budrichard

Dinner this evening was oxtail soup. You do need to buy at least 'choice' grade because if you purchase the kind that now comes cryovac packed you will indeed be purchasing 'oxtails' and the result will be tough meat. -Dick

I've taken to boning out the rabbit for a boneless saddle stuffed with the legmeat and whatever else you want to add. the bones are then used to make a stock for reduction with the liver. It's a little time consuming and requires precise knife technique as well as sharp knives but makes a nice presentation. WE won't have any tomorrow as our rabbit hunt came up empty handed today! -Dick

For flat parsely, I merely cut off the leafy part with stem and roll in a tight ball and then chop. The lower stems are saved for stock. For thyme, I strip off the buds from the little stalks and don't worry about the occasional stalk in a preperation. Life's too short! For many preperations the whole stalk is put in and removed before service. -Dick

I do not believe that the danger is overstated and should not be considered. We already know that downed animals are entered in the nations food supply with diagnostics following. A few years ago a local meat packer here was put out of business after being convicted of processing downed animals without I assume Government Ok. We used to have him process our beef and lamb! In Wisconsin we are also facing 'Chronic Wasting Disease'(CWD) in our whitetail deer herd. A case has just been confirmed in the county in which i live having spread from the initial area where containment was tried by shooting as many animals as possible. . In the future i will go deer hunting to thin the herd, but my venison eating days are over. I am afraid that the governments main response is not assure the safety of the food supply but to assure that financial damage does not result to the beef industry. The state of Wiscosin's response to CWD is mostly concerned with damage to the state economy due to decreased deer hunting. We are consuming what's in our freezers and then will wait to see what the true extent of the infection is which of which i am sure that the one cow was the tip of the iceberg. -Dick

I just hope he doesn't have anything to do with the 'Wine Clip'! -Dick

It is a simple change brought on by heat. Lobsters and thier roe are normally black. Upon cooking both become red. No problem except for why one would cook caviar? A better idea would be to make your omelet and serve your caviar on top, uncooked. -Dick

It is very easy to 'corn' your own brisket. It takes a whole brisket with the fat cap which now comes cryovac wrapped as a primal cut. Don't let the butcher take it out of the cryovac as thet invariably remove the fat cap. Obtain some saltpeter for color retension, kosher salt, your choice of spices, put into a 2 gallon freezer zip lock bag in a large pyrex dish and wait about 4 weeks. Then you can smoke it but I bet if you cook it, you will never smoke it! -Dick

The 'Celebration Ale' was not bad. My brother-in-law is an excellent home brewer with computer controlled equipment. The interesting thing is that he produces ale with the same type of tastes as the 'Celebration Ale' without flavorings! -Dick

Cordon Rouge used to be a very good non-vintage wine that could relied upon to be solid if nothing else. Bogie drank it in 'Casablana'. Champagne producers have discovered along with the rest of the world that you can take a good product, put a vintage, single cask, fancy cask aging, unfiltered, you name it, the list is endless, name to it and charge much higher prices. Cognac has steadily been declining in quality also. 40 years ago a Napolean Cognac got you a Grand Fine Champagne cognac. Today , you have to purchase at least an XO for good quality and the bottle of Remy Martin XO we just opened does not taste like an XO! I haven't had a bottle of Cordon Rouge for a few years. Had a 1/2 bottle of Oudinet($10) last night with Winterpoint oysters. OK wine, certainly not like the Cordon Rouge you described. Pol Roger Vintage today with Turbot. For $60+, it better be good!-Dick

John Boos makes a mineral oil called 'Mystery Oil' for its end grain blocks and countertops. It is food grade and it is what we use for our Boos end grain butcher block countertops. Why don't you want to use your butcher block? -Dick

Fish tacos. Honest! We grill Swordfish with ground chiles and other spices and they make a great filling. -Dick

Why is that? Is there something wrong with the rest of their bodies? They actually grow their tails back. Scientifically, this is known as rebutting. I don't believe it. I assume your post was in jest? -Dick When one lobster does this it's known as a rebuttal. Cute! -Dick

AFTER the Champagne we will have Hitachino Nest 'New Year Celebration Ale' form the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. It is ale brewed with coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla beans according to the label. Who knows, it might be good? If we run out of that, we have Asahi 'Super Dry' in liter cans brewed in Japan not Canada. Next comes Haufbrau Mai Bock and then sleep! -Dick

Why is that? Is there something wrong with the rest of their bodies? They actually grow their tails back. Scientifically, this is known as rebutting. I don't believe it. I assume your post was in jest? -Dick

I have observed over the years that knifemakers continue to find the 'Holy Grail' of steel. I am not sure where 'Dendritic Steel' lies in that quest. Damascus is indeed different than 'dendritic steel'. Damascus can be done many different ways starting with different constituents, what they all have in common is the forging and welding, folding and reforging of the steel. Some makers have even claimed to have discovered the lost Damascus technique with Wootz steel. My point is that the real test is in how the blade performs. Corbet Sigman makes a line of 'Working' and a line of 'Utility' Hunters in addition to the collector blades. Many years ago i ordered a few Utility Hunters in Carbon steel for friends. One went to my Godson whose brother promptly left it outside for few days. It had to go back to Corbet to remove some rust. One, I let a guide use to gut and skin a bear i had shot. I offered him a tip or the knife. He took the knife and continues to swear by it to this day. I have blades by Corbet in S30V and other steels. The principle virtue of these steels is that they do not rust easily and retain an edge for a good amount of time. But when you need to sharpen, watch out, it is labor intensive. I will have to puruse Boyle's website to figure out if I believe what he is saying. I did look at his website and information. The picture of the carbides is done by surface metalography which means that a small sample is highly polished and then a specially designed microscope is used to look at the surface. It is obvious that his material is like stellite in that they are both rust free. It seems to cut well by the testimony given. Is it the 'Holy Grail' of knife materials? There are many makers that would tell you otherwise. My point is that it really doesn't matter what the material is or the hype associated with it, as long as it works for you. For kitchen use, my customs just don't perform that much better to justify my switching and the different blades that i use are just not available from a custom maker. That is why i have standardized on Wusthof. They cut great, are fairly easy to sharpen and come in the largest variety of any manufacturer. But every once in a while a custom knife slips in there, I just can't help myself! -Dick

For 8oz tails I would not consider removing them from the shell either before cooking or after blanching. They are just too small. Cook whole by steaming, boiling or grilling and serve with some sort of melted buuter. They are done when the meat turns from translucent to just opaque. For the best in frozen tails you need the 16-24 oz tails and even they are dependant on origin and supplier. The classical serving technique where the meat is presented outside the shell is really done after the tail is cooked. -Dick

My degrees are in Nuclear Engineering with a Minor in Metallurgy among other things. I have done graduate studies in Metallury and conducted research with electron microscopes on the effects of hydrogen ion bombardment on SS as the first wall material for controlled plasma fusion device. So even though my studies and research are a few years old, I do possess an adequate knowledge of steels. In the custom knife world as Chad has correctly stated there are generally two methods of knifemaking, stock removal and forging. Many years ago a maker woud buy stock in flat billets that came from a mill and was produced by rolling out the ingot from the smelt. The rolling could have been done hot or cold, hence the terms hot or cold rolled. Hot rolled was softer because the dislocations produced by the rolling were somewhat annealed by the temp. Cold rolled needed to be annealed for working. The maker would then take the blank, cut with saw to rough size and then grind away. With the advent of newer cutting technicques this rough forming can be done by laser or other techniques. In some cases the maker can get a material that is close to the final blade and does not require as much work. This has been along standing debate in the knife making community about what is custom and what is production. Corbet Sigman does stock removal entirely by hand, some do little stock removal. Bill Moran is considerd the modern father of forging for custom knife making. Forging is where you start with material, billet, large steel bearings or what have you and heat it in a forge and pound it to shape. You can use a hammer or in many cases now a power forge. There is a constant debate about which method, forging or stock removal, produces the best blade. Personally I think they just reach the same destination by different routes. I have both forged and non forged by many makers. I just appreciate the artistry that goes in to forged blades more. I have knives with CPM steel, stellite knives, just about anything you can name. Are any better? Not really. the significant differences are that carbon steel is easier to sharpen, high carbon not quite as easy but doesn't stain as easy. As you go up the ladder in esoteric steels the sharpening process becomes more and more difficult. The hype for stellite and some of the other materials is that they are very tough and don't rust. BTW stellites claim to fame is as a surface material coating to reduce wear. A welder will take steliite rod to a 'dozer' blade and build up to reduce the wear. Don't get caught up in the hype of carbides and how individuals interpret the effects of these particles on the steel performance. The real truth lies in performance and surface and electron microscopy and I do not know any makers that use these techniques to explain 'how' ther steel works. They just know what works for them by trial and error. The buzz word Damascus signifies a sort of holy grail of steel. Pretty to look at, more expensive to produce, in reality the blades are about the same sharpness as other high quality materials. John Smith of Centralia Illinois has produced forged blades for me and is currently working on a Damascus blade for me. John will tell you that there is honestly not any significant difference he can ascertain. BTW Many maker do not produce thier own Damascus, but purchase it commercially and then perform thier stock removal techniques with it. In short knife making and steels are subject to a constant discussion of what is best(sharp) and why is it best. Most of the discussions are by individuals not founded in a theoretical knowledge of Metalurgy but a working knowledge. They struggle to figure out why what they do produced the results that they obtain. In reality metalurgy is still not an exact science and subject to trial and error. That trial and error has produced the knowledge base that we have today. There is a company that claims to be able to mathematically predict the properties of alloys and got some press a few years ago in 'Wired' but my attempts to contact them were in vain, and the hype has petered out. BTW stamped blades are 'verboten' in my home! Hope this material helps.

All Clad has an aluminum core which accounts for its lightness. -Dick

Julie Sahni, "Classic Indian Cooking". -Dick

I wish I could post a picture of my Japanese Honyaki(no file attachments option), handforged by Kenichi Shiraki from Hitachi White #1 steel with double side mirror finish. Murray Carter acted as the agent in the comissioning of this knife. even though Murray produces knives of this type, I wanted the best from an individual Japanese smith, the kind of item that never gets out of Japan. Since Murray works and lives in Japan, he was good enough to help. The handle is ebony with ivory inserts as is the scabbard. I have been collecting custom knives for 30+ years and I do have a few custom kitchen blades and carving sets. Comparing blades is certainly subjective with the methods that most of use. The Kenichi Honyaki is not much sharper if at all than my commercial Sashimi knife. What it is, is a finely crafted knife forged by a single craftsman in a time honored tradition and that is what i appreciate it for. Since i use so many different blades and look for uniformity when going from blade to blade, i have standardized on Wusthof for most of kitchen blades because the knives are uniformly good, come in a vast array of sizes that i can get to fit my hand and the different types of blades offer the larget selection to choose from that I know of. All of the makers referenced here produce excellent blades. One that i would like to point out in particular is Bob Dozier. His blades are the sharpest non forged knives I have ever used. His D2 steel takes a wicked sharp edge, what I term Dozier Sharp. In fact i will not let anyone else use my Doziers because they are so sharp and the potential for deep cuts is so great when you are not used to a knife as sharp. Bob doesn't list kitchen knves per se on his website http://www.dozierknives.com but talk to Linda his wife and explain what you want and he will let you know of doable. He made me a 9" long carving knife that is flat ground and truly a great roast/turkey knife.-Dick

ANY DOM PERIGNON will be good! Don't worry about the vintage. Each vintage is slightly different and the enjoyment of vintage champagne shoulde be looked at as an opportunity. Long ago we purchased a case of 1962 DOM and until we tasted it, didn't regard it as anything great. It was one of the best Champagne's I have ever tasted. -Dick

First, ANYTHING goes with lobster flown in from Maine! You can't make a bad decision. Second, For lobster of this caliber, the butter will disguise the naturql sea flavor and sweetness of the lobster. The use of butter came about with the proliferation of frozen lobster tails which needed something that would take the edge off the dryness. People have now become habituated to lobster with butter. Steam or boil until just slightly rare in the tail and eat. Sublime, maybe a little lemon. -Dick

Is such a thing possible?!?!?! We order a 100 Winterpoints just before New Years eve every year from Browne Trading and although it does not seem like a lot of oysters, after a couple of days, we do wish for a change! Oyster Poor Boys ala The Acme Oyster House are also a favorite. -Dick

A whole pouched foie would not be pate. A pate of foie is generally derived from foie gras that has been mashed and pushed through a sieve to assure a uniform texture before cooking. It is called pate de foie gras. Someitems black truffle bits or liquid are added along with seasonings. Keeping the charachter/texture of the whole foie is desirable to me and that's what i make. I would be careful ona small piece that does not allow for any heat transfer in that you may wind up with fat anyway. Better to eat sliced and sauted.-Dick

My only varient is to shuck the oysters yourself rather than purchasing bulk, this allows you to use fresh oyster liquor and just heat the oyster rather than cooking. I'm not sure of the comparative results but it is a varient we use when we tire of raw oysters. -Dick