["Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 3)]

$377.49 at Amazon right now. Sorely tempted.

[Cookbooks 2013]

I will be looking out for Square: The sweet. I love the savoury one

Ditto. I loved watching Phil Howard on "Great British Menu".

[Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine at Home" (Part 1)]

I also made the Raspberry panna cotta, which was super-simple & led to the perfect texture and creamyness, without tasting any of the gelation agent. I thawed a couple bags of unsweetened raspberries for the puree. Ended up with left over cream, raspberries, and gelatin; I'll scale up to use up all the raspberries next time.

This was my first attempt from MCAH also, and it turned out great. I used to make panna cotta from a Martha Stewart recipe but the texture was never as good as "restaurant quality". This raspberry version was spot on. As to leftover raspberrries, I saved some perfect ones for decoration and the rest went in my belly while I was making the dish. A keeper for sure.

["The Elements of Dessert" – Francisco J. Migoya]

Ha, yeah no kidding everything is modern. I think everyone will hate me after I say this, ahem, but I got my book today and am returning it. It wasnt really what I was expecting, It was slightly too modern for me, and most of the plates were things that I would never attempt. I'm obviously rather picky about my books, and I cant have this large of a book on such modernist desserts, I know I'll seldom look through it. Sorry guys! I did like the 'Earth' entremet, that was amazing, very playful, but overall, not for me, I'm more into old school pastry.

Tee hee - that's precisely why I love it!

["Modernist Cuisine at Home" by Myhrvold and Bilet]

My copy is waiting for me at home after work. Hmm, I feel a sore throat coming on.

[Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine" (Part 3)]

I made the Chris A version of M&C this morning. I used Emmental and cheddar, and with a fair amount of sampling along the way, I got a cheese yield of exactly 400 grams, or 2.5 recipes. Therefore I scaled up the water, pasta and salt and had at it. The results were damn good, but I will scale back the salt a bit more next time. I could also taste the beer a tad too much, and I think upthread there were substitutions that I will have to consider.

I am seeing nathanm speak next month in NYC - I just hope my copy of MCAH arrives in time for him to sign.

[Top Chef Masters: Season 4]

Art Smith is sure getting the "bitchy-name-dropping-drama-queen" edit.

[Top Chef Texas: Last Chance Kitchen]

My guess from appearance is that Grayson won. But who know?

I thought the opposite. I hope you're correct.

[Top Chef Texas: Last Chance Kitchen]

Noooooooo! I was really pulling for Nyesha to run the table.

[How to Cook Like Heston (TV GB)]

uknova.com is a good source for torrents of British telly.

[Cookbooks Available Only in England]

Last time I was over in the UK, I bought several cookbooks. I wish I had just bought them on Amazon and had them shipped. Those suckers were HEAVY and schlepping them back to the US was a PITA.

[Next (restaurant) e-book series by Grant Achatz]

I love the idea, and the price is right, but I hate the form factor they chose. I seem to remember an interview were they said they made this ebook specifically for the iPad. Why then are the pages square? It makes reading it much more difficult.

I agree. The interface is annoying (very herky-jerky), but the content is well worth the money.

[Asparagus pee]

I don't think suffer from asparagus pee (although I rarely eat asparagus), but I do eat a lot of beets, and I've discovered it takes only two beet-laden meals in a row to deeply color my urine.

I didn't notice and color change in my pee, but #2 was scary.

[Slow Eating. Jay Rayner is against it]

I wouldn't want to be with one of these pretentious gits who count how many times they chew each piece of food. How is this supposedly "better?" Take all the fun out of eating by insisting that a person chew each morsel 20 times, and wait 30 seconds or more between bites. What a horribly prescribed and sterile way of eating. Besides, what if it takes this person an hour to eat a dish that should be served hot? Or cold?

Nor would I want to eat around one of the ravenous wolf-like shovel-it-in types, either.

I am a fairly slow eater compared to most i dine with. I don't count chews or seconds, but I do eat at a pace where I can enjoy my food. No, not an hour to eat a bowl of soup, either. That's hyperbole.

It seems to be one of those trollish columns to get hits. For instance, if I penned a screed that I don't fancy sharing a table with a guy with long greasy-looking hair.

[Asparagus pee]

I am pretty sure the smell has only occurred with me starting in my mid-40's.

[Veal cubes]

I make a sauce for pasta with veal cubes. Brown and braise them as for osso buco (I do them with broth, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaves, mirepoix, S&P) until they fall apart, and mash them into shreds at the end. Finish with some very finely chopped fresh sage. Freezes brilliantly too. In the time it takes to cook the penne, it can be defrosted and heated.

[The Next Iron Chef Season 4 starts October 2011]

Yeah, this is just the Food Network House Band Competes.

Lame as hell.

I laughed! Spot on analysis.

[Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 5)]

what software?

Sorry. It's the appropriately named Delicious Library 2. Mac only AFAIK.

[Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 5)]

I'll get an updated number later this month. I just bought some software and a barcode scanner to get a complete inventory.

[Baking (Etc.) with David Lebovitz's "Ready for Dessert"]

His Fresh Ginger Cake kicks serious heinie. I have made it at least half a dozen times. I am the only one who likes it in my house, so I get the whole thing to myself. Not really, I take half in to work where it's gone in no time.

[Sheraton Says - Why Lutece Was Great and more...]

I can still remember very well my one and only dinner at Lutece in the mid-1980's. It left me fond and durable memories.

[Advocaat recipe?]

Well???? We're waiting!!!!!

Warninks is the only one I have had, but Bols makes one too I think.

[Learning from Joël Robuchon]

Robuchon's roast chicken recipe is the standard at our house.

The post-cooking standing/resting on an overturned saucer on a dinner plate works brilliantly.

["Modernist Cuisine" by Myhrvold, Young & Bilet (Part 1)]

Over $600 for a (cook)book!?

What is this world coming to......

Anyone willing to shell out this much money for information (readily available online) printed with some (most likely beautiful) pictures on paper and bound, I have a bridge in FL that I will sell ya....

Why drive a nice car when a crappy one will get you from A to B? There are a million value judgments people make every day. Aside from the price not being $600, I can see from reading the whole thread (did you?) that there's HUGE amounts of original research going into these books (plural). Not exactly mass market material, so I doubt I will see it in my local B&N though, next to the latest Sandra Lee masterpiece, but I will wager that many Michelin starred chefs amongst others will be buying it.

How much was that bridge in FL for and where does it go? It might be worth it to some.

Bear in mind, if he sold the bridge, he'd have to move from under it.

[Top Chef: Just Desserts -Season 1]

The reaction of the so-called "Team Loser" to the verdict was the high point of this season for me.