Jump to content

davedemi

participating member
  • Posts

    20
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by davedemi

  1. Line cold cast iron with 1/4"(!) cold butter on the bottom. Place cut potatoes( I usually cut 1/2" slices), season, cover and start on really low heat. As the temp comes up, the butter slowly heats up to the point that you are poaching your potatoes (they're almost submerged). As the temp rises the potatoes will start to crisp. At this point they are very soft; loosen them carefully if they are sticking. Usually, if you start gently moving, swirling the pan when the butter starts to brown and they start forming a crust, they won't stick. After 45 min to 1 hr. they should be very soft on the top, and with a golden crust underneath. Turn over, and the other side should brown in 15-20 min. Drain while hot, enjoy. :rolleyes:

    AKA pommes fondantes(MPW), Maine/down East skillet potatoes (according to John Thorne in Serious Pig)

  2. The 'fresh spiced pork belly' in the Cafe Boulud cookbook is excellent.

    I just took one out of the oven, it was in for almost 24 hours, hmmm.....gotta go!

  3. A not very good one, that's for sure. A non-stick, 18" x 12.5".

    Pre-heat to 425. If you can do a light searing skin side side down on the stovetop, great; if not, preheat the pan in the oven, then put spatch'd bird skin side down until it starts to lightly brown add spuds and garlic (both tossed with some oil/butter and seasoning. I don't even turn the bird over. 45 min sounds good but check.

    PS using a heavy gauge pan (cast iron is great) will allow you to start this on the stovetop on higher heat, start the rendering of fat that results in crispy skin, and retain the temperature of the pan. the oven temp could then be a little more gentle (375-400) but with a lighter pan ( I'm assuming because you mentioned non-stick) I'd keep the oven temp. higher so the skin doesn't just steam but crisps

  4. So I have a spatchcocked, 3 1/2 lb. chicken that has been rubbed with a spiced herb butter (under the skin, too). I want to roast it with potatoes and a ton of unpeeled garlic cloves. Questions galore...

    I probably shouldn't use a rack because of the potatoes, right?

    Should I cover it for awhile while it roasts? I adore crispy skin, so I'm thinking probably not. But will the potatoes and garlic be done at the same time? I've cut the Yukon's into decent sized chunks and the garlic cloves are pretty big.

    Also, I was thinking of roasting it at about 375 for, cheeze, about an hour? Less? I have a pizza stone on the bottom of my oven if that makes a difference.

    Please excuse the incredibly simplistic questions. I just bought a range with a working oven (always a good thing for a new appliance) after not having one for over four years.  :rolleyes:  Thanks all.

    what kind of pan are you using?

  5. I don't know about frying in lard..wouldn't that make everything....porky tasting?

    jason

    why do you make that sound as if it's a bad thing? :raz:

    a friend of mine used to fill her fryer up with bacon fat when she offered breakfast and brunch menus on weekends...addictive home-fries

  6. I lived and worked in your fair city from 95 to 99 and we used Gianni's arugula.

    He was an older retired man who used to grow it himself and deliver buckets of beautiful arugula (huge, frilly leaves) in pails of water to the restaurant. Is anyone there using it? Is it still around?

  7. As over the top as this seems,  there is a restuarant off of I-75 in Birch Run, Michigan, that claims that counting three strips of bacon is too taxing for their cooks.  Every side of bacon starts as a pound raw as does every BLT. 

    This place is a favorite of hunters in the fall, on their way up north.

    The restaurant is called Tony's I-75 Diner.

    Absurdly huge portions, staff are all ex-cons, nice highway diner ambience.

    Try it if you never have......quite trippy :wacko:

    P.S. I mean really huge portions...e.g. the 'small' spaghetti is a mound about the size of a basketball :huh:

    The BLT you mentioned is indeed a pound of bacon....deep-fried...that's right, deep-fried, so it comes out a curly crispy twisted jumble...and served on a whole loaf of Italian bread. The sandwich is about 8" high and comes stabbed with a huge steak knife......Holy cholesterfest!

    I'll repeat...quite trippy.. :blink:

  8. just spoke to Taro- he orders from Japan on Fridays- receives on the following Wednesday- if you request you could probably get it by next week...hmm...think I'll get some

    BTW if you've never used it, let it sit and oxidize for a couple of minutes before using; if you taste it fresh grated it's almost bland

  9. sorry about that last one...... :blink:

    try Taro's Fish 905 944 1377

    he's in Japantown complex at steeles and woodbine

    amazing selection of fish.. occasionally has fresh produce (herbs, etc. from japan)

    he's carried it before

  10. This is a link to an American wasabi grower (used to be the only American wasabi grower - don't know if this is still true).

    www.freshwasabi.com

    They now are providers to a number of "top" restaurants and are exporting to Japan as well.  They used to sell the unprocessed root, but apparently this is no longer the case.

    I've bought the root as well as the paste in the past.  It's great.  I've even hooked up a few sushi chefs in the NYC area with some of each and they liked it  and now order from this company. 

    (BTW, I am in no way connected to this company.  I read an article about it in the Wall Street Journal a few years back and decided to check it out.  Cool story, too.  If I remember correctly, the owner basically was paid for a bad invesmtent with watery land in Oregon.  He researched how wasabi is farmed for a number of years - it turns out the Japanese growers were extremely reluctant to let their farming secrets out.  Then started growing.  The process is apparently pretty involved.)

  11. I'm also puzzled by the references to 'Persian food.

    I know a number of Iranians and they tell me to call oneself 'Persian' in Iran is to invite mockery and worse.

    I also know a number of Persians, and 'Persian' is their word of choice as opposed to 'Iranian'.

    I've noticed the Christians from that country refer to themselves as Persian and the Moslems call themselves Iranian.......they all love pomegranate, though

×
×
  • Create New...