Food Thread: Baguettes And Gummies And Chicken (and other) Breasts!

I have had some very good baguettes in the United States, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area. And even around here there are a few excellent bakeries that make serviceable ones.

But at a ridiculous price! $3...$4...even $5 each. That's just stupid.

Sadly, I have become addicted to this staple of French cuisine, and the spectacular ones I can get just a few minutes from my apartment are €1.40. The ficelles (thinner and smaller, almost all crust!) are €1.10! That is not to say that all of the bakeries make great baguettes...most of them are just fine, but not great.

Regardless, there is nothing quite like a fresh baguette and some wonderful cheese. Or just mopping up the juices from something roasted!

So I will need to revisit my thoroughly mediocre results of the last time I tried to make them at home. I have gotten much better at handling dough, so I am confident that my efforts will be better. How much better is the real question. I'll probably start here, with King Arthur Flour's Classic Baguettes recipe. Their stuff is always at least good, although their recipes tend to assume a minimum level of dough-handling expertise.

Part of me hopes that I will fail again. Because bread and cheese is not a wonderful way to lose the weight I am putting on in France by eating...bread and cheese!

Just because it was a chain doesn't mean that they can't make good food.

So...what food chains are solid at what they do?

From a long-time reader (and lurker):

A friend's wife said "I can get a Berkshire hog for $2.50/lb!"

I said "Great, I'll take half."

Her "I bought it! We have to cut it ourselves!!" 😳

So, I spent last Saturday cutting up a 176 lb Berkshire hog. I've done deer, moose and bear before, so no worries, but it wasn't fancy.

Anyway, I cut some good chops, kept some pork belly and most of the rest was kept in pieces for making pork kebabs.

Somebody please explain to me how this happens. Does Haribo have a product line of cannabis gummies? Because I can't think of another way it could happen without some major league breakdown of their procedures.

Well, I got you to look!

She seems to be a bit of an airhead, and certainly seems to be somewhat disrespectful of her marriage vows, but she can cook.

I needed a quick meal, and her Chicken Piccata is just perfect. Fast and tasty, and it requires very little modification.

I sliced the chicken breasts in half and then pounded them a bit, because that tenderizes them very quickly. And I shouldn't have used as much oil as she calls for, and instead replaced it with more butter.

If you want a thicker sauce, don't shake off the flour as much. But it's a solid dish even as is.

...[T]his was the annual making of Burgundian parsleyed ham, recipe courtesy of Jacques Pepin.

There are all sorts of these kinds of foods that are easy to make and absolutely delicious! Rillettes and Pâtés and meats in aspic and tons of other things that are wonderful, and usually use inexpensive cuts of meat!

Who are those poor deluded souls We know who shakes their Manhattans! These are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.

$1,200 for a bottle of bourbon is just stupid, insulting, and a ghastly affront to most people's palates and wallets. I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.

The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!

posted by CBD at 04:00 PM

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