budrichard

Chandon California sparkler is my best buy for the quality. Interms of Champagne, I have tried most of the vintage and superpremiums but still come back to the first Champagne I ever purchased while pursuing my wife, Tattinger Blanc de Blanc. Started with the 1955 vintage and have sampled almost everyone since. -Dick

All the high end Sushi places such as Heat and Murai have been using it since they opened. BTW, if you want to know or purchase truly high end knives for Sushi/Sashimi email me and I will tell you about them. Bring your AMEX card because they go for upwards of $2-3KUS. -Dick

QUOTE (rlibkind @ Dec 17 2003, 09:29 PM) The idea of spending such sums on steak knives seems ridiculous to me. I'd rather make the investment in the steak. Hey, I just got a dozen triple-riveted, full-tang cheapo stamped serrated jobs for $18. They cut meat, they don't tear it. Decent ergonomics and balance. They may not impress, but they work. I suppose. But they'll match the Wusthof set of knives I'm hoping to get for Christmas I have a 12 piece set of the new Wusthof 'Mignon' pattern on order. I expect this set will pass on to at least 2 future generations and make me very happy when I use them. Go ahead Marlene and order your Wusthof and don't say 'I suppose'. Your decision is the right one and should not be subject to ridicule. -Dick

If you follow the method I outlined from Pepin you avoid all the problesm you found with your roast. The outside will be browned, salty with great taste. The ends will have well and medium slices and most of the interior will be the rare where the charachter of the meat has changed from raw to cooked and pink. This is for a whole roast. You will not have to cook two roasts. You will not have to add time at high heat at the end which is the worst time to brown the roast. I am not trying to flame, believe me, but I have a difficult time consolidating your statement "We were really happy with the results" with your "for good or bad" statement? Also your picture looks like a very underdone rib roast. After hearing and viewing your results my initial opinion of reading the Cook's article in confirmed. They wasted a lot of time and effort and probably screwed up a lot of roasts for people who followed thier method when tried and tested methods of cooking a rib roast have been around for years.-Dick

They do not ship fresh wasabi root except as plants for growing. They do ship a paste but that is different. -Dick

I believe most problems with domestic duck are with the duck and not with the cook. A fresh duck raised on grain has so much fat that it is almost impossible to ruin. The frozen ducks are a hit or miss proposition and I think are raised as cheaply as possible. -Dick

In my opinion, brining will not do anything except make the pheseant salty. The reason not to brine is health related. For roasting, one can rub with olive oil or butter or wrap in bacon but I really believe that is more cosmetic. I have been hunting/eating phesaent for 40 years and if cooked by one of the two mentioned methods, you should have good results. If a wild bird and improperly cleaned and chilled, nothing will help the bird. Remember, it's not going to be chicken, so an attempt to make it taste like chicken is a waste of time. Appreciate it as a different fowl. -Dick

I have a Wusthof 12" 'Bonespliiter' which is essentially a wide heavy cook's knife where the back half of the blade is used for actually splitting bones for marrow and the front half for slicing and so marked. The knife can be used to chop a lot of vegetables very fast. I imagine a large person could use a 14" knife. One of things i have learned with Wusthof is that the longer or wider the blade, the larger the handle. My first Wusthof was a 10" cook's since replaced by a 10" wide cook's which is far more comfortable on the other hand, my wife uses a smaller cook's. -Dick

Don't know where it was from, but it was the real thing! Sometimes communication is a little difficult not because of the Japanese language barrier entirely but the Spanish language barrier. Luckily the butcher is occidental. Sweet Willie: I have never been able to find REAL Kobe beef for sale in the US. Some of it is raised in the US, shipped to Japan live and finished in the prefecture of Kobe. Best I have done is Waygu, not frozen from Lobels that they get from Australia. -Dick

Pepin in his book "The Art of Cooking" has the best method that i have ever used and it is a standard now for me. Prepare an herb rub including a little paprika(browns the roast and adds color) and a touch of cayenne(joke!) and spread on the top with some bread crumbs. Brown on high heat for say 15-30 minutes, what's important is to brown the top not the time. Cook at lower temp until the internal temp is 100F for rare. Cover with al foil or in warming oven at 200F or less for one hour(full roast) smaller roasts less time. You will have two well done end pieces and the rest will be rare and uniform. Since your oven is different than mine, exact temps and times are meaningless, what's important is understanding why you do things BTW can't resist, "For prime rib I have no problem with "choice" $2.50 less a # than prime." Old debate, no flame intended. A choice roast is a 'Standing Rib Roast'. -Dick

As with any bird, the most important aspect is obtaining a fresh goose. But since thier is so much fat that must be rendered, a frozen one can be good. It's also pretty difficult to ruin one. For two people, I would really suggest a duckling as a goose is too much for two but if your heart is set on it, go to it! -Dick

For German wines locate a copy of Frank Scoonmaker's "Wines of Germany" and start with QBA's working up to TBA's. It won't be a quick journey but I guarantee that you will love it. For Sauternes, locate some 2001 375ml bottles. Since some of the vineyards have still not delivered the 2001, you may be able to buy some futures if not all gone. I only know I'm waiting for 2 cases of Suiderat 375ml. Once in while i sample other sweet wines from around the world but since my palate was formed on French and German, the rest don't measure up for me. -Dick

$80/#. -Dick

The PROBLEM with the Food Network is that instead of trying to produce a product that has superior programming that entices people to watch implying revenue, after obtaining a stable base market and assuming inelastic demand, they are now only concerned with maximizing profit. This means entertainment shows versas real information shows. An entertainment show with one or two people costs a lot less than Tony's shows. Don't worry, Food Court is next or maybe there already is one. I don't watch the Food Network anymore. -Dick

Purchased some Japanese 'New Year Celebration Ale' 2004 'Hitachino' at Mitsua yesterday. Does this qualify? $4.69US/bottle. Lable says "Ale brewed with spices"-Dick

In reality when you get above a certain proof, the high alcohol content needs dilution by H2O for optimum taste. For tasting cask strength, we only have a tiny sip. Drinking is diluted by water. BTW after all is said and done, we prefer JW 'Blue'. Scotch is one of those items that originally was blended to produce a satisfying product. Marketing has brought us all sorts of products and aging. Marketing has taken product that would have gone into blends and increased the profit margin. Our tasting of many Scotches has shown, that we prefer 'Blue' with a little water. Smell a glass of cask strenght Lagavulin that has dried and sat out overnight. It's as strong as smoked fish! Not objectionable but we prefer a softer product. Of course I would never turn down a single malt experience. -Dick

On my way back from Pheasant Run west of Chicago stopped at Mitsua in Arlington Heights for my usual shopping for Japanese ingrediants and alcohol. Besides the selection of superb quality fruits and vegetables, they had whole fresh Wasabi root. Two roots went into my cart. Came home, broke out the Sashmi 'Yanagi' knife, cut the fish, cooked the rice, peeled and grated the Wasabi root, made sashimi selections and two bowls of Chirashi. For those that have never had fresh grated Wasabi, there is no comparison to any other product. The root is fresh, not overly hot, a little crunchy and just grate(pun!). You get fresh Wasabi at Heat, Murai and other high end Sushi restaurants but this is the first time I have found it fresh in the midwest. Mitsua no longer carries 'Kobe Style' beef. Butcher told me that there was low demand. An indication that the Japanese really like our beef especially at the prices. If you purchase Japanese beer at the liquor area, be aware that most is now 'imported' from Canada. Kirin is actually produced by Bud in Los Angeles! They still have some cases of Saphoro Silver and Reserve from Japan but that is going, at least two cases went into my wagon and Asahi 'Super Dry' in the liter cans is still available from Japan which meant another case into the wagon. Glad I have Volvo wagons because with the large cooler full of fish and meat, bags of fruit and veggies along with the beer and bottles of assorted condiments I still had room to spare. They also have a good selection of 'Jun Mai' Sake. I spent an hour in the store and didn't even touch the book store or the restaurant area. Only store i know of that has crushed ice available for your perishables and understands how to pack the Sashimi quality fish seperate from other items. Only regret is that was no Toro or quail eggs. I think I am spoiled? -Dick

Edsel: "This reminds me of a series of step-by-step books published by Simon and Schuster in the early 80s. I have two of them: Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli and Chinese Technique by Ken Hom" I also have Bugialli's book! I will search out Hom's book. I have Hom's "The Taste of China also.-Dick

Pepin's La Technique and La Method in the original large format along with his "Art of Cooking" Vol1 and Vol2 in the original large format. Arguably the best books EVER published that include recipes and step by step technique pictures. Want to see how to break down a whole baby lamb? -Dick

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned 'Heavy Cream' versas 'Ultra pasturized'! We only use 'Heavy Cream' straight from the Kitchenaid mixer. -Dick

Agree about the Chinese ingrediants! I finally purchased a bag of Shark's Fins at an insane price but they were whole fins. not the shredded material and looked good. Using a classic recipe, I have made the 'soup' that is better than what we can get in Chicago's Chinatown. -Dick

I switched to the 10" wide a number of years ago from the regular 10" Wusthof and it certainly makes a big difference in the amount one can process under the blade. The 10" wide also has a slightly larger handle that I find more comfortable. Great knives! BTW, I never use my steels opting to sharpen only. On some of my blades that are over 10 years old, one can see the effects of sharpeneing. -Dick

There appears to be two main sources of dried 'Chinese Mushrooms' that I have encountered. One is from Japan which is what I use and the other is from China which I don't on purely health reasons as I don't know how they are grown in China whereas I have faith in the Japanese. In the stores in Chinatown are huge baskets of these things at tempting prices. -Dick

If my comparison of the real to the 'shortcut' shows a significant difference then I continue with the real. In the case of coconut milk extraction, if you don't have some time on your hands then it's the can for me. Example: Pumpkin Pie. Until about 7 years ago I always purchased pie pumpkins and went through the roasting and consolidation process. One year I made pies with this method and then used plain canned pumpkin. Other then texture, I could not tell the difference. ever since its been the canned for me.-Dick

Oil and stones have traditionally been used for double ground Western knives whereas water and stones have been used for Japanese single ground knives. You can certainly use your one stone for either method and go back and forth but traditionally the stone is used one way or the other and kept that way. I have one soft stone that I use either way. BTW I have been seeing various sources of 'Whale Oil' for many years but I seriously doubt that any of it is real. -Dick