artisan02

I made the faux gras about a month ago, and it turned out fabulous. I didn't think it was undersalted at all,and I am not shy with salt. Christine

I was in Fremont's Fine Foods in Albuquerque a day or so ago, and saw big boxes of the Diamond salt there. Smith's also has a Kosher salt under the Kroger Brand, which is pretty comparable to Diamond. Fremonts is on the northeast corner of San Mateo and Lomas, in Albuquerque. Christine

The roasters are already up in Albuquerque at some of the little produce markets and on the northwest corner of Montgomery and Wyoming. I haven't actually seen chiles being roasted yet, but the roasters are set up and waiting. Christine

I just got Sunday Suppers at Lucques, and I would be interested in cooking my way through it. It looks very good. I also just got Cradle of Flavor, and would be interested in cooking from that one as well. Christine

And I am here in Richmond for 3 months!!! I grew up here, and left back in the mid 70s.... It is fun exploring the city again, and seeing what is available now. I have never been to NYC....one of my dreams.... Christine

Hmm..that is strange. Some of the recipes that you all have mentioned are in the 1999 volume. Actually quite a few of them are. Wonder what happened,why they chose to repeat them? Christine

I have one book in this series: the 1999 one. I see the recipes you are mentioning, but as I read further in this thread, it is not clear as to what volume folks are using. I am looking for the recipes that everyone is mentioning, and I am wondering if you all are using different volumes? I think there is a volume for every year since. Some of the recipes that are mentioned are not in the 1999 volume. Christine

I am interested too, as I may be returning to that area for a travel nursing contract. I used to live in that area, so a lot of things are still very familiar. Christine

I don't know if this is what you are thinking of, but I remember Toddle House very fondly. Christine

I didn't remember it being out as far as Juan Tabo. I seem to remember it being closer to Louisiana, but on a street like Menaul, or Montgomery, or Candelaria. If it was the same place, what a shame. It was fun to shop there and the quality seemed pretty good to me, at the time. Of course, that was before I discovered the produce in Berkeley, CA. Christine

I haven't found many places if any, that carry European style charcuterie. Haven't been to Alpine Sausage Kitchen, and haven't heard that it is closed. I will drive by there this week and check it out. I have been to Tullys on the recommendation of a friend who has lived here all her life. I wasn't impressed. I may go back though, as they advertise being an Italian meat market and deli. I have been trying to find veal breast, and it is a difficult search. Christine

There is one there, called the Fruit Basket. Is this the store of which you are thinking? I have been in there, and it is generally run of the mill. No sorrel there. I lived here back in the early 80s, before I moved to northern California in 1985. A produce store opened there back in 1984 I think, somewhere on Menaul, or another of those streets that run in that direction. It had a lot of ingredients I was reading in the cookbooks of that time, and I was so excited. When I moved back here this time, I went looking for it. Either my memory is very faulty (which is possible) or it is no longer in business. I was so disappointed. Christine

I am not sure Wagners is open this time of year. It is over in Corrales, so I usually get there when I am going over to SunFlower Market. Next time I go over that way (from the NE Heights), I will see if they are open during the winter. I really suspect they are not, since they sell their own produce, and NM doesn't have a growing season like California. SunFlower Market is opening another location at San Mateo and Lomas sometime this spring. At least that is what one employee told me, but I haven't seen them doing any work on the building that is supposed to house their new market. The one on the Westside is at the interesection of Corrales Road and Alameda. I am a member of La Montanita as well. They do have a westside location, on Rio Grande Blvd. I can't remember the cross streets, to give you a better idea of their location. I am still trying to find other places around the area. There are two so called Farmers Markets, which are little produce stores, both in the NE Heights. One is on Eubank just north of Comanche, and the other is on Snowheights, just below Menaul. Once in a while they will have some good deals, but they have mainly run of the mill produce. Shallots are inexpensive there, though. By the way, there is another Asian market down on Gibson, near San Mateo. My mission now, is to find meat markets where I can find less common cuts of meat at a decent price. There is a decent meat market here in town, called Kellers, but I still can't find everything I want. I have been to the Asian markets here, and while I can find some things, I am not able to find other things. I think one day soon, I am going to plan a tour of the area carnecerias, just to see what they have. There is one on the westside, on 4th street that looks interesting to me, but I haven't been in there yet. Christine

I made cioppino just a couple weeks ago. I had shrimp, clams; nice little ones, king crab legs from Costco and fish of a variety I don't recall. Nice tomatoey broth with a good bit of pepper flakes for some heat. Good crusty rolls and it was wonderful. I have also used scallops and mussels or whatever I can find. I did not use lobster, more because I did not have access to any I liked than any other reason. ← Crab (and in Cioppino's case, a Dungeness crab) is the crustaceon of choice instead of lobster. Can you find any of those anywhere? Mussels are also very good in cioppino. The cioppino I make has a tomatoe, red wine base. Christine, a former resident of the SF bay area.

Rachel, that sounds so good!! Would you be able to post that recipe to RecipeGullet? Christine (another one)

Oh my gosh, I didn't know anyone else had these books!!!!! Well..probably the Roy Andries de Groot one. That one is a classic. I dearly love that book, and reread it from time to time. I have two of the BlueBerry Hill books-don't have the Kitchen Notebook. I haven't read those in a very long time. One book that I really enjoy, is James Beard's Delights and Prejudices, his autobiographical book/cookbook. Christine

I just moved here last year from the SF bay area, so I know of what you speak. It has been culture shock for me, in many respects. That being said, I go at least once a week to a market over on the West side of town, called SunFlower Market. It has a fairly decent selection of produce much of the time, and the prices are not expensive. I was able to find blood oranges there last week, at decent prices: of course this was before the freeze in CA. Still haven't seen Meyer lemons there. Here is the link for their home page: http://www.sfmarkets.com/retailer/store_te...4CC8693150E7216 Also, during the growing season here, there is a marketplace/produce stand I found on Corrales Road. It is called Wagners, and they have good produce in season. They also sell at the Corrales farmer's market during the summer. Christine

That's the kind I can find here in New Mexico, where posole is very, very common. I can usually find it frozen and sometimes "fresh", and that is in a regular grocery store here. I haven't checked any of the mercados and carnecerias around town yet. I haven't made this myself yet, so I may have to join you all in trying this. I am not sure what chiles are used here in NM, but I can almost bet that green chiles are a part of it. I could be wrong though. Edited to say that I looked up Posole as made here in NM, and it uses dried red chiles. Christine

I like her When French Women Cook for that history, and the narrative that goes along with each chapter of recipes. A great read. Christine

Virginius? If so, lovely man. Met him while an intern at the Virginia Historical Society. ← A very, very distant cousin I think..if that. There was a story that all the Dabneys were descended from 3 brothers who came to this country. I don't know if that is true or not...

Hmmmph!! Coming into this discussion late. I wish they would have told me that when I was growing up in Virginia in the 50's and 60's. Never knew I was living in a Mid Atlantic State. As far as I knew, I was born and raised Southern... When I was a child and in the hospital for a prolonged time, my very southern grandparents made and brought me a sweet potato pie every single week. When I got out, Sunday dinners at their house, were the typical groaning board..with at least fried chicken and a ham anchoring the table. And to also relate this to the holiday season, at Christmas, we had fruitcakes and wine jelly with boiled custard on the wine jelly. Never saw the wine jelly and boiled custard out of the South... Maybe this is tradition in other parts of the country, but I really associate this with the South: we went visting in the afternoon, on Christmas. Visited almost everyone we knew...taking presents.staying for punch or eggnog... I associate Virginia with a "genteel" south...at least in Richmond, where I grew up. I may get some flack for this. I come from an old, old Virginia family (Dabney) and this is what I encountered. Christine

Have you been to Monterey Fish on Hopkins in Berkeley? If not, it is not that far from the Cheese Board. It is also a half block away from Monterey Market, which is great for produce. Christine

It has been a privilege for us as well. You take me back to my childhood, growing up in VA. I see things in your glass collection that I have ...and cookbooks that I love, especially the Lee Bailey ones. I thnk he is under appreciated. Christine

Following up to my own post. There are other variations on this theme..such as divvying up something before cooking, and making several dishes out of the same piece of meat, or poultry. I ran across an example of this yesterday, going through some of my cookbooks. This idea was from Jacques Pepin, ever a thrifty cook. He started with a whole raw chicken and used almost all of the chicken for Chicken Diable, then went on and made a chicken and lentil ragout with the rest of the chicken carcass. I think in the same book there is another example of getting a small turkey and using the various parts for totally different dishes. I have seen this done with other things too such as a pork roast: one part is cut up for chops, and the rest of it is used for some other preparation such as a stew. If you like duck, I know I have seen this done, whereby the breasts are cut off the carcass and cooked on the rarish side, and the legs and the body of the duck have been turned into a fine ragout. And to extend this even further, I have seen that same ragout turned into an excellent pasta sauce, served on top of papparadelle, or layered into a lasagna. Christine

Yeah, that's the idea. Sort of. However, like many folks here, I tend to get really bored, really fast. So, I might not buy just one really big thing for the week. I might still use the ham like that, but I would probably freeze a bit of it for later, when I am not so bored with it. Same with the soup I would make from the ham bone: I would have part of it that week for maybe a supper, then my lunches, then freeze the rest to again be taken out in a few months when I am not getting sick of it. On that same note, I might also have roast chicken one night that week, say with mashed potatoes on the side. Maybe half the chicken would be gone at the end of the meal. Now I could do several things with the rest of it: I could make sandwiches with the rest of the meat, or chop it up into chicken salad, or make a hash, or make a myriad of dishes that called for fresh cooked chicken. Or even make chicken soup for another meal and your lunches. With leftover mashed potatoes, I might go back to one of the dishes of my childhood and have mashed potato pancakes the next morning for breakfast, or for dinner that next night. These are just ideas. I am sure others have much more inventive ways of extending your meals.