zoramargolis

I have been collecting/saving duck fat since the beginning of the summer. First, I bought a couple of ducks and skinned them out completely, including the breasts. By cutting up the skin into small pieces and roasting the skin in the oven on moderate-low heat, I rendered out the fat and got insanely delicious cracklings. I brined the legs and breasts, and made stock with the bones. I then used the fat (there was a lot of it--these were obese ducks) to confit the skinless legs, and I smoked the breast meat in my stovetop smoker. After making confit with the legs, you strain and save the fat. It keeps for many months in the fridge. Next time you make it, skin the legs, render and add the new fat.

Interesting, reading Don Rocks' ode to choucroute garnie this morning. I'd been thinking about it myself, this past weekend, after having some delicious sauerkraut at Leopold's. And I decided that if I want to make choucroute this fall, the first step is to make sauerkraut. I had an antique 3 gallon crock outside, just gathering rainwater--brought it in, scrubbbed and sterilized it. I shredded three cabbages, and layered them in the crock with kosher salt, put a glass plate and a brick in a ziplock bag on top of the cabbage, covered the crock and set it on my back porch to start working its magic. It should start to ferment in a few days, and in about ten days to two weeks, I should have some kickin' sauerkraut. I've got the duck fat to make confit, got the stovetop smoker to smoke the pork. Am I going to go all the way and make the sausage, too? Hmm... gotta think on that one.

I did send this to Mktye via PM, after a direct nag. I actually thought the avocados I had in house that day weren't all that great--lacking in flavor and a bit "watery." They were Hass variety, but they were from Chile, and I think they suffered from insufficient hangtime on the tree. So, it wasn't the best guacamole I've ever made, but the method obviously provides enjoyable guacamole even with suboptimal avocados if there were requests for the recipe.

I think it's a great idea--it could be set up like The Intrepid Traveler subforum, with threads about appetizers, veggies, fish & seafood, meat, poultry, different ethnic topics, desserts, baking. Why the hell not?

I bought a tri-tip from Sunnyside Organics this morning. It's the first time I've ever seen one for sale from them. Not a popular cut here on the right coast, but ubiquitous on the left. It's a very flavorful cut, one of my favorites. I can't wait to try my first wagyu tri-tip.

My neighbor-across-the-street brought over a yearling venison rump roast for me to cook last night. He knows a hunter who relies on venison as her source of meat for the year, and only hunts young deer, which are the best eating. He's gotten a deer from her in the fall for the last few years, and stores the meat in his freezer. I marinated the meat for a few hours in a cooked wine marinade with juniper berries and black pepper, pan seared it and finished it in a hot oven. Served it medium rare with a fresh corn polenta and haricot vert. The meat was superb. Can't say as much for the wild mallard he gave me, which I brined and roasted for a first course. It was tough, too lean--no fat at all on that duck. I should have wrapped it in bacon or something. And it had a strong, liverish taste. Interesting, but not what I would consider really delicious. The sides with it were, though. Roasted fennel, figs and turnips. 2004 Castle Rock Carneros Pinot Noir was a worthy accompaniment.

We were headed for an early dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso this evening, but decided to try Leopold's instead. I am happy to say that the service was fine and the food was great. I had the schnitzel, which was a huge portion of buttery, crisp, crumb-coated pan sauteed pounded veal with a coarse-grained mustard sauce, pickled onions and mache with lemon vinaigrette and a side of potato salad. Jonathan had bratwurst with wonderful warm sauerkraut and fingerling potatoes, and ms. veggie-teen had a wild mushroom tart and a frisee-mache salad with pine nuts, pears and ricotta salata. Jonathan decided that next time, he will get the schnitzel, which was superb. But I thought the brats were flavorful, well seasoned and juicy. Portions were generous. The consensus best dessert of the three we ordered was the Dobosch Torte--multiple super-thin layers of cake with dulce de leche between them and caramelized sugar on the bottom. The others were Paris-Brest, a cream-puff circle with hazelnut mousse inside, and an apricot-pistachio tart. Coffee was strong and hot, in generous sized cups with refills. The decor is stylish, the glasses and other tableware classy and modern. And that showcase full of jewel-like pastries is awe-inspiring! A real can't-wait-to-go-again experience. Haven't had one of those in a while.

It hasn't happened yet, but Warren Brown of CakeLove fame, has his own series on the Food Channel, called "Sugar Rush" which is about to start soon.

Aieee, Bambi! Too espicy!

And stirring a tablespoon of sugar into the glass. Then it really would have tasted like white zinfandel.

A gallon-sized zip-lock bag is big enough to brine a small-to-medium sized chicken. Two gallon sized is what you need for a larger bird. I like to use zip-locks because you don't need quite as much brining liquid, and it doesn't take up as much room in the fridge as a stockpot. I always put the bag into a bowl in case of leaks-- I learned that one the hard way. To get the process going quicker, I heat a bit less water to dissolve the sugar and salt and then add ice cubes to cool it off. Also, I don't know about Alton Brown's recipe, but I add onion, celery, parsley, thyme or tarragon, sometimes lavender, and bay leaf to the brine pot which gives the chicken a fabulous flavor.

One of my greatest wishes, aside from a second bathroom, is space for a large freezer. We don't have a basement, and the garage was converted into an art studio. All I have is the freezer space at the bottom of my Kenmore refrig, alas. I, too am a stock maker. I make veal stock and reduce it down to demi-glace for pan sauces. I also make chicken stock and freeze it flat in zip-loc bags so it takes up less space. I also have quite a bit of duck stock from my various recent adventures with duck confit. Then there are containers of mole verde, roasted tomato-chile adobo, and zip-lock bags of tamales. Packs of banana leaves for barbacoa de chivo. Frozen goat shoulder for same. And veal bones for my next batch of veal stock. It's hell, trying to jam some Ben and Jerry's in there. Oh, what I could do with more freezer space.

Reading about fruitcake and posting about what I do with Meyer lemons (preserved lemons, lemon olive oil, lemon vodka) got me thinking about this. This past weekend, I made chevre for the first time, using goat milk from the P Street Whole Foods, and a culture I got from a mail-order cheesemaking supplier. It's a lot like making yogurt, with the extra step of draining the curd. From a half-gallon of milk, I got the equivalent of a typical log of goat cheese. It was amazingly delicious--creamy, smooth and fresh tasting. I added lavender flowers to half of it, and left the rest plain. It was a huge hit at the school Arts Committee meeting last night. My dried Glover Park figs got snarfed up, too. I'm getting ready to make my semi-annual batch of membrillo, when the price of quinces comes down a little bit. It's basically quince puree with sugar and lemon peel, cooked down and thickened, and then dried in a very slow convection oven for many hours. It has a delicate sweetness with a complex floral note that is unlike any commercially available quince paste I've tasted. My fanatic devotion to good Mexican food led me to make masa from scratch, using dried corn I brought back to DC from CA in my suitcase. Cooking it with calcium oxide (lime) and grinding it in my Cuisinart and then making tamales with lard I render in my oven. Now I get fresh pork belly from the Korean market in Fairfax. But before I knew I could get it there, I looked in vain for weeks, and ended up buying a five pound piece of frozen pork belly from a sausage maker in NYC when I was there, and bringing it home on Amtrak, in my overnight bag. Summer before last we picked 15 pounds of sour cherries to make jam and I pitted them one at a time. It took me several hours in each of two days--you have no idea how many cherries there are in 15 pounds. But the preserves were fabulous. It was so much work that I didn't do it this year. I just couldn't face it. But I might make more next year--I recently bought a European cherry pitter that goes quite a bit faster--I used it to make a big lattice-crust cherry pie for Jonathan's birthday in July. I haven't done it since I moved to DC, but I made olives a couple of times from a tree in my brother's yard. Layered with kosher salt in a crock for six weeks, and then packed in olive oil with some fresh herbs. The first time I made them, I wasn't even expecting them to be edible, but they were so good...

When I have a large number of Meyer lemons, I make preserved lemons. I also cut the peel off two or three and shove them down into a bottle of potato vodka, and let it sit for two or three weeks before using--then I keep it in the freezer. Drink neat with caviar or smoked fish. I also cut the peels off two or three lemons, then put them in the blender with a liter of Spanish extra virgin olive oil, and grind at fairly low speed to release the essential oil from the peel. Then pour the whole mess into a clean quart jar or bottle, and let it sit in a dark cupboard for about a month to six weeks. Strain the oil through moist cheesecloth into a clean bottle. Voila! Intense lemon-olive oil for salad dressing, drizzling on veggies, on bowls of soup, whatever. It's one of my staples.

Did you ever read Miller's *Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch*? That's one of my favorites. And as it happens, the woman he was married to at the time, who is central to the book, was later my ninth grade algebra teacher at John Burroughs Junior High in L.A. I completely agree about Laurie Colwin. I love the two books you mentioned. What a loss. I'm also very partial to Raymond Sokolov's work, and of course the "Outlaw Cook" - John Thorne.

When I read this, I thought immediately about my all-time favorite skit on "Your Show of Shows"--Sid Caesar and Howie Morris want to go to "The Roaring Lion" to eat red meat, and their wives, Imogene Coca and Pat Carroll want to go to "Dolly Dainty's Tea Shoppe," where they serve peeled grapes and cucumber sandwiches. Howie promises not to make castles of the mashed potatoes if the women will agree to go to "The Roaring Lion"... I remember laughing my ass off.

I first became aware of MFK Fisher in the early 1970's, when I was living in rural Vermont, and was a dedicated listener of the Amherst, MA NPR station. There was a daily program where a very good voice artist read a chapter a day of a chosen book, usually a novel, but not always. When he read Fisher's memoir *With Bold Knife and Fork* I was totally captivated, and I set out to find more of her work. I now own every book she ever wrote. She is not a really a "food writer," in the current sense of the term: she is more a diarist, like Anais Nin was. I have to say that in Fisher's work, food is a place to begin her exploration of self, the sensual life of the body, the world in her time, of family, friendship, love, ideas, personal history. Her prose is graceful, elegant, intelligent. I can see how her work might be disappointing to someone who wants to read about food, in the same way that someone looking for writing about sex will be bored by all but the first few books by Henry Miller. Because the life's work of both MFK Fisher and Henry Miller was really about the meaning of being human.

I'm impressed that you prepared such a hearty meal after the monster repast at the picnic... My family ate nachos, made with the leftover chips and guacamole that I'd brought home from Belle Haven Park, enhanced with some refried beans I made a few days ago, grated cheese, pico de gallo salsa and sour cream. I ate enough this afternoon to tide me over until tomorrow. It was great meeting you.

Freshly made tortillas can be obtained from Moctec in Landover, MD--this is the only tortilla factory close to DC. However, they do not have a retail outlet. One must call and order them in advance and then drive out to pick them up. It's a shlep, not at all convenient to NoVA. OK then, since we have established that really fresh tortillas are impractical, and I assume that you don't want to make your own, what are the alternatives? 1) Trader Joe's corn tortillas. These are, in my estimation, the best widely available tortillas. They are made from fresh masa, not from masa harina. This is what I use for everyday-type Mexican meals. 2) Salvadoran-style "hand-made" tortillas can be found at any of the Latin grocery stores in Arlington, like the one on Wilson Blvd, across from Whole Foods or the ones on Columbia Pike. They are made from masa harina and are very thick, so do not work well for rolling or folding. 3) Mission brand corn tortillas, sold in Safeway stores. They are from California, and aren't too bad.

Sounds like four-nic-eighting to me...

I wouldn't have gone so far either, when I was in my twenties and thirties, when as far as I was concerned, sex was the ne plus ultra of existence. Even through most of my forties. That's my point. And it's an academic one to people who are still in the full flower of their estrogens and androgens. But some body-level wisdom caused you to keep searching for a life partner whose relationship with food fit well with yours. And when you are both in your mid-to-late fifties, my guess is that you will be making love less frequently than you do now, or certainly when you first met, but that there will not necessarily be less pleasure in your life together.

Old enough to know better, still too young to care...

I've been telling my daughter that when she is thinking about making a lifetime commitment to someone, to consider that person's palate as well as their intellect and character. Because as the years go by, compatibility in the dining room begins to trump compatibility in the bedroom. People laugh when I say it, but long-time couples know it's true: after thirty years together, food is what sex used to be. In other words, waning libido may be a normal part of aging, but other appetites become a regular and reliable source of mutual pleasure and comfort. That's not to say that people like perrik's husband can't change and grow. Mine is a "mixed marriage" in a number of ways. When I met my husband, we were both very young. I had been exposed to a wide variety of ethnic cuisines from early childhood in an adventurous, restaurant-going family. His family was very conservative in the food realm--they rarely ate away from home, and his parents were averse to things they considered unfamiliar or any strong flavors. Nothing spicy, no garlic, pepper, vinegar, mustard or fresh herbs other than parsley. When we met, his concept of deliciousness was pretty much limited to foods that were creamy, sweet, or fried. But he was open to new experiences and quickly grew to appreciate artichokes vinaigrette, chiles rellenos, snails in black bean sauce, lamb vindaloo, and linguine al pesto. He still won't go as far as I will--he wouldn't go with me to the "offal extravaganza" at Full Kee, where a dozen Chowhounds ordered all the dishes on the special menu with duck blood, pig intestine, duck feet, duck tongue, etc. But I do think that a shared love of food has been a significant part of the glue that has kept us together for so long.

Enchiladas Suisas--chicken enchiladas with a tomatillo-poblano chile sauce, jack cheese and crema Chayote-poblano flan Frijoles refritos Sopa seca de arroz Pico de gallo Cerveza

I've been hearing great things about The Beacon in Culver City [Closed Jan 16, 2011]. The owner/chef is a Japanese guy who was the executive chef at Chinois for many years. I have a copy of the menu that looks fabulous--it is Japonais-style food. I stopped in but couldn't get a table. My brother has been a couple of times and says it is Da Bomb. Also consider Mori on W. Pico Blvd. in West L.A., two blocks west of the 405. The most amazing sushi bar I've ever eaten at-- a favorite hang-out of the young trendy chefs in L.A. The owner is a madman--he has a pottery wheel and a kiln out back, and makes all his own serving dishes, and grows the shiso and other herbs he serves. You've got to order omakase there and put yourself in the chef's hands. I had a matsutake soup (wild forest mushroom) that was one of the most extraordinary experiences--it was what Minibar tries to do-- I was instructed to lean over the covered bowl and inhale the steam as the lid was lifted. The aroma was like stepping into a steamy pine forest. An ethereally delicate shrimp dumpling floated in the pale, clear intensely flavored broth. --- The Beacon (DonRocks)