budrichard

If your wild goose breasts were properly removed they shoulde be boneless and chilled and kept cold, then you are faced witha choice. Wild goose breasts have NO fat, period and are red like beef. They are in no way like a domestic goose. The way we eat them is to marinate in Dale's marinade(soy/ginger based) and sear and then in a hot oven until rare(you canlet them rest a couple of minutes), really rare. If not rare ,you will have tough piece of meat and no one will eat it. If your diners don't like rare meat, you can slow cook them in a sour cream based mixture unitil you essentially have a mush. The choice is yours, BTW, your diners must be ready to eat and you ready to slice the moment you remove from the oven because they will continue to cook. -Dick

THERE ARE NO GOOD FROZEN CRABS. King is commonly cooked and frozen but I will take a really fresh crab any day over frozen. -Dick

Atkins was a charlaton and had NO scientifc data, period. the US Ag Dept (I believe) hosted a panel discussion whose panelist including Atkins and Dr Dean Ornish. I saw the discussion where Ornish got Atkins to publicly admit the he had no study information. Use your common sense. Does a high fat/protien diet sound healthy and likely to reduce your cholesterol? Ornish has results of cholesterol reduction on a non fat diet. I pick an intermiediate point, Low fat, but not extermely high protien, based on olive oil and fish with the occasional steak thrown in. In a coversation with ,my Cardialogist, Dr Sam Wann at St Luke's in milwaukee a few weeks ago, even though my cholesteral levels are withing normals, those normals keep decreasing and he is reccamanding as a prohpylactic treatment Lipitor if a heart scan shows any calcium. I ride a road racing bike 25 miles a day at a 18-20 mph pace so my heart gets a proof test every time I ride along with my echo cardiograms etc. I believe in preventative medicine and not charlaton diet guru's whose only object is to sell books and make money. -Dick

Thanks for the quote clarification, I certainly didn't remember posting that! Prime has been degraded at least two times over the years. You could accurately state that what used to be good grade is now generally sold as choice. To further complicate the matter, the industry recognises at least two grades of prime. The definition is really in the eyes of the beholder. There was good article on Lobels' grandaughter purchasing prime. I go to a small butcher shop in Willmette(email with kind words and i will tell you the name or search in Willmette), the owner buys prime and dry ages for 2.5 weeks. Very good beef and the best I can find in the midwest. Yesterday I purchased a 3" Porterhouse from him and we spent a few minutes looking at two Prime loins to determine from which to make the cut. One looked very good(no pun) and one was simply superior in terms of marbling. You can guess from which one comes the steak in my fridge at a cost of around $40US. Grasch'es in Milwaukee sells prime advertised as dry aged but not as good as my butcher and of course dry aging is subject to interpretation. The ultimate judge is you the taster. Some individuals do not like really dry aged beef. To answer your question, yes! In terms of qualitative tasting. We serve a full 'Standing Rib Roast' every Xmas. I have tried Prime grade from a number of vendors, one year I even had a choice grade organic from the Outpost Co-op in Milwaukee. The diners are never told where the roast comes from. The diners vote for the Prime from my butcher as the best, hands down. Of course this is not a side by side comparison but it is the same relatives! I can assure you that they WILL NOT go anywhere else for XMAS dinner. In terms of Prime Rib, I have never heard of the term Prime cut interpreted as Prime Rib. To me a 'Prime Rib roast' is a roast that is Prime grade period. Why, because it makes all the difference in the quality of the roast which is the bottom line. A real Prime Rib roast compared to what you can purchase in the normal supermarket isa totally different animal(pun!). That is why the Cook's Ill article was so annoying. Individuals would go out and purchase any old rib roast and never know the enjoyment of real Prime. -Dick

Nick. not to belabor the point but it is a very important point to us scallop lovers(you & me). I have discussed this with Jamie at Browne a couple of times. Yes Browne does ship scallops harvested by hand but shucked. Yes, the comment in the article about moving is correct, the ones from Browne are the best I have ever had, We routinely eat them raw as Sashimi. Browne will call them 'diver' or 'Dayboat' if you discuss the matter with them but if you call them and do not disuss the point, they will be called 'Dayboat'. Why? For the simple fact that if a scallop is shelled, to me it loses all tracebility. Browne is reputable and that is why along with my observation of the quality that they ship I believe that thier scallops are caught by divers.That is not to say that it could not be harvested by net and still sold in the shell but those people are not in the 'Diver Scallop' market. Since there is no legal definition, your definition is as good as my definition, just don't call my definition wrong. Over the years I have discussed this point may times with people in the seafood business and Chef's and my results are that 'Diver Scallops' are in the shell.Your results may be different and your results are as valid as mine. I still would like some defintive word on why Maine scallops need to be shucked! -Dick

After cleaning you should use Boos Mystery Oil or a food grade mineral oil to treat the wood to avoid cracking in the future. With the countertops, we go through a lot of it! We have one counter for vegatables/fruit and one for meat/fish and cut right on the wood. No problems if cleaned properly and religeously.-Dick

Are you sure it was Stone Crab since they don't live in Maine but around Florida. Other than that my favorite crab is one that was just pulled out of the ocean/estuary and cooked. Soft shells where the legs are still moving properly cleaned at the moment before cooking, coated with Wondra, salt and white pepper fried in butter are great. Crab that has sat around or in tanks loses flavor. -Dick

Hey Dave, THANKS! I have been looking for that. They must feel that the mantel contains more contamination that the muscle or do they not want to shut down the industry entirely? Browne ships to Daniel's in New York and others. EVERYTHING I have ordered from them has been of the finest top restaurant quality, that includes scallops of course Peeky Toe Fin n Haddie oysters by the hundred whole turbot lobsters seaweed salad Just sent in our XMAS/New Years order and included a 5# block of yellow fin, salmon and sea trout caviar. 800-944-7848 opt4, ask for Jamie

Sinbad From the State of Maine Statutes: §6701. Scallop license 1. License required. A person may not engage in the activities authorized under this section without a current hand fishing scallop license or other license issued under this Part authorizing the activities. [2001, c. 421, Pt. B, §40 (amd); Pt. C, §1 (aff).] 2. Licensed activity. The holder of a hand fishing scallop license may take scallops by hand or possess, ship, transport or sell shucked scallops the holder has taken. [2003, c. 248, §7 (amd).] I believe it stems from how the law is written. Roz, are your questions in jest? A few of us have gone to some trouble to provide you with accurate information. You now have the information. What you choose to with it is up to you. -Dick

Nick , you can call them what you want but Diver scallops to me and many others are those harvested by divers and in the shell, period. I purchase from Browne Trading in Maine and they cannot supply them in the shell. What they do have are 'dayboat' according to Browne and they have been extremely good but my preference is for the shell. I'm not sure if thier scallops are harvested by divers or by boat but because they are shucked, Browne does not call them 'Diver Scallops'. Of course the quality depends on how they are handled and shipped. As to adulteration, the standard industry terms are now 'dry pack' and 'wet pack'. What part of my post are you disputing or correcting?-Dick

What you really need to do is to install the Boos End Grain countertops as I have. The counter will then not be as high(actually the 4" thick Boos will result in about 2.5" of lift) as what you are working with because your Boos must sit on top of your regular counters. -Dick

There are four categories of scallops sold today. Diver scallops in the shell are in fact what the name implies, harvested by divers and left in the shell. Usually caught and returned to port the same day and sometimes also called 'Day Boat' scallops. When shipped the next day Fed Ex, they are one of the most enjoyable foods on the planet and be easily eaten sashimi style. The second category is referred to as 'Dry Pack' These are scallops caught and shelled at sea throwing away the edible mantel and roe(probably the best part). They are not udulterated with any preservatives and shipped quite quickly. They can in fact also be 'Day boat' if returned to port the same day. Browne Trading sells these and they are simply wonderful raw or cooked. It is also my understanding that Maine State law requires scallops to be shelled, hence there not true diver scallops available from Maine. The third category is the traditional 'Dry Pack' scallops and not 'Day Boat'. If not brought back to port the same day, then they are just 'Dry Pack'. Certainly good for cooking. The last category is called 'Wet Pack'. These are scallops caught and soaked in a preservative to supposedly enhance freshness but in reality only adds weight to the product. These are an abomination and will not brown no matter what you do. Any of the above if not fresh will not taste good. I suspect that what you got contrary to what you were told was 'Wet Pack' and the taste was due to the chemicals. When purchasing and ordering scallops one needs to be quite explicit about what one is getting. -Dick

Just in -"At the wine store this US customer will not purchase any 2003 French Bugundies", in fact the last time i purchased a case of red and a case of white French burgndy, I used it for cooking it was that bad(1990 I think). -Dick

I have a Kitchenaid 60 bottle unit. Compact, works well but quirky stacking. -Dick

Piper Asti Spumante! I love it. Another marketeers idea to carve out more market share with brand diversification. Didn't Catherine the Great put suger cubes in her Champagne?-Dick

30+ years ago Beaujolais sold for a buck a bottle and actual was quite good. Some of the wines from areas like Morgon could last a few years. What happened, I am not certain but the wines of today are not worth even trying anymore. the hype of the Nouveau has reached rediculus levels and is only based on advertising. As advertisers will tell you, they can sell refrigerators to the Inuit! -Dick

Cusina, not to worry about the canned pumpkin. A few years ago i made pies from roasted mashed fresh pumpkin and canned pumpkin without any additives and we could NOT TELL the difference. Since then it's been Libbey's canned pumpkin for me. As to the 'PACKERS'. As a Packer Team Owner, I got very hungry at your correct depiction of how to make 'Brats' having grown up on them in Neenah Wiscosnin. WE had Packer season ticketss during the Lombardi 'Glory Years' and I made every game until 1975 except the 'Ice Bowl' when my car wouldn't start that morning(-26F). -Dick

I certainly commend you for not mentioning any commercial product that comes out of a can or box! -Dick

I generally do not brine/cure for hot smoking and use a standard Weber with 'Cowboy' lump charcoal and hickery chunks until the albumin(white) starts to curdle on the surface. I only use a brine/cure for cold smoking. Hot smoking is very easy. -Dick

Thre really is no substitute for Panko which are sweetened and using plain bread crumbs will lose a lot of the appeal. Make your own sauce an forget the store bought ones. Find a a Japanese grocery or mail order the Panko flakes. -Dick

Pleeeeeeeease LOCK this thread! -Dick

READ, READ, READ! SHOP, SHOP, SHOP! TASTE, TASTE, TASTE! Form your OWN OPINIONS. There is no easy or fast way. I figure it took me about 5 years before I felt comfortable in my decisions. -Dick

Bob Zibung was the long time 'Cellermeister' at Keller's in Milwaukee and assured for many years a great supply of German and French wines. With Bob's retirement, he consulted for a number of restaurants but Keller's lost thier pre-eminent place for German wines Lovers. None in Milwaukee has taken its' place. Sam's in Chicago sometimes has a good selection but I am not sure that is by design. When we go to the Lyric on Sunday we always stop at Sam's anyway as it is a veritable treasure chest of wine. I will try Howard's on Belmont and let you know. This exercise started as an attempt to find a specific German Vineyard for 2001 and ended up with contacting the grower directly. Neither Sam's nor any other retailer I contacted was able to assist. I suspect that most retailers these days just take what the importer is offering as the expertise has been lost. -Dick

Teflon and other non-stick coatings have been used to sell aluminum cookware which is cheaper to manufacture and lighter in weight than copper. We now use Falk Culinair copper exclusively and have NO PROBLEM with food sticking to the stainless steel linings of the copper pans. We also don't have to worry about fumes from coatings. The only thing you have to worry about is 'Pumping Iron' with the larger pans. -Dick

I would expect that 'ethnic profiling' would yield a restaurant where the food is certainly adequate and the prices are reasonable. Very few individuals would spend a disproportionate amount of money on food they consider there own culture. Indian restaurants do a good job with 'Buffets' at reasonable prices such as 'Sher a Punjab' on Devon St in Chicago. When I dine at 'Dancing Ganesha's', an upscale Indian restaurant in Milwaukee, the food is extremely good but they charge for each condiment and the bill for 4 people can easily exceed $100+ without beverages. There are not a lot of Indian's dining at Dancing Ganesha's. My opthamoligist recently partnered with a Vietnamese doctor. When she asked where to go for good Vietnamese food in the Kenosha-Racine area, I told her, Argyle St in Chicago and she agreed emphatically! My use of ethnic profiling will help assure a quality meal at a reasonable price. There are bad 'ethnic' restaurants as with any type of restaurant. A bad sign is if there in no one in the restaurant during the dinner hour. Obviously these types of places will not give you a 'gourmet' experience but quite frankly, I am tired of the 'gourmet' experience where I pay a lot of money for for not so great food. I haven't tried 'Shanghai Terrace' in Chicago yet but I would expect very high prices for not that much better food. Our last foray in China Town resulted in us sharing the table with 3 Chinese gentleman, having a good meal, great experience and a $17 bill before tip. I will continue to use ethnic profiling along with other aids when dining out. It does not assure a quality experience but sure helps. -Dick