budrichard

Squirrels like many other game animals and birds go into an initial shock when first shot and if the first shot is not lethal, they will 'come to' and be active for awhile but they will probably will eventually succumb to bleeding out and death but some may survive. Bears can take hours to bleed out if not an initial fatal shot with distressing consequences to the hunter if not prepared.-Dick

Long ago I decided to only pick up the squirrels I shot with leather gloves on after I saw the size of their teeth! I also only pick them up by the neck from behind so even if they revive after the initial shot, they can be firmly held and throttled by the neck. So far haven't been bitten. Mallet, your pate needs some fat to hold together. Chicken livers just do not supply enough fat. I do not use wild goose livers in a pate as they and most wild game is very lean. A ceramic terrine is very useful and then the pate can be cooked in a water bath.-Dick

We have built in racks for storing wine glasses inverted. Rims touch nothing, bowls stay clean and do not collect dust. If you are serious about your wine glasses and storage, I suggest you consider that type of storage.-Dick

Immersion blenders are for when you have a large amount to process in a large pot on your range and don't want to remove the contents of the pot for processing ergo the long stalk on immersion blenders. For small amounts, immersion blenders are relatively useless.-Dick

I've had a Braun 172-B made in Mexico for many years now. It really does not do much and has a time limitation on operation (For Intermittent Use Only) because its just a small motor for household use. I recently purchased this Robot Coupe Combi with stick mixer, emulsifier and wisks. http://www.robotcoupeusa.com/products/product-info.php?id=85 It's commercial quality, really works great and is made to serviced. It's made in France. I am in the process of replacing all my countertop household electrics with commercial products not made in China. Everything was Kitchenaid Pro-Line, some of it not too bad and made in the USA but the China stuff is going.-Dick

Unlike the chicken egg industry where salmonella is in the supply chain, quail eggs can be used raw and are frequently eaten raw requiring no pasteurization.-Dick http://www.quora.com/Food/Are-raw-quail-eggs-less-likely-to-contain-Salmonella-than-raw-chicken-eggs

I use Hudson Valley fresh foie. I used to use Grade A for foie gras and Grade C for seared preps but found that for a home prep it really didn't matter as the Grade C were good enough. I do not devein for a home prep, simpler and really doesn't cause a problem. We cure in salt with a little saltpeter for a torchon (no cooking in an oven at all required), we also slice, sear in a hot pan and serve very rare (as Posted you could eat it raw and in fact attempting to cook the foie throughout will actually result in a puddle of fat and an unappetizing lump.) and we also cook in a terrine in a Bain Marie in a water bath at about 300f preheated oven until about 120F internal and then remove and allow to rest and then chill before removing from a Le Creuset large ceramic terrine http://cookware.lecreuset.com/cookware/product_Heritage-1-1%2F2-QT.-Pate-Terrine_10151_-1_20002_10058_10051. The longer you cook and the higher your temp, the more fat you will render and the less appealing your Foie Gras will become. It's really an iterative process because I don't know how your oven responds, your temp measuring equipment and your terrine mold. I would assume a metal mold would render more fat than a ceramic but really don't know because I don't use one. They do have a smaller model that may or may not fit your needs. Pepin has detailed with pictures preps in his classic two volume set 'The Art of Cooking' and the proprietor of Hudson Valley has this book http://www.amazon.com/Foie-Gras-Passion-Michael-Ginor/dp/0471293180/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325075116&sr=1-1 but you really don't need them as any good book should suffice, it's really very simple but does require a bit of experimentation as you get to know the process and how your equipment responds.-Dick

Not a knife for meat or fish butchery, it is a single purpose design for making precise square cuts on soft fish or mollusks. Usually when starting to use a yanagiba, most prefer a shorter blade. I started with a 23 cm, then a 27cm and finally a 30cm blade as I became accustomed to working with a yanagiba. I don't have an experience with any of the models you listed but any will probably fit the bill. KnifeForums has a section on these knives and a few purveyors are usually on-line. My experience is that they know what they are taking about although I have never purchased any of their blades as I am comfortable in the Japanese knife world. My first was a commercial blade sold from Yamasho about 30 years ago. My next two were custom blades built for me. There really is no difference in cutting between a commercial three part blade and a single piece blade, the difference is in the aesthetics of which you pay a lot of money for if made by a qualified Japanese smith. Murray Carter is an excellent maker back in the US after spending a number of years in Japan learning the art. Murray understands that Japanese knife making at these levels is an art form rather than a commercial process. He would be another resource. Good luck-Dick

Pizza as your used to and my favorite type also, really doesn't exist in Chicago Land, at least i haven't been able to find it! Burt is revered in Chicago but you have to like dish type pizza and unfortunately Burt comes with the pizza! I have yet to try Great Lakes. The closest i have come is Wells Pizza in Racine Wisconsin which is near where we live but that doesn't help you at all.-Dick

"I would love a no-nonsense place that sells great quality meat, ideally from some identifiable farm that whose reputation I can check out (I realize this last bit may be asking too much)." That type of place just doesn't exist. No-nonsense places purchase meat from Packing Houses who purchase from no-nonsense large farms, What do you want, I can't determine from your Post whether beef or lamb? Certainly Ziers's or Joseph's will fill the bill on a Prime Rib but time is short and will empty your wallet. For good lamb prices and excellent quality plus reasonable prices I can recommend Spartan Bros 7140 N Harlem but again time is short. We also get our lamb from Pinn-Oaks farms here in Wisconsin and they do make restaurant deliveries but at this time, you just have to call. The lamb from Spartan is just as good but without the boutique reputation of Pinn-Oaks. Good luck.-Dick

Again, No!-Dick

We drink a lot of Rose both still and sparkling. There are two ways to make a Rose, one is to let the skins stay with the wine until a hue is developed and the other is to mix red with white. My understanding that today most is made by mixing. I prefer a slightly sweet Rose but there are French producers and others making a dry austere form of the wine. I keep Domaine Chandon and Freixenet Rose sparklers on hand and they are very good as a first wine for any type of gathering, there is something about the red hue that is festive. There are many Champagne producers getting into Rose wines and they come at a steep premium! B&G makes a very consistent slightly sweet Rose over the decades but none of it is made to be aged.-Dick

I gave up reading wine reviews at least a decade ago. Now I just look at the pretty labels and read the nice words on the bottle and pick one! Seriously, wine reviews are written to garner attention and differentiate oneself from the plethora of reviewers. Where they obtain these tastes and characteristics is beyond me and I'm convinced much of it is made up attributes and prose. Don't pay any attention to it.-Dick

How did you obtain the All Clad information? I asked All Clad a number of years ago and was told that the information on thicknesses of the metals was 'proprietary'. The question at the time was in relationship to All Clad copper cookware. I already knew the answer in that the All Clad copper was not a 2.5mm copper and in reality the copper was just for appearance. I assume that the All Clad 'Copper Core' was the result of All Clad realizing that people didn't believe that All Clad copper was true copper cookware.-Dick

In regards to the 2.5mm thickness as being ideal for copper: Any material between the heat source and the contents of a pan is subject to a temperature drop across the materials of the pan. This temperature drop is linear and is dependent on the heat conducting property of the material. The thicker the material the greater the temperature drop. Using limits as indicators of what occurs, minimal thickness or no thickness, you will be cooking with the temperature of the heat source, if the material was of infinite thickness, the temperature of the contents would not increase. I suspect 2.5mm copper was developed over time by trail and error as ideal and tin was used because that was the only way to coat and before metal forming allowed copper/stainless sandwiches to be manufactured. Teflon coating will actually increase the temperature drop of a pan and was really developed because aluminum pans that are not coated or SS lined stick. Tinned copper pans need to be relined at some time if used frequently, SS will last as an interior lining. I suspect that the expertise required to reline tin pans will or has been just about lost. I also don't know of anyone relining Teflon coated pans?-Dick

I never brine wild birds of any kind. Having the bird plucked is nice if preparing whole. Even game farm birds don't have a lot of fat so barding is a good idea. I use butter, unsalted both inside and out and for barding/basting. Simply season as you like and roast in a hot oven until rare to medium rare, let rest about 15 minutes before carving and serve. I have taken to preparing my wild birds is the following manner because invariably the leg/thighs respond much better: I take the breasts and leg thighs and innards, the breasts are roasted until rare off the bone, the leg/thighs are cooked by some sort of moist heat process, sometimes with sour cream and sometimes in a stock. The innards are used for pates or other type preparations.-Dick

John Boos makes the best wood cutting surfaces. My counter-tops are 4" end grain maple but they do make edge grain thinner cutting boards.-Dick http://www.cutleryandmore.com/john-boos/cherry-edge-grain-cutting-board-p116605?src=Shopzilla&cam=Products&kw=16605 http://www.johnboos.com/categories_for?cat_id=9345

"No I won't, because I will not see the pig until he is in neat little vacuum packed packages!" Please explain how your processors packages? I have never seen any processor use anything other than standard butcher paper and tape.-Dick

I've had a complete set of Falk for over 20 years now. As an Engineer with Graduate Metallurgy studies, I did my research on what was available before purchasing. All-Clad will tell you that their composition is proprietary but that is just an attempt to confuse you and their Copper whatever is not true copper cookware. I chose the Falk for one the fact that most pieces are 2.5mm clad, the stuff is literally bomb proof and the finish is brushed. There was no way i wanted to have to keep up that many pieces with a bright shine. So far there has not been a single problem with any piece. Michael Harp at Falk is good to deal with and the reason there is a $$ discount is because I asked for that because i was spending so much. It was worth it. Now there is a down side to the bigger pieces if you are small of stature or getting older, they weigh a lot! so if you have that concern then maybe the large Saute and a few other pieces are not for you. Having all the sizes helps as you can tailer the size to how much you are making and what you are making. The large saute does have a loop handle to help but it is a bear sometimes. I've looked at the Mauviel and didn't think it was constructed as well as the Falk but that is only subjective. The tin coated Mauviel pieces are to be avoided as the tinning is crap and i have sent back every piece i have ordered. note: that some copper shapes are only available in tin. Purchasing on eBay may be fine for the wallet but most of what i see is junk, really not 2.5mm professional and having a mismatched set of copper does not give one the insight that can be gained of how the pieces respond to heat input changes. A set of Falk will cost but the Falk will be superb and better than any cookware out there.-Dick

Your question "what else?" is certainly valid. I purchase no substantial food items from China and I try to purchase condiments from Taiwan. There are craw fish, rabbits, many types of fish for sale in the USA labeled Product of China of which i purchase none . I regard China as the equivalent of the USSR in the mid 20th Century, completely without Regulation and any sense of concern for the well being of individuals.-Dick

Local, only way to go. We haven't purchased honey in a store in decades.-Dick

First there is no "closely USDA approved butcher" but only meat processors who have USDA Inspectors on-site. The carcass is then stamped if inspected and approved. Second, I know of no pig that's 400# in 9 months. Check your source for either weight or age. Market hogs go about 200#'s. There have been a lot of good suggestions already on this thread, certainly the head whole or cracked to bone out the external fat and flesh for headcheese. I don't use the brain but the ears are good and crunchy. You can render the fat but its a big job as well as preparing the skin for cracklins. Most cuts are standard in the industry for the USA and you should have no problem. Do you have a big freezer to accommodate the animal? Lastly, good luck!-Dick

I've cut a lot of bones in my day and using a hacksaw is not the best, easiest or cleanest. I have a large Wusthof bone saw and Wusthof 13" 'Bone Splitter' that would take your arm off. Techniques is to have a straight leg bone, on end, and wack with the 'Bone Splitter'. Small pieces fly everywhere but it works. I just don't frequent slaughter houses and I doubt that they will sell you anything direct in the USA as the bone goes right into the bone meal process and they would have to disrupt the work flow.-Dick

We get venison heart just about every year from the animals we shoot and also take the hearts from game birds. I also like veal heart and lamb when I can get it. Beef heart is a little tough but there is a recipe for stuffed 'Beef Heart Comanche Style' from Walter Jettson that i have tried many years ago. The prep we use most of the time is to slice thin and briefly saute but we do have a friend that lives on Venison and he boils the hearts, chills, slices and serves with salt and condiments. He is amazed that my son and myself will eat it because he can't get anyone else. He lives way way back in the woods of northern Wisconsin and he and his forebears have owned about 1600 acres for ever. It's a way of life that is being lost. I will have to try venison heart tartar fall.-Dick

With most of the groceries going to purchasing pre-cut meat already packaged, bones and good marrow bones are just about extinct. The proper method is to obtain a leg bone sawn in half, roast @ 400F or so until done, you will know when done, soaking not required. My local store used have leg bones and saw them for me but then they decided that it was too dangerous on the vertical table saw and that was that. Now once in a while in various stores I see knuckle and other various bones for sale but they are not useful as marrow bones. Soon even making stock will become a thing of the past.-Dick