Chris Amirault

Back at that ice cream base. I took Matt and Chris's advice above: Decided to strain out the foam and a bit of the yolks that didn't combine: Sealed it up -- look, ma, no hands! One of the things that I felt contributed to the first disaster was that I put the large bag in laying flat. I think that the horizontal bag blocked the water circulation, creating hot spots within the Sous Vide Supreme. So this time I wanted to secure it so that it stayed vertical: Results tonight, but I'm feeling better this time around.

Yeah: my Sitram probably rates as "low cost." Speaking of shopping, got that kettle at Target: The younger among us may not believe this, but in the olden days, when you went shopping for things, TV chefs didn't stare at you: And Target can't hold a candle to Macy's and their "Culinary Council."

Missed this post: I do that all the time! I feel like it's part of the fun, serving something new for everyone. Life on the edge, Mitch, life on the edge....

Interesting. Do you have a link to that comparison? I'd like to know what "cheap" means exactly. For a while I kept up a good freezer list, but since the move I've not gotten back onto that system. Once summer comes and the bulk of whatever's in there gets used up, I will probably take another crack at it. What did you get? I grabbed some shrimp on sale to have with tortillas, a piece of sockeye salmon to cure and smoke, a bunch of brussels sprouts on sale, and the standard issue milk and eggs -- extra of those so I could take another crack at that ice cream!

I realized I didn't do a Christmas food gift update, but that's because I don't have any Christmas gifts save one on pre-order: this pamphlet by Society member Nathan Myhrvold.

Chris, robirdstx, and Dave: YES. Thanks. What I confused was the word "halfway" in Wolfert's directions, as you can now all see. Up early because it's snowing here! My parents hit the road early to try to beat the storm, and I have to head out to get a few things -- including a kettle. I have had two of these OXO kettles, and will probably get another one right now. If anyone has any suggestions, and is up this early, I'm all ears, but it's gotta be available at Sears or Target. Meanwhile, I have to make a classic storm run: eggs, whole milk, some vegetables. I'm off, but have the Droid so I can check in.

Dave V, do you have a KitchenAid? That paddle step was a breeze with the one here.

I'm confused. Doesn't this photo show a "tip to root (or maybe root to tip, w/e)" cut? I can't quite find the right words. Let me try again: you want to slice it along a longitudinal line, north pole (tip) to south pole (root). The onion naturally breaks along that line, so you don't want two of them, just one.

I took this shot of the gourgeres as a test, but they didn't make it to the serving platter. Great recipe: easy to make and quite forgiving. I used another ziplok kludge for these guys, as we lack a pastry bag. Definitely going to make these again and again. The onion soup depended on a beef stock with a lot of gelatin, which, along with the onions, had a lot of body. I combined the Culinaria and Robuchon recipes, adding a bit of flour toward the end to the golden onions. And, thanks to a bunch of second-hand ramekins, the presentation was pretty spectacular: At about this time Bebe started realizing that this meal was not going to be Annie's shells, and, to enable the other seven of us to get through the meal in a leisurely fashion, we broke out the Frosted Mini-Wheats: The stuffed onions were excellent. I don't think that the creme fraiche was necessary, and it slid off the slippery onion slope. But no matter, as it's an easy and tasty course: Forwent the chestnuts on the duck ham salad, which was great: Because of the ice cream mishap, we ran short of eggs, and so I resuscitated the polenta, much to my mother-in-law's happiness. The daube, as always, was wonderful: Finally, the tart - which would have benefited from more tart valencia oranges:

David, I want you to FedEx me some of those potatoes.

A few notes on the photos above: I should have sliced the onions from tip to root, not this way. No big deal, but the packets were a bit difficult to negotiate in the oven. Does anyone else who has been cooking SV find themselves hoarding small amounts of fat and other tasty goodness? That's about a tablespoon of pancetta fat there that I saved, and I found it rummaging around the fridge. It was a great addition to the onion stuffing.

It makes things a whole lot easier. Be sure to get the freezer bags, as the extra few millimeters of thickness help a lot. I also figured out an additional step last night that helps you prevent the tortilla from sticking to the bag at that crucial moment: 1. after you've pressed the tortilla, peel open the ziplok and let that side of the tortilla dry slightly for 10-15 seconds; 2. close the ziplok and peel of the second (not dried) side; 3. place the second side on your palm and peel off the dried side; 4. lay the tortilla on the heat with your hand. Mjx, I've been feeling sorry for myself bc I've had some dishpan hands and a nagging cut, but reading about your scarf and fingerless gloves, I'm not complaining any more! I'm an only child now, and my parents are older, so I've been the holiday cook for quite a while. In addition, I really, really, really enjoy every aspect of it: the planning with stacks of cookbooks (and, now, the fantastic Eat Your Books website); shopping; doing all the prep and cooking. The eating ain't so bad either.

Pix of the whole meal to follow. Serving the daube course now.

Morning's tea: Breakfast #1, with three butter & nut cookies from Andrea's grandmother, with walnuts from her own trees: Breakfast #2 in the oven: The makings for Ong's gougeres: I then spent an hour or so doing the prep for the Bras stuffed onions: The Hermé tart in the oven: Just a little bit of prep for the duck ham salad left to do:

From last night's tortilla making. I wanted to demonstrate the great ziplok bag technique that, I think, Diana Kennedy developed: Boy, it was worth trucking that 50 pound bag from Tucson:

Happy Christmas, Anna, Bruce, and Darienne! A pause in the action while we await my parents' arrival. Give me a moment to upload a few snaps.

It doesn't look that bad to me -- and I bet that the texture is just perfect! Surely we're not the only Society members up and at 'em this morning. What are others doing? No need to toil alone in a quiet kitchen!

... yawn ... Dave: agreed. Definitely going to do this later this week; the prunes are all ready, after all! Up and at 'em. Gotta be superquiet, as the kids are asleep, as per tradition, in the room next to the kitchen.

As if to play Santa Claus on this strangely Grinch-like night, Pichet Ong writes with the following: Gougeres 250 g milk 4 g salt 2 g ground white pepper 1/16 teaspoon fresh nutmeg 125 g butter 90 g gruyere + 50 g more for dusting the top before baking 125 g AP 4 eggs 1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 2. Put the milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, butter, and 90 g gruyere in a saucepan with 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, 4 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly by scraping the bottom of the pan and folding the dough over and over with a spatula, until the mixture is smooth and just starts to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, 6 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. 3. Mix the dough on medium speed for 1 minute to allow steam to escape and the dough to cool slightly. With the machine running, add eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing until everything is well-incorporated, 2 minutes. Turn the mixer speed to high and mix for 10 seconds. 4. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch diameter plain piping tip and pipe out 1-inch diameter,1-inch tall rounds set 2 inches apart. Try to form a peak at the top of each. Sprinkle a generous pinch of cheese on top of each piece. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350ºF and bake until risen and golden brown, 15-18 more minutes. Resist the temptation to peek in on the puffs; do not open the oven door while baking. Remove from the oven and cool completely on the pan. Thanks to Pichet -- and a merry Christmas to all!

The drink: Jura Superstition on the rocks. With a bit more cashflow in the house, I've been able to have some nice scotches in the last while, and this is one of my favorites, along with Talisker, some of the Bruichladdich expressions, any/all Laphroaig, and Ardbeg 10.

I am pleased to report that, while in the oven, the beef did not scramble. That's all set, with the liquid reduced, the vegetable/pork rind/marrow blended, and the beef resting in the fridge. Andrea, bless her heart, immediately got out Desserts by Pierre Hermé (and Dorie Greenspan), and she started trying to find a new dessert. I confess my pride was bruised, and I wasn't too interested in choosing the dessert that would replace my disaster. But it turns out that the dessert (mirliton citrus tart) required both grapefruit and orange supremes, something that Andrea's knife skills can't handle. Still tentative, I got down my new razor-sharp nakiri, and a few minutes later: Phew. I guess my skills didn't all vanish in an avalanche of curd. Now I can get a drink.

Well, I was following Wolfert's recipe and then decided to go with the SVS & bag, didn't chill it down, trying to go too quickly.... I throw myself on the mercy of the Society. Interesting: I like mine quite dark, so I haven't noticed that. A few more photos before getting the tacofest rolling.

Well, the prune armagnac ice cream is going to have to wait until I can get to a store for milk and eggs. We've got a batch of different fruits and some pastry shells, so I think Andrea's going to concoct something to cover my ass. I did mention that I am not the house pastry chef, right?

It didn't reduce, and the air in the bag somehow threw everything off. I put the perforated plate over the bag, so it was submerged, but when I went to the machine, there was curdled egg already in the bag.

Notice all that air?