ATE — From Rillettes to Slippery Bobkins

The kale salad I stole from Foxley

I made a fair replication of Tom Thai's dressing. As Eric Vellend put it, Asian cooks tend to balance the acidity in sauces with sugar, rather than the fat that Europeans would use. So it's mostly yuzu juice, honey (instead of sugar), with a bit of oil.

They cut their kale with arugula. But I happened on some mustard greens that I couldn't pass up.

That pappa al pomodoro, for the vegetarians.

A pound of beef tartare, not for the vegetarians.

For the savages, who need to be told.

Ptitm & Cheddar. No, I'm not above serving it with Frank's.

I asked Matt Galloway to bring dessert. He made lemon pie and it was really good.

When I ask a guest to bring almond cookies from Soma, I only want ALMOND COOKIES FROM SOMA. Did I ask for a variety?

 No champagne or Oysters at The Chinese. Just used napkins.

Rapini, with A TINY BIT of guanciale, plus some pickled tomatoes from Vinnie Talotta's garden.

The new Libretto, on Danforth, has Extreme Air blowers in the mens room. Sorry, I was born a Dyson Airblade man, and I'll die a Dyson Airblade man.

Planning my cassoulet and terrine, while eating brown rice and pickled carrots. It won't save me.

Don't just confit enough duck legs for your cassoulet. Get some extra. They'll freeze.

Bam! I think it looks cute to have the duck legs poking out.

You're saying that Dave Cooper's photo of Adam Gopnik is better than mine?

Zucchini, cumin and yogurt.

I'm not an easy person to buy gifts for. I wouldn't suggest it (other than bourbon). But Dawn Laing brought me this super-cute egg tray.

Food game at Toronto Underground Market has stepped up. Outside, the West Side Beef Co. was dishing out smoked chili.

Geoff Hopgood and Guy Rawlings had a neat show going on, assembling a sweet dish, "Slippery Bobkins", on people's hands and bruleeing the meringue.

Rillettes Step 1: Use great-grandfather Herschel's cleaver to separate rabbit.

Rillettes Step 2: Rabbits like baths.

Rillettes Step 3: spend forevs separating rabbit confit (butcher's tip: cool and then paddle it in the KitchenAid)

Rillettes Step 4: Store for a couple days. Like chili, it really does taste better once the flavours have mingled.

And back to our regularly scheduled beans and vegetables ...