wattacetti

Um, in general, the stuff from chemical supply houses is usually purer than the stuff one would find in health food stores (or elsewhere) as those impurities generally tend to screw up experiments. The impurities may impart other tastes into the final product. It was interesting cooking with molecular biology-grade NaCl (really salty…).

No, it isn't. I've actually done karyotyping on my own blood and I did see a Y chromosome so the tableware lust isn't just a girl thing. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect set of white tableware (round or square) but I keep myself from pulling the trigger on a purchase because I don't want to have to buy something a second time. Something's never quite right with whatever I see, and it's gotten worse now that I've seen these covered chawan mushi cups in tableware series displayed in Sogo/Taipei. Yes, I'd like white chawan mushi cups with my place setting…

No. Most of the times I've cooked for people have involved the use of open kitchens, so there's no hiding. The other thing is that most of the take-away stuff I've seen looks like take-away.

If you're talking about just the amount that you get inside when buying a whole chicken, not much because there's not material. Neck goes to stock, fat pads get rendered and the gizzard, liver and heart become a quick snack. I do however buy gizzards in bulk and make confit with them.

I have Bordelais friends who are bemoaning the pending infanticide, but then again, it's your bottle and not theirs. For S. Africa, how about a La Motte Millennium (if you can get your hands on one).

Yes! I read your posts a couple of times (and I forgot about the canned demi-glace since they showed those in the drama) about filling the near-ready omelette with the omuraisu. Seems to be the right way to go, except that I haven't gotten the hang of it. First attempt looked like a haggis that exploded during cooking, so I'll just have to keep at it. Takoyaki was another great surprise to see in your blog; I'll have to give your recipe a go as a different type of hors-d'oeuvre. It's a great way to use the octopus head though that means that I can't reserve it as a snack while prepping the tentacles. By the way, are cauntelopes still available? I was in Taiwan in November and Sogo had imports from Japan for about $68 USD.

I see oxtail as the next braised meat. Shanks (lamb and veal) have been around for a while and veal cheeks have re-made an appearance locally so this is one of the last tough things left for the braising pot. Steak-wise, onglet (I think that's what nwyles refers to as hanger steak) will probably continue its march towards world domination. With the recent success of Le Jolifou and Raza I also suspect more Latin and South American influences locally (Montreal) and perhaps Canada-wide though I'm not sure how much huitlacoche I can eat at one sitting. And… lots and lots of sous-vide.

It was more along the lines of how it was plated; I can't figure out how the omelette completely envelops the rice but I'm pretty sure that most people don't have a vat of "demiglace sauce" sitting around to finish off their plates. Screen shot of the dish from the series below: I just like omuraisu in general; it was one of the things my mom used to make for me when I was a kid so I'm curious as to what yours is like. As for the tempura, if you wouldn't mind snapping a couple of photos of the prep as well…

Omeraisu like they did in Lunch no Joou (ランチの女王)! I'm actually curious about the hints you've made about the contents of your SO's lunchbox…

I have had the Les Pervenches "Chardonnay" twice: once at Toqué! and once as a gift. The best that I can say is that it's somewhat inconsistent and I agree with the restauranteurs in that the Seyval should be dumped from the blend. The glass at T (part of the tasting menu with booze) had a slightly odd bouquet as the Chardonnay character was muddied somewhat by the Seyval and probably a bit too much oak. In mouth, it was crisp with a very short finish, but it paired well with the tuna. The bottle was given to me from someone who had purchased it at the winery and who had held it a couple of months in their little micro-cellar. It was a write-off: all smoke and acid, no fruit. I do not know if it was simply an off bottle from production or if the intermediate storage harmed it (I'm leaning towards the latter) but the remnants are turning into an interesting white wine vinegar. I did have a sample of an interesting Vidal-based ice wine made in St-Eustache; will dig up the producer and post. The only Québec red that I was aware of is L'Orpailleur, though the SAQ has 68 product entries. Haven't considered L'Orpailleur since watching Jacques Pépin start talking about how great Québec cheese was immediately after sampling their white (just prior to his taste test, he had waxed on about how South African reds had improved tremendously).

You can't say you've lived until you have a platter of frog ribs placed in front of you. Besides, we're talking Iron Chef America: how exotic could the ingredients be? I hope you do write about your stint on the two episodes, perhaps giving commentary after each of them airs?

In the past couple of months, catfish, opeh, tilapia, octopus and pollock. No, with the possible exception of the pollock. The catfish and opeh have become more readily available again, I've added tilapia just to have something different in a sandwich, and the octopus tentacles are for snacking. I've been re-reading Andreas Viestad's cookbook and decided to give pollock a go. Nothing's really that new, but the only one that I've ordered while dining out was the catfish (Mesquite had cornmeal-fried catfish fingers).

I like Roederer's American production better than their French. When it comes to serving large quantities of bodies, I would go with that, Mumm's stuff from Napa (or crémant) since no one really complains in such a scenario. Special occassions would be Veuve-Cliquot La Grande Dame, Bollinger RD or (if I really liked them) Salon. The red fizzies from Australia are great conversation starters too.

Um, if I'm not mistaken, don't you have a child? I suggest that you have a session evaluating one of these babies (click here). As for gifts where the thought didn't quite count, we still have that bottle of Manischewicz that was brought over for Chinese New Year.

When I first read your post, I thought she had done so to provide a sort-of salad as a side to the sandwiches.

I had sekt for the first time during a tasting menu at the Globe@YVR restaurant in Vancouver. Interesting stuff - it's quite dry and is not at all like what I would have expected since the only other German bubbly that is readily available is Hochtaler. RvK is one of my favorite producers so I think you are in for a treat.

Foamed sauce.

It is the fact that the pork loin is cured (not smoked) that is throwing me off. If it were fresh, I might think of using the blood orange to glaze it while cooking. As for the latter, you could pan-fry the sweetbreads and serve with braised romaine while using the canteloupe for either a palate-cleansing granité or as a sweet ingredient for an espume to serve with the sweetbreads.

Well, okay then. Juice a couple of blood oranges, reserving the carcasses as serving bowls. Reduce the juice by half and let cool; use it to make a vinaigrette with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss some microsalad with some of the vinaigrette. Mix the prawns with little bit of olive oil, cayenne pepper and fleur de sel. Sear on high heat. Assemble the prawns in the orange carcasses, top with microsalad and drizzle the remaining vinaigrette around. The pork loin would probable make a nice sandwich.

Ditto for me. I can do something with the blood orange and the prawns, but cured pork loin?

It's pretty easy to do if say, you had a thing for Corton-Charlemagne like I did for a while. The argument can also be made for reds: I worked with a fellow who earned close to double my salary, loved drinking wines but always criticized me and my purchases because he felt that no bottle should retail for more than $15 Cdn.

Beef bones I can get easily and quite cheaply; they're usually a mix of rib and leg/shank. Chicken I get from deboning whole chickens as an excuse to use my knives. Chicken feet are readily available as well, though I don't use them very often. Pork would be neck or rib, though I occassionally debone loin roasts. Veal bones I get occassionally simply because they've been more difficult to obtain, but it's generally rare that I'm able to score adequate quantities to make a pure fond de veau. I make fond, demi-glace and glace; most of the production is for sauce but I do make chicken and pork broths (no aromatics) for noodles and stuff.

I think that the current Rachael Rae-driven upswing in popularity will eventually fade away, but the santoku itself won't. All the santokus I've tried have felt a bit off to me; I have become more comfortable using a nakiri or a deba for most things.

Yattarna is Penfolds' attempt to do with Chardonnay what their Grange did for Australian Shiraz (click here for tasting notes). Leeuwin Estates would be another interesting Australian Chardonnay. There's a lot of wine out there that would give great bang for your Robert Borden. If you do call the Vintages consultant, it would be best to describe the wines your Significant Other currently drinks so that he/she can ramp up from there. Good luck with the hunt; I'd be very curious to hear what you wind up picking for the luck guy.

Best Service / Biggest Surprise Getting a phone call from Hélène Brault of Le Jolifou the day after my last visit to her establishment. The evening itself was somewhat uneven in terms of meal and this service tag-team, but leave it to Mme Brault's attentiveness to actually do a follow-up call. Very professional.