tim

Hi, Jacques Pepin created a refrigerator cold smoker using wood chips in a flower pot with an electric charcoal starter for the heat. (See "La Technique" or "Celebrates") I copied the same concept to a make a garbage can cold smoker. This smoker provides lots of smoke with almost NO increase in temperature in the smoking chamber. That is real cold smoking and makes the best smoked salmon. Here is the smoker just before the salmon goes on the grate and the top is affixed: The cost is under $50 and it performs nicely. Tim

Harold's in Atlanta, a neighborhood house/restaurant near the old baseball stadium had wonderful cornbread. It was cooked in cast iron and had lots of large chunks of wonderful smoky fat. I would love to see their recipe. Tim

Shel, There is Fata paper, which can be fashioned into clear cooking pouches. The pouches can be cooked on a hot surface (not over flame), microwaved, poached, baked, or fried in oil. We saw this at JB Prince. FATA Paper Tim

So, who is the guy who has assumed snarling duties?

My wife flew to NYC to bake a wedding cake and we took some time to prowl the expected stores. You all know the merchandise so most of my comments are about the people and the experience. Korin: I traveled in Japan in the 1960's and expected practiced politeness. I did not expect the warmth and open charm of the staff. It was a treat to watch Mr. Sugai train a customer in sharpening techniques. The store has a wonderful display of beautiful tableware and knives. One of the knife lines featured a forged, unfinished spine graduated to hammered steel and finally finished steel to the edge. Korin is definitely worth a trip to the business district. JB Prince: A beautiful store with very friendly staff. Prices range from bargain (ISI Thermal Foamer @ $102) to pricey. The cookware is mostly heavy, expensive, commercial stainless. It is also a wonderful place to shop. New York Cake: They are awful to deal with by phone and really nasty in person. Every time we go, we are offended. The huge selection requires our visits but we do not like this store. My wife needed a beaded fondant impression tool that was in their roped off section. They refused to get it saying, I'm too busy! She rewarded them with her $100 purchase... Please let there be a competitor. Chef Restaurant Supply: Actually fun and where else can you get a Comark PDT300 for $20. The Bowery: Not fun. There was actually a clean store at Rivington with a French chinois for $49 and cheap stainless stock pots with decent discs. Zabars: What's not to love about a store with NINE different brands of fully clad cookware and great selection of rod blenders. (Think of an Evinrude!) I think the cheese selection has grown appreciably in the past 10 years. The wonderful fish slicers seem to be going through a change in heritage. Broadway Panhandler: The staff was complaining about lost customers - the customers can't find the new store. It's at 165 E 8th St., just west of Broadway. Bridge: We didn't bother, not wanting to have Fred snarl at my stupid questions. (ie: Can you get an 11" de Buyer Carbon Steel Paella?) The wedding cake was incredible and we enjoyed wonderful food. Tia Po is a must! Unfortunately Prune was closed, Inoteca was too busy on Tuesday at 8, Schillers was way to loud but the Tasting Room and Peasant were on the mark. Lil' Frankies was home and I am still exhausted. Question: How much would a Diva de Provence cost? (Two sides with three ovens, 7 burners, french top, fryer and griddle.) Really cool. Tim

Steve, For about $50, you should be able to finds some heavy stainless grilling grates for that bargain grill. If they only had the drop down tables, that grill might be perfect. Tim

Hi, The problem with lamb is a simple supply/demand equation coupled with the economies of a small animal which is not easy or inexpensive to produce. The demand problem goes back eons and relates to quality (think mutton), the unfortunate taste of lamb fat (less than wonderful), ingrained ideas requiring well-done meat (Yuck!), and poor marketing. A close friend of mine worked for the Illinois Meat Producers Association (or something like that) that promoted Illinois PORK, Beef and lamb. (Notice the dropping importance) About 10 years ago she was given a FREE trip to Australia that was designed to promote their lamb. She gave daily reports on local radio about the trips, sponsored by her Meat Producers Association. One day she talked about all of the lamb that "we had to eat". She specifically stated that she really disliked lamb but they had to eat what was served, like it or not. The next day she talked about the wonderful meal she had enjoyed. The meat was fabulous, rare, tender, well sauced and had a wonderful flavor. One of the finest meals she ever had. She asked the host about the meat and was shocked to hear that it was lamb. Especially shocked since, "I don't like lamb and never will." After questioning, she admitted that the dish was rare leg of lamb, obviously stripped of most of the fat before roasting. I was served rare and without fat and she loved it. (She also admitted that the Illinois lamb producers were very angry about her reports. She was coming to my house for dinner and I wanted to serve rare leg of lamb. I was overruled and we served beef. Later, we talked about the dinner and she was extremely relieved that I didn't serve lamb since, "I just don't like lamb." Some people are really slow learners. Tim

Berl, Just to expand on the recommendation above, I think the specific Buttermilk and cream are very important and the determination is easy. INGREDIENTS: 1. Heavy Cream should contain CREAM. Only cream. Only cream. Only cream. 2. Buttermilk should contain CULTURED CREAM. Only cultured cream. Only cultured cream. Those simple limitations will allow you to make a wonderful cream fraiche. Tim

Ham, There is a good illustration and picture on the bovine myology website. Ribeye surrounded by cap steak Click on the photo to see the picture. Tim

Hi, A few years ago, I developed a recipe for pumpkin creme brulee that was highly successful. The problem with most pumpkin brulee is that the fruit puree changes the texture of the custard to pumpkin pie. (I assume there are similar problems with most fruit brulee.) One suggestion above was to use dehydrated bananas. I assume that pureeing these with cream might work, but I have not tried that one. The solution to pumpkin brulee was to juice a very fresh pumpkin, toss the pulp (flavorless) and reduce the juice to a syrup. The pumpkin syrup was perfect. The recipe needs to be adjusted with a little less sugar and more heavy cream. The result is a wonderful custard texture and excellent flavor. The addition of pumpkin pie spices also works. Tim

Dear Bond Girl, Sound perfectly normal from my perspective! Tim

Marvin. If your stock is not solidifying at a little lower than room temperature, I will agree with Palee that you are not reducing enough. You should review Pepin's recipe to understand the differences. Possibly you had more water added to the ten pounds of bones. Your bones may not be of the same quality, maybe with less collagen. It is also possible that you simmered at a lower rate and didn't get the same extraction. (I also simmer veal for up to 20 hours.) Maybe your stock didn't reduce much during the simmer due to a humid kitchen, narrow stock pot or really slow simmer. There are a number of variables and you have to learn to judge the concentration of your stock and adjust. If you have not extracted all that your bones have to offer a second run (fresh water with the same bones for 10 hours or more) can yield a wonderful stock. If you didn't get much reduction during the simmer, more reduction after straining may be appropriate. With time, you will learn to judge a stock by its flavor, clarity and viscosity. I think it helps to pull a half cup of stock out every hour and compare it as you simmer and reduce. Good luck, Tim

HI, I love red currants with some sugar and creme fraiche. Tim

Sam, Northwestern Cutlery in Chicago will sharpen any serrated knife while you wait, or even better, while you watch. If you watch the sharpening process, you can specify the depth and angle of the serrations. The cost is under $10. They do a really nice job and yes, they do remove some steel. This is one case where an expensive knife does not pay off. Tim

Hi, What is the current state of inexpensive Manhattan restaurants for dinner. Looking from East Village to Chelsea. We would love to try Spanish, Portugese, French Bistro, Latin, whatever. What looks good these days. Tim

Bob, Do any of the Japanese knives come with a pronounced German rocker? I really like the rocker on the Messermeister Elites. Tim

Hi, I was in asmall town restaurant with friends and we asked about their wines. The waitress said they had one kind of wine but she couldn't pronounce the name. She went off to get some menus. My wife went off to decipher the name of the foreign wine while we imagined what treasure would be offered. We secretly hoped for some nice unpronounceable echezeaux. Alas, it was Paul Masson! We ordered Budweiser. Tim

Mr. D, Local? They sold Grain Belt Premium in Point Barrow, Alaska in 1963. Unfortunately, the Captain of our ship had phoned ahead and warned them not to satisfy any thirsty sailors. Grain Belt Premium, "Been a long time a'brewing." Tim

Bob, I usually fill my trunk with Reuf's kalberwurst and Captal beer. Tim

Bob, Would that bar happened to be Siebken's Stop Inn Tavern or possibly the Y-Go-Bye? Ah, the memories of race weekends. Tim ps: New Glarus is also wonderful fun... We used to go to the Glarner Stube at the New Glarus Hotel and dance with the patrons wives to the Billy Bright Orchestra. Polka music, of course. And gourmet swiss food at bargain prices.

Hi, As best I can determine, most Italian gelato includes a health dose of egg yolks. The only milk based gelato is made in Sicily and cream is added in Northern Italy. Tim

Hi, We are seeing wild asparagus from France in a local restaurant. It looks nothing like any asparagus I have ever seen. It has a long very thin (1/8") stem with a very small head. It is very mild... Tim

Tim, I think you left out the quantity for the sugar....Let me guess - 1 1/4 cup? ← How embarrassing. It's 1 1/8 cups sugar. Tim

Hi, The Donvier ice cream maker is also very effective at making gelato. By turning the crank somewhat slower than normal you add very little air. The Italian gelato recipes all seem to have egg yolks. Without the yolk, I can't imaging a smooth emulsification at 25 degrees. edit: The following Italian website does identify cream based and egg based gelatos. Artisan Italian Gelato Technique Tim

Mitch, Most Italian gelato is made with whole milk providing about 6% butterfat content. (In Northern Italy they may add some cream) Gelato is made with up to 10 egg yolks per quart of milk. Flavor is typically infused into the custard. The custard is churned slowly to make a highly dense product which is served at about 25 degrees. Lemon Gelato 3 cups whole milk (organic is recommended) Zest from 6 lemons 1/2 vanilla bean split and scraped 8 egg yolks (organic) pinch salt 1. Heat milk to 170 degrees. Pour over zest and vanilla bean. Cool in an ice bath and infuse at least 8 hours in the refrigerator. 2. Strain into a saucepan, add half the sugar, and bring to 170 degrees. 3. Whisk the yolks with remaining sugar until color lightens. 4. Temper the yolks with the hot milk while whisking adding 1/2 cup at a time. 5. When all the milk has been added, cook over low-medium, stirring continuously for 5 minutes or so, until the mix is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. It should approach 180 degrees. (185 degrees will change the flavor) 6. Stir in a pinch of salt and transfer the pan to an ice water bath. Cool, stirring occasionally till the custard reaches room temperature. 7. Strain into a bowl and cover. Refrigerate overnight. 8. Transfer to a hand crank ice cream machine and crank slowly. (An electric ice cream maker tends to churn excess air into the mix.) When finished place in freezer for two hours. 9. To serve, check temperature and transfer to refrigerator, if needed to bring the temperature up to 25 degrees. Serve in very cold glasses. Have fun, Tim