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You're right Ronnie, I am in a groove, and I continued my groove by having lunch at Carlos' Thursday, with Chefgy, and it was superb. A quick outline of the meal: Grilled Australian Lobster with Mango Coulis This was our Amuse. It was delicious. Wild Mushroom Terrine with Gougere, Frisee, Arugula, and Kabocha Squash-Champagne Coulis After having watched this dish be prepared countless times, I was skeptical about how it would taste. To my suprise, I loved it. It was served with a little profiterole that really added to the dish, along with a little salad. Maryland Crab Carnoli Risotto with Parmesan Tuile No one at our table ordered this dish but they sent it out anyway, and I sure am glad they did. Huge chunks of crab with some fried herbs and carrot. Absolutely to die for. And to think that it didn't even appeal to me on the menu! Pan Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Sweet Corn Bilini, Concord Grape Relish, and Ice Wine Vinegar I ordered this, and loved it. Ronnie, you may remember the Sweet Corn Bilini from your amuse, but it worked well with this dish as well. Overall, this dish was really solid. Lobster Bisque with Lobster and Caviar Quenelle I didn't even try this dish so I can't really vouch for it, but from what I heard, it was quite good. Montchevre Cheese and Baby Beet Medley with Baby Romaine Tower of Walnut-Dressed Frisee and Baby Arugula Salad Once again, I didn't even get a taste of this dish because the person who ordered it simply didn't want to share. She sure did rave about it though. Lychee Sorbet Cleansed the palate well. On top of that it tasted good! Herb Crusted Morgan Ranch Kobe Beef with Chestnut-Foie Gras Custard and Huckleberry Gastrique In my opinion, this was the best dish of the whole meal. My dinner companions both argued adamantly that their's were the best as well, so this is not a fact. The beef just melted in the mouth, and the custard and gastrique were both delicious. Pan-Roasted Alaskan King Salmon with Asiago Potatoes, Haricot Verts, and a Grainy Mustard Buerre Blanc This may have been the best salmon I have ever tasted. It was so moist! Unbelievable. Poached Pheasant Breast with Truffle Mousseline Farce, Baby Vegetables and Thyme-Black Pepper Reduction I stole a quick bite of this and it was awesome. Thats pretty much all I can tell you. Vanilla Creme Brulee with Fresh Berries Really tasty creme brulee. Not served in the traditional Carlos' Canoe. I was dissapointed about that, but it was still great. Souffle with Creme Anglaise Really good. I was way too full at this point, but somehow I managed to hold this down too. Symphony of Desserts This was a cool way to get a sample of all the desserts. Everything was splendid. You may have noticed my descriptions getting progressively shorter as the post went on. For this I apologize, but it is now past midnight, and I have a flight to catch at 6 tommorow....anyway, I loved my experience at Carlos' and I hope to be able to go for dinner sometime, as I'm confident it is even better then the lunch experience.

Alan Richman- Fork it over Pat Conroy- The Pat Conroy Cookbook Mario Batali- Recipes from my village Deep Fryer (evil laugh) Food Processor-my years without one are finally over! New Griddle Some oils, spices and vinegars Some other cookbooks Great stash for me this year!

I have the most fantastic recipe for Buche de Noel. Strangely enough, I got it from the foodnetwork site after watching Martha Stewart make it on her show. The recipe has now been taken off the site, and I am lucky enough to be in possesion of one printed copy of the recipe. I have since typed it up for my own sake as I would be deeply, deeply saddened if I lost it. Anyway, I guess it is pretty basic. It starts off a chocolate genoise (did I spell that right?) which is than covered with a buttercream and coconut, then rolled and covered with a basic white frosting. I serve it with little baked meringue "mushrooms" and some sugared rosemary sprigs. Absolutely delicious.

Awesome! I do have one question: When you are ready to use the canned duck confit how do you get the duck out? How long can the duck last in the jar?

I'll head over to JJ and order the largest size they have then just drink, digest, and feel energized for the rest of the day. My personal favorite part about JJ are the wheatgrass shots. Now those puppies will keep you awake and going.

I had a fantastic meal at Trio Atelier tonight: Petite Tastes Parmesan Chips and Dip This was a fun little first course. Just simple parmesan chips and a dip that I liked quite a bit. Can't for the life of me remember what was in it. Tasty though. Green Eggs & Ham This may have been the most dissapointing dish of the night. I felt like the chef had an oppurtunity to do something really cool with this, but the flavor turned out to be rather blah. Sweet pee puree was whipped with egg yolk, then piped into the center of half a deviled egg. Topped with a serrano ham chip, the dish lacked excitement for the palate, though it was fun to look at. Flight of Salt After hearing so much about this simple dish, I was ready to be dissapointed; I wasn't. I really, really liked this dish a lot. We had cantolope (my favorite), egg, radish, and cucumber. I really loved comparing the flavors and was shocked to see how well salt goes on cantolope. There isn't much to say about this dish as it is so simple, but at the same time, it is something that one must really experience for themselves. Medium Tastes Caraway Veal Cheek Before coming, I had studied the menu online and was very excited to order the rabbit which was offered on the menu on the internet, but unfortunately, the menu is slightly different when you arrive. I went with the Veal Cheek. The meat had great texture, and I loved the flavor of the root puree. Really good dish. Croque Monsieur This was an interesting dish. Pretty much just a really delicious version of a ham and cheese sandwich. The thing that made it was the mustard. I don't know what type of mustard it was, but it was absolutely out of this world. It really made the dish. Large Tastes Roasted Poussin The bird arrived entirely whole in a giant bowl, supported by a delicious stuffing.l Basically a miniature Thanksgiving roast except chicken, not Turkey. Flavor was good. Here is what annoyed me about this dish: the diner was given nothing except a fork and butter knife to carve the bird with. It was quite embarresing to be sitting in the middle of a restaurant literally trying to pull the legs of the bird. A sharper knife would certainly be appreciated next time. French Gnocchi Maybe I'm just not the Gnocchi type, but this dish really didn't do it for me. The Gnocchi was too bready, really no flavor whatsoever. When eaten with the delicious vegetables it came with, the dish was pretty good. Still, the Gnocchi were really too large and too flavorless for my taste. Dessert Hot Hot Chocolate No, that is not a typo. Apparently, the first hot refers to the spice level of the drink, while the second refers to the temperature. Either way the hot chocolate was superb, flavored with chile and other typically Mexican spices. Tasting of Creme Brulee Really good. I ordered all three flavors that were being offered that evening: vanilla, pumpkin, and honey thyme. Honey thyme was my favorite. I only wish the came in slightly larger portions as the bowls that they did come in were rather miniscule. CPB Also not a typo, this acronym stands for dense Chocolate cake, Peanut butter sorbet, and Bananas. Typical dessert. Nothing to write home about. Certainly not dissapointing though. Overall, I really, really liked Trio Atelier. And the prices were relatively reasonable. There are about 5 million (exageration) other petite courses on the menu that I am dying to try, so I plan to be back soon! To see the somewhat accurate online version of the menu, click here.

Here is what I understand about adding water when using Crisco: Recipes that call for crisco and only crisco do not, repeat do not, require water to be added. Recipes that call for butter OR crisco are suspect, and this is because butter is 18%-20% water and milk solids while crisco is pure fat. Therefore, when substituting crisco for butter, one should, if they wanted to be completely accurate, take 80% of the butter called for and replace that with crisco, AND THEN, take 20% of the butter called for and replace that with water. To sum things up, recipes that call for crisco and only crisco, not offering the option of crisco OR butter, do not need to have water added. Recipes that offer the choice should require the water to be added, yet they rarely do. In the long run, particularly when only a very small amount of fat is called for, it makes very little difference.

Lately, I've had these strange midnight cravings for Coconut cake. The other night, knowing that the cravings might come as I went to sleep, I whipped up some coconut cookies, hoping they would do the job. They didn't........

I will be going for lunch on Thursday. I can't believe 5 courses is only 40$. Will report.

As bloviatrix pointed out, the new crisco is a mixture of both unhyrogenated oil and fully hydrogenated oil. For some strange scientific reason, fully hyrogenating an oil removes all the bad that is put into it when it is partially hydrogenated. Partial hydrogenation, in case anyone is wondering, refers to a process during which an oil, frequently cottenseed or soybean oil, is heated to a very high temperature and then pumped with hydrogen. The more the oil is hydrogenated, the more solid it becomes at room temperature, while at the same time giving it an exponentially longer shelf life and therefore a cheaper production cost. Fully hydrogenating an oil makes it into a very solid "oil" though culinarily speaking it would, at this point be referred to as a fat. Anyway, the premise of the new crisco is that by mixing unhydrogenated (liquid) and fully hydrogenated (very solid), you will be able to create a product of similar texture as a partially hydrogenated oil. PS: While I have done quite a bit of reading on the health effects of hydrogenated oils (just stay away from them, trust me), I am by absolutely no means an expert on the scientific reaction that goes on during the process of hydrogenation. If I made a mistake please do correct me. For more info on whats happening to your body when you eat Trans Fats (aka partially hydrogenated oil) see either this site (for a not so biased perspective), or my personal favorite, Ban Trans Fats.com

I would agree, however, (and perhaps I didn't state this well at all in the original question) I'm wondering more about how the spread of Islam affected the original cuisine of regions around the world.

Interesting (I thought) topic that was brought up at the dinner table the other night: Islam is a religion that dominates 25% of the worlds population and is dominant not only in the Middle East but also in parts of Africa and South Eastern Asia. How did this Muslim domination affect the cuisine of such areas? (Of course, similar questions could be asked for any religion) And another question: Can anyone think of any dishes or recipes that are distinctly Islamic?

Carp, I couldn't agree more. Who cares about watching "oil" (partially hydrogenated oil) and "sugar" (high fructose corn syrup) be dumped in to the same mixer and then onto the same converor belt over and over again. Then his cheesy jokes and pitiful smiles make me just want to never watch TV, let alone FN again.

I am enjoying it quite a bit. I sent the letters out in early August and I think I started at Carlos' towards the end of August. So, maybe 3 months or so. The people at the restaurant are extraordinarily nice, particularly the waiters, who I would agree with Chicago Magazine are the funniest waiters in Chicago. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your amuse, as that is typically my main job other than prep work. I hope to be able to eat there soon, as I have not had a chance yet, although I have done more than my fair shair of sampling. I can tell you that you won't lose with the sweetbreads or the foie gras, and I certainly love the escargots. I tend to snack on the Petit Fours and have never been let down, and the creme brulee certainly looks amazing, though I have never had the chance to try it. Anway, from inside the kitchen Carlos' certainly seems to be amazing, though I have never gotten the customer experience. And once again, if you come to find out for yourself, do stop in and say hello!

Ronnie, I'm very glad to hear that. Carlos' seems to have been silently lurking behind the spotlight when in reality the serve amazing food with great service. I do say this from a somewhat biased perspective, however. Several months ago, when egullet was hosting a Q and A with Mario Batali, I posted this question He responded and as you can see, told me to try sending letters to local restaurants asking to work one day a week. Well I did as he told me (sending a letter to pretty much every upscale restuarant in Chicago) and lo and behold one day I got a call from Ramiro Valesquez (the Executive Chef at Carlos) asking if I would still be interested in the "job". Anyway, to make a long story short, I am now doing something of an appreticeship at Carlos' on Saturdays. So, if you're ever at Carlos' on a Saturday evening, please stop in the kitchen and say hello. And I hope you enjoy your dinner!

Wow that sounds great. How do you think it compares both in terms of price and food qaulity to Bayless' spots?

I've got one more that I thought was fun when I saw it. The problem is, I can't remember where I saw it, I feel like it was at Chef's Catalog though. Anyway, it was this mini-whisk about the size of a finger. It was attatched to a keychain so you could plop it on a backpack or anything. I just thought that was kind of cool. Also, there are these new whisks out that have little balls in the middle of the wire. Apparently they whip more air into the product. I've never tried one but they sure look neat.

Wow, this topic is all I'm thinking about now. I just got a pair of Okra gloves and they are hugely helpful. Yes. they are bulky, but they saved my arms many time well roasting turkey. Digital Instant Read Prope Thermometers! I just got one and I love it. I go around sticking it in things just for fun now. Darn it! I had something else too. Well, no doubt I'll be back with more in about 30 seconds.

That reminds me, one of my favorite kitchen gadgets is a sliding measuring spoon. I have two of them and I like them a lot. They are helpful for when you have to measure a 1/2 tsp of one thing and then a tsp of something else, you can get the last bits of the 1/2 tsp out when you meausre the tsp! Now that I see it typed out it sounds kinda stupid but....anyway... Also those big sliding measuring cups are handy dandy for measuring honey and stuff. You can buy them as a set with the measuring spoons here from Chef's Catalog Or you go could go with the one that I have here from Alton Brown Personally, I'm hoping for a couple of these bad boys to show up in my stocking this year.

I too just got a silicone brush and like it very much. Also, my cherry pitter changed my life. It is the coolest gadget. I never even liked cherries before because the pits were such a nuisance. Now I practically pit cherries whenever I have free time (when there in season that is). Great for olives too.

Alrighty Folks, Well, the roast was a resounding sucess, not a scrap of meat left. As I mentioned earlier, I ended up having to have the head cut off, along with the parts of the legs below the knee joint. It was unfortunate (I was looking forward to the head meat), but definitly better than a pig that wouldn't fit on the grill at all. So, I started the pig in a basic brine. 2 cups salt to 2 gallon water. The only other things I threw in were some peppercorns and a cinnamon stick just for kicks. Here is the pig in the brine. You can see that the pig was close to not fitting even without the head. Anyway, after the pig had brined for about 5 hours, I threw it onto the barbeque, with a little assistance of course. Here is what the pig initially looked like. You can see the chips up in the top of the grill. I also threw some rosemary in along with them. You can see here the way I had the grill setup. I had a digital instant read running out so I could monitor the temp. Anyway, I started the pig on its belly, and flipped it when the sides started to char. Monitoring the temperature at the end became difficult because the side closest to the grill would be high enough, but the other side would be very cold, with really no way to know if the meat had ever reached the correct temperature. I took a guess and pulled the pig off after about 2 hours. By the end the pig looked like this: Then I brought the pig in and let it rest for about a half hour. After that time, I prepared to carve.... Oh! A quick note that I forgot to mention earlier. I remembered all you guys talking about how amazing the skin was. Well, while the pig was on the grill I tried some and it was amazing. However, after the pig had rested, the skin lost its crispness and became very very salty. I made the executive decision to not include the skin with the meat that I was serving. What caused the skin to go soggy? Should I have taken the skin off right after I took the pig off the grill? Anyway, once I had the pig all carved up, I stuck the meat into a 350 degree oven for about half an hour, just to be on the safe side. Wouldn't want anyone getting food poisoning at Thanksgiving Dinner now would we? Then, just as we took carved up the turkeys, I plopped the meat on the table and served it with a Sweet and Spicy Mustard Sauce and a Horseradish Mustard Sauce. Overall, I had a blast with this entire project. It was certainly an adventure and while there are definitly things that I would do differently next time, I think the meat came out pretty well. Thanks for all the help! ~Ben PS: I don't know why the pictures came out so small, but I can't seem to fix that. My apologies.

Good Morning Happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to give an update. After much confusion and trouble, I have the pig. It is 21 pounds, and much longer than I expected. Fool control, you couldn't have been more dead on. So, I got the pig home and at about 9:30 last night I realised that there was no way that it would come anywhere near to fitting in my oven or barbeque. So, I sprinted over to Whole Foods and had the butcher take off its head and lower legs. It should fit on the grill now, but not on the rotisserie. I am about to go down stairs and begin the brining process. Also, I have some hickory chips that I'm going to throw on the barbeque just for some flavor. Here are a couple things I've been wondering about: How long of a cooking time should I expect. The pig is so slender I don't think it should take more than two or three hours, right? When it comes time to "pull" the meat off, how do I do that? Do I pull the skin off first, then go for the meat?

Just in case you guys haven't helped me enough already, what might said mustard sauce include?

A quick question that just occured to me....should I be cooking the pig the normal pork temperature around 160? Won't I be dealing with a lot of carryover heat?

Yes I'll definitly post the results.....hopefully with pictures if I can ever figure out how to use image gullet.! Yes, I think that is what I will do. Present the pig and then carve it in privacy. Another reason to carve in private that just occured to me is that there will be people at the dinner who may, and certain people most definitly will, not appreciate seeing a whole pig being carved. There more I think about it, the better the idea of carving in the kitchen becomes. Thanks guys!