Rachel Perlow

address... I knew I forgot something. ← I guess that was my cue. The previous address for Migdalia's Cuban Cafe is still what is listed on yp.yahoo. Phone is (201) 387-8700. I tried calling, I guess too early, but a fax answered. So, looking at the map (because I know the area, doesn't mean I know the actual street names!), I see it is on the corner of Bedford Ave and Portland Ave in Bergenfield. It is right next to Chez Dominique, at 4 Bedford, but it's not like you can miss it, there's a big green sign right next to the parking lot on the south-east corner of the intersection.

Are you sure it wasn't a trivet? I once had a cloth potpourri (peach scented) trivet, you're supposed to put the tea kettle down on it or something. Why you wouldn't want to just smell the tea, I don't know.

Just a heads up that Esposito's currently has boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale. 10 lbs for $16, that's $1.60/lb. There were 6 huge whole breasts in the package, plus a few more smaller halves to make the weight. Not much to trim off either, just a little fat on the edges and the center cartilidge. I also picked up a large package of dried porcini ($28/lb), just to not overly take advantage of their loss leader.

Thanks for the reminder. Hmm, I am running low on olive oil.

Store it in a more vertical container, like a quart soup/deli container. The amount of liquid in the pot will probably be enough to cover in that type of container. If not, you wouldn't have to add much water or stock or wine to cover.

I was planning on making hamburgers last night (that picture of a glorious burger and tater tots at the top of this page was teasing me). But then I decided I didn't want the bun and switched it to chopped steak with mushroom sauce. What I ended up with was a quicker version of beef bourginion. I reduced red wine, added some demi glace from Les Halles, sauteed mushrooms, onion confit, some tomato paste. Needed something else, so I jumpstarted some carrots in the microwave, then simmered them in the sauce, with the seared burgers, braising everything together for a half hour or so. Voila, chopped steak bourginion! Served with Tater Tots for the frites.

Ever see "Yan Can Cook" version of a food processor? Just put a cleaver or knife in each hand and chop chop chop away!

Anyone else starting to recognize people by their plates before looking to see who's written the post? Last night I made baked ravioli. Usually, when we do ravioli, I just serve it with sauce, but this was Jason's request. I don't think I've ever made baked ravioli before. The combination of less sauce, browned bits of pasta, and gooey cheese on top makes them really delicious. I was very very pleased with the results. Served with a nice tossed salad. Sorry, no picture.

You don't have to bother reheating the part you want to reserve. Just scoop out the gel into a 1 quart container. It's supposed to be gelatinized. The stiffer the gel, the better the stock.

FYI, they don't have them in the housewares section of Han Ah Reum. At least not the one in Little Ferry, NJ. BTW - most of the Vietnamese restaurants around here use Cafe Du Monde chickory coffee from Louisiana to make their coffee.

Two teaspoons or tablespoons?

Actually, a demi-glace has other stuff added to it or something. Someone posted detailing the difference between a demi glace and a glace de viande not too long ago. Anyone know which thread? Post a link please, I can't find it. If you just want a straight reduction, you just boil down your defatted stock until it is 1/8 or so the original volume.

Are you planning on making actual demi-glace or just a stock reduction?

You only listed dishwasher once, is that the price for both?

I got four out of five too. In most cases, I understood what Ramsey was saying, but I didn't know what the answers meant! It would be nice if they provided the answers/explanations at the end.

JIC you have problems with the above link, as I did, it is item #4128 in the Bakers Catalogue.

Yes, sans skin. Boneless skinless breasts. I was just looking for something new to do with them, so I tried this method. They pretty much looked like poached chicken breast. They were very smooth and white. However, the taste was extra chickeny because it was encased in the concentrated chicken jus. I did cut into a piece before serving, just to make sure it was cooked through. I had also poked at it with my finger tip before cutting the bag and if felt cooked. Sorry, too late to take a plain picture. All eaten!

Oops, I meant blob. About 2-3 Tbs per bag of two small breasts each. Editing my previous post. It was VERY jelled stock. That didn't get pulled up the FS bag as much as the water clinging to the chicken breasts. I have FS Pro II, with adjustable sealing bar. So I set it to 5 (highest temp) which is the setting to use if you are worried aabout liquid ruining the seal. It also has a seal override, so when you see that most of the air is sucked you can initiate the heat seal. That is what I did. There was a very small amount of air in the bags, about the volume of a teaspoon or two of water. But that wasn't apparent until the bags were submerged in the water. The chicken breasts were below that level so it didn't seem to interfere with the cooking.

Chicken Breast Sous Vide, Bechemel sauce flavored with herbs and chicken jus, Roasted Vegetables

I used this as a guide when I cooked chicken breasts tonight. I sealed them in a FoodSaver bag with a blob of concentrated chicken stock. I brought the water in my 6 quart pot to near boiling, then cooled it with ice cubes to around 145F (using two digital probe thermometers, JIC). In went the two bags and I maintained the temperature right around 140 with just the little, single flame, simmer burner, for about 40 minutes (waiting for the veg to finish). I made a bechamel that I flavored with parsley and thyme, sherry, and the chicken jus whipped in just before serving. Other than agreeing that the bechamel wasn't exactly the right sauce, the chicken was delicious. Very chickeny. It was also served with a roasted mix of vegetables (onions, brussels sprouts, celery, grape tomatoes, and potato).

That's way more than 10 places. If they're just going to list half of the reviewed places, they may as well list all of them. Like a year end index.

You might still want to fill your sink with ice water and put the smaller pots in there. Stir to facilitate chilling. If you put pots full of hot stock into your fridge they will take a very long time to chill and meanwhile they will warm up everything else in there.

(If you used a gravy strainer you wouldn't have to chill it to remove the fat.) You only need to do the cheesecloth if you want a more clarified stock, like for consume. If you are planning on using it for less fussy sauces or soups then you don't really have to bother. Even when using my finest strainer, the stock has minute bits that sink to the bottom. Also, I prefer to defat before straining through a cheesecloth. The fat clogs the cheesecloth (it is one of the ways to defat stock, btw), which makes it much ickier to clean. BTW - what temp is it by you today? If it fridge temp or less, you may as well just put it outside. However, it is better to quickly chill stock down to that temperature. I do this by using many quart sized deli containers. Usually I only have to use 2-4 because I've already reduced it before chilling (using the defatting gravy cup). Fill the sink with ice water and put in covered containers. Stock is a terrific medium for bacteria, so you want to get it out of the "danger zone" as quickly as possible.

Here's what I do: Put your biggest colander in the biggest bowl it will fit in. Use a pasta scoop or other strainer with a handle to scoop out all or most all of the solids. Next, use a ladle or a 1 or 2 quart saucepan to scoop the liquid out, pour it through a strainer into your second largest pot. Let's see, you started with a 20 quart pot. After straining out the solids and accounting for some reduction, you should have about 10 quarts of liquid. You do have a 10 quart pot, don't you? You can use two pots if need be. Actually, when I do the first removal of the liquid, I do it with a 1 cup ladle through a small strainer into a gravy separator. Then, I pour the defatted strained liquid into the second largest pot, through a cheesecloth lined strainer. (I know this seems like a lot of strainers and pots. I can put my 4.5 & 6 quart pots in the upper rack of my dishwasher, the large stockpot in the bottom. Then I have a small (4") strainer, and a larger 6" smaller mesh strainer, and a pasta scoop -- they all go in the DW too.) You can start that smaller pot on a high flame to begin the reduction. Stop pouring the defatted stock before the fat goes up the spout. That bit goes in a separate container, I use a 1 quart soup/deli container. If it has an airtight lid, put it in the fridge upside down so the stock ends up on top. After you do all the straining, pick up the colander, and dump all the solids into a plastic garbage bag -- WITH NO HOLES. Double bag it. If you have a pet, give him some of the meat before tossing it into the garbage. Strain the stock in the bowl as outlined above. Notice I never once said to lift up the huge stockpot full of hot liquid. I only do that at the very end, when there's less than a quart in there, as the ladle has trouble scooping that up. I need a squadle.

Um. It tasted like really concentrated sweet onion jam. I guess I was expecting something more. We'll experiment with it a bit, but I have a feeling most of it is going to be turned into onion soup.