col klink

The PI just ran an article on morels.

I'm surprised that nobody in the States has mentioned Woodchuck, they make a Granny Smith that in my circle is known as "Shamus crack" after my good buddy Shamus. It's dry (for an American cider), crisp and tart without too much sweetness. It's the only cider I drink on a regular basis and is also available to most of the country. Nightscotsman, pork does indeed go well with Granny.

Try quartering your bird first, roast at 450 ~ 500 F and pull the breasts when done, and bring the oven down to 350 while leaving the legs in. edit: This will also give you the opportunity to get that gorgeously crisped skin on the legs as well as the breast a la Le Pichet.

You're not cooking them right then. Done properly, the fat (read: flavor) with render out. Grilling is not the best for thighs, long slow braises and smoking is where it's at.

Sounds good to me, I'll reserve the eGullet jet so I can come.

It's not June 7th is it? Batgrrrl and I are out of town!

Phew! You actually brined the chicken, very good. Have you tried brining the breast with and without the vinegar? There's almost no difference in the taste but there is a not so subtle difference in texture; the vinegar adds a distracting rubbery component. Of course even with the vinegar these breasts are going to taste 10 times better than a standard breast. I'm coming to the conclusion that Jinmyo doesn't brine, she doesn't like turkey either.

Angels are singing because I finally tried the bacon from Bavarian Meats in the Market. Their bacon is the best I've ever had. Period. I'm ashamed that I've grown up thinking that bacon tastes plastic pork. NO! Real bacon is SMOKEY! Yes! Smokey!!! Not only that, BM's bacon fries better in the pan, leaving nary a trace unlike my bacon from Fred Meyer. At $4.25/lb it's more than the FM bacon (which still is pretty damn good) and you can have it sliced to whatever thickness you like, right there on the spot (I asked for medium!). So do me a favor, when you go down for the best bacon in Seattle, bring your kitchen knives to Bavarian Meats' neighbor, Seattle Cutlery, and get them sharpened!

I just want to add that now I too can cut paper like a ninja! It's totally sweet!

NEVER BE AFRAID OF MEAT. If you mess it up, chalk it up as experience and then try again (and report here of course). The only time to be weary of your meat cooking skills is when you're planning a highbrow big dinner and you need/want to impress your guests. Then you stick with something you've done before.

Today I checked out Hop Tanh and Viet Wah. Hop Tanh didn't have a set but Viet Wah did and for half the cost I've seen at City Kitchen and Sur La Table but it didn't come with the pestle and the morter looked awlful. But enough of that because I've been giggling like a little school girl over my new 10" chef's knive. Right after I left City Kitchen on Sunday, I took my new roast carving knife and the chef's knife over to Seattle Cutlery for sharpening. For only $3 per knife, they made it **WICKED** sharp. I'm telling you, these knives are German made with German steel with full bolsters and when they're sharpened by a professional, they're really sexy! And only $34 for the 10" chef's knife!!! They're the house brand and called "Erste Klasse." Right now all open stock is half off. Get thee hence! Go now!!! Oh yeah, I command everyone to take their kitchen knives in for professional sharpening and you'll wonder what took you so long. Next chance I get I'm dropping off the rest of my knives so I can get that polished mirror edge on all of my knives. DISCLAIMER: I have no idea how well the new chef's knife holds it's edge or how often it needs to be steeled (ie. steeling when you're not done prepping, I find that terribly annoying). I'll report back in a week or so on it's ability to hold it's edge. edit: Seattle Cutlery is in the Pike Place Market, on the northern end by Bavarian Meats and the Taxi hot dog stand. Go now! also, @*$^%!!! My new knife is sexy!

More than likely that Chinese smoked lobster wasn't smoked in the fashion you're about to. I've seen Ming Tsai use his wok to tea smoke. After low-heat steaming the duck legs (in this case) for an hour to an hour and a half, he puts a one cup each mixture of rice, sugar and tea leaves on foil in the wok and puts the heat on medium. After the mixture starts to smolder, he reduces the heat to low and puts a bamboo steamer over the mixture. Put in the the legs and then place a wet towel around the base of the steamer and smoke for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and smoke for another 15 minutes. He probably lowers the temperature at some point but that's the basic method. As for the bullet, I've never smoked lobster but I do know it's a delicate meat and it would be really easy to overcook it. If I were to try it, I'd go half an hour at 200F.

I felt ill last week when I was asked to pick up boneless/skinless breast to save time. You can buy a whole damn chicken for the price of just the breasts. Not only is it wasteful of money, but you're stripping the meat of all the flavor! I've yet to find a commercial stock that's as good as homemade so it's not just about saving money. Plus, you can trim the wings, roast 'em at high heat and add a little hotsauce and butter for some buffalo wings. Buying just the breasts is a crime!

Often times when I get the "munchies" I'll attack the can of Nesquick with a big ol' spoon of peanut butter; or I'll get the toast munchies and go through three or four slices of sourdough with plugra.

Where are the Thai grocery stores?

The Seattle Restaurant Supply store is really cool if you're looking for a nice set of used knives or a $5k bread mixer but I found the glasses, bowls, ramekins and the like to be over priced. I did spend a long time in the used equipment aisle.

Having just found City Kitchen (1527 Fourth Avenue) to be one of the best spots on the planet for kitchen gear, where do you shop? Williams Sonoma has some really nice kitchen gear but they're horribly expensive. Sur La Table is awlfully expensive too. "Blood" Bath & Beyond has a pretty big selection but try and find a non non-stick roasting pan for under $200 or decent help. Cash N' Carry is great for generic restaurant supplies at a great price but you're not going to find anything with character. City Kitchen has all of the top brands as well as some of their own and some of the best looking pottery I've ever seen. Not only that, their staff is INCREDIBLY knowledgeable. CK is THE place to buy a kitchen knife in this town, they even have the Henckel's 14" chef's knife. It's a monster! If you haven't been to City Kitchen, get thee hence!

The martini mister works! Woo hoo!

I did some panhandling on the way home.

City Kitchens is absolutely going to bankrupt me. I went in for the scale but ended up walking out with a 10" chef's knife (house brand, 1/2 off, $34) and a 10" carving knife (again, only $35). Batgrrrl bought the rest of the stuff: martini mister, cocktail playing cards, two butter dishes, a salt dish and a cheese plane amongst others. It took all my strength to leave behind the gorgeous thai morter and pestle set for $40. I'll have to wait for next month.

Word. I'll be there.

D'oh! We just missed it. Unfortunately they close at 6pm Monday through Saturday. This just means that we're heading there in an hour or two, timed to be against Mariner traffic of course.

Recently I've been registering for a helluvalot of kitchen stuff at Blood Bath & Beyond as well as Williams Sonoma and I can tell you that Blood Bath doesn't have aluminum bakeware. WS doesn't exactly have aluminum pans but after a quick search on their site, they have the pans you're looking for in "aluminized steel," or steel coated with aluminum. Has anyone tried these? How do they compare to all aluminum pans? On a side note, I recently registered for this:

Cheese! And sauce! Nothing more thank you very much. However, when other people want topping I usually go with one of the hippy specials like goat cheese, black olives, mushrooms, red onions and roasted garlic.

I agree about Mario as well, I've cooked more of his food than anyone else's (second is Sara). Re: an hour, that's the assumption and he usually says how long something is going to cook. Occasionally though he does say that he's cooking in real time like with pan flashing squid and octopus. I like Sara as well and I too find her to be unchallenging but she has good ideas which translates very well to the average homemake. For instance, my folks and family simply worship any of the recipes I've made from her though they were easier than pie. p.s. I used to say easy as pie but have you tried to make a truly great pie crust? It's not that easy and it's a lot harder than Sara's recipes.