beans

It's working. eeeexcellent. I'm hearing this in very, umm, relishing/exaggerated "Newman" voice (weird description but I think you'll get it) from Seinfeld.

Me too. But then it depends on my mood. The other day I was distracted by my roomie making up some yummy gimlets while relaying his hysterical day at work while I was trying very hard to finish a somewhat serious post on my beloved salmon and typed "femail" for female. I finished the gimlet, called my neighbour and all of us quickly proceeded out the door to an 'in the biz' happyhour of cocktails and appetizers. Meh. Left the typo. It was too serious anyway.

I don't think that will happen. At least I hope not! Who wants to wear the Spelling Police or Grammar Police hat willingly? Although, I could be wrong about that too. However, I have seen intense discussions, here on eG, that not knowing the difference between there and their; then and than; effect and affect (I could go on ad nauseam, just throwing up a couple, non-specific examples) doesn't do many favours to asserting effective salient points. But these are not threads about removing an unwanted mouse residing under the oven either.

Has anyone been reading tommy's Thoughs on a trip to Italy? Where did "sangie" start for the sandwich part of this discussion? I still start to seethe when I begin thoughts about stylistic, "loss of voice" issues in an editorial process, but when it is my boss and ultimately his or her submitted writing with their signature on the bottom of the document, then it is all a part the job. But that, again, is work and not funtime-on-eG. So I guess my philosophy falls somewhere between not wallowing in the shortcomings of others and shivering as if fingernails scraped over a chalkboard. I suppose it all depends on the tone of the thread and/or the intensity of the discussion?

Interesting, as size was an issue yesterday when I tried a new sushi place. I placed my order to go (I live about 1 minute by car, 4 if I walked home) and anxiously opened my box of goodies. I was slightly annoyed that the size of the pieces certainly exceeded what could be eaten in one bite. The overall taste and texture of my lunch has determined I will opt for the newly opened bistro next door instead. Returning the original situation -- if I want good sushi, I need to drive east to either of two longtime Cleveland institutions, or a bit west to a newish location that blew my socks off and ate there nearly 4 of the 7 days that same week. Not at the point of knowing great sushi, but I do know what isn't exactly "good."

So, what about her food? I guess it really bugs me that people place evaluative judgments about others such as "bimbo" and "freaky" and "used to be a guy." Now, what do these inane comments do anyway? If you don't like a show, well then say so. No need to belittle that Food Network host on such a personal level. I loathe Paula Deen's show (general dislike of the food she makes, i.e., "Chinese Salad" using the storebough Ramen Pride noodles and "seasoning" pack for dressing) and Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade because of the awful ideas of using kids lunch pudding packs to make tiramisu and sometimes incorrect instructions (making meringue by dumping both the sugar and whites into the bowl and whip). But I don't see any merit in making issue with one's accent, upbringing, etc. I mean, we're all here to discuss food, right? All IMHO.

Clubs unhappy about proposed tax on drinks

I'm not too sure about that one....

Yum, seconded. Please do if you can. Those sound lovely.

I so loved the Ads by Google on this thread were for Alaskan Wild Salmon (and Halibut).

And I thought it was gently alluded that this part of the discussion was not encouraged to be pursued, but to return to Charlie Trotter, his restaurant, his food....

"I lost it" -- usually garners a hint on where one may be purchased as replacement. "My son ripped out the pages" -- I usually start seething. "its only a cookbook" -- Then they just don't *get* it! The only time I've lent and borrowed a book was from one friend of mine that shared the same respect for it as I did. (however it wasn't cookbooks) I thanked her by covering the dust jacket with archival mylar with acid free paper flaps that overlap and can be taped without ever making contact with the jacket. She's moved, and gee, I really miss her. (We did the coffee and bakery thing at eachother's houses whenever we got a new addition to the collection). However, come to think of it, I have also borrowed an Italian cookbook from my mother, and I think she has since long forgotten about....

Welcome to eG markovitch. Stop at that bar and ask the bartender. Generally, they are very happy to share that info. At any rate, try this link for a basic recipe: http://icuban.com/food/canchanchara.html Cheers.

Choice of the variety of the salmon. Canned salmon, for sale to tourists in Alaska, most often are sockeye. At home canning (done by darn near everyone that fishes there) usually, too, is both plain and smoked sockeye. I've got both sitting in my cupboard, which I think I'll some have for lunch. And thinking about lunch.... A local favourite is using canned salmon (fresh too) as a hearty topping in a huge baked potato with sour cream, cheese and chives.

vengroff: While some hot smoked salmon makes its way into shrink wrapped packages (cheaper in cost) there are still hot smoked and for sale in cans too.

What sort of salmon Heather? Where is it from? Is it smoked? If it is smoked, well, it is fabulous in the likes of that Salmon Chowder recipe I posted on that Eating Alaskan thread. Good in a salmon salad of your preferred mix (think, ummm, err tuna salad -- oh, lord, I'm going to keep my eye peeled for a lightning bolt striking at me -- considered this as whispered!) on some toasted sourdough bread, possibly topped with melted cheese. Or mix it up and place on to crackers (usuallywith mayo) or at room temperature on top of a cream cheesed bagel. YUM. Canned salmon, either in a real can or Ball mason jar, yup full of bones and icky skin, is normal for what my family catches, processes (cooks, smokes) and then puts up for future use. It is finicky work, but some good stuff in the proper application.

Bad today. I had a couple of small scoops of Baskin & Robbins Prailines and Cream. A truly evil weakness .... And a tall glass of ice tea.

Sandra Lee (of FN's Semi-Homemade): Snak Pak artificial vanilla individual pudding packs Pillsbury ready made sugar cookie dough Canned Apple Pie filling trail mix Uncle Ben's instant rice Canned chicken Canned chow mein vegetables Campfire Marshmallows premade fondant soap to make fake confetti "chips" decoration boxed yellow cake mix sugary schnapps to pair with sorbet for shooters Campbell's soup, anything

What about Southern Comfort? It is derived from peach pits. Here's a long time, famously popular eggnog I've brought to many a holiday gathering. 12 eggs, separated 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 pint bourbon (I've used Maker's Mark) 1/2 pint rum (I prefer Meyer's Dark Rum) 1/2 pint of brandy 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 quarts heavy cream 1 cup powdered sugar grated nutmeg In a large bowl, beat egg yolks well, reserving 6 egg whites in one bowl and 6 egg whites in another. Add granulated sugar to the egg yolks and beat well. Add bourbon, rum and brandy to egg yolks, alternatively and slowl; mix to incorporate. Add vanilla, mix, again, and then add three quarts of the heavy cream. Beat 6 egg whites until stiff and fold into yolk mixture. Beat the other 6 egg whites until they stiffen, then slowly adding powdered sugar while continuing to whip the whites. Fold in remaining cream and then gently fold this into the egg yolk mixture. Allow to chill for 4-12 hours in refrigeration (or protected in some other cold place -- like my seasonal "walk in cooler" of an enclosed, front porch for a few cold winter months of the year!) and top with fresh grated nutmeg, to taste. This will serve, easily 16-20.

edited to add: Welcome to eG desilu! Farm Raised: I've read one of the largest concerns about farm raised escapees will co-mingle and spawn with wild salmon which in turn alters the offspring's behavior. The farm raised fish display more survival behaviors and will dive to dart away from fishermen's nets which is quite different than the original "natural" behavior of truly, wild salmon. I sort of got it in part when I hung around my friends' or my grandfather's boats and they would spend some of the down time between openings painting the metal rings of their seines. The explanation when I asked, puzzled at what I thought was an odd practice and wondered if it was all chalked up to fishing superstition, was hatchery fish are "divers." Fish hatchery salmon imprint early on and learn about shiny things that scoop them up (large and deep tennis racket shaped net to scoop the small fish to move to other tanks, etc.), despite they are released to grow and develop in the "wild" ocean. Another farm raised problem -- the fish are easily susceptible to sea lice infestations. Now those are disgusting and when they do escape (I think I remember them being referred to as feral) they run the risk of spreading lice infestations to the wild populations. White kings: Whenever I'm in town, I'll occasionally see them for sale at Pike Place and see it here and there on a few menus too.

Nick is this not a discussion wherein anyone can post in relation to any given post on the thread? I was? So? Again subjective words -- "should do better" and "good" are highly variable to the eye of the beholder. "Smarting"? Nah, I think slkinsey's and Bux's response to this satisfied any concern I may have or have not had. Besides, what the heck does that have to do with anything here? Defining one as ______________ [fill in the blank with any of the thousands of job titles] is somewhat myopic, to say the least, and I find rather uninformative. ****** How is this turning into such a pissing match with hasty evaluations/judgments using "snotty," "elitest" and "hostile"? It seems the more one posts their valid opinion and observation, others herein are so very happy to throw stones in using words as such and certainly not offering up meritorious points. (read: IMHO, it's all petty name calling)

Nick with your post count, you are well aware that personal does not fly here. What does being a bartender have to do with expressing opinions about fine dining? Does it mean that I don't experience or eat fine dining? Does it limit what amount of education one may or may not have? Does earning a living (a damn good one at that) as a bartender equate I do not have a valid opinion or experience to express? Aw come on Nick, don't go that route. It only demonstrates how little you know of me to be so bold to assert something that ridiculous. Just a thought, but if your post was intended as a conversation exclusively with Bux, while you did drag down nameless others that concurred with his opinion(s), well perhaps PM would have been the more appropriate route?

I doubt that is Bux's intent to be "superior," and it seems more like your personal spin being attributed to his posts. I'm not sure I'm getting this strongly inferred "shame on you" attitude and your openly subjective assertions of "disgraceful" and "obnoxious." When in fact you utilised the value-packed, judmental words that IMHO brinks upon offensive and disrespectful of another's point of view. In fact, it appears as rather "scolding" in tone. Someone, Adam, saw a restaurant recommendation from Food Network, went to the restaurant and was not prepared for the experience of something so highly unique as Charlie Trotter. Okay, but then Adam furthered it by making a parody of the entire event, no less but on a large food message board forum filled with experienced, sophisticated diners. As simple as I can state it, I remember some sort of similar discussion, and it was tommy, I believe, said something to the effect that while he's not a die hard fan of Springsteen, he would not go to a music message board forum and post messages to rip on the guy. Adam did not "review" CT. He posted his experience, with an attempt to throw in humour so as to make a mockery of haute cuisine. Re your: Where are you eating? typos

Those are farm raised as well. Background: I'm not sure if this was in the 1960's (I think it was) and as a result of decreases in fish stocks the University of Washington, School of Fisheries started several projects. One was to try to create a "chumpy," labeled as "a biological freak" and was a blend of both a Pink (humpy) salmon and a Chum salmon. This failed and was eliminated. Another project was the creation of the "triploid salmon." The idea was to radiate a King (aka Chinook) egg to create a fish that would grow large and remain sexless in the Sound until caught, without any interference with the natural gene pool. Some refer to this fish as "mutant." I'm still not sure where this project is -- whether chucked to the drawing board or still in practice within the United States as I found articles regarding Canadian aquaculture. What is this fish? These are fish that are treated with horomone, drived from the Chinook, to grow approximately three times faster than a natural, "regular" salmon. This growth horomone is purported not to have an affect human growth from consumption of triploid salmon. Many affirmative arguments outline they are safe to eat, better for the environment because they grow faster, are a more efficient fish because: studies have shown they convert food more efficiently, thereby reducing wast to the environment, and have a high metabolic rate, causing the fish to consume less oxygen in attaining their large size. Lastly, they do not reproduce thereby not interferring with the natural salmon populations. Here is a nutshell of the triploid salmon I learned from a NY Times, March, 2002 article by Pete Bodo, entitled, "Sterilized Frankenfish-Biotech Progress? Genetic Engineering Rescues Salmon." Triploid Salmon These fish are bio-engineered by a simple process. Triploidization is also quite cost effective because hundreds of thousands of eggs can be processed for a fraction of a penny per fish in cost. The fertilized eggs are basically placed into a pressure cooker-like high tech equipment and are shocked to distrupt cell development and create three sets of chromosones (versus the natural two, "diploid" sets -- male/female; x/y). What happens, the third set confuses the develoment of the protosperm and egg cells rendering the fish unable to generate sperm or eggs. Problems/Challenges Shrinking prices and falling profits have kept fish farmers to back away from the concept. For the consumer, the triploid fish does have more protein because of the third set of cells, however the cells are larger in size and contain a higher water content. Somewhat less than desirable for the consumer in taste and texture. For the fish: much deformity (I've read about excessively large jaws) at an fairly high rate of occurence, as well as a weaker immune system. Here are a couple of webpages from the folks at Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, regarding Aquaculture: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/t.../triploid_e.htm http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/t.../femaleap_e.htm Here is another aquaculture article, from Australia, the World News referring to Toronto Star as the resource for this August, 2003 publication: http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=486 And, this may be similar to what was shown on Iron Chef, but maybe not too! I have found several webpaes regarding the Japanese Masu Salmon, artificial propogation, spawning (some of which include diploid femails and triploid males studies) from both the Department of Fisheries Resource Managment, Tokyo University of Fisheries and the National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Nansei, Mie 516-08, Japan: The Economic View of Artificial Propagation of Masu Salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) http://www.lib.noaa.gov/japan/aquaculture/...ort22/sano.html Induced Masu Salmon Spawning of Diploid Females by Triploid Males http://www.lib.noaa.gov/japan/aquaculture/...2/kitamura.html Want more info? Google away! I'm sure there are oodles of info about, for and against! *a small, wee footnote to this -- yes, I began undergrad with full hopes and interests of marine biology I was in awe of Professor Cynthia Groat's infectious enthusiasm of showing up to class in a denim and corduroy (to represent the texture of the underside of the whale), head to tail whale Halloween costume. She did conduct a serious lecture, while wearing same, which also included a slideshow on whales and sharing one of herself, and with a beaming smile, at the Smithsonian standing next to an enormous whale penis (I forgot if it was a baleen, gray or blue species) as she also informed us that part of the whaleskin that once was often used to make golfbags of old. Mostly, her enthusiasm bubbled over to an unending interest and dedication to marine studies that was quite evident in both professional and personal life. She was a one-of-a-kind, university educator. edited for clarity -- durn it!

A couple quick, random thoughts: I sensed that same very thing with Adam's review of his experience. Which, sorta, leads me to the bathroom segment of this entire episode. I've worked in two situations of fine dining, but nowhere near on par with CT. One a private club and another, a Ritz-C's first (or second--I forgot) street level access restaurant. Both promoted full, very formal service. Merely indicating by the physical act of pointing for the benefit of any guest was deemed coarse, rude and unacceptable treatment, so pointing to the loo was not an option for service staff. In fact, when asked for directions by a guest to any given thing, employees (service staff or not) escorted that guest to the satisfaction of their inquiry. Yes even to seek out an unoccupied, available restroom.