GG Mora

I toss the whole cob, husk and all, on the grill for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally. In theory, when the husk is nice and toasty brown on the outside, the corn is done just right on the inside. I used to take the extra step of soaking the cobs in a bucket of water for an hour before hand. then one night, pressed for time, I tossed cobs on the grilll unsoaked & guess what? No descernable diff.

When are you leaving Jackson House? Is there I chance I can still get there for dinner under your regime? Congratulations on your new job; I'm sure it will be Vermont's loss.

While on our honeymoon in France, me an' Hub spent the better part of a day circumnavigating the Gorges du Verdon in a small rental car. It was about as beautiful and exhilarating a drive as you can possible imagine. In places, the barely-wider-than-one-lane road kisses the rim of the canyon, sans guard rail. It's a two-way road (most of the way) with heavy tourist traffic (most of it travelling at a brisk clip) with the occasional full-size touring coach. We had planned ahead for lunch; that morning I breezed through the little town where we were staying and picked up a baguette, a bottle of red (4 euros), a button of crottin de chavignol and a nice, ripe puck of St. Marcellin. A melon that had been rolling around the trunk since St. Mairies sur Mer 3 days previous had perfumed the car in such a way as to suggest an ideal state of ripeness. When we reached the eastern end of the canyon and crossed the river to start the return drive along the northern rim, we turned off, following signs for a hiking trail. The road led us to a parking lot, where there were twenty or so cars parked and a small crowd of people following the trail off to the left. The trail also went off to the right (though the crowd did not) so we followed Frost's advice. The trail cut through a large hole bored in a rock face and continued – marginally "cut" from the cliff – down to the canyon floor, with no railing and a surplus of skiddy gravel. By following the trail less than a quarter of a mile, we found ourselves on a little ledge about 20 feet above a rushing stream and far away from humanity. Just as we settled there with our picnic, the sun broke through the haze that had dogged us through the morning. So there we were: deeply in love, with our perfectly ripe cheeses and melon, a heady bottle of wine that had cost us a pittance, surrounded by untainted natural beauty, serenaded by the running water, kissed by the sun, caressed by a light breeze. That night, we blew a wad on dinner at Clement Bruno's truffle mecca in Lorgues. Feh. The picnic is the meal I'll never forget.

I think the flavor and aroma of fresh truffles are more a haunting thought than any tangible sensation. When I've eaten fresh truffles, I find my brain still awash in the experience well into the next day. Maybe truffle oil is so wrong because it tries to make material something that is entirely ethereal. Like an orgasm in a can. Another eGullet synchronicity.

That's exactly the spirit. I'm gettin' me a hankering for some country paté....

Chris, any chance of renaming this thread? It's growing into an excellent Portland Guidebook; maybe something more generic would keep its legs moving (not that it's lacked for action yet ). Just a thought. If discussion of any one joint takes off, a split-off would be in order. Yes, someday we might even have our own "Portland (ME) Public Market – the Thread". Y'all can be sure I'll make contact when I'm in town again.

Portland Public Market Portland Greengrocer My in-laws moved to Yarmouth recently, and we've made a few trips to visit. My husband and I both agree that if we had to trade our rural Vermont life for a New England City, Portland would be it. We haven't gotten a chance to do much dining in town, outside of a lunch with the kids at Mim's, which I thought was quite good. But we did quite a bit of cooking, and availed ourselves of the Harbor Fish Market, the Green Grocer and the Public Market on several occasions. I'll admit, it's not hard to impress us, since the specialty foods around SoVT are slim pickins, but we were in heaven shopping around Portland. One night we had lobster, another a simple summer grill, and on the last night whooped up a big-ass paella. Most of our provisions came from the aforementioned purveyors (with a little help from Shaw's in Freeport ). I thought the produce and cheese at Portland Greengrocer were better than at PPM – better selection, although we didn't really compare prices. We also bought baguettes at the Green Grocer; the bread at PPM seemed a little "crunchy" – more on the healthy/organic axis than in the French delicious tradition. It could have been the time of day, too (late afternoon). I thought the cheese selection at PPM was disjointed, didn't look like it was particularly well cared for, and was short on domestic cheeses. And lacking a good crottin was a major shortcoming, IMO. But the meats and sausages at PPM? Okay, I'd give my right arm for daily access to goods like that. And I'm dying to try something quick from the Mexican stall. And a hearty round of applause for Harbor Fish Market. I'd love to know if locals have a better spot. I suspect we'll be around Portland a lot in the coming months. My father in law has some ugly cancer, so we'll be making frequent trips. It's a lousy reason to have to come to town, but it's a fine town to have to come to. We're really looking forward to trying some of the restaurants. And I'm keeping a sharp eye peeled for a guy in a big fur hat, but no luck yet.

if i've learned one thing about you over the years sandra, it's that you hate celery. A little free time on your hands today, Tommy?

Sorry to harsh your buzz, but...cliquez içi. But it's a good word anyway. Because I have Adolescent Raiders® in the house, I'm tempted to order up some pre-printed grocery list pads: Milk Eggs Bread Butter Bagels and then I can add whatever else I need.

Interesting about others' reaction to truffle oil. I think fresh truffles are delicious; I even sought out Clement Bruno's resto in Lorgues so as to partake of truffles through an entire meal. The restaurant is overrated, as it happens, but the truffles didn't disappoint (a whole truffle baked in puff pastry? Yum). I brought home a bottle of Bruno's truffle oil and made a dish of gnocchi & truffle oil, which was delicious, but the aroma of the truffle oil made my gorge rise. A few weeks later I drizzled some of the oil over mashed potatoes & nearly gagged on the smell. The bottle of oil is still sitting in the fridge & every so often I lift off the top and take a whiff...and retch a little. I know truffle oil degrades over time, but not to worry – I have no intention of using it. Boris, your post made me think of a piece that ran in Granta several years ago. Sean French's excellent First, Catch Your Puffin is a hilarious meditation on the pleasures of rot and decay: Do follow the link for an entertaining and worthwhile read. As for caviar, I remain largely nonplussed. I try it every time it's offered (I keep thinking I must be missing something). Salty, fishy, crunchy goo. Whatever.

Yup, Costco. $9.99 for a 1-lb. bag, and they're perfectly fresh. I keep a bag in the freezer and toast up handfuls to throw into salads, pasta dishes... RE: Pesto-in-a-tub: It's not quite a tub, but I've bought pre-made pesto in a jar at Costco. $6.99 or $8.99 for about a pint and a half. It's not as good as freshly made, but in the middle of winter when even a thought of basil would turn black from the cold, it's not at all bad. Oh, and a cilantro-lime pesto (with walnuts) on grilled swordfish? Don't knock it till you've tried it.

I'm SO sorry we had to miss it. Line-editing a 600-page automotive technical manual was NOT an acceptable alternative. The grounds around SPAC are indeed lovely and would make for a nice, low-key venue. And of course, there are lovely spots in Vermont. But that would take it out of New York and land it in New England.

Any sturdy bread with chunky PB and tunafish salad (tuna, mayo, chopped onion).

Edited to add: If you have anecdotes, reminiscences, thank-yous, what-have-you, please add them to the Julia Child –– In Memorium thread. This one's all about the cooking. Several of us suggested in the In Memorium thread that we'd be honoring her by cooking from one or another of her books. When I got right down to it, that didn't seem enough. I felt I should let her continue her life's work as an educator; therefore I took on something I'd never made before and let her show me the way. A surplus of eggs in the fridge suggested a cheese soufflé. It seemed the perfect light supper for a heavy summer evening – accompanied by fresh greens from the garden, a toasty baguette, and a bottle of St. Emilion. Julia was in top form. The soufflé was letter-perfect: With salad: Others have suggested picturesque scenes of Julia and Paul reunited at a table in heaven. Me, I prefer the image of a shimmering fluorescence, the spectral matter of souls recommingling. Thanks, Julia. C'mon back any time.

Unless I'm mistaken, The Student Prince is in Springfield. No less an institution for it, though.

What with all the hand-wringing and wailing over the death of Julia Child, THIS bit of news I find infinitely more sad and troubling. My condolences.

I think v. gautam was suggesting that greenhouse conditions would be ideal for wasabi. I don't think it would stand a snowball's chance in hell of surviving in the wild here. Edited to add: although one can hope.

i'll hopefully be joining you. not at your house, i mean, but you know. Right. But you'd be welcome nonetheless.

It's a great loss, but I can hardly call it sad when someone dies at 92, presumably of natural causes, after living as full a life as hers. Bless her soul. I'll be celebrating her life tonight by cooking from several of her books.

Yeah, I only overeat at the odd ones, too. – another Subaru-driving, farmer's-market-going chick, but ixnay on the irkenstocksbay.

I have a surplus of pattypan squash, which are quite similar. The other night I made a gratin of them, thusly: (for 3 lbs. squash) Grated them through the large holes of a box grater. Let drain for an hour (this didn't help much). Diced two smallish onions and minced two jalapeño peppers and six cloves of garlic. Sautéed the aromatics until golden in about 3 tbsp butter. Added squash, seasoned well with S&P and ground cumin. Stirred/sautéed over high heat until the mixture was starting to dry out (because my stove sucks or – more accurately – because cooking with LPG sucks, this took much longer than it should have). Once the mixture was dryish (no longer seeping fluids) I added about half a cup of heavy cream and stirred/sautéed until the cream was bubbling. Turned the whole thang into an oval gratin dish, sprinkled half a cup of grated Grana Padano & then about 1/4 cup of bread crumbs over the top. Baked at 375° until nicely browned on top and quite bubbly at the edges. It was really good.

Japanese wasabi chips. Can't remember the brand...puffy rice chips, each one with enough wasabi to make your head explode.

Yup. I'm full of them. It's my personal opinion that Aix is a more charming place to hang out. Additionally, it's more central to the whole of Provence. And ya just gotta love all those fountains. Edit: On-street parking in Aix can be scarce, but there are several large underground car-parks. Also, I believe you can get directly to Aix on the TGV.

<cue broken record sound effect> I highly recommend using a dilute spray of crude neem oil to control garden pests. Read up on it here. I mix it in one of those 2-gallon tank sprayers with a little Dr. Bronner's as an emulsifier, and use it (with great success) to control cabbage worms, aphids, whitefly and mealybugs. It's completely organic and can be used on edible crops right up to harvest (though you'll want to rinse it off since it tastes like shite). I'm still looking around for a link to a comprehensive list of pests that can be controlled with neem. Those I listed are the only ones I've had issues with, but neem is widely used for a broad spectrum of leaf miners and hoppers, cutworms, mites and even funguses and mildew. Will post link if I find a good one.

My recommendation would be to roast them and use them in a simple salad. Then if you have any left, you can get all jiggy with them. Trim off the greens (you can cook and eat them if you like them; I don't) leaving an inch or so of stem, and trim off the root leaving half an inch or so. Wash off any dirt, wrap the beets in foil, and bake in a 350? oven until the beets are soft when pierced with a sharp knife – 45 minutes for very small beets and up to an hour and a half for very large ones. Let them cool in the foil until they're cool enough to handle, then cut off the remaining stems and root, and slip the outer layers of skin off with your fingers. Cube or cut the beets into wedges and toss in a bowl with balsamic vingar, oil (mild olive oil, or walnut oil if you can get it) and S&P to taste. Mache (lamb's lettuce) is delicious with beets, but if you can't find it any beautiful young greens will do. Toss cleaned greens with the smallest amount of balsamic vingar and whatever oil you used on the beets and a little S&P. Mound the greens on a plate, arrange the beets on top and scatter with toasted walnuts and crumbled fresh goat's cheese (or blue cheese).