Sourcing Alligator on the westside...??

Try calling the 168 Market in Alhambra (1421 E Valley Boulevard, 626/282-5168) -- a Yelper wrote last month that they had farm-raised gator; didn't indicate whether fresh or frozen.

You might also try the Hawaii Market in San Gabriel ( 120 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776;
626-307-0062) or the SG Superstore ( 1635 S San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776;
626-280-9998) -- I saw gator meat in the freezer at SG once but don't go there often enough to know if it's a regular item.

-----
168 Market
1421 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

Help with First Vegetable Container Gardens

Any state's cooperative extension program should be able to help you. Find yours by clicking on your state at http://www.ahs.org/master_gardeners/index.htm Each state program offers a wealth of information for home gardeners, and gives you contact information so local MGs can answer your questions by email or phone.

Just a few sites that address the specifics of container size, vegetable root depth and spacing in containers:

http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/garden/articles/pdf/container-growing-vegetables.pdf

http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/container.html

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1647.html

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8105.html

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-336/426-336.html

Good luck with your garden!

nowhereonearth in Gardening

Where can I buy Marrons Glaces?

http://www.italfoodsinc.com/products.asp?mainCat=&category=NUTS in South SF lists them, but candied in syrup, not the dry ones. Also, there are responses in a thread on this same subject from 4 years ago: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/36729

I've never seen marron glaces at TJs, but they sometimes carry boxes of plain boiled chestnuts (uncandied).

nowhereonearth in San Francisco Bay Area

Pruning an artichoke

Here's some useful info on growing artichokes (intended for commercial growers in CA, but useful to home gardeners as well): http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/7221.pdf

nowhereonearth in Gardening

cooking corn on the cob... true science or folklore?

According to http://www.chow.com/ingredients/61 and other sources, salt in the water does toughen the skin. My own favorite way to make corn on the cob (other than roasted in a campfire, which concentrates the flavor) , though, is in the microwave--which does the same. By leaving on most of the husks (just pull off the dirty outside ones and cut off the messy ends) and silk, the corn flavor intensifies . Cook till they're too hot to touch (about 8 minutes for 4 ears, for instance) and wear oven mitts to finish husking (the silk comes off very easily when hot) No pots to wash, either.

nowhereonearth in Home Cooking

ISO Monday night dinner, W LA or SM or CC, not too $, group of 8

http://www.ilfornocaffe.com/contact.html for well-prepared Italian. Pleasant atmosphere, professional service, good food, and they'll put tables together in the quieter room for large parties.

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

Something to go with lamb merguez sausage?

How about some combination of grilled vegetables, such as onions, tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, brushed lightly with oil and served with chopped cilantro? Multicolored peppers (red, yellow) look nice, too.

nowhereonearth in Home Cooking

RockSugar

Had lunch there with a friend today. Walking into the space, which is impressively large, thought the decor was overdone...and the plants in the huge planters in the foyer are nearly all plastic. Hmm. The dining room continued the theme of soaring space, with over-the-top decor, more like a stage set than a restaurant.

But it is comfortable. We were walked to a booth, its tabletop furnished with placemats, a rectangular stoneware charger (both in earth tones) western tableware, wooden chopsticks in paper wrappers, and polished black stones. Assuming that customers can't figure out themselves that the stones are chopstick rests,, our waiter almost immediately pulled our chopsticks out of their wrappers (without separating them) and set them on the stones (which seemed like a breach of chopstick etiquette, considering this was before we'd ordered, before we'd been given hot towels, and before we'd had a chance to move them ourselves). Strange.

The food wasn't bad though. We shared a green papaya salad and some kind of grilled chicken that had tasty little bits of kumquat, sugar snap peas, asparagus (uncredited: maybe they ran out of peas?) and tangy sauce that could have had lemongrass. The chicken tasted very fresh, though they could have used more kumquat (it looked like only one or two sliced kumquats for the entire dish). The plate presentations were attractive. I also had a Thai iced tea ($4) which was not in a large glass and had even more ice than one would get in a Thai place. One soft drink, a salad, and one meat dish added up to about $30 not including tip: not for hearty eaters on a budget (and this was lunchtime; not sure if the prices are different in the evening).

Since it's nearby, I'll probably go back sometime. The atmosphere is pleasant enough (if you don't mind kitschy decor) and so's the food. The extensive--almost too extensive-- menu is fun to read. But don't expect a real Chow kind of place.

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

where to buy curing salt (pink salt) in LA?

A friend said she just found pink salt Prague Powder No 407 in 5 lb. bags for about $5 in the spice section at Canton Food market, 7th and Alameda.

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

Yucatan chicken lime soup on the Westside?

Tony, your query on a 2005 thread brought up www.chichenitzarestaurant.com -- they're near MacArthur Park and downtown on the far side of the 110 from USC. Looks like they're worth the drive, so thanks for posting.

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

Yucatan chicken lime soup on the Westside?

Years ago, when I first tried to find a place that served this, Sabor on Pico in WLA was recommended, but we got to enjoy it all of one time before it went out of business.

Is there any place that currently makes this soup?

Thanks.

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

LA newbie

I'm a native NYer, and what comes closest to NY-type big, thin, foldable slices IMO, is Mulberry Street. The one on South Beverly (the only one I've been to) has the New York Post on tables to read while your pizza cooks.

347 North Canon Drive,Beverly Hills 310-247-8998
240 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills 310-248-4455
17040 Ventura Blvd, Encino

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area

Someplace Fun Near the 405 & 10

There's a Japanese Korean-style BBQ place just west of Westwood Blvd. on Pico, called Gyu-Kaku. The "fun" part is that you cook the meats/chicken yourself on a grill in the middle of the table.

http://www.gyu-kaku.com/

nowhereonearth in Los Angeles Area