mikeycook

Did you happen to buy it at Williams Sonoma? They seem to have a policy of replacing damaged cookware. I am not sure why (other than to encourage repeat business). I had the lid crack on my larger Le Creuset and they replaced it without question. I have also known people who were able to return items that had food burned onto them.

Indeed this is bacalao al pil-pil, a classic Basque dish. However, if I'm not mistaken, the bacalao is not fried but confited (the oil is kept at a temperature of around 70-80C), and usually you throw in some finely sliced garlic and guindilla while the oil is warming, and you get it out before it burns. You then use this garlic to garnish the dish. ← That's right. The recipe I have (from Paula Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France) says to cook the fish and oil over low heat for 30 minutes. Then raise it nearly to a boil near the end when you add the hot pepper and parsley. Actually, I am so glad you posted this because I was looking for a final seafood dish for Christmas dinner (doing a small plates-type meal) and Bacalao a-pil-pil is the perfect dish to round things out. I can also get very good salt cod fillets from the local Shop-Rte (not sure why other than a good-sized italian population.)

It's called a-pil-pil. This is an excellent, classic method for salt cod. I also like Brandade de Morue and Salt Cod cakes, which are also classic. Personally, I prefer recipes that do not include potato (ironic given my New England heritage) because I like the creamy consistency and like to have the focus be on the salt cod and garlic flavors. If you really want to go way out on a Brandade, there is also one from Nimes that, from my recollection, includes everything but the kitchen sink. There are about 10 salt cod recipes in Portuguese Home Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins. I have tried several and they are very good.

I can't speak for others, but my culinary management program was more about starting a restaurant from scratch than it was about being a manager in a restaurant (which I have no interest in). It focused heavily on the financials of a restaurant, including real estate, food costs, hiring contractors and employee, etc. The program was really structured around building a strong business plan. Perhaps you would be able to get the type of job you seek without such a degree, but I know one gentleman in the program who got the type of job you are describing with the group that opened Lever House (he also had a strong business background, but the degree helped get him the interview and the job). I am not suggesting you start out as an assistant manager in a USHG restaurant, but some sort of culinary education might help you get your foot in the door when a position opens (especially if you are competing with other MBAs). Who would you rather hire? An MBA or an MBA with a decent knowledge of restaurant financials?

You may also think about taking the ICE (Institute of Culinary Education) Culinary Management program, although I am sure your Columbia workload will be substantial on its own. However, I know people who have taken the management program while taking culinary and worked it out, so you never know. We had a gentleman who was a manager at Blue Smoke speak to us and he was part of the management program at one point, so I guess that's one way in to USHG (and other groups).

I am going with a small plates concept this year. I wanted to have some way to break out of the traditional service style of the big family meal and thought this might be a fun way. We have about 12 people coming and will have 8-10 dishes. I will probably make 6 of them myself and the other 2-4 will come from guests. Part of the reason I did this is because usually a few people like to bring items and I wanted the guests to feel free to make their favorite dishes or try new dishes. The only caveat was that we coordinate the ingredients so we don't duplicate the protein or the starch or the veg and try to strike a balance between salty, sweet, hot, bitter, and sour. A few of the things we will be having: Asparagus w/Asparagus Sauce Pork Loin w/Fig Sauce Braised Short Ribs Quail (haven't decided how to serve) Macaroni and Cheese (homemade, of course) A couple of fish/shellfish dishes, one more veg and one more meat should do it. Probably will do a veg in the sour family and probably make a couple of the dishes spicy.

tb86 - I am a huge Conant fan and have been trying to pick a time to try Alto. I salivated through the entire second half of your posting.

Had lunch at the downtown location yesterday. Just went simple, steak frites with a side of bearnaise and a glass of Marsannay. So hard to choose from the many nice cuts of beef, but I decided to go cheap. Will definitely try to get back and split the Cote de Boeuf for two. As I was looking over the menu it was hard to find a steak that didn't look good (they also had a pave special). I think, overall, there are many more things to like about the Park Avenue location and if one were to only go to one, that is the one I would choose. That being said, there are few other nice restaurants around the John St. location and it is a joy to be able to go there for lunch.

I have a Krups and have used it for several years and have come to hate the whole bowl-in-the-refrigerator thing. I don't like the space it takes up in the freezer and I have found that ice cream and sorbet do not get to a frozen enough consistency in the bowl. When I remove the ice cream and freeze it, it invariably has crystals in it from not being frozen enough from the mixing. I have virtually stopped using it because of not being happy with the final product. Seeing that the types with their own compression/freezing unit (i.e. no frozen bowl, salt, or ice required) have now gotten down to the $200-$250 range, I intend to buy a new one very soon, likely a Cuisinart Supreme.

I agree with all of you. I have done the simmer and cool every 4-6 months and have found very little deterioration of the goose fat, even after a couple of years (I found buying goose fat in cans to be much cheaper than trying to buy duck fat in those little containers, especially if I don't have extra duck skin laying around.)

Hhmmm.... I hadn't really thought about it that way. I do have small hands and I love my Santoku... it does feel like it fits in my hands better. Mine is a larger one, but I do like it better than my chef's knife. ← I totally agree with this sentiment. I bought a Henckel Santoku for my wife and have used it a few times (mainly for medium-sized vegetables) and find it is too small for my hands. I felt the same with my 8" chef's knife. I now use a 10" and have a 12" available for certain items.

I would recommend a fig sauce. We made one from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe in her Everyday Italian goodbook and it was very good (if I recall correctly, there was rosemary in that recipe as well). Uses dried figs, so seasonality shouldn't be a problem.

Actually, I just found a post on Amazon saying that the Maverick CT-03 is the one Alton mentions. However, read through the reviews, as a number of people seem to have had problems.

I find Taylor to be great for candy making. The black print against metal is easy to read and there is a wide section for the candy making range so it is easy to tell where you are (hard ball, soft crack, etc.) I also have found it consistently accurate. That being said, Taylor is not made easy-to-read specifically and maybe there is a verson that is.

I live in a Manhattan apartment, so every bit of kitchen space is precious. Generally, we have two large baskets (a square one and a round one). The square one usually holds cereal boxes, rice, Kraft macaroni and cheese, tea, and anything else in a square box. The round basket holds things like polenta, dried beans, chocolate pastilles, panko, etc. that come is softer bags. We usually have to pull both of the baskets down to open the cabinets over the fridge. Behind those, under the cabinet, we usually store extra pieces of cookware (as the range top, oven, and one cabinet are already full. We had a wok back there for a while. Now it's where we keep a double-boiler and a milk warmer.

I would wholeheartedly agree with L'Impero. I think Scott Conant's pasta dishes are his best. I am going to have to ask about the pasta tasting.

I have been looking at guitar cutters recently as well. I came across two types, the single, which has been discussed here, as well as a double, which seems to eliminate the need for rotating. I am looking at it for cutting nougat. Any thoughts on the double vs. the single? Is the double worth the extra money (it seems like for an extra $200 I would save quite a bit of effort)? Is there anything the double will cause me trouble with?

I am no expert on nougat, but the packaged versions I have bought are relatively soft, like torrone. I think this recipe is a little firmer, more like a Charleston Chew bar. When you put them in the refrigerator, it will also break up like a Charleston Chew. I wouldn't characterize any of the nougat I've had as hard, unless it is refrigerated. I think I'll have to buy some Torrone to compare (they have been advertising big chunks of it in Dean and Deluca's catalog).

So you were undercooking by 20? Are you still using the Torres recipe? Are you taking the honey to 250 and the sugar to 330? Thanks for the report! EDIT: We were posting at the same time. So you just bring your honey to a boil? Have you checked what temp that is? ← I believe the temperature was around 230 for the honey. It might have been a little higher.

I am certainly no expert, but I will give you my 2 cents. 1. I would heat the honey separately. I believe I get the honey to about 220 degrees (I stop when the honey starts to bubble and rises in volume). 2. The softness of the nougat/torrone seems to be direct the result of how high the sugar solution gets (as well as the ratio of honey to sugar solution). I would recommend trying to get the sugar solution to 330, as that 10 degress might make a big difference. I first add the heated honey to the egg whites and continuing to let the mixer run until the sugar solution is done. I do not let it cook particularly, I just start streaming that in as soon as it is ready. Also, if you are roasting nuts according to the Torres recipe, I would recommend an adjustment. At 325 for 20 minutes, I found that almonds burned very quickly (not sure if I didn't turn them enough or it is a risk anyway). Instead, I roasted the nuts at 250. The almonds took 35 minutes, while the pistachios only 20-25. The roasting is more even that way. Also, don't forget to either lay the nuts out in a single layer or toss in a large bowl to bring the temperature down immediately (and stop them from cooking). I have had batches of nuts that were great right out of the oven, but somewhat burned after sitting in a bowl. I haven't made torrone myself yet, but it looks to me like the differences are primarily the nut mix (hazelnuts and sometimes dried fruits with torrone, while only almonds and pistachios in nougat Montilimar). Also, I have been using just plain, generic, large volume honey from my local shop-rite and the flavor is great. That being said, I am going to play around with a few other varieties (orange blossom, tupelo, etc) and brands to try to get a slightly brighter honey taste.

Well, it turned out that my problem with the nougat holding together was completely a matter of my candy thermometer not ready properly (something I was warned against in this forum, but never completely heeded.) This time I ran with two thermometers, this time adding a Taylor candy thermometer, which read about 20 degrees cooler than the one I had been using. The additional cooking made all of the difference and the resulting nougat held together perfectly at room temperature. Now I can play more with the actual ingredients and methods of preparation.

Is it Larousse Gastronomique you are thinking of?

Went to L'Impero tonight for the third time. It has quickly become my favorite restaurant in New York. The fricassee of seasonal mushrooms and the duck and foie gras agnolotti, to me, are two dishes as good as anything I've eaten. Everything was wonderful. The marinated pacific yellowtail, the venison with baby turnips and the poached rabbit in olive oil were each superb. In three trips, I can't recall a dish that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. No disrespect to Babbo, which is also a favorite (has wonderful service and excellent food), but if I were on death row, I'd want Scott Conant to cook my last meal. Have to try Alto soon.

I have long considered a membership, but there are so many good restaurants in the city that I have always had a hard time deciding if I would eat at the Beard house enough to make it worth while or if I would find myself wanting to go to more restaurants instead. One thing that seems interesting is the Food and Beverage Professional's Directory. Have those in the industry who are members found this worthwhile?

2003 Dumol Chardonnay 2003 Duboeuf Moulin-a-Vent Cuvee Prestige Highly recommend both as Thanksgiving wines.