Rachel Perlow

Well, I've finally stopped cooking the confit. It is now packed into two pint sized mason jars. Although I will store in the fridge, I expect that packing them into the jars while hot will aid in the preservation. In addition, if the jars don't seal naturally (check for lid flexibility) I can vacuum seal them.

Too late for that now. Besides, it's already been nearly 20 hours! Anyway, it's finally begun to get jammy looking. When you cook it in the oven do you never stir it? Do you leave it in there until it is done, or do you finish it on top of the stove? How far should I take this? I need more description of when to stop!

This picture was what mine looked like about an hour ago. I couldn't keep boring you all with updates at every stir. For a while I was stirring every 15 minutes. It's just starting to brown more on the edges when I go to stir, so I've reduced the timer to 10 mintues. It does that sizzle as you stir thing right now. No one ever did answer me about the fat. Is that much really necessary? I figure it's got about one hour left before I feel the need to turn up the heat to finally finish the thing.

It's starting to stick on the bottom, just a little bit. I've shortened the timer to 15 minutes. Oops, there it goes, got to go stir.

Getting browner, bubbling more vigorously, even though I haven't raised the heat and the internal temp seems to be around 170 -- maybe there's something wrong with my thermometer, because I would think that as the sugar density increases, the temp would go up. Anyway, still soupy, 30 minutes. I figure once it starts sticking that's when you can turn it up and let it finish, right? Oh, I added a glug of red wine that's been sitting open. I figure that takes care of the wine and vinegar component.

Slightly darker, the color of my wooden spoon, light wood. Just about down to 2 quarts. Still soupy. Timer set for another 30 minutes.

It is now decidedly tan in color, lightly bubbling, about 2.5 quarts, but still quite soupy. Timer reset for 30 minutes.

From what you all said above, I should expect to yield around 1 quart finished product, right? The timer is set for 30 minutes. My one comment right now is that it is greasier than when I make regular carmelized onions, where I only use a little butter to get them started. What is the benefit of using half a cup or more of fat at the beginning?

OK so the semi-official title for this shindig is now: The NJ eGullet Society Fundraising Chinese New Year Valentine Weekend Banquet! Yes, fundraising, ladies and gentlemen. 10-20% of the price for this event will be donated to the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. I'll figure that out more exactly after working out the menu. You may, of course, contribute additional money at the banquet, if you wish. In addition, the China 46 dragon dance is a fundraiser for a local school. Little red envelopes are passed around the restaurant and it is customary to put a dollar or more in them for the dragon to collect, so it would be nice if, in addition to bringing money for the dinner, you could make sure to have a single or three to contribute to the dragon.

Woke up once in the night, around 3:20 AM. That's 6 hours after my previous post. Still 3 quarts in the pot and it was not bubbling at all. I think that single flame is more of a keep warm setting than a simmer setting. I turned the heat back up to low and left the lid on. When I got up about 20 minutes ago it was bubbling and had changed to a light tan color, but is still most of 3 quarts in volume. Lid now off. At what point do I have to start standing over the pot to avoid scortching?

Lid on, burner on lowest setting, there's about 3 quarts of stuff in the pot. See you in the morning.

OK, so they've been going for about two hours now on a low burner. There is just under 4 quarts in volume (my stockpot has quart measurements in 4 qt intervals), it is VERY liquidy and light blond in color, hasn't browned in the least. I've been cooking it primarily with the lid on, except for the occasional stir and the five minutes when I needed the lid on my skillet (dinner was saffron rice, broccoli sauteed with garlic and olive oil, and pork chops with a garlic and mushroom gravy). If you all think it will be all done in another two hours or so with the lid off, I'll take it off. But if you think it should go overnight with the lid on, I can turn the heat down one level further (the simmer setting is like a large single candle flame). Basically, I don't want to have to stand over it, but I don't want to burn it either.

Checking back in. The cleaned onions over-filled my salad spinner bowl. Sliced, it came to about 8 quarts. I started the pot on high to get the fat (a couple Tbs of previously rendered bacon fat (oh well), a good splash of olive oil and half a stick of butter) going and added the onions to the pot as I sliced them, stirring it up every couple of onions. Way before I was done slicing, there was lots of liquid in the pot. I've put the lid on and turned the heat to low. I'm already starving from smelling the onions cooking, so I better go make dinner.

I am doing something I hate when people do, but I just can't help it, this thread is too long... OK, I have a big bag of onions and I just realized that they are starting to molder, so I have to cook them. In the middle of cleaning and peeling I realized that I should check in on this thread for advice. I don't have a stockpot so I figured I'd just do this in my stockpot. Should I start it on high and brown the onions or just on low, lid on and let it go overnight? What I'm planning on using: 10 onions, but I have a lot of trimming to do, so that will end up more equivalant to the 6 large ones most people seem to be using. I see recs for equal amounts of OO and butter. I also have some nice thick bacon, should I render some of that fat for it? I have fresh thyme, I like the idea of using some of that. I'd like this to be sort of an instant onion soup base at the end. I do have some demi glace and concentrated chicken stock. Instruct me please.

Actually, the ginger wasn't that discernable. These were little beef rolls. Eat by rolling in lettuce with herbs.

That's true. We arrived at 5:30, only a couple other tables had people at them, and they looked like family of the restaurant/waiters. Sometime around 7 PM, I got up to go to the ladies, and was surprised to see the place packed (my back was to the rest of the dining room). By the time we left around 8:30, it had cleared out a bit, but was still around half-full. Like the others said, the food was very good, just as I remembered it. I particularly liked their grilled beef with lemongrass and ginger and the BBQ pork. We ordered a basic Pho Tai (rare beef) and a simple Hu Tieu, if I were ordering a soup as a meal, I would probably order one of the more complicated combos. The atmosphere, while still casual, is definitely nicer than it was as the previous incarnation. Nicer chairs, white tablecloths, decent restrooms (I remember in Nutley one teensy tiny little WC). But, yes, paper napkins. That doesn't bother me. What did was having to ask repeatedly for water, coffee, napkins, Sriracha, etc. They seem to have two or three waiters covering a dining room three times the size of Binh Duong, they need more, or at least add a couple busboys. I have a feeling on a slower weeknight they might be able to handle it. Actually, most of the food came out hot and promptly, for the most part. It really seems to be a front of the house problem, coordinating the drinks and other service requirements.

I like having a lid for my stock pot. I put it on at the beginning to bring the pot to a boil faster. Then, after it has come to a boil, and the flame is reduced and I've done the first hour of skimming, I put the lid back on. My stove has an extra low simmer burner -- the water doesn't simmer so much as shimmer. If I'm keeping the stockpot on it overnight, I'll put the lid on. I usually don't lose more than an inch or so after it is on for 8 hours or longer. This allows more room for the gelatin to dissolve into the liquid. I pack a lot of meat & bones, and vegetables, into my pot. I'd rather have full extraction before beginning the reduction. A lot of stock recipes even state to add water if it reduces too much, to keep the solids submerged. This way, I can go to bed knowing I don't need to worry about that. Also, I steam lobsters in my stock pot, so you need a lid for that.

As an aside, my mom got some amazing seeded rye bread at Amsters for our deli platter Hanukah party a few weeks ago. Really crusty, chewy, old fashioned stuff. If we end up on this jaunt, someone remind me to buy some.

Ratio? Huh, wazzat? Seriously though, I've never measured it. Although Fat Guy does have some more structured recommendations in the class, I generally put my frozen bones & carcasses, plus about 10 lbs of chicken legs* in my stockpot. Add a few peeled carrots, washed celery, quarted onions (I don't use as high a ratio of vegetables as FG as it I find it makes the stock a little too sweet for my taste), parsley, peppercorns. Fill pot with water and crank up the heat. Set timer for 20 minutes, then start skimming. Lower heat when it comes to a boil. And let it barely simmer for 8-12 hours. Strain, defat, reduce. *My local ShopRite supermarket has these huge bags of chicken legs that are regularly priced at .59/lb, and frequently go on sale. They also have stripped chicken backs for sale, but those are .69/lb and they are frequently out of them. So, I collect chicken carcasses and necks in the freezer as part of my regular cooking and use a bag of chicken legs.

I've heard this before, which is why I emphasize the aluminum disc bottom when recommending the Chefmate stuff.

Thanks for reminding me. See other thread.

The title pretty well sums it up. We are planning the next Chinese New Year banquet at China 46 restaurant in Ridgefield Park, NJ. Last year, 46 eGullet members partied it up with a huge dragon. We haven't yet set the menu, but the food is always excellent, and I'm sure the cost will be under $50 pp. They are planning on having the dragon in on two evenings, so we have our choice of Saturday, February 12 or Sunday the 13th. Please RSVP here and let us know if you have a preference as to dates. Note: The date has been set for Saturday, February 12, 2005. 5:30 PM. Note: Click here for the menu.

Nope. They just happened to have rather large lobsters that day at Shop Rite. Twice a year they have a big lobster sale, these were $5.99 a pound. ← For more details about the lobster click here.

Wait! This one I can help with. I loved the white chocolate bread pudding the first time I had it at Palace Cafe in New Orleans. The recipe was published in a tourist magazine, and sure enough, when I just googled it, I found several websites with it, here's one.

Just make sure the one you buy has that nice thick aluminum disc bottom.