Blondelle

Marlene, Cooks Illustrated recommends the Calphalon Contemporary roaster. It's fully clad, and only $63.99 right now at smartbargains.com. If you go through fatwallet.com you can get a 7% rebate. Add something else and get free shipping at $75. It's a great pan. Comes with a rack too! http://www.smartbargains.com/go.sb?pagenam...2&t=srch...prod.

I'm probably naive, but what would a cooking class offer over watching FoodTV. I can see how it would help if you're making an actual dish, and have someone there overseeing you, but a lot of them are just watching someone cook, and explaining as they go as on FoodTV.

Melic, how many pounds was the brisket? Trying to guage how large a piece of meat to buy for mine ;-). Thanks! The buffet casserole is total magic for brisket. I, too, have found that I use the buffet casserole (I have the 3.5 quart size) more than any of my other Le Creuset pieces. I've actually just ordered the smaller size, but I can't report anything because it hasn't arrived yet. ← Well, my 2 1/4 qt flame-colored buffet casserole arrived late yesterday afternoon, and it hardly had time for a quick bath before it was plunked in the oven with a wee brisket (why is it that I never see large ones in the case any more ...) and its accoutrements nestled inside. The pan size was perfect; the contents divine. I've had some le creuset pieces for bazillions of years - gifts from my mom. They are round ovens - and are enamelled on the outside bottoms - but those outside bottoms are ridged, kind of like a grill pan. The insides of the pots look like regular le creuset. The knobs are strange - a phrenolic cap that slips on and off of a regular metal knob - except on the smaller pot where I melted the phrenolic knob onto the metal one . I long ago ordered replacement knobs, but I can't get the old knob off the small pot. The screw must be rusted shut. I haven't used these older pots since I got my smoothtop range (no, there is no gas line in my bldg) because I'm concerned that the ridges mean that the bottom of the pot only partially contacts the cooking surface, and I thought that was a no-no for smoothtops. Of course, most grill pans (or at least the all clad and calphalon ones I've seen) have these same ridged bottoms (except the ridges also extend into the interior of the pans) - and I assume the respective companies wouldn't be foolish enough to manufacture cookware that cannot be used by a significant portion of their target market - or would they? Anyone out there have any experience with these old le creuset pots, or with ridged pans on a smoothtop???? ←

Snowangel, beautiful pan! I have one in red, but haven't used it yet. I do have the wok though that has the same interior. You can either let a seasoning build up, or wipe the inside of the pan with oil and heat it until it stops smoking. Oil again and repeat until you have a shiny black surface. I used olive oil. It does take a seasoning just like raw iron as the enamel is still porous and has some roughness to it. It will be almost nonstick after.

Thanks much for the replies, but what about the meat itself without the gravy or sauce. Wouldn't it contain a great deal more fat than meats roasted or grilled, or does a lot of it's fat migrate into the braising liquid?

I'm new to this type of cooking and I've only had a few braised dishes. They were delicious, but they all seemed fatty. Is this just the nature of braised meats, as they cook in their own fat? I know the flavor is in the fat, but if one is trying to lose weight should they just avoid meats prepared this way? Any way to reduce some of the fat in the finished dish?

Here's an All-Clad stainless pan on Ebay that meets your criteria. It's their 4 qt. stainless chef's pan with lid! It's at $87 with about an 1 1/4 hours to go! http://cgi.ebay.com/All-Clad-CHEFS-PAN-Sta...1QQcmdZViewItem

I had the honor of meeting Mr. Boulud at Bloomies some months back. A very nice personable fellow. I had asked him about this cast iron line and whether it was being expanded. He said it wasn't going to be and cited quality issues. I think another reason why his line failed and Batali's line didn't was because cast iron wasn't tied very closely with his type of cooking, where Batali's line was more closely tied with his Italian style of cooking. Batali's line is successful because it has an identity, concept, image, and a reason for being. It's a very well designed and well thought out line. I think the Boulud pieces are very nice though, and well made. I didn't care though for the white interior on the Boulud red and grey pieces, and liked the solid white and black ones better.

In July Mario Batali will be adding a specialized risotto pot to his cast iron line. I think Mario might know just a little about making risotto ;-).

Jturn00, I think your best bet would be the slightly larger 2 3/4 Le Creuset soup pot. The bottom is rounded and it's wider and shallower than the oven. I think it's much better for curries, rice, and risotto as the rounded bottom makes it much easier to stir. It's shaped like a saucier but with two loop handles. I think it's a much more verstaile pot, as the width will let you also use it as a small dutch oven. You can even do a very small roast or chicken in it, or a small braise. It's $69.99. It also comes in Satin Black if you decide you do want the black matte enamel interior.

Azlee I don't want to throw another wrench in the works, but if you're renovating with an eye towards resale at all, you have to also consider this. Someone who loves to cook, and who would appreciate all your very high end appliances will also want a much larger kitchen. It's like putting all the very expensive high end Lexus extras into a VW. Your kitchen will be exquisite with all these very high end fittings but will the loss of ease of cooking in such a small space justify their cost? Just something to consider! Blondelle, That sounds very much like my planned set-up, except that I can't decide on the fridge. I know that $2,500 is alot for a fridge, but I live in a neighborhood where many would solve a similar space problem with a subzero and that is an expense ( over $5k w/ ss panel) that I personally cannot justify or afford. I guess alot of sticker shock comes with a small kitchen renovation. ←

Azlee, larger apartments in my building are over 1,000,000 with several costing many times that. My studio is worth about $400,000 and I'm using the LG. The LG is a beautiful fridge with many amenities and features. It's not that large but it's built well and finished nicely. My apartment is a studio, and there are much less expensive fridges I can place there. To me this is an mid to upper end solution. I really don't think it's needed to place such an expensive fridge there if you're just doing it for resale. I don't think it's expected in such a small kitchen. My other appliances are also going to be midrange such as an Amana range and GE Monogram D/W. Blondelle, That sounds very much like my planned set-up, except that I can't decide on the fridge. I know that $2,500 is alot for a fridge, but I live in a neighborhood where many would solve a similar space problem with a subzero and that is an expense ( over $5k w/ ss panel) that I personally cannot justify or afford. I guess alot of sticker shock comes with a small kitchen renovation. ←

Thanks Paula! My new unopened Le Creuset tagine is now up on Ebay. Going to buy the Emile Henry one, but in the brick red ;-). I've been looking at tagine recipes at the Emile Henry site and all say to stir regularly, and add liquid as needed. I had thought you didn't need to do that with a tagine. I thought, to borrow a phrase from Ron Popiel, that it was basically set it and forget it...LOL! If you don't want to go through the trouble of making preserved lemons or finding them, would fresh lemon peel also work? Anyone know the ratio to substitute that if you can?

I also have a small kitchen, 5.5' X 10.5 feet. I'm going with the 10 cf. euro style LG fridge. Looked at the Liebherr but it's so tall, I don't want to use a step stool to get to the top shelf. It's also beautiful, and less than 1/3 of the price. I think $2,500 for a 24" fridge is insanely expensive too! The LG is large enough for me. I'm in Manhattan, and have markets all over. I'm just one person and don't need a larger fridge really, and I love the freezer drawers. I reconfigured my kitchen so I would have more counter space to cook instead of a larger fridge. If I don't have the room to cook, there's not going to be much in the fridge anyway...LOL! I'm using an 18" D/W mostly because I want to be able to run it more frequently, and the 24" takes too long to fill up. I'm also using a 30" range, OTR micro and whatever sink will fit in a 24" cabinet.

Paula, this is a bit off topic but I'm really curious about your thoughts on the Le Creuset tagine. A NY Times article recently said it produced watered down results. Has that been your experience? I'm also curious whether you feel a tagine should have an opening in the dome to allow some of the steam to escape. That might be the cause of the watery Le Creuset results, as the walls are glazed and don't absorb liquid, and the seal is tight so little steam escapes. Have you also had a chance to try the Emile Henrey one? Thanks much!

Thanks again Marlene. Guess I should have asked if there was much space left in your 5 qt. when doing your recipes, and if you used most of the capacity of the pot for them. If the recipes didn't fill it up all the way, they might hopefully work in the smaller 3.5. Thanks much ;-). Hmmm. Let's see. The 5 qt takes about 9 short ribs. I would imagine the smaller buffet might take only six, but the liquid quantities should be about right. I think some of the other recipes like the cabbage, potatoes etc will be fine and won't need adjustment, but in terms of something like a pot roast, in order to do it in the buffet, it needs to be relatively flat. I'm not sure that's really answered your question? I need to go view a 3.5 quart probably in order to judge better. Did you have a particular recipe you wanted to try in the 3.5? That might help me! ←

Thanks Marlene! I had wanted to know though if you thought her recipes would also work in the 3.5 qt. LC buffet casserole, or do they pretty much fill your large one. It's hard to judge from the photos if a smaller one such as the one I have would also work. I would really appreciate your opinion as you seem to make so many recipes in yours. Thanks much ;-).

Marlene, your dishes look really delicious. Your buffet casserole is really getting a workout ;-). I think I remember though you having the 5 qt. one. Are you doubling her recipes? Do you think the dishes above would also work in the 3.5 qt buffet? I can barely lift the 3.5 qt. one empty. I can only imagine how heavy the 5 qt. one would be with food. Seemed to be even heavier than my 5.5 qt. LC oven. I also made this dish, and it looked like it was fated not to happen. I started mine last Tuesday and we finally got to it last night! I had noted this recipe last summer, and when I harvested rhubarb, I specifically put aside the right amount in a ziplock in the freezer. Since I don't really like raisins, I opted not to include them. And, instead of using beef brisket, I used vension. Heaven knows, I have enough of it! It looked like a briskety piece, so I figured why not? So, when I started the braise last week, I only added half of the rhubarb, per the instructions. When I thought we were going to eat it last Friday, I added the rest of the rhubarb, but before I could get it into the oven, realized that we weren't eating dinner as a family that night, so out of the deck (outdoor fridge/freezer) it went. When this thing was in the oven yesterday, it quickly became apparent that it does, indeed need the raisins, so I added them (I didn't have any golden ones, so used regular dark ones). Over mashed, with caesar salad and pan roasted asparagus. Count this as another real winner. This is probably my favorite potroasted recipe in the book. And, works with more cuts than just the brisket, as Marlene noted above. The vension (as is the case with most venison) was not very well marbled, but this was tender and succulent. And, as both Marlene and I have proven, this dish is very forgiving of changing plans! ←

LC once did make an uncoated grill pan called a meat grill. I had one, and no matter how much I seasoned it to shiny black, it wouldn't hold the seasoning and food would stick. I have a newer wok of theirs that has the high temp black enamel inside, and seasoning it makes it shiny and stick reistant. Holds the seasoning, and performs much better than the bare LC iron grill I seasoned! (To my knowledge, LC has never made anything with uncoated cast iron). Then they slowly discontinued using the hard enamel on the inside of skillets, and then they came out with nonstick coatings on some of their frying pans (they called them omelette pans).

I once went to dinner with what I thought was a perfectly nice man. Trying to impress me he proceeded to order a cara-fay of wine. Needless to say there wasn't a second date. Then there was the man who ordered for us both. Waiter he said "bring us two lobsters with all the trimmings". He then asked me if I would be joining him back at his place latter. When I said...er...no, he called to the waiter to change the order to one lobster. I was NOT amused, and left...lol!

I have a thing for spareribs and those lamb gyro sandwiches. Also french fries and potato chips. Why oh why do these things have to be so bad for you

Abadoozy, I had thought your concern was sticking, not waterproofing..lol! The foil should work if it's all in one piece and well secured to the terrine. Good luck ;-).

In the little booklet that comes with the Le Creuset terrine they recommend greasing the terrine, and then lining it with baking parchment cut to size on the bottom and sides. Would bacon go with your recipe? There is another recipe there where you line the bottom and sides with strips of bacon before filling.

Thanks to someones suggestion here, I plan on using the Sunpentown induction burner with Le Creuset as a slow cooker. Someone with chef's training said not to, as the retained heat in the cast iron after cooking would damage the induction element, and he's seen it happen I don't see though how this heat would be different though than the burner being on with the pot on top. Does anyone have any long term (this hasn't been around that long) experience using the Le Creuset with an induction burner with long, slow cooking? Any problems with the combo?

Potsandpans.com has the KitchenAid 5-ply fully clad stainless roaster for only $69.99 with rack. Too late for turkey day, but a great buy for that item. Other items in that line on sale too. I think it's 11 X 15 and a very nice roasting pan.