Luckylies

Coulis is one of several interchangeable pastry terms. To me it implies nothing but a clear sauce. I think powdered agar is the best way to go. Cornstarch tastes...like cornstarch, and gums are slimy even in small doses. ← Wait what? coulis clear? never heard of it, not once. Is it possible the coulis you tried was the creative use of the term ie. "coulis"? huh, perhaps I'm about to learn something new

Exactly! I've always considered it rude to assume another couldn't hold their own in a converstion especially an adult person who conducts business- in public. Maybe some farmers don't like to "deal" with "hagglers" but if we replace the word "haggling" with "negotiating" is there as much stigma still attached? I think negotiating a fair price between two people is considered distasteful only if one party is at a signifigant disadvantage; economically, politically, or is under some sort of duress...I never realized annoying someone was somehow an empedimet to their business. I've been asked to bring my prices down for my work many, many times. Some of the times that I have, have been good, solid decisions, other times not. I've never faulted an employer for asking me to work for less, and I've never had a problem saying no. If I did, I wouldn't quite be able to call myself prepared to interact with the public on a professional level.

I think they probably will bring everything on this list..I'm just not sure which ones my team will get...yep juniper, just what I was thinking...I'm not really going to get into my final preperation ideas here (I'd like a bit of a creative edge come competition day) just in case my competition is paying attention Whole hog...I don't envy the person who gets that one!

Booo yah!!!!!!!!!! finally I got my turbo brisket in check!!!!! still a few (small kinks) but nothing I can't problematize thursday!!!!!! tra la la!!!!!!!! Today we got the list of meats we MAY be 1.) Country Style Ribs 2.) Pork Butt 3.) Whole Chicken 4.) Baby Back Ribs 5.) Venison Tenderloin 6.) Whole Hog 7.) Cornish Hen 8.) Pork Tenderloin 10.) Beef Brisket 11.) Buffalo Short Ribs 12.) Chicken/Dark 13.) Beef Tenderloin 14.)Spare Ribs 15.)Whole Turkey 16.)Beef Tri-tip 17.) Rack of Lamb 18.)Chicken/White it's a long list and I'm psyched for everthing except chicken/ white...boring. Now that i've got a better idea how to do quickie meat I'm trying a butt tomorrow!! finally some success..for a second there I thought I may be carrying around a hex If anybody has any idea for these categories I'm all ears!!!!!

The best!!!!!!!!!

sometimes you have to raise the heat a bi if it's not coming out of the stall. If my meats stalling for top long I'll usually give it a burst of real heat--at, say 300f it usually pulls the meat through the stall and saves it from a overcooking and dryness. Or foil it and pop it in the oven to bring it around. Don't forget to rest your cooked meat in a coller wrapped in a towel for a few hours before you serve it. It really helps with moisture.

That's pretty much what we've all heard. ← heh, 'que perv UPDATE: I've found a big green egg to practice on! after feeding the my friends pre-wedding crowd some practice pork (40 lbs) The grooms father offered to let me smoke in his egg next week! How generous I figured since the Big Green Egg is one of the sposors of the competition perhaps, nay, perchance, they may be making a surprise appearance on the show...nice deduction huh? I'll be doing ribs and a whole chicken...

ten hours? thats it? how big are your briskets? hmmm....

yup, I was thinking the same thing.... it's worth a shot.

confit the legs. Sear the breasts for salad or something.

I did some meatloaf over the weekend... it was excellent, and perfectly glazed Shoulders in the smoker now (for a friends wedding party) wagu beef sometime later in the week...

I've got a team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll be meeting my team (two Kansas city boys, I went to Culinary school with) in Reno in less than two weeks!!!! Damn I'm excited, and nervous! wheeeeeeeee.... still no dice on the brisket.... but thighs are good, and butt.

Here's what I don't understand. You'll negotiate a better price for a car (because it's expected the car is priced over what's it worth) but not vegetables? Since when are ALL farmers salt-of the -earth characters who never overprice their produce...or keep their finger on the scale etc etc? Sure, some farmers who bring their products to market are honest and kind--but to assume all are? a bit disconnected and bougeoise perhaps. If you don't like to haggle...fine, it's not for everybody. It seems a bit highmindeed to suggest that purveyers who participate in green markets are too "green" to protect themselves from customer scrutiny. It seems just as much a shame to overpay for imperfect produce at the farmers market as it does the supermarket, yet somehow people fell better about it. Perhaps we like to leave the farmers market one of the last remaining reclics of a time that was...

sounds a lot like ricotta or paneer...but using rennet to break the curds insted of vinegar or lemon juice.....all is not lost up east!!!!!

Ah! so you shop at the New York greenmarkets too? I'm sorry, but the prices at New York city greenmarkets are obscene compared to the prices at the supermarkets. In some places going to the greenmarket at all is a deal. Not so in New York. I don't feel like the farmers are getting off scoot free but still...

it's good steak but it ain't 'merican. sorry my brains a fizzle try a citysearch under steakhouses, and weed from there ( I know, no help).

I totally haggle at the farmers market. Who's to say what that one ear of corn is worth at that very moment? The farmer! I find that this person to person interaction is what's most valuable about the farmers market. I don't find it a sign of disrespect, as long as the other person is interested..you can usually tell. If someone tells me they won't come down on the price at all I can tell they're not interested in haggling and thus I either choose to buy their product at full price or not at all--like in a supermarket. If they budge-- it's open season. Even if I just get a few cents off on some cherries or something I feel like it solidifies the bond between me and the farmer (me- someone who cares about the pricing to quality ratio of the products I chose to buy) and (the farmer- someone who understands that such an equasion exists) Unless fruit is completely impeccible I rarely buy it for full price at the market, I also negotiate deep discounts for bruised fruits. I think it's also a cultural thing, in certain places you would never consider NOT haggling, people would consider you a dupe. In some markets the products are deliberately overpriced in order to encourage haggling. My Dad used to refer to the "pretty girl discount" when my sister and I would come home with our free or cheap goodies- if people were giving out cars- I doubt he would have been so lighthearted...

YOU ARE MY HERO. MY KING. EL REY.

The shrimp in rice noodle is the best in the city. the best, Jerry!!!!

Of course the guests were gone in a blink. you served them penut butter and oyster sandwiches

Here's how to not kill a frog. After my parents divorced my sister and I got a lot of leeway in the teenage behavior department. One day while walking around in Chinatown my sister and I saw a huge plastic garbage can filled with cute, green, bobbing frogs. As self- styled animal preservationists, we knew something was to be done--and soon. After purchasing two slippery green friends we were at a loss at what to do with them. Neither of us had room in our dorms for them and the tank setup at petco with filters and gravel and the works was looking very expensive... perhaps more expensive than befits two chinatown frogs. A phone call to Dad was in order it sounded something like this: "hi dad, you know that little office you have yet to decorate in your apartment? We'd like to make it into an Asian themed room "an Asian themed room?" "yep" "how much is this Asian themed room going to cost me?" He was starting to get the jist. "five hundred dollars" "fine, but this project must be started and finished, not half-assed." Trisket and Pumpernickle lived happily in their atrium for 5 years eating crickets and worms and just generally chilling out on their lilly pads. The rest of the decorating money went to lunch at Jean-Georges! as the toils of the conservationist....

I'm going tonight for my birthday dinner! 24 baybeeeeee!!!!!!!!! I figured this was the perfect non-perse restaurant for celebrating (actually it's supposed to be a surprise but somehow I found out) It' s a good call though... Which tasting menu to have??? aah the choices I'm stoked.

I may have trimmed it too much. I'm also going to cut down to just the flat now. And try again.

That's practically what I did!!!! I smoked at 300f at the top grate until 165, wrapped, added liquid and smoke/braised until it hit 195 then I unwrapped it to try to re-crust it. it was terrible. it never 'sagged' or relaxed there was just no conversion. it went strainght from meat to jerkey. Also I injected this one first and trimmed it. Could the trimming have been the problem? I never trim, but I know that at competitions nobody serves their meat with lots of fat on it. Perhaps I over-trimmed. I'm going to try again, but this time no trimming, and I'm going to ramp the heat up from 250. Think that'll work?

Even in the best restaurants, sometimes the first few covers are a bit spotty. It shouldn't be this way but, it's the first oppertunity for a cook to go..."oops forgot to cut my mushrooms" is it okay? no. does it happen? totally and completely. Was I sorry all the times I forgot something? yep.