budrichard

My expereince with fish mongers has been all over the place, that is why i was so specific about sashimi quality. Just because I guy sells fish dosen't mean he knows what he is talking about. In Chicago many places that are retail outlets for wholesale dealers are in fact selling fish that retaurants pass over and I wouldn't purchase. The final judge is yourself. -Dick

Report? Weather certainly was not as billed. It's been so warm that i had to bone and ice a deer I shot within a few hours to avoid spoliage.-Dick

Gave up on dried Porchini's after a large expensive bag of Roland's grew flying bugs!-Dick

Waffles at North Shore Country Club in Mequon Wisconsin are the best i have ever had. They use Golden Dipt Belgian Waffle Mix http://www.goldendipt.com/pages/master.html and a commercial maker. Waffles making is simple, the more watts or heat the maker has the thicker the waffle web. Simple home makers sold just don't have the heat therefore the webs are thin. I have a Kitchenaid ProLine which makes a very good waffle but I should have paid for a commercial maker, it's just not the same.-Dick

I use Hudson Valley C Grade exclusively now, A little flatter than A but works just as well. Soak in milk to remove the blood. I remove only the most visable and easiest to get at veins for a terrine and don't worry about what is left. I use a cast iron terrine from Le Cruset and basically season and put into a water bath in the oven until about 170f is reached and then cool. Probably the easiest and best is salt cured. Wrap your foie in cheese cloth, set in your terrine covered with kosher salt( I throw in some saltpeter for color preservation) put in refrig and wait. Pure heaven.-Dick

Be sure your truffle oil is from real truffles. I don't use it anymore because of reports of an artificial ester being used. Your scallops need to be 'dry pack' other wise they have been soaked in a chemical solution to prolong lifetime and add water. This leaves a chemical taste. Is your salmon tartar from fresh salmon or cold cured? Fresh salmon needs to be frozen and then treated with an acid to kill any parasites. If purchased from a Japanese store selling sashimi quality fish, it will be treated for you. If you are making amuses with raw or lightly treated fish, your health will be better and the taste will be better with sashimi quality fish.-Dick

Usually only the zest is used for a garnish for sashimi. -Dick

First of all, are we talking USDA Grade Prime meat or the generic apellelation that is used these days for a properly termed 'Standing Rib Roast'? I purchase my Prime USDA Grade Rib Roast from Zier's in Wilmette, Illinois. Is is dry aged 21 days at the store. Aging in your refrigerator for a few days accomplishes nothing and merely deludes yourself into thinking you have accomplished something significant. The debate and screwy methods of cooking cause me mirth because nothing could be simpler than cooking a true Prime Rib Roast. Pepin has a method that chefs have been using for eons. Season, sear in a hot oven, cook at somewhat reduced temperature above 300F( I remove when internal temp is just above 100F) and the let rest for a long time(at least an hour). Simple/works. -Dick

I purchase my guinea fowl at John's Live Poultry in Chicago so I know they are fresh( they are processed while I wait). The breast can be cooked like a pheseant. The leg thighs should be braised in some manner as they are much tougher. Use the carcass for a stock. Whatever you do, don't purchase a frozen bird, thier probably from China. -Dick

I have two types of the new Hershey's bars in my freezer ready to try tonight. The only really good chocolate I get is when i order from Bernachon's. I still can't get Belgian chocolate like I purchased years ago. The maker is now owned by a Brit firm. My daughter gave me a Godiva 'Tropical' selection a couple of years ago. Worst chocolate i have ever consumed. Godiva cared less. I afraid that with Hershey's purchasing these companies, Hershey's does so for a reason. They combine and reduce staff overall in all departments, source ingrediants together and use the same lines. Eventually the products all reach the same common denominator but Hershey's bottom line improves. It's basic start-up 101, develope a new/better/ product and obtain market share until the 'Big Boys' take notice. Sell and live on your own desert island.-Dick

When you select you own beef cuts, bone, trim and grind your own beef, they certainly are better and healthier!-Dick

Having lived in Mad City for many years and now residing in southern Wisconsin I can tell you that you are SOL for live dungeness crab. They aren't usually for sale even in Chicago Chinatown where I purchase other live crab. Grash's in Brookfield has them flown in sometimes but they are still cooked before shipment. Live Maine lobster is easier to get. As mentioned there is no 'cheap' shipping anymore and FedEx and UPS Overnight can come close to the cost of your purchase. I wish I had a good source for you but I don't. -Dick

Beef cuts like thick steaks and Prime Rib Roast should not be cooked to the indicated temperatures for doneness but somewhre below depending on your experience. The temperature will continue to rise after being removed from the heat and if you cook to a so-called temperature, the meat will end up overcooked. -Dick

Picard's cooking, book and general attitude towards life is a breath of fresh air. He is as serious about his food as any chef with a high profile but retains an irreverance and lust for life that is refreshing. So far we have made the PDC Poutine and 'Duck in a Can'. A veal demi-glace was used for the Poutine sauce and a duck stock for the 'Duck in a Can' . Fresh Grade C Hudson Valley foie gras was used in both dishes. Both dishes are hearty, rich and satisfying, not some itsy bitsy esoteric conglomeration of ingrediants that tries to pass for cooking these day. The DVD is great, continuning the irreverance of the book. I have to stop typing now and have my arteries checked.-Dick

If young and fresh, you could roast with liberal basting of butter, just don't cook like chicken, the breast should be still slightly pink. Better to debone the breast and then you can control the cooking better, use the leg/thighs for braising with sour cream/wine and the rest of the carcass for a stock for an eventual sauce for the breasts. -Dick

One last thought, the game is the 17th of December.-Dick

I have had several conversation with Linda Scott http://www.scotthams.com/store/ about thier dry cured hams. She made me understand that Listeria is a possible organism that is not controlled by just salt. After reviewing the FDA guidelines on curing country style hams which is what Prociutto really is, I have decided not to make any myself and certainly not tp purchase any dry cured ham for consuming raw. that is not tested for Listeria. There are always recalls for Prosciuuto listed for Listeria contamination so even the food purveyors don't always get it correct. In this case, the 'Food Police' have a point. The other concern is the source of your venison. If not a farm raised product, contamination is always a concern. Having just shot , field dressed and boned out a whole venison, even with the strict sanitary procedures that we follow, the fact that the animal is shot and dressed in a corn field with no sanitary control or HACCP procedures, leads one to require thourough cooking and no curing.-Dick

I posted this on the Quebec Sub Forum but apparently either all the Canucks keyboards are frozen or maybe I should have Posted in French! Anyway, here is the question again. Getting ready to make Foie Gras Poutine but don't have any PDC Poutine Sauce and the stores in Wisconsin don't carry Poutine Sauce. Would like an authentic recipe. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.-Dick

Have you actually roasted a whole foie? 250F is not roasting but warming a foie similar to putting your mold in a bain marie in the oven. I would consider roasting at above 400F, and if not experienced, the average person will overcook the foie to get what the food safety people tell us is an adequate temperature for poultry resulting in a puddle of fat. One would need to remove the foie at a very low center temp from roasting and then let the foie further cook in the remaining heat. I suppose with a lot of experience one may be able to achieve a good result but the result is not any different than using a mold, bain marie in the oven.-Dick

I corn about 4 whole briskets each year. Lately I have been using Waygu but any good brisket graded Choice or above will do.(I have purchased them graded Choice and the briskets from Prime animals are going somewhere although Brisket is not generally graded I am told) You will need Saltpeter to keep the color from getting gray(half a teaspoon). Use kosher salt(no iodine) and large two gallon plastic zip bags. The spicing I use is lots of fresh garlic, black pepper corns, a few cloves, cardamom pods to taste, coriander seed, fenugreek, bay leaves, ceylon cinnaman stick, star anise, mustard seed and whatever else suits my fancy at the time. Leave corn for at least two weeks in you refrigerator keeping the zip bag in another flat container because they will leak during that time. -Dick

"Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try a butterburger at Krolls. Maybe when the Pats return in 2014." Butter burgers are at Solly's http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.as...D=615&RefID=615 which carries the Wisconsin tradition of butter on burgers to extreme. In Wisconsin we don't call anything else a 'butter burger' . -Dick

Be aware that a foie is mostly fat, so if you roast at a high temp, you will end up with a little lump and a lot of runny fat. Better to poach in a pate mold put into a bain marie in the oven to control the temperature. That is how I use a whole foie It's like #12 Waygu beef, it has so much fat that a large piece renders itself before you reach an internal temperature that signifies its done. Taking the veins out of a whole foie must be learned by doing. Do it and piece back together, it will mold itself as it cooks into one piece.-Dick

The best I have had and the only factory corned beef I will eat is from Vienna Beef http://www.viennabeef.com/ . They supply a lot of the corned beef used in Deli's in the Mid West. Be aware that they sell two types, one corned and completely cooked and one only corned that must be put into the steam table for 6-8 hours as many Deli's like to do, In any event it's a great corned beef. -Dick

As a Green Bay Packer Team Owner, and looooong time Packer fan ( we had season tickets from 1958 thru ALL of the 'Glory Year's, I think I can comment. 1. The winters have gotton considerably milder. On the day of the 'Ice Bowl' we woke up to -26F 35 miles south of Green Bay, not wind chill but actual -26F. You probably will experience temperatures in the mid 20F's if lucky. Feet, hands and head are the most important. A nice warm face mask can extend your stay outdoors. Start with an artificial fiber like Polyproypyline for a base, add a thick liner of anything but cotton liner (down is very nice for sedentary events) and a wind resistant shell for both top and bottom. DO NOT drink alcohol but imbibe hot liquids. Save the alcohol for after the 'Pack' wins. In terms of fine dining, there isn't any. This comment is not meant to be derogatory but that's the way it is and I wouldn't change it. You certainly can find a good steak or buffet but you won't find any pretenciousness(sp?). Leave your Tux, resume and attitude behind. The inhabitants view the 'Deer Hunting' Season as the most important time of the year. Vince is still the ' Pope of Green Bay'. The people will be very friendly and will not try to rip you off but if you don't know a 30.06 from a cabernet, best just to absorb the color. You are not a Big Fish in a Small Pond but rather an unknown that will judged on your merits alone. Believe it or not, there are still many people in Wisconsin that don't have Cable! I vote for Kroll's West, whenever we are in Green Bay or traversing thru to the the Northland, we stop there. Good old fashion Wisconsin butter on a great hard roll. What you won't find anymore is a 'Cannibal Sandwich', banned by the 'Food Police'! Have a good time! I will be sitting at home, warm, cosy and drinking tea so I don't fall asleep during the game. -Dick