wattacetti

Thought about going to Almar on Decarie? That'll give you an idea of the higher end. Edit: saw your original post. You're looking to redo the whole kitchen? Budget?

I had an Air Canada special: Yet another trip to PHL this year tainted by a weather event (first ice storm, then sleet storm, then heavy rain). Flight got in too late to take advantage of room service when I arrived at the hotel, and I wasn't in the mood for McD's or Wawa.

Blow torch. I also generally use really thin pancetta rather than bacon straight out.

Most of the items you have listed are readily obtained from the sources already listed, but are you actually equipped to receive liquid nitrogen? Apart from their asking (and it is not exactly that cheap) do you have a dewar to transport from the tank to your prep area? You cannot really just tap the tank for a little bit of the stuff. Dry ice may also be problematic, though more for storage. You don't exactly want to be in an enclosed area when the stuff starts to sublimate.

He does changes knives; the second one looks like a yanagi-ba but I could be wrong.

This happens all the time. I carry my knives with me (and the odd Microplane and a vegetable peeler after some real disasters) but you're always stuck with someone else's cooktop, oven and whatever miserable excuse they have for cookware. Personal favorite? Being given access to a 6-burner DCS gas range only to find that only one burner works and its settings are on/off. Then there's the "I'll go blind if I keep looking at it" ugly plates people buy.

Hopefully not because Wine Spectator picked the 2005 as one of their Great Wine Values?

Metcalfe location was unimpressive the last two times I visited. However your experience may be different so at least go visitt when you come back to the city.

Sho-Dan the website: http://www.sho-dan.com/ There are now two. Meh…

Racks and boxes. Will get around to ordering that Transtherm for the really good stuff. Have first growths from 2000, a mini-vertical of Margaux but the prize bottles would be the 1998 Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon just based on the effort to get them. Plonk? I think I have a bottle of "Great Wall of China" white something or another that the grad supervisor thought would be good. It sits near the bottle of Manischewicz that another non-wine-drinking family brought over as a gift (that one's getting on 20+ years now). Love that humidity monitor.

I've done soup. Apart from having to supply insulated cups so that no one burns themselves, the important thing is to not have something chunky so that they can drink it from the cups. It is a difficult thing to serve if they have to manoever with spoons.

Raw in a variety of forms. Ceviche. Tataki. Gravlax. Painted with saikyo miso and grilled. Grilled and served with salt and lemon. Poached. En Papillote as others have described. Poêlé à l'unilatérale. Braided. Steamed with slivered ginger. Confit. Baked in a salt crust. Kinda depends on what you're in the mood for.

Well, no. If you lose, you will be mocked mercilessly (and eternally) on how you came in second. If you win, your will never be forgiven for having achieved victory. Long will be the remembrance of this day of infamy. But I digress… I've done something like this before and it's a great feeling knowing that you've soundly and unanimously whipped the collective a$$es of your competitors. Then again, I wasn't competing against a spouse. I hope you post whatever you can (photos, techniques, descriptions - all good), as I and others will be eagerly playing armchair QB over this culinary endeavor.

Well, you could try the Peking duck method: loosen the skin from the meat, and shock the bird in boiling water for 30 seconds followed by ice bath. Repeat process a few times, cover loosely with cheesecloth and let sit in refrigerator overnight. For really crispy skin I've been known to take a blowtorch to the bird after roasting.

Caul fat netting? Or strip the meat and make a boneless fried confit croquette?

Leslie did Kunz. I took an opportunity to participate at Urena's last night cooking at Raza and found it to be a very interesting minimal approach to Spanish cooking. Trio of amuse-bouches: salt-cured atun (not shown), chorizo croquette and celeri-rave shooter. Poached shrimp with manchego risotto and chorizo foam. One of the two best dishes of the evening; I'll be remembering manchego as an alternative to parmesan the next time I make a risotto. The chorizo foam was a nice "meaty" counterpoint to the shrimp. Slow-cooked cod with portobello confit and horseradish sauce. The most adventurous dish; the cod was beautifully cooked and had great texture and flavor as did the portobello. Unfortunately, there was a bit too much horseradish in the sauce on my portion. Lamb loin with apricot purée and black olive sauce. The second of the two best dishes of the evening. Beautifully cooked lamb with a great sauce pairing. Nice meat counterpoint to the previous fish dishes. Dill and yogurt sorbet with lemon curd Interesting. I really liked the cold dill taste but I wasn't loving the yogurt-y tang. Chocolate beignets with mint ice cream. Straight-out chocolaty goodness. Not being a dessert nut, it was too sweet for me but a big hit with the others. I'll be curious to see who they bring in for next year's TO pairing.

That doesn't look like pork belly. I have had it before, but it was braised in soy and cut into chunks. The rind was still attached and chewy. If you're not doing the Asian braise thing, how about brining and roasting?

If it's fresh, sashimi. Since risotto's out, how adventurous is he/you? ILobster and veal sweetbreads contrast nicely for instance...

Crappy navigation yes, but there's a link on the home page (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/index.html#; scroll down a bit). I've pasted the entire link for the first "Notes" (they're missing the é from Guérard in the article): http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/stor...c4-806a322e4cee

Not quite a banned food, but something related to the serving of humans (original posting on Slashfood). Clickety.

If there are absolutely no bones (leg, wing etc), why don't you just treat the thing as a galatine and just cut slices. When you get to the thigh/leg portion, cut in half and then continue to cut slices.

MB as in MBmangeboire the chain that one finds on Stanley and at the airport? Or am I missing something?

Oishii Sushi on Bernard has a nice scallop sashimi and an interesting yin-yang roll. More nouveau/fusion than classic; watch for them as a backdrop for an upcoming Fido commercial. I've been hanging around here because they're unassuming (and I like their shark fin and jellyfish salad). Maiko Sushi on Sources (Centennial strip mall) is probably the best place to try on the West Island. They're average on the classic stuff and work best if you stick with either hot plates or their specialty maki. Original Maiko Sushi on Bernard left me very cold the last time I was there. Uninspired cooking, mechanical demotivated staff in front of and behind the counter, and way too many pussy willows as decoration. Bad day perhaps. Sakura Gardens on Mountain is still old-school. Several people I know consider this to be "too Japanese" for their taste. Isakaya on Park is also old-school, but fairly popular. Probably better overall for non-sushi or sashimi related articles. There's a thread on Jun-I that I suggest you read. People are happy with it. Mikado on Monkland does classic stuff pretty well. Didn't try any of their more modern interpretations. Kaizen is still weird. Lots of black and blond. Probably missed quite a few, but others will chime in. Would say that overall, we're okay but not particularly strong in sushibars. Vancouver, Toronto (and possibly Calgary) can certainly spank us on all measures.

Grill it with some sake and miso, serve it as donburi, if it's fresh enough, make a tartar or a temaki. Steam it. Make it as part of a chawan mushi (okay, not that traditional). Serve it in soup.

LCBO doesn't exactly have a huge choice does it? Then again, SAQ only lists 11 options and my Alberta go-to's list exactly zero. I'm not familiar with Gerard Bertrand but production from La Tour Vieille and La Cave de L'Abbe Rous have been okay. The Bertrand seems affordable enough to give it a whirl before the big event.