mklynch
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Posts posted by mklynch
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What a timely thread! I have a whole 13# brisket that I dry rubbed yesterday and plan to smoke tomorrow in my New Braunfels offset firebox smoker. Split the cherry today that I've been hoarding for a few years. I do go low and slow and figure at least 14 hours.
I'm doing 4 courses for 12 - starting with a simple spring onion soup. I picked up some beautiful morels today at the farmer's market and some local goat cheese. Oh, yeah, inspired by Jackal10's foodblog, I cured some pork belly and that's going in the smoker as well. So I think some sort of morel, goat cheese, smoked pork belly tart is in the offing.
Then the brisket. I got some beautiful asparagus today and I'm not sure what else yet.
Dessert is a chocolate raspberry tart with sabayon. Zins with the brisket, we'll see what folks bring for the rest of the dinner.
So the big question - to sauce or not to sauce the brisket. I'm in the no sauce camp, but MIGHT put one on the side if someone has a killer recipe!
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Thanks so much for your quick response! I have to say, I really enjoy cooking out of every book I have that you've written. Your directions are so clear, make sense so easily to me and most of all - WORK and turn out great. You have spoiled me and I think that's why I sometimes get frustrated with other books!
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I've been baking out of both CDPH and Desserts by PH and noticed that he doesn't use cream of tartar when whipping egg whites. I've used it for extra stability and wondered why he doesn't call for it - does it change the flavor or texture?
I'm about to make the chocolate and raspberry tart out of the Patisserie book. One of the components is cocoa nougatine and it calls for glucose and pectine NH. I've been to several stores and can't find either one. Can I sub corn syrup for the glucose and powdered pectin for the pectine NH?
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I ate at a place that thought it was chic or something to have several spray colognes in the bathrooms for whatever reason. This night, an obnoxious drunk guest brought one back into the dining room and proceeded to spray it all over the place until the waiter took it away from him. I was glad we were on the dessert course, but even so it was horrible.
The spray bottles disappeared from the bathrooms after that.
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Check out the Carlton Winemaker's Studio. I don't know their hours, but there are some stellar folks that share space and come up with some great wines.
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We just dined at Paley's Place last week. All 4 of us were delighted with every bite. My father-in-law in particular. He had the escargot w/ marrow bones as an appetizer and wanted it again as an entree. Then his sweetbreads came, and he wished he had a bigger stomach.
It is nice that Portland has so many places that can please (and sometimes displease) so many tastes.
You are staying very close to the Crystal Ballroom. If there's anyone playing there you like, you should check it out. The floor "floats" and is fun to dance on! Their beer's not bad either.
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Have you used Priceline.com for hotels? We've done it a bunch in other cities (including Vancouver!) and gotten great rooms for reasonable prices. Downtown is fun to stay in and there are alot of hotels. If you stay downtown, and feel like walking, check out Higgins for dinner. The places already mentioned are good as well, but on a Monday night, check for if they are open as it's a popular night to close here.
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Wendy,
Your centerpiece looks like the meringue cake I'm going to try - is it? Do you have any tips - it is really nice (like all your work!).
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The party is on June 4th, so I have some time to play with this. I got some molds for chocolate of bees, boneycomb, hives and flowers and planned to make chocolates as gifts for the guests. I can play with different fillings for decorations for the cake. I think I will do a mirengue hive and the chiffon pie from the Pastry Bible as well. I make caremelized sugar ice cream and that got me wondering if you can caremelize honey. Anyone know? I'll give it a try if not.
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Great ideas! I think the bubble wrap indentation was something I saw, but I don't remember where either. Thanks for the input!
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My oldest friend is turning 50 and I'm hosting the surprise party. She is a beekeeper and we are using that as a theme. I'd like to make a beehive dessert. I have an idea for a meringue dome that I could stuff with icecream but am looking for other ideas.
Also need ideas for bee related decorations for whatever I make. I saw a caramelized sugar beeswax thing years ago but can't find it in any of my books.
Any ideas? Thanks!
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We bought our house 3 years ago from the guy who built it and lived in it since 1978. It has 2 second story decks. He liked wine and loved to party and apparently loved throwing wine bottles into the woods off the deck. I've pulled out at least 20 bottles over these years, none broken and some with readable labels still. Wish I'd been at a couple of those parties!
We are boring, however, and put our bottles and the ones I pull out of the woods in the recycle bin for the teatotling neighbors to gossip about.
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Elie, Questions about the frozen egg whites. Do you freeze them individually or what? Any downside to using them? Do they whip up about the same volume or do you make an adjustment? I hate to say I've been tossing my extras.
And the cake looks great - looking forward to trying it!
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check out www.cateringsupplies.com
I bought a couple dozen wine glasses from them as well as colorful mylar table covers, parchment papper and some other stuff. Great prices and great service.
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Not exactly a restaurant, but the food service at University of Portland has an arangement with an apple grower that saved his orchard. Last summer he was considering ripping out his trees and trying to develop his land because he was having trouble selling all his apples. U of P started buying many cases a week and spread the word to other colleges and now the guy is planting more varieties.
In late summer and early fall, there are some organic growers who are on standing orders to just bring in so many cases of whatever they have a week. They make something like 1500 meals a day and that's alot of food!
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Check out Whitefish Lake Restaurant in Whitefish, MT.
You might want to contact Steve Rogers from Singing Pig Farms, a small organic grower in Portland and see who he's selling to these days. Also George Weppler, I think I saw his name on the menu at Lauro Kitchen last year in Portland.
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While not exactly "fine dining", you should give Bombs Away Cafe a try. If I remember right, the chef / owner was the creative force behind the old Casa U Betcha in Portland when it started in the 80's. South of the border done very well.
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I have a question about the effects of radiation on the enzymes in food. I know from brewing beer that at certain temperatures, the enzymes that convert starch to sugar are killed. I really like dry aged beef, which basicly is a form of controlled rotting. Are the enzymes that help in the aging process damaged by irradiation?
PS, I am not a nutcase or a Luddite, but there are alot of questions that need to be raised and answered on this issue!
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I teach a class at the food bank that focuses on nutrition and thrifty meals, but for the last class of the series, I make marshmallows just for fun. It goes over so well.
I was telling some dinner guests about it and they wanted to see it, so we brainstormed and came up with a twist. I melted chocolate and swirled it in at the end and let them set up. I also make my own graham crackers and had some in the freezer. We crushed them up and rolled the marshmallows in them after we cut them. Wow!
I start teaching a middle school cooking club in a couple weeks and want to make rice crispy treats with our own marshmallows. Any one have any experience doing this?
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I also did a version of a Rompotf last year. As each berry variety became ripe, I added a layer to jars with Maker's Mark and sugar. The results are wonderful. The raspberries fall apart, however. They do impart a great flavor though, so I'll use them again just for that effect. As with the cherries, I need to triple my production as the end is coming much too soon!
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Last summer I got a bunch of tart cherries at the farmer's market and put them up in cognac and sugar. Kept them refrigerated. A couple weeks ago I decided to chocolate dip some as a garnish for a dessert. I rolled them in cocoa powder and dipped them in melted Sharffenberger chocolate. They turned out fantastic, but I only made one per person and I thought I was going to get hung when I said I didn't have any more!
The cherries were quite juicy and everyone said they were the best they'd ever had. I've used the cherries in other desserts as well as just as a garnish in the glass of cognac. I need to make alot more this year, for sure.
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We did a big kitchen, dining room and basement remodel in the last year. I was torn between bamboo and cork for the floors upstairs, and the cork won out. I love it so far. It came in 1 x 3 snap together floating tiles already finished and we had the installer put another coat of finish on and it cleans up great, is resilient and warm on the feet. I was concerned about the gaps in the seams of the bamboo. The cork fits together super tight.
For the basement, we used marmoleum. I like it fine, but the installer botched the first job, saying it was too cold when he installed it. Whatever. He had to rip it out and start over.
Went with slab granite in the kitchen and I couldn't be happier. I do alot of baking and the surface is great for everything I do. Cleans up super easy. I was concerned about breaking stuff on it, but it hasn't happened yet. I got a set of Tritan wine glasses, supposedly 4 times stronger than crystal and had a guest knock one over on the granite and it didn't break. We were amazed.
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I bought the Lello over a year ago and it's great. It's heavy, so make sure you can store it near where you'll use it. It's nice to be able to do back to back batches with no down time.
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I have 3 outdoor smokers at home. A Little Chief, a New Braunfels (offset firebox) and a Smokey Mountain Great Outdoors (gas fired). I use them all for different things. I like the gas fired for it's ease of use and for smaller things that cook quick like chicken, the Little Chief for lower temp smoking, like for tomatoes and fish. And the New Braunfels for brisket, geese, turkey, etc. I don't have a problem regulating the temperature in it, but I cooked on a wood cookstove for several years. By just using the side box, I can get and hold anywhere between 200' - 375' in the main compartment, both smoking and roasting at the same time. It does take practice.
I had a commercial Traeger at my last work kitchen that held 8 sheetpans of product and we used it daily. The smoke and temperature control was so nice, I swear I could have made brownies in it. They sell smaller home models, but I haven't used one.
I went to buy smoker chips for the Little Chief yesterday and was warned going out the door not to bring home another smoker, as GI Joes had the Bradley in their ad. Sounds like a nice smoker. Wonder where I could hide it? Ha ha. I could justify it since I have 4 grills and only 3 smokers, does that work?
Smoking Brisket: The Topic
in Cooking
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OK - with such ringing endorsements, I'll give it a go! I have no yellow mustard...but 2 versions of my own based on andiesenji's homemade mustard. Do I have to go to the store - or can I use my own?