fiftydollars

My plan is simply to use it to brew and enjoy tea. I have a terrible fondness for tea and I am told that these are great teapots. I am also an ardent fan of cast iron and I believe that these pots represent an ideal application for this metal. I also like the infuser featured in most of the pots I have seen. And most important of all, they are hella cool.

I bake a lot, but I don’t use my stand mixer nearly as often as I thought I would when I bought it. I bake a lot of bread, which requires kneading for which the 6qt Pro Kitchenaid (or any comparable stand mixer I’ve tried) is not quite suited. It kneads bread, of course, but not nearly well enough, so I usually still need to put in about 6-10 minutes worth of hand-kneading. It is, however, and excellent mixer and whisker, so it is a must for cakes and buttercream. It also runs a whole host of accessories like the grain mill I use to mill flour for bread, the grinder I use to make sausages, the food mill/strainer that I use to process tomatoes, etc… So it more than justifies its existence on my countertop. But still, I can do without it for months at a time.

I am looking for a high quality Japanese cast-iron teapot. I would like to get one of a good quality… something that is well made with good quality enameling. Can anyone point me to a good manufacturer? Any retailers known to carry good quality cast-iron teapots? What should I look for? Anything I should avoid? What about prices? Thank you, $50.00

Your food looks great, Shelora, and I love your pestle (petate?)! I'm quite jealous...

I’m looking for a good quality Japanese cast-iron teapot. What should I look for? Any particular manufacturer I should look for or avoid?

garlic confit I just take a lot of garlic… a lot. Can’t really count how many cloves. But I’d say I start with at least 2 cups of cloves or as many as I can be bothered to peel at the given time. I add big chunk of butter, a spoonful of demi glace, and I start the crock pot on low. It takes a lot less time than onions and you sort of have to watch it to avoid having the cloves burn or dry out. You have to stir them about every hour or so to get them to cook evenly and it helps if you have a lot of garlic to work with. If you burn it, the garlic becomes intensely bitter as garlic is wont to do, so you probably want to avoid that. Anyway, after the 8 or so hours it takes, the garlic is just wonderful. It is sweet and mellow and oh, so delicious. I made this after having good success with onion confit and shallot confit (both of which I highly recommend), which were all based on the standard recipegullet onion confit recipe. I pretty much follow the recipe, but just don’t season the garlic with anything, add sugar, include a lot of the other ingredients, or cook it for quite as long…ok I guess I don’t really follow the recipe, but you could, just watch them a lot more closely than onions. Garlic has a lot less moisture and will burn easily. Garlic also has some crazy compounds in it that through long slow cooking become very sweet and ridiculously delicious. It's like garlic marmalade.

I've used the aluminum tart pans with good results. They don't look particularly fancy but they hold up nicely through the waterbath, torching, and whatnot...

GTFOH!! My mind is boggled.

Frozen puff pastry

I have a lot of respect for Mr. Keller. His longevity and ability to remain relevant in such a fiercely competitive environment is a great testament to his talent and remarkable work ethic. He has been a San Francisco fine dining legend for more than 30 years and from the look of it, he’s got at least another 30 left.

FDL rocks! I'm a big fan of "The Other Keller." Though it can be a little cozy in the diningroom. There are some tables that really should be taken out. In the wrong table it can feel like you're sitting on someone's lap. Add that canopy and it really feels luxurious... sort of like the back seat of an old cadillac or what I would imagine it would be like inside a really nice coffin. And from what I gather it takes a lot to get on HK's VIP list, but it has its benefits... Once when I was exiting, I spotted big bad Willie Brown, impeccably dressed, getting out of a limo full of smokin' hot ladies. When he entered, he was almost immediately greeted by a glass of wine (red).

Yes... Why did I put ketchup on my list? And hot sauce?

Best Foods mayonnaise (aka Hellman's east of the Rockies). Heinz ketchup. Crystal hot sauce. Buffalo hot sauce (from Mexico and only the one with carrots at the top of the ingredient list). Various Pepper Plant products.

Does this really have to be in the India and Indian Cuisine forum? Are you not interested in how non-Indians learned to cook?

Fly roe tacos are delicious!

...buttercream with flour cooked on a double boiler... It's fluffy and not too sweet... You guys are blowin' my effin' mind!

I recently saw an Italian butter at Andronico's that says it is created in the process of making parmigiano reggiano. There was only one left, and the paper wrap was damaged, so I didn't spend the $5 to find out what it was. It smelled like parmesan. Anyone try it? I'll be going back soon to see if they restocked, but I'm curious what others think.

From what Bourdain says in Kitchen Confidential, less is thrown out than you would think.

That's exactly what you're going for when culturing cream for butter. So if you're familiar with a certain method, go for it and churn.

Chef Edward's in Oakland. This is strictly for the believers. The few, the proud, the fanatics. It ain’t pretty. It’s in the ‘hood. But it’s the best in the bay. Excellent ribs, brisket, etc. and don’t miss the hot water corn bread. Bo's in Lafayette. Great barbecue. Upscale location. Large selection of highfalutin’ beers, etc… Although it’s not as good as that delivered by Chef Edward or Dad (not sure there is a Dad, but there is definitely a Chef Edward). It is by far the safest location and one the only decent barbecue joints most folks I know would go to at night. But despite the genteel location they are hard core. I remember one time I got some brisket, chicken, or something like that, and it was garnished with ribs! (out of parsley?) Dad's BBQ also in Oakland. This is by far the place with the most barbecue ambiance. It’s a dumpy dive, but they definitely serve up the ‘que. I’m not really exaggerating when I say this place is in a bad neighborhood. Almost every time I go there is an officer parked out side Dad’s. This I suspect is for two reasons. First, the food is damned good. You will rarely see a patrolman parked by Dad’s without food. And second, well there is a liquor store next to Dad’s that attracts a unique clientele, many of whom like to hang out and pursue retail ventures of their own. They are not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. Or, as a last resort, Everet and Jones, also in Oakland with locations in Fruitvale and Jack London Square. This stuff is good. Their Fruitvale location, I believe, serves the best food. But they don’t really have a dining room, just a small counter and some chairs, so it would pretty much be take-out. Fruitvale, particularly the part where you’ll find E&J’s, is a neighborhood a lot of my friends wouldn’t follow me into at the wrong time of the day. But they also have a Jack London Square location that features a dining room. The food, I think, is not as good, and the service is… not very polished. But it’s some pretty good barbecue and their hot sauce is really quite hot.

I’ve also tried making butter by agitating cream in a jar. I first did it as part of a really lame science lesson in 2nd grade. Then a few years ago, I needed just a little bit of butter for my steak and I didn’t have any, but I had a lot of heavy cream. So I churned my own butter in a jar. It worked alright, but it was definitely not very firm and had a lot of excess moisture. I think kind of like you are describing. The food processor works a lot better because it packs the little fat molecules pretty tightly and makes it so a lot more of the water is removed than I was able to do using the jar method. It's also much faster and doesn't require you to shake a jar until you are tired and dizzy. I didn’t emphasize this, but it is important to start with cold cream. Once I get that clump of butter and stop the machine. I pour out the buttermilk into a container and save it for a later use. Then I push together as much of the fat as I can. Then I start washing the butter with ice water. This firms up the fats considerably. To wash I just pour in a cup of ice water into the processor and pulse it a few times. Then I throw out this water, but make sure to strain off the butter floating on top, which I normally just eat on the spot with a dash of salt (quality control). I repeat this process about 2-3 times or until the water is clear after washing. Since it was just washed in ice water, the butter should be nicely firm when you start kneading it. Just squeeze the butter with two forks to release the remaining water and pour out the liquid. If you have what cake decorators call “cold hands,” or just terrible circulation, you might be able to knead the butter by hand. I can’t. It just melts immediately into a mess, so I use the forks. I squeeze until no water squeezes out of the butter. Of course water is emulsified into the butter, which will not be squeezed out, but I try to get as much of the un-emulsified water out as possible. Now for a cultured butter… I start with the freshest extra heavy whipping cream and buttermilk I can find. I place the cream into a clean glass jar and thoroughly combine it with buttermilk at a ratio of 8:1 ( 2 tablespoons of buttermilk per cup of cream). I place this jar at room temperature for about 8-24 hours. After about 8 hours it starts to thicken and at around 16-20 hours it is usually quite thick. For me it’s a judgment call. As it sits it gets more acidic, develops flavor, and thickens, but how long it takes varies. Once I am satisfied with the cream’s culturing, I open the jar, make sure I like what I’m smelling and seeing (you don’t want nasty smells or off colors, or frothing, which can be signs of contamination) and place it into the refrigerator to get nice and cold before churning in the usual fashion.

I looked around long and hard when I needed it and ended up having to make it. Arrowhead Mills sells a whole wheat pastry flour that is widely available in my part of California. I got great results despite using the whole wheat flour and going at it the old-fashioned, large rolling pin way.

I need to give a shout out to churning your own butter. If you’ve never tried it (and have a food processor handy), you must. It is very interesting and pretty simple. Now there are a lot of intricacies to butter making. But it’s, in essence, quite a simple process. Just take butter and agitate it to the point where the fats stick together and expel the liquid from suspension. You can do this easily enough without equipment, but with a food processor it’s a snap. Just fill the bowl of your favorite food processor to its liquid capacity with cold cream and start the machine. Not much will happen for a few minutes, but then, suddenly, when it reaches just the right point, the cream separates in sudden and dramatic fashion. You will actually hear a “wooosh” sound as the liquid suddenly strikes the sides of your food processor’s work bowl. Once you reach this point, stop the machine. It’s time to decide if you want to go further, or just stop and eat the butter. If you decide on the later, just sort of knead the water (whey, I think they call it) out of the butter with a couple of forks. At this point you can add some salt. I, because I’m fancy-pantsed and whatnot, add fleur de sal, but you can add whatever salt brings happiness in your life. If you want to keep going, you can wash the butter to remove as much remaining whey as possible. This helps keep the butter longer, I think, and does make for a nicer product. To do this add about a cup or so of ice water to the food processor and start it up again. Pulse it a few times and then pour out the water. I actually keep the water initially dispelled in the process, call it buttermilk, and use it as such. But this subsequent washing water I just strain, to keep from throwing away the perfectly good butter floating on it, and toss it. I repeat this process until I am satisfied with the clarity of the water, which usually takes at least 2-3 times. Once the butter is washed I knead and salt it in the usual fashion. Now there are exact temperatures, additional processes, and many more things to the butter making process, but for my humble purposes I try to keep it simple. However, I do regularly culture the butter, homemade crème fraiche style, before churning. It’s not practical in the least for me to churn a substantial portion of what I use, but once in a while as a special treat I greatly enjoy serving my own freshly churned cultured butter in tiny little crocks. So if you haven’t before, give it a try.

John, that is an excellent point.

It should be clarified that neither the restaurants nor the servers actually receive any additional money as a result of this practice. They are generally paid on the basis of the receipt signed by the customer and not on the basis of whatever was “pre-authorized.” The article doesn’t really do a good job of making this clear… Well actually they purposely try to make it seem like restaurants and waiters are conspiring with the bank to screw you over and this is definitely not the case here. Just thought I would clarify.