budrichard

I conducted extensive blind taste tests on the Italian olive oils that were readily available in my area. Oils from Sam's and other large chains were in variably very light and without substance. Cheap oils were bitter and acidic. Colavita while not inexpensive has excellent deep flavor and color. I checked today and 3l is $30, less if you purchase a case of 4 which is what I do. Case lasts me a year. I don't purchase boutique oils because all though there may be very good oils out there, most is hype and overpriced. I like having a stable supply and not being dissapointed when purchasing an oil and will not use a substandard oil for anything. Right now, a red sauce with anchovies, red peppers, mushrooms, and real San Marzano canned tomatoes is simmering with meat balls fried in Colavita. This will be served on Italian Tagliatelle with a mixed green salad with Colavita. Life is too short to use crap!-Dick

I would think it was modeled after an Inuit Ulu.-Dick

Superior type chicken stock is the traditional base. Vegetables that will compliment can go with it. Steam the shark fins using some of the chicken stock until they curl and are tender. Shark fins supply texture rather than flavor. Red vinegar is also good. -Dick

Custom knife set given to Batali at the NASCAR 400.

All Clad will not give out the thicknesses of the various layers claiming 'propietary Information', I know as I tried to obtain thier 'Copper Core' thicknesses. So, outside of sectioning a pan, the only measurement one can use is total thickness, all the rest is speculation. I also believe that All Clad is sourcing some if not all, from off shore. So, todays All Clad is not the All Clad of yesterday. If not choosing a commercial copper quality pot/pan, I would go with what looked good and met my budget and not worry about branding because its all marketing today and all the rest is useless speculation. The only way to determine which of the aluminum Pots/pans are good/best is to obtain samples of each of approximately the same dimensions and conduct controlled tests to evaluate heat transfer. Subjective ratings of the construction, look and feel would also be done. -Dick

Penzey's http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysancho.html . The ground ancho is superlative.-Dick

Drive to Tenuta's Italian Grocery store http://www.tenutasdeli.com/tek9.asp in Kenosha Wisconsin. Purchase a case of Colavita in 3l cans. It is top quality Extra Virgin Italian olive oil and is all I use. The oil is very stable and depending on your usage is good for at least a year. If you can't use 4 cases in a year, do a group purchase or one can. When you are there, puruse the other Italian grocery items.-Dick

The principle value of the higher conductivity of copper over aluminum is the ability to transfer more btu's in the same amount of time. Therefore your pan/pot will heat faster but not hotter. You can also regulate temperature much faster with copper. The highest temperature a pan/pot can achieve is a function of the temperature of your source i.e. gas flame. This temperature drops between the source and the inside of the pan/pot as the heat transfers through the material of the pot/pan because it is the temperature differential that causes heat transfer. I have a complete set of Falk Culinair and have thrown everything else out. Because copper is denser than aluminum, some of the pieces are very heavy but the Falk has proved to be industructable. Most of the aluminum cookware out there is low priced junk. Some like AllClad appears to be well made although the Copper Core is not really copper cookware. I purchased the AllClad for my daughter because she just cannot handle the heavy Falk.-Dick

Wusthof makes an excellent waiter type of corkscrew and is all I use except for Champagne where I use a Wusthof Champagne pliers. All the others just sit including my last years Xmas present.-Dick

I'm sure if your use the Emerilware line of Wusthof knives, you will be a short step away from your own cooking show and line of restaurants! Emerilware is brandng taken to the extreme. These are stamped blades and are only about making money and not providing a quality product. Frankly, I don't purchase any product a chef brands and I don't eat at restaurants where the chef is not in attendance. There is one exception though, I do have an extensive collection of Raynaud 'Point'. It actually is well designed and is quality Limoge!-Dick

I too was amazed in Walmart where even the beef is adulterated. Sam's so far has only the chicken adulterated. I refuse to purchase such products including scallops and other fish that has/have any type of preservative. Note: this includes much of frozen fish/crab/shrimp. The vast majority of the purchasing public is only interested in how cheap it is and how fast can i make it. So, sooner or later, I probably will be a vegetarian because I will not be able to purchase unadulterated products.-Dick

I've collected custom knives for 35+ years. In that time period, I have purchased a few for kitchen work, mostly Japanese but a few traditional Western. I finally standardised on Wusthof about 10 years ago. The reason being, that there is no custom maker that produces a full range of knives such as Wusthof. If you purchase strictly custom or a mix, what you end up with is a hodge podge of knives that fit and cut differently. Custom blades are also usually shorter than the 10", 12" and 14" Wusthof I use. Wusthof knives all feel and cut similarly with the Cordon Bleu range being closer to what one might term easier cutting. The Cordon Bleu knives are a small subset of the Wusthof 'Classic' line, so one must mix the two to have a full range. If your needs are satisfied by a couple of knives, then a custom maker may be for you but if you need/want a full range of knives that are similar, then look at a commercial line. The one thing you don't want to do is get caught up in a discussion of which custom is best. Then you enter the realm of the enthusiast where the objective is not use but technical trivia.-Dick

To succinctly answer your questions: Uni has a delicate structure and I have never seen it sold frozen. Your questions implies that it was previously frozen? In any event, thaw it out and smell it, look at the structure and let your senses be your guide. Snow crab comes pre cooked, therefore in the cooking process any flavor that was in the shell has been lost through the cooking process. I also don't know anyone that makes a stock out of frozen pre cooked crab shells. If you look at the package there is also probably some sort of preservative or chemical added. Garbage.-Dick

Spot on advice! About 25 year ago I purchased Buffalo China from a restaurant supply in Chicago. 24 of each, plates, coffee cups and bowls. A few have chipped over the period, one or two have broken from horrendous abuse but the majority are still with us. The glaze is finally wearing off but I just go into the attic where there are few left unused and pick them out. Buffalo China is still made but sourced from Mexico. For weekend dinner parties we use Bernardaud Lemoge. Bernardaud comes in many patterns, some very expensive such as Metropoles which we have a set of but the same china is available in thier 'Madison' pattern at less cost. So far we have not broken any. Recently I have been accumulating a set of Raynaud 'Point' designed by Keller. These plates and serving vessels are somewhat unique and are a nice change from standard plates and bowls. The 12.5" plates and bowls allow one to be very creative in decorating and arrangement as there is a lot of area to work with. These also seem to be robust if a little large to wash and handle. Other than a mechanical test using a swinging weight such as used in Metalurgy tests, I do not know of any way other than actual usage to determine how well a certain plate will hold up.-Dick

Berghoff Oktoberfest 5l can were procured from a Milwaukee source (Discount Liquors). During a Pig Roast I had last Sunday, the Berghoff was compared to my favorite Oktoberfest, Hofbrau. The Berghoff had good hops and was very good and fresh but the Hofbrau was simply better even in the bottle. At $12.99 a keg, the price is not bad but considering it does not have to trucked half way around the world, a little high. It appears that beer is not priced according to cost of manufacture and distribution but based on what the market will bear.-Dick

I'll second "The Cuisines of Germany" by Horst Scharfenberg ". I have been using this book for almost 20 years. Today, roast suckling pig, German potato salad and red cabbage are being cooked with the book as a guide. My college German is not very good anymore so a book in German is out. -Dick

Shizuo Tsuji's book "Japanese Cooking-A Simple Art", has an excellent section on filleting using a deba. Note that the Japanese methods are derived using a deba which is a non flexible blade and certain methods cut both the rib bones and flesh away from the backbone and then the rib bones are removed in a seperate step. Western flexible filleting blades allow one to run the blade over the contour of the ribs and remove the flesh without any bones. So the knife you choose determines the techniques you use.-Dick

Cream is like bacon, it goes good with everything!-Dick

Conch are not snails. They are only suitable purchased live. The preperation is fairly simple but requires tools and gumption. You break the shell with a hammer at the third ring down from the top. Using a sharp knife you then cut the conch free from the inner shell spiral. Remove the obvious entrails, eyes and what some individuals think is an aphrodisiac and then cut into slices, marinate briefly in salt and lime and eat. Cooked conch is tough so pound away before cooking. The stuff frozen or canned is to be avoided.-Dick

Geoducks are best used as sashimi and sushi and are termed Muragai by the Japanese. They are suprisingly available live in Chicago. Not inexpensive though! Run a knife around the inside of ths shel to release the Geoduck. Cut off the siphon and blanch in boiling water briefly and then into an ice water bath. the thin outside membrane can then be removed easily. Slice the siphon in half lengthwise and then use in your preperation. Traditional Japanese Chefs make cuts along the long axis of the siphon just a little ways through. The siphon is then sliced perpendicular to the long acis in 1/4" strips. The Chef will then slam the cut piece down on the cutting board and as it contracts due to muscle fiber movement, say, " See, alive!", getting great fun out of impressing the diners. Anyway, Geoducks, steamers, razor, quahogs, manila or what have you, clams are GOOD!-Dick

You can use the shells from fresh shrimp to make stock for a soup but a reduction of the liquid from a 1/4 # of shrimp steamed will not get you anywhere. You also will need the shells from more than 1/4 # to make a stock. I might shell the shrimp, heat the shells with cream, add a little wine, salt and white pepper, then saute the shelled shrimp in the cream and serve on your grouper. Good luck!-Dick

I use only veal tongue in my cooking. It is milder and more tender.-Dick

If you do not have an experienced individual with you, ready to assure that the task is performed quickly and as humanely as possible, you will end up with a mess both literally and figuratively speaking. You need hands on instruction from a qualified person.-Dick

"But he didn't use quahogs at all -- instead he used the true New England clam, the soft or steamer clam." Both hard shell i.e Quahogs and soft shell i.e steamers are native to New England waters and why anyone would call one 'true', I have no idea? Steamers are very soft and not ideal for chowder. They are much better eaten steamed (hence the name) right out of the shell with melted butter or fried in a batter. (remember to remove the neck covering!) Steamers have been served this way as long as i can remember. Quahogs on the other hand range in size from very large and tough, to Cherry stones, smaller and good eating raw to Little Necks, even smaller and even better raw. Using Cherry Stones and Little Necks in a chowder would be a waste of a good raw clam but it can be done. The price of the chowder would increase as the smaller the clam, the more dear the clam is. Quahogs are chopped and used in chowder for the simple reasons that outside of stuffing and roasting, that's about the only use for a Quahog and chowder is the best and most economical use of the Quahog.-Dick

Shosui Takeda of Takeda Hamono http://www.shop.niimi.okayama.jp/kajiya/en/index_e.html comes to the Chicago Custom Knife Show each year. As a Custom Knife collector, I enjoy working with the maker rather than the simple act of acquisition. My Honyaki pictured above while a very nice knife and an example of Japanese exquiste craftsmanship, is too expensive to have a complete collection made for me. Takeda Hamono knives while a composite construction, are as sharp as any knife I have ever used and the Aogami AS may well be the sharpest steel I have had in a knife. The Yanagabi pictured is 30 cm and while not as finally crafted as the Honyaki pictured, was about 1/8 of the cost. Shosui delivered it to me at last years show. At this years show, I took delivery of the Nakiribocho and Debabocho pictured, that i had ordered earlier this year. I had made a Nabe and layered the botom of the bowl with Masutake mushroom slices. My wife asked how i was able to get the slices so thin. It was easy with the Nakiribocho. Shosui is dedicated to his craft and pays particular attention to sharpaning and stones. The device pictured has two different grits and is very useful for every day tuning of blades. The wood extension is to guard your wrist during sharpening. The blades do require more care than stainless, but a little vegetable oil after use suffices.-Dick