jayt90

Thanks for reminding me how good this book is, though long out of print. I have tended to ignore Burgundy, and Yoxall, in recent years because of price increrases. But it is time to revisit, now that good cheaper wines are made away from the grand cru areas, and a new breed of vintners has supplanted much of the old guard.

When you buy sweetbreads ther are a couple of things to ask about: (1) are they cut from the pancreas or the thymus gland?They will look similar, but the thymus gland (near, or part of the pituitary) is more desirable, and more likely to yield a smooth creamy texture. When the calf grows beyond a certain age, there is no more thymus left. Pancreatic glands will generally cost less. (2) Some packing plants sell the glands packed in a light brine. This should be removed with several soakings in water, under some weight. You may buy it from a tray, or off the shelf, but it may have sent to the shop in a bucket of salt water. The soaking action will remove some blood as well, and improve flavour.

Porcupine Ridge 2003 is still available! I bought one bottle on Sunday at Bayview Village and they still had a dozen or so. The consultant was telling anyone who listened that it was a Parker 90, at $12.95. The rating may be excessive, but it is a superb, dense mouthfull, a little shy on the nose, but balanced and ready. Jancis liked it a lot, and W.S. gave it a mere 87. Check Vintages.com product search for a store with stock. Gremolata put us on to this a few weeks ago. Thanks, Malcom...

For those of us like myself who cook as a hobby, and don't have a lot of money to throw around, there are cast iron gas burners available from Italy, each putting out up to 30k BTU. I believe these are widely used all around the Mediterranean. I use a three burner patio stove, with a propane tank, on my patio, or inside the lean-to greenhouse in winter, with a CO detector. It is about the same size and shape as an electronic piano.The cost was about $200. There is enough output to heat a wok hot enough for chile oil, and that is hot enough for me!

I wondered about that, too, but in my experience with Saturday Vintages releases, there can be a stampede if the wine is well-priced, a reserve, from a known vintner in Australia, and includes two rave blurbs in the description. I haven't had anything else from this vintner. It may not be worth a special trip to the large stores, on the morning of the 19th, but I'll look for it locally.

I could put a basic recipe up for you if you would like.... It is far cheaper than buying them and much better for your dog ← Thanks Chris. If you could post this when you have time. It looks like there are a lot of questions already!

I had a limited amount of solution, and found that with the bone out I could easily cover the leg in a food safe plastic bucket. I roasted the bones, and let my dog work on them for a half day. I have seen photos posted in threads here using a Weber for mild smoking. The coals or wood are off to one side, and completely burned out . Offsetting the lid will keep the temperature down, too. My leg is probably too large for the Weber, so I'll use a horizontal barrel shaped BBQ-smoker. I have used this for smoked salmon, and achieved a cold smoke by opening the lid 2" and making sure there was no fresh blue-black smoke going through.

I like the link to Dan Gill, was set to do a ham like this three weeks ago. Then I started to do some more reading and got scared by the lack of nitrates or nitrites. They supposedly add flavour, colour, and safety from botulism. In addition, if erythorbate is added (or Ascorbic acid) then there is some freedom from nitrosamines being formed when the meat is cooked under high heat. I bought a pork leg at a grocer for $22. I took the bone out. So I soaked the fresh ham, bone out, well scored, in a solution of salt, maple syrup, nitrite, and erythorbate for two weeks. Today I drained it and rubbed in a salt combo: pickling salt, demerarra sugar, paprika, crushed bay leaves, and pepper. I'll keep rubbing it perodically, in my 35 degree basement, until early March. A lot of juice will come out. Then I'll let it rest for three weeks, before slow smoking it in maple chips for a day. It should hang after that, but I'll be sorely tempted to soak half of it water, and prepare it with red eye gravy. I'll keep you posted on this one...

Here is trivial question to start: I can't find big leg bones for my dog. What happens to them?

Give them a quick boil, then smell. If they are beany, rather than yeasty, you can proceed.

What I would like to learn to do, is take a fresh cheese, say chevre, and age it in several rinses of brine, in my cellar, for a month or so. Would this approach the quality of hand washed cheeses from Quebec or France? Are there any inherent dangers? Any guide books?

I have a problem with reviewers who lean too heavily on that circular rating scale (Is it Amerine and Singleton?) Parker is not too bad, bad many, including the tasting panel at my own liquor control board, apparently lookat the scale, or memorize it, and come up obscure comparisons, like brambleberries etc. which may or may not be accurate, or relevant.

Was this gentleman generally able to undercut the liquor board? Or just selected items? Over the years I have found the LCBO to be very defensive about prices, generally citing exceptions that are lower than New York City stores. But the differential has decreased, slowly and steadily. Still lots of good shopping for bargains in New York, however.

There are two or three interesting offereings at the Vintages corners: Gigodas 2000 (Montirius) at $24. This is a sale item and may be hard to find, so I will have to check Vintages.com for availability. But it is half the price of Chat. de Pape. Vouvray Demi Sec (Huet) at 29.00 Beppi likes the dry version with stinky cheese. Both are from a superb producer. Cabernet Sauvignon (Goundrey) at 22.00 Not avail. until Feb. but guaranteed hard to get...

Isn't Toro the Japanese seafood store at Victoria Park and Steeles?

I found an excellent set of 8 wine glasses, for $30. at Costco. The glass is crystal, made in Austria, hold 24 oz., is 11" high, and a dead ringer for Riedel's Vinum Claret. They should be great for everyday or restaurant use. They sell under the house brand label, Kirkland.

Yes, I think that is correct. It appears as if the LLBO is only concerned with licensed premises. A local 'good eats' without a license cannot have BYOW, unlike in P.Q. Our government certainly takes us up the high road, price wise!

I have a great respect for charcoal's ability to kill silently, after I tried to grill a steak on a hibachi, placed under a range hood. The grill came up to temp. on the patio, then I moved it inside and began to cook the steak. Within two minutes the carbon monoxide detector went off, and I opened every window and door, and continued at sub zero temp. on the patio!

Did they have any clay pots, unglazed on the outside?

Nothing in evergreens that I can think of. Just make sure your looking in a juniper bush; any good gardening or tree guide will help. By the way, there are a lot of recipes in Elizabeth David's series of books using juniper berries in updated methods from 19th century ( and older) notions. I can usually get her books through interlibrary loans, as my Penguins haven't really lasted that well..

They do this just to make 'foodies' cringe. ← You guys are all kidding, right? I mean latex gloves in the kitchen? I'm sure other chefs could weigh in here about the likelyhood of wearing gloves in the kitchen in real life, let alone a tv show.... ← I think Julia Child set the standard for cleanliness habits in front of the camera: she always used " my impeccably clean spoon" for each taste, and set it aside after the taste. If I remember, Julia only used a clean-up cloth, or napkin once, as well. If her hands mixed something, we were usually assured it was OK. The IC competitors could do as well.

Agreed, they could clean up the act, and probably will after the series settles in. But this show was great entertainment, well paced and edited. Good commentary and telling judgements. The judge in the middle was amazed at the tenderness of Tsai's braised duck legs, which were pressure cooked. Isn't it amazing that Ming Tsai admitted to her that he had only been working with a pressure cooker for about a month?!

When I was looking for a sand pot, I couldn't find what I wanted, and when. But a Korean market had a pot, or casserole, holding 4-5 litres, in the oval shape of a clam shell. Only the bottom was unglazed, but this allows slow flame cooking. It was less than $20., and had hand painted seafood decorations, which soon washed off. I have used this successfully for a number of pork braises. The oval shape allows vapours to condense and drop back on the food. I have used Italian and French casseroles for the same type of cooking, but they have succumbed more quickly, as they were thinner-walled, and had a square corner on the bottom surface.

Well, then will the price of good AOC wine drop in the next six months? The market bears watching. The vintners could help their cause in upcoming vintages by intensifying the wines, avoiding chaptalisation, and re-organizing outdated AOC regulations. There was a wine lake in the Midi in the 80's, and a lot of distilling occurred to get it under control. A few prize vineyards began to concentrate on quality there, and in other areas such as the right bank, Alsace, and Bourgogne; now it is up to vintners in other areas to follow through.

Today I picked up a set of 8 fairly large claret style wine glasses at my local Costco. They are the house brand, Kirkland, so they are likely to be well distributed. They are 24% lead, made in Austria, and the stem is fairly thick. The best part is the price, $30. Can. for the set. I can use them for everyday use, without a lot of worry. I expect to see them in restaurants or wine bars, but since the box is still unopened, I can't say how good, or bad they are. The same goes for Kirkland Shiraz, which they don't sell here.