percyn

Yesterday I made Sockeye Salmon Sous Vide, with a pomegranate gastrique cooked salmon at 113 for 20 min and seared it. Nice, but I may have overcooked it a bit when I seared it for longer than I should have.

I believe the Epcot fireworks start at 9pm. I have heard different experiences on how long it took to dine at California Grill. I would like to plan such that 4 adults can enjoy the fireworks towards the end of our meal. Thus, what time would you suggest I make the reservations for? Any particularly favorite dishes you would recommend? Thanks Percy

Yesterday it was an old favorite... Egg fried in duck fat with smoked duck on an English muffin, topped with truffle butter Today it was Crimini mushrooms with bits of crisp duck fat on toast

If you are looking for fine dining, Victoria & Albert's in the Floridian is the closest thing I have found. Emeril's Tchoup Chop is not bad either. The Omni has a couple restaurants, which are OK, but not great.

I dread following Philadining's post as we share many of the same top 10 restaurants and in fact maybe even the exact same dining experiences Anyway, here is my list StudioKitchen Per Se, NYC Lacorix, Philadelphia StudioKitchen Le Bec-Fin, Philadelphia StudioKitchen Seafood Market, Bangkok Morimoto, Philadelphia Lemaire, Richmond VA Spice Market, Bangkok In addition to these restaurants, I also enjoyed: Street food in Bangkok Food at the Wine festival in Budapest Birchrunville Store Cafe Majolica TifCo's Dim Sum in Philly Chinatown's Lakeside Deli Edited to add places I had forgotten about...and I am sure I am still forgetting a new great meals which will come to me later

I am sure that I have along the way, but the experience is not jumping to the forefront at this very moment, which means that they were not great, but not that bad either. I usually order a cheeseburger or club sandwich after being on a long (or delayed flight), which is probably why I don't recall the quality of the fries. I will pay more attention next time

Daniel, I have ordered room service in the middle of the night from other Four Season hotels around the world and always had good service and good quality ingredients. Sorry to hear about your experience in our fair city. I would go to their website and complain, they are usually very good, especially to repeat customers (they maintain a database on every guest's preferences and complaints). Make sure you post your Morimoto experience here.

Vadouvan, thanks for the info. I am sure the folks on the Sous Vide thread would appreciate this info too, so I would encourage you to post this info there or cross-reference it.

As Evan suggested, I will add pics to his description of the dishes, but I must apologize in advance as most of the pics were taken without a flash, which hurt the quality of the pics. I would also like to thank Evan for the invitation to this great dinner. Let me start with a picture of the famous interior of the restaurant

Nice oven devlin.

Daniel, a more complete post on this dinner is on the sous vide thread. However, I will share that for some reason my lobster sous vide had a mushy textute and I will need to experiment some more. The tail meat was not bad, but that may have been because I placed it under the broiler for a few minutes, so my guess is that the lobster would have tasted better if broiled, but the shrimp and scallops were superb, as was the lamb.

Visited Lakeside Deli for Dim Sum today... and it was excellent !! I ordered the Dim Sum sampler and sticky rice, steamed in lotus leaf Even though I had to wait 15 min for the wait staff to clear some tables and another 20 min for my food, both dishes were excellent and worth the wait.

Since people are sick of seeing me eat eggs on this thread, I decided to do something different... Crab cake on toasted english muffin, topped with Thai chili sauce Sorry...already took a few bites before taking the pic

Rack of lamb Sous Vide and sauce from lamb jus, demi glace, red wine, shallots and pomegranate molasses The end result was one of the most tender pieces of lamb I have ever had. It would have been nice to have some pomegranate sorebet after that, to cleanse the palate in a complimentary fashion, but unfortunately I was all out of pomegranate juice....maybe tomorrow. Since I was experimenting with sous vide, I also made some lobster, scallops and shrimp The lobster went in along with some raw tiger shrimp and scallops (in different bags) at 113F (more or less) for 1.25 hrs I then placed the lobster under the broiler while the shrimp and scallops were quickly pan seared. This was plated and served with a sauce made from the lobster's head, shells, mirepox, cognac, vermouth, white wine (OK, it had a bit more alcohol than usual, but I did flambé it) and cream.

As promised, here is the rack of lamb, lobster, scallops and shrimp. A full report can be found here Rack of lamb with a sauce made from lamb jus, shallots, red wine and demi glace. Lobster, shrimp and scallops with a sauce made from lobster brains, shells, mirepox, cognac, vermouth and cream.

Experiment # 3 - Lobster, shrimp and scallops I have been wanting to try sous vide lobster for a while, so I bought a fresh raw lobster and hacked it apart. Usually when I buy fresh lobster, I boil it in the shell or cut it up and cook it in the shell. This was the first time I tried to remove the meat raw...big mistake. The lobster's flesh is essentially stuck to the shell and I have to cut the meat out by inserting a pairing fine in every nook. Next time I will steam/heat the shell for a few minutes, as has been suggested in this and other threads. The lobster went in along with some raw tiger shrimp and scallops (in different bags) at 113F (more or less) for 1.25 hrs I then placed the lobster under the broiler while the shrimp and scallops were quickly pan seared. This was plated and served with a sauce made from the lobster's head, shells, mirepox, cognac, vermouth, white wine (OK, it had a bit more alcohol than usual, but I did flambé it) and cream. Unfortunately, the lobster was not a total success. It had a mushy texture to it and not as firm as the shrimp or the scallops. Maybe it needed to be cooked at a higher temp or maybe it should have gone straight into the bath instead of the vacuum bag and fridge overnight. Any suggestions? The scallops and shrimp were excellent though and the lobster tail was not bad.

The Sous Vide experiments continue... Seasoned rack of New Zealand lamb at 138F for 5.5 hrs Before putting it under the broiler The meat was light pink (no red) throughout, but very tender Plated after covering with mustard, panco bread crumbs and placing it under the broiler for a few minutes. Also made a sauce from lamb jus, demi glace, red wine, shallots and pomegranate molasses The end result was one of the most tender pieces of lamb I have ever had. Next time I will try to shorten the cooking time a bit and also place the lamb under the broiler before covering with bread crumbs and then again after coating it in bread crumbs. Hmmm hmmm goood !!!!

That place serves some hot food !! A few months ago, I ordered some Chili Chicken (an Indo-Chinese dish which consists of shredded chicken, green peppers and green chilies in a soy based sauce). Their version was hotter than the ones I remember getting in India. Haven't tried any of their other dishes, but will plan to soon.

Very nice Philadining !!! Since I have a few days off, I have been playing with my newly acquired water bath and cooking Sous Vide. Since I first experienced Sous Vide style cooking at SK, I posting on this thread in addition to the Sous Vide thread. Short ribs after 36 hrs @141 F. Served with a porcini and bordeaux demi glace sauce sprinkled with some fluer de sel The texture was like that of a very tender steak, as opposed to the "pot roast" like texture I get with my traditional braising method. I have a rack of lamb cooking right now and tomorrow morning I will immerse some lobster, shrimp and scallops and report back. Cheers Percy

Bryan, sorry to hear about your Grandmother and I am sure many eGers will keep her in their prayers. For Christmas dinner tonight, we were fortunate to be able to celebrate at my Aunt's house, with a few cousins and friends, where we made... Turkey Prime Beef Boneless Rib Roast (just out of the oven) Half a Duck a L'Orange Here the Duck and Roast have been cut up Crabcakes Green bean Casserole Not pictured are : Mashed potatoes, gravy, a leg of duck confit, steamed broccoli, broccoli salad, rolls and creamed cabbage. Boy, thats a lot of food....

Great looking breakfasts all... Since poached eggs seem to be in vogue, I decided to try a new method of making poached eggs, which actually worked out quite nicely. Bring the a pot with water and a dash of white vinegar and salt to a gentle boil. Then crack an egg in a ladle type spoon sprayed with Pam (or similar) and gently immerse in the water. Serve as desired...in this case on a toasted English muffin and canadian bacon. Cheers Percy P.S: Merry Christmas !!

Slkinsey, You are correct...I was essentially heating the duck confit, while I was really making this.... Short ribs - in the Sous Vide machine after 36 hrs @141 F. Served with a porcini and bordeaux demi glace sauce sprinkled with some fluer de sel The texture was like that of a very tender steak, as opposed to the "pot roast" like texture I get with my traditional braising method.

Wow Shalmanese, some great looking dishes. I have a bit of catching up to do... A few days ago, I made... Roasted Chestnut Soup - with a shot of Armagnac Then came the short ribs from the Sous Vide machine after 36 hrs @141 F. Served with a porcini and bordeaux demi glace sauce Couldn't resist adding an egg to the left over sauce after adding a bit more red wine Yesterday, I bought a rotisserie chicken to make Curry Chicken Salad Crisped up the chicken skin and made a pan sauce from onions, crimini mushrooms, chicken stock, white burgundy, kapers, etc And the wines we had with our dinners

D'artagnan Duck Confit at 60C (141 F) for 6 hrs I also had some short ribs in there for 36 hrs, which are still going, so I will report on them later

Congrats Susan...that poached egg looks good. Another method is to bring a fair amount of water to a gentle boil, stir the water around until it forms a vortex and then crack the egg in the center of the vortex. By the time the egg stops spinning, the hot water would have cooked the whites a bit and the centripetal force would keep the egg's shape relatively in tact. Today I made Scrambled eggs topped with gruyere cheese, with sides of Canadian Bacon, Maitake mushrooms and a slice of roasted garlic sourdough bread.