Shalmanese

Maybe giving her some overnight reading would help? The Simple Art of Perfect Baking? I haven't seen Foundations of Food Preparation in a long time (since I was a kid), maybe that's a good read too Haven't had any major mishaps recently, but I'm still not able to whip cream. I thought the ice bath trick would work but it still hasn't progressed over slightly thickened (and I could've sworn it looks exactly the same as when it came out of the fridge), but the last resort is to crank up the air conditioning and try it one last time, with frozen utensils, plastic bowl, and ice bath. ← Are you sure your cream has enough butterfat? A lot of the cream I've seen in the US seems to be only around 30% butterfat which is very difficult to whip up. I have to buy the fancy organic cream for twice the price, just to get 36% butterfat. If you can get some 40% butterfat, that's even better.

Ling brought brownies and I made some fruit frozen yogurt thing which remained uneaten. I cooked everything myself except the last 2 dishes which were made by Ling. It was fun but I don't think I'll be doing it again. Then again, that's what I said last year .

My 22nd Birthday Dinner 22 courses, of course. Home made Pita Chips 3 ways, Cumin, Paprika & Herb flavored Corn Chips Hummus Black Bean & Corn Salsa Creamed Spinach Finangled Salumi from Salumi, courtesy of hhlohdesign. Mizuna, Cherry & Hazelnut Salad with a Mustard Vinagrette White Rice Chicken & Shiitake Mushroom with Rice Noodles Sweet & Sour Ribs Mojo Pork Beer Braised Beef Potato Flavoured Butter Spice Rubbed Ribs Corn & Egg Drop Soup Lamb & Cauliflower Curry Grilled Mackerel with Lemon Truffle Roasted Asparagus Szechuan Long Beans with Ground Pork Yu Choi & Pork with Oyster Sauce

So a bit of backstory, I turned 22 last Tuesday, I just finished my first year of my PhD in Seattle, I'm heading on a plane at 6am today and I'm being kicked out of my house. That sounds like a reason to party for me so I cooked up EVERYTHING in my fridge and freezer. I think in the end I had enough food to feed about 60 people! Home made Pita Chips 3 ways, Cumin, Paprika & Herb flavored Corn Chips Hummus Black Bean & Corn Salsa Creamed Spinach Mmm... I loved the black bean salsa and the pita chips were pretty addictive. Finangled Salumi from Salumi, courtesy of hhlohdesign. Thanks to Henry for this, he managed to finangle some salumi from Salumi, yum! Mizuna, Cherry & Hazelnut Salad with a Mustard Vinagrette White Rice Chicken & Shiitake Mushroom with Rice Noodles This is an old family recipe, that was the first dish that Ling inaugurated as "her favorite dish so far" Sweet & Sour Ribs Wow, these were really good, thanks to Kent Wang for the recipe. Sooo simple. The second "favourite dish so far by Ling Mojo Pork This is a bit of an odd dish. I don't even remember where I picked it up. Anyway, it's pork with lots of citrus, cilantro, spring onions, garlic and Jalepenos. Very tropical and refreshing. The third "favourite dish so far" by Ling Chocolate Stout Beer Braised Beef This is my "signature dish" if I have one. Soo simple to make but sooo delicious. Potato Flavoured Butter This was Ling being evil, I was originally planning to put in 2 sticks of butter to 8 potatoes but she convinced me to add 2 pounds of butter to this. Insanity! Spice Rubbed Ribs Corn & Egg Drop Soup Lamb & Cauliflower Curry This was a great curry Grilled Mackerel with Lemon This is the first time I cooked Mackerel. So simple, just salt and lemon. Truffle Roasted Asparagus Asparagus, olive oil, truffle salt. The token vegan said it was the best asparagus she's ever eaten. Szechuan Long Beans with Ground Pork Ling took over at these point so these two dishes are hers. Yu Choi & Pork with Oyster Sauce I didn't manage to take a photo of the split pea soup or the chilli but everything was COOKED this time. Phew, what a marathon cooking and eating session. I'm at the airport right now, waiting for my 6am flight back to Australia. I haven't slept in almost 18 hours, I've been dancing all night, I'm drunk and I'm having a BLAST.

99c a lb suckas!

I would do that if any of my dinner guests cared .

I managed to trigger one today: An hour before guests are slated to arrive for your dinner party, you discover the oven is non-functional. Luckily, it was just the pilot light was out and everything ended up going smoothly.

They don't have the email address listed on their webpage. Did they recently change the policy to phone only or something?

What I look for in a house olive oil is that green, peppery kick. I want something fresh and with a lot of bite that can stand up to a lot of assertive flavours. Currently, my house olive oil is the Trader Joes Californian estate olive oil. It's cheap, got great flavor and is neutral enough to pair well with lots of things. Avoid the organic EVOO from Trader Joes though, personally, I think it's bland garbage.

Score the skin in a diamond fashion, season and put in a cold pan, skin side down. Turn on the heat and wait until the fat starts rendering out, then, gently spoon the hot fat over the top of the breast until it's rare/medium rare. The key is slow cooking of the skin side to ensure maximum fat rendering while keeping the inside moist.

I make a Chocolate Stout Braised Beef using Young's double chocolate stout which is amazing. Brown some chuck in rendered beef fat, take it out and cook some carrots until golden, add in some sugar and let it caramelise, then add in the beer and add back the beef. Cook for 2 hours, remove all the solids, defat and reduce down until it's thick and syrupy. Adjust the salt/sugar/pepper and serve over some mashed potatoes:

The best way to get a table tis to have an Amex platinum Charge card where you can use the concierge service. they have 2-3 tables on permanent reservation. ← Anyone willing to book it for me then? Send me a PM. Or does it not work that way?

I just want something tasty, cheap and filling, doesn't matter what cuisine. I need to get off at the Metro Center to switch trains so I might as well eat there for lack of another alternative.

So I'll be switching trains at the Metro Centre station and I thought I could duck out and grab something quick there. Any suggestions for a good restaurant close to that station?

Whenever I use a moist method to cook fish such as steaming, I always remove the skin and crisp it up separately as a garnish. I heat up 2 cast iron pans and salt and oil the skin well. Drop the skin into one pan and immediately place the second one on top before it has a chance to curl. Let it go for 3 or 4 minutes and you get this:

I do, only because I have the best apron in the world! <- profile pic.

I'm trying to angle a reservation to Tetsuya's in June and I was wondering if anybody had the inside scoop on how to maximise my chances? Is it still a 4 week lead time to the day? Would it be better to call than email? Would I be able to get a weekday night on shorter notice or is it equally as booked out all week? Anything else I should know about? Thanks

Personally, I think the whole "chefs love simple food and cook whatever you're comfortable with" is just a TINY bit of a white lie. People are so intimidated with cooking for a chef that they're going to say anything to make people feel more comfortable. But I would say the best thing to cook is still something rustic and homey but is a bit different and requires a bit of skill. Honestly, almost any idiot can braise short ribs and make mashed potatoes and have it come out pretty decent and, unless you're a savant, it's pretty hard to make them taste exceptional. Instead, I would do something like smoked ribs or cassoulet or even a risotto. If you are adept at any forms of ethnic food or have a traditional family recipe that you're proud of and is a bit different, by all means cook that. I just can't imagine being a chef and being AS excited to be eating another braise or lasagne or mac & cheese as I would something a bit more out of the ordinary.

The unspoken assumption is that just because it's "fake", it's therefore unsuited to any kitchen possessing a hint of class and we should all unanimously boycott them from our kitchen. Thrown along in there was a snide little dig at artificial vanilla as well. I say bullshit, the natural/artificial boundary is a totally artifical one and people should be judging food based on how it tastes, not it's providence. If chefs thought food flavoured with truffle oil tasted fine before, why would they object now? To me, the main difference between natural and artificial flavours is that the artificial ones display less complex flavour notes. That's fine sometimes, white sugar and salt display less flavour notes than honey and soy sauce but nobody is trying to say they have no place in the kitchen. And for us poor bastards who can't afford shavings of real white truffles, sometimes truffle oil is the best we can do. That's not to mention the fact that white truffles are perishable and sold whole so unless you can eat an entire truffle in a week, you're pretty much boned.

Wow, I can't believe I missed this thread until now. Congratulations on making me totally behind on the deadlines for my assignments! That was some pretty freaking amazing eating, I'm insanely jealous. How do you think your experiences in Europe will influence your approach to food and what you'll serve at Z Kitchen?

I'm going to be in DC for a conference from the 22nd of May to the 24th. I'll be checking into the Marriott Bethesda, 5151 Pooks Hill Road, Bethesda very late at night (probably around 10:30 - 11) on the 22nd, was wondering if there are any good joints that are open within walking distance that late or a good bar/club where I can chill and get a drink and slowly work off my jetlag? I'll be presenting at the Ronald Reagan Building on Wednesday which is a stone's throw away from the White House. I'm excited about the location but my experience has been a greater density of government workers tends to lead to bland and overpriced food. Is there any great lunch spots within walking distance of the White House? I don't know what the plan for dinner is, I may have to be networking with people but in case I'm not, is there any special but not outrageously expensive DC dining experience I really shouldn't be missing out on (preferably under $40). Thursday will be spent mainly museum crawling, trying to cram in as much of the experience as I can. Again, any decent lunch joints in that area? If anybody wants to join me on Thursday and give me a local's tour of the area, I would be totally up for it. I'll even buy you lunch .

Cook like a Chef on Food Network Canada. It's just unapologetically good cooking with no attempt to dumb it down whatsoever. It's my favourite show on air at the moment.

Why not just seal the lobster in butter and cook it en sous vide?

To Alton's credit, he suggests getting the pan hot in the oven first and then giving it additional heat on the stovetop. The oven step is mainly to eliminate any hotspots and also make use of an oven that you're going to be pre-heating anyway.