AdamH

If anyone wants their boobs signed by Luke Doucet, visit me at the Black Sheep stage. This year it is official: given the lineup there, whether I'm "working" or not working, I win.

Ms.Zimmy who was your share with? We've been looking into it.

That would make me hurl..thanks for the news!

That sounds boss SolarGarlic. I'm gonna give that one a go when I've got a surplus of chiles available.

Betcha it doesn't pass. Agro interests are incredibly strong in this country and they'll find a way to bring it down.

Can of Tuna + PC White Cheddar or regular KD + Green Onions + mushrooms + 2 tbsp butter + milk = awesome. Also, there's no such thing as too much pepper in KD

According to that graphic, New England is Chuck and Florida is Shank. The other day I bought a Hangar steak at Saslove's. I hadn't cooked it before but it was embarassingly cheap. $11 served 6 of us planty of meat. It was also nice and tender and didn't require a long marinade the way flank steak seems to need. I love flank too but it's no longer a cheap cut, I guess because it's more popular. Hickster do you have any recipes or suggestions for blade steaks and other cheap cuts of steak? I'm full of ideas for chuck and the braising cuts but I don't know if I've ever made anything with a blade steak before.

AdamH - I certainly respect your stance. Though I do think he influenced it (which is obvious from the thread) - take an example that pops to mind right away of YMSB. WOuld they rock a song for 10 minutes if Jerry had never been? Far be it from me to dictate the content of your documentary too explicitly. If you're thesis is that early 90's hippiegrass bands like YMSB were influenced by the Dead or by Jerry I would completely agree with you. I'd be interested in hearing old timers talk about whether Garcia influenced them. Take a camera to Tottenham and ask people if he did or didn't influence their playing.

If you drink your coffees black the taste profiles between fair trade and non, brewing process, bean, region etc is immense. There was a fascinating event at The Urban Element which pitted Tracey Foster (Owner/manager of Bridgehead) against Stephen Beckta (of Beckta the restaurant) duking it out over whether Coffee or Wine had a more diverse taste profile. Coffee won. And part of Tracey's Ace was that she brewed cups of single bean/blends/roasts in a mix of combinations, and then threw a Tim Horton's in for good measure. That said I've not found a good Fair Trade Espresso in Ottawa. Bridgehead's isn't rich enough, Ideal's is a bit too burnt, and I don't mess with store bought. Nothing holds up against Illy when it comes to that very different but incredibly sexy drink.

They distribute in Ottawa and maybe further west but yes, they're based in Montreal. I'm kind of nutters with coffee - I heckle and pester the bridgehead staff on Elgin Street to find out which has been roasted most recently. Ideal Coffee on Dalhousie roasts right in house but I don't like their coffee as much as bridgehead.

F@cker!

The notion that Jerry influenced the world of bluegrass brings out the skeptic in me. It's much like saying Eric Clapton influenced the blues. In both their cases maybe they helped shine a light on it. In Jerry's case his bluegrass playing was more focused and more methodical, with a little les room to breathe - and I think that was his way of respecting the art that influenced him rather than the other way around.

Ok to qualify my blanket statement...with my eyes closed the italian brands (Da Cecco, Barilla's whole wheat line, etc) are indistinguishable from their whitebred cousins. Maybe I'm a snob but pasta for me is all about the noodle quality, just as sushi could be made with the finest tuna but if the rice was poor than it's all for naught.

Haven't tried it but I think it's kind of gimmicky. However I am a huge fan of Santropol's coffee when it's freshly roasted. The last cup I had had been roasted 3 hours prior and it was amazing.

So I take it from a date on Pollstar that they've reunited? Interesting stuff. http://www.return2forever.com/index.cfm

The italian delis have excellent WW pasta. But unico, italpasta and grocery store brands are garbage. Seriously - the italian imports taste deliciously like the all-white version.

Katie's doing WW so I'll probably give it a try. I am actually impressed with WW since I'm defacto on it too...lots of options and pretty sensible.

I brought back some Burundian hot sauce from Rwanda last year called "pili pili". It resembles tabasco in consistency, has a bit of lemon flavour, and is intensely fire engine hot. I also brought back a small bottle of Rwandan hot oil which is too hot to do anything with...it's just essence of pepper I think.

Parchment paper is a gift to those of you who like the oven roasted potato. it keeps things nice and dry and you can make very acceptable oven fries with it too. I've been really into boiled new potatoes lately. I love mash but it's pretty heavy. I also love Stoneface Dolly's hashbrowns.

Found out that there will be one additional stage this year - I don't know who or what for but thought it worth mentioning.

Yes. I think he was an anteater?

I think it says Gack. It would make more sense to get some yayo to go with your tuna, cookies and mustard

Hmm...we probably should've asked how thick they were. 90 seconds a side is a bit on the rare side if they're more than an inch and a half or something. If you're keen on a medium-rare lamb dish, grilled or broiled, I'd go for a deboned leg, marinated as one piece, then grilled. As for timings it depends on thickness but you can treat it like a thick steak and press it for the doneness you want. I just find chops to be too much work for the amount of meat...and you end up paying for all that bone when it comes down to it. For curries, lamb stews the lamb shoulder is good bang for the buck because it holds up to cooking and it's not as pricey as leg of lamb. Come to think of it...I'd really like to make Gigot de sept heures has anyone tried it?

You're a lamb. The McDonald's in Mumbai had lamb on the menu in the form of a kebab and some sort of curryish thing if I remember correctly. More importantly: I love mustards.

One minor adjustment to M.O.B.E's recipe...after you sear the chops remove them from the pan before proceeding with the sauce as described. Chops are bitchy because sometimes the shitty ones have no meat and it's easy to overcook them. If you had a good quantity I would suggest stewing them since all those bones make flavourful stock/stew. But it sounds like you only have a pound so the pan sear seems good. You could use some more agressive flavours if you wanted..indian flavours would be good. So would M.O.B.E's sauce with a small spoonful of pommery or good mustard.