budrichard

I'd stick with Consumer Reports advice. When you read the hype, you think that you are going to get a high temp oven but the physics of the situation is that you cannot increase the temperature of your oven with the kit. What the kit does do is act as a reflector to increase the btu's onto the item being cooked and it should cook faster but it will simply not increase the oven temperature and give you a wood fired oven experience! -Dick

The hood over a range ducted to the outside has two functions. One function is the removal of smoke and smells, the second function is the removal of heat. With a high heat range such as a Viking you MUST duct to the outside. The often sold internal ducting hoods are simply junk and will not accomplish what is required. Sorry but there is no solution other than to do the job properly. -Dick

Our goal is to use as little prepared product as possible. We will use Mayonaise as an example. Until you have made your own Mayo, you don't know what real Mayo should taste like. It certainly does not taste like anything, I have ever encountered in a jar! We do use some condiments when we cannot take the time to make them such as ketchup and mustard(my efforts at making mustard have all been disasters!). Anything that comes in a package or can is suspect. I have been known to use Instant Mashed Potatoes though. You can go to any level you like. Your costs in time and effort will greatly offset any cost savings you may realise but the end result is a superior product(generally) and self satisfaction. -Dick

Fifi is right on. the gamey smell is associated with incorrectly gutted, cooled and cut up venison. If you are sloppy or ignorant of the efforts needed then you are in trouble. You need to keep the feces in the rectum, urine in the bladder and other things intact while gutting. A gut shot deer is just that, gut shot and you are behind the 8 ball. Properly shot in th heart/lung area, there is just blood pooled in the chest cavity and with dilegence in gutting you are on your way. We do not make any sausage or ground venison. It is all compleletly cut up and boned. I cut for muscle groups rather than the conventional cuts such as round steak. For my steaks, we marinate in Dale's which is a soy/ginger commecrcail product from the south. For roasts, juniper berries among other seasonings and either smoke on the 'Q' or braise slowly. Enjoy! -Dick

"No, Adam made a mockery of haute cuisine and them came to the wrong place to poke fun at it." Adam did not make a mockery of haute cusine, the cusine has accomplished that without any help from Adam. The 'wrong place'? You have got to be kidding! Because someone does not agree with your viewpoint, does that make them wrong and this the wrong place to voice that opinion? I came from an academic background where each opinion was valued and considered, apparently this is not the place according to some. -Dick

I haven't read the various treatments on how to 'Deep Fry' a turkey but will only tell you from the perspective of somone that has attended NFPA Fire Provention Schools and been a Fire Chief and former Fire Marshal, I find it extremely dangerous and would not do it myself. The probablility for a disfiguring injury and severe burn is much too large to justify the risk for the any individual. -Dick

What is really more improtant than how you cook your turkey, is what kind of turkey you cook. If it is frozen or in any way adulterated(even fresh turkeys marked 'ALL Natural' contain additives), then you are behind the 8 ball in terms of taste and flavor. If you can obtain a fresh unadulterated bird then a simple stuffed bird in a 375F oven until 185F at the joints will suffice. Butter it, lard it, baste it, whatever , it will be OK. Wild turkey does not have to marinaded but it is better to cook the breasts seperate from the leg/thigh. A 'Deep Fried' turkey is too be avoided at all costs unless you have been to the NFPA Fire Provention School Training. If you have been to the NFPA School, you will not cook a 'Deep Fried Turkey' anyway! -Dick

Being a person NOT intimidated by ANY wine list, sommelair, waiter or chef and certainly not worried about the cost of a meal anywhere, it was with great anticipation when I booked 'THE TABLE' (kitchen for four) at Trotter's. The wait was 9 months for us Cheeseheads from Wisconsin! We started with a bottle of champange in the bar as we invariably do at a restaurant of this caliber and moved to the kitchen with a couple of more bottles of something or other. Charlie was not in attendance, having better things to do(opening his now defunt Las Vegas restauraunt). Gulermo(sp?) was our chef and probably came from the Mexican town that Bourdain always talks about. The staff served us with canned patter which was reproduced word for word in a Chicago review of the same restaurant. I had hoped to learn a thing or two from the experience in the kitchen but what I learned was that Charlie's technique of little servings of esoteric combinations allowed the staff to almost completely perpare everything before hand to account for portion control. I certainly was not impressed by ANYTHING we ate(Cucumber soup turned out to be a little smear of a cucumber based cream on the bottom of a bowl). Anyway, I won't bore you with the 13 courses(somewhere we have the menus which they gave to us)., signed the bill and out the door and happily back to Wisconsin. Note: We don't dislike Chicago, I have worked in the LOOP and have maintained Lyric Opera season tickets in the Dress Circle for over 20 years. It's just that things are so much nicer in Cheesehead Land. To me, Charlie's was not great food nor grand dining. It is theater developed by a very inventive hard working person. It's effect is to intimidate all but a few. I certainly applaud the poster on his courage for telling it like it was for him. That experience and that of others of it's type caused me to make the following resolutions. 1. Never to eat in an establishment where the chef was not in attendance. 2. When the chef becomes famous and has a TV program, move on. 3. Eat at ethnic restaurants where we are the only non-ethnic people in attendance. Will be having lunch tommorrow at noon at Lovells' in Lake Forest for those that would like to continue this discussion. Hopefully Jim's son will be in attendance!-Dick

" Pheasant should ideally be hung in the feather for a week or so. " The above process resulted from the lack of refrigeration during the past where game by neccessity was hung until being ready to be consumed. The game developed a flavor and certain tenderness while it decomposed. To hang game today when refrigeration is available is asking for trouble in controlling the decomposition. Yes you can 'hang' in a refrigerated environment but unless kept at the proper humidty like dry aging, the game will dry out. There simply is no reason to hang properly dressed, cooled, cut up and prepared game today. I have shot everything from bear to wild turkey, never hung any of it and enjoyed uniformly good eating with no worry about decomposition and spoilage. The gamey flavor that one experiences is usually due to improperly prepared wild game. Wustof will sell you larding needles. http://www.pcd.com ordered mine for me.-Dick

Since you are most likely purchasing pen raised pheasant and rabbit, they will be al ittle more tender than wild. You can braise the rabbit quite succesfully. A time consuming method for a large rabbit would be a boneless saddle with the leg and other meat for the stuffing. Pheasant, even pen raised are invariably a little dry if not larded or cooked with butter or bacon. Depending on your taste, a pheasant should be alittle pink unlike chicken. An alternative that we have come to enjoy is pheasant cut up, braised in sour cream(non fat works well) with bay, garlic, sage and juniper berries, a standard for game. Either way you cook these, a source like that is great and deserves to used to provide a different view of the menu. Me. I slog through the mud and weeds for my game, which makes it all the more precious. -Dick

Interested in Mr Cutlet's Opinion. I have sampled American style Waygu from Mitsua in Chicago and felt that it was just high prime. A whole tenderloin from Lobel's offered the best dollar value and Lobel's says that has not been frozen and that's the way it arrived. The Lobel's had a definate dry aged flavor and was tender but if you don't like real dry ageing, the flavor may be just too much. From my undertsanding for the beef to be real Kobe, the animal must be finished and slaughtered in the prefecture of Kobe Japan. -Dick

I think the difference besides age of the lamb is that US lamb is fattened on corn and NZ and OZ are grass fed. I prefer US but have tried NZ and it is more gamey or stronger without the fat content. There are many sources for US lamb. A Greek grocery will only have US lamb. There is also a mail order supply from Penn but I have never used them. -Dick

'Japanese Cooking- A Simple Art' by Shizuo Tsuji, will take care of all your sauce problems.-Dick

I offer another alternative to stone. For our kitchen remodeling, we progressed through black granite of some esoteric type to a veneer material that looked like end grained butcher block that some local outfit was trying sell us. I eventually thought, I know where to get the real stuff. http://www.johnboos.com If you want to to cut, roll dough and do just about everything except chocolate, consider real butcher block, which is what we installed. We just oil it periodically with food grade oil and when it becomes too rough due to cuts, we will sand it. After 3 months of using these countertops, I am really impressed with how well they work. -Dick

Yakisoba noodles are meant to be stir fried in a wok with oil over HIGH HEAT. I use them all the time but I have 15,000 BTU burners. Put your oil in your wok and turn the heat on as high as you can go, get the oil hot until it just smokes(peanut is the only oil to use) and add you noodles, the rest is basic heat tranfer and physics. -Dick

Just replaced my countertops with the afore mentioned John Boos end grain Maple. If you are really serious, this is the way too go. Otherwise I do have a left over piece in the garage! -Dick

Eisenhower is dead! None of the women attending smoke cigars or partake of any other form of nicotaine. The children are also not exposed to second hand smoke, so we go outside to smoke! I have a JC Pendergast with a few cigars in it http://www.jcpendergast.com/ but rarely smoke anymore. The chocolates will come from Bernachon's. -Dick

I'll shut up! Thank me very much. -Dick

I am surprised that there is not much discussion about the origin of the main course! In my opinion there are two options, wild and unfrozen, unadulterated bird. To obtain the former, you must hunt or at least have a hunter willing to part with his bird. Since turkey's are very difficult to hunt, good luck. My last wild gobbler was 25#'s live weight shot in the spring, so he was dismembered and we have a breast left which normally would be enough for 6-8 people. The legs, thighs and wings were cooked in sour cream. Wild turkeys are extremely good and they do have a substantial amount of 'white' meat on the breast. Now on to a 'fresh' turkey'. I have found turkey's marked as 'fresh' and 'All Natural' that have the obligatory hydrolised protein injection. Not for me! It is becoming very difficult to obtain an unadulterated bird. Frozen is even worse as they are subject to even more chemical concoctions. All this is brought to you by the same people who soak your scallops and now fish and pork in preservative to supposedly make the product last longer but we know the reason is to increase the weight. Try browning those scallops! So where will you get your bird and what kind will it be? -Dick

Monica, thanks for the thread! We eat quite often on Devon St in Chicago and I don't remember any wines being offered. What I remember is great food with a fabulous array of spices. After I was introduced to the Mango Lassi along with the 'healing' properties of dairy, that is my beverage of choice. -Dick

After 59 years on this earth, I have acquired the knowledge and experience to be able to divorce myself from the wine pundits and make my own decisions about wine. I am also mentally rooted in the past when it comes to monetary value of wine. In the 60's $6 purchased a nice bottle of wine. I simply do not purchase the wines that get the press and corresponding price increases. I still order futures but of the lesser growths. In today's world, a good review of a wine can cause instant loss of availability and price increase. It is all part of a free economy. I'll pay good money for something I believe is a rarity or has value I can appreciate such as a BA or TBA and once in a great while a wine such as Bollingers' 'Vielle Vines'. -Dick

I will prepare a dinner for about 20 people. What I have found over the years, at least in our family, is that people expect a traditional thanksgiving dinner. I purchase a fresh non-adulterated turkey of at least 20+ #'s. I used to get them from a local farmer but he's in jail(another story) and this year will go to a live poultry market for my turkey. There will be cheese's, crackers, olives, smoked sturgeon (my own smoking) along with a magnum of sparkling wine before dinner. We always have 5 liter cans of German beer available. Dinner will be a sit down affair, family style with the following. Turkey roasted with an herb crust. Leek & fresh herb stuffing prepared in the bird. Extra legs!(no fighting over the leg!) homemade cranberry sause Real sweet potatoes Real mashed potatoes(Idaho's) Fresh vegetable Home made bread unsalted butter Gravy made from drippings and giblets Pumpkin pie Home made ice cream 64 Chambertin 69 Niersteiner Rebach TBA Cognac Cigars for the men Chocolates for the women & children The bird is removed and allowed to rest and can be observed by anyone who wants to see it before being tented with foil. It is carved in the kitchen by me. After I carve, I have a glass of sparkaly! About 3 hours later I am asleep. Others pitch in, prepare goody bags and clean up. -Dick

I looked at Sub Zero units but the frequency of repair stopped me from purchasing. I purchased Kitchenaid instead including their 60 bottle wine cooler. Outside of the crazy stacking, it works quite well and costs about $1200US. -Dick

I agree with Mark 100%. When in an Indian restaurant it's either an Indian beer or a mango Lassi. The yogurt helps to tame the fire! -Dick

Adverising people have long said that they could sell refrigerators to Eskimo's and they can and have. Look at the level of advertising of the 'pop' alcoholic beverages and beer versas wine advertising. In our society to day, it's not what you like or makes you feel good, it's what you are told to like that makes you feel good. By purchasing an advertised product, individuals expect some of the advertisment mystique to rub off on them. I also believe that price may have a factor in an individuals decision about what to purchase. Do I feel better about purchasing a six pack of a 'pop' beverage or beer for $6 or a low priced wine for $6? The wine magazines would have you believe that unless you spend a lot of money for a wine, you are not getting the best available. I think it comes down to, how you feel about yourself and your ability to make your own decisions. -Dick