Matt Seeber

correct spelling - Guastavino's sexy website HERE citysearch stuff HERE

better idea - buy a duck. trim the carcass of all the fat, grind and render. from one duck you'll have enough fat for a months supply of roasted potatoes

using the roe with the scallop dish makes sense. toss in with the scallop during the last minute of cooking. you want to avoid cooking it all the way thru - half way is fine. cut up into pieces though cause it's got a REALLY strong flavor! scallop, roe, asparagus, morels

oil based marinades may be used a second time if within a short period of time. olive oil, garlic and rosemary comes to mind. by the second usage the oil will be even more heavily perfumed with the flavorings.

absolutely nothing wrong with that!

HDT, if possible you want to make your stock from raw shells / bodies. it's not that you can't use par-boiled shells, but their potency and sweetness is less realized in your stock. as mentioned, beware of overreducing~

fish mousse is the first thing that comes to mind. flavor it any old way you like, drop off small spoonfuls into boiling water and along with some vegetables you've got a nice soup garnish

this would be my recommendation and the thing to do it if you want to keep the squid in recognizable squid pieces. with a saw of some sort you'll end up with mangled squid. besides, there's no love in a squid saw... another suggestion - by fresh calamari and freeze it in small packages that you can remove from the freezer one at a time.

for jasmine rice the ratio is "about" 1 part rice to 1.5 parts water. the variance comes into play if the rice is from a fresh crop and has a higher moisture content, therefore needing less water. in contrast, when cooking with uncle ben's, the product will be exactly the same 99% of the time with no variance in moisture content.

there are also differences of opinion regarding how quickly the rice should be served... some say immediately upon completion of steaming and others insist it should sit uncovered for 10 minutes, allowing excess steam to escape. the second approach apparantly results in a lighter, fluffier style rice

my understanding of the rinsing is that it removes excess starch before cooking. you want the rice to be as light and airy as possible. also of great importance with jasmine rice is the aroma. some say if you don't rinse it, the aromas are masked.

fwiw, i think otto is an important restaurant and worthy of the full blown review. it's hardly the flavor of the month... to each his own

can't comment on that jin but it tastes damn good!

try roasting the garlic first for the pickle- in the skin vinegar, sugar, water, pickling spices

elyse, you have a couple of good points i'd like to address: suzanne pretty much nailed it, but to elaborate - cutting the meat first is recommended in order to obtain more surface area. the browning on all sides of those pieces of meat is going to help give your stew a much greater depth of flavor. i say "help" because it's just one of several important steps. true. see above. you gotta give love if you want to get it to avoid this just adjust the flame down a bit. start on a high heat and add the meat. once the pan comes back up to temperature and the meat is searing well, reduce the heat a bit and it won't burn - just take it nice and slow. be sure to deglaze and put all that "caramely goodness" to use.

melkor - of those that you tasted, we'd love to hear which were good and which were cabbage

if you're starting with zip, go for a french knife and pairing knife first. with those two, you'll cover about 80% of all the knife-work you'll ever do

generally speaking - applicable to beef, veal, lamb and pork - shoulders are braised and legs are roasted.

wait what happened to salma hayek.....darnit!

tommy, i wasn't implying that you couldn't use a knife. i'm afraid you're reading between the lines... i was making reference to my earlier post about recommending a knife that cost $25 bucks. this knife is most certainly not as awesome as some of the carbon steel japanese knives but if it gets damaged or ruined by an inexperienced knife sharpener - no love lost. it's a cheapie and can be replaced. all other things aside, the most important thing is that the knife is sharp not that it looks pretty or is hand made like some of those flashy ones in the korin catalog. knife sharpening seminar next week, i'll host.... - who's into it?

that's why i'll always suggest buying a POS knife for all but the most adept chefs. i wouldn't go out and drop $2K on a guitar ('cause i suck) and i wouldn't recommend anyone here spend more than $50 on a knife

ham tommy and i'm with coop on that last one.

yes susan, very true and a good point. and for all you "gearheads" out there, it'll be all that much sooner you can buy a NEW knife!! nothing wrong with new toys.

i'll chime in again and say that sharpening a knife takes lots of practice. more often than not, on your first few attempts it may seem that you're in fact doing exactly the opposite. keep an even pressure and even angle (most recommend 8 - 15 degrees). the slurry that builds up on the stone is a good thing and helps the knife sharpen better...

i forgot to mention that the steels recommended above are the diamond variety and shoud be used with high carbon, chromium, molybdenum (no stain) knives. if you have a carbon steel (softer metal) knife i suggest using a regular steel. diamond steels are too hard for the soft metal of a carbon steel knife.