fiftydollars

Ron Siegel now cooks at Masa's.

Thanks andiesenji! I don't hate you, anymore. But as far as the rest of you... I heard Eric Ziebold, formerly 2nd in command at the French Laundry and now EC at a new venture at the Mandarin Oriental in DC, talk about how tomatoes in his native Iowa have thinner skins than California tomatoes. That's why he recommended that the skin be removed on all CA tomatoes for all applications. He said he even does it when he makes a BLT at home. Do Jersey tomatoes have thick skins?

This is kind of off-topic, but I'd really like to go out to eat with Rossini. I think he could definitely teach me a few things about eating.

I hate all of you! Here in CA there are no tomatoes in sight. I have searched feverishly for anything that remotely approximates a properly flavorful tomato and all of my efforts have been for naught. All the while I hear reports from out of state sources that tomatoes are here and wonderful. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Dear Mr. Batali, I am a huge fan. I have been watching Molto Mario since it debuted on Food TV when I was in college. Your shows have completely changed the way I look at food. The ingredients, flavors, and textures featured in your recipes have profoundly affected my palate and ability to prepare food. Your constant admonishments to use the best seasonal ingredients possible and to build relationships with produce, meat, and fish purveyors have definitely paid off for me. Thank you. I read somewhere that you spent some time cooking in San Francisco and I am hopeful that you can share your favorite restaurants and eateries in the area. I am also curious if you will be doing anymore Food TV specials featuring America’s ballpark food. Thanking you once again, Jorge Saavedra

CNH has not been worth going to since Ron Siegel left.

I've always wanted to have a Hobart mixer in my kitchen. Nothing too big. Just 60-quarts. http://www.hobartcorp.com/hobartg5/pr/prod...rep_mixer_floor

...Beer drinking Breath stinking Sniffing glue... Although this is kind of a weak food reference it does sound like a pretty good time.

I'm dissappointed with Mexico's showing. I know we can do better.

Hunan Homes on Jackson in San Francisco.

Hello Good People of the India and Indian Cuisine Forum, I know very little about Indian cuisine except that I love it! Anyway... A friend of mine told me about a dish one of his co-workers prepared for an office pot-luck. The woman who prepared the dish said it was a popular Indian dish, which she called "butter chicken." My friend said it was absolutely delicious. Everyone at the potluck agreed that it was the best dish and that if the pot-luck had been a competition, the woman with the butter chicken would surely have won. I have tried searching for this dish by the name given, but I can't seem to locate a recipe. Please help! Thank you.

Hello Folks, I suddenly realized that I have never prepared my own bacon so I would like to rectify this situation as soon as possible. I plan to use a Niman pork belly slab that I ordered from the butcher (VerBrugge in Oakland CA!) earlier today. I am told that you need your smoker to be under 80 degrees and that you should smoke the belly for 6 hours with no specified internal target temperature. However, another recipe said to smoke for 125 degrees for a while and then 150 degrees for a total of about 8 hours or until the center reaches 135 degrees. I am inclined to go with the under 80 recommendation because that’s what Alton Brown did, but since I’ve never done this I would appreciate some advice. I am also hearing conflicting information about the curing. Some say to use molasses and sugar while others say to use mainly dextrose because it doesn’t burn as readily when you cook the bacon. I love maple syrup and molasses so I am planning to use one of these in my cure. Any thoughts on this? Is curing the bacon for 3 days about right? Can I(should I) speed this along with a vacuum sealer(FoodSaver)?

When is this thing airing on BRAVO?

Hello James, Thank you for taking the time to answer my question(s). I am a big fan of baking and I bake pretty often. However, I feel that somehow I am not getting the right flavor and I am curious if the yeast I use could be the problem. I have used Fleischman and Red Star yeast and I have tried instant, active dry, fresh, etc. But I have really never gotten very familiar with their relative differences. The most common one I use Red Star active dry yeast and I use it because Costco sells it there in bulk so I don't have to buy tiny packets at the store. I store it in an airtight mason jar in the freezer (is this bad?). What type of yeast do you use and why? Do different types of yeast yield better results? Can you direct me to any sources or brands? Am I barking up the wrong tree? Does yeast even make that big a difference? Should I be looking at the flour I use more closely (king arthur unbleached white or bread)? Thank you very much, Jorge

I'm looking for large jelly beans for making gum paste flowers. Does anyone know of any brands or sources for such things? I love jelly bellies, but at times I need beans that are about twice or so larger.

Brisket takes about 1 to 1.5 hours per pound at 225 degrees. My target internal temperature is about 185 degrees. You can cook it faster, but you probably won’t like the results. You may also want to take a look at how fatty your brisket is to determine if you might want to wrap it during cooking. If you bought a brisket from which most of the fat has been trimmed off you may want to only smoke it for 5 hours. Then you might want to wrap it in aluminum foil and finish it in the oven until it reaches the right internal temperature. You can also wrap it and finish it in the smoker, but I wouldn’t spend the extra effort to keep the smoker going. I generally don’t wrap briskets that have a pretty good amount of fat on them, but with leaner briskets I prefer to wrap them to keep them from drying out. In any case I wouldn’t cook them too fast or too hot. Just a steady low, moist heat for a long, long time. Otherwise it will be too tough to be enjoyable.

OK. I think I must come clean... I tried injection marinating before... once... and the needle broke on my first try. Luckily... the kit I purchased had two needles so I tried again... and the second needle clogged on the first try... then it broke. At this point I decided that injecting was a huge pain in the ass and I would never try it again... but... as it seemed kind of logical that it would work I decided to ask my friends at egullet about it. I have never smoked an injected butt before so I can't really say if this works or not... but it looks like it's not worth it. Does this sound about right?

I’ve been looking into injecting marinade. I saw a “Cajun Injector” FOR $25 at the local BBQs Galore and I am wondering what everyone thinks about this sort of thing? I would mainly be injecting meats that I would later cook in my smoker… Is injecting marinade a good idea? If so, which one should I buy? I saw the stainless steel Cajun injector and I would think it would be the way to go… One more question: What marinade is your favorite for injecting?

Contrary to what Fifi just said, it is the Brinkman charcoal pan that replaces the Weber water pan. You can order it here. Scroll down about two thirds of the page. Item #812-0002-0 Jim Jim, Aw shucks! That pan looks like you’ve made my dreams come true! Now that's a water pan! Even if it is a charcoal pan... Thanks again!

You can replace the Weber water pan with a Brinkman charcoal pan for greater capacity. I guess cross posts are against the rules so you will have to find your own source. Jim Jim, Please elaborate on the water pan swap. I have a WSM and one of my dreams is to be able to go longer than a few hours without having to add water. Where do I get the brinkman pan? Is it the water pan or the charcoal pan? Thanks.

As long as we are on the topic of recipes lying... Anyone ever find time estimates to be accurate? I'm not talking about baking times, mixing times, cooking times, but total times given for how long it will take to make a given recipe. These are always WAY off... and I find that annoying. It's not like I personally rely on them, but as long as you are taking the time to estimate total time why not make them as accurate as possible? Am I alone here? Never has the servings yield ever been accurate in most baking recipes and rarely on other types of recipes.

tea sorbet... I especially like oolong and earl grey.

Great cakes! I love the springs. I notice that you use a lot of gumpaste over buttercream. I have been afraid to do that because I think that the buttercream would release too much moisture into the gumpaste and dissolve it. Is this an unreasonable fear of mine?

I am very interested in this question myself. I use pettinice, but I would love to hear about and try other products or recipes that might be better. I use pettinice because it is what I learned with and what I have had the best results with. I will admit that I have done very little experimenting... I'm not wild about the taste, but I am comfortable with the performance... Does this call for another thread?

I am a huge fan of your show. I've never thought about kidnapping you and forcing you to make wheat-based and couscous recipes... well not seriously anyway... but I believe, deep down, that I am the biggest fan. Anyway... What is your absolute favorite cooking utensil, tool, pan, or kithen gadget, and why is it your fav?