Shalmanese

It's not a big issue when you're making a lemon sorbet but part of the reason to use baume/brix rather than just by weight is because fruit naturally has sugar and that needs to be taken into account when making sorbets/granites.

We had one when I was still living with my parents. It's great for shabu shabu tableside and also stuff link onion confit that needed long, slow cooking.

I just noticed today that they've added the first 20 episodes of Molto Mario to Hulu.

Sounds very cool. I love these types of endurance cooking events. For my 21st birthday 3 years ago, I did something similar: 21 courses over 21 hours for 21 people while drinking 21 drinks.

White in cooked applications, green in uncooked. Often, this will be part of the same dish with the whites added at the beginning and the greens added at the end.

I invented a drink called the blooming lotus: Rim a glass with bitters, shake gin, grenadine & a few drops of rosewater and then top with a tiny bit of tonic. It's got an interesting balance, floral and bitter and sweet at the same time.

I have this bad habit of choosing not to eat something believing I eat it "all the time" only to realize it's actually been ages since I last ate it. Like bananas. Every time I'm at the store, I think "I like bananas but I could eat a banana any time, I should pick some more interesting fruit". It wasn't until a couple of months ago that I realized I hadn't actually eaten a banana in over a year and finally bought some. They were delicious and I was a fool for not eating more of them. Every time I go to a Thai restaurant, I mentally think "I shouldn't order Pad Thai, I have that all the time". Again, it wasn't until a few months ago that I figured out the last time I had Pad Thai was probably 2 or 3 years ago. Just the other week, I dug out some frozen mince from the back of my freezer and I was trying to figure out what to do with it and meatloaf popped into my head. "Nah, you make that all the time". But hang on, I've probably only made meatloaf 3 or 4 times in my life, and every time, it was delicious. So I made meatloaf with that mince and then I made another one this week because I need to catch up on my meatloaf quota. Does anyone else find this happening to them? It's pretty annoying but I've gotten better now that I'm aware of it.

Does anyone know what's happened to the Samurai Noodle space on the Ave? They've removed their sign from the storefront. I'm guessing the expansion is no longer happening?

This is very cool and I'd be interested to see what new directions you could take with cocktails.

Miso soup is super quick and easy to prepare and I've found it gives a bit of variety, flavor profile wise.

The backlash against vodka reminds me of the similar and, IMHO, equally misguided, culinary backlash against white sugar/salt/water in favor of honey/soy sauce/stock. Sure, the second set has more "flavor" and "complexity" and I'm always going to reach for them when appropriate. But it's absurd to say that white sugar has no place in a pastry kitchen and that vodka has no place in a bar. Sometimes, you want that neutrality precisely because it's neutral. It boosts without being assertive. Sure, Gins are more complex than Vodkas but I've yet to hear a convincing argument as to why I would want all my cocktails to be complex.

Assuming I don't care too much about the pinkness of the salt, a slab off the internet costs $60 and a box of kosher salt from my local supermarket costs $4. Is there any easy way to transform normal granular salt into a salt slab? I assume the first step is to redissolve all the crystals and then what? Can I just stick it in a baking dish in the oven on low until all the water has evaporated off? How do I make it form a single crystal?

The flame of a torch will have a "core" that is light blue and then a flame which is dark blue. The core consists of unburnt gas and the very tip of the core is where the flame is the hottest.

w00t, definitely going to this!

Video here. Wow, I thought she had more class than that. I can't imagine her actually eating these things in real life and the ad doesn't make too much sense regardless.

I don't believe this would be a good idea. Yes, the alcohol and some of the water evaporates as you cook with it but during that time some of the liquid is also absorbed or the time as required to deglace the pan. If you start with an already reduced liquid it may become too concentrated or not serve the intended function. The only possible exception would be if you're going to use it solely if for making a sauce. You're not talking that much freezer space to make a difference. ← I don't think that's true. Because it's frozen, you're going to have to use some other liquid to deglaze the pan anyway so you are already bringing it back up to some proportion of the unreduced wine.

Since you're going to be reducing it anyway, reduce the wine by 2 - 3x and then freeze to save on freezer space.

That was going to be my suggestion also. I think the story was 'Lamb to the Slaughter.' ← Although to make it really authentic, you would have to serve it with tinned peas and tinned potatoes. The lamb would also have to go into the oven from frozen.

Sounds like a treat. Last time I did them, I did something similar except with miso paste.

I do because yelp is on my iPhone and it's a great resource to answer "where should I eat near here". Usually, I'm not after something spectacular, avoiding disaster is more the priority and yelp usually does a decent job.

Pork neck bones are one of the staples of Chinese cooking which is practically unknown in the west. To me, pork neck bones combine a dazzling variety of textures, flavors and marbling and is quite possibly the most perfect single cut on any animal that I've experienced. They're definitely not for the timid though, you have to enjoy gnawing and sucking on bone. Like chicken wings, flank steak & short ribs before it, neck bones strike me as the type of "garbage cut" which is soon to be discovered. But before it has, it's currently as cheap as chips and an absolute bargain for foodies in the know. To cook them, you can either braise them, make soup out of them or slow roast them. I've had them every which way and they're delicious. The other decision you need to make is how far you want to cook them. Left on the stove for 3 hours or more and they become falling apart tender and the meat strips away clean. Shorten it to 2 hours or so and, IMHO, there's still a bit of fight left in the meat which makes it more interesting to eat. So far, I've only really used them in asian preparations, either braising in soy or as part of an asian soup. But I'm interested in seeing how it can adapt to more traditional western recipes as well. So for anyone who's never tried pork neck bones before, I'd urge you to go to your nearest asian butcher where $5 should buy you enough to feed a family of 6 with change leftover. For those who cook with them regularly, I'd be interested to hear what you do with them. hzrt8w has a pictorial in the Chinese food section for Pork Neck Bone Soup with Lotus Root (蓮藕豬骨湯) for reference.

I once again conclude that the basting in butter method is the best way to cook a steak:

Hmph. I always thought that if the recipe didn't specify the size, you should assume large eggs, not extra large. I'm loving the posts, btw. Please keep writing. ← Me too.

I don't think it's possible for a fried egg to be too brown. For me, the browner and crispier, the better.

I made a Cheese & Bacon Grits topped with Poached Egg. It just might be my new favorite breakfast ever.