wabi

Thank you for the nod for the San Francisco Baking Institute....it has been high on my radar since I started thinking of this.

I want to thank you all for your excellent suggestions. I am still contemplating what I will do, but I think that trying some of the online courses seems like a great idea to start.

Thank you keychris. I have 20-30 bread baking books in my collection, including those you mentioned.

I'm 64, and am winding down in my professional career. A avid home chef, I still enjoy learning new techniques and dishes. The real weak spot in my cooking skill set is bread baking. I can make a hella good loaf of Lahey's no need to knead bread, but I really want to up my game to include both day to day loaves, but also artisan breads. My goal in life is to learn to bake a really good baguette. I just renovated my kitchen, which now includes a large island work surface, and a pair of Miele ovens...a convection oven, and a plumbed convection steam oven. I've plenty of cookbooks, telling me how to bake everything from A to Z, but I've never had anyone show me how to bake a loaf of bread. I dont know the basic techniques. You can read everything you want to about how do do certain things, but until you see someone do it, see the fine points, ask questions as they and then you are doing it...I have a hard time perfecting even the basics. So I have thought about going to a baking school. I've researched with Google, and have found the King Arthur Flour Company's school, but before I put down my tuition, I wanted to know if there are any other schools out there, with courses about 1-2 weeks long that will be intensive bread baking instructions...Hands on, here's how you do it kind of schools. Does anyone have knowledge, experience or have gone to any courses like this and have an opinion or recommendation? I live in Hawaii, so no matter where the school is, I am going to have to travel..... Thank you all in advance for your thoughts.

They were sublime! I'm, going to Alaska next week to fish...I'm gonna make sure I bring home all of the collars!

I'm interested in recipes for Taiwanese Beef Noodle soup as well as other Taiwanese dishes. It's nice that it is being differentiated from mainland Chinese food. Can you recommend any Taiwanese cookbooks that includes a great recipe for Beef Noodle soup?

And for closure's sake... The halibut collars were buttered and salted. Grilled, and then a homemade Ponzu sauce was used for dipping.

I thought of miso preparation. We catch a lot to black cod as well, and that is my favorite preparation.

Every year I go to Alaska to fish for a week, and end up bringing home about 100 lbs of processed fish. This last year I brought home a bunch of salmon and halibut collars as I did not want that good meat to go to waste. Now I am embarrassed to say that I have gone through most of last years fish, but still have these collars left. I've poked around the interwebs for grilled or broiled fish collar recipes, but dont find a lot of them. I was thinking a soy sauce/butter/garlic/ginger marinade and brush during cooking them, or a home made teriyaki. Any other thoughts or suggestions on a marinade or sauce to brush on during grilling?

I use a vintage T-20 toaster. They are awesome for toast, but suck for bagels...the slot isn't wide enough.

I have one of these...it gets wicked hot. The airflow through them is such that the charcoal just glows. It's great for searing steaks.

I am convinced there is no perfect seasoning technique. I mostly use the Sheryl Canter technique, but even then after 6 coats or so, when you use the pan it inevitably sticks, and you gotta use a scrubbie on it. (Don't use soap!) So...after you've done your Sheryl Canter seasoning, and your pan looks oh so nice with a uniform brown seasoning...you use it and the food sticks....like it sticks with every freakin seasoning regimen. What do you do now? The answer is easy..... Its not a beauty contest. The goal is to use it. So you use it. Over and over and over again...and then one day you realize...hey...stuff's not sticking to it any more! Then you realize, there is no scientific way to season cast iron or carbon steel. Get a start on seasoning with whatever technique you are most comfortable with. (And it wont be perfect)...Then use the pants off of it. That's how you season it, and that's how you end up with a nice pan...but the key is to use it, and use it hard.

Well...I started using the pans, frying up some sausage and some bacon...after 6 coats of flax seed oil...and they acted like carbon steel pans with a moderate amount of sticking. I am going to use them, use them and use them...for frying, and use a moderate of oil in them until they build up some non stick to them...Its hard sometimes breaking in new pans..and you always want to go back to your old tried and true standbys.. But I will stick with it.

I was lazy...ran the pans 2 cycles in the dishwasher, and then hand cleaned the residue off with a scrubbie and Bar Keeper's Friend. Dried them on the stove so they would not corrode in front of my eyes. I am impressed with their construction. Simple... a nice thickness and basic construction. This isn't your mother's All Clad. All that said, they should make for nice pans once they are seasoned. My plan is a mix of OCD and common sense. I am going to put a couple of coats of Flax Seed oil on them, and then use them for everything I can imagine. You can prep them all you want to, but I think functional seasoning comes from using them and not babying them. I have no aspirations of frying pristine sunny side up eggs in them, but there will be some serious frying done in them. They are now in the oven with their first coat of Flax Seed oil. Come on Sheryl Canter! I want to get these things into use...

Mine arrived this evening, and after reading the posts about how beat up their pans were, I eagerly unwrapped mine. Yes, they have some minor scratches, but nothing glaring that I would see on initial inspection. First impressions: Whew! it's beefy. These are certainly not throwaway pans. I am anxious to clean them up, and put some seasoning on them. Any pearls or consensus on cleaning them up? I was planning an abrasive scrubby, some Bar Keepers Friend and some elbow grease...followed by drying them on the stove, with a prompt initial flax seed oil seasoning a la Sheryl Canter. I'm looking forward to test driving these pans.

I live in Hawaii, not far from the ocean. If I leave the room....a pan will rust. I have to be pretty diligent about oiling them. And yes, I dry them off on the stove as well. On a bright note, I am getting DHL notices that my Darto pans are on the way!

While I am waiting for mine to arrive...does anyone have photos of their new pans they have seasoned or used? Test drive reports?

Just wanted to clear out the cobwebs and chase out the 747s in here... Hawaii local food...the first thing I want when I return from a trip to the mainland. It's always a toss up, poke, plate lunch or saimin....which to get first.

YES! And the larger pan would make a nice larger deep dish pizza pan. I think they will make great roasting pans as well. I use my Blu Skillet pan for roast chicken.

I would like to echo a previous poster...by all means post pictures of your pans delivered...and if you can, your pans in use, or once seasoned. I am interested to see the relative sizes of the paella pans. I ordered the full size. If I need a large roasting pan now, I will use a Staub oval roasting pan...my go to pan for roast chicken, or a larger Griswold pan. My go to pan for searing a steak after I sous vide cooked it is a DeBuyer pan that has gotten a little warped from heating it on my outside burner...I wonder if a Darto pan will replace it? My view of the world is that if I can cook it on cast iron or carbon steel, I'll do it. There is nothing in this world better for a Malliard reaction than carbon steel or cast iron. Funny, here we are in the 21st century, and savoring the best of 19th century cooking methods.

I want to thank all of you enablers here on eGullet for introducing me to Darto pans... I'm a shameless cookware hoe. Now that Darto has opened itself up for orders again, it looks like I will be replacing most of my carbon steel pans with Darto.

Alas, he has not reopened much to the chagrin of a lot of his local fans. It's just not the same here without him.

My wife and I are planning a late summer getaway in late August. We are going to Banff, but look to take a drive up to Jasper to see the sites. It looks as if it would be better to drive up to Jasper, spend the nite, and then go back to Banff. Soooooooo....with one nite to stay in Jasper, where should we stay, and where should we eat? Is the Jasper Park Lodge worth it, or is there somewhere else that we shouldnt miss? I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and advice in advance. wabi

I will post as soon as I know something. Remember though......it's Kauai, everything takes a bit longer here...... wabi

My wife and I are planning a trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island this August. Being members of eGullet, our interests are simple......dining and eating. I have been to Nova Scotia many years ago, but my wife has not. Our plans are to fly into Halifax, rent a car, and go from there. We plan to drive the Cabot trail, and spend several days on PEI. The various web sites we have visited give the nice, wholesome.....read "GENERIC" places to stay and dine at. I am posting here to get real opinions from eGulleters to tell us where to stay and where to eat. Bring it on.....Where to sleep, where to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Where not to miss, what to avoid...... That said, any other links, discussion forums that would help us in our travel plans. I want to thank everyone in advance for their opinions and responses. wabi