MarkinHouston

After starting the simmer on the cannellini, I brown whole home-made Tuscan sausages and then remove to a plate. In the reserved sausage skillet, sweat some onion, carrot, and fennel (all chopped) for about ten minutes. Add a Tbsp of chopped garlic and Italian parsley and remove pan from heat. When the beans have simmered for an hour, add the vegetable mixture and continue simmering until beans are cooked, another hour to hour and a half. Add the sausages, now sliced into rounds, along with a bunch of chopped chard and a cup of chopped basil. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Splash in a little olive oil and pass grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table. This recipe comes from Bruce Aidells of the eponymous sausage fame.

Houston's grocery stores always have big brisket sales around holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. I think Fiesta had whole briskets for 49 cents/pound, limit two with additional $10 purchase. I don't think whole brisket ever gets above $1.49/lb. here.

Dave, thanks for a great class. I have been bringing for four years and have enjoyed much success, although my wife said our first brined turkey "tastes super--just like ham!" I have a couple of pounds of fresh shrimp that is destined to become etouffee tonight. Since I will peel the shrimp for the etouffee, should I do the 30-minute brine with the shells still on, or should I brine the shrimp and then peel them after brining? I have brined shrimp before doing a shrimp boil, but I have never brined shrimp that were peeled for the cooking process. Thanks. Mark

Fifi, get thee up to Canino's on Airline for some fresh Lady Crem peas. Boil until just barely tender, about 25 minutes or so. Drain and refresh, then add some finely minced onion and a balsamic vinaigrette. These are a great salad course, although they are best eaten by the light of the refrigerator door! Have you already looked at Central Market for the Camellia red beans?

Colonel Klink, may I ask a question about your smoked turkey now? (Can't wait for the class!) Do you brine your smoked turkey? I have brined my roasted turkey for several years, but I would like to try smoking this year--the masses are very insistent that I repeat the brining, so are the two compatible? Thanks. By the way, I followed your instructions for smoking corned beef--outstanding!

I was wondering about these. I figure that the pan last night must have been at 600* F or higher. Can silicone gloves handle those temps? I bought one of these over the weekend! They are amazing and I'm sorry I didn't buy more than one. I am definitely going out to get more and will be throwing away my "cloth" mitts as the 600-degree thing is no problem! Where can I get these gloves?? Verbena, I can also vouch for the Orca mitts. I have given some as presents, and the recipients also confirm their value. The website for the manufacturer is " www.isinorthamerica.com " . Good luck!

I have found a partial answer to the absence of Loufood. All of the new stagiaires at the restaurant were asked to make something totally representative of their home country. Louisa started a search for some all-American desserts, and the following tells of her results. It is taken from Gail's Recipe Swap at the Epicurious website. Thought about what you all said - and took into consideration what the French think are classic American desserts and what ingredients we have on hand - and came up with a menu: Apple Pie a la Mode Brownies a la Mode Pecan Pie Cheesecake Strawberry Shortcake Peach Cobbler a la Mode And our apprentice chef - Vincent - wants to do chocolate cookies too. I brought my Mrs. Fields' cookbook - autographed from my former life as a talk show producer - and the Philly cream cheese recipe. After lunch we knocked out one batch each of Mrs. Fields' brownies and pecan pie, and the cheesecake. I can't even tell you how awful the brownies were! I was so distraught! They were not nearly chocolately enough - what a waste of Valrohna chocolate - and completely dry! It was so sad - it was like styrofoam. The chefs seemed really freaked out about the long baking time for a whole pecan pie - almost an hour - so we did so trial individual ones instead. I said they should bake until they're kind of like a set creme brulee - which is just what they looked like on top - but when we cut into one it was too liquid in the center. More baking was yielded only OK results. Tasty but the texture was not right. Oh and did I mention that we have no corn syrup? We substituted half glucose and half honey instead. The cheesecake seemed good but it seemed to puff a little too much - even though we lowered the oven temp and cooked it in a bain marie - as advised by our sous-chef - Pierre-Eric - who actually worked in the States for 6 years and had a lot of experience with American desserts. And since there are no graham crackers here in France we used a combo of crushed, baked pastry crust with cream crackers, honey, and maple syrup - and a little bit of cinnamon. I do have French Laundry's recipe for graham crackers next time. We'll try the cheesecake tomorrow after it's chilled overnight. We think it's a problem with a difference in the ingredients - and the conversions. I'm going to check some other conversion charts - and we're going to try again tomorrow. But otherwise - it was a blast! How much fun is life when you get to spend the whole afternoon knocking out one dessert after another? Any tips would really be appreciated! National pride is at stake! Interesting note - the French think that Americans are obsessed with cinnamon! Thanks again for all your help!

It appears to be a walk of about two miles from rue Cler to Mauberg. If so, that is about 30-40 minutes at my normal pace! Would walking be feasible, given that this is the race day but also that this is three or four hours before the start of the race? Or should I forget the market and concentrate my worries on getting from rue Cler to Gare Montparnasse?

Louisa, this is our time line for that Saturday: I will take the 87 bus over to the 5th about 0700 and get some coffee and croissant while waiting for the market to open. Allowing an hour to look at things, I will try to find/sample/purchase some of the Moulin Cornille olive oil. I'll take the bus back to rue Cler and then proceed with my wife to the gare for the train to Chartres. Assuming we arrive before noon, we will either take the early church tour at 1210 or get lunch and watch the start of the race on TV in a bar and then take in the second cathedral tour at 1430. (We aren't the "lounge-in-the-hotel-room" kind of travelers!)

Louisa, thanks for the information. We are staying at the Hotel Londres - Eiffel near rue Cler, so if I can figure out the Metro, it should be a quick jaunt over to Mauberg, oui? I might have to go there twice, since we will be going to Chartres on Saturday morning. Perhaps we should attend Malcolm Miller's cathedral tour at 1430 rather than at 1210?

David, it is the maket at Maubert. Ms. Wells indicates it is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with Saturday as the day for the Provencal folks. Thank you for the other information. I'll have to check it out.

Thanks, Louisa! If circumstances prevent visiting the market while Moulin Cornille is there, I will place an order through the connection you have provided.

Patricia Wells speaks quite highly of this vendor in the Carmes Market, and I infer from her description that Le Soleil Provencal is only there on Saturday. Her glowing comments about the tanche olives and the olive oil from Mausanne-ler-Alpilles lead me to two questions: is this vendor only at the Saturday market? and can anyone tell me about personally trying this olive oil? We are already trying to balance a trip to Chartres and the start of the Tour de France on one Saturday, and the second Saturday is definitely out due to a one-day TGV to the Loire for a tour. Is this oil worthy of a special visit early on Saturday, or can I find it at that market on Tuesday or Thursday (or elsehwere, for that matter)? I know there are some specialty shops for olive oils, but I swear Patricia was at a prie dieux when writing about Mausanne-les-Alpilles!

Good idea, menton. I think the early train to Chartres might be the wisest choice. Thanks.

I noticed that the Tour de France starts in Paris on July 5. We have planned to take the train to Chartres that day to join Malcolm Miller's tour of the cathederal at 1210. However, if we could see the start of the bike race and then catch Miller's 1445 Chartres tour, we would like to include both in our plans. Does anyone know where I can find information regarding where and at what time in Paris the race commences? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your help. So many choices!

Beachfan, if prices in Paris are no cheaper than in the U.S., what wines would you recommend as our four-bottle allotment through customs? Should we just enjoy the wine while in Paris and then bring home armagnac or Gran Marnier instead? I don't want to transport plonk! If there can be no savings, maybe I should use the luggage space for olive oil and sea salt!

My wife is a big viognier fan, and on our upcoming visit to Paris I would like to find a few bottles of good viognier or Condrieu to sample and/or bring home. Any suggestions?

We will be traveling to Paris in early July and are looking for restaurant suggestions. I hope to get lunch reservations at La Cour Jardin in the Plaza Athenee and would like to try the new Rebouchon establishment as well. We are staying near rue Cler in the 7me but are willing to use the metro to discover other areas. Although a few higher-end options are okay (lunch at Le Grand Vefour?) the weak dollar says little un-starred kitchens with honest food for most meals. Thanks in advance.