jayt90

Marlene, the OP is looking at a frozen Niman ranch roast, naturally raised, available on the U.S. site, not in the warehouses. The Lobel roast is fresh, and not too far away.

What is the rationale for pulling gills and eyes? My squeam level is fairly high, but I would have scoop the eyes with a knife or spoon, and barely look at them

Potatoes definitely, and the others seem to be similar, so they should be fine. Beets might bleed. I knew a fry expert with a chip truck who would peel Russets one day before use. They were sliced and put in plastic buckets, with several changes of water over 24 hours. The fries were great.

Any fish store or even suoermarts with a fish counter will have heads and carcasses, sometimes as give-aways if you are a customer, other times $1-$2/lb. Be sure to get the heads; there is meat and gelatin in them. You could freeze these, but only for a week or two. It's better to make the stock and freeze it.

Lambs were raised for wool here (Ont.) until New Zealand developed a market for tender cuts 25 or 30 years ago. Suddenly the local farmers had to catch up, but their product came too late for our seniors. I find that trimming as much fat as possible will make today's lamb more palatable for anyone willing to try it. It's too bad whole shoulders are not sold, as in pork. The bone problem would be easier to deal with.

If I understand McGee, there are enzymes present which convert glycogen and glycine. I don't have good access to fresh scallops, as they are at least two days old if they get to Ontario. But I can get nice, sweet, large frozen scallops, packed in Boston, at Costco. They are dull white, and some are pink/orange, so they have avoided the phosphate dip. I think this called dry pack.

McGee has the answer, p.229. Glycogen and glycine convert to sucrose and glucose as the muscle dies. He goes on to say that dull white, pink and orange hues yield more flavour, as they have not been dipped in a phosphate solution.

In dairy herds, 50% of the calves are male, and may end up as veal. The problem is finding where they are sent for processing. Joan, it might be practical to buy the $2.50/lb. breast, simmer it for an hour, cool it and remove the meat for stew or "pulled veal", then return the scraps to the stock pot. Just a thought, as I have to pinch pennies as well.

My Asian market has a busy meat counter, with $1. bags of bones available. They are surprisingly meaty, as their customers expect to get a meal from a bag. That will be my choice today, with a pig's foot, and in the pressure cooker for an hour (no one can seriously object to the quiet, hissing aroma). I know some experts object to the pressure cooker method, as stock may be cloudy, but it extracts flavour and gelatin very quickly, and if a sauce is the ultimate goal, rather than, say, consomme, clarity is not my goal. One advantage to my particular climate is that I can cool the stock fairly quickly on the patio, later today.

I find it difficult to get veal bones or breast, so I will have to substitute osso bucco trays (last day markdown) and calves' feet, or even pigs' feet. There was a mention upthread of chicken wings for their gelatin, so a few might go in. If veal breast was available at $2.50/lb. I wouldn't mind 10 lb. of it, but that seems unlikely here. I'm not too happy with Steven's substitution of beef or chicken stock for veal. Too different. I'd rather keep beef bones for espagnole, and combine with reduced white veal stock for my demi-glace. But this is all self taught (lots of help from E. David and Escoffier) and I can't wait to see what Ruhlman might recommend, when I get the book. Reviews be damned

Vibration in any of the commercial units is a drawback, but your garage is not bad as an alternative. 32F won't hurt the wine, as long as it reaches the lower temp. slowly. Summer temps in Seattle are cooler than any other parts of your country, and a few days of 80F is not that bad. I would stay with what you have, and spend the savings on more wine

Yes, but for a quick chowder I use a can of Clearwater Arctic Surf clams, and follow the recipe on the back of the label.

It even occurs in landlocked Toronto

The Cuisinart kitchen machines offer more power (up to 1000 watts) for less money. They have a similar mixing mechanism. I suppose they are imported, hence similar pricing in U.S. and Canada. They may not have as many accessories as Kitchen Aid. Has anyone encountered these machines?

I recently acquired a Caffe Rosto. I did not realize it is somewhat controversial, hard to get, and possibly out of production. No matter, I was impressed by the quality, the simplicity, and especially, no microprocessor. I have used it for about a dozen roasts with no problems; an even, full city in 10 minutes including cool down, and no excess smoke or chaff. It is easy to use, and reliable (so far), unlike the wok, or the popcorn blowers I tolerated before.

I use this propane burner inside, beside a patio door. The wok fits onto it well. It puts out 18000 BTU. I have a carbon monoxide detector but that has never been an issue. It operates like any gas stove, just higher output when required.

The Star review is quite favourable, especially about the Pa. steaks. How was it? Compared to Wolfgang or Peter Luger

Yes, it is wise to be VERY careful. I have posted elsewhere on paying an additional $26 (if I remember correctly) to bring in 2 lbs of curing salt! ← Anna, have you looked for curing salt from Malabar in Burlington? I haven't been there, but here is the site.

The pricing is a bit high. You can make demi from beef bones, and they can be near give-aways. I use two 5lb bags from my Asian market (cost, $2) and add 2 pigs' feet in the final simmer. It's a brown stock, but thick enough to use as demi glace.

I have heard that Smithfield type slow- smoked raw hams can be found in Chinese stores. Has anyone seen or purchased these?

Costco sells 6 paks of mini ish baguettes made in France that are alright. ← I found their French baguettes, wrapped in air tight bags, to be soft and dry. Fortunately they also have boxes of crusty Ace baguettes in the freezer.

Pemmican is a brilliant suggestion, and we should have a thread on it, if it hasn't been done. In it's traditional form it had more than meat, fat and salt. Otherwise, lots of canned meat, fish, and vegs.; staples such as pasta, beans, flour, yeast, oil, salt fish, if there is a coleman stove; air cured salted meat, such as chipped beef, or air dried ham. Some products like Cheeze Whiz and Vache Qui Rit will keep without refrigeration, but would have to be consumed after opening. Cheese slices don't have to be refrigerated until close to the expiry date (check with the maker). Some Mediterranean cheeses and olives will keep at room temp for quite awhile; that's why salt is well used there.

Does anyone have a source for non-hydrogenated lard, 1 to 5lb. in GTA?

I don't know a source, but I have to ask if you want green or ripe olives. I wouldn't go near green olives, because they are so bitter and need to be lye-treated to become brine-worthy. What do you have in mind (I know the answer will be interesting ?) ← I've never done it before, so I'm not sure if I want green ones or ripe ones. I was planning on following the process in The Olive and the Caper by Susanna Hoffman (basically curing for 3 to 4 weeks in a strong brine), and she doesn't specify green or ripe. ← After I smelled lye in a jar of green olives, I have generally stayed with black olives. ← But do green olives have to be cured with lye? Again, I'm only going on one source here, but Hoffman lists five cures for olives (brine, dry salt, oil, water and lye), noting that Greeks don't use lye, since it strips much of the olives' flavour out. The way she describes them, she makes it sound like you can use any of the five on either green or black olives. I guess the only thing for it is to find some and try it out! ← I'm sure you will look into this carefully, Matt., but in my limited experience, cheap brined green olives are more likely to smell of lye than more expensive ones, with herbs, garlic, and oil in the brine. As it was explained to me, lye is a good (expedient) way to rid the green olives of an extremely bitter taste. Good luck, and let us know

I don't know a source, but I have to ask if you want green or ripe olives. I wouldn't go near green olives, because they are so bitter and need to be lye-treated to become brine-worthy. What do you have in mind (I know the answer will be interesting ?) ← I've never done it before, so I'm not sure if I want green ones or ripe ones. I was planning on following the process in The Olive and the Caper by Susanna Hoffman (basically curing for 3 to 4 weeks in a strong brine), and she doesn't specify green or ripe. ← After I smelled lye in a jar of green olives, I have generally stayed with black olives.