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Marlene - Looking at your pictures, I guess you would have still survived in Keller's kitchen! You may have gone 3/4 of the way but your dish does look fabulous. And in terms of the overall flavor of the dish, I guess all the hard work done at the preliminary stages paid off somehow!! Bravo!!

Interesting, I never knew that. See, my father, whom i learned this from, always swore that this was one of his "special tricks". Not only am I learning today that his "special" shishbarak is called manti in Turkey but I also found out years ago (while outgrowing the naiveté of my youth) that it was commonly done in many lebanese homes!! And if you do make it in the near future to this side of the country, it would be such an honor to cook for you!!!

Behemoth, thanks for the recipe and the pictures. It looks wonderful!! Now you got me started, i'll make shishbarak next week! I make mine pretty much like you do, except that I bake my shishbaraks in a very hot oven until they begin to crisp outside. Then I throw them in the laban. Maybe you should try it next time! The taste and feel of crunchy dough in the laban is so good .

All of the above + Ici Restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (Chef Julie Farrias).

Sure, it is used in cooking in many seaside restaurants. You can't use it for everything though and I would not use it as a general substitute for salt and water. Sea water has a unique quality that you just can't replicate, it tastes and smells like the ocean.

I guess they turn all crunchy and nice after you fry them???! especially the legs. ← I learned very quickly from my Japanese wife that everything is edible in fish or seafood (except shells of course). Ever had fish eyes? Good stuff!! Shrimp heads? Crunchy? Not just that, shrimp heads contain loads of flavorful stuff...

Oh yeah, talking about rubbing people the wrong way. In a japanese kitchen, there are two things that are sacred, your knife and cutting board. Standing with your dirty shoes on a cutting board is possibly the worst sign of disrespect (honestly, I can't think of anything worst). Kaga-san should have immediately summoned a Seppukku so that at least Flay could regain face in front of millions of bewildered Japanese viewers.

Hey... nothing wrong with that. A little bit of PR never hurts Thanks again.

Thanks for the recipes. I know I had mentionned earlier that I would PM you with a list of recipes but I think it would be more appropriate if I just bought one of your books!! (I haven't yet, shame on me ). Amongst your published works, which book would you recommend for kibbe (that is, with a sizable list of recipes?)

I would agree with Manresa, although I've never been there. I hope to go during my next trip to the bay area. This past year I did the tasting at Gary Danko which was good but I was far from being blown away. I also felt that it was way too much food. I made a terrible mistake by ordering the tasting menu at the Fifth floor (just before Laurent Gras left) on a subsequent trip. The wine selection was fantastic. The head sommelier (Belinda Chang I think?) does a great job, but the menu was so uninspiring. It was "foam of this and foam of that" from beginning to end. A complete debacle. I don't know where it stands nowadays since Melissa Perello took over the kitchen.

Oh yes, my best food memory in Belize: Marie Sharpe's hot sauce. I found out last year that it was available at one of those stands in the NY Grand Central Market (they had the red and green one). I bought two bottles at a hefty price though. Yes indeed, I visited Belize in February of 2001. I believe it was the end (or beginning) of Lobster season. We had it in Caye Caulker in one of those Main (or Middle don't remember) Street joints. It was grilled on a barbecue just as you mentionned. Correct again!!!!

Indeed there is always Sugiyama. I also heard good things about Hakubai at the Kitano Hotel. They have a "lady's lunch special" like in Japan!!

Justin, Again, great report. I am glad to see that you took full advantage of this dinner and that your conversations with the chef contributed positively to your overall dining experience. Looking at your Omakase, it seems that a lot has changed since I've been last, the chef who opened JB presented dishes that were much bolder in the choice of ingredients and how they were combined. I remember having a dish of cured sardines with a blueberry sauce that was amazing!! If you want to try another version of "modern sushi" with a mix of typical and unconventional items on the menu (and avoid paying a fortune) maybe you should also consider going to Sushi no Gari. I was also wondering - Are you planning one kaiseki dinner on your list? If not, I suggest you do, a sublime kaiseki experience WILL make you look at food differently. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend any place in NY at this point, I had a great kaiseki at Kai 2 or 3 year ago but I was told the menu has gotten a little too "funky" in recent years.

When the beef is done braising, there's probably still going to be a lot of liquid left. Even after straining and skimming, I had what looked more like beef soup than stew so I reduced the liquid down quite far to more of a sauce consistency. Either way though, you'll love it. ← Marlene - That is up to you really. You can certainly reduce your cooking liquid further if you want before serving. I personally do. Make sure you taste it as you go because by reducing obviously, you are also concentrating the flavors, you might not necessarily want a sauce that is too strong. Another way of giving it a sauce consistency is by adding butter to it at the very end and emulsifying it with an immersion blender (remove the meat first!!!). It will give it a richer texture but I personally don't like to do that for this dish. I like adding a touch of reduced balsamic vinegar to the final product just to give it a rounder flavor and deeper color.

Did you taste it? I'm telling you, you add butter to that and you have an amazing red wine sauce!!!!

We make them the same way. We would wrap the sheet of Nori at the last minute when ready to eat. My personnal favorites are Tarako and Umeboshi (is there anything better on earth than the combination of Umeboshi and rice?). Onigiri is our food of choice when travelling by plane (wherever we go), it is much better than the junk they normally serve on airplanes! You should see people's faces on airplanes when we pull up our onigiri balls sometimes. It ranges from fascination to downright horror !!

It is indeed not that complicated however, the beauty of this recipe lies in its pedagogical virtues. It teaches the homecook so much about certain aspects of "classic" cooking techniques. It involves at various steps infusing, reducing, marinating and braising techniques that can be applied in a myriad of other dishes. It not only does that but also shows how such techniques can impact the flavor, texture and complexity of each component of a particular dish. It can certainly be shortenend but I would recommend anyone to try it, just because it is a great cooking "seminar" in itself for any homecook willing to learn.

Wolfert - Talking about expanding someone's horizons! the only version of kibbe i knew was "kibbe tariqt'bayyi", kibbe my dad's way!! I was going through your list with amazement quite frankly. Thanks again for sharing such resourceful information! I think I will take advantage of the offer and email you a (short) list! BTW, You mentionned you were making kibbe this week end, which recipe??????? Boaziko - I also love Kibbe with Tahini or "Tarator" sauce as it is called in Lebanon! Thanks for mentionning it. Hazardnc - I am afraid i am not a great source for Koussa mehchi (stuffed zucchini). I have honestly never tried making it ALONE. I have seen my dad make it for us when we were kids but, although the concept is simple, i am afraid i might miss a thing or two in the process if i tried to explain it myslef. And as Foodman suggested, it would make a great new thread! Swisskaese- Thanks for the info, please let us know how your kibbe comes out.

Keller is an "over strainer". I think in this recipe he recommends straining at every stage (what, at least 5 or 6 times). I've followed his recommendation and when you only have ONE chinois (that ends up being rinced and cleaned after each use obviously) and so much cheese cloth to spare, it is a real pain. The result is fantastic though.

I do not have the book with me but from what i can remember: During the wine reduction process, there is a number of vegetables that you are going to include with it before the wine comes to a boil. You are basically cooking down or "infusing" the wine with a bunch of aromatics (i think leek, carrot, onions, shallots, mushrooms and bouquert garni if i remember correctly). In your pot, it should look as if you had an equal ration of veggies to wine (so your veggies should not "swim" in the wine). Reduce the wine by almost 1/4 at medium heat (not too quickly), let the wine slowly cook down, thicken a little and become kind of "syrupy". When you reach that stage, throw the whole damn thing in a chinois and strain it by pressing as much liquid out of the vegetables (taste it, it is yummy on its own!! now you have a great base for a red wine sauce!). You now have your wine base. At a secondary stage, you will mix that wine base with your stock and a NEW batch of aromatics (i think just a mirepoix). This in essence, adds a second layer of flavors to your cooking liquid. I hope this answers your question.

Afouan/De rien! I've never tried it with butter. I have prepared gratins before layering amongst other things crushed butternut squash with bulghur. It actually tastes very good. I guess my version of a vegetarian kibbe??

I guess my choice of word "pickled" was wrong. "Cured" would be more appropriate. Thanks again Hiroyuki!

Funny, we actually started the meal with hummus and taboule. It can't get any more lebanese than that i guess..

If you only have one batch of lardons at hand that might become difficult. The meat is seared at the initial stage of the recipe before it is cooked in the wine. The lardons on the other hand are used as a garnish and added just before the dish is served. Between both steps, there is a whole night going by during which the meat is marinated in its own cooking liquid. On day one, you can certainly cook your lardons, set them aside and then cook the meat in the lardon fat. Then you can just add the lardons to the meat while it is braising and leave in the marinade overnight. By doing this though you are defeating the very premise of Keller's recipe which is to degrease and "refine" as much as possible the cooking liquid. If you want to use Keller's recipe, i'd say go all the way on your first attempt and follow the recipe. You can always bring your own variations on subsequent attempts.

Warm smoked salmon w/potato gnocchi. I omitted the balsamic glaze. FL p.91