budrichard

From Pepin 'The Art of cooking Vol 2' page 72: You need a terrine of suitable size, in your case for 12 oz I would just acquire one of those little Al throw away foil containers. I use a La Cruset mold but that is large enough for two foie. Season your foie. Put in terrine with an Al foil cover into your oven preheated to 225F in a bath of warm/hot water. Pepin cooks a whole foie for an hour but since you have a small amount go by temp which Pepin says should be 130F. Cool in your fridge overnight and use. I have used this method many times and it works quite well. Your only problem is the small amount, it is very commen for some of the fat to cook out and surround the foie. I can't tell you how the small amount the you have will work. -Dick

This is my kind of research paper! http://www.confex.com/store/items/ift/jfs66-0196.htm http://www.askthemeatman.com/dry_aged_beef.htm http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/dry-aged-beef.asp http://boboquivaris.com/1_aStory.html The above all mention the need for controlled humidity, sanitation and bacteria control. This seems to be a good ref is you really want to attempt this. http://www.theingredientstore.com/foodpres...ion.pl?read=755 For my part, i paid $8/# for my whole Prime dry aged Rib Roast which seems a small price to me for peace of mind. I certainly would like to dry age my own beef but if you notice the articles tell you to start with high choice or prime to begin with. Since this is an already expensive cut, I let my butcher do the rest.-Dick

UPDATE: Delivered Prime Rib Roast to daughter with seasoning mixture and copy of Pepin's book, 'The Art of Cooking Vol1'. She has thermometer with outside temp continuous reading. She followed the required time and temps with the roast staying in the oven for over an hour after the heat was turned off. Roast was browned nicely, the first three slices on each end yielded the needed well done, medium and rare to satisfy the 10 diners initially( I cut two ribs off the roast because we only had 10 people). The remainder was just a little too rare so I put it back into the oven at 425 for about 10 minutes which yielded some very nice slices. As I had previously stated, it's not the specific paramters that are important but the why. My daughter's range is a Kenmore and I suspect that after it was turned off it does not hold as much heat as my Viking. In this case for daughters range, I would increase the cutoff temp from 75F to say 85F. In any event the Prime Prime Rib was outstanding and the rare people got thier fill plus 'doggie bags'. One has to experience a roast of this type to see the large fat cap and the fat that literally permeates the meat with each bite. The 2.5 weeks of dry aging gave it a nice flavor. BTW, the two rib section I cut off is in my freezer! -Dick

I have never had this problem from either aspect as we would have never took our children to such an establishment until they understood what was required. If I did experience this, I would explain to management that this was ruining my dining and they had a choice, control the other diners with child or I would leave and expect not to pay for what I had orderd. -Dick

Venison is venison and larding using larding needles may help but it will still be venison and not pork which we are just not used to eating. I appreciate it for what it is.-Dick

WASP's. I am Catholic. -Dick

Mayonaise! Be careful though, you will have to start ala hollandaise and cook your yolks without scrambling. I daunting task if you have never doen it before. Add some sum squeesed lemon jouce and a touch of white vinegar to insure the eggs set up an when they start to thicken, introduce your oil along with a little salt and Mayo better than anything you can purchase. -Dick

Don't sear! The crust formed will inhibit moisture transfer into the meat which is what you want to keep it tender. Quite frankly I believe that you are wasting your time by your method. We either slow smoke on a Weber(it can be done) with a dry rub with a whole briket with fat cap or brine with spices and saltpeter for a month and then cook ala corned beef. If you must do it in an oven, I would dry rub for a couple of days, add a little liquid smoke and then put into a braising liquid(beer) and into the oven for a slow cook.-Fat cap, low heat and moisture are the keys to good brisket. I have watched the indigenous people near 'Jake's' Deli on North Av in Milwaukee specifically ask for brisket with the fat on. I tried it and it's really good!-Dick

Again I must disagree on hanging wild game. Hanging is a hold over from when refrigeration was not available and market hunting supplied much of the meat eaten. Since delivery was slow, the aging associated with wild game occured. Some found that the decomposition associated made the game more tender and acquired a specific flavor that was attractive/addicitve. I'm sure that the health problems associated with this era never got documented. I have found no wild game that needs to be hung before being palatable and that includes wild geese that I have been hunting and eating for 30+ years. What i have found is that inattention to strict cleaning, temperature control and storage, lead to wild game that is not palatable. Most of the time when individuals give wild game away, especially venison, it is becuase they have not properly prepared the game and found it inedible. For many years I purchased our farm raised goose for XMAS dinner from a local farmer. Slaughtered two days before XMAS, the goose needed no aging and was ready to go on XMAS day. -Dick

In graduate school, my wife and i purchased Gallo "Hearty Bugundy' at $2/gal because that was all we could afford. I would have hard time spending $65/bottle for anything that said Gallo. In fact I have a hard time spending $65/bottle for anything! -Dick

I will say hello for you Craig. Carlos and Debbie are right up there with the Brennan's proving that a succesful restaurant does not have to be built on chef star quality. Wille , I certainly would like to oblige you with pics and tasting notes but for us and friends that were with us, the dining was only a part of the lunch. Good friends, good wine, stimulating conversation and good food, they all go together- not at the expense of just one. Dick

The essential thing is to braise i.e slow cook in some sort of liquid. The rest is just your preferences. I really don't think the fat adds anything but flavor, the tenderness will come from the slow braising. The overally quality will also depend on how well your nephew gutted and butchered the doe. In reality 'Bambi' is one of the best to shoot. I would rather shoot a young(button buck) male or a young doe than a 12 point buck.-Dick

I seriously doubt that one day would make a diff. I also am suspect of anything that Cook's prints but that's a different subject. Professional aging is done in temperature and humidty controlled environments. There are different odors that could affect your meat in your fridge. I'm not saying it can't be done but I leave the dry aging to my butcher at Zier's in Wilmette, Illinois who has aged our Prime Rib (Prime Prime Rib to some) for 2.5 weeks.-Dick

By plastic bag, I assume the goose was not in any type of shrink wrap. Don't panic, 6 days should be no problem at close to 32F. So maybe turn up/down? your fridge. Go back after Xmas and they will still be selling those fresh geese until they freeze them. Many stores have a sell by date. I picked up a fresh Muscovy duck Saturday and will disassemble it tomorrow, Tuesday. The sell by date is 12/29. No problem. Also saw fresh geese at about $7 something a pound. Just didn't have a use for one this Xmas. Enjoy! -Dick

Craig is right on! Dom is ready to go from the day of release. Needs time is meaningless. In reality my experiences with vintage champagne is that needs time can translate into decreased mousse and eventually bad wine. In this year I trashed two bottles of 1964 Bollinger and a bottle of 1962 Dom. All had lost cork integrity. Never again. In terms of vintage ratings, I have never had a bottle of Dom that wasn't excellent on the day of release. Happy drinking! -Dick

I won't regale you with pictures or detailed tasting notes, suffice it to say that Carlos has maintained high standards for over 20 years in Highwood Illinois. We went for lunch today because 1. Carlos is only open at lunch time around the Holidays and 2. there is no corkage fee on Mondays. I had previously delivered a split of champagne and a 1961 Chateau Beausujour so they could rest. Lunch was a sort of Prix Fixe with alternatives. Opt for the cold and hot Hudson Valley Foie Gras for an additional $8, a delight. Service was the usual impeccable friendly and light hearted. All in all, very enjoyable. -Dick

Winterpoint oysters, harvested 12/26 -27 Dayboat scallop sashimi, scallops fished 12/28 Yellow Tail Sashimi Salmon Caviar Whole turbot with a lobster/champagne sauce Wisconsin Uplands Cheese Company 'Pleasant Ridge Reserve' Farmstead Cheese , aged 17 months Washed down by Taittenger' Blanc De Blanc' 19xx Japanese New Years ale. Sleep....................... Dick

NO, Just cut each slice(80grams) with a knife thats been heated slightly to help cut the lobe. Leave the lobes ice cold whilst cutting, this helps keep the edges neat and also with portioning. Don't season the foie gras prior to cooking.use some maldon salt or similar after cooking and try a pinch of medium ground white pepper after cooking as well.If you season prior to cooking then you run the risk of burning the perrer and imparting a slightly bitter taste to it If you take the viens out prior to searing it. IT WELL dissolve and fall apart on you . Remember de-vein if making a terrine, don't if searin or pan frying. Right on! Good answer! -Dick

Two problems. First, your butcher should have just cut through at each rib location so when you sliced, you obtained a complete rib bone with meat attached. I have seen a few butchers who really have no idea of how do prep a roast seperate not only between the rib bones but also seperate the meat fully. I had one do this to almb rib roast. I just cooked the meat without the bone and used the bone for soup. Better to cook just the meat as a boneless rib roast.. they think it helps, it does not. Secondly by having a frozen roast, I suspect that during the freezing a layer of ice may have built up where the meat was seperated from the bones. The meat around the bone is always the rarest in a full rib roast and now an additional factor of ice is introduced. If there was an air gap between the bone and the meat, that would also have an effect as air is an insulater and would have effected the heat transfer. As you noticed, the meat became more uniform the longer it rested. you should have rested for an hour. I know this is very difficult to do when everyone is standing around and hungry with the smell of rib roast in the air but is needed and works. I pick up my roast tommorow from Zier's in Wilmette. Prime, aged 2.5 weeks in the butcher shop. prepped. I will put the seasoning mix on as per Pepin and deliver to my daughter Wed. XMAS we will see how it goes with her oven. Oh yes, do not, do not, put the bones in a soup. Roast over high heat and enjoy! The best part of the roast. Takes you back 10,000 years. -Dick

he's an american indian? Merium-Webster on-line: Main Entry: oc·ci·den·tal Pronunciation: "äk-s&-'den-t&l Function: adjective Usage: often capitalized Date: 14th century 1 : of, relating to, or situated in the Occident : WESTERN 2 : of or relating to Occidentals

You said in your original message that the exact times and temps were meaningless since our ovens might be different. Could you give me a clue - pretty please ? The initial browning ("sear") on high heat - are you talking 300-400-500 degrees? Bake or broil? The lower temp cooking - is it 150-250-350? Then there's the final "warming" at 200 or less. Also - 100F - even for rare - sounds very low. Did you really mean 100F? By the way - if you or anyone else has an opinion - is there any advantage doing the "sear" before the cooking - as in Pepin's method - as opposed to doing the "sear" after the cooking - as in Alton Brown's method. Robyn What i have been trying to point out in some of my posts is that understanding why things are done is more important than specifics because then you can make judgements or alterations for differences like ovens. Our Viking convection oven will crisp on the lower levels above 400F faster than you can think. your oven may behave complelety different. As for temps. Pepin from the 'Art of Cooking' vol 1, page 217 'Rib roast Claire and Yorkshire Pudding' The recipe starts with the picture of a rib roast primal cut an shows how to cut off the outer fat and chine bone along with sectioing the roast for smaller gatherings, all in clear color pictures. Note: Nowhere does he refer to a'Prime' Rib Roast but always 'Standing' Rib roast. Place in a pre-heated 425F oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375F and cook for one hour longer. At this point the internal temp won't be much more than 75F. Turn the oven off and let the roast continue to cook for at least 45 minutes to one hour in the oven. The roast is now cooked, baste with the fat, remove to a plate and keep warm in the oven. I have found that I need my oven to make additional items and that the full rib roast takes up most of the space, so I cooked mine to 100F internally, removed from the oven and tented with foil. Knowing that the objective was that the roast rest at low temp, since i was not in the oven, I increased from 75 to 100F and it works for me. I really enjoy this series of posts since for me cooking a 'Standing Rib' is serious business! Additional note. My daughter is having XMAS dinner this year. I am purchasing the roast for her and will bring it over the night before. I will give her instrcutions for the process(she has BS and Ms degrees in Chemistry so i know she can follow them) and we will see how the process works in a different oven. Good luck on Xmas everyone!(I sound like tiny Tim!)-Dick

I will try to respond to questions in a two part Post. First. My expereince with large gatherings is that there are always individuals that do not prefer rare. As we always cook a full standing rib, the ends always satisfy this group unless we run out! As to at which end of the cooking it is needed to brown. At the begining you are trying to get heat into the interior and obtain a crust before long term heating. My experience with professional chef's reccamandations is that they always brown at the beginning. since i have never reversed the process, I don't have comparative data, but what Pepin says works for me and he has alot more experience than I. -Dick

Probably the best web site out there for Japanese knives, but for artizan knives produced in single person shops which almost never get out of Japan, I used Murray Carter, a Canadian knifemaker living in Japan as a broker for the knife I purchased. Forged Hitachi #1 polished steel, ebony handle and scabbard with ivory inlays. Cuts like a dream but in reality not much different from a commercial Japanese 'Yanagi' that I have. -Dick

Be aware that at least in the Wusthof line PCD does not list the larger blades that are more suitable to larger people(read male). they will order for you but you have to know what wusthof has available. -Dick

My two cents since we just redid our kitchen. Settled on Franchi Manor House sink. http://www.franke.com Commercial grade thickness SS and ONE BIG OPENING(33"). Companion faucet is Franke Single handle Pot Faucet that works like a dream. Franke "Little Butler" on order to complement and provide instant hot water for tea/coffee and filtered cold water. Go to http://www.homecenter.com for the best prices. You will have to call to order specifc finishes but they saved me at least 1K .Be sure to order Franke drain plug as the sink does not come with one. -Dick