piperdown

Last year I finished my Master's degree, and while travelling through south-east asia I realised that cooking is my passion, and may be something I wanted to do with my life. So on my return I got a job as a cook, to see if it was something I really wanted to do. Well, it's been 5 months, and I still love it, so I'm thinking the next step is to go to culinary school in the spring. That leaves me to my problem...choosing a school. The one's I'm looking at are (in no particular order) 1. CIA (either California or NY) 2. California Culinary Academy 3. New England Culinary Institute 4. French Culinary Institute They all look good on paper, but it's a big decision (and an expensive one), and I want to make sure I make the right informed choice. I want to cook at a high level, and want to make sure that the school I choose helps me to do that. So any advice from eGulletters out there? Is one school better than the others, or is it really just what you put into it that matters? I keep hearing that the CIA is the top school, but the class sizes seem big, and I've heard form other chefs that while the CIA grads have tremendous book knowledge, their cooking skills aren't quite as good, due to the lack of hands on training (which I've heard that NECI is really good at). I'm planning on visiting the schools soon, but just wanted to hear some opinions. Also does anyone know if there is a difference between the two CIA campuses? Again, any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated, as I really do want to make the most informed decision possible.

I hate to admit it, but I actually went to Applebee's the other day (not my choice, but it was one of the only choices around). So I ended up trying the burger, and I have to say it wasn't all that bad. It actually had a bit of fresh flavor to it. The pesto tasted like pesto, and it was better than anything I've ever had there (which is about two other things). Sue it sucked that I couldn't get a medium rare burger (I think medium well was the rarest choice), but over all I was pleasantly surprized. Will I go back willingly? No, there are better places to spend the same amount of cash, but the truth of the matter is that a lot of people like familiarity, and that's what they get from Applebee's and TF. At least I feel better knowing, that if people do choose to go there, there will be a few interesting things on the menu for the people to try. And this might wake some of them up to what food could taste like if they expand there experiences

That makes sense, thanks jason. Has any one made the garlic sausage before? After teh stuffing the book says to cook to 150, but in other recipes the book says to freeze or refrigerate until ready to cook. Does that mena these whould be cooked right away, and then kept? I don't think it's right to grill or roast all these sausage and then store them. Or would poaching be proper. I did grill some up today though and served them with the staff meal, and they were mighty tasty. Also I jsut got the call that my fat back is in, so I think the next project will be the chicken and basil sausage. Damn ths suff is too fun to make, even when I'm making it a disaster, I still just want to make more.

Do you mean both ends? I didn't tie off the last bit, just the bit at the start. Was this wrong? I thought that if I didn't tie it offthe sausage would pour out when I started filling. I did have the wherewithall to not tie off both ends ( although I almost did) figuring that would trap in the air. I think you're right about over stuffing though. I think I was over zealous to not get too many air pockets, not realizing that twisting off the sausage into links would probably do that job for me. Thanks everyone for your help, I know I'd be a lot more afraid to try this stuff if I didn't have you guys here for help.

So I tried my second batch of sausages yesterday, and it all went well, up until the stuffing. There were a few problems, so I'm going to ask some really stupid questions to try and solve this. 1. I'm using a Grizzly 5lb. stuffer, and 32/35mm hog casings. I was using the mid-sized stuffer tube. Is this right? Also are there better casings to use? 2. After putting the casings on the tube, I tied off the one end, and started filling, it took a bit to get right, but occasionally air seemed to back up, and cause a balloning effect on the tube, which I think caused one of the ruptures. Is there a way to stop this? was I forcing the casing to stay on the tube too long as it was filling? 3. I got a few ruptures when twisting the sausage into links. Any tips for doing this. Also after the links are made I plan on poaching the garlic sausage, can I thne cut then into individual links, and have them hold? So over all, it was a bit of a disaster, but as long as I learn form it, I'll be fine with it. So any tips on proper stuffing technique would be reallt great. Oh one other thing, the instuctions on the stuffer say to sanitze the parts, would the didhwasher do this, or are there products you guys use for this?

Well you guys were right, this stuff is acctictive. I got the book over the summer, but since all I ever saw of the summer was the restaurant and bed, I couldn't start some projects until now. I started with the Duck Procuitto, and after that decided to start on sausages. Even without making a single sausage I still felt compelled to buy the Grizzly stuffer. It's like a weird compulsion I just finished making some of the breakfast sausage for my Mom's B&B, and was almost reluctant to let her guests eat them since they came out so well, and I just wanted to keep them all for myself. The first thing I wanted to do after making the first batch was to make another one. I wanted to make the Chicken and basil one's but my buther didn't have any back fat, so he had to order it. Instead I think I'm going to try the garlic sausage. Has anyone tried that one yet? I'm a little nervous to start working with the casings, as I can see that going horribly wrong, but I'm still excited to try.

At the restaurant I work in, we make an Apple Cake and serve it with an apple calvados ice cream. So far it's been our top selling dessert.

Yeah, Smokeless Joe's is much different than Shoeless Joe's. I haven't tried the food there, but that isn't really the draw.

If it's Beer you're looking for, then go to Smokeless Joes, it has over 250 different kinds and is a great place to have a beer, as long as you can find a seat that is. They do serve food, but I'm not exactly sure how good it is.

Oh shoot, I don't get into NYC until the 13th...maybe I'll come in a day early. Thanks for the info.

Is it right to assume that the Shake Shack is closed for the winter?

I used the Cook's illustrated method as well, and got really good results too. The only issue I had was that my mom didn't have a V-rack (I should have asked and just brought mine), so I had to use a flat wire rack set on some carrots and celery. Ths didn't work all that well, bu whatever. This method (or maybe it was the bird) produced an excess of pan juices. So much in fact that the bottom of the bird was swimming in it, and I had to drain the pan 3/4 of the way through. It did make for some kick ass gravy though.

I ended up making a more elaborate brine than normal, just because I had the stuff on hand. It included Vegetable stock, Cider, Bay leaves, Apples, Salt, Brown suger, Juniper Berries, Peppercorns, and then a bunch of Rosemary and Thyme.

Man I can't believe the day is finally over. This was my first Thanksgiving working at my Mothers inn, and man the stress. Having to cook breakfast for 20 guests, while also prepareing Thanksgiving dinner, was a bit hectic. Plus, some family memebers couldn't make the drive due to weather, so we had a 20lb turkey for 6 people instead of 10. There are going to be a lot of leftovers. Everything turned out well though, even me panicing over whether or not the turkey was underdone or overdone...in the end it was damn tasty, thank god for the forgivingness of brining. Our menu was: Roasted pear and beet salad with spiced walnuts and a Cranberry Vinigarette (which for making up at the last minute turned out damn tasty) Roasted Turkey with Giblet Gravy. Roasted Green Beans with Garlic and pine nuts Cornbread Stuffing Roasted Cauliflour ala eGullet (thank god my mom's inn has two ovens) Sage and Parsley dinner rolls Peacan Pie and Pumpkin Pie with homemade Nutmeg icecream (I am in love with the ice cream machine) So now I just need to get up at 7:30 and start making breakfast tomorrow.

For Canadian Thanksgiving I did Alton's High then low and it Pretty well. I too love the taste stuffing gets from the bird, so I did exactly what ianeccleston suggested, and adding stock to the stuffing. I had made a turkey stock from the giblets and with chicken stock added, and then just added some of that to the stuffing before putting it in the oven. It tasted great. For American Thanksgiving, we have a lot more people coming, so we're cooking a bigger bird. For the 13 lb'er I brined for 6 hours and air-dried overnight. Does anyone know how long a 20 lb bird should be brined for?

WOW they really expect rent from a restaurant that's not opening for another 18,000 years? Toronto is crazy.

Was that by Vanderhoortens??? I remember a Swiss Pastry shop...but maybe it was actually Italian. It was definitely awhile ago.

Yeah Chez Piggy has descended in quality as of late, and is coasting on reputation, and student discounts. The courtyard is quite nice though. Casa Dominico is definitely one of the best restaurants in Kingston, especially since Clark's on King has closed down. Glad you liked it, and hopefully your daughter will like it at Queen's.

This might be an incredibly stupid question, but do you freeze Gnocchi before or after cooking it in the boiling water? I'm assuming after, but I just wanted to make sure.

I never really heard of Swiss cheese until I moved to North America from Switzerland. There cheese was always known by region, and even then the style varied between producers. The "Swiss" cheese here always seems so processed, so I've always avoided it.

Isn't Gruyere a Swiss Cheese? Or did you mean "swiss" chesse, because that stuff has very little to do with Switzerland, and you're right to avoid it. Personally I use either an aged Tombe, or Gruyere. It really depends. The Gruyere that I normally get is a little too strongly flavoured for the soup, but milder Gruyere is usually available.

I third this. I've wanted to compare TK's Chou Gnochhi with regular potato Gnocchi for awhile, and this will finally give me the impetus.

I think some people don't get tongue-in-cheek, because they have too much head-up-ass.

I don't think it comes as a shock to any regular readers of this forum that Nondoctor works for Jamie Kennedy. He's certainly never hid it from anyone, as far as I can tell. It's been mentioned in more posts then the New York one you mentioned. As for him mentioning things and considering it advertisement...who cares? There has been extensive talk of the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, and he's just passing on information that some customers might appreciate. I know I do. Maybe the fact that he posted the information in a rather tounge in cheek fashion made it seem dubious, but I can't see why. Why wouldn't customers who appreciate JK want to know more? There are countless professionals on this site, most of which talk or answer questions about their restaurants, that's what make eGullet such a great site.

I've always found EDO to be really good, but not quite as good as Sushi Kaji. Hiro Sushi is great, as long as you're really just looking for good traditional Sushi.