sadistick

Ashton Green - - www.ashtongreen.com

Actually Mark, this catalogue I just got offers a 3 year warranty against breaking...thought that was kind of interesting for a ceramic knife.

And I will stick with my Thomas Keller Signature Series MACs. This isn't a pissing match. No one was claiming they were Global-quality knives. For a budget knife, they're very good. For a $200 knife, obviously the criteria becomes a little more involved. But thanks for letting us know you've got some fancy Global knives. Edit: typos. ← wow wow wow...no need to get all snippy! FYI - If you order Global knives online, you can get a mid sized knife for about $70-80...pairing knives for $30ish... I never argued whether they are good or not, I simply said that the Ad looked contrived, and obviously these chefs were paid quite well to say what they did. That does not mean that these knives may not be decent quality, but if you are going to invest in a good knife that will hold its edge, spend a bit more money, you will be happier in the long run. Oh and I agree with Librarian, I have used various Henckle series and Wustoff and I much prefer the Japanese blades. edited to add - you can also get an excellent kyocera ceramic pairing knife for $25-30 online.

Just a note - that we now are doing a mixed slab, of half chocolate half coconut...perfect for a smaller party if you want to offer squares and at the same time have a bit of a selection. And a BIG thanks to everyone who has helped pass great word of mouth along about our products, every little bit helps! Justin

Saw the same ad...looks too contrived though. I'll stick with my Global's

One more to add to the list of people who need to be axed from Food Network...Surreal Gourmet...oh man that guy drives me bonkers, and all the tasting and licking of fingers makes me cringe!

I dont know xtal, I realize its obviously a personal opinion, but shows like restaurant makeover just have no place in my mind...on a food/cooking network. And Alton Brown annoys the heck out of me. Theres a few shows that I enjoy on FoodTV Kylie Kwong - Simply Magic, a great cooking show on Asian food. David Rocco makes some great italian dishes, and you get to see the food scene in Italy...what more could you ask for! The original Iron Chef is my favourite without a doubt. But shows like Rachel Ray...and this show about 3 guys who make food contraptions....*pokes eyes out*

I hope he was referring to the original Iron Chef...because the American version makes me want to bash my TV.

Great looking dinner John, did you supply all those wines as well?! Do you use one of those fancy shmancy machines for your sous vide cooking? It perks my interests, but I have no room for another large contraption! Also, I think the issue was with the dried appricots. I have tried using both dried and fresh, and fresh always turns out better for some reason. I actually dont use the entire fruit either. Typically I will cut away most of the flesh and make preserves, and use the stones with some leftover fruit and soak in brandy, not vodka. I find Brandy works better with Plums/Apricots, and vodka works best with cherries and peaches. Cheers. -Justin

Funny, I was tempted to start a new topic on the exact same subject, but for some reason my mind slipped and attention was taken elsewhere. At this time of year, there are tons of green tomatoes still around, and seeing as we have oh...some absurd number of tomato plants this season, say...120, we have a lot of these suckers! Fried green tomatoes is one of our favourites, fried in EVOO on a low heat, then adding some garlic cloves and small onions, at the end to caramalize. However, pickled green tomatoes, are amazing!!! This method is like none I have encountered before... Slice tomatoes - Kosher salt quite liberaly, and put them in a colander, or something similar, place a plate on top, and weigh it down overnight. Rinse off the tomatoes with regular vinegar, and start to place them in a jar, between layers adding pepper corns, parsley, garlic cloves...i add some chilli for heat in at least one batch as well... Layer layer layer, and make sure theres not too much space between, should be able to fit quite a lot of tomatoes in one decent sized jar. Then fill it with Olive Oil, make sure all the air escapes, and nothing peeps through the top of the oil. Seal it up, put it on news paper, as it may leak a bit, and let sit for at least 3 months. Awesome stuff. Brooks - That sounds like an interesting idea as well, I will have to try it out!

What exactly are you trying to figure out, Jeebs? I know you can purchase unpasturized cheeses. Global cheeses has a selection of amazing unpasturized french goat cheeses...amongst others.

I'm curious, first off - Is the bottle of Zacapa Centenario considered Rum Agricole? Second, possibly a bit off topic, what is the best way to enjoy this rum? I have tried it straight and liked it, but cant drink too much like this, what else would one do with a nice rum like this?

If you have a wood board, please dont use chemicals! When you first get your board oil it up really well and let it sit overnight, then oil it up again, let it sink in. Regarding the garlic/onion issue, simply take a knife, make a few stars on the corner of one side of the board, and use that side for garlic/onions and other savoury items, and use the other side for other ingredients. Works like a charm.

Arugula is best when picked at infancy. That being said, to showcase the ingredient, a very simple dressing is needed. The best EVOO you can get, young, fresh garlic if available, lemon juice, and S&P. Some fresh cherry tomatoes pair very nicely with this as well. Edited to add - - I nearly forgot!!! As it is nearing the end of the season, we made our other favourite Arugula 'salad' the other night as apart of my grandmothers bday party. Take your arugula and give it a few rough chops - Mince some garlic - Fry arugula in good EVOO on high heat very quickly, at the end add garlic - - Place on top of freshly sliced (heirloom preferably!) tomatoes, and enjoy. The contrast of flavours and temperatures is amazing.

The Cheese Boutique in the west end or Alex Farms at SLM would be your best bets. ← I find that Global cheese has a larger selection, and better prices than Alex farms in SLM...

Oh man, my family makes a multitude of great salad dressings, ranging from your classic ceaser, all the way to a wood oven smoked tomato dressing. Heres our Herb dressing that is fantastic on some baby arugula and cherry tomatoes...BTW - I dont use measurements, but I like my dressings TART...not oily. Juice a lemon or two - chop a couple cloves of garlic finely and let it mascerate in the lemon juice. Get some Parsley, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, a bit of mint and chop it well, let that mascerate in the lemon juice as well for about 10 mins. Salt - Pepper Add good evoo to taste - I usually do a little less than half the amount of oil:juice ratio. - - Another great dressing is the mexican dressing, this uses lemons, limes, chillies, cilantro, all mascerated together. a bit of good vinegar oil. avocado if you want to chill out the heat a bit and make it creamy. tons more, ask if interested!

A yearly tradition, always some nice wines with this holiday meal. This year we started with a '96 Williams Selleyem Pinot and then a '82 Latour. They both were excellent. The Pinot had a great nose, lots of blackberry and thick current/cherry. Light body, and a very smooth, fairly long finish. Could easily go another 3-4 years. The Latour was outstanding. The nose was something else, shoe leather, maybe pencil shavings...'the forest floor' as my cousin put it. Strong body with an amazing finish that lasted for a good 80-90 seconds. Went very well with the brisket. Had a Muscato di Asti with dessert, and some Cuervo Riserva de la Familla afterwards. Hope everyone's new year is better than their last.

Make Ceviche shooters - a decent sized piece of King Fish, or very fresh snapper or such can go a long way, especially if you use a lot of fresh veggies in it. Easy to make in advance, not too expensive, and it will wow your friends if done right

Jen - I would love to hear your fav dishes at all those places. Often I am overwhelmed with the size of chinese food menu's Would like to hear more about asian legend as well.

I would seriously recommend Opus, for all the reason's Enid did, and more. ← But if you only had one night in TO, would you really choose Opus over Splendido?

Better idea...why not just make your own apricot brandy? Thats what I did this past weekend...I made a large batch of apricot jam, saved the pits, and some flesh, tossed it in a jar with some sugar, let that sit for 30 mins, then added the brandy! Simple, and so much better than the stuff you buy in stores!

Dont waste your time with Susur... Go to Splendido.

The risotto was very good, only possible improvement would be to get a even stronger beet flavour, will have to reduce the liquid moreso next time. Had a NCT Pinot with it, went very well.

I made a mistake, its a barbaresco...i BELIEVE its called Il Brico...not 100% sure, that may be one of the other barbaresco's

Gordon, it definetly wont end up tasting like a plate of mushy beets, at least not if I'm cooking it If you use a reduced liquid which is strained properly, that will give an intense beet flavour to the risotto...adding a 'essence' of beet at the end will not achieve as strong a flavour, trust me. I have done it this way for tomato risotto as well as mushroom - make a well flavoured liquid and use that as the cooking liquid, and it comes out amazing each time. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have won a few risotto competitions in the past, so this method is tried tested and true. Oh, and no marscapone will ever come near any of my risotto's I actually have a Pio Cesare barbera...but its only a 98 and I wanted to hold on to it for a few more years...I am thinking a lighter fruity pinot at this point.