-- sorry to hear about your delayed visit, with re: to administrative details (eck). on the bright side: your Mom can use this phrase when in town: "y'a-t-il qu'elque chose qui contient pas de la viande?" (is there something that has no meat?) she won't need to use that at Les Chevres though, gus

beefjerky

i heard about mate through reading Che Guevara's 'The Motorcycle Diaries'. i'm looking for some in my city right now, since i love tea and have given up coffee. will report back when i find some, as i'm looking forward to trying it...

good luck, bleachboy! i too have quit fast food (we should start a thread called this perhaps?) since jan 11. it's hard though--there's a McD's and a KFC *directly* outside my workplace. but i walk *around* them, go to the Vietnamese market, and get some yummy veggies, spring rolls, etc., instead!

{admitting ignorance} what is a Steak-umm?

agreeing with everything above, especially the hot food to warm one's system during cold times (it's been like -35 celsius here for 2-3 weeks). but beyond that, cracked black pepper has a *divine* smell. it is in fact included in a lot of mens' colognes.

in Canada we're now seeing the introduction of a *lot* of low-carbohydrate beers. i'm betting this product will sell like hotcakes in the current market. i don't know if it'll turn around the industry, but...

i'm assuming it wasn't your choice to visit in early feb? there's a lot in the archives about this, but people have given you some *excellent* info already. here is, i hope, some more: --if you're in the plateau, st-laurent is your starting point. --walk up to st-viateur and take a left to avenue du parc to buy the bagels, as Kenk said. --go to reservoir (micro-brewery-resto), just east of st-laurent and duluth, for brunch or happy hour (called "5 a 7" here, so it is in fact two hours). --walk south on st-laurent to de la gauchetiere for chinatown. --walk north on st-laurent to fairmount, and see/eat @ Soy, Mile End Bar, Thai Grille, the Casa del Popolo, A L'Os, 4 astonishing Indian restos in one block, etc., etc... as to what kind of "hip" the plateau is, it's just plain fun. i don't know what part of NYC that corresponds to. edit to add: and oh yeah, dress _warmly_ and bienvenue au Canada/Quebec!

a friend mentioned there are different 'counting systems' in Japan, depending on whether you are counting sheets of paper or pieces of sushi. is this something for an immersive Learning Japanese course, or something you could discuss in passing?

for me now, it's about novelty. i cannot *look* at one more pizza. over xmas, they had a deal on shrimp rings. so i made a miso-mayo with lemon and sesame oil, added chopped coriander. *this* was good.

have to say that i'm with tommy on this one. even though it's winter, even though there are some nice cooked oyster preparations, *optimally*, do not cook them. for me, it removes some of that wild, briny "oyster-ness", which is why we love them in the first place. ("oyster-ness" is soo not a word. )

my favourite? raw, shucked with lemon, horseradish, vodka, tobasco. but if you're cooking them, any recipe where they don't get too over-processed, i mean, too far from their natural state, is good. --very simple oyster stew of cream, butter, oysters. (there's an M F K Fisher article about this somewhere...) --"rockefeller" style presentation where they are dressed with chopped drained spinach, shallots, hollandaise, and broiled. lucky you! enjoy!

it's always busy whenever i walk by, so the fish must be fresh. it might be a bit pricey, i dunno. the people at www.montrealfood.com review it here... kindest regards, gus

on the topic of ingredients: yesterday i got some "chinese-style sausage" from Wing Wing Co. of Vancouver. it smells really good. suggestions for what to do with it?

don't be so modest! and omg, Jenny: you're using the 'pasta and peas' avatar i made you! but about the chicken: usually i whirl up some 'garam masala' every 3-4 days in a coffee grinder i just use for spices. and store it in a glass jar. in it is: 2 TB coriander seed 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp mustard seed 3-4 cardamom pods 1 star anise 1/2 stick cinnamon 1 TB black pepper 1 TB red chile flakes if you have, 1 tsp each sesame seeds and poppy seeds in the morning before you leave for work you juice 2 lemons into a bowl, add about 2-3 TB of the 'garam masala' and the chicken, stir, and go. when you get home, voila! pan-fried or broiled, delightful! hope this helps, gus edit to add: you can chuck in 2-3 TB of plain yogurt too if you want... yeah, i know the lemon will curdle it, but whatever...

yeah, ace--you better calm down buddy. it's bad for your blood pressure. and i don't want to appear *fawning*, but i love Lesley C's columns!

there's a nice-sounding CNY menu at Epicurious here, that doesn't sound too hard. Happy Year of the Monkey, all!