francois

There are 2 recipes I would like to try over the weekend: Cauliflower Panna Cotta with caviar (p.22) and the salmon with a confit of oranges (p.140). Has anyone tried any of them? How did they turn out?

The only bad point about the Club Chasse et peche, in my experience, has been the size of the plates (maybe it has more to do with the size of my appetite?). The service has always been very good. The food is excellent. If the portions were larger, the prices would not be too bad. Your experience is probably not representative of the restaurant.

Funny... I was also at the club chasse et peche last week (wednesday night). It was my 3rd visit. I also left disapointed. Food was good, of course, very good. Portion sizes were way too small, almost like tasting menus, except you don't have 7-8 courses. The way they describe the plates makes you believe they are way bigger than they actually are. The prices however are quite high... I am not sure I will go back.

Interresting, I was disappointed by Payard's book. I tried a couple of recipes and they were not quite as good as I expected. Maybe it was just one of those days and I should give it another try?

You can make great pizza at home, certainly much better than any that I ever had in a pizza place or in a restaurant (I must admit that I never went to these great pizzaria than I read about in food mags). I guess it is a matter of taste - my kids still prefer the one we order one. Peter Reinhart has a nice book on pizza. I had to experiment with crusts, toppings and oven temperatures and preheat times. I also got some pretty good results on my gas BBQ but not as good as in my oven. I keep that for those summer days when it is too hot to use the oven. I put my stone on the shelf that is second from the bottom. I found this is where I get the best results. Having a convection oven makes a big difference!

I really do not care about printing recipes from the web. It is really not the same as having the book. It can be of use for having an idea of what is in a book (the equivalent of looking at a book in a store). If I like even only 1 recipe, I want to have the book. It is like having friends around you. Every book reflects the personality of the author. Sure you can get a lot of free stuff on the web, just like it would be so easy to steal a book from most store. Or to go in the store and copy (or photocopy) the recipe - or the whole book. It is just not for me. If I want something, I will pay for it!!! (I must admit that once, I asked for someone on eGullet for a recipe, not knowing she was a book author- Paula Wolfert of all people, shame on me!- She kindly sent me the recipe by PM. I felt so bad. It was the best canelle recipe I had ever tried! I rushed to go buy the book. That single recipe was well worth the price of the book! As a bonus I got all the other recipes in the book!!!) Thank you Paula, can't wait for your new book to came out, should be within the next few weeks... On the other end, I do not care much about buying food mags. Often not reliable and not of much use. They end up in the garbage after a few months. At the end, they end up being more expensive than a book that I will keep for years to come!

The most amazing vanilla beans I have seen come from Mariage freres (www.mariagefreres.com). Also the most expensive! But WOW, they are so huge and fragrant... I did not know it was possible for vanilla beans to become so big. In comparaison, ordinary vanilla beans look like matchsticks. Try the vanille de tahiti (16 Euro for 2). They certainly would make great conversation pieces if you find them too expensive to use! BTW, their teas are also really good.

In Montreal, I would suggest Le Mas des Oliviers. It is open on Sunday evening and on Monday. It is not a bistro but a nice french restaurant. It is not a trendy place, but quite good and with an atmosphere filled with warmth and generosity. Try the tuna or the bass (if not on the menu, just aks). Filet mignon and lamb shanks (meltingly tender) are excellent and huge. For desert, try the tatin, specially, if they have the banana or the fig tatin. In Quebec city, I would suggest L'Utopie, on St-Joseph street. Bon appetit!

What range where you using before? Based on your comments, I think I'll have to go for a DCS or another good range (GE monogram?). ← I had an old electric GE range. When I had it, I thought it worked great. The oven flour wraped because I would just throw a glass of water in it when baking bread (it took over 5 years to do so!). Now I use a baking sheet to receive the water when baking bread, I would not want the same thing to happen in my DCS! It is not self clean, I have had it for over 1 year and I still have not had to clean it (even if I use the oven a lot). And beleive me it is not dirty at all. I use a wet towel every once in a while, that's all. I am just a bit more carefull (e.g.: putting a baking sheet under a pie when baking it or not putting my bread directly on the baking stone - I now put my breads on baking papers, that way the oven is no longer full of flour!). Anyway I never liked self cleaning ovens, for some reason I am uneasy about them and I find that the whole house smells bad when the oven is self cleaning. I don't have natural gas so I have a propane tank beside the house (There are so many flowers and plants that one does not really notice it - thanks to my wife). It is however quite expensive ($500.- $600. cnd in propane gas/year) - probably because I bake a lot - almost every week. Still, I just love that range! If you can, dont hesitate. They are built like tanks and should last forever

I have a DCS all gas range (30''). I love it. I got it about 1 yr ago, it is a previous model that had been sitting in a store for a few years and I got it for a great price. It was in a shop that sells propane gas and they also have a few appliances. 4 powerfull burners, SO NICE! Best purchase I ever made However it does produce a hell of a lot of heat, so I must admit that this last summer, I mostly used the BBQ. Burners are large and powerfull, so depending on the king of cookware you have. be prepare for a surprise! I had good quality stuff with heavy aluminum bottom. They worked great on my old electric stove. On these burners, the side get much too hot (sides are made of stainless, bottom have aluminum). I had to get somme fully clad. By the way, the GE monogram used to be made by DCS (I beleive they still are)

I just love the lamb shanks at Le Mas des Oliviers. It is on Bishop street. They are meltingly tender. Even they would happen not to be on the menu on that day, just ask.

I am thinking of going to James MacGuire's class at King Arthur in October (The Art of Rustic Bread). I have never been to one of their classes and would like to know what to expect. They don't seem very long (4 hours on Saturday). Are they worth it?

Without any doubt: Professional Pastry Chef (vol 1&2) by Bo Friberg. I am not a chef but a home cook. Most recipes can be done at home with no problem, specially in vol 1. Hermé's books are also very good

Interesting! Actually, I never thought of using cold (or room temperature) water. Since I had always read that the water had to be boiling hot, I just assumed that it had to be that way! I would have been worried that the cold water would make the mayo turn (No it is obviously not to sterilise the mayo). Next time I will give it a try. It is even faster if you dont have to heat up the water! I still dont understand why so many people insist on putting the oil drop by drop... Thanks.

You really don't have to be so carefull nor to pour the oil so slowly. Use a wisk, not a spoon. It is a myth that mayo is difficult or long to make by hand. To make a small amount: 1 egg yolk, 2/3 cup oil (I prefer grapeseed oil- it makes a more stable mayo when cold), a bit of Dijon mustard (1 teaspoon), a few drops of white wine vinegar or lemon juice, a few drops of boiling water (to whiten the mayo and thin it out if too thick). Wisk the yolk with the mustard. Wait a couple of munites while you measure the oil and prepare the other things. Wisk it again for a few moments then slowly pour in the oil while wisking. No need to go drop by drop, just go slowly. When it gets a bit too thick, a a bit of wine vinegar or lemon juice (about 1/2 teaspoon). After all the oil is used up, adjust the thickness with more vinegar or lemon (to taste) or whiten it with a few drops of boiling water. With asparagus for exemple, I prefer it on the thin side. After you have done it a few times it does not take more than a couple of minutes; much faster than cleaning out the food processor. It makes a small amount so it is easy to use it quickly. I find it better when freshly made.

A few months ago, I made some choux à la creme. The next day, my teenage son, wanting some more, used the leftover choux and what he thought was creme patissiere in the fridg. It was a bowl of duck fat! You should have seen his face when he took the first bite!!!

I recently purchased a Napoleon Prestige II (450). Very very nice. I kept the old Weber charcoal grill, it is less convenient than gas but I still love it!

I just love fiddleheads in a salad, blanched (I change the water half way), cooled (to keep the color), with a vinaigrette and a few ramps. The season is so short! It is just a great way to start a spring meal.

I've always used a torch with my cremes brulees, with non problems. Make sure to put them in the fridge after they are cooked. Also put them back in the frige for 10-15 minutes after 'burning' the top. It makes the tops very crispy, just don't leave them longer.

The French Laundry is a nice cookbook, that is not only made to look at but also to cook from. Some things are of course way too complicated or long to make but if you look carefully, several things can easily be made at home (I must admit however that I would not have the courage to make a 5 course meal from it!!!! I do admire bilrus' courage..). Among other things, the crab salad with cucumber jelly, the 'ceasar' salad, several of the fish or cheese dishes are within most cooks reaches. Do try them!

On a different note... For years I cooked a different meal for the kids. Hell! I did not want to eat what they liked and they did not like my fancy stuff. But I think the key is that I really did not mind. On Sunday mornings I would prepare sheppard's pies, spagetti sauce, that sort of things (I just dislike these!). Enough to last several days. So at meal time, I simply would put their things in the oven and prepare me and my wife a meal we would enjoy. That way, we all ate well. Eventually, they wanted to taste our things. Now they eat like us. On Saturday evenings (when I prepare a more fancy meal) they just never go out to eat (sometime I wish they would!) So really, just plan ahead and do what you want, as long as you dont get upset with it.

I would be tempted to try it using hazelnut butter (just make sure it is not salted). It is widely available, specially in health food shops and ccontains nothing but hazelnuts. It is much smoother than what can be acheived in a food processor

It has been a few weeks now... I am curious, is it worth it? Do you use it ? I am also very tempted to get one, but the price tag makes me hesitate...

Little potato pancakes, with chives, a bit of sour cream and smoked salmon! MIAM!

I used to have firebricks, slightly more than an inch thick. They worked really well. However, they took so long to cool off that I really had to keep them in the oven all the time (I used my oven a lot, I am a bit lazy and these things were so heavy). They also took a long time to heat up. To cleen them, I would leave them in the oven on the self-clean cycle (once their weight just bent the grill during cleaning). I now use untreated marble tiles, a bit thicker and heavier than quarry tiles. They work well, are more practical as they cool down faster and are lighter so I can take them out. My oven is no longer self clean so I don't put the breads directly on the stone (it puts too much flour in the oven). I just put the breads on parchment or aluminum paper. When making pizza, a pizza stone works well. With breads or baguettes however, I find they are not large enough. With tiles (or bricks) it is easy to make them cover a larger area in the oven.