budrichard

One introduces whey with live cultures like one adds yeast during beer making. Any other bacteria are simply crowded out.-Dick

I have not made myself clear. The Diver Scallops harvested for and sold by Browne Trading are what are also referred to as 'Day Boat'. Maine law only allows shelled scallops to be sold if fished in Maine waters. These fisherman go out and come back the same day and the scallops are shipped the next day overnight by Browne Trading. We purchase a gallon at a time and eat them for a few days both raw and cooked. After that we freeze. Now other scallops you find in the market may in fact be frozen or whatever, who knows but today most retailers are labeling 'Wet' or 'Dry' Pack at least. We have had some very nice Sea of Cortez scallops Dry Pack that have not been frozen so one can find a good scallop, it just takes knowing your purveyor. Taylor Bay scallops are Farm Raised and sold in the shell like Farm Raised mussles and are not harvested by divers. Nantucket Bay Scallops, dry pack have just been on the market and have been excellent but were $40/#! I have asked my library to locate the newer version of McGee to read what he says but regardless, scallops DO NOT need to age and are BEST as soon as you can eat them.-Dick

When attending the UW Madison on the 1960's Leini's was about $2/case and I agree that it basically tastes the same today. But when 'Pig's Fly' is when I believe that Miller has no say in what Leini brews and markets! Before Miller purchased Leini's it was about $6/case, now Miller overhead has made it $12.99/12 pack.-Dick

Taylor Bay come from Browne Trading in 100 count bags. One can easily eat two dozen on the half shell at one sitting with a small butter knife to very easily open. In terms of McGee, my library only had the original 1984 copy. will have to find the revised ed.-Dick

Instead of cutting along and through the rib cage leaving a section of rib cage to be removed after filleting, the blade is flexible and you follow the contours of the rib cage and never cut through any bones, effectively eliminating one step. A deba is a stiff unflexible blade resulting in the typical Japanese methods. Of course with a fish like a salmon, you still have to remove the 'pin' bones. As far as sizes go, for very small fish, a shorter blade would be better and for large fish like a tuna, a takobiki would be better but for reasonable sized whole fish, this is how I learned and the method i prefer. BTW, I do have a deba from Takeda Hamono. -Dick

I think making a pizza using your own dough, using some sort of canned tomatoe, a 5# block of cheese and rolling your own is just about as simple as what you are doing. Dough is simply, flour, water, salt, yeast and a little olive oil. Made in a Food Processor in literally minutes. After rising, rolling with flour is not difficult and with a good scraper clean up is fast. A gas oven with convection in the bottom will yield a nice crisp crust and final surface browning can be under your broiler top rack if needed. Your food processor will also provide a nice fine dice with minimal effort for your cheese. You don't even have to clean it after you make the dough before processing the cheese. I use a high quality canned No Salt ground Tomatoe from Pastene http://www.pastene.com/Merchant2/merchant....egory_Code=TOMA . Pastene has both Califronia, Italian and San Marzano tomatoes available. I purchase 5# blocks of cheese from Sam's! The stone is up to you but usually I don't use one. I guess I don't see that your method saves enough time from the method i use?-Dick

Since you don't have a source for USDA Prime, then Lobel's is quite simply superior to anything else and it will not be frozen. Delivered on Friday, no problem sitting in your fridge until Tuesday. I have never been dissapointed by Lobels. But I would really investigate local sources for USDA Prime or Choice for that matter. BTW trying to debone and cut if you don't have the right tools and expertise will not be good! How many people are you going to feed, if only two, then what you really will get is a double cut Rib Steak. A full Standing Rib will feed at least 15 people. Do a search for preparation methods. You will find a plethora of ways people cook a rib roast, some simple and some arduous!-Dick

After years of screwing with old designed crock pots with crappy lids, scum and what not, I ordered a 20l Harsch for myself from http://www.simply-natural.biz/Harsch-Crock-Pot.php this source. This crock has semi circular stones provided to weight down the product and a unique water seal to release CO2 but keep out air and unwanted bacteria. A trip to the local Wholesale Produce in Milwaukee (Jennaro) produced a crate of beautiful Kirby cucumbers from Mexico. Some bolied well water, canning salt, garlic from California and fresh dill used up only about half the crate. Today we canned 28 quarts of Kosher Dills to use up the rest. In 21 days we will lift the lid to determine the results! Anyone else used the Harsch?-Dick

Call. Phil prefers personal contact or at least that is my experience but he has answered my emails.-Dick

Make reservations at Windsor Court http://www.windsorcourthotel.com/web/onor/onor_a2a_home.jsp . Fly, drive, pedal, walk, whatever you have to do, get to New Orleans. Walk to Bourbon Street, turn onto Iberville Street, Order Fried Oyster Po-Boy at Acme Oyster House http://www.acmeoyster.com/#events with Dixie beer. After, have a few dozen oysters at the standup bar. It doesn't get any better than this!-Dick

I have put McGee's book on reserve at my library and will read the applicable passages. I am very serious about my scallops and until about 10 years ago could get scallops in the shell in Chicago. I finally found out why the bulk scallops we had bought were nothing like the scallops of old. When in the shell scallops vanished in Chicago, Browne Trading was able to supply dry pack 'Day Boat' scallops of exquisite quality that we eat as sashimi also. Maine State Law requires scallops to sodl shelled. Taylor Bay are farmed bay scallops in the shell available in sacks of 100 and after shucking and cooking them, I decided to try them like oysters on the half shell, very good! So my experience comes from purchasing and eating scallops from many sources.-Dick

In terms of thick, 1" is not thick but for me starts at 2&1/2". I only salt just before the meat goes on the grill because salt draws out moisture using as mentioned a course sea salt with fresh course grind black pepper. Sear each side and then remove from direct contact with coals until internal temp is 100F and then let rest at least 20 minutes for a 2&1/2" steak. You just cannot properly achieve a nice uniform pink rare with a 1" thick steak because by the time you sear the surfaces properly, the interior is medium at best.-Dick

The real answer is fresh, period and dry pack without any chemicals. I get farm raised Taylor Bay scallops in the shell and we don't wait to eat them after we shuck them, in fact we mostly eat them raw right after shucking. When I can a get large diver scallps in the shell, there is no difference between the shucked diver's I get from Browne Trading that are at worst two days old.-Dick

This is the largest block Wusthof makes and holds a 10" wide cook's and a 10" Cordon Bleu among others including Chinese Cook's knife. I checked and a 12" cook's fits but not the 12" wide cook's. The bottom row is supposed to be for 8 steak knives but I have an assortment of small paring knives in those locations and steak knives are elsewhere.The bigger knives are kept in the drawer pictured below the block and include up to 13" 'BoneSplitter'. Japanese knives are kept seperate in thier sheaths/boxes and implements such as cheese knives, cleavers, meat pounders and saws have thier own storage location. -Dick

I have been follwing Phil's work for a few years and early this year wondered why I didn't have one of his fillet knives? http://www.seamountknifeworks.com/index.htm A call to Phil resulted in a pleasant conversation and an order for one of his fillet knives. Phil's fillet knives are very flexible allowing one to follow the contours of the fish rib cage which is the technique I perfer rather than using a rigid blade and cutting thourgh the rib bones as the Japanese do. Phil recently delivered this 9" Punta Chivato in CPM 154, a new particle metalurgy steel which Phil has started to use and since I had no knives with this steel, why not? The Stag, Ironwood and stabalized wood handle complete the package along with an excellent sheath. A fillet of Kona Kampachi was acquired and a quick stroke removed the skin quite nicely. As good as any fillet knife I have and the 9" blade is really appreciated for larger fish. Phil says on his website, he is not presently taking orders but since he filled this order in less than a year, I wouldn't expect a problem with calling him and discussing your needs. He is a Mechanical Engineer and quite knowledagble about steels and knifemaking.-Tonight its Yellowtail Terriyaki! -Dick

"I'm interested in your thoughts regarding Takeda's single beveled knives. Are subcontracted out or did Takeda make them? Why the drastically different kanji?" If your worried about Knifeforums.com, then don't register for this site http://usualsuspect.net/ . A group of us Tactical Knife collectors got fed up with the unregulated atmosphere on both Knife and BladeForums and started this Forum about 5 years ago. It is now the premier knife forum on the web but you can't partake until your registration is validated. Anyway to answer your questions, single bevel knives are traditional Japanese and for many reasons I am quite a traditionalist. I much prefer working directly with a maker rather than purchasing Custom Knives thourgh a purveyor so since Takeda comes to Chicago once per year, makes very nice customs at much more affordable price than top Japanese forgers, he is who is making my knives now. Because of cost, limited availablity and I'm not sure if the Japanese really think we are deserving on thier knives, the top knives rarely make it out of Japan. Murray being there at the time was just luck. As far as I know Takeda makes all his own work. Since I can't read kanji, I don't know. If you come over to the 'Dark Side' and register on the Usual Suspects Network, I am sure we can help you obtain many more knives.-Dick

Quite a common custom among the French with Laguiole folding knives. A test of whether the sharpness of the knife affects the flavor is something that Cook's Illustrated is quite capable of: "Full of the sound and fury and signifying absolutely nothing"!-Dick BTW EDC for the City of Chicago is 2.5" blade length. I have had two Custom folders built for me over the years to meet this ordinance. http://www.chicityclerk.com/legislation/co...hapter8_24.html -Dick

I currently have the Kitchenaid Pro-Line and it is a work horse. Even when leaving a spoon in the blender, it was undamaged! Crushes ice whatever, purees, blender sauces and cleans in a jiffy.-Dick

Sorry but I disagree on Sanford's. If coming back on Monday stop for dinner at Carlos and bring your own wine because there is no corkage on Monday! The food is far superior to Sanford's.-Dick

As a Green Bay former Season Ticket holder since 1958 and Green Bay Packer Share holder presently, Kroll's is it! Seriously, Green Bay is not a dining mecca. The town is still a nice small town and the people are still nice people. I have been stopping at Kroll's since 1958 and its always very good. I would ask your B&B people about where to go in Green Bay. On the way up to Green Bay or back to Chicago, for dinner you could stop at Mangia's http://www.onwisconsin.com/dining/dining.asp?id=1759 in Kenosha or for a truly first class meal, Carlos in Highland Park http://www.carlos-restaurant.com/ . While in Chicago proper, the number of good restaurants is almost over whelming. Have a good time!-Dick

Squirrels may be rodents but they are very clean, eat vegetation and generally have no vermin on them. I have been hunting and eating them for many years. Most difficult part is removing the skin. It is an art that must be learned but after that its quite doable. The meat braises very well and if you pan fry quickly, still very good. Like all wild game the care and cleaning after being killed are quite important to the final taste. In Kentucky squirrel brains and scrambled eggs used to be quite popular. AS correctly stated, most states do not allow sale of harvested wild game unless there is a commercial provision in the state laws. Best bet is to find a good hunter and trade for food or wine! This year with the cost of my new Browning T2 Varmint and Leupold 3x9 EFR scope, I figure each squirrel has cost me about $100!-Dick

After about 20 years of plucking and parafin, I switched to breasting out the bird and also taking the leg thighs and giblets. Very simple, very fast. Many game birds actually benefit from seperately cooking the breast from the leg thighs. At one time we even located a guy who cleaned wild ducks and geese. We would give him the birds, go have lunch and pick them up on the way home. Rumor has it that his wife and children made him give up the business because of the smell! Anyway, when he closed, we switched to breasting out and have never looked back.-Dick

All the knives in the first picture are made by Takeda. He is quite a charachter and is continualy sharpening knives as you talk to him. His hand sharpening tool pictured is the easiest way I have found to sharpen these knives. Takeda's knives are as sharp as any I have and although the final finishing is not as fine as the honyaki, the price differential is large. I also prefer purchasing from a custom maker rather than a factory knife but that comes from 35 years of custom knife collecting. The honyaki as said was brokered for me by Murray Carter http://www.cartercutlery.com/ . Murray actually apprenticed in Japan to learn Japanese blade making. While in Japan I asked him to procure this type of knife from the best Japanese bladesmith. The maker is Kenichi Shiraki who is an independant knife maker not working for any of the Japanese manufactures. Typically a sushi chef will procure one of these and use for the rest of his career eventually reducing the length from 33cm. This one is 27cm long as I don't think i will ever use it enough to worry about the blade shortening. The one Takeda made for me is 30cm as my knife skills have improved to where I could handle the longer blade. My first commercial blade was 23cm long. Murray is a fine maker of traditional Japanese blades in his own right and my next blade will be from Murray.-Dick

Your Hiromoto AS gyuto is not of Japanese traditional sandwich construction and blade profile. A traditional Japanese blade has only a single bevel and there are some cutting techniques that cannot be performed without this style of blade. Your blade is western style and of single material construction from the on-line source i looked at. I am currently using this source http://www.shop.niimi.okayama.jp/kajiya/en/index_e.html and have four of his blades at the present. Takeda comes to the Chicago Custom Knife Show each year and brings what i order. BTW, His sharpening system is the best i have ever used. I started with a commercial Yanagi of sandwich construction which is very sharp. As time progressed, i ordered, using Murray Carter as a broker when he resided in Japan, a Honyaki from a top Japanese smith, forged of Hitachi # 1 white steel with ebony/ivory with silver inlay, it is the pinnacle of Japanese blade making but its price precludes me from ordering another! I had Takeda make me a similar blade and the performnce is about the same. Your Schaff from the information I could locate is stainless steel(actually think it is Hi carbon Stainless) which yield very sharp blades but are really no match for traditional Japanese blades. If you want to try traditional Japanese style knives, i think you will find them the sharpest of all blades available as i have.-Dick

Just read the book, well actually skimmed the book and looked that the mostly pictures in my Public Library. Took about 1/2 hour as the written content is minimal. Frankly it is not worth my purchasing and I guess i won't be seeing Tony this year.-Dick