Bigos's Profile
European crackers.
Small correction: Top left corner chocolates are not made with marshmallow filling. Here is the info, according to Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptasie_mleczko ):
Ptasie Mleczko "...is a soft chocolate-covered candy filled with soft meringue (or milk soufflé)."
Sorry to be so picky, but Ptasie Mleczko is where most of my excess fat comes from and I would hate to have it from eating marshmallows rather than meringue ;)
Lameloise: Lunch vs Dinner
I haven't been to Lameloise in years - the last time was just before they lost the third star and I could certainly see why, as we vowed to never return to that poor excuse for a fine dining. But now with the new chef and a 3rd * back I imagine eating there is again a great experience it once was... Given a choice, I would absolutely have dinner. Lunch there was always several steps behind dinner in quality, thought given to menu choices, atmosphere, etc. Dinner, however, was a lovely affair not only in terms of food, but also ambiance and service. Speaking of the service, I have never been to a restaurant of that class, where it was easier to scratch waiters' starchy demeanor to find warm, helpful and funny guys behind the professional stiffness. Oh, and I hope changing of the guard at the kitchen didn’t diminish the quality of desserts and endless little plates of sweet tiny morsels in addition to your dessert. They were a serious factor in why we had to give up trying to economize and started booking the room right there in the hotel ;)
Is buying a meat grinder worth it?
Sorry, I haven't see your post sooner. Thanks a lot for the link! I really have no excuse now :)
I'm being gifted expired food.
How about you call him one morning and announce that you are not feeling well and will not come to work that day. Then, when you show up at work the next day or so, he will probably ask you about the illness and you say that it was the weirdest thing: you had (insert name of one of his "gifts") for dinner and soon after you fell violently ill.You could also add that a doctor at Emergency Room diagnosed your symptoms as consistent with consumptioin of expired canned goods...
Is buying a meat grinder worth it?
Oh, absolutely! I don't use it frequently, but when time comes for a meatloaf or a pate, I just couldn't go without it. Sure, any butcher would grind a piece of beef or pork, but would they also grind chinken livers tor a nice liverwurst-y spread? Maybe, but I would rather do it all myself - cut off some fat here, add some fat there.
And then of course there is a matter of homemade sausages, prepared with this special attachment. Well, never actually made any, but at last finally bought the attachment :)
A Winemaking Holiday in Burgundy (In Four Parts)
I don't feel disrespected in zee least ;-)
Your chapters bring back memories of our many trips to Burgundy, spent traversing the area - dining in 3 stars restaurants and with grape pickers in little local places, drinking finest wines and humble ones without labels, just sitting there at every table. Lovely region with fantasitic food and great wines.
A Winemaking Holiday in Burgundy (In Four Parts)
Oh, wonderful! And the picture of a gooood dooog rolling in vineyards speaks volumes of how great it is to be a canine vintner in Burgundy.
Having been butt of many, many jokes about my accent in English, I usually don't make fun of other people's accents. But your story reminded me of our friend from Marseille who, after having some argument with his mom, said angrily: I ate my mother! So it's all good!
Can't wait for the publishing powers to give you a green light for a third installment...
Le Creuset dilemma
It really should be your decision entirely, because it's a matter of aesthetics rather than function and only you can decide what looks pretty in your kitchen. Since you already have a mix of red and blue, maybe a little bit of white would look good there, just in time for 4th of July... ;)
Fire at China Village (Albany)
Also this fire at the beginning of last year in El Cerrito:
"A fire destroyed the kitchen of L & L Chinese Seafood Restaurant on San Pablo Avenue Sunday morning after an employee accidentally locked himself in the freezer and apparently left something heating on a stove, fire officials said." (From El Cerrito Patch)
Polish dinner party? Please help!!!
I don't think it's necessarily a crappy idea but your husband, knowing his boss, would probably be a better judge. It could, however, be a time consuming, labor intensive one for you.
Is it going to be a simple, informal dinner or are you planning on something fancier, with multiple courses?
You may consider serving soup at the beginning of dinner:
- Clear red beet soup (borsht), traditionally served in demitasse cups. Tricky to make, but cheap. That soup can also be served on a plate with small ravioli or tagliatele type pasta.
- Wild mushroom soup. Very easy to make, but expensive because of price of dried porcini mushrooms.
- Sauerkraut soup (Kapusniak)
- Pickled cucumber soup (Ogorkowa)
If you decide to make cabbage rolls, you could make them the size of Greek dolmas and serve as appetizers.
For a main course, just about any meat dish made with sauce, pot roast style, would go very well with buckwheat (kasha) or potato dumplings (kopytka), very similar to gnocchi, instead of more pedestrian regular boiled potatoes. My choice would be beef rolls (zrazy, rolada) - easy to make very thin pounded slices of beef, also well known in Germany as rinderrouladen (well, it IS German dish, but very popular in Poland, especially Silesian region). Vegetable choices could include red cabbage-either hot or coleslaw style, sliced cucumbers in yogurt with dill weed, red beet salad, sauerkraut salad with julienned carrots, onions and apples.
Of course Polish dumplings (pierogi) are always fantastic, but fairly time consuming, unless you have access to a Chinese market that carries dumpling wrappers. Pierogi could be filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms, potatoes and onions or meat. Or check in that Russian market – they sometimes carry specialties of neighboring countries. But specifically ask for Polish pierogi (they look like Chinese pot stickers). Russian pierogis are quite different from Polish ones and only Pelmieni come somewhat close, but not in size.
Well, I made myself very hungry and only just scratched the surface, but if you don’t have much time for cooking, the hunter’s stew is of course a great idea. It is time consuming but, apart from initial prep/ cooking, only in a sense that it should be made over the course of 2-3 days, re-heating it each day and waiting until it becomes darker. Addition of red wine and few sliced prunes is often omitted in English written recipes, but greatly helps in developing more complex taste.
Smacznego (Bon Appetit)!
Fresh pierogi?
Well, there goes my idea about this overachieving Polish grandma ... ;)
Fresh pierogi?
"Delikateski" in Concord sell pierogi that, while frozen, are packed by a dozen in ziploc bags with hand written descriptions on labels. They look and taste home made and quite likely are made by some extra income seeking Polish grandma. You can get sauercraut with mushrooms, potatoes (ruskie) and meat filling.
I know it's a bit far from SF, but they used to deliver purchases over 100 bucks and perhaps still do. And if you combine pierogi with some sausages, it shouldn't be too difficult to reach the required $100. They don't make sausages themselves, like Seakor does, rather they have them sent from Chicago or other places where lots of Poles live and make sausages :)
Some recommendations for eating outside of Paris, Champagne/Loire/Alsace
In Eguisheim I can recommend traditional Alsatian restaurant “Ville de Nancy” ( http://www.villedenancy-eguisheim.com/fr/restaurant.html ). They serve typical Alsatian cuisine in a typical Alsatian atmosphere. The dishes were very good, especially fish. My friends, who are frequent visitors there, speak highly of game dishes. I was there in a large group of people and couldn’t order a lot of things I would have liked, but the menu looked great and what I did have was delicious and surprisingly light.
Across the street from Ville de Nancy you could visit winery of Giglinger family ( http://www.paul-ginglinger.fr ). Very good wines made by people passionate about them.
Another place to eat in town is Caveau d’Eguisheim, a 1-star restaurant serving French dishes with Alsatian accents. I haven’t eaten there, just heard some good things about it.
In Wettolsheim, small town just north of Eguisheim, restaurant La Palette serves upscale, more refined food ( http://www.lapalette.fr ) It is not a typical Alsatian restaurant and its elegant decor is definitely not Alsatian, which after couple of days there may be an additional incentive ;). Wettolsheim also boasts some excellent wineries, Barmes Buecher being my favorite. It is, however, probably not a walking distance from Eguishem.
Sorry for not giving you more options, but it is not my usual stomping ground...
A Winemaking Holiday in Burgundy (In Four Parts)
Julian, I love your writing style almost as much as your drinking style ;)
More, please!
AGA Legacy - Dual Fuel Range
I own Falcon, which is one of AGA's line of products (Falcon Classic 90). Unlike a lot of retro looking ranges that, under closer inspection, turn out to be lightweight, cheap products, this is a sturdy, solid range with iron grids, heavy and tight doors and a lot of BTU for the price. It doesn't hurt that it is also awesome looking. I bought my range in Europe and have no experience with prices in US, but in comparison with similiar products available on European market, this was the best I could find. There are some lovely looking Italian ranges, but they have rather poor reputation, judging from reviews on Internet and are more expensive. In fact I went for the whole deal and also purchased matching vent and a backsplash board, all for the price of just range from another, lesser reputation brands. I love cooking on it and cleaning is easy. Did I mention how awesome it looks?
White or Red, Which Would You Jettison ?
No question about it, red wine would have to hit the road. I currently live in Alsace and can't imagine all those glorious whites being yanked from my cellar. But I would keep my fingers crossed that Alsatian reds would be left unnoticed by the Elimination Forces unaware of the existence of reds in Alsace ;)
Dishwasher Hell - Bosch Ecosense - Model SHE43P02UC/60
" I have to say it would be good to hear of a positive experience."
My Bosch dishwasher is close to 20 years old and never had any problems. We are in the proccess of moving to Europe and already installed another Bosch in our place there. Based on my experience with dishwashers as well as other Bosh products I never considered buing another brand. (Sorry if I sound like a commercial :) Perhaps there is something wrong with that specific eco-model...
Bringing cheese back home
Correct. And the fact that it was purchased in the duty-free area is also meaningless. Some airports are just more relaxed about it than others. Recently upon landing in San Francisco we were treated to a search by a little friendly beagle who exitedly denounced us for
"smuggling" a half eaten sandwich from the plane. As we all know, those sandwiches pose no threat to any agrucultural commodities, only to our own health. But the beagle didn't listen and sent us for more thorough search of our checked luggage. Goood doooog!
does anyone serve green borsht ('shav' or 'schav' made with sorrel or spinach)?
I'm not sure - it's been ages since I had to pay for Polish food ;) I thought there was a place called Chopin rerstaurant in Walnut Creek...
Foie Gras countdown...
Guess it's a matter of personal preference. Given a choice I always order it seared. My most memorable one to this day is foie gras served in Masa's when Julian Serrano ruled the kitchen.
does anyone serve green borsht ('shav' or 'schav' made with sorrel or spinach)?
No idea who might serve it, but I would also check Polish restaurants in the area, since sorrel soup is a very traditional Polish soup (can be found in local Polish grocery stores). By the way, that soup shouldn't contains any spinach at all, so if you happen to find one with spinach listed as one of ingredients, you are not getting a real thing.
Alsace in mid-Sept 2011: Le Pressoir de Bacchus, Le Chambard, Aux Armes de France, and more -- including Bernard Antony along the way
Great report! Nice to see Restaurant des Cascades in Ampfersbach mentioned. It is very popular with the locals but almost never mentioned by anybody from outside the Valley.
Seating favoritism at La Note, Berkeley
It was probably one of those things, when a restaurant is packed and everybody is rushing, also known as s..t happens. I certainly would not cross it off my list of favorites because of just this one incident.
Whipped cottage cheese? Uses?
It's also delicious smeared on little toasts, with pieces of smoked salmon on top. Vegetarian version ucludes such toppings as radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. They are as delightful to eat as they are to look at.
What do you expect from your dishwasher? (moved from General Topics)
Since I will probably die rinsing, no, really washing dishes before putting them in a dishwasher, I don’t expect much. Actually, my DW has to have a short cycle (why wash for 3 hrs if they go in already sparkling clean?) and adjustable upper shelf, because od some high wine glasses I own. Oh, and it has to be Bosch. Other than that I don’t care what kind I use :)
Feedback Wanted on New Feature Coming Soon
“I like”types of votes don’t provide me with a necessary information. Our names here assure a certain measure of confidence in recommendations. I want to know if that “I like” comes from a person who consistently praises my favorite restaurants and dishes, or is it a poster who tends to wax poetic about places I find to be extremely disapointing. Even the “+1” reviews, while not very informative, give me some info based on a poster’s handle.
On the other hand, since the button feature is "coming soon" anyway, what we feel about it seems meaningless, just like "I like" buttons...
This is why the Japanese are better than all of us.
Awesome! But I am just watching "Hairspray", so I feel compelled to add that Japanese are also "all of us". Travolta, you go girl! ;-)
If you were in Berkeley for one night,
I would go to Bistro Liaison on Shattuck Ave. That restaurant rarely is mentioned here, but I appreciate their decent, sometimes brilliant French bistro food, great drinks, lively atmosphere and professional but not snotty or back slapping service.
http://www.liaisonbistro.com/
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Bistro Liaison
1849 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709
