Thanks, Catalina looks pretty interesting.

I've been to the Fish Market, maybe I was there on a bad day, but it seemed about the same as the fish counter at the albertsons up the street, only more expensive.
I'll have another look, I'd love to find I was wrong, it's within easy walking distance.

Just moved to the area, is there a good fish market nearby?

And actually I don't mind if I have to travel some, what's the best place in san diego county?

Thanks,
Mike

sorry for the slow reply haven't checked CH in awhile.
I excluded 17th street because I already know about it.
It's also not really a fish market, it's more a grocery store with a good seafood department.

Thanks for the link.
I'm guessing your joking about Nugent (does he have a cook book) but, in case your not, he strikes me as more of a home cook. Not really what I'm looking for.
What I'm hoping to find is how someone like Tom Keller might deal with the lower fat content of game meat other than by adding fat from other animals.

John Folse should be a good start.
Thanks.

Any suggestions on modern cook books about cooking game preferably written by high level chefs?
Thanks

tomato, pick ripe, slice, eat while still in the garden.
add a lil salt if your feelin a bit daffy.

hard to beat. and about as few ingredients you'll find.

It's not really much different in concept than a fruit and cheese plate. Fruit with cheese is a classic combo.

You can thaw it in the fridge. How long it will take of course depends on how cold the fridge is, but a 6oz filet seems like it should thaw over night.
As far as how long you can keep it after thawing, just treat it like any piece of salmon, as long as it still smells and feels fresh it's fine.

Thanks for the help!

Sounds good! Thanks.

I don't deep fry very often, maybe once every 2 weeks if i get on a fried chicken kick. When I do, it always seems like such a waste of oil ( generally i use canola oil) since I only use it once. I'm wondering if I strain it well if it will last long enough for me to get multiple uses. Also how should i store it?

I was also wondering how long duck fat would last if used for deep frying?

Thanks.

I was actually incorrect about Walking J Farm http://www.walkingjfarm.com/Home_Page... being pricey. They are actually the least costly of the 3 I listed, I may be getting too old to do math in my head. Sorry about that guys.
I stopped there today, the owner was very helpful, even though she was kind of busy and I had a million questions. She was knowledgeable and I like the way they are running there farm.
I am going to atleast sign up for their poultry and egg CSA. I'm not sure yet about the produce CSA, I think it may be too much food for one person, I may do it anyway just to try it out, I'm sure I can give away extra if I can't finish it myself.
They also have turkey, beef and pork shares, again too much food for just me, but if I can get one of my friends to split a share I'll definitely take a closer look.
All in all well worth a nice Sunday morning drive to check them out.

I'm going to try to get to the Tucson CSA one day to atleast check it out. They do have some things I find interesting in their shares. Their hours and the distance just make it a bit tough for me visit.

Thanks for the help.
I'm actually more interested in discussing cooking, product and where to buy product then I am in restaurants.
I am signed up on yelp now, and I've allready found it helpful. I see there are atleast a few places I haven't tried for buying fish so hopefully I'll finally find a good spot for that.

you can make it by hand with a whip, it's not difficult especially in small amounts, you don't need to dirty and electric blender or a mixer.

It will have given up most of it's flavor, but also picked up other flavors from the soup, try a little on a nice piece of bread.

unless there was a lot of loose skin to start with it should stay on and you can just remove the half heads when your done. then you can squeeze the garlic out of the heads, you'll have a soft nicely flavored garlic paste.

Thanks, that looks helpful, signing up now.

I'm interested in maybe joining a CSA and hoping people with some experience in them could help me out.
I think the biggest thing may be the fact that I'm single, so I just don't go thru that much food. Usually have a soup type thing for lunch and there will be a serving of veg in that, plus 2 veg side dishes with dinner, or maybe a salad with a lot of veg as my dinner.
So, i'm wondering if a CSA would make sense for me, or would I be better off just picking up stuff for the week at the farmers market.

Next I've found 3 CSA possibilities and I'm hoping people here belong to them and can give me reviews.

First is Tucson CSA http://www.tucsoncsa.org/
This one seems like it might be the best value, and have the most possibilities for variety. The one problem I'd have is pick ups are in Tucson and I'm 70 miles away in Rio Rico. So, it's a bit of a hike and adds to the cost.

Next would be Agua Linda Farm http://www.agualindafarm.net/index.html
Seems like a decent value, and pick up would be much closer. I've stopped at the farm on the weekend when the farm stand was open to ask questions, but kind of got the brush off from the guy who was there. Which sort of turns me off.

Last is Walking J Farm http://www.walkingjfarm.com/Home_Page...
They seem to be a bit pricey to me, but offer a variety of different options that include meat in some of the options. Pick up from them is also close to home. I'm going to try and stop by their farm stand tomorrow and check them out.

So, anyone belong to any of these or maybe can suggest another CSA you are experienced with?

Thanks.

CH is great, but discussions in the south west forum and one about Tucson specifically don't get much action. I'm wondering if there are other forums/news groups/message boards where food people from Tucson meet?
I've done some googling and that's actually how I found CH, but it's the only thing I've found so far.

I think homemade bread crumbs, from bread I've baked are always better then store bought panko. Panko is for when I need crumbs but don't have any bread on hand.

Constructive criticism appreciated, atleast I think it will be appreciated :).
Also questions about procedure, and tips to make it easier to follow. In most of my recipes I only write down the ingredients, this is the first I've written out the procedure for the chili. Also, the first time I've ever written out a recipe for others to follow, so I may need advice on making things more clear.

Lastly, this is a bit of a work in progress, if people are interested I will update if/when I tweak it again.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29268-bis...

To find the best produce I look at what everyone has and ask a lot of questions. I've found things aren't always what they seem. You think your buying something local and it turns out to be from washington. Which is maybe ok, but you can probably get the same thing at whole foods for less.
Is the beef grass finished, or is it raised on grass then finished on grain at the stock yard? Where is the ranch, if it's close can I visit it?
Are the chickens pasture chickens?
and so on.
A lot of people prefer grass raised and grain finished, personally I like grass finished. But, if you don't ask you may not be getting what you were hoping for.

Yes, they do have other things. I just figure most people coming from out of town are going for the hot dogs.
They also have icey cold coke in returnable bottles!!! A real treat imo :)

one of the classes at the cia had an all electric kitchen (atleast it did 25 years ago) so people could see it didn't generally make a difference. Eric Ripert uses an electric stove top on his show also, but they may have more to do with sponsorship then functionality.

I still prefer gas slightly, probably because my parents house had gas, even though i haven't had a gas stove since i moved out 30 years ago :).

Bourdain doesn't actually say why his isn't up to Keller's standards, but having read his piece on stocks I can make some guesses.
First, Keller's stock technique is just plain more refined and exacting, down to the way he sets his stock pot on the stove. So, you end up with a better stock.
Bourdain adds tomato paste and flour to his bones, not really classic. I have Keller's beef stock recipe, but not his veal stock or demi glace, but he probably isn't adding tomato paste and even less likely adding flour.
Keller doesn't use celery much as an aromatic, instead he seems to use leeks. I don't know why, I haven't found an explanation in ad hoc at home. I'm guessing it's more refining.
Another point is that at home most people are likely to use chicken or beef/veal stock in all there sauces. At The French Laundry if they make a sauce for a duck dish they use duck stock. You could do this at home obviously, but it means either having a lot of different stock types in your freezer, or making fresh stock when you want duck for dinner. And where do you find duck bones? Not impossible, maybe not even hard, but I don't know where to get them off the top of my head.
Lastly, Keller is probably using fresh stock everyday. Again you can do this at home, but kind of tough if you have a normal full time job.

All these things are fairly minor when taken alone, but they aren't the way things are done in a very high level kitchen, and they are cumulative.

Bourdain gives us a way to come up with what's still a good product, but something much more realistic for home.

Bourdain's demi glace seems just fine to me, it's the way it would be done in a lot of restuarants. It's just not the level of a restaurant in the French Laundry's class.

My recipe for stock is to make friend's with a bar tender at a good restuarant. When i need stock I stop in for a beer, ask him to hit the kitchen up for a quart or so of what I need, then leave a nice tip. Even better if your friends with the chef. :)

I know I'm in the minority, but I think El Guero Canelo is awful, by far the worst hot dog I've ever had in my life. Inexpensive though so if you don't like it, it's not a huge loss.

-----
El Guero Canelo
5201 S 12th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85706

lol i see you list Vetri as one of your top 5, so I guess you already know. :)

I've never been there Michael Symon reccomends Vetri http://www.vetriristorante.com/ says it's the best pasta he's ever had, I've heard other good things about them as well. I'm definitly going to try it next time I'm up that way.
But, as far as the best pasta, it's hard to beat making it yourself :)

Something else to keep in mind. Just because a book recommends a different or easier way for the home cook, doesn't mean the end result will be different.
As an example, books will often recommend setting up a double boiler, when they want something to come up to temperature slowly , where a professional cook would be more likely to use direct heat.
The difference is the professional is doing it everyday, and is more experienced in controlling the results. They are also probably making a much larger quantity, so direct heat is less risky.
So, while a double boiler might seem dumbed down the end result is the same.

I hadn't seen that web site, looks interesting.
To avoid any confusion, I'm not a chef. I went to culinary school about 25 years ago, and had worked the line for a few years prior to that.
However, shortly after camp culinary my life took a radically different turn, hmm wonder if the two related ? :). Anyway, I left the industry. I really enjoy cooking, I always have, but as a hobby it's pure pleasure, as a job I never had much fun. So, I moved on to other things.

Is there a way to private message people on this forum? I sort of feel like I'm hijacking a thread for a conversation.