jayt90

Without going to the book, which may not be easily available, can you tell us about your technique? What is a heat gun? How do you move the beans? How long? Will a steel wok or cast iron wok do the job? Fess up, if you please!

After reading the discussions, it appears that there are two groups of San Marzano users. (1) I'll buy the real DOP can, hang the cost; it will be better. (2) There are good substitutes worth looking for. I'm in the latter group, since the real thing doesn't come my way, and I'm suspicious of products controlled to keep the price high. A year ago I found a widely available substitute, 'President's Choice Splendido', grown in farms adjacent to San Marzano. This was sold at $1.50 per can, and seemed good to me, better than the North American product. P.C. is part of the the Weston group, and available at Loblaws and other stores.

Interesting that Cook's Illustrated found the best saffron from Pennsylvania! A few years ago I planted some fall crocus bulbs hoping to get a small crop, but the plants were eaten by unknown predators. These were Iranian bulbs sold by a noted bulb purveyor, Cruickshank's in Toronto. If I had another source, I'd try it again.

This thread has been very informative. I'm surprised that nobody 'carped' when I mentioned that Arctic Char was farmed. Maybe that is the norm now, but it used to be shipped or flown from northern Canada, very expensive and very seasonal. There is another northern species I have had a few times, but not lately: Grayling. A salmonid in land locked lakes in northern Canada. Very little of it is sold commercially, but it is prized by fly-in fishing parties. Another great tasting northern fish is Pickerel, or Wall-eye, and it is apparently farmed now, but somewhat flabby compared to wild.

Is Splenda too good to be true. I put it in my morning coffee and find it as good as white sugar, and much better than 'Equal'. But some nutritionists warn against it. Does anyone know the down side, other than cost?

There are three wines made from nebbiolo that should be lower priced than barolo: Barbaresco, Gattinarra, and Ghemme. There are gems made in each and they are worth looking for. But an unscrupuous merchant will try to put Barbera into the fray.

What fish and other seafood have you added to your "dining repertoire" recently? Are you intentionally trying new species to "broaden" your knowledge? Actually cooking with new (to you)seafood items or simply trying them while dining out? ← I tend to look for tried and true, wild and fresh. There isn't a lot of new fish in that category. But what is wolf fish? Or Tambaqui? Both char and tilapia are farmed, and in fact tilapia is an African mud lake fish that happens to do well in commercial farms. New varieties can soon be over fished, as has happened to Chilean Sea Bass and Orange Roughy. I recently saw fresh halibut that resembled fluke or lemon sole, in size and taste. But it sold well. I wonder if Jasper White is trying a little too hard to provide unusual names on the menu...

I don't think steeping in warm milk would be as good as hot stock or hot water. But the milk should have absolved any bitterness, so the product may be suspect. A well meaning relative brought me several pounds of green Costa Rican coffee beans, but I was never able to get a bitter taste out of them...

That is a good price, however, the guy I spoke to said that they havent had fresh wild salmon in a few months, apparently there wasnt enough interest level, according to a recent email he recieved. Regardless, if they do have fresh wild salmon...i would hate to go to a Costco on the weekend! ← Next time I see whole gutted salmon there I'll put a note on the Toronto "where do you get XXXX" section. The seafood wagon runs Thursday thru Sunday, but not every week. I shop there on Thurs at 4PM but Fri. at 4PM is also a good time, as most shoppers are busy with school pickups or meeting the GO train. When the west coast boards were mentioning wild sockeye from Alaska last autumn, the Ajax warehouse had it, whole and gutted, at $11/kg. If that fish comes back, I'll let you know!

This is not actually accurate. Costco in Ontario sets up seafood kiosks on the weekends, with fresh mussels, frozen shellfish (rock lobster tails, large shrimp large scallops, and their 'seafood mix') PLUS, wild B.C. salmon. The last one I got was $4/lb., gutted, and bright and gleaming. They can't tellyou much about their fish, but it was fresh and the price was unbeatable, As for their farmed salmon fillets, in trays, these are well trimmed with no fat belly , or fatty skin which might have contaminants. In a previous post it was noted that these fillets are firm enough for a decent gravlax.

When I clean out the freezer I save the best for the family dog, say old freezer burned steaks chops, or fish, and give them a quick microwave. The rest goes to a nearby conservation area for wild animals, including foxes and coyotes.

How long to brine it?

I was able to get several rounds (300g) of soft washed-rind Quebec cheese at a reduced price because they were stale dated early in January '06. My plan is to shrink wrap them in the sous vide device, and freeze, or at least refridgerate for a month or two. Any suggestions?

I have found that older neglected meats in my freezer may take on a 'freezer' smell, not musty, but not fresh either. Soup stock and braising with vegs and herbs is the usual route, and sometimes the meat ends up in the dog bowl or the forest edge, but the broth is always good!

There is a small chain of Korean marts with a good selection of Japanese products, 'P.A.T.' They are on Palmerston Av north of Bloor, Lawrence Av East near Warden, and somewhere in Mississauga. There is also the Japanese Paper Store, on Queen West near Ossington or Dovercourt Av.

Chef Woo uses baked noodles.

Two excellent choices! If you get both, the red should be put away for 5 years or more. It was a very concentrated year, and the second wine of Ausone should be very rewarding.

CI, there is a Vintages Corner at Laird and Eglinton, and they apparently have a 2002 Yattarna at $90. I found this by visiting Vintages.com and plugging into 'advanced search'. You can do the same search, concentrating on merlot, Toronto, and $50+; or in addition search Chardonnay, Toronto, $40+, in U.S. or Aus. You should also search Pomerol for French merlot, and White Burgundy, France, in Toronto stores. When you are ready to go out, the above mentioned store may be OK, but Yonge and Summerhill will have a much better selection of your choices. They will be very busy, but getting a consultant's attention won't be too hard. Good Luck! We are all interested in seeing how your search goes!

I've got some pretty good knives, and they are well cared for and razor sharp, but salmon always gave me trouble. A cooking friend turned me onto the Black & Decker Ergo Electric Knife EK600. Problem solved. woodburner Woodburner: Thanks! I'm going to go out and get one. All this reading about gravlax has me salivating. I stopped at my fishmonger this morning and grabbed a salmon. I think I'll make some bialys and gravlax for Sunday brunch. Off topic: Your name. Friends here in Chicago are constructing a communal woodburning oven. (My first love is breads.) Are you THAT kind of woodburner? And if so, can I contact you with questions? ← For those of us us still using traditional knives, there is a special smoked fish slicer, and a particular way to use it to avoid hacking. If you don't have the smoked fish knife, a ham slicing knife will work. Either knfe is long and thin about 16 inches by 1 inch, with a rounded tip (to pick up the slice). The method prederred, is to start your cut at the choyle (near the handle) and draw the knife throught the fish all the way to the tip, accross the grain, on a slanted bias. If you use more than one stroke per slice, you are hacking. It takes a little practice, but it works well for smoked fish, ham, and even turkey breast.

Where are you located? Some of us could probably suggest a good Vintages consultant in your area. If you have a Vintages catalogue, the store phone numbers are listed. Looking at your price range, I would personally find merlot somewhat difficult, in new world selections. Pomerol and St. Emilion would be easier to choose from, although some are blended with other varietals. Chardonnay should be easier to choose, as there is a great variety of really good wines from Australia, U.S., and Burgundy at 100+. My own wish list would include Penfold's Yattarna, but I don't know if any stores have it now.

I've looked over the site and have made a request to join. (i always thought estufarian was someone who liked slow cooked mediterranean stews!)

While shopping yesterday I looked at syrups in two stores, Highland Farms and Price Chomp. It appears as if a holding company in Memphis controls Crown, Beehive, and Karo. In that order, they are successively thicker and darker; problem is, Karo isn't sent here. Price Chopper and Sobeys have a reasonably priced 'Equate' store brand golden syrup, in a 1 l. bottle much like the old St. Lawrence brand. I don't know what is inside, however. I had no idea corn syrup could be so complicated!

Jay, thanks for the reply and your impressions. I think I'll try out the PC grinder, if I can find one. Unfortunately, my nearest Superstore was sold out so I'll have to cross my fingers and hope that they get more in stock. ← I returned the PC to Loblaws today. Too many plastic parts, and a powdery grind at all settings. I've been happy wth the results from the KitchenAid, priced around $160 here, for drip coffee. Anyone else use this?

If you see Lyles check the ingredients. I think it is cane syrup and Karo's is corn syrup.. There used to be Crown corn syrup on the shelves, and St. Lawrence from eastern Ont. but many brands have disappeared.

Good to know about this group, with several events within an event, it should be very interesting. They had my birth year vintage included (one of the older ones!) so I would have gone just for that.